Believers Baptist Church Valentine Banquet

Here are a few pictures from last night of the Valentine Banquet at the Deere-Wiman house in Moline, Illinois. Abby and I had a great time while Emily did not (Elena wasn't quite the sweetheart she usually is). Abby and I were in charge of the game "Name that Tune," all hymns with the theme of Christ's love for us or us for Him. Pastor Farmer from Milledgeville, Illinois, was the guest preacher. Dad was his usual self as MC lightening up everyone during the banquet. Thanks Mr. C. for the pictures!

Ethnic Foods

When we think of heading off for Cameroon one day, one of the many adjustments to be made will be that of changing cultures. One of those changes will include food. This morning we participated in a little bit of "Sanderlin" culture for breakfast. All Sanderlins will probably know what that was, but for those of you who don't... We were watching a video that Uncle Warren filmed of Grandad making sawmill gravy so it could be passed down for posterity. Grandad said, "We're havin' sawmill gravy, biscuits, jelly, eggs, bacon, sausage, orange juice, and coffee...and if you don't like any of that then stay away from the Sanderlins" or something like that. (I wonder if I'll have to leave all that behind, or if we can still make that kind of thing where we are going?I'll love the food in Cameroon I'm sure.) I have made everything but sawmill gravy many times in the past, so today I made the sawmill gravy for the first time...thanks Grandad! So that is a little bit of the Sanderlin culture...now I have to go out and split firewood since we are about out.

Deputation...

We had the privilege of being at a missions conference in Elgin, Illinois. We were challenged by the preaching of God's Word with our responsibility to reach people for Christ. We trust we were able to be a blessing to those in the college and church. We presented our field on Monday morning to the college and highschool with over 250 being in attendance. There were missionaries to South Africa, Brazil, Ukraine, Romania, Mexico, Bahamas, Nepal, India, and the Middle East who also presented their fields throughout the week. Thank the Lord that missionaries are still answering God's call to go into all the world. If we all went where the Lord called us then the world could be reached. May we all be willing and obedient!

Also, I received a call from a church we presented at last year, and they recently voted to take us on for support. That brings us up to 8 churches that have promised to support us though 4 of them are actually supporting us as of the end of January. Please pray that we would be diligent in presenting our burden for Cameroon, and that the Lord would burden and enable churches to support us soon.

Brrr!!

If you live in the North then you know how cold it has been lately. It is probably colder somewhere else, but it has been quite a January/February in Illinois and Wisconsin. Here are some pictures of Elena out on her first sledding adventure. She may not get much of this in the future in Africa, but I'm sure she'll have some other fun experiences to remember. This is supposed to be a recreation of Jessica's first sledding ride with Mom and her family while Dad was in Korea back in 1975. Emily keeps asking us to go sledding with her...