I don’t paint fingernails

January 4, 2018

The cry from down the hall chilled me to the bone. “Bapa, do my nails!” my 4-year-old granddaughter called. I don’t do nails. I had already told her that Bapa – what she’s called me since before she could say Grandpa – doesn’t do makeup. That was when she called me into her room and […]

Godliness with contentment

April 2, 2013

Shame showed on Mesari’s face as she read 1 Timothy 6:6-8: Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. Mesari, who is helping Elli Schlegel translate 1 Timothy into […]

Happy for a headache

April 1, 2013

I am so glad I had a migraine last week. Because I had a migraine, I was home Friday morning when Julie felt an increase in pressure in her chest and an irregular heartbeat, and was able to take her to the emergency room. After 24 hours of observation, they still aren’t certain what is […]

What happens tomorrow?

December 27, 2012

I never expected where a request I received yesterday would lead me. I was asked to do a little research for NTM’s CEO, Larry M. Brown, having to do with the mission’s history. That led me to an account from Bruce Porterfield, one of NTM’s pioneering missionaries who passed on to glory in summer 2012. […]

The Alpha and Omega wants your A through Z

March 13, 2011

Some things we’ve been learning at church recently about sacrifice and obedience got me thinking about the parable of the tower.

Santa Claus is coming to Christ?

May 7, 2010

Santa Claus isn’t a believer. Yet. Don’t be a doubter – he’s real! At least, the one I’m talking about is real. He’s a 10-year-old Sekadau boy. And his name is kind of normal. Missionaries Paul and Bella Gervasi have encountered a number of seemingly odd names among the Sekadau people of Indonesia, including Aspirin, […]

ECHOs of Christmas

December 14, 2009

I hope you get an ECHO by the end of the year. Perhaps you’ve already had one. I had one Saturday. ECHO is a term I invented this morning. Yes, I’m breaking new ground in vanity by making up my own terms, and I’d be quite proud of that if not for the fact that […]

This is a cure?

October 13, 2009

You are helping give the Guanano people opportunities to change as a result of a growing relationship with Christ.

Sometimes there’s no good choice

August 18, 2009

We face choices every day … but sometimes it seems like you don’t have a good one. Even when things seem obvious at first. And that seems to happen to missionaries overseas a bit more. For example …