Liberty Church of Christ Workday

The preacher for and other members of the Liberty Church of Christ in Dennis, MS made the long trip to Winona, MS on Tuesday, October 29. They came to assist Betty Choate, Bonnie and me in preparation of the next mailing of the Global Harvest magazine. This journal is a semi-annual publication highlighting mission works by various churches of Christ. It is full color and accented with pictures of many foreign mission efforts. If you would like a free sample copy, send me your mailing information at my email: rushmore@gospelgazette.com (stateside requests only, please).

One picture shows the crew in action with Bonnie also pictured as she was keeping the various piles of inserts stocked. The other photograph shows the Liberty Church of Christ bunch plus Betty Choate and me; Bonnie was taking the pic.

Congregations send us workers from time to time for numerous work projects: mailings, cleaning, building repairs and maintenance, yard work, painting, etc. Sometimes senior citizens come, whereas on other occasions youth with their chaperons come, or families may spend a day with us. If workers come for more than one day, we house them in the apartment attached to the warehouse or in the homes of Betty Choate, Paula and Jerry Bates or in our home. There are so many ways in which someone or a church can participate with us in World Evangelism.

October Edition of Gospel Gazette Online

Dear Brethren and Friends,

     Finally, the October 2013 edition of Gospel Gazette Online (www.gospelgazette.com) is now ready for your use. In addition to 16 pages of new material this month, you can take advantage of thousands of pages of archived articles. Simply use the site search engine or go to the Archive. Starting last month with the September edition, we have also added a link in the masthead for all of the past issues of The Voice of Truth International magazine (PDF) plus dozens of Bible study and sermon outline books (PDF). We are devoted to your edification. May God richly bless you in your studies. ~ Louis Rushmore, Editor

Medical Update: A Year in Review

Fall 2012 Myanmar Delta

Bonnie Rushmore

Just under a year ago, upon our return trip from Asia, I visited the doctor for a routine annual checkup. As many of you may recall, that visit resulted in further tests that determined the need to have my gall bladder removed in Grenada, MS. Instead of getting better, I became sicker and several more tests were run at hospitals in Oxford, MS and Memphis, TN, with no conclusion for the cause of the mass closing the bile duct.

April 4^th I entered a hospital in Jackson, MS for a three-hour major surgery to have the mass removed. Six hours later, the doctor informed Louis that I had stage three pancreatic cancer, and the mass in the bile duct was in fact cancer even though all biopsies were inconclusive. Six months of weekly cancer treatments began the end of May and will conclude November First.

As you can imagine, the past year has had many ups and downs. Through the middle of December and the first three months of 2013, I endured six ERCP’s. Before being put to sleep for each procedure, I prayed one more time that this procedure would determine the cause and the removal of the blockage. Upon waking from the sedative of each procedure, I was informed that the doctors were unable to remove the blockage. After the third procedure, a temporary stent was installed to keep the bile duct open. After the sixth procedure, a permanent stainless steel stent was installed. All biopsies returned normal with no cancer cells and no foreign organism.

Some would say that God did not answer my prayers. However, we must realize that God answers all prayers but not necessarily the way we want them answered (James 5:16; 2 Peter 3:8). Sometimes He says, “Yes,” sometimes He says, “No,” and sometimes He says, “Maybe later.”

Upon being diagnosed with cancer, my prayer changed. Now that I knew what was wrong with me, I prayed to be healed, and I prayed that the side effects from treatment would be minimal. I asked that God grant me the ability to serve Him for as long as I remained on this planet. That prayer and the prayers of 1,000’s of Christians around the world have been answered!

As I near the completion of six months of chemotherapy, my work for the Master continues. I work daily at the office laying out Voice of Truth International, writing articles, preparing lessons, maintaining address databases, helping Paula with the office accounting, processing Rushmore Evangelism accounts, packing book orders, etc. My only limitation is that I am not unloading tractor trailers loaded with books and moving heavy boxes.

The greatest obstacle to overcome is that I tire easily and frequently need to rest in the afternoon. Louis has been wonderful about helping (or doing) much of the household chores as I am too tired in the evenings. He also can read my body language and directs me to rest so that I do not overdo. He realizes how tired I am before I listen to my brain telling me to go rest.

A PET scan the middle of August showed no cancer! The oncologist is amazed at how well I am doing and continues to encourage me to live my normal life. I am not sure she fully understood what was normal for me when we first discussed my activities. As we meet with her each month, we discuss our busy schedule and she has not encouraged me to slow down, but to do what I feel I can handle. Unless something shows on the PET scan scheduled for the middle of November, she has released me to travel to Guyana, South America in February!

Yes, God answers prayer, and I believe I am living proof that sometimes God gives us what we want!!!

