July 16 – Joanna took Caleb and Stephen and me to RDU. We arrived just in front of Kyle and Christina. Her mom was going to keep their children. The little one was crying. This upset Joanna. We went inside the airport and proceeded to check-in. We had no problems. I had two suitcases. One was mostly clothes. The other had booklets, fans, air mattresses, and extra food. I also had a carry-on bag that contained some extra food, my laptop, the camp notebook, and extra clothes. The camera that I brought was disappointing. I’m not sure that I ever quite figured it out. Stephen had one suitcase and a little carry-on. Caleb had a suitcase and a back-pack carry-on. The others started to show up and I helped get the kids checked-in and their bags checked. We had a brief meeting with Dan Bowers and then headed through security. I don’t believe anyone had any trouble although one of the ladies opened my bag and looked at the book on learning Cantonese. We then went to the terminal gate and sat down. Some went to get food. Several were on their cell phones with parents and I was still trying to figure out my camera. I talked to Joanna a couple of times. My phone rang and it registered an unknown name. I answered and the Chinese voice on the other end asked if I was a pastor. “What church do you pastor? Are you going to China? What is the purpose of your trip?” I told him we had a student group coming. My phone was breaking up because I wasn’t getting a great signal in the airport. The man said he was from the Chinese Embassy. He said you know there is to be no religious activity in China. I said that we were religious. No religious activity in China. I hung up. I told Kyle and a couple of other adults what was happening. I was talking to Pastor Benson about this when my phone rang again. I couldn’t get close to the window for a better signal before the phone cut off. I was racking my brain thinking who could be playing a joke on me. It wasn’t one of the church people. It wasn’t one of my brothers-in-law. The phone rang again. This is the Chinese Embassy. You are taking a group to China and don’t know what you are going to be doing. “Let me let you talk to one of our leaders.” I handed the phone to Kyle. He was very calm and professional. When the man asked for Kyle’s Visa number he said that he wouldn’t give it to him. He said that he didn’t know who was calling at that they should have all of that information. They hung up and then Mike Eccleston called Kyle to check-in. Kyle told him how everything was going and then said we may have had a little setback. He told him of my receiving the call from the Chinese Embassy. He and Mike talked a moment and then Mike said he would need to get some more information from me. I grabbed the phone and heard “This is the Chinese Embassy.” It was Pastor Wong. Kyle and I both had been taken, but mostly me. With a sigh of relief and a forced smile, I told the group what had just happened. We had a brief meeting with the team and then boarded the plane. It wasn’t a very big plane. I’ve been on smaller, but this one was tight. It had two huge propellers. We flew to Newark. The landing was a little bumpy. It was hazy out, but you could see the NYC skyline. We had a brief meeting and then went to grab some lunch. I hung out with Pastor Benson, Pastor Gotcher, and Dr. Henry. We ate… Chinese food. We talked until past the time we were supposed to meet. I honestly thought Kyle said 2:30, but he said 2:00. We showed up about 2:20. We got everybody together and then met for a little bit. We boarded the huge 777. We all sat near the back as a group. We had another group from Ohio that was interspersed with our group. They were from Canton. They were going to Hong Kong to work with a church for the week. When I put my large carry-on in the storage bin above, I looked at the lady next to me (Carol) and said, “I’m glad you are not fat.” She was in her 60’s. She had been saved for only about 10 years. On the flight over I asked her about her testimony and we talked about the Lord most of the time. The flight was brutally long. We had a decent supper. It was salad and beef and rice. Everyone tried to stretch their legs every couple of hours. Each seat on the airplane had an entertainment touch screen in front of it. You could choose to watch movies, TV shows, music, or games. I started to watch a couple of kids movies, but couldn’t get into them. After a few hours, I watched Pink Panther 2, with Steve Martin. I also watched a show about the Ryder Cup, a show about the monuments in Washington D.C., and a show about the Smithsonian. I didn’t watch anything else. I believe everybody on the plane slept more than I did. I tried to stay awake the entire time so that I would be exhausted when we got to China. I dozed for about 15-20 minutes during the Ryder Cup program. I also dozed for about ten minutes shortly before we landed. We had a snack of pretzels and a drink. I drank orange juice each time. We also had a cheeseburger around midnight. At about 5:30 we had breakfast. We were flying into Hong Kong where it was 5:30 in the evening.

July 17 – We landed in Hong Kong and it was still light outside. We had to go through immigration, which wasn’t very difficult. We had to wait in a line for a few minutes. Stephen didn’t look like his passport photo so they did a double-take on him, but he got through without any real problem. We got all of our suitcases without any problem and then met Mike Eccleston and Pastor Cedric Wong. When I saw Cedric, I gave him a big hug. Chinese people don’t usually like getting hugged, but I think he enjoyed this one. They took us outside where it was hot and humid. We waited on a bus and then put all of our luggage underneath. The ride to Pastor Wong’s church was about 20 minutes. We unpacked a little bit and changed into shorts and T-shirts. We blew up about half of the air mattresses. Several of the people used Mike’s computer to talk to their parents through Skype. I talked to Joanna through text messages a couple of times and also emailed back and forth. I had her call my phone because I wasn’t sure how to call out of Hong Kong. We went out with most of the group (Christina Sullivan went right to sleep), walked around the block to a restaurant. Several of the kids ordered a pastry which looked a little bit like a Little Debbie Cake. Several of us wanted to eat something authentic so we got a chicken and rice dish that had an interesting relish. Pastor Gotcher told me about the hot pepper sauce which I put on my chicken near the end. It definitely opened my sinuses. We went back to the church. I called Mom on Skype. The guys then pumped up their air mattresses. Scott Olson was using a battery-powered pump that was really slow. We also used a hand pump which could do three mattresses before Scott got one done. We had a meeting with the group and then everyone settled down to sleep. I fell asleep fairly quickly. It was around 11:00 p.m. I woke up at 1:00 a.m. wide awake. I stayed awake for about an hour. I prayed for our group and for the Lord to use me. I really tried to focus on the Lord. This trip is about Him, not us. I fell back asleep and then woke up around 4:30. I prayed again and then went to the bathroom and shaved in the sink with cold water. There was a huge cockroach that didn’t react when I tried to shoo him away. While I was shaving I felt him crawl over my foot and I kicked him across the floor. I went back to the air mattress and tried to figure out my phone.

July 18 – At about 6:30 I walked out into the lobby and talked to Kyle and Mike. It was now Saturday morning. We got the group together and took everyone about five blocks away to an athletic club where we took showers. It was a nice complex. We then walked back to the church. We then walked about a mile away for breakfast. Most of the group went to McDonald’s. About eight of us went to Fairwood, a Hong Kong chain restaurant. It was really good food. I got a soup that had chicken, macaroni noodles, and diced tomatoes. It tasted Italian. It was delicious. We walked back to the church passing through a park. People were doing Tai Chi in the park. We had a meeting in the lobby area of the church. The church was a lobby room which was probably fifteen feet by ten feet deep, a work area behind that. To the right was an assembly room where the ladies stayed, there were two bathrooms and a workroom and kitchen behind that. Next to the ladies’ room was another assembly room which is where they had church services, which also serves as a study room for area students during the week. At the meeting, Mike told us what to expect as we went to China. He also gave each of us a small package of toilet paper. We then packed up everything. I packed everything I needed from the three bags into one extremely heavy bag. Someone named my bag the herniator. We loaded our luggage on a bus. The luggage was stacked in the first few seats. We then drove to the border where we divided up into four different groups. We were given Octopus cards which gave us access to the trains, like a Subway. It was a little difficult getting all of us with our luggage through the different changes we had to make. We then divided up to try to go through the inspections to get into China. We had to fill out a health card statement. We also had to fill out an immigration card. Jesse Evans and I went to the restroom while Mike was talking to someone in another group. We were trying to spread out so we didn’t look like such a big group. One of the groups had already tried to get through. Mike was concerned because the people in the other group were made to wear masks. Each was taken into a place where they had their temperatures taken and they were asked questions. Jesse and I came out of the bathroom and turned down the wrong hall and came out on the other side of the first checkpoint. One person in the other group saw us and asked how we got over there. We then realized what we had done and went back the other way. When we got back to Caleb, Stephen, and the other Jesse, Mike walked up to us and told us that they weren’t going to let Jared in because he had a fever. He wanted us to go ahead and try to get through. He and Robert were going to stay back with Jared. The other groups were trying to get through. The two Jesses went off together. Caleb and Stephen and I went ahead. We had to fill out the immigration cards and then stand in a little line. When we got to the front of the line one of the workers examined our papers and then read our temperatures off of our foreheads. The three of us then took our papers over to another table where three different people looked at our passports. They asked us how long we had been in Hong Kong. I replied one day. They were scurrying around together. I could tell what was about to happen. They grabbed our papers and said “this way.” We went off together down that same back hall where I had seen the other group earlier. Now, Caleb and Stephen and I were in the nurses’ area, wearing masks and having our temperature taken. We sat calmly. Jared was in the room next to us. He also had on a mask. He was at the nurses’ desk. You could tell he was a little bit scared. Jared said, “They are not going to let me in. I have a fever.” Caleb asked, “what was it?” Jared said, “They said it is 102 degrees.” I looked straight ahead and told Caleb not to talk. We didn’t need to look like we were with Jared. Cameras and microphones were everywhere. I said, “I was hoping we could do some shopping,” just in case some Chinese person on the other end of the cameras and microphones could understand our English. We sat with thermometers under our arms for about ten minutes. The nurse then took our thermometers. She looked at me and said, “You have fever?” I replied, “No!” After a minute or two she grabbed our stuff and handed it back to us. We went out into the main concourse area again and talked to several of our group. Mike and Robert were there. Robert was part of Jared’s group. When Robert had his temperature taken one of the Chinese nurses asked, “Why you so red? You have fever.” Robert said, “I live at the beach, I’m always red.” “You have fever.” He looked and laughed and said, “No, I’m always red.” Mike and Robert were going to take Jared back to Cedric’s house in Hong Kong. Stephen and Caleb and I were supposed to try to get through. Mike gave me the Chinese money he had for us. It was about $1,000 American. I put it in my pocket and we went back through the line where they take your temperature on your forehead. We walked back to the table where our luggage was left before they took us to the nurses. I pointed at the workers at the table when I showed them the passports. The Chinese man nodded and took our three passports and stamped them. We went to another line. Jesse Sellers was still in the nurses’ office. We didn’t see Jesse Evans. We got to the front of the line and the Chinese man looked over my stuff, hesitated a little, and then stamped my passport. I went through and then waited at the other side off in the distance where I could see Caleb and Stephen. Stephen went through next. He was really calm and cool. They let him through without any problem. Stephen came and stood by me and we watched Caleb in the distance. This time it was Caleb that they thought didn’t look like his passport. They showed the passport to a couple of people. Caleb was really cool about it. After a tense moment, he had his passport and immigration papers stamped. Stephen and I turned to walk away and Caleb caught up with us. We were almost there. We had to put our luggage through the screener. I put “the herniator” on the conveyer to go through the X-Ray machine. I had my laptop computer, the booklets for the workers, and my main camp notebook in the suitcase. It came through the screener without any problems. Stephen had his suitcase, plus a bag full of MissionSports T-Shirts. His luggage went through without any problem. Caleb was last. No problem either. We got through and I said, “Let’s go, don’t look back.” And we walked briskly into China. When we walked out of the building you could feel the heat and humidity. It was around 1:30 p.m. We were in Shenzen on the border of China. It was a big street that was covered, somewhat like a parking deck. There were vendors and little stores all around, selling food, cell phones, and travel information. We saw our group off to the right about one hundred feet away. We had everyone, but Robert, Mike, and Jared who we knew were not coming, and then Pastor Alan, Jesse Sellers, and Megan, and Tonya. I gave the money to Kyle. Michael and I walked over close to the exit and waited. I was concerned about Jesse. I felt like the other older folks could handle themselves. After about twenty minutes of nervous concern, Pastor Benson and the others walked up to the group. They had walked down to the train station about a half of a mile away looking for our group. They were all together, including Jesse. We then walked down to the train station. Here we were given a little purple plastic coin-shaped token. We walked through the turnstile after it scanned the token. It must have had a microchip of some kind in it. It was difficult again getting everyone with their luggage through the different stations. The doors started to close on one and we had about four of our group still on the train. Stephen stood between the doors so that the rest of our group could get off. We rode a couple of different trains to where we came out into Shenzen. We then gathered together again. I turned my phone on to see if it would work. I received an email so I knew I had data. We then got on board the really fast train that would take us to Guangzhou. By this time everyone was hungry so Kyle went to order us some food on the train. They didn’t have a whole lot left. They had some wings, a thigh and leg, a rice and chicken meal, and then dumplings in a cup. It took us about an hour on the train to get to Guangzhou.The train was moving at about 90 mph. We passed millions of people on our way. It was quite the experience just to ride along the railway. We did see some farms, but along the train tracks, there was never a real countryside. When we got to Guangzhou we walked out of the train station to the street where Cedric called the bus line to reserve a bus for us. We walked up a street that was full of people, several restaurants and stores, and as Kyle described, “the smells of Iquitos.” You could smell the sewage and waste. We turned a corner and arrived at a large intersection with huge buildings and much bigger stores. We saw a McDonald’s across the street. I wish now we would have gone in and grabbed a hamburger or two.

Two Chinese ladies were very excited to be in the “big” city. They were taking pictures of each other and Michael would get behind them about twenty feet away and just grin so he would be in the picture. We walked a couple of blocks down to the bus stop. There was a group of about twenty Chinese who had come to go to the camp. They arrived in Guangzhou at about the same time we did. They were from the country and had never seen the big buildings. Kyle talked to several of them trying to get their names. The bus arrived and we started to get on. They were taking all of our luggage to the back. The bus driver was on the cell phone. He was upset and yelling into the phone. Cedric said that he was ashamed because he didn’t understand that we would have this much luggage. He was embarrassed to treat the foreigners that way. We packed into the bus like a can of sardines. A couple of seats had three to them. Pastor Gotcher was in the back throwing luggage and stacking it to the ceiling. Jesse Sellers stood the whole way. Kyle and Alan were standing or sitting on the front step of the bus. I stood in front of Billy (Pastor Gotcher) who was laying across some of the luggage in the back. After about 40 minutes of riding, I finally wiggled down to the floor and laid down with Stephen’s carry on behind my head. When we arrived at the camp, it took us less time to unload the luggage. Most of it went through a window in the back. One of the campers and I carried “the herniator” out of the front. We then settled into our rooms. We had air conditioning in the buildings. It took a little bit for them to cool everything off, but after a little bit, it actually got cold. We went down for supper. It was very authentic. We had duck with the head staring at us. A couple of green dishes, like spinach, or something that tasted like asparagus. It wasn’t that bad, but I don’t think I had anything that I thought was really good. After supper, we had a team meeting and tried to settle down a little bit. It was late when we got to bed. Everyone slept fairly well.

