Wed. Time to Leave

This has been an awesome trip.  Yesterday we went to Kilkenny which is about 2 hours away.  We did street ministry most of the day, but for about an hour in the afternoon, we slipped away and took a quick tour of a castle there.  It was a first for me.
I've so enjoyed being here in Ireland with fellow believers telling others that God loves them and He gave us Jesus.  So many here are steeped in religious beliefs that are so binding. 
Many of us will be up at 4 in the morning to go to Cork airport to connect to various flights to head home.  When I get home,  I hope to post more pictures. 
It has been difficult to get to WIFI and to have access to the internet.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers.
Love and blessings to you,
rk

Gypsy

This evening we've had a gentleman named Mike give the most interesting testimony.  He was born as a traveler, which we would refer to as a gypsy.  This is a group of people in Ireland who live to themselves and travel.  He said the first 5 days of his life, he was in 5 different places.  This man is about 50ish.  These travelers trust no one.  They are uneducated and make their living by thieving and robbing.  He shared how he was saved at 29.  It is too long a story to write, but he is now serving God, and will soon test for his diploma (same as a GED for us).  He told how his life was spared many times.  He is now being used in missions and was actually in Alabama recently.  A most interesting testimony of God's love for mankind.

 Here's the ladies that I'm rooming with in front of our house.  From Georgia, Illinois, Texas, South Carolina, and Kentucky.  Amazing how God brings together such a group to work together in ministry for this time.

 In the Blarney Gardens with Leah from Ohio.  Standing in front of a tree in the gardens.

 Beautiful flowers abound everywhere.

 Some of the team on the street.

Guys in the blue and white shirts in the red chairs are praying with someone at the street meeting.  We've gotten all kinds of responses.  Some of kind and some are not.  We have been taught to remain sweet and often we just smile and listen.  I've had some that would take a Bible after I pleasantly listened for a while. 
Today at the service, they had the first graduation service for the Bible School.  It was for the 3rd year students.   We then went to a nearby town at a ministry center and had lunch.  They then baptized 22 in an above ground swimming pool.  One of the candidates was a young man that accepted Jesus on Friday.  We are plugging him into the church. 
This is a beautiful land.  I see a lot of Holstein cows on the hillsides.  We've had sunny days all week, but they say it is suppose to rain tomorrow.  Apparently rain is the norm here.  Someone said they have had winter for 2 years. 
Thanks to all for your prayers and support.
Until next time.

I am enjoying Ireland with my first cousin, Linda, who lives near Fort Worth.  We are getting to know each other as we've never had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together through the years because of the distance.  We are both enjoying this trip so much.

Greetings from Ireland

Hello to all,

This is my first opportunity to blog.  It is difficult to get to a WIFI connection.  Because of limited battery on my computer and I do not have a proper electrical connector, I won't try to post pictures this time.

We are having a grand time.  The weather has been perfect so for.  It is ideal for the street ministry that we are doing.  It is sunny and about 70 degrees.  The locals here mention that this is not the norm.

This is a beautiful place and everyone is so gracious.  The ministry here is new for many of us.  We go to a main section in town and set up.  The youth on the team does a powerful drama presentation that really draws a crowd.  We interact and give out Bibles, tracts, and invite the to the local church.  Many are receptive and kind while some are not.   There is much disenchantment with the Catholic church here because of all the corruption that has occurred within the church.  They say every family has been connected in one way or the other. 

We have a very versatile team of 29 Americans.  Everything is going well.

One of the pastors here at the Bible school and church grew up in Jasper, FL.  He lived there until he was 17 or 18.  The Bible school is an arm of the church and is a very big help.  The church is 20 years old.  They do this street ministry every Wed.

Tonight I will be working with the preteens for about an hour and a half while others work with the teens.  It will be a busy day.

Thanks for your prayers, Until next time,

At Uncle Lindsey's on Memorial Day.  Left to right:  Ellen, Cason, Harrison, Clara, Clay, Davis, & Graham.  Homemade ice cream, snow cones, grilling, swimming, and just being together.  It was a fun day for all.

We had a wonderful visit to Mayo to visit family for a brief visit going down on Mon.  On Tuesday, I celebrated my birthday.  Since arriving home on Wed., I've been busy with last minute preparations for leaving for Ireland on Monday. 
Just checking my blog site as I hope to communicate via this venue while in Ireland.  I am getting excited by the day.
 Looking forward to spending time with my cousin, Linda, from Ft. Worth.  Her mom, Burldine, and my dad were siblings.  I think we are both looking forward to being able to spend more time together than we ever have.  I hope she still loves me after being together for 10 days.
Myra Henriott and I will leave Savannah during the middle of the day.  We'll meet up with Linda in Ft. Worth and leave for London.  We should arrive in Cork middle of the afternoon on Tuesday.
Meetings and ministry will begin on Wednesday. 
Thanks in advance to all for your prayers.
Until next time,

On May 7, 2013, my class presented "Bullies Anonymous" to the students of LUES.  We did 2 performances at 9 and  10 A.M.   While it was a lot of fun, it was also very educational.  We learned and taught about different types of bullies, and what usually happens to them.  I was very proud of my 3rd graders.  I will miss them next year. 

School's Out

Last Friday was our last day with students.  It's been a whirlwind of a year.  Three more days of postplanning,  then I'll be making a quick trip to FL to visit mom.  This will be my first time going back since dad went to heaven on March 21st.  Then on June 3rd, I'm leaving to go to Ireland with WMA on my 7th mission's trip.  I'm so thankful for these opportunities to go.

Summer

Enjoying the lazy days of summer.  On my birthday, May 28th, David & I left for Alaska where we rented a motor home for 11 days.  We enjoyed visiting Denali and going out on a day cruise from Whittier.  David went halibut fishing in Homer. It was a relaxing and refreshing trip for us.