Barefoot Mission

Philip & Parete & Me at Hmawbi Bible School

I left on Thursday, October 3, 2013 for Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and I returned to the USA on Wednesday, October 23. It sounds odd, but it took me parts of three calendar days to get there and only one calendar day to make the trip back to the States. Even stranger, it took between 24 and 28 hours of travel each way. The trick is that on the way home, I crossed the International Date Line flying eastwardly—back in time! My first of three planes left Yangon (formerly Rangoon) about 11 a.m. Myanmar time, and I arrived in Memphis, TN at midnight the same calendar day.

Over the three weeks in Myanmar, I taught a total of about 50 hours. For two weeks of classes Monday through Friday, I taught four hours daily at the Hmawbi Bible School in a jungle setting 45 minutes from Yangon. I was assigned to teach three courses: Basic Principles of English, Church Planting Principles and Elementary Greek. In addition, I taught several lessons on Christian Evidences, Response to Calvinism and Salvation Summary.

Fall 2013 Hmawbi Bible School

Students and preachers totaled a little less than 30. About half attending this year were not members of the Lord’s church, but were denominational persons plus one retired military man who was a Buddhist. Everyone voluntarily participated, including the Buddhist (except for singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, whereupon he sat silently with his eyes closed).

This year I preached for two congregations each Sunday for two weeks, and on the third week I preached for another congregation outside of Yangon in the Delta. The two days prior to me returning home, I taught about four hours daily at a house church in the Delta. Attendees were Christians, denominational people and Buddhists. My taxi driver for the three days spent in the Delta was a Baptist; I gave him one of my recently translated and printed tracts on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he stayed all day for the classes.

Delta Seminar

At both venues, several denominational people showed keen interest in biblical truth. Especially one Methodist woman exclaimed that her church didn’t “teach the biblical facts” (her words) that we studied in the seminar. The Hmawbi Bible School conducts classes for five weeks in the spring and five weeks in the fall over three years to cover a curriculum. Over the next few weeks as other American brethren as well as Burmese brethren interact with the ones at school, I sincerely hope some denominational friends will obey the Gospel. Likewise, the preacher in the Delta with whom I worked will follow up with prospects in attendance for that seminar.

Bible Reading during break

For two reasons, I only brought a pair of rubber-like sandals with me on this mission trip. Anticipating the need to remove my footwear going through airport security screenings was one purpose for this choice—howbeit, I wasn’t required to remove footwear this year. Secondly, one needs to remove his shoes before entering either a home or a place of worship in Myanmar; we also removed our sandals before entering the second floor classroom at the Hmawbi Bible School. Hence, I preached and taught barefoot for three weeks! By the way, at least half of the time in Myanmar, I wore the traditional longi that both men and women wear—instead of trousers on men that is traditional in western society.

Fish & Chicken Market

The mission trip to Myanmar was a useful endeavor, both to strengthen brethren and to acquaint non-Christians with Bible truths. It was, however, lonely without Bonnie at my side, and she was sorely missed especially by the women who would have benefited from her classes. Due to her ongoing recovery and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer, Bonnie was unable to travel abroad with me this year, and I shortened my fall missionary trip from the usual seven weeks to three weeks so I could return to her side more quickly.

Bless her heart for not only allowing me to be gone from her during this critical time, but also for her encouragement for me to go on this foreign trip (as well as the three-week trip in February of this year, too). We look forward to resuming our foreign travel together in February of 2014 when we return for three or four weeks to Guyana, South America. Thank you for making it possible for us to serve the Lord in world evangelism and teaching particularly brethren stateside and abroad.

Airport Turnaround

The day is about to elapse and bedtime cannot be far from now this Wednesday, October 2, 2013. Bonnie and I are at Rebecca’s home in Collierville, TN. Tomorrow around noon, sister Martha Noland will arrive at the Memphis International Airport, and at 5:30 p.m. I will depart from the same airport for three weeks in Myanmar (Burma). Martha came once more to be with Bonnie during her recovery from pancreatic cancer; she awaited Bonnie’s return home in Winona, MS from her 11 days in the hospital. Now, Martha will help Bonnie out as I am away on my mission trip (e.g., drive her to chemotherapy in Jackson, MS and otherwise keep her company, etc.).

Martha is a dear friend, who insists on being there for us and Bonnie in particular, even though we might discourage her from making such an effort on our behalf. I know that Bonnie will be in good hands in my absence. Among other things, they are going to the Family Harvest Weekend, hosted by the Collierville, TN Church of Christ at the Maywood Christian Camp outside of Hamilton, AL. I will be arriving in Yangon about the time those two make their way to camp.

We thank brethren near and far, domestic and international, for your continued encouragement. Though unable to travel together abroad presently, we plan to travel together in February to Guyana, South America for three or four weeks in April 2014.

Despite her illness, Bonnie is a remarkable Christian woman. Besides maintaining a near full schedule at the office, bolstered by days punctuated with restful moments when required, she travels extensively with me stateside. Bonnie’s last chemo treatment is November 1, the same day on the evening of which she begins a two-day ladies’ retreat near Huntsville, AL. A popular phrase might well be reworded to say, “You can’t keep a good woman down!”