July 19 – On Sunday morning I woke up early and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I walked into spider webs. I was taking my shaving cream out of my bag and I heard the door loosen. The wind from the typhoon that came through had opened the door. I’m glad it did because when I turned around I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen. I thought it was a tarantula. It was big and hairy. It probably was a giant wolf spider. I grabbed him with a towel and flushed him down our toilet. Sunday was a great day. Breakfast has been the best meal of the day so far. We had a tomato soup with scrambled eggs in it. We also had rice. Each meal we have had some kind of big leafy green that is stringy, but not too bad. I like the really thin rice noodles. One meal we had little minnows that were crunchy and fishy. The fish we ate at least once a day came out of a little pond like you would have in your back yard. They just go snatch them out with a net and then at the next meal he is staring at you on the plate. For the morning service, we sang God is so Good in English and Mandarin. Luke preached from Jeremiah. We learned that when someone says goodbye in Chinese, it means I will see you again. We need to say good-bye to sin, but not in Chinese. Luke is from Taiwan. He knows Christian Wei and has been to UBC once. After lunch we rested a little bit and then it rained extremely hard. We then walked from the bottom of the hill at the restaurant to the top of the hill where the pool is. Several of us climbed up the little waterfall up the side of the mountain. We had team meetings. I hung out with the Wilmington group because Robert wasn’t there. We went over some of the circle games and skits. We then prayed for the week of camp and for the team members that weren’t with us. Afterward, several of us played a couple of mind games. Stephen did some game about pink pigs and a game about a box. We got cleaned up for supper. That meal was the worst one so far. I gagged on a little shrimp. It was really small and you ate the head, tail, and everything in between. It was extremely fishy. At the end of the meal, they brought out sliced watermelon. The Americans went crazy. Brittany threw up after she went back to her room. She doesn’t like seafood but she wants to try everything. I believe it was the same shrimp that did her in. After supper, we had another meeting with the Chinese. We sang Alleluia, Praise Ye the Lord. We then played a couple of other games. Everyone was tired and went to bed around 10 p.m.

July 20 – On Monday we had a wonderful breakfast, scrambled eggs, ramen noodles, rice, etc. We met with the team as a whole and the Chinese, we sang some songs, Kyle gave a little devotional with Henry as an interpreter. I don’t think Henry has ever done that before. He struggled a little but did fairly well. We then gave out the cabin assignments and prepared to meet the campers as they came in. It wasn’t long before a group came up to our room all excited. Two of them were pastors who spoke pretty good English. The two teenagers knew a little English, enough to communicate. Lunch was fairly good. Kyle and I tried an herbal tea drink. It was really hot outside. We had filled the big balls but didn’t have a needle to fill the basketballs and playground balls. We decided to go swimming. The pool was very large. The guys and girls swam at the same time, but they stayed on separate sides of the pool. We had some more campers arrive. On the way down the hill, we saw a bus coming in. On the bus was Cedric’s wife, Mike Eccleston, Robert Upton, and Jared Poe. They still had a tough time getting Jared through. His temperature normally runs a little high. They had been to a doctor in Hong Kong and gotten a letter. The Chinese said, “If you no sick, why you go doctor?” Mike was about ready to bribe them, but they let them through. Tonya was really glad to see him. He had smuggled in some KFC. Caleb was playing basketball with the Chinese while we were walking down the hill. I met with Mike and Kyle and we showed Mike the camp. We then gathered all of the campers and played a game of big ball volleyball. The team leaders did a great job of cheering. The Chinese really got into it. The green team won the game. We then got ready for supper. Supper was pretty good today also. The food has been good all day. After supper, we went to the service. The lights were flickering on and off. The fans weren’t working so it was really hot. The Wilmington group began with a skit – the contagious disease ward. The Chinese laughed after each person came on stage. They loved it. We sang again. The Wilmington group also led us in “Bind us Together” with the motions. I then gave the camp rules. We sang a little more and then I preached on “Knowing God.” Bob interpreted for me. He has an undergrad degree from BJU. He is a nice man and did a great job interpreting. After the service, we met with the team for a little bit then headed to bed. On a funny note, that morning, Alan had talked about a shaving oil that doesn’t lather up but works great. He has used it several times, but on this day after he got through shaving, he realized he had shaved with eye drops.  On Tuesday evening, I slept in the one room where the air conditioning worked. The room originally had Caleb and two Chinese teens in it. One of them didn’t feel well and wanted to be in the heat. I moved my air mattress from the front room to the back bedroom. When we went to bed it was cool. During the middle of the night, it got really cold. I woke Caleb up. He had the remote control for the air conditioner. I said, “Caleb, it is cold!” The Chinese boy said, “Cold!” Caleb gave me the remote and I turned it off for a while. I turned the air back on before everyone woke up.

July 21 – I was able to get a shower in the morning. After the shower, I washed the squatty potty with the showerhead and then sprayed it all with Lysol. The Chinese don’t have a lot so they wash out what they wore yesterday and then hang it out to dry so they can wear it again. Before breakfast, I was working on the calendar and journaling in the front room. Bob had all of the Chinese on our floor come into the room. They turned in their Bibles to a passage and took turns each reading a verse. Then after they read a couple of chapters Bob talked for about ten minutes and then prayed. Breakfast was excellent this morning. I walked up the hill to the service with Dr. Kennedy. He is with the Rawlings Foundation. They paid about $15,000 to help kids get to camp.  Kyle did a great job with the message on What I Believe About God. It is fun to listen to the Chinese sing and to see their joy. I told some of our team that I wanted to take these Chinese back home with me. After the morning service, we had God and I Time. We had the counselors take their group of kids and read over the devotional. The first one dealt with God as Creator. Caleb and I were together with the group. Caleb wasn’t feeling well. He was a little dehydrated and didn’t talk very much. The Chinese took turns reading through the different sections on the devotional. Afterward, I tried to learn to say the memory verse in Chinese. We then prayed silently. Next, came a giant game of steal the bacon. The Chinese love competition and are very enthusiastic. While standing next to Mike, he told me that the cops had been asking about the camp. The night before they had asked what we were doing? Now, they were asking for passport numbers and descriptions of what is happening. Mike was telling them that we were a student group, that we are teaching American concepts and ideas. So far, we haven’t run into any major problems.I think the locals are wondering what we are doing? After lunch, we had another decent lunch. Then we rested for a little bit, then cabin challenges (building as many 6 person pyramids as we can) and then up to the pool where we cool off. Pool time is shower time for many of the Chinese. We had a game scheduled for 4:30 p.m. While heading back down the hill for the game, Pastor Wong approached me and said we had to shut everything down. At first, I wasn’t sure if he was joking again, but it didn’t take long to realize he was serious. The police were on the campsite as were several higher officials. They had been questioning Cedric about the camp. There were several reasons for them finding out about us. One was the camp was not set up to host foreigners. Foreigners are only allowed to stay in 3 star and above. I’m not sure what our camp would be listed as. Also, the owners didn’t have a license for business. Cedric said that they heard our singing. It may have been someone from the area village. The locals used the showers and bathrooms at the top of the hill and also used the pool. Maybe one of them tipped the authorities off. Cedric said that the different provinces knew that something was going on at the camp. He said there were many reasons. We went ahead and played the game, circle dodgeball. The Chinese really like big ball volleyball so Robert and I went back down to my room to get one of the big balls. We had pretty much destroyed both of them on the concrete court. One of them leaked and the other one had a tear in the cover. We chose the one with the tear. It looked like the ball had popped out a hernia. While the kids played, I stood on the side trying to figure what was happening and what was going to happen next. I went down the hill to Mike’s room to get T-shirts. I also went to the top of the hill to get tracts (the Bridge). When I returned to the playing court I could feel the tears welling up. Word had started to spread through our group. Before long, several of our group were crying. I guess the Chinese picked up on it because it wasn’t long before the cameras came out and just about everybody was taking pictures. I posed with the Chinese for several pictures. One person said, “You very strong man.” The girls were extremely expressive and cute. One of them reminded me so much of Bethany with her expressions. She was a little shy the first night and then on the second day she was much more expressive. They said, “We love you so much.” “We really miss you.” Again, it was hard to choke back the tears. We decided to divide into boys and girls and play another game. We played circle dodgeball again with the girls while the boys were quizzed about stuff they had learned over the past couple of days. If someone got the answer right then they were given a Missions Sports T-shirt. Luke did a good job of explaining the messed up phrase at the bottom. Your life doesn’t make sense either unless Christ is in your life. We wanted to be able to give the gospel one last time. After Luke finished with the boys we switched sides and he quizzed the girls. We then went down to supper where more pictures were taken. I gave our campers Bridge tracts for their cabins. I also gave tracts to the workers behind the counter and those sitting over in the corner. They were so receptive. One of the girls behind the counter asked what the word and numbers meant on the bottom. She didn’t understand Bible references. I had Luke explain and then she went back to reading the tract. I looked over in the corner and saw others reading the tracts. We then went back up to one of the cabins and met with just our team to hear what had happened and how. I don’t know if we will ever understand why. Kyle said that one of the campers told him “I miss you forever.” Kyle responded by saying that if he knew Jesus, he wouldn’t miss him forever, but that he would see him forever. The camper responded I know Jesus in my heart. It was humbling to see what God had done in such a short period of time. The pastors had great sessions. It was fun to see everyone interacting with the Chinese, but Dr. Henry was really fun to watch.

July 22 – On Wednesday morning, we packed up a little and then headed to breakfast. More pictures were taken and the same boy called me to sit by him again. I had given him a Nike cap the night before that I tried to give him the first day. Breakfast was pretty good. We then met as a group and Pastor Gotcher spoke to our group. He challenged us with the power of the gospel and reminded us of the Thessalonian believers who received the Word amidst great persecution. We then sang a little: To God be the Glory, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, I Love You Lord. We walked out and saw the solar eclipse. Wow! I never thought I would see a solar eclipse in China. I’m still seeing a dot in front of my eyes. Dr. Henry used one of the water boxes and put two holes on one side so that we could look through one and see the eclipse. Pastor Gotcher took several good pictures with his Sony camera. We then packed up and cleaned our rooms. When the bus arrived we packed the luggage again and started for Guangzhou. I saw the Chinese countryside for the first time. When we came to camp I was on the floor. We traveled down a dirt road for a little bit before we made it to the road. It wasn’t very long before we came to a small village. People were out working on their farms. The mountains around reminded me of being near the Wilds except the trees were different. It took us about an hour to get to Guangzhou. When we arrived at the hotel we unloaded the bus and stood in the lobby while Mike registered. After a minute, there was too much commotion from our group and he told us to go back towards the elevators. Then a few minutes later he came back and said that he needed 19 passports. Several of us were told then to go to the 29th floor. We had a registration for 19, but we had 25 because the other three pastors were not going to be able to go North to visit their missionaries. We also thought that they were going to be able to teach some of the house pastors in Guangzhou, but that wasn’t going to happen either. We had already attracted the attention of the Chinese officials and didn’t want to jeopardize any future ministry for them. A few anxious moments later the rest of the group came up. Mike paid with a credit card. On the back, he had written “Please Ask for Identification.” The lady behind the counter made him sign the same thing “Please Ask for Identification,” so that was his signature all week at the hotel. We got settled into our rooms. I was with Pastor Alan. The rooms were nice. The beds were very hard. We had our own bathroom with a real toilet. We also had an incredible view. Those on our side of the hotel could see the Pearl River and the incredible bridges. Skyscrapers could be seen as far as the eye could see in any direction. We went to Mike’s room and he told us the plan. We looked out his window and could see buildings everywhere. He showed us the Buddhist Temple. That was our first place to visit when we went downstairs. We walked up a narrow alley and smelled the incense burning. People were selling the incense all along the side of the road. When we approached the Temple we realized we were looking at a building that is several hundred years old. There were three huge statues of Buddha in the front. Each had its hands in a different position. People would walk up with their incense and wave it to the statues and then pray. It was so sad that it made me cry watching them. We split up and walked around the Temple. The mood of our group was solemn and respectful. On each side, there were other statues and paintings. On the backside, the entire wall was covered with what looked like bookmarks in the states. Each of the little cards had a picture of a loved one and some words on it. People were bowing and praying to these relatives. I could see that the teens were moved like I was. I saw Leighton in the front and told him that I first was really sad, but then I was mad. We saw several take their incense and throw it into a bag of trash. He said, “That is where it all goes. In the trash.” We stayed for just a few more minutes and then walked through the busy streets up towards one of the malls. We took an elevator up to the fifth floor and then walked into the biggest Pizza Hut I have ever seen. We sat as a group and looked at the menus. The menu was the largest I had ever seen. Mike ordered several pizzas for the group and I drank a 7-Up. It was wonderful just to have ice. The pizza was thin crust and greasy, but it was probably the best-tasting pizza in the world. At least it tasted that way after several days of camp food. After supper, we divided into groups to walk around. Scott, Jesse E., Stephen, Caleb, and I walked through the other end of the Pizza Hut and entered into an eight-story mall. It was unique in that it looked like a large department store, but each department was a separate store. The prices were not that good. We went to the top floor of stores and walked our way down. We stopped and sampled some Gelato. Caleb ended up buying a cone which cost him almost $4. It only had one little scoop. We walked out into the street and saw people everywhere. The street was lit up like Times Square. It was amazing to see all of the commercialism. There were stores everywhere. Chinese men would walk up with little catalogs and say “Watchy, watchy.” We would try to tell them no but they were persistent. “T-shirt, T-shirt, Armani, suit-ee.” We walked up the road and saw a glass-covered area that showed the roads that were underground, each one dating back to previous Chinese dynasties. Some were over a thousand years old. We had a few people asking us for money. We didn’t buy anything, we just looked. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a McDonald’s and the other guys bought an ice cream Sunday. It cost $1. I couldn’t resist the four-piece spicy chicken combo. It was four wings that were fried but very spicy, more so than Bojangles. The french fries were the best in the world. I shared those with our group. We then went back to the hotel and to Mike’s room for a meeting. When we walked into the room. Mike looked at me and said, “I thought I left my bag over there.” We didn’t say anything to the kids, but we were all a little paranoid. We had a good meeting and laid out the plan. We were going to have to be tourists the next day. We would start the day with breakfast and then return to the hotel. The four pastors would take about thirty minutes each to teach four different groups which would switch between the pastors. We then would go to a water park or the zoo. I slept extremely well. When I am exhausted, I snore. Poor Pastor Alan didn’t sleep very much.

