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REACHING
THREE DIFFERENT
GENERATIONS
I can’t tell you what aisle I was standing in when he approached. I heard the commotion come thundering down the aisle before he was close enough to speak. I looked up and saw two boys running and fighting with each other, all the while racing around the cart of their guardian. When the gentleman got close enough to speak to me he said, “Do you have children?” and before I could answer he said, “You can have these two.” There was not one ounce of sarcasm and I sensed that if he could, he would have given me the boys in an instant. With that Garland began to pour out his story. He explained that the boys were the grandsons of his second wife, and that the court had taken the boys away from their parents. His wife couldn’t let this happen so she took the boys in to live with them. Garland began to tell me of his struggles with health, the grief he’s experienced with losing several siblings and the fact that at 84 years of age he did not want to be raising children. Suddenly his eye swelled up with tears and he said, “I would have been married 61 years this winter had my wife not died last year.” I placed my hand on his forearm and told him how sorry I was. Then he looked me in the eyes and said, “You just don’t ever get over a love like that.” I don’t know if any one has ever said a truer word. When we deeply love someone the impact they have or have had on our lives lasts a life time. In the book of Ruth we find an example of such love. Ruth’s husband had died and Naomi told Ruth to return to her people but Ruth refused. Over the course of Ruth’s 10-year marriage, I believe she developed that deep love for Naomi, a love she just couldn’t get over. Ruth said the following. But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. I will die where you die and will be buried there. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” Ruth 1:16-17 Another great example of a special love relationship is found in 1 Samuel 18:1. After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king’s son. There was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became the best of friends. It’s wonderful to experience a deep bond of love with a family member or friend, but at its very best it will never be able to compare to the love relationship Christ wants to have with you. Christ’s desire for you is to know without a shadow of a doubt how much He loves you. Ephesians 3:17b-19 addresses this perfectly. May your roots go down deep in to the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ; though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Did you get that? God’s love for you is so great that you will never be able to fully comprehend it. It’s a love that He won’t ever get over feeling for you, and a love He hopes you won’t ever get over feeling for Him. Yet, at times we wander away from our“ First Love.” We neglect Him. At times, down right reject Him and His love for us. But, I believe that deep down we always have the desire to reconnect with our first love. 1 John 4:19 says, We love Him, because he first loved us. Christ was the first to love us and will be the last to lavish His abundant love upon us. You’re probably wondering about Garland and want to hear the “Rest of the Story”! At the mid-way point of our conversation I had asked him if he’d like me to pray fo rhim. At that time he said no. After hearing the rest of his story and seeing the pain in his eyes I didn’t ask again, I just told him I was going to pray for him. I placed my hand on his arm and gently rubbed his back as I asked God to fill Garland with His joy. I asked our gracious Heavenly Father to give him peace and emotional and physical strength. When I opened my eyes there were tears in his eyes again. We parted ways and I returned to my trivial shopping list and moved on, up and down the aisles. But now I moved in amazement and wonder at how the Holy Spirit moved me out of my comfort zone in the middle of a dust storm so that I could share the love of God with this precious man. What blessings I would have missed out on, had I not listened to the Spirit’s leading that day. I know God has many “divine appointments” just waiting for us if we’re available and listening to the Spirit’s leading. Some questions for thought I’d like to leave with you today. Who do you know that needs to feel God’s love in a special way? What could you do to show His love to them? Are you open and ready fo rthose “divine appointments” even if they come at an inconvenient time (like during a dust storm)? Remember! “You just don’t ever get over a love like that. ”That being, God’s love for you!
The little electronic signal “You’ve Got Mail” chiming on my computer just does not give the same jolt of pleasure as pulling out an interesting, hand addressed envelope with exotic stamps from my physical mailbox. On your behalf, however, I have had lots of exciting real envelopes show up since Christmas. They contain love notes to you from some of our missionaries who received gift checks in appreciation of their ministry from Olive Drive Church. Some excerpts: From Daniel and Minnie Lee….. ”Your check was a t rue God send as we continue in our neighborhood fellowship ministry. We serve a community breakfast every Saturday morning with about 30 neighbors showing up. Our goal is to be good neighbors and give help to those who donot know where to turn. We build hope one family at a time.” (South Dakota) From Bob and Betty Hartley….. ”Thank you for your involvement in our ministry in North Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. You have prayed for us and given financially. You are a vital and precious part of the team. We appreciate your compassion, your faithfulness and sacrifice on behalf of the e people whom Christ loves and wants to bring in to His Kingdom. ”(Middle East and China) From Chuck and Ramona Shawver… ”Thank you so much for your gift at Christmas. It is an honor and aprivilege, as well as a credtrust, to be your missionaries. God bless each of you, richly at Olive Drive Church. ”(Mexico) From Mike and Jill Lowery… ”Thanks so much for thinking of us. The money came in very handy as we used it to go camping with Taylor, Tiffani and several missionary during the Christmas break. We are really looking forward to our time in Bakersfield starting in June. Please keep us in your prayers for the next six months. We have lots to do!” (Democratic Republic of Congo–Africa) From Amos and Emily Mbong… ”Thank You – What a wonderful surprise! We are so thankful for each of you at Olive Drive Church, and are getting closer to raising our full support for ministry on the Bakersfield College Campus.” (Bakersfield) Now aren’t those just about the best Valentine’s you could receive this February? As many of you know in 2007 we lost 2 of our One Meal board members, Sam Mills who went on to be with the Lord and Pastor Paul Giesbrecht who resigned his position with ODC to pursue other interests. That leaves Kevin Ormonde who was one of the founding members with Sam and Paul. Not to worry, One Meal is still an active ministry of ODC and is still being overseen by Kevin. Kevin returned to West Africa this past April to teach and follow upon the ministry that was formed in the countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia and is happy to announce that all is going well. Reverend Daniel McGee of Monrovia Liberia, who Kevin has worked with on his 4 trips to that country, has donated his family’s 200 acre farmland to the One Meal project. All he is asking in return is to partner with him in bringing displaced back to the camp after the many years of civil war. As Kevin toured the country side he was very impressed with the work that has already been completed although “much more is needed." Planting of rice, peanuts, cavasa, and other vegetables has allowed to become self sufficient. Foundations for small family homes have begun and 3 or 4 should be completed by the end of the rainy season. The ultimate goal is to have 200 return and to build a church, school and small medical facility. Kevin is planning on returning to Liberia in April with his wife Debbie to see what has transpired since his last visit. Kevin would like to thank all of you who give on a regular basis and those who gave a special donation in Sam’s honor. Lets keep this great ministry going. If you are interested in getting quarterly updates with pictures on the work that is continuing please contact Kevin at kevinormonde@yahoo.com or thru the One Meal website at www.onemeal.com.
Finances Jan-Dec 2007
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On January 4, I experienced my second fairly significant dust storm. (I’ll let you know right now that they are not something that I love about Bakersfield.) January 4, happened to be my day off, and I had planned to run errands. Not wanting to go out in such conditions I decided to stay home, as there weren’t any critically needed items on my shopping list. At 2PM I began to feel a stronger and stronger urging to go to the grocery store. I kept looking out my windows and then promptly assured my self that I did not need groceries and did not need to go to the store. By 3 PM the urgency was ridiculous and I gave up and went to A lbertson’s. Once there I pulled out my small list and began my trek up and down each aisle. I was five minutes in to my shopping when the insignificant turned into being a “divine appointment."
February2008
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