Books for Babies

   While on a mission team trip to Townsend, Montana to help the Elkhorn Community Fellowship get started, Elaine and I were given the assignment to read books to babies.  We met with two other team members (Bobbi Ebert and Suzanne Mulling) in a special room in the elementary school library.  Four mothers and one grandmother brought in their little ones for us to play, sing, and read books to.

   We had a great time getting out the toys and playing with them on the floor.  I read several block books to them and led in singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Up Sunshine Mountain," and "Old Macdonald had a Farm"  Each mother got to pick a farm animal for us to mimic.  After two hours everyone left with happy smiles and warm thank yous for sharing our time with them.

Celebration

   One of the joys in serving on missionary ventures is meeting and establishing long lasting friendships with other Christians.  Elaine and I had the privilege of serving together with Walt and Millie Nadalson and Don and June Rediger.

   During our 2010 stay at Wycliffe Associates headquarters in Orlando, Florida we were taken by surprise.  At our Sunday evening service at the volunteer center chapel our friends surprised us with a 58th wedding anniversary celebration.  They called us up front and presented us with a beautiful anniversary cake and a money tree to help finance our upcoming mission trip to Cameroon, West Africa.  We were totally overwhelmed by their love and generosity.

    It's hard to find couples nowadays that have been married for 58 years.  It's been quite a ride and we've enjoyed every minute of it.

A Great Group of MK's.

During our KidZone children's ministry trip to Yaounde, Cameroon we had a great group of missionary kids for a week.  They were cooperative and enthusiastic bunch.  They willingly participated in the action songs, crafts, and Bible lessons.  It was a privilege and joy to work with them.

Missionary Kids

   During our recent mission trip adventure to Yaounde, Cameroon our KidZone team had the pleasure of working with thirty to forty missionary kids.

  Elaine and I along with one helper had sixteen three, four, and five year olds who were full of energy and excitement.  Pearl handled the first through third graders and Char had the fourth through sixth graders.  We used a VBS program called "Son Surf Beach Bash" from Gospel Light along with crafts, games, and outside activities.  It was a great program and we all had a lot of fun.

My Two Favorite Guys

   During our recent KidZone children's ministry trip to Cameroon, Elaine and I had the pleasure of working with the two Boutwell boys -- Keegan (3) and Caedman (5).  They were a ball of energy and it took all we had to keep up with them, but what fun we had!

   In the morning all the kids met together to sing action songs.  This was followed by Bible story time and crafts.  Both Keegan and Caedman were active participants.  Then we had our snack time and recreation in the playground.  Keegan loved to swing and keep saying, "Mr. Bob" I want to go higher.  We had a great time with them and shed a few tears when we had to leave to return home to the states. 

Reading Time

   One of my most enjoyable tasks working with the three, four, and five year old missionary kids was our reading time.  I checked out books from the school library and the little tykes would sit quietly while I showed them the books and read the stories.  Of course, I had to use a little dramatics to make the story come alive and draw them into the action, but that's what I loved doing the best. 

   These children spend most of their time our in the villages north of Bemenda in Cameroon where their parents are busy translating the word of God into the heart language of the native people.  The only time they get to see their other friends are when they come into the city for a conference or to work on the computer process.  Reading stories is a fun time for them, and I had the privilege of doing just that for four weeks in Yaounde.

Noah's Answer

One of our missionary pre-schoolers gave a perfectly splendid answer to our question about the Story of Creation.  He has only been with us for two days, but he knew exactly what God had created on each of the six days of creation as found in Genesis Chapter One.

  I was so pround of him and asked him how to knew so much about the Story of Creation.  Noah told me that his parents had a lot of Bible story books and they read them together all the time.  What a blessing to have parents who care about their children's knowledge and understanding of God's word.  Keep up the good work Noah.