July 23 – Most of the group went to McDonald’s for breakfast, but about eight of us went to a local place. The local place had no one that spoke English. We saw some of the pictures on the wall. I saw what one of the ladies was eating behind us and said let’s all just get that. Mike ordered eight of those. It turned out to be rice noodles layered with sausage, onions, and soy sauce. It was kind of like a Chinese lasagna. It was very good. When it came out we still didn’t know what we were getting. One of the girls said I hope it is not jellyfish. We returned to our rooms and got started later on the meetings. We were only going to have about forty-five minutes for Bible teaching. Alan and I took the girls. He did an excellent explanation on 1 Thessalonians 5 about the kinds of people you meet. He was very interactive and the girls were getting involved and asking questions so I encouraged him just to keep going with that thought. After the session, we packed up for our trip to the water park and zoo. I got to talk to one of the girls about friends before we left. On our way out of the hotel, the kids and most of the adults had already boarded the bus when Alan, Kyle, and I walked out of the hotel. A policeman stopped me and asked to see my passport. I told him that our passports were upstairs in our bags. Mike had told us to keep them with our luggage. We didn’t realize that there could be a fine if we weren’t carrying our passports and we were stopped. The policeman asked us what we were doing. Pastor Wong told him we were going to the water park. I felt like I was playing Charades as I tried to communicate to him that we were going swimming. The three of us had to go get our passports. In fact, everyone on the bus went to get their passports. But the three of us had to go with the policeman to the lobby of the hotel and he copied down all of our information. The bus ride over was incredible. We rode through Guangzhou. It took us about an hour to get to the parks, but we never left the city. We rode along the Pearl River and crossed the bridge. If you watched the road, you probably would have a heart attack. The driving was overly aggressive, but a lot of give and take. Earlier in the morning I had looked out my window from the 29th floor and thought I was watching a game of Frogger. I just knew I was going to see someone hit by a car or two cars collide.  On our trip to the parks, I sat with Dr. Henry. We were talking about how we were never out of sight of a government vehicle. We could just imagine the Chinese playing their spy games. We stopped for lunch at Texas Burger. The sign was a Burger King logo with Texas Burger in the middle. We had a choice of chicken sandwich or hamburger. I will assure you that the hamburger didn’t taste anything like beef. After we got to the park, Pastor Wong went to buy our tickets. He tried to get group tickets to save us some money, but we ended up having to get individual tickets. One of the groups from the camp showed up and we talked with them a little bit before going into the water park. About half of our group also went to the zoo. When we entered the park. The attendant asked us if we were a group and we replied no, just individuals. We went into the park where we changed clothes and then got lockers to store our things. The Chinese bought swimsuits. I was surprised by the modesty of the Chinese women. Several of the men’s suits though are just gross. We then went as a group to the first ride. It was a huge, fast water slide. Four of us rode on a tube together. We then visited several of the other rides. I lost my sunglasses when I had to leave them at the top of one of the rides. I tried to go back up to get them, but after getting about halfway up I hit the Great Wall of China. There was no way I would get through that crowd. On my way up, I had a couple of little boys and a woman stop me. They said “Hi.” I thought they must have been from the camp so I shook their hands and did the little snap. We all laughed and then the lady asked me “You go us, four.” She was pointing saying that I could be the fourth one in their group. Ooops, they were not from the camp. I smiled and said no and walked away. We then went on several other rides. This water park is the largest in the world. I remembered seeing a show on the Travel Channel about the top 10 waterparks. Little did I know that I would get to visit this one. We had a great time being the silly Americans. Everyone was hollering and screaming on the rides. At the end of the day, we had just a little bit of time so eight of us decided to ride the big one up front one last time. On the way down, Caleb and Stephen’s tube buckled and the two of them hit heads. Caleb actually came off the tube and grabbed Jesse S’s arm. Jesse just laughed and started to push Caleb off but then realized he was hurt. They tumbled into the pool at the bottom and Caleb came up with blood running down his face. One of the lifeguards at the bottom took him over to a shed and called someone. Jake and I jumped in the pool and helped the Chinese people coming down the slide get out of their tubes and then we put the tubes on the conveyor belt up to the top. We took Caleb to a couple of men from the park who said they wanted to take Caleb to the hospital. “You go with us to hospital.” We didn’t want to do that. Caleb said he just needed a bandaid when we realized they were wanting us to go to a first aid station. We walked over to the first aid station behind one of the rides. The doctor or nurse in there cleaned his wound and just put a bandaid on it. The gash looked like he could have taken about three stitches, but we didn’t want to mess with that in Guangzhou, so when we got back to the hotel Mike cleaned it again and put a new bandaid on it. We then boarded the bus and went to pick up the people at the zoo. The zoo, waterpark, and amusement park all were on the same massive piece of property. When the people from the zoo got on the bus, they couldn’t stop talking about how incredible it was. I remembered hearing about this being one of the best zoos in China. We went back to Guangzhou and then went to supper in the mall at a Taiwanese Steak House. All of our steaks were brought out on a hot skillet. I also had noodles and sauce (sort of like spaghetti), broccoli, carrots, and an egg that was frying on the skillet. It was incredible. I also got a 7-Up. Afterward, we walked around the shopping area again. Caleb bought a couple of shirts. We went back to the hotel.

July 24 – The next morning we went out for breakfast. Several of us went to what must have been the area’s equivalent to K&W. There were older people all throughout the restaurant. We walked through the main dining area and then through a kitchen area. On the other side, there was another dining area and a room off to the side of it. No one spoke English and the menu was completely in Chinese. Mike went out to the dining area and pointed to different people’s food. One lady kept wanting him to choose what she was eating. It was almost like a game show with the Chinese getting excited over what Mike chose for our group. It was a good variety and everything was delicious. I actually am getting pretty good with chopsticks. We returned to our room for our devotional time. This time I taught the boys from Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. We had a really good discussion and the topic tied right into everything that we had been experiencing. Just before Alan began to speak there was a knock on our door. We were going to have to leave right away. We had about thirty minutes to pack and get out of the Lido Hotel. I had most of my stuff ready. I was saddened that we wouldn’t be able to see the museum. I had heard that it is incredible. As the teens packed their stuff,  Alan, Michael, and I left the hotel to go look for sunglasses for me and a couple of T-Shirts for Michael. Michael found a pair of fake Oakley’s with four different lenses. He got the lady down to $11, so I bought the glasses. We looked at some watches, some pearls, some other jewelry, and then headed back. We went into the jewelry store just underneath but the prices were way too pricey. We saw Mike and Billy crossing the busy road in front of the hotel.  Michael tried to go catch them, but the light turned red and the traffic cop held Michael back. I’m sure if anyone was watching us then they would have gotten worried. The three of us in front of the jewelry store; one stays, one cuts across the street, and one goes into the hotel. I found out that we were supposed to be out of the hotel by noon. It was going to be close. We went down to the lobby and stored our things in a side room. Everyone then went to McDonald’s. It was way too crowded so Mike just asked us if we wanted chicken nuggets or cheeseburgers. We waited in the back of the lobby. We were not sure when the bus would arrive, but we had to be ready at a moment’s notice. They brought our lunch to us and we ate in the back of the lobby, trying not to make too much of a commotion. When the bus arrived we again packed all of our luggage underneath and headed out of town. This time we weren’t going to take the train to Shenzen. We were going to try to cross the border another way where we wouldn’t draw as much attention. When the nice big motor coach pulled out, we saw the awesome skyline of Guangzhou. Buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Photos and words cannot begin to describe how incredible it was. Everyone sat in the back of the bus because we were picking up some of the Chinese workers from the church and also Jake and Chad. They were staying at a military hotel that was very nice. Before we picked them up, Pastor Wong came to the back of the bus to tell us what had happened. Apparently, someone in Hong Kong had alerted the Chinese government that we were coming. They believed that two emails tipped them off. Of course, the Chinese government can monitor any cell phone calls or emails. Pastor Wong believes that someone was deliberately trying to sabotage the camp. There was a group from the North in China that was planning on going to the camp, but they were turned back by the authorities so somehow the officials knew there was going to be a camp. Pastor Wong said that they had been watching us since we first entered into China.That may explain some of the problems we had getting everyone through on the first day. Maybe they were trying to rattle us a little. I noticed that it was all about intimidation. Their intimidation apparently was working on Cedric who normally was very calm. He had indeed been rattled. We had no idea at the time, but he said that eighty cops were assigned to follow and watch our group at the waterpark. They had video. We had a political connection that I won’t say a whole lot about, but this person came to our defense. This person had threatened to send in the military if the local police did anything to us while we were at the camp. The head of the religious department in China (he was referred to as the  Pope of China) even came to our defense. This person that is in a position of power in the Chinese government is a believer and they said that the Communists proclaim their belief system and that we Christians are going to defend our belief system also. I look back now on the entire episode and I see little things all along that point to the fact that we were being targeted. The officials were ready at the waterpark to arrest us for unlawfully assembling a group if we bought a group ticket. Pastor Wong wanted to buy a group ticket, but the park made us buy individual tickets. God in His sovereignty worked everything out for us for our safety and protection, and also for His glory. It is amazing to think that our witness went all the way to the top, and when I say top, I mean the top of the Chinese government. It took us a little longer to get to the border this time because we were riding a bus. Along the way, we saw huge buildings and neighborhoods the entire way. We stopped to use the bathroom at a gas station. A military helicopter was following us. It circled over us five times while we stopped. When we arrived at the border the helicopter buzzed over us, making his presence known.

We were leaving from Shenzen, but this time not the big tourist area. We had to wait in a long line for immigration. We went through the thermal scanners and stopped at the counter to show our passports and our health declaration sheet. Everyone made it through without incident. We loaded our luggage on another bus and boarded it this time for the journey into the city of Hong Kong. All in all, it took us about eight hours to get from the camp back to the church in Hong Kong. We unloaded our luggage and went out to one of the area restaurants to get something to eat. This time Pastor Wong ordered several dishes for each table. The food was very good. We went back to the church and had a testimony time before going to bed. Everyone in our group shared a testimony. It was amazing to see how God was working in all of our lives.

July 25 – The next morning, we returned to the area where we had breakfast our first full day in Hong Kong. Several of us ate at Fairwood. I got the same soup, but this time it had a pork chop in it. We then went to the bank to exchange our Chinese money for Hong Kong money. We all then went to Pastor Wong’s church to see what the plan was going to be for VBS. We took the train over and stopped at a Chinese laundromat where they do your laundry. If I would have known that then I wouldn’t have needed the herniator. We then stopped at a bakery on the corner and got some lunch. Pastor Wong’s church was a couple of blocks away. They meet in a YMCA building. The classrooms were air-conditioned and felt very good in the hot humid weather. While several finished up the VBS plans, a group went to distribute tracts and VBS invitations. The other group went to the basketball courts. We shot around a little bit and I met several of the Chinese men and boys that were playing. Caleb and I joined up with three Chinese to play five of our team members. We ended up beating them, primarily thanks to Caleb, but I scored several including the winning basket, yay! We played a couple of games. Unfortunately, I strained a muscle in my left calf so I sat out the next games. I was talking to Simon, a nice Chinese man that I met on the court. He was about 50 years old and in great shape. He works as a teacher. I told him what we were doing in Hong Kong. After a little bit, I commented on how thirsty I was. Our clothes were soaked and our lips were parched. We all needed water. Simon asked for two strong guys to go with him so he took Jesse E. and Caleb to the corner market where he bought us 10 bottles of water. They tried to thank him and he said, “No, no, (like no thanks needed) you are Christians. We then changed into some dry clothes and met with Cedric’s church for a baby shower. We had a blast getting to know the Chinese people better. An American from California was there named Danny Thomas. He works at a Bible college as a professor in music. He played several songs on the piano and our group sang along. Joanna called me during the shower to ask about Caleb’s head. The food was really good at the shower. They had sushi, dim sum, noodles, rice, eggs, and several kinds of pizza.

July 26 – On Sunday morning, a few from our team stayed back at the church where we were staying. Pastor Gotcher preached, and a couple of the teens shared testimonies. Most of us went to Cedric’s church. Alan showed slides of Israel and I preached on Mark 1, where Jesus rose early to pray, even after an exhausting day before. That afternoon, we left on a bus and rode into Hong Kong where we divided into groups and shopped. Everyone was glad to see a Starbucks. We walked down a street with very expensive stores. It seemed that the cars driving down that street were really expensive. Several of us finally found our way over to a side street where the stores were more reasonable. On one street there were several golf stores and sporting goods stores. The group I was with ended up at Pizza Hut. In Hong Kong and China, Pizza Hut is a nice restaurant with cloth tablecloths. We were told people would go to Pizza Hut to get engage. Afterward, we walked around a little before heading back to the waterfront where we met our group. It started raining, but we were on the lower side of the patio and we didn’t get wet. The lasers were impressive but probably would have been better without the clouds. We had a few minutes to shop after the light show and then we met at the bus.

July 27 – On Monday morning, the VBS group went to Grace Baptist Church, Pastor Wong’s church. The pastors hung around the church where we slept. We then took the train over and met up with our group at the end of VBS. One of Pastor Wong’s men grabbed lunch and prepared it in the kitchen for our group. We then had another bus pick us up, but this time the bus took us through Hong Kong and up the mountain to the Peak. We shopped a little while and then took the escalators all the way to the top and the lookout over the Peak. It cost $20 Hong Kong to go to the lookout. The view was incredible. There is no way that photos or words can begin to describe how beautiful the city was at night.

July 28 – On Tuesday morning, the VBS group went a little ahead of the Pastor’s group. We met up with them at McDonald’s just as they were finishing.  Mike then took the pastors and Dr. Henry via taxi to the area where Cedric lives. We had to take two taxis. Dr. Henry, Pastor Gotcher, and I were in the first taxi. Mike had given the driver the address where we wanted to go. We had no idea where we were going and we were a little concerned that we could end up on the other side of Hong Kong separated from the other pastors. The driver dropped us off and Dr. Henry and Pastor Gotcher walked down to the waterfront. It was a beautiful view. After a few minutes, Alan, Mike, and Michael were dropped off by their taxi. We walked around a little turn in the road and came to an ancestral temple. It was similar to the Buddhist Temple, but it was smaller. The idolatry was still evident. We then walked up the road a little and took a path up 300 steps (Dr. Henry counted them) to what was supposed to be a white dolphin overlook. We didn’t see any white dolphins but we saw several cargo ships. The lookout also overlooked the ancestral cemetery. We stood there for several minutes enjoying the breeze and taking a few pictures. We considered walking down the path to look at some of the graves, but no one wanted to get bitten by a snake on our last full day in Hong Kong. It was probably good that we didn’t because a couple of dogs came up the trails to check out the strangers that had invaded their territory. We walked back down the steps and then walked on the beach for a few minutes looking for unique seashells on the black sand beach. We took a double-decker bus back to Ferry Pier where we then boarded a train back to Cedric’s church. We then grabbed lunch with our group at one of the little restaurants on the street. We met back at the church in order to meet another bus. The bus picked us up and we drove about an hour to the football camp.  We spent the afternoon playing ultimate frisbee, working on basic football skills (very basic) and then the Mission Sports team scrimmaged the other mission team. We then took a bus back to one of the malls where we enjoyed another meal at Pizza Hut. Our group presented gifts to the Chinese team members that helped us (Vincent, Christina, and also Cedric and Candy). We shopped for about 45 minutes and then went back to our church via bus. When we got back everyone was happy to finally get a shower. After the shower, we met for devotions. Kyle reminded us of the great week that we had experienced. He then took us across the street up to the third level of the shopping area. On the top level was a large patio with benches that covered the entire building. We stood there and looked 360 degrees around us and saw huge housing complexes surrounding the shopping area. I’m not exaggerating when I say that if we could have looked in the windows, we probably would have seen one million people. It was sobering for all of us. Several of the teens remained on the building taking it all in. We went back to the church for a little bit and then went out to a little convenience store for snacks. Several people tried to stay up a little bit later so they would sleep on the plane the next day.