Since arriving back home, I've visited my family in FL.  Amy is much improved and is learning to use her prosthesis.  We are so thankful to God for sparing her life.  We have questions that we will never have answers for, but we continue to just trust.

I'm working on this post and plan to contact with everyone when we go to the CUFI conference the week of July 16th.  Then on July 22nd, Myra Henriott and I are to go to China for a mission's outreach with WMA.  I'm looking forward to seeing my mission buddy friend: Gwen Reed from South Carolina.  This is the 4th summer I will have traveled with her on mission trips.  We solicit your prayers for safety in all areas and ultimately for an outpouring of love and ministry to the Chinese people.  I do plan to post from China providing that we have internet access.

Blessings to all and thanks for your prayers.

Christmas 2011

We've had the girls since Dec. 20th. It is amazing how peaceful and contented they have been. Everyday has been an adventure.

Peeking........can you see me?

At Higgston Park:

At Higgston Park........

Cason Hart

Cason Bradley Hart was born on October 2 arriving at 6 lb. & 4 oz. 19 inches long. He was 2 weeks early. Here he is with his mommy in the church nursery. He came to church for the first time when he was one week old.

Cason Bradley Hart

Cason was born today, Oct. 2, @ 4:00 PM weight in at 6 lb. 4 oz., 19.75 inches. Mother and baby are fine............God is good.

Home safe

We had a wonderful 2 weeks in China. We did some site-seeing in Xi'an, then was involved in a training to Chinese teachers to help them learn conversational English. There were greater goals that I will not list here, but know that we achieved the ones for this trip and look for a great harvest in the future. The pics are not in any certain order. I just randomly selected them. Here's David on the train when we visited a small city of about 80K for the training. John on our team celebrated his 57th birthday. We honored him with a cake and really enjoyed sandwiches from Subway.

Blake and Laura (locals from Xi'an) are the brains behind the work. He is over the Xi'an International School and she teaches English at one of the local universities. A very sweet and patient couple that took excellent care of all of us.

A bon-a-fide STL vehicle. ( We got to ride in it.)

On Wednesday evening we had an English corner at the school. Teachers came with their families and friends and we just hung out and visited for an hour and a half.

The Terracotta soldiers near Xi'an. These were found in the 1970s. A former emperor hundreds of years ago had them cast and buried with him. These are broken from a cave in, but many have been put back together. There are thousands of them. This was a very interesting find.

Between 30 and 40 million Chinese live in cave homes. We visited one on our trip to see the soldiers. It is cool in summer and warm in winter. They've made them rather nice.

Group photo on the Monday of our training. The team is on the front row with the 2 school administrators. The Chinese teachers are in the back.

Going to Jim's apartment on the 18th floor, we came by this tree receiving an I.V. to help it live. Yes, that's a bag and a needle is stuck in the tree..............

On Friday after the training, we visited a junior high school. This is a 9th grade class with 54 students in it. There's room for 60. They sit on little wooden stools that is no more than a board. The students come early around seven. They leave and go home in the middle of the day for a couple of hours to eat lunch and rest. They come back in the afternoon and stay until about 6. They had no concept of school buses. The students take turns keeping the school clean. It is a much different culture. On this day, they were there for some summer session.

A team picture before the folk from Hong Kong leave..........

On the Great Wall with our "Torch" magazine. This is Lee's alumini magazine.

With Jim and the SW team on the wall. It was hot..........
Rita in front of the Forbidden City which is across from Tinamin Square. We were able to find an English speaking Chinese who we paid to guide us through this site. We learned so much more by doing this.

With John, our guide.

David helping some Chinese teachers...............

We were so blessed by going and thankful for everyone and everything involved. Jim was a great host, Jennifer was a wonderful leader, and we met some wonderful people in the "family."

PTL!

China 2011 - Post # 3

Xi'an Great Mosque set up in 742 AD during the Tang Dynasty. The mosque covers a total area of more than 13,000 sq meters with the buildings of over 6,000 sq meters, It is built in the shape of a rectangle from the east to the west and divided into 4 courtyards.

Some men going to prayers. They go by the cleansing area first. We were told if they had a sash down the back of their cap, they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Some just looking at the sites. David is in my still pictures and I'm in the video as he takes those.

Muslim quarters with many shops.

Inside Muslim compound.

Jim and David in compound.

Ladies praying outside the mosque

Street scene

China 2011 - Post # 2

A Speed the Light Vehicle

Our group in a Budda temple in this city of 9 million. They have 20 acres which is significant in this large of city. Had a p----r walk for the people here. Continual building programs on the compound.

The end of a building. In the center was the swastika symbol that Hitler used. Interesting. This would be hundreds of years old. Probably around 500 AD.

One of many Buddhas

Making jiaozi (dumpling) in the Ozais' home They live on 18th floor.

Group helping with jiaozi

Transportation

China 2011 - Post # 1

This is the city wall of Xi'an. This was the first capital city of China. The students pictured are from Southwestern University in Waxahatchie, Texas an AG school.

We also visited the Xi'an International School. This is where Jim and Heidi learned Chinese. Adult students work with a teacher one-on-one. Anyone wanting to learn the language can go here. Their children also go to this school. It is K-12. The class sizes are about 6-12 per grade. I was very impressed. Our job yesterday was to teach them (the adult Chinese teachers) three idioms each such as:

high as a cats back,

a few fries short of a Happy meal

The lights are on but nobodies home,

as the crow flies.......

They was much fun and laughter. Then they taught us some Chinese words.

The larger group below is the Chinese teachers and Americans. Some are in the "family", while others are not. We are having to be careful with our vocabulary. It is much different than recent visits.

Until next time . . .