Faith is Like a Picture

Loquats and Mountain Bird, artist unknown

One of our members was up on Holiday Island yesterday and went to church with the Lutherans there. It was a very formal very Lutheran service, quite unlike our own worship service. In the middle of all the formality, however, was a very simple and direct sermon about faith. Our member found it quite moving.

The pastor said that "faith is like painting a picture." The painter starts out with nothing, then adds a brush stroke or two that may only complicate the picture because the brush strokes seem unrelated. Then,as more brush strokes are added--symbols for time, experience, and effort--something wonderful and sensible and lasting emerges.

The sermon took about 10 minutes to deliver but it stuck with our member all day long.

Mulch Update

Grace Lutheran Church in Holiday Island

Isn't this a clever--and attractive sign? It may be time for our sign committee to meet again! In other news...

...David Bell and Dan Krotz will organize a work team to put mulch in the Church flower beds and around the Annex and garage. The team's work will be scheduled soon after Carroll Electric drops of a truck load of donated mulch. It may be a while--we need to wait on Carroll Electric--but we haven't forgotten. Stay tuned!

The Curtain Rises on Season Four!

Tomato cages

Twenty young tomato plants were transported from the Hale's greenhouse on April 17th--two days past the last predictable frost date in Arkansas--and put into the dirt in our Community Garden. The plants, which our Little Sprouts grew from seeds, are heirloom varieties that include an old favorite called Rutgers, and a new to us variety called Sioux Land. Both are full bodied red tomatoes, typically round and of average size. They were chosen because they are good for both canning and in salads. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

The garden beds are essentially full.We have four (4) beds of potatoes--Yukon Gold and a small early red potato who's name we can't recall, 1 full row of bell peppers, half a dozen zucchini plants, a row of broccoli, six hills of climbing beans, a row and a half of asparagus, and plenty of lettuce on the way. The Little Sprouts also planted a couple of raised beds of Indian Corn which is doing nicely.

We have been blessed by good weather, just the right amount of rain, and plenty of sunshine. The soil in the garden is really showing the results of three years of care and feeding: we are almost entirely weed free and the raised bed method seems to be working well for us.

Up next is Mrs. Hudspeth's flower seed and hyacinth bean planting; Jennifer's flower beds are always the highlight of the garden and a robust attractor of bees, butterflies, and ladybugs. The hyacinth beans are also a delight and transform our chain link fence into a jungle of color.

Working in the garden this year has been wholly a pleasure. It is a wonderful place to pray and meditate and to feel first hand the presence of God. What a good thing a garden is.

A Letter from our Brother Kerry

God's blessing was so much with us this trip to India. We finished our 16th year of going and we are so thankful!! We are home 2 weeks and look back at God's grace and strength that He gave. We were able to give 39 Prayer Sheds and churches and drill 8 water wells so far this year. We gave for many goats, buffaloes, bicycles etc.

Some how, a friend in Arkansas was connected to this village pastor in India and this pastor was persistent... My friend asked if we would "inspect" while we were in India. This brother is persistent, but he send us a report and it blesses us. We have great success.

In the villages and in life, God's way is to do things "little by little" and to test our heart to find our faithfulness.

This brother came and we gave for a prayer shed and to bless 4 widows with big goats and one evangelist needed a bicycle. We gave the choice to him of which to do, church or bless widows etc. When he finished one and he sends a report with pictures, he would get funding for the second.

PTL!! The report looked good, the four widows look blessed and bicycle is given...

Our prayer is always for God's guidance to give and that we miss no assignments that He puts before us to strengthen the hands in the villages, for His glory.

As we give we always teach the pastors to use the gifts as a tool to teach the people to give--as in the "Talents" of Matthew 25, and teach the people to, as a result, build their own churches and not wait with open hand for someone to do it for them... It is then a joy to step up and, together, build a place of worship for the glory of God!!

Thank you all for your giving and for helping strengthen the hands in the villages!! The churches are definitely growing spiritually, numerically and in the blessings of the Lord!! It is a joy and exciting!!

This trip, we had the $25,000 matching gift and it was an awesome blessing!! The couple who gave it, have renewed the pledge to give another $25,000 matching gift for when we return in October!!!! PTL!!!

With so much thanks, love and prayers,

Kerry and Melody
PO Box 140402 Broken Arrow, Ok 74014 918-346-1656