July 29 – On Wednesday morning we packed up and were ready to go when the bus arrived to pick us up. It took us about half an hour to get to the airport. We had to get our bags checked and go through the departure process. On the flight, I sat next to Scott and a man from Hong Kong named Jonathan who was going to the USA to work for three months. I slept some on this flight. I kept falling asleep during the Chinese movie that Mike had recommended. Before we arrived in the USA I found one of the tracts from Pastor Wong’s church and gave it to Jonathan. It took us right at sixteen hours to get to Newark where we again had to get our bags, go through immigration, and recheck our bags. There were thunderstorms in the area so they grounded all flights which pushed our departure time back to around midnight. During the wait, Caleb slept on the floor underneath the seats for about four hours. Several people in our group slept in the seats or on the floor. Kyle and Christina laid on the floor underneath the payphones. Most of the people in our group went out for supper to a food court area on another concourse. I waited and went about half an hour later with Dr. Henry. We had a really good talk over supper. We then went back to the gate. Dr. Henry laid on the floor in front of the benches and went to sleep. I looked at all of the photos, almost 16 gigabytes. It was a long night. Gennette left around 9:30 p.m. Dr. Henry and Pastor Gotcher left around 10:30 p.m. We finally boarded our plane around 12:45 a.m. We then left the runway at 1:20 a.m. It was a shorter flight back to RDU. Several parents met us at the airport. We had no trouble getting our luggage. Hugs were shared by all and we all started home. I was really glad to see Joanna.

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As I write this update, I am supposed to be in Peru, having just returned from Chile, but both of those trips were canceled due to COVID-19. Instead, like most of you all, I have been forced to work from home. As the governors began to set statewide restrictions, my daughter Abby and her fiancé, Caleb Prigge, who both work at the Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina, decided to come home for the five weeks prior to their wedding scheduled for May 9. We are still planning on having a church wedding if the restrictions are lifted, but we may end up having a small ceremony in our back yard with just family. It has been good to have them with us as Caleb has helped me around the house and yard with some much-needed projects. Abby was a culinary major in college, so we have enjoyed her cooking. Our daughter Hannah is a sophomore at Bob Jones University and is finishing out her classes online. Joanna is staying busy caring for our Golden Doodle, Ollie, and her four puppies.

I am grateful for the providence of God which has allowed us to spend this extra time with Abby. We all are tempted to be anxious as we face these uncertain days. God is stretching our faith and teaching us to trust His providence, even over wedding plans. The Puritan John Flavel wrote a book called, “The Mystery of Providence,” in which he states, “Providence is wiser than you, and you may be confident it has suited all things better to your eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option.”

I am grateful for the nice office I have in my home and the extra time I have to work on updating my database which could be a full-time job. I am thrilled to have more time to prepare new conference materials and even study a little Spanish. I am thankful for technology like emails, cell phones, and video conferencing which has allowed me opportunities to communicate with our missionaries, our ministry partners, and other ministry leaders. The change in travel plans has dominated a lot of my schedule as I have had to rearrange my calendar.

Lord willing, I am still planning on heading to Mexico, May 28-June 8. Chris Snowden, a videographer, will accompany me on this trip. The plan is to visit Marco Nunez and the six churches across the Yucatan Peninsula that he has helped to start. If everything goes according to plan, we will travel over 1,700 miles visiting these churches. I am also looking forward to ministry opportunities in Alaska in July as I will be preaching in a Regional Mission Conference and in two different churches.

One of the surprising blessings of the stay-at-home order has been the opportunity to get to know more of our neighbors. Everyone is careful about social distancing, but more people are working in their yards, and out walking and riding bikes. Last night, our neighborhood sponsored a Cuban food truck to set up shop on one of the street corners. We have had some terrible storms over the past couple of weeks which has allowed opportunities for neighbors to help each other with clean up. Please pray with us, that with the Lord’s help we will not waste these opportunities to be salt and light.

I am typing this letter on Palm Sunday, the day that we commemorate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. A huge crowd of people welcomed their Messiah and King, crying out, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” Matthew 21:9 With great pomp and circumstance the people celebrated the coronation of their King. How quickly things change! Just a few days later the same crowd that praised Jesus, cried out “Crucify Him!”

How quickly things change! Just a couple of months ago, most of us had never considered phrases like social-distancing, self-quarantine, or flattening the curve. While most of us were preparing to ring in the new year, the first case of novel coronavirus was reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. By January 30, the World Health Organization had declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. What appeared at first to be media hype over a localized virus has now turned into a full-blown worldwide pandemic, COVID-19. How quickly things change!

While listening to our preacher speak this morning about the Triumphal Entry and describe the “coronation” scene, my mind immediately went to the term “coronavirus.” The name comes from the Latin word “corona,” meaning crown, which refers to their round shape with protruding spikes similar to a crown. I thought to myself, “COVID-19 isn’t King, Jesus is King!”  Yes, some things change, but He never changes!

Isaac Watts, known as “the father of English hymnody,” wrote “Jesus Shall Reign,” in the early 1700s a hymn that is considered one of the earliest missionary hymns. It is based on Psalm 72 and envisions a day when Jesus reigns throughout the world – wherever the sun shines, from shore to shore. His original verses envisioned a time when all people – princes, savage tribes, people of all languages, even infants – would praise Jesus’ name.

If Watts were alive today, I imagine that he would be amazed that on this Palm Sunday, Christians in every time zone awoke with the purpose of praising the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This year, our worship took a different form as many had to worship in front of a screen, distanced from the gathering of God’s people. Nonetheless, Jesus still reigns.

EMU International missionaries serve in ten different countries, each one affected in some way by COVID-19. The virus has brought significant disruption, but each of our families seems to be doing well. We praise the Lord for His protection upon our missionaries and their families. We rejoice in the many opportunities that are afforded because of this crisis. As fear dominates people’s thinking, hearts are tender to the message of the gospel. It is our prayer God would use this to draw many to Himself.

JD Crowley commented in his recent update about the “Christ is Lord” COVID Radio Program. “Last night (Sunday) Kim and I listened to a special broadcast of the local Christian radio ministry. The normal every-evening format provides 20 minutes of gospel songs, testimonies, and teaching in each of four languages: Tampuan, Krung/Brao, Jarai, and Khmer, the national language. But last night was different. Concerned about the need to encourage believers during a time when they could not meet together, the radio team crafted a special worship service for the thousands of believers in our province who weren’t able to meet because of the restrictions. They wove together an hour and a half of songs, testimonies and pastoral encouragements in all four languages, ending with a short sermon from Isaiah 8:12 entitled ‘Do Not Fear What They Fear’ – also in four languages! It was a powerful testimony to what God has done through His gospel in Ratanakiri”

Because of gifts like yours, all around the world, God is using His missionaries even in these tough times to proclaim the gospel message. Thank you for your faithfulness and your partnership. While the coronavirus may be the lead story on every news outlet and be named for a crown, remember that nothing will supplant the King of Kings (Revelation 19:16). Jesus shall reign!

Kornel Crnković and I walked into the kitchen of Pastor John Goldfuss’s house on Thursday, March 12, to find David Smith, Director of Open Door Baptist Missions, watching the chapel broadcast from Bob Jones University on his laptop. We were in Lodi, Indiana, for a mission conference with the Waterman Baptist Church. Steve Pettit, the BJU President, announced, “Classes will end this Friday, March 13, and will resume online on March 30, following Spring Break. On-campus events are canceled from March 14-May 1.” The night before the NBA had announced that they were canceling the rest of their season. There was talk at the time about canceling the NCAA basketball tournament. We looked at each other, stunned, not knowing what to say. Everything was changing so quickly.

Kornel arrived in Greenville, South Carolina, at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7. We hit the ground running. We had services on Sunday morning at Palmetto Baptist Church in Powdersville, my home church, and at Faith Baptist Church in Easley on Sunday evening. That church supports the Crnkovićs. Pastor Tom Fuller’s wife, Karen, was Tanja’s roommate at BJU.

On Monday we had lunch with Tim Keesee, director of Frontline Missions International. Tim has been with Kornel in Croatia, and they have been friends for around twenty years. If you see Tim, ask him about the grenade that Kornel gave him. Later that afternoon we left for Kentucky and spent the night in Richmond.

Tuesday, thanks to a friend getting us half-price tickets, we visited the Ark Encounter in Williamstown. We spent the night in Indianapolis, Indiana, at Good News Ministries thanks to an invitation from Patricia Camacho, a sweet Uruguayan friend who serves as director of the Health Clinic. If you have followed the newsletters, you know that Kornel’s church is renovating a building that was purchased last year. I wanted him to see the potential for using a church building, not just on Sundays, but all throughout the week.

On Wednesday, we stopped by Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis to meet with Pastor Chuck Phelps. His church doesn’t support Kornel, but it does support Julia Alvarez (Uruguay), and Marco and Gwendolyn Nuñez (Mexico). We met with him in his office and discussed the Indiana governor’s decision to limit the size of public gatherings, which was going to affect their church and require live streaming their services. We enjoyed a good time with him at lunch.

We then traveled to Waterman Baptist to begin their mission conference, “Go and Make Disciples.” The pastor had invited David Smith and me to speak. God’s providence was at work as Kornel was going to be in the States at the same time and that church has supported them for many years. David stayed with the pastor and his family, and Kornel and I stayed with Bob and Ann Russell. We also were able to have lunch at Cracker Barrel with Pastor Jeff Augustus of West Terre Haute Baptist. Kornel had said he wanted to visit a Cracker Barrel, a first for him, and it did not disappoint.

We had a busy schedule planned for the next few weeks. We were scheduled to be in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Sunday. The following Wednesday, we were scheduled to be at Morningside Baptist Church in Greenville. Our annual EMU board meeting was going to be that Saturday. On Sunday, we would be at Kornel’s sending church, Hampton Park Baptist in Greenville. We also were making final arrangements for his plans to be in Westminster, Maryland, at Calvary Baptist Church. We left for Tennessee on Saturday morning following a Ladies Brunch at the church in Indiana. It was snowing for about an hour-and-a-half of our drive. We made it into Kentucky and stopped at a Bob Evans, another first for Kornel. Every time we would stop for a meal, Kornel would log onto the free Wi-Fi. He then would video chat with Tanja back in Croatia. Every time that they talked, we were eating. I know she was afraid that he was going to go back to Croatia as big as a house.

On Sunday, we visited with another supporting church, Oak Ridge Baptist Church, pastored by Bobby McCoy. This church faithfully supports the Crnkovićs and Tim and Cheryl Chapman (Peru). Due to the Coronavirus, attendance was down a little. It was a joy to also see several familiar faces as students from the Appalachian Bible College Chorale ministered to us in song during the morning service. We enjoyed a great time of fellowship with the pastors and students, several who are missions majors. Word then reached the young people that their college had just decided to send all of the students home and move to online classes for the rest of the year. It was a very sobering time as tears flowed while they were packing the van to head out of town. Kornel and I hung out at the church for the afternoon and then shared the ministry of EMU International during the evening service. After supper with the pastor’s family and a couple of other personal supporters, we traveled to Sevierville to spend the night.

We were hearing rumors that flights were about to be canceled and borders of countries were about to be closed. I was up until 2:00 a.m trying to see about arrangements to get Kornel back to Croatia. I was up at 6:00 a.m. to continue the search for opportunities. At 7:15 a.m., I called Joan Jensen for help. She and Ken had been in Uruguay and were supposed to be on their way home. I figured she would be at the Miami airport. Actually, they had come home early, and she was still in bed. I know how tiring that trip home is and how little sleep you get on the plane, so I felt terrible, but I needed her to work her magic and help us get a ticket for Kornel to fly out later that afternoon. After several hours on the computer and on hold on the phone, she was able to get him a flight that afternoon. We hustled back to Greenville to pack his things. He arrived at the airport about an hour before his departure. His flight to Washington D.C. left a little early. The same thing happened for his flights to Germany and then to Croatia. It appeared that they were trying to make sure the flights all got through before they began closing airports and canceling flights. It was an answer to prayer that he was able to get home when he did as shortly thereafter, airline travel became much more difficult, and the borders were being closed. I know Tanja and the rest of his family are glad to have him home. He will be under a government-mandated self-quarantine for the next two weeks. It will be a good opportunity to read all of those books he took back with him. Also, he can exercise and work off some of those kilos he added with all of the good meals we ate with our ministry partners.” View photos from Kornel’s trip by following this link: https://emuinternational.org/kornelusa/

The Answer to Our Anxieties – Be Still

How quickly things change. Now our government is recommending and, in some cases, mandating the closing of non-essential businesses. Group sizes are being limited and people are encouraged to quarantine themselves even if they are not sick. As the death toll continues to rise and nearly every corner of the globe is affected, we are facing an official global pandemic. God is doing something. There is no question about that. But, what? He is exalting Himself among the nations.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

It was the words to Psalm 46 which were the inspiration for Martin Luther to write “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.” Today we sing Frederick Hedge’s translation, known as the familiar hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” Psalm 46:1-3

On Wednesday, March 18, my son and daughter-in-law awakened in their bed in Salt Lake City, shaking from a 5.7 magnitude earthquake, the strongest since 1992. Just four days later, Kornel and Tanja felt their bedroom shaking in Croatia as Zagreb, the capital city, was hit by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 140 years. When the ground beneath you literally begins to shake, you find yourself completely vulnerable, but because we recognize God’s sovereignty, we need not fear. God is present with us in the middle of our trouble (vv.1, 7, 11).

The Psalm is composed of three, three-verse-long stanzas and two refrains (vv.7, 11): The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Verse 10 commands us to “Be still.” Set against the context, this isn’t a command to just pause, but to stop striving. In times of distress, we want to do something. We want to fix everything. Like the hamster on the wheel, we want to run faster. God wants us to stop and trust. If you are like me, this doesn’t make sense. Doesn’t God know the earth is quaking right now? Doesn’t He know that “the nations rage, the kingdoms totter?” Yes, He does. And despite everything that is happening around us, He will be exalted in all of the earth. The answer to our anxieties is not to be quarantined and know that He is God, but to be still, stop striving. “The body they may kill; His truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.” †

“The Walls Came Tumbling Down”
A Visit with Missionaries Kornel & Tanja Crnković in Croatia

It was a cold and dreary morning in Croatia when I found myself working alongside a group of Christian brothers who I will not soon forget. In fact, I don’t know of a better way to get to know someone than to labor alongside them in difficult circumstances. There was a light drizzle and a stiff breeze all day long. The temperature didn’t rise above 50 degrees and with the wind and moisture, it felt much cooler. We had spent most of the morning shoring up the ceiling by building a support system with about forty poles and braces. Our task for the morning was to knock down a wall in the twenty-five-year-old, newly purchased church building in order to provide for a wider auditorium. This would necessitate providing support for the second floor, then knocking down the wall, and finally adding a massive support beam. After working on a section, removing one brick at a time, we had a large section of the wall down and a small section standing. One of the men had cleared the top section and called two others over to help. The three leaned against the bricks and with one unified push we began to sing, “… and the walls came tumbling down.”

