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Newsletter July 2008
July 27, 2008
Greetings from sunny/rainy Florida,
June has been a rather interesting month for us. Barb and I started off the month by going to California to visit some friends, Vanna and Del Clegg, who happen to live on a ranch about halfway between LA and San Francisco. Vanna is related to some of our Palm Bay friends, Stan and Shannon Berry. Last July we went there and enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to go back again next year. Shannon and Stan were also there so the four of us did some of the tourist type activities. We spent the day in San Francisco, visited Alcatraz and rode the infamous SF trolley cars. Life on a Ranch just seems to go in slow-motion; however our time there seemed to fly right on by. The cell-phone service on the ranch is non-existent so my phone didn’t ring. Every once in a while I would look at it to see if it was still working. Being on a ranch was a nice reprieve from my normal everyday duties. I also got to see the California coast from the seat of a private plane owned by our hosts and scaled the mountains on four-wheelers.
We flew home on Tuesday the 10th and on Friday I flew out again bound for New Hampshire for my quarterly visits to His Mansion. I had about enough time at home to unpack my dirty clothes, wash them and repack them for my NH trip. I usually try to connect with my brothers and sister while in NH but that just didn’t work out this trip. I did, however get to visit two of our supporting churches and shared the message in one of them, Valley Bible Chapel. Barb and I have plenty of memories in that church from when we served at His Mansion many years ago. There were 26 people who came to His Mansion to take the HCC seminar that I went up there to help teach. They came from all over the US to attend this one week course. I so enjoy going up to His Mansion. When I am there I work hard but the stress that I have at home just seems to roll off of me when I am in NH.
Things at Hope Ministries are going well. I now have my own office there. I use to use whatever office or room was available or the kitchen when I had someone coming in for counseling. Speaking of counseling between my trip to California and my trip to His Mansion I met with a 30 year old lady who was drinking 24 cans of beer each day to keep from going threw withdrawals and seizures. She had gone into the hospital five different times for detox but she would start drinking as soon as they released her. I am trying to get her into His Mansion. Pray for her that God would open the doors for her to be accepted in the hospital one more time to go through detox before we put her on the plane bound for NH. She is not a believer but she wants to go to His Mansion for help. I will let you know when she gets up there.
The men’s group I am leading with John Selvage at Hope Ministries is going great. It is so exciting to see men gain the victory over sexual sin that has been wreaking havoc in their families and their lives for so many years. I love seeing people set free from bondage as they allow God to change them from the inside out. On the 10th of July I will be starting the next addictions training class. I think the reason I like teaching the addictions courses is because I learn so much each time I teach the material. I believe I will have about 15 students in the upcoming class.
Mikala just returned from a mission’s trip to the Dominican Republic. She went down there last weekend with a team of teenagers from Zion. She was one of the adult organizers for this mission’s trip. They did a variety of work projects in the community and VBS (Vacation Bible School) events in the mornings. I was informed that over 120 kids showed up on the first day. They must be excited to see that kind of response. I got an email from one of the mothers about a spider incident that happened. One of the girls were using the bathroom when she came busting out screaming that there was a humongous spider in there. So two of the brave boys from the team went in to take care of the spider and they came running out a few seconds later saying it was too big for them to deal with. So Mikala went in, armed with a broom. After some banging and screams she came out in defeat saying she couldn’t kill it. After a few minutes of discussion (this was the only working bathroom) Mikala decided to go back in for round two. She came out a few minutes later as the victor. The spider was dead. If this incident had happened at home Mikala would have held her pee until I came home to take care of the problem. Here are a few pictures from her recent trip down there.
Micah is planning to have eye surgery to correct his nearsightedness. Barb had the Lasik done many years ago and she can now see 20/20. Micah is waiting to get permission from his Coast Guard supervisors before he books the appointment. Jesus might have Micah’s heart but the Coast Guard owns his body so he needs permission to do this procedure. He is planning to take a week’s leave and stay with us after the surgery to give his eyes time to heal before he has to go back to work. This past weekend he moved from a two bedroom apartment in Miami to a four bedroom house with a two car garage. He and two other guys active in the Coast Guard are sharing the expenses of renting the house.
I want to end this month’s letter by thanking each and every one of you for your prayers, your support and your friendship. We value each and every one of you and long to communicate with you regularly. Lets stay in touch.
Because of Christ,
Lew and Barb
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