We are sad to report the passing of Ron Holsapple, one of the homeless men Eida has been reaching out to. When she visited the grocery store last Wednesday there were several police cars near the back of the building where Ron and Jimmy camp out. They told her that Ron had died. Jimmy was nowhere to be seen –- he has negative associations with law enforcement.
However, Eida did see him a day or two later and Jimmy told her that Ron had quit eating, the only “nourishment” he was taking were alcoholic beverages. Jimmy says he warned him that he needed to heat, but there was no reasoning with him. It seems that he basically drank and starved himself to death.
Eida has been trying to dig up some details about Ron’s life in order to help the Medical Examiner notify his next of kin in Illinois.
Only God knows Ron’s eternal destiny. Eida shared the gospel with him on several occasions and he says he was raised going to church. But he didn’t give us a lot of cause for hope.
Please pray that Jimmy and the other guys who hung with them would take this as a wake-up call.
Steve’s trip
I had a very nice visit with my parents in San Jose. Dad organized a big dinner on Friday night, August 1st, which was their 55th anniversary. It was quite an affair with many of their old friends, including some original members of their wedding party!
Our son, Art, took the occasion to propose marriage to his girlfriend Marlene Ormonde (a sweet girl who is a college student from the Azores), so it was a memorable evening on several levels. (Yes, ladies, she did accept.)
On Saturday afternoon I had a very enjoyable visit with our good friends, the Skovmands, and on Sunday, we enjoyed worshipping as a family at Valley Church of Cupertino. I was invited to share about our ministry with an adult Sunday School class. Their genuine interest and concern (despite the flaws in the presentation) were very encouraging.
The Amtrak train ride to Paso Robles to meet Esther on Wednesday morning was fun. Then while we made the two-day drive from Atascadero to El Paso, she told me all about her short term missions trip to the Czech Republic. She had a very positive experience and even was extended an invitation to return to take a full time ministry position there.
After a couple of days relaxing and watching the Olympics here with us, Esther resumed her trip this morning to the Missionary Training Center in Missouri with Eida as co-pilot. The last time we talked they were in Amarillo asking me to look up Starbucks for them online, so they’re making good progress. Eida plans to fly back from Kansas City on Saturday.
Please pray for God’s direction for Esther as she completes her last semester of training. We know God has a special place for her to fill in ministry because she is a special young lady.
Meanwhile, I have piles of work to do, the first of which is to move everything on my old computer to a new Dell laptop which the Lord has provided for us. What a blessing! And WHAT A MONSTER JOB!
Leave a Reply