As the red dust from the bricks filled the air, I could not help but think back to just thirty years earlier. It was November 9, 1989, when one of the most powerful symbols of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, came tumbling down. Rev. Bill Bathman, former Chairman of Frontline Fellowship, described 1989 as a momentous year. “Across the world, from Trafalgar to Tiananmen Square, voices long repressed began to be heard. Unrest became pandemic. Nation after nation began to shake off the shackles that had bound them and assert their human rights and religious freedom.” In talking with my Croatian brothers about the opportunities for gospel advance, they said that the most significant moment for their country was when the Berlin Wall fell. At the time, Croatia was a part of Yugoslavia, consisting of six republics, five nations, four languages, three religions, two alphabets, and one political party, the Communist party. Josip Broz Tito was described as the glue that held it all together. Within a year of the Berlin Wall coming down, Yugoslavia began to crumble and throughout the next decade, several small countries sprang into existence – Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro. This area is known as the Balkan region of Europe.

Croatia is a land of breathtaking beauty. The small country, roughly the same size as West Virginia, stretches from the Mediterranean coast to the eastern Alps. It has seen its fair share of fighting. In the last century, Croatia experienced five major wars. For hundreds of years until the 1990s, it has been the setting of battle and war. Remember, World War I started in Yugoslavia. During the most recent war in Croatia, Kornel’s village was surrounded by Serbs, and Kornel became a part of the Croatian army defending his city. He was wounded by a mine during the siege and discharged from the army. The day before our workday, he had told me that we were going to have rain because he could feel it in the shrapnel in his foot.

My journey began on Wednesday, November 13, with a long flight through the night to Amsterdam, Netherlands and then to Zagreb, Croatia, arriving around 3:30 p.m. After breezing through customs, I was greeted by Kornel and his two sons, Marco (15) and Natanael (11), also known as Nani, like the Portuguese soccer player. After a quick stop at McDonald’s, a special request by the boys, we made our way from the capital city to their town of Koprivnica (pronounced: kɔ̝̌priːv̞nit͡sa). Around 4:00 p.m. each day the sky started getting dark. I had slept very little on the flight and I was working against a six-hour time change, so it was difficult for me to stay awake on our one-and-a-half-hour drive through the rush hour traffic. Tanja greeted us at the door when we arrived and offered us soup for supper, but of course, after the Big Tasty, none of us were hungry. I opened my suitcase to reveal seventy-two Reese’s Cups and a huge bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips which I brought at the request of the Crnković children.

As I unpacked, Tanja had to take one of the kids to music class. Goran, a new believer who was saved at the summer camp, came over to meet with Kornel for discipleship. He is excited about his new life in Christ and wants to get baptized as soon as possible. I did my best to stay awake until about 9:00 p.m. when I finally succumbed to Mr. Sandman.

Friday, while the kids were in school, Kornel and Tanja and I had to go to town to register my visit with the local police. They then showed me around their town of Koprivnica, population 31,000. Like much of Europe, it is a place filled with history. The earliest documents first mention Koprivnica in 1272. It is positioned on what was the border of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires. In different stages of its history, it has been known as a military town and a merchant town. The 20^th Century saw the town grow significantly with the founding of the Podravka food company, one of the leading Croatian companies doing business worldwide. They are known for their Vegeta spice which Tanja made sure I had to take home to my wife Joanna. We enjoyed a nice walk through the City Square and through the park. We then stopped at a street market where Kornel ordered fried calamari which we took home for lunch.

For lunch, I was also introduced to some of their smoked meats. While Tanja reheated the soup from the night before Kornel began to carve the meat. Each year they have a “killing of the pig” where they butcher pigs and then divide the meat. Unfortunately, they had scheduled this for the Saturday after I returned. They described to me the techniques of curing smoked pork loin, bacon, ribs, and sausage.  The meat is cured in a mix of salt and other spices before being hung and cold smoked with hardwoods.  After being smoked the meat continues to dry for 4-8 weeks. The meat we enjoyed that day had been smoked by Kiki, a man in their church who came to know Christ through Kornel’s ministry. My introduction to Croatian food included homemade pickles, beets, and eggplant chutney, and fresh peppers, in addition to the smoked meats and the fried calamari.

Later that afternoon Marco, Kornel, and I dropped Nani off at music class and we drove to their baptism site. It was about a fifteen-minute drive outside of town. While we parked the car next to the pavilion beside the river, my cell phone signaled, “Welcome to Hungary.” The river separates Croatia from Hungary. The current was moving rapidly, and the temperature was still cool. I asked Kornel about Goran. He said, even though it will be very cold, he really wants to be baptized soon. It was an exciting time for me as Kornel told me about the many new Christians who have been saved. He told me about Valentina, a lady whose family prayed for her for sixteen years who has now come to know Christ. In previous newsletters, we had mentioned prayer for Luka, a believer who died three years ago of colon cancer. Since his death, many of his family members have been saved. Most recently, Luka’s wife’s brother Ivan, a 21-year-old student came to know Christ. Kornel’s church is an exception to many of the Christian churches in Croatia as it is full of life and full of new Christians. I would get to experience some of that excitement later that evening.

We had a Friday night service where one of the new church-planting missionaries Kurt Bekins spoke. Following the service, the teens hung around for a time of fellowship. We sang several songs and then I shared my testimony of how I was saved and how I was called to ministry. I talked about my twenty-five years in pastoral ministry and then shared how God led me to be a mission director. I talked about our EMU missionaries. Everyone was listening intently. They wanted me to suggest the final song to be sung. I told them about my trip to India and the story behind the song, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” I challenged the young people to commit to putting Christ first in their lives. They then sang with much passion. Even though I could not understand their language, I was moved with the pathos in their voices as several of them prayed. We arrived home that evening after midnight.

Saturday was the workday on the new church building. We left at 8:00 a.m. and returned around 5:00 p.m. The new building is a blessing to their church. Under the leadership of Kornel and his brother-in-law Nathanael Špičak, the church has outgrown their current building. Their new building is a 25-year-old brick building but needs a lot of work. Kornel asked me what my first impression was when I saw it. I asked him if it had been a part of the war. They had knocked down several walls already and there were openings where they need to add windows and doors. Fortunately, their current landlord has given them permission to stay in their current church building until the new church is completed. They have an ambitious goal of hosting a wedding in the new church around Easter time. In the days ahead, they are hoping to finish installing a new roof. They are also adding the new support beam. The men and women of the church are coming together. Like Nehemiah, I told them it appeared to me that God’s good hand is upon them. And, like the families in Israel, the church people have a mind to work.

Later that evening the Crnković daughters came home for the weekend to celebrate Andrea’s twenty-first birthday. I would like to think that they also wanted to meet me. Probably, they heard about the Reese’s. Andrea is a sophomore in college about three hours away. She is studying music pedagogy. Kristinia is a freshman at a college two hours away. She is studying to be a kindergarten teacher. Tanja made chili for a houseful of people who came to celebrate Andrea’s birthday and to watch the Croatian national team play soccer.

Sunday was a great day as the church was packed. I preached on the Compassion of Jesus in Matthew 9. As I commented on the plentiful harvest, I talked about growing tomatoes and how a good harvest takes work. I also commented on how much I love tomatoes. Immediately following the service one of the men who had helped lead the work team the day before went to the market to buy tomatoes to have with our lunch. His name is Mladin. God is working in his heart, but he still hasn’t come to know Christ as his Savior. Following the meal, we sat together and talked. Would you please pray with me for Mladin?

Monday, Kornel and I worked around the house while Tanja went to school to teach. We enjoyed another Croatian delicacy called Burek for lunch. It is filo pastry filled with either cheese, meat, potato, spinach, apple… almost anything.  We then drove to an overlook of the town to take some photos and then stopped at the mall that is across from their house. Later that evening we met with four other missionary leaders to talk about ministry and pray for Croatia. This was a highlight of my time in Croatia. I prayed, “Lord, thirty years ago we saw something unthinkable happen when the Berlin Wall came down. Please, knock down walls and do a work that only You can get credit for here in Croatia.”

I asked Kornel if the Reformation had any influence on Croatia, he responded, “very little.” There are three major religions that break along ethnic lines: Bosnians who are Muslims, Serbs who are Eastern Orthodox, and Croatians who are Roman Catholic. I asked him how committed most were to their religion, he said that most are nominal at best. It has been said that “there is too much religion and not enough gospel.” I took advantage of every preaching opportunity to hammer out the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not just a religious commitment to a list of what we do and what we don’t do. The most optimistic estimates tell us that less than 0.5% of the population are born again Christians (10,000 among a population of 4.5 million). But the harvest is still plentiful, and much gospel seed is being sown. Who would have imagined the Berlin Wall coming down?

In my remaining time in Croatia, I traveled with Kornel a couple of hours away to the town of Krapina where I shared the ministry of EMU International with the students and faculty of the Theological Bible Academy, the school where Kornel received his degree. Tanja’s father Miško Horvatek serves in Administration and teaches. I had the privilege of discussing missions with Kris Brackett, Assistant Dean, over coffee. We then joined Tanja’s parents, Miško and Mira for breakfast at their lovely home overlooking the city.

Croatia is a land of history and Kornel wanted me to see a castle, so we drove about forty-five minutes on the beautiful winding roads across the rolling hills to Velik Tabor Castle. It dates back to the fifteenth century and sits high on a hill with spectacular views all around. We then drove to the capital city of Zagreb, a city that has served as the cultural and political focus of the nation since the Middle Ages. The city is a picture of European authenticity. We walked the bustling streets of the Upper Town, passing by shops, museums, churches, and cafes. We made our way to St. Mark’s Church, a beautiful edifice with a multicolored tiled roof displaying the coats of arms of Zagreb and Croatia. To the east of the church is the Croatian Parliament Building. To the west, is the government building. As we approached the Square, we saw a few black limousines. We watched as someone rolled out a red carpet and down it walked the Croatian Prime Minister and the head of the European Party. I snapped a quick photo.

On Wednesday evening, Kiki, who I mentioned earlier wanted us to visit his house. He wanted to show me his farm. He also wanted to share with me the last of his smoked meats and show me how they are made. His wife Renata came to Christ first in the family and in time Kiki later was saved. Her father worked with us at the church and is unsaved. Please pray with us for Martin’s salvation.

My final night in Croatia, we drove about an hour away to Virovitica where we met with a small group of people, four men, and four women, who are revitalizing a small Baptist church. I had the privilege of sharing EMU’s ministry with this group and then we prayed together. Just about a year ago it didn’t look like the church was going to survive, but God is breathing new life into this church and they are close to calling their new pastor, Mario who is scheduled to be ordained on December 15.

As I left Croatia, I left a big part of my heart with the people. My heart is also burdened for Kornel’s parents. His mother is a believer and has a few health problems. His father is unsaved. Please pray that God will break down the wall of unbelief. The church in Croatia definitely needs our prayers and would certainly benefit from the financial investment of God’s people. Many parts of the country are still suffering from the devastating effects of war. Most evangelical congregations are small and supporting their own pastors and paying for their own buildings seems an impossibility. Please pray for Kornel as he leads the church through preaching and teaching. Pray for the discipleship of the many new believers. Pray for the strengthening of family relationships. Pray for the unsaved spouses of some of their church members. Pray for the work to be completed on their new building. Pray that God will continue to break down walls of opposition and the gospel would advance through the ministry of my precious new friends.

Kornel is planning on visiting the USA in March in order to connect with new churches and look for much-needed additional support. If you are interested in hosting him or would like more information, please contact us in our office at (864) 268-9267 or office@emuinternational.org. You can also make a donation at https://emuinternational.org/give-now/kornel-tanja/.

A Home Run – Part 2

Eighty years ago, July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig approached the microphone before a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium to deliver what has been called, “baseball’s Gettysburg Address.” He was only 36 years old, but he was forced to retire due to a neuromuscular disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (A.L.S.). Most people in North America know it as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was known as “Baseball’s Iron Man,” holding the record at that time for playing in 2,130 consecutive games, a record that would stand for another 56 years. He also held the record for most career grand slams (23). This would be his last public appearance. His words echoed over the stadium’s public address system, “For the past two weeks, you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.” As he stepped back from the microphone, the band played, “I Love You Truly.” Babe Ruth walked over and hugged his friend, the crowd cried out, “We love you, Lou,” as Gehrig wiped tears from his eyes with a handkerchief. The New York Times description the next day called it “one of the most touching scenes ever witnessed on a ball field.”

On a personal note, I have many times reflected on God’s blessing on my life. While the sentiment is the same, I don’t consider myself lucky. God, who is sovereign, has blessed me in ways too many to describe. Like Gehrig, I have literally wiped tears from my eyes as I consider God’s smile of favor upon my life. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Psalm 67, a prayer for God’s blessings. God used this passage in my life as I stepped out of pastoral ministry into my role as Director of EMU International. What was it that gripped me so tightly that I was compelled to make such a monumental ministry pivot? The realization that the blessings of God have missional implications. (Psalm 67:1-2) God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. 2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.

Several times this past month I have spoken with ministry friends about how grateful I am to be a part of EMU International, a ministry with an incredible heritage. I believe we have an All-Star team of missionaries and support staff. At this point, I could describe for you any of our missionary families. For this article, I want to focus on our four Uruguayan nationals who I had the privilege of spending five weeks with from May 15 – June 19. Pedro Donzé and his wife, Paty, were joined by Carlos and Beatriz Silvera. Pedro is our Camp Director at Camp Emmanuel in Guazavirá, Uruguay. In an unofficial capacity, Paty assists Pedro working behind the scenes at the camp. Beatriz serves as a volunteer office assistant, and her husband, Carlos, assists in the maintenance and grounds.

In last month’s newsletter, I described how I had four goals for our Uruguayan missionaries, four bases that we wanted to touch. If we hit all four bases, then their trip would be considered a home run. 1) Camp at the Wilds. 2) Connect with Churches, 3) Connect with Ministry Partners, 4) See the USA.

In addition to their 10,174 miles in the air, we covered another 6,023 miles on the road, crossing seventeen states as we saw the USA. We spent two full weeks at the Wilds Christian Camp in Brevard, North Carolina. We visited and ministered in eight different churches. We also made many connections with ministry partners and friends. In those five weeks together, we were able to touch all of the bases.

