Biopsy and Day-to-Day

Wednesday morning, Bonnie and I made our way once more from Winona, MS to Jackson, MS – a journey that has become ever so repetitive especially as we seek medical treatment for Bonnie in her bought with pancreatic cancer, etc. I invited Bonnie and me to lunch with Ken and Johnnie Gardner at Cracker Barrel at their expense. How brazen of me! Actually, brother Ken had ordered a dozen of my book Beverage Alcohol, and in exchange for delivery charges I requested lunch and some quality time with these good brethren. Through the generosity of a Christian family, we are able to provide that title for free plus shipping while supplies last; we have distributed nearly 20,000 copies. I also included in the handoff some copies of my tract “To Drink or Not to Drink.” Bonnie and I enjoyed the meeting with these dear ones with whom we have been acquainted for nearly four decades.

After making a few purchases, namely refueling the Gospel chariot, we made our way to the meetinghouse of the Siwell Road Church of Christ. Before evening Bible class, Bonnie and I met with the elders, a preacher and a deacon regarding our mission work, which the eldership oversees. These fine men always encourage and uplift us.

Following Bible class, two of the elders and additional church members and we supped at McAlister’s; Bonnie and I each tried a variety of soup, which was adventurous for us since we had largely restricted our menu sampling at that eatery franchise to baked potatoes. Once more we were encouraged and enjoyed ourselves. Then, we tailgated one of the elders to his home where he and his wife hosted us for the night. That put us in a comfortable position to meet Bonnie’s morning appointment at Baptist Health Systems for a biopsy. We are grateful to brother Andrew and sister Dana Dulaney for their hospitality. I snapped a picture in the morning on my way out the door of a big, big, adorable knickknack in their kitchen – an old Coca Cola machine.

Thursday, October 2 was spent mostly at the hospital for Bonnie’s biopsy. We arrived back in Winona at 3 p.m., and Bonnie promptly went to bed – cold and with shivers. Hours later, she resurrected and came to the living room, whereupon she ate a little soup. Not long after that, she became nauseated and returned to bed. Every day for her is one of abdominal pain, back pain, sometimes nausea and off and on low-grade fever, but none of the medical personnel have a solution or even a diagnosis. The best we have been able to ascertain so far is that Bonnie is part of the 20% who undergo Whipple surgery for pancreatic cancer who have these or similar lifelong difficulties. Still, most days find Bonnie putting in full days at the office or until she needs to resort to the recliner, couch or bed for a little pep-me-up rest. Working and doing something meaningful helps one focus on something besides discomforts.

Maybe sometime next week we will be apprised of the result of the biopsy. The plausible possibilities are a resurgence of cancer or scar tissue. It remains to be seen if either of us presently will be able to resume what’s left of our mission trip to Asia in 2014; we are only cancelling our flights a little at a time to see if we can catch up to our schedule. Thank you for your interest and prayers.

West Bury, Guyana, South America

High School Boarding House

Friday evening on February 14, Bonnie and I along with brother Nigel Milo went to the local boarding house for high school students from out of the area. I made my PowerPoint presentation entitled, “Beverage Alcohol.” We also distributed my tract, “To Drink or Not to Drink,” to the 35 students and staff member present.

“Joe” Latchmenarine

At 4:45 a.m. Saturday morning, Bonnie and I arose from our slumber to ready ourselves for an ETD of 5:15 a.m. for our next venue. Brother Milo and we headed out of Linden for Georgetown, where we picked up brother Latchmenarine.

First, we crossed the floating bridge spanning the Demerara River, which is a little over a mile across. Next, we drove 35 kilometers to Parika, whereupon we boarded a speedboat. The waters were choppy owing to the stiff, sustained wind buffeting the mouth of the Essequibo River that we were about to cross. River current and ocean water combined with the wind as master of both to give us two bone crunching torturous rides; it takes 45 minutes to cover the 20 mile width of the stream as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. My vocabulary is void of adequate words to describe the experience, extraordinary for us but merely routine for Guyanese.

Reaching land, we hired a taxi to take us the remaining miles to West Bury for today’s seminar. The women far outnumbered the men—50 women and 32 men, for a total of 82 present. The program commenced immediately upon our arrival. Bonnie taught three ladies’ classes, while “Joe” and I taught men’s classes and combined classes of men and women. The sessions were punctuated with a common meal together at lunchtime.

Barge on Demerara River

The trip back proved interesting. A dispute at the river port at Supenaam required all of the passengers of our boat to disembark and find alternative boats for the crossing. By the time Nigel and we made it back to his home—our “base”—in Linden by about 8:30 p.m., we were all totally exhausted.

Bouncing Boats on Essequibo River

By the way, I have injured the bottom of my right foot somehow—mysteriously, since I do not know how or what happened. It is getting sorer.

After cleaning up and resting for the night, we will worship with the Blue Berry Church of Christ in Linden on the Lord’s Day. Our mission trip is half over, but we have nine seminar locations remaining. We resume the seminars on Monday.

Night Is Coming When No Man Can Work

Saturday morning January 12, Bonnie and I headed for a five-hour drive to Center Ridge, Arkansas. Stops along the way and “road work” added another hour to the trip. We arrived at the home of Garry and Melissa Polk; he is one of the elders for the Center Ridge Church of Christ. Meatloaf and all the trimmings awaited us, and sister Polk didn’t even know that meatloaf is just about my favorite plate, though she had not found me shy at the supper table on any previous occasion either when other entrees graced us.

We spent an evening talking about our travels to various countries in Asia and South America. Finally, we all retired for the evening, past their bedtime. However, they were up early and out the door to their daughter and son-in-law’s home to collect four grandchildren so their daughter and son-in-law could proceed to the hospital to usher into the world child number five. Our hosts and the handsome brood arrived part way through Bible class, and it was a pleasure to experience lunch together at the local eatery. That little restaurant, called “The Bucket List,” itself was a little tin garage on the outside and the source of tasty food on the inside—superior to many a chain restaurant we and others may visit on a road trip.

For Bible class, I made my PowerPoint presentation about 2013 foreign mission trips. During worship, I presented another PowerPoint by special request on Beverage Alcohol; I provided free copies of my book by the same name. Having no evening appointment, we drove toward home, arriving back in Winona, MS about 6:30 p.m.

Monday through Wednesday, a group of visitors descended on the World Evangelism Building to work on a new Bible class curriculum that is in the works. The Bates, Betty Choate, and Bonnie and I lodged them in our homes. The meals we enjoyed together, courtesy of Betty Choate, Paula Bates and Bonnie Rushmore, were grand, tasty and fattening!

Through this, the Bates and the Rushmores attended other matters besides the Bible school curriculum. The four of us processed the Bates’ newