Category Archives: trip

Oklahoma Weekend 1

Yes, we are still around…no, we did not forget to blog on the rest of our trip. The right combination of time and internet access was rather limited so I am reporting once again from home sweet Minnesota.

After our time in Kansas we headed down to Oklahoma for the first of two weekends we would be there. Dad is the only one who has spent any time here so it was nice that we could all go as a family.On our way down from Kansas we stopped in Oklahoma City to visit the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Dad had been there before and was wanting us to see it.

talking to a “real live cowboy” security guard in the western town

old-fashioned troublemaker storage

After the museum we continued down to Stonewall where we would be staying with the Hawkins from Blue Baptist Church. It was so good to see them again! (Blue Baptist was the group we served with in La Plant, SD, earlier this year.) The next day there was a “singing” we were a part of at the church. There were three other groups there as well, so it was almost like a mini-music festival.

Higher Ground

April Davis

happy to be eating?

tuning

singin’ in the south

The Hawkins came up and joined us for “I’ve Never Been This Homesick Before”…we did several reprises with Mrs. Hawkins playing up a storm on the piano and Mr. Hawkins and Jonathan singing their hearts out. That was the funnest part of the evening!

so much fun

Sunday morning we felt right at home at church with everyone we have gotten to know since last year in South Dakota. Those children of God know how to sing and lift their voices in praise to Him! We shared a number of songs in the morning meeting and then Mr. Hawkins shared from 1 Corinthians 13 about love. At the invitation time number of people came forward to pray and respond to whatever God was doing in their hearts. Please pray for the unsaved who heard the gospel over the weekend, both at the music night and at the church meeting.

“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

…serve the LORD with gladness;

…come before His presence with singing.” Psalm 100:1-2

Mr. Hawkins

by special request, “I’ve never been this homesick before”

Dad was really enjoying the sweet tea, a beverage almost unheard of in northern Minnesota. He was really happy when some of the church ladies gave him a big mug of it to take on the road!

Before we pulled out for Texas Mr. Hawkins treated us to breakfast at a really tasty restaurant. Our time in Oklahoma was rather brief but we pray that God brings fruit from the ministry we were able to be a part of.

Stay tuned for our Texas adventures. God had something planned that we never saw coming…

Kansas + Haskell

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Hello from Oklahoma! We are on a three-week trip to the South, to sing and share here with some others whom we have been able to minister with in South Dakota the past two summers. We would really appreciate prayer for this time.

We are a week into the trip and hopefully will be able to keep you updated a little bit. So, a recap of this past week…

We started off the trip by going to a Labor Day church conference in the Twin Cities. Our friends the Kramers were so hospitable in hosting our family for the weekend. At the conference we were able to catch up with a few friends, meet new people, and hear many messages from and about God’s Word. We also were asked to sing a few songs for the gospel meeting one night, which came as a surprise to us but we took it as an opportunity God had given. Sunday night after the conference we headed over to another family’s house for some fellowship, mostly inside, and soccer, in the rain. It was a great evening. Um, we don’t have any pictures from the weekend, but trust us, we had a good time!

Monday we headed out for Lawrence, Kansas, where our friends the Morris’s hosted us for three nights. Day one in Kansas Mr. Morris took us on a tour of his mission field, Haskell Indian Nations University.

the football stadium

an inside view

“ussie”

Mr. Morris heads up the Haskell Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and that night was the second meeting of the school year. They open the meetings up to all the students, not just athletes. God brought out enough people to total over 60! Mr. Morris does the teaching, but it was encouraging to see other young people who were taking lead as well and helping in different ways. Haskell FCA meets at Indian Avenue Baptist Church, strategically located just across the street from Haskell and founded by Mr. Morris’ father. What a ministry this church is to the campus!

playing charades

the music team

singing praises

Mr. Morris shared from the Bible

we broke into small groups to pray

newly-met Christian family

visiting

Mrs. Morris made us wonderful meals. One night we helped her out by peeling potatoes along with her mother-in-law, Miss Olelah. Miss Olelah and her husband were the first missionaries to Haskell. She is a well-known and respected elder on campus, still shining for Jesus.