As we visited and ministered in different churches, I wanted Pedro to share his testimony in English. Since he speaks very little English, this was a huge challenge for him, but it was such a blessing for each of the churches to hear him share his heart as he shared his testimony.

Pedro said, “I went to church from childhood, thanks to the fact that my mother and grandmother sought God. My grandmother came to know the gospel first. She then took my mother and me to church with her.” He said that from a very early age, he understood that he was a sinner and that Christ died for him, but he wasn’t really born again until he was twelve years old. He put it this way, “I sincerely repented of my sins, of everything that I was, and gave my life to Christ.” That was in January of 1987 at Camp Emmanuel. He declared, “I understand that I was born again there because things started to change. When I arrived home from camp, I remember that I began to tell people that Christ was my Savior.” He stated that what changed his life was when he started to study the Bible for himself. “I started having my Bible reading and prayer time on a regular basis, and it was my priority to identify what God told me in the Bible and my sinful habits. My life was transformed inside and out.” He described his call to the ministry, “At camp in 1988, I dedicated my life to the Lord. In a missionary class, I understood that I had to serve the Lord, and I said, ‘I want to serve You, I want to dedicate all my life to You.’ Thus, I began to serve God as a teenager. At fifteen, I took the step of obedience of baptism, showing everyone publicly that Christ was my Savior and Lord.”

Pedro’s work experience is unusual in that he began working when he was thirteen. He started working first in accounting and later as a computer programmer. At age seventeen he was employed by Citi Bank, and for 13 years he had a very good career. In the back of his mind, he still wanted to study at the EMU Bible Institute, but the timing wasn’t right. God was preparing Pedro in another way. “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few,” was a verse that continued to gnaw at Pedro. He wanted to serve God in a full-time way, but God was preparing him for a unique future ministry.

Pedro described it this way, “God knew my desire to serve and to prepare, but humanly I could not. I did not have time. Work at Citi Bank did not allow it – it was a full-time job. I began to pray for the Lord to open the doors so that we could get out of the situation we were in. We had bought our house through the bank and had to make significant payments. To leave the bank was an unthinkable option because we needed the money.”

God eventually provided the needed finances which allowed Pedro to resign from the bank and focus on the Bible Institute. When his wife Paty got sick, he needed to return to work. This time, God provided an even better job with much more flexibility. He began work with the stock exchange. He told his employer in his interview that he needed a schedule that would allow him to study in the Bible Institute, because his desire was to serve God full-time. They agreed to his schedule and even allowed him the flexibility of taking time off to work at Camp Emmanuel.

When he finished the Bible Institute, he began to work full-time with EMU in Uruguay. He currently serves on the Board of Directors in Uruguay. He oversees the finances and administration of our mission office. He is an active leader in Gethsemane Church, the church he has attended since he was six years old. When time permits, he assists in teaching at the Bible Institute. As has already been mentioned, one of his chief roles is serving as the Camp Director of Camp Emmanuel. Pedro says, “This is the place where I made the most important decisions of my life. It is a great honor to serve God at Camp Emmanuel.”

Thanks to an invitation by Camps Abroad, the international mission arm of the Wilds Christian Camp, the five of us were able to attend staff training week. We also were privileged to see camp in action as we attended the first full week of camp.

Following staff training week, which I described in last month’s newsletter, we took advantage of some free time on Saturday morning to get caught up on some rest. As a special treat for the Uruguayans, Rick Jensen took us shooting at the Rifle Range at the camp. We then left after lunch and traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, where we spent the night at the home of ministry friends Bob and Mary Chisholm.

Sunday morning, we left early to drive an hour and a half to Bamberg, South Carolina, where we visited Open Door Baptist Church and met their new pastor, Jim Williams. This small rural church supports several EMU national missionaries, including Pedro and Paty, and Joshua and Amy Jensen in Cambodia. Pedro shared his testimony and I preached. We then enjoyed lunch with the pastor and his wife before traveling back to camp.

We had been praying that the Lord would provide a translator for the week of camp. On our way back up I-26, I received a message from Theresa Bixby that Yani Juve (left) was available. This was a huge answer to our prayers. We picked her up and made it back to camp just fifteen minutes before the gate was shut.
The first full week of camp proved to be everything that we had expected. There were approximately 1,000 campers in attendance. We can only accommodate 124 campers in our cabins at Camp Emmanuel. Though there is a huge size difference, our philosophy of ministry and program are very similar. We were able to participate in the teen camp program with Will Galkin as the main speaker and also in the junior camp program with Bob Roberts as the main speaker.

Throughout the week, Rick Jensen showed us the behind-the-scenes operation of the Wilds. We met a couple of times to talk about the plan for Rick’s annual work trip for this coming October, 2019.

Pedro’s Wish List for October 2019 projects and their estimated costs.

1) Repair the bathroom partitions ($890)
2) New stainless steel shelves for the kitchen ($6,100)
3) Convert the old water tank into a storage area for games and supplies ($575)
4) Concrete work on the sidewalks for Cabins 1 – 4 ($2,915)
5) Concrete work on the floors in the cabins ($848)
6) Security bars for cabins 7 and 8, and for the Dining Room ($1,860)
7) Painting the security bars ($585)
8) Improvements to the game area, including a climbing wall ($2,615)
9) Maintenance of current game structures ($630)
10) Installation of new screen and projector in the chapel ($830)
11) Installation of air conditioning in Dining Room and Chapel ($5,845)
Total: $23,693

He also would love to see us tackle two big projects.
1) Two new cabins constructed from shipping containers ($23,915)
2) Remodeling the barbecue area ($7,860)
Big Projects Total: $31,775

Needless to say, accomplishing all of these goals will require God’s provision of funds and workers. If you would like to contribute, visit EMU International website’s give page for Camp Emmanuel Projects: https://emuinternational.org/give-now/uruguay-camp-emmanuel/ If you or someone you know would be interested in more information on helping with a work team, you can email us at office@emuinternational.org.

It was a dreary, rainy morning when we packed our rented Toyota Sienna mini-van and left the Wilds. As we approached the exit, we read the words on the back of the welcome sign, (2 Timothy 3:14) But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. It was a great reminder, not only for our missionaries who had gleaned so much during the past two weeks but to every camper whose life has been changed through the ministry of the Wilds.

Our journey took us on US-64 across Western North Carolina into Tennessee. We met Pastor Tom Gabbard of Reformed Baptist Fellowship in Lewisburg for lunch. In addition to the Donzés, his church also supports the Farmers, missionaries to Cambodia. Lewisburg is named after the famous explorer Merriweather Lewis. It is a small rural town with a population around 11,000, located about an hour south of Nashville. Our schedule would not allow us to attend a service, but we were so glad that we could connect with the pastor.

After a good night’s rest in Paducah, Kentucky, we left Saturday morning for Kansas. We stopped for lunch at Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri. The restaurant is known as “Home of Throwed Rolls.” In the early days when the restaurant was much smaller, there was not enough room to easily get the hot rolls (5 inches in diameter) to the customers. One person yelled, “throw ‘em!” So, they did. The tradition continues to this day. The portions for the main entrees and sides are enormous. I wanted our missionaries to experience the food and atmosphere. None of us were disappointed.

After lunch, we drove another seven hours across Missouri into Kansas and arrived at the home of Doug and Donna Williams in Waverly, Kansas. This would be our home for the next three nights. The Williams have been supporters of our ministry in Uruguay, particularly Camp Emmanuel, for many years. We were a long way from EMU’s headquarters in the Greenville, South Carolina area, but we were determined to make the journey to see these special ministry friends.

On Sunday, we ministered at Peniel Bible Church in Waverly, Kansas, pastored by David Cochran. Pedro shared his testimony and ministry videos. When I began to preach, I saw three people enter the back of the auditorium. I looked at Pedro and said, “Look who just walked in!” It was Britt and Pat Hopper and their son Titus. Britt and Titus have been to Uruguay several times to work at Camp Emmanuel. Britt saw on Facebook that we were in Kansas, so he and his family drove two hours to join us at church for the morning service and lunch fellowship.

After a brief nap on Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed our time with Doug and Donna as each of our missionaries shared their testimonies. It was also neat to hear the Williams’ story and how God has blessed their family. They have been good friends with the Jensens over the years. George Jensen served their church years ago by providing pulpit supply when their pastor was recovering from a heart attack.

It was also a privilege to connect with their son, Darin, and his wife, Nancy. They own and operate D&N Ag Farms, farming 2,000 acres of non-GMO diverse cash crops. They also raise free-range chickens and British White Cattle. We enjoyed learning about their operation.

Tuesday, we met Pastor Cochran for lunch and then drove to St. Louis where we stopped at Malcolm Martin Park, on the Mississippi River, for a few photos of the Gateway Arch. We then drove across Illinois, taking the back roads into Indiana where we would meet Pastor John Goldfuss, our host for the next couple of nights in Kingman, Indiana. On Wednesday, Pastor John took us to visit Camp Assurance in Georgetown, Illinois. We learned a lot about their camp philosophy and program from Scott Randolph, who has served as the director of the camp for the past thirty years. As we toured the camp, we felt like we were back at Camp Emmanuel in Uruguay. We were also privileged to connect with Mark Kittrell, the speaker for the week. Mark is a good personal friend who serves as the director of Pacific Rim Missions International, a board very similar to EMU with a focus of training nationals. That evening we shared the ministry of Camp Emmanuel with Pastor John’s church, Waterman Baptist Church. Their church currently supports Kornel and Tanja Crnković, missionaries to Croatia.

Thursday was another highlight of the trip as we visited the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky, a theme park like none other. At first glance, we were amazed at the enormous size of the replica of Noah’s Ark. It is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. The park was spotlessly clean. Following a delicious buffet lunch, we enjoyed a casual stroll through the Ark – an educational experience with lifelike exhibits, movies, and timelines.

That evening Patricia Camacho, a friend from Uruguay who now lives and ministers in the USA, invited us to stay at Good News Ministries in Indianapolis, Indiana. We were housed in one of the empty duplexes, which are a part of Good News Ministries’ Family Shelter. Founded 70 years ago, the rescue mission is making an eternal difference in the lives of disadvantaged people by sharing the gospel and providing assistance of shelter, food, clothing, medical care, and educational opportunities.

We really enjoyed our time on Friday as we visited Grace Baptist Church in Muncie, Indiana, and Pastor Rory Bond. From 1996-2000, our family lived in Muncie, and I served on staff at the church. It was fun to drive around town and reminisce. For lunch, it was as if we jumped in a time machine. Pastor Rory took us to a remodeled gas station out in the country that has been turned into a 50’s style diner.

We then drove across the beautiful Amish country of Northern Indiana where we met Jim and Pam Kintigh, former EMU missionaries to Uruguay. They had arranged for us to stay in a gorgeous house on Dewart Lake. Their children and grandchildren joined us for supper and then treated us to a relaxing pontoon ride.

Saturday, we traveled to Muskegon, Michigan, where we enjoyed lunch with Jim and Cindy Snead, who are faithful supporters of Camp Emmanuel. As we left Muskegon, we stopped for a few photos at the state park. The beautiful sand dunes and miles of beach reminded Carlos of Uruguay. That evening we met my good friend, Pastor Chuck Rawsthorne, who had arranged lodging for us in Mattawan at the home of former missionaries Tom and Linda Schallhorn.

Sunday, we drove to Onondaga, Michigan, just south of Lansing, where we ministered at Childs Bible Church, pastored by John Isham. This church has a long relationship with EMU and supports the Donzé family. That evening we were back at Pastor Rawthorne’s church, Faith Baptist Church in Mattawan. It was great to introduce the church family to Pedro’s ministry and also the entire ministry of EMU International. Monday would be a long day driving back to Greenville, so we got a jump on our trip by driving a couple of hours before staying in a hotel that night. During the five weeks that we were together, thanks to the gracious hospitality of so many ministry friends, we only had to stay in hotel rooms two times.

The drive home, though long, was pleasant as we reflected back on our time together. It seemed like it was just yesterday that they were arriving at the Greenville Spartanburg Airport. Our journey began thirty-six days earlier. We covered 6,023 miles across seventeen states, eight churches visited, and many other connections made with pastors and ministry partners. We had touched all of the bases. Pedro’s trip to the USA was a home run.

In a follow-up email, Pedro wrote, “These are moments that I will remember all of my life. My eyes fill with tears of joy for what God allowed us to experience. We are grateful for all who made this trip a success.”

Thank you to all who prayed for our trip and those who helped support us financially. To view Pedro’s family video, the Camp Emmanuel Promo, and our Facebook photo album visit http://pastorjeffdavis.com/pedro. †

A Home Run – Part One

“Did that really happen?” I asked my four Uruguayan friends. It seemed like it was just yesterday that they were arriving at the Greenville Spartanburg Airport. Here we were packing their luggage into the van as we prepared to head to the airport for their return trip to Montevideo. Their journey began thirty-six days earlier with a similar routine as they left Uruguay. As we backed out of my driveway, I looked in my rearview mirror, I remembered 6,023 miles traveled together across seventeen states, eight churches visited, and many other connections made with pastors and ministry partners. As I approached the departures lane at the Greenville Spartanburg Airport, I reflected back on the past five weeks and again said, “Did that really happen?” We had seen so many things and spent so much time together, and yet it was all just a blur. I am really thankful that I took a lot of photos. My Facebook album is a testament to that fact. I also had tried to journal some each day. I’m sure for my Uruguayan friends, like myself, it will take several weeks to try to process everything.

I had four goals for our Uruguayan missionaries, four bases that we wanted to touch. If we hit all four bases, then their trip would be considered a home run.

1) Camp at the Wilds
2) Connect with Churches
3) Connect with Ministry Partners
4) See the USA

My primary goal for our missionaries was for them to experience two educational and inspirational weeks as we would attend staff training week and the first week of camp at the Wilds Christian Camp in North Carolina. We touched this base.

The second base we would need to touch is that we would connect with churches, those who currently support Pedro and our camp ministry in Uruguay and also introduce a few new churches to their ministry. Each weekend we ministered in different churches. We touched this base.
The third area of focus was for our missionaries to connect with current missionary partners and also introduce them to a few new possible partners. By God’s grace, we also were able to touch this base.

The fourth goal was that in our time together traveling those 6,000 plus miles that they would have a variety of experiences that would give them a good understanding of our country. They saw, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Deleware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. We definitely touched this base.

I believe Pedro’s trip was a home run!

If you have followed EMU International’s ministry in Uruguay for any length of time, then you have heard us talk about Pedro Donzé. He currently serves as the Camp Director of Camp Emmanuel in Guazavirá, Uruguay. He also is the chief financial officer of our mission and runs our mission office. In addition, he serves on the Junta (Board of Directors) of MEU (in Uruguay, EMU is known as MEU, Misión Evangélica del Uruguay). Joining him on the trip was his wife Paty, and Carlos and Beatriz Silvera. Beatriz is Pedro’s right arm serving as a volunteer assistant in our camp. She works in an office for the Uruguayan power company and volunteers her services during the camp season, giving of her vacation time to assist in our ministry. Her husband Carlos, a painter, is also a gifted servant, volunteering in the maintenance and grounds at the camp.

For many years, Pedro has had a desire to visit the USA, specifically the Wilds Chrisitan Camp. It seemed like it might never happen as there always was some circumstance preventing such a trip. Two years ago, extensive plans began for this trip and we were determined to make his dream a reality. CampsAbroad, the mission arm of the Wilds Christian Camp had given a standing invitation for Pedro to attend two weeks of camp. Pedro had put together a plan of acquiring airline miles that would allow two couples to visit the USA. Last Fall, we determined that we were going to move forward with plans for them to visit this summer. Can you imagine all the logistical planning that would take place over the next few months? As they arrived in Greenville on Wednesday, May 15, it seemed like Spring Training was over and opening night was about to take place.

On Wednesday, May 15, I picked them up at the airport. Five weeks of luggage filled our Buick Enclave. One of the suitcases was completely full of medicine. Pedro’s wife Paty has what is called Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), formerly known as Wegener’s disease. According to Wikipedia, “It is a form of vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels) that affects small and medium-size vessels in many organs but most commonly affects the upper respiratory tract and the kidneys.” Several years ago, Paty had to have a kidney transplant. She has to take medication for both the disease and to prevent rejection of the kidney. Knowing that her health would probably be an issue for this trip, we took every precaution possible. We were careful not to push too hard with our schedule. We also worked in specific times for rest and recuperation. We purchased international travel insurance which fortunately we never had to use. We committed Paty’s health to the Great Physician and He wonderfully took care of her.

After a stop at Walmart to buy some groceries and some clothes for their trip, we made it home. We enjoyed a late supper which is typical for Uruguayans, and then unpacked, and settled down for the night. My daughters are working at the Wilds Christian Camp so they were able to use Abby’s and Hannah’s rooms while they were with us.

Thursday would be a day of preparation for our weekend trip to New Jersey. Following a light breakfast, Pedro and Paty organized the pill boxes for their time with us. I went to pick up the rental vehicle we would use for our trip up north. We drove a new GMC Yukon that was perfect for our group of five. It provided not only a comfortable ride but also Apple CarPlay which helped with the GPS and to pass the time listening to music from my phone. Surprisingly, it got 23 miles to a gallon which isn’t bad for such a large vehicle.

Ken and Joan stopped by for a brief visit and then I took them to meet Nelson Neal, one of our EMU International board members, for lunch. They enjoyed pizza with Nelson and Debi and then went shopping. Pedro wanted to stop by Best Buy to purchase a sim card and a cell phone plan that would give us unlimited data for our trip and allow us to communicate with one another and with his family back in Uruguay. Pedro loves Best Buy. If I have counted correctly, we stopped at six different Best Buy stores. In his defense, we visited at least that many Walmarts.

Upon returning home, they rested some in the afternoon and then five Spanish speaking young people from Palmetto Baptist Church in Powdersville came to our house. Jairo Villegas is from Tim Chapman’s ministry in Peru. He currently is working on his MDiv. degree at Bob Jones University. He and his wife Suzanne spent five weeks last summer in Uruguay. They never really got to know Pedro while they were down there, but because they spoke Spanish and because they hope to be a part of our EMU family, I had invited them to come to our house and prepare an authentic Peruvian meal for the Uruguayans. Of course, Joanna and I got to enjoy it too. They fixed a flavorful Peruvian chicken stew with rice and potatoes. They also brought a homemade key lime pie. Three other young people joined us, Bella, Ezra, and Priscilla Rodriguez who is from Uruguay. Her aunt Chicha is one of our EMU missionaries. The Spanish speaking young people were encouraged as we showed Pedro’s family video and the Emanuel Camp video. After they left, we packed for our upcoming six-day trip. I felt like we had a good start to touching all of the bases.

Friday morning, we left around 9:00 a.m. Even though we had a large vehicle, we had a lot of luggage. Carlos had half of the back seat with luggage stacked next to him. We stopped at Concord Mills in Charlotte. The ladies were looking for handbags, so we visited the Burlington Coat Factory. The discount prices amazed the Uruguayans and they took advantage of a few sales. If you visit Concord Mills, you must stop by Bass Pro Shop. After a few photos in front of the huge fish tanks, we had lunch at the food court. Villa Italia Kitchen was a great choice as we shared stromboli and salad. I had planned for a rest stop every two or three hours. It was going to be a long five weeks and I didn’t want to wear everybody out the first full day of travel. The rental car allowed me to call some friends over the speaker phone. Since we were on our way to Alexandria, VA, we called and talked with Brad Lapiska. He is a retired pastor from Engleside Baptist Church in Alexandria, and serves on EMU’s board of directors.

The Uruguayans had heard about Chick-fil-A and insisted that I stop there for supper. We found one on Jefferson Davis Dr. in Fredricksburg, VA. We passed several places named after Jefferson Davis. They found it interesting that my name was so famous. We arrived at Ben and Carissa Smith’s home around 9 p.m. Ben was Brad’s assistant and is now the pastor at Engleside Baptist. His church supports several of our EMU missionaries.

The next morning, we showed them Pedro’s videos and after a delicious breakfast, we left to tour Washington D.C. for a few hours. We needed to stop for gas. Do you remember the days of full-service gas stations? That is the way it still is in Uruguay, so I let Pedro pump the gas for his first time ever. I told him if this mission thing doesn’t work out for him, he has a future working in one of the full-service stations. We drove to the Pentagon City Mall to park and then took the Metro (subway) to the National Archives. Most of them had never been on a train. When we came up the escalator and saw the massive limestone and granite buildings the cameras came out. We walked to the Air and Space Smithsonian Museum. After touring the museum, we planned on taking the DC Circulator bus to visit the monuments, but the buses weren’t running that day. We would have to walk. We stopped for lunch at a food truck near the Washington Monument. We then walked around the reflecting pool, by the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. After walking so much, we decided to call an Uber ride to take us to the closest Metro Station. The driver had a small car, so Carlos sat across everyone’s lap in the back for the one-mile ride across the bridge to Arlington Station. He dropped us off and we discovered that the station was closed. Fortunately. they had arranged free bus transportation to the Pentagon, so we took the bus to the Pentagon and then took the train to the Mall. We were definitely touching the base of seeing and experiencing the USA. We drove through Baltimore, into Deleware, across the river into New Jersey, and after many tolls later, we arrived at Hardingville Bible Church in Hardingville, New Jersey. We spent the next three nights at a wonderful mission house. We had walked 13,708 steps, equivalent to over 6 miles. Paty wasn’t the only one ready for bed that night.

Sunday, May 19, after a light breakfast, we drove about 20 minutes to Truth Bible Church in Alloway, NJ. Pastor David Field had invited me several months ago for a Missions Emphasis Sunday. We began with Sunday School where I presented the ministry of EMU. I preached during the morning service and then we enjoyed a delicious lunch with the church family. We were able to get some much-needed rest during the afternoon. That evening during the service, Pedro, for the first time ever, presented his testimony in English. Pedro understands a little English but doesn’t speak very confidently. This was a huge challenge for him, and he read most of the testimony. The congregation responded well to his impassioned story. I was really proud of him. I had the privilege of preaching again during the evening service. We enjoyed some refreshments afterward and then went back to the mission house. We had bought some groceries the night before, so I made supper for us, spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, and garlic bread. Pedro now wants me to cook next year at camp in Uruguay.

Monday was a rest day. We met Pastor Andy Merkle for lunch. He is one of the assistant pastors at Hardingville Bible Church. He arranged for us to take a tour of Lucas Greenhouses. Special thanks to George and Louise Lucas for taking time out of their busy schedule to show us their incredible operation. Keeping with the Italian theme for meals, I fixed chicken alfredo which we enjoyed with the left-over spaghetti and garlic bread.

We had been anticipating Tuesday because this was the day that we were going to cross the Delaware River for a drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike across Amish country. We beat the lunch crowd to the Shady Maple Smorgasbord which features a buffet of 200 feet of authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. I wish you could have seen the eyes of our Uruguayan guests. After lunch, we shopped in the 40,000 square foot gift shop. I had to pull the ladies out of the shop because we were headed to what I thought might be one of the highlights of our trip. It turns out that I was right as we attended the afternoon showing of “Jesus” at the Sight & Sound Theatre. “Incredible,” pronounced with a Spanish accent, was the word that they used to describe the dramatic presentation. They were really surprised that at the end of the play, a clear gospel presentation and invitation was given.

We left Pennsylvania to spend the night in Frederick, MD, with my friend Pastor Kent Ramler. Last year I had preached in his church and school for a mission conference. We had a little bit of time to kill before meeting with the pastor, so we made a quick stop at Gettysburg at dusk and took a few photos. We climbed over the rocks at Little Round Top and I tried to tell them about that awful chapter of American history. We truly were touching all of the bases.

Tuesday morning, we enjoyed breakfast with the pastor and then drove to meet with another pastor friend for lunch. Our picture-perfect drive through the valley took us across the Shenandoah River, down I-81, to the historic town of New Market, VA. We met my friend Pastor Brent Hockema at the Smith Creek Baptist Church. His church was incorporated in 1756, twenty years before the United States would become a country. The area was known as the Cross Roads as two well-known Indian trails crossed here. It is the third “regular” Baptist church started in Virginia. The pastor gave us a tour of the church and also shared with us its history.

Pastor Brent not only serves as pastor of this church, he also is the President of Camp Rapidan in Virginia. We enjoyed talking camp ministry with him and we had lunch in one of those quaint small-town diners. The drive home that day was long but beautiful. We stopped at an overlook around dusk to take photos of the mountains. It was good to be back home for the night.

The next couple of days we spent in Greenville. We were able to get some much-needed rest, but we still took time to explore and shop. The Uruguayans enjoyed getting to know my mom, Elaine Davis, who lives in our basement apartment. On Thursday, mom threw together a quick lunch of ham and several salads along with homemade pimento cheese. I think Pedro wants her to come to cook at camp now. That afternoon we explored downtown Greenville and drove through Bob Jones University. It had been a hot day, over 90 degrees. We stopped for a drink at a QT station. Pedro wanted an icee so we all got different fruity icees. We were so thirsty that we started to guzzle the drinks only to all five grab our foreheads with brain freeze. The clerks behind the counter laughed at us. My daughters were home for a couple of nights before camp began and needed their rooms to pack so Ken and Joan Jensen graciously hosted the Uruguayans for the next two nights. On Friday evening, the Jensens hosted a last-minute drop-in at their house. Several folks from the Greenville area came out to greet the missionaries.

On Saturday morning, Ken and Joan dropped the missionaries off at our house. After packing the car, we left for the windy drive to the Wilds. When we arrived at camp, we met Paul and Theresa Bixby. For many years they served as missionaries in Spain. Last year, they were our featured speakers at the Family Camp and Workers’ Conference at Camp Emanuel in Uruguay. It was good to have my wife Joanna join us for the weekend. That evening, we were introduced to the leaders of CampsAbroad, Matt and Kelly Collier, Dan and Amy Brooks, and Tim and Rachel Endean. CampsAbroad is the missions arm of the Wilds Christian Association They send experienced camp leaders to churches around the world to provide practical, hands-on training—equipping local churches to better evangelize the lost and build up believers through Christ-centered camping. When Pedro first saw Matt, he expressed, “This has been a dream.” Another base touched.

On Sunday morning, the Uruguayans stayed at camp for the Staff Training Sessions while I preached at Bethany Baptist Church in Brevard. Joanna was able to join me at church and then at lunch with Pastor Collier and his family. On Sunday evening, we all attended church together and Pedro again shared his testimony in English, this time without notes.

On Monday morning, after breakfast, Paul Bixby translated one last time for our group. Rene Rodriguez came up from Greenville to spend the next four days as our translator. Rene’s wife Yani helps us translate the missionary letters of our Spanish speakers in Uruguay. Every day of staff training there were sessions dealing with both Philosophy and Program. Much of what we were being taught, we are already doing in Uruguay. The Wilds had reworked some of the material and it was good to be challenged in their approach of Hope, Help, and Hand-Off, in Humility. I am grateful for the excellent material that we were able to take home with us because there is no way that we could process all of the information.

One of the great things about being at camp is that Pedro already knew a few of the people because some had visited Uruguay to help on one of the Rick Jensen Work Teams. Following breakfast on Monday, Pedro pulled Paul Johnson aside and gave him an Uruguayan license (vanity) plate. Paul has been an invaluable help on two of the work trips. It was good to spend time with Rick and Kathy Jensen. He gave us several tours of the camp behind the scenes. On Monday night before the Big Ball game, we toured the kitchen and storage areas. Pedro was amazed at the number of freezers and he was obviously covetous over the dishwashers.

On Tuesday, in addition to the training sessions with all of the other counselors and operation staff, we met with Rick to discuss the upcoming work trip for October. This is Pedro’s Wish List for projects and their estimated costs.

1) Repair the bathroom partitions ($890)
2) New stainless steel shelves for the kitchen ($6,100)
3) Convert the old water tank into a storage area for games and supplies ($575)
4) Concrete work on the sidewalks for Cabins 1 – 4 ($2,915)
5) Concrete work on the floors in the cabins ($848)
6) Security bars for cabins 7 and 8, and for the Dining Room ($1,860)
7) Painting the security bars ($585)
8) Improvements to the game area including a climbing wall ($2,615)
9) Maintenance of current game structures ($630)
10) Installation of new screen and projector in the chapel ($830)
11) Installation of air conditioning in Dining Room and Chapel ($5,845)
Total: $23,693

He also would love to see us tackle two big projects.
1) Two new cabins made out of containers ($23,915)
2) Remodeling the barbecue area ($7,860)
Total: $31,775

Needless to say, accomplishing all of these goals will require God’s provision of funds and workers. If you would like to contribute, then visit the EMU International website’s give page for Camp Emanuel Projects.

Throughout the week, we were challenged with messages that touched our hearts. We were given instruction on how we could better counsel those campers that attend our camp. We were also encouraged by the time given to us by the CampsAbroad staff where they answered our questions and helped us understand how we could take what we were learning back to our ministry in Uruguay.

The Wilds is a beautiful place, a true mountain-top experience. We participated in many of the activities around the camp, including the giant-swing with its 65-foot drop. We also got to ride the new 250-foot high Zipline which has two sections and a combined length of 1,400 feet. Riders have an awesome view of the 3rd Falls and the Jocassee River Gorge. Fun Time, the weekly skit program put on by the program staff was hilarious. The humor of the night translated without an interpreter.

We were also able to help Rick Jensen and the construction crew as they were working on the new sponsor dining room in the basement of the dining hall. It is called the Cal-Zone, named after long-time cook Cal Maier. It was fun to return the favor for Rick and help paint and put together tables.