Miss Olelah and the potato team

Yesterday we went from Lawrence to Pomona, where we stayed with our friends the Hendersons who are very gracious hosts. We were able to share a couple songs and also about what God is doing in our ministry at the prayer meeting in their home, and of course the fellowship was greatly enjoyed! We left their house feeling blessed again.

the Hendersons, minus two

Please keep us in your prayers. This coming week we will be heading down to San Antonio where Dad has a meeting regarding The Storyteller. We are looking forward for what God has in store for the next two weeks!

Bright Lights Conferences – Cedar Rapids, IA

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At the beginning of July, the three of us girls had the privilege of helping with a week of Bright Lights conferences. Last October, we helped with the ones in St. Cloud, MN. This time, however, we traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We were so blessed by an amazing week of ministry and fellowship with over 40 leaders from around the country (IA, MN, NE, TX, GA, MD, IL, & WI).

Most of the BL conference leaders

The Strong in the Lord conference took place on Tuesday & Wednesday, while the Radiant Purity conference took place on Friday & Saturday. During the conferences, there are large group sessions with singing (Deborah helped with music), Sarah Mally sharing Bible truths through teaching and stories, personal testimonies from small group leaders, and funny skits that reinforce important points. Then, all the girls are split into smaller groups and the parents have their own sessions. Small groups are led by one or two leaders (which each of us got to help with) and include discussion, games, and snacks. The conference days are very full, but it is so rewarding to be able to invest in these girls’ lives. To hear that they have made commitments to serve the Lord, clear their conscience, honor their parents, and read their Bible makes it all worth it! So here come the pictures:

Singing during the main sessions

Deborah helped to lead music for the conference by playing her violin

The horse race skit

Hannah (who helps with our BL group here in MN) and Katherine handing out conference notebooks

The pyramid activity during small group time demonstrates the importance of teamwork in families

Evening chalk talk

The Princess: “My Father, thy daughter in distress because I am not married!”

Browsing the conference book table

Grace played beautiful harp music several times throughout the conferences

Maiden Flirtelia: “If any man desires to come after me, let him…”

Church picnic and Bright lights conference 2014 136

Some of the girls from our Bemidji BL group came down for the conference so we took a photo with the Mallys

Thursday was our “off day” so we took some time to relax and refresh ourselves for the weekend conference. We spent the morning touring the Mally’s bookstore (Noah’s Archive) and visiting a cute little coffee shop where we enjoyed a sweet time of fellowship together.

Noah’s Archive – with the lovely Bekah as our tour guide

Bookstore browsing (and birthday shopping!)

Fellowship at Witte’s End Coffee House

A few of the Bright Lights leaders at the coffee shop

After lunch on Thursday, Grace Mally showed us a video on witnessing and then we all had a long and helpful discussion about sharing the gospel with others. The Lord has really given Grace a heart for witnessing, and she has a vision for encouraging young people to be bold with the gospel. She has written an excellent book on the topic of witnessing called “Will Our Generation Speak?” that is full of witnessing stories and practical helps. After our discussion, we went to a nearby park for personal time with the Lord, more fellowship, and a little bit of witnessing. Since there weren’t many people at the park to witness to, Grace took a group of us out after supper where we went witnessing at a nearby mall. I wish I had time to share the whole story here, but since I don’t, you can head over to Grace’s blog and read about our amazing, God-orchestrated evening here.

Sharing witnessing tips and ideas

Grace shared a session on witnessing at each conference

Here’s a few more random, behind-the-scenes pictures from our week:

Conference prep: making trail mix and decorating snack buckets

Our sleeping quarters – one of two classrooms that our group used for the week

Working together for meal preparation

Singing outside late at night (while the alarms system was going off in the church building!)

Meals for the group was quite the undertaking, one that Mrs. Beth Kramer (blue & white apron) and the Isaac sisters did with joy and skill

Leaders sharing time – talking about what the Lord has been teaching us

Mealtime fellowship

It was wonderful to see the W sisters again – we had so much fun and fellowship with these dear sisters-at-heart!

We stayed over Sunday and enjoyed worshiping at the chapel where the Mally’s attend.

Cedar Rapids Bible Chapel – don’t you love the sign on the wall?

One last meal after church (with a much smaller group) before heading back to MN

It was such a blessing to spend an entire week with a group of young ladies that love the Lord and are seeking to follow Him. We had a wonderful time of ministry and fellowship together. We were so thankful to the Lord to be able to take part in the ministry of the Bright Lights conferences.