Our time at camp for staff training went better than I had ever imagined. We were touching all of the bases. The theme for camp this summer at the Wilds is “The Right Track,” a train theme that brings to remembrance the days when railroads began to cross the wild West. Counselors were working on their cabin cheers. My daughter Hannah is a counselor this summer at camp. Her cabin’s name is Northern Light. Part of her catchy cheer says, “Listen, everybody, we are on the right track. With our eyes on the prize, we will never look back.” It was full-steam ahead for the Uruguayans and myself and we were only half-way into their time with us.

We were off to a great start, touching all of the bases. Next month, I will tell you a little more about Pedro’s testimony. I also will share with you the second half of our trip as we participated in the first full week of camp and then traveled to Kansas and Michigan.

I had been waiting for the knock on the door of the casita (little house) for a couple of days. After attending the EMU Worker’s Retreat and Family camp for the past three years, I had come to expect a visit from Pastor Jose Kowalczuk. This strong and vocal leader is one of the nicest men I have ever met. The spry, 76-year-old widower pastors Calvary Temple of Durazno in the Interior of Uruguay.

Though Jose lives and serves in a town named “Peach” in Spanish, it is another fruit that has me waiting in anticipation for his visit each year. When I visited with Jose last year and preached in his church, I walked out back and saw grape vines that could only be rivaled by those encountered by the Israelite spies in the Valley of Eschol. Each year Pastor Jose brings small bottles of grape juice to the EMU missionaries. Muy dulce is the Spanish expression for very sweet, and that describes the juice and also Pastor Jose. You don’t guzzle this oh so delicioso taste of the Promised Land. It contains enough sugar to send the Cookie Monster into a diabetic coma.

My companions for the annual trip to Uruguay this year were my friends Steve and Karen Ridge. (We have known each other for thirty years.) Steve serves on the board of directors for EMU International and is the Executive Pastor at the Grace Bible Church in Colorado Springs. The theme of the camps this year was “The Church and You.” Our task for the two weeks we were there was to magnify the mission that God has given us to make disciples through the institution of the local church. Steve had nine specific speaking opportunities during our Workers’ Retreat and five sessions during Family Camp. Karen, an excellent speaker herself, was given an opportunity to speak to the ladies during Family Camp. In addition to the personal interviews I held with each of our missionaries, I was privileged to preach four evenings of Family Camp and seven times in the churches on the weekends. Steve has used his gift of discipleship in each church ministry he has served. I honestly don’t know if we could have chosen a more appropriate speaker for the subject matter this year.

In their excellent book, The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne use the metaphor of a backyard garden to teach us about discipleship. Trellis work represents the necessary structures of ministry. Vine work represents discipleship, the ultimate purpose of the Great Commission. They write, “Trellis work often looks more impressive than vine work. It’s more visible and structural. We can point to something tangible–a committee, an event, a program, a budget, an infrastructure–and say that we have achieved something. We can build our trellis till it reaches to the heavens, in the hope of making a name for ourselves, but there may still be very little growth in the vine. Our goal is to grow the vine, not the trellis.”

As I travel to Uruguay each year, I find it necessary to spend some time on trellis work – buildings, budgets, board meetings, etc. But our focus is people, vine work. From gospel seeds planted in Uruguay seventy-three years ago, EMU International continues to bring forth fruit through the focused efforts of our missionaries to evangelize, establish churches, and equip nationals. It is my goal in this article to update you on many of these people.

After an all-night flight from Miami, we arrived in Uruguay on Saturday morning, February 23, to unseasonably mild temperatures. It was the end of summer in the Southern hemisphere, equivalent to August 23 for us. Out of curiosity, I calculated the latitude of the EMU Mission House in Montevideo, the capital city, 34.889926 South, and wondered if Greenville was anywhere near the same distance from the equator. I was surprised to find that 34.889926 North puts you right in the center of the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

We arrived at Camp Emmanuel in time for lunch. Carlos Alberti was manning the grill and delivered on my promise to the Ridges that they would not be disappointed in the food. With a population of 3.4 million people and 14 million head of cattle, Uruguay boasts the highest cattle per capita rate in the world. They also rank number one in beef consumption per capita with each Uruguayan consuming over 124 pounds of beef every year. Thanks to Carlos’s amazing grill skills, Steve and I did our part to add to the consumption numbers. Karen and Carlos’s wife, Beatriz, were a little more careful about how much they ate. We walked around the camp and admired the work of Rick Jensen’s team back in October – the newly constructed deck for the game pavilion, the new cabin doors, the 7 new firehose stations, and the amazing tree work.

On Sunday, Pedro Donzé drove us to Calvary Temple in Montevideo where Steve shared a brief testimony and I preached. As usual, Chicha Rodriguez served as my interpreter. The church is pastored by Gustavo de Oliveira. This is a growing church of about 130 people. This has been a year of trials and blessings for them. My message was an effort to encourage the congregation to trust God this day. They have a heart for missions. Last year they were involved in church planting efforts in Artigas, about 8 hours to the north. This year they have eight couples who are helping with a church on the outskirts of Montevideo.

This is also the home church of several of our single lady missionaries. I was encouraged to visit with Marianne Rauter. For many years, she has served as the main translator of our Uruguayan correspondence. A few months ago, she fell and is still having a hard time getting around. She was not able to attend camp this year. After church, I showed the Ridges the EMU Mission house. John Mark and Deborah Steel, who live in this house, were in the United States at the time. Julia Piedad began working with EMU in 1950 as the housekeeper of the Mission House and Office. She still lives there. She celebrated her 93rd birthday on February 16.

For lunch we enjoyed chicken and chorizos (pork sausage), stuffed with cheese, cooked on the new grill that Calvary Temple built this past year. They also have a new roof over the fellowship hall. Several of the deacons and their families stayed and joined the pastor and his family as we all celebrated Ursula Thiessen’s 91st birthday. This past year she moved to live with her sister, which is next to her niece’s family. A nice family that lives nearby gives her a ride to church each Sunday. She is still faithfully serving God and was able to attend both weeks of camp.

After a brief rest in the afternoon, Chicha drove the Ridges, Ursula, and me to Fortaleza del Cerro, the last fort constructed by the Spanish in Uruguay, completed in 1839. It is situated on the highest hill overlooking Montevideo, 440 feet above sea-level on the opposite side of the Bay of Montevideo. It houses a military museum and honors José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (1764-1850), known as “the father of Uruguayan nationhood.”

On Sunday evening we attended Emmanuel Church in El Cerro, pastored by Ovidio Acevedo. Steve shared his testimony and I preached on “Foundations,” a look at the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7. Following the service, the church had a sweet time of fellowship, and we honored Ursula for her birthday. Chicha then took us to Gethsemani Church, pastored by Gaby Gomez, where we visited with some of the church families and then met Pedro, who took us back to camp. After a late supper of Uruguayan pizza, we were ready for our beds. We needed rest for the approaching busy week of Workers’ Conference.

It is always a joy to see our missionaries arriving at Camp Emmanuel for the Workers’ Conference. This week is a great time to catch up with ministry friends and encourage one another. Much time is spent in prayer and discussion over the Word of God. To hear the Uruguayans sing is also such a blessing. Nico Gomez, who organizes the meals for the camps, broke away from his kitchen duties to play the guitar as Pedro led the music. The preaching times are an added blessing.

Steve spoke on the subjects of 1) Expository Preaching, 2) Biblical Theology, 3) The Gospel, 4) Salvation, 5) Evangelism, 6) Church Membership, 7) Church Discipline, 8) Discipleship, and 9) Church Leadership. I held the bulk of our missionary interviews that week. I also shared a Director’s Update. Our Uruguayan missionaries loved hearing about what God is doing through our EMU missionaries around the world. Several asked for the PowerPoint presentation so they can show it to their church families.

I want to give a major shout out to Matias Espinel who served as the main translator for Steve and me. As director of F.E.B.U. (Bible college), he was busy making plans for the new semester, which began the week after Family Camp, but he attended and worked for us at both weeks of camp. It was special for Steve and Karen to spend time with Matias and Kristine as they know each other from a previous ministry. The kids especially loved having Karen with them as they thought she was a third grandmother for them.

On Friday, Chicha drove the Ridges and me to visit the small resort town of Piriapolis where we enjoyed a breathtaking panoramic view of the coastline. I also introduced them to Uruguay’s national dish, the chivito al plato. It is made with a beef steak, 2 or 3 slices of bacon, an egg, ham, mozzarella, tomato, onion, lettuce, fries, and Russian potato salad. Steve and I split the platter and still couldn’t finish it. Chicha and Karen split a salad. On the way out of town, we had to stop for ice cream. I imagine Karen and Chicha had salad to save room.

I told the Ridges earlier that we were going to spend the second weekend in the Interior. I guess I wasn’t clear enough about what they should expect because Steve went out and got shots in preparation for this rugged trip. I will confess that when I first heard about the Interior of Uruguay, I also had pictures of David Livingstone and his machete cutting a path through the jungles. The trip isn’t rugged in any way, other than the occasional pothole we had to dodge. The roads are actually quite nice through the rolling hills of the Uruguayan countryside. We saw windmills, which power nearly 34% of Uruguay’s electrical grid. We also saw a lot of cattle and an occasional gaucho, the Uruguayan cowboy.

We stopped about half-way to our destination in a small town called Minas. On the east side of the city, we drove up another small mountain (919 feet high) called Cerro Artigas, which offers a panoramic view of the city and surrounding area. At the top there is also a small park and a statue of José Artigas, Uruguay’s founding father, sitting atop a horse. (You can also find statues of Artigas on Virginia Avenue and Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C., and on 6th Avenue and Spring Street Park in New York City.)

We then made our way to Treinta y Tres where we met Pastor Rubito Rodriguez and his wife Marita. He wanted to show us the progress on his new house, so we followed him out of town a couple of miles to see how he and his family have been spending their Mondays for the past year. He is building the house himself. There are several church members who live close. Currently, they live in a small house above the church. We went back to the church where we enjoyed a delicious meal together. Rubito is Chicha’s nephew, so we had an opportunity to hear a lot of great stories. Following the meal, while the girls visited together, the guys watched soccer highlights. The family gave up their bedrooms so we could spend the night at their house. They slept on mattresses in the church sanctuary.

Saturday morning, after a nice breakfast, we drove out into the countryside to visit the house where Chicha grew up. That house has been converted into a camp, called Camp Bethel. It is much more rustic than Camp Emmanuel, but it gets used regularly, and the people in that area love attending. I last visited a couple of years ago and was impressed to see the improvements that they have made. The camp is maintained by the people of Calvary Temple in Treinta y Tres.

From the camp, we traveled a short distance to the small river town of La Charqueada. This is the home of another one of our single missionaries, Julia Alvarez. With her motorcycle, she visits the neighboring villages and spreads the gospel door-to-door, which sometimes is a mile between houses. She serves in a small church, and the new sign out front reads Iglesia Bautista Jesus es el Camino (Jesus is the Way Baptist Church). This past year they put in new floors and improved the bathroom. Julia oversees the ladies’ meetings at Camp Bethel. She also served us an amazing lunch. While the ladies cleaned up after the meal, Steve found his way to her hammock where he enjoyed a brief power nap.

We then traveled to Vergara, another small town, where we stopped at a radio station called the Liberator. This is also the home of Ricardo and Mayka Windmoller. The building has several bedrooms and houses a Christian radio station. We enjoyed a brief time of fellowship and then had to leave for a service that Ricardo had planned for his church that Saturday evening. I was surprised to find a large crowd gathered for the special service. There was such a sweet spirit and enthusiastic singing that it was really easy for me to preach. Following the service, we enjoyed a fellowship time with typical Uruguayan pastries. It had been a busy weekend for us already, so we rested well that night

On Sunday morning, Chicha and I were up early for a half-hour radio broadcast. I preached on the subject, “You Must be Born Again.” Ricardo manned the controls. In addition to those listening in Uruguay, he was excited to have people tuning in from across South America, North America, and Europe.

Mayka made omelets for breakfast and then we returned to church for Sunday worship. The children took the stage and sang several songs. I preached again, this time on Matthew 9, “Moved with Compassion.” The text doesn’t say that Jesus was moved with commitment. It is sometimes easier to be committed than compassionate. Most of our churches, including this one, have visited their towns and gone door-to-door many times. I told them not to neglect their efforts to visit every house but to also develop a more relational approach. Why not just walk next door and sip máte (Uruguayan green tea) with their neighbors and build relationships with a goal of presenting the gospel? This church responded favorably to that suggestion.

Following the service, the children walked down the aisle, each one grinning ear-to-ear, with those in front carrying a birthday cake. They were singing Happy Birthday in Spanish to Chicha. I’m not going to tell you how old she is, but I will tell you that God has given her amazing stamina to do as much as she does. She has a radio ministry that reaches throughout South America. She ministers in the hospitals and jails, along with leading women’s ministries. During the camp season, she is one of the main translators for any visiting English speakers. And she serves on the mission’s Uruguay Board of Directors.

After a delicious lunch with the Windmollers, we rested a little and then drove back to Calvary Temple in Treinta y Tres. That evening I preached twice. The first service was a sweet time as we celebrated the Lord’s Supper together. In the second service, the church was packed into an overflow room on the backside of the auditorium. The music is always special at this church. It was a joy to preach again for these people as this was my third visit to the church. Following the service, we enjoyed a quick piece of birthday cake and then drove the four hours back to camp, arriving just before 1 am.

The second week of camp was a typical week of Family Camp. The temperatures had risen, approaching the 90’s. The people were very receptive to the preaching of the Word, Steve in the mornings and me in the evenings.

Family Camp also affords the opportunity for friendly competition. On Thursday, we had a race around the camp, and I carried the Uruguayan flag, deliberately finishing in last place. The teenagers then wanted to take one more lap around the camp and encouraged me to join them. When the signal was given, I took off, sprinting ahead of all the teens. After about 40 yards, I decided I didn’t want to wear myself out, so I started to slow down. At that moment, I felt a ping in my hamstring. I forgot again, yes, I have done this before. I spent the next couple of days icing and wrapping my pulled hamstring muscle.

One of the blessings of having guest speakers visit Uruguay is to see them interacting with the nationals. Neither Steve nor Karen speak Spanish, but both made efforts to get to know the different campers – life on life, relational disciple-making, even across language barriers. The Trellis and the Vine describes vine work as “. . . the basic agenda for all disciples. To be a disciple is to be a disciple-maker.”

We left Uruguay on Friday evening with hearts full of praise to God for a wonderful two weeks spent together. Karen mentioned that God had knit their hearts with the people of Uruguay. Steve described how this trip gave him a new perspective on how to pray for his new friends.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, now is the time for me to start planning my garden. As I plant and water, may I be reminded of the work that God is doing through our EMU missionaries serving in Uruguay and all around the world. It is easy for those of us in administrative roles to find ourselves focusing on trellis work. We need to be like Pastor Jose who tends his grape vines. It is our prayer that as we tend to the trellises and the vines, God will give the increase. We also appreciate the watering of your prayers for the ministries of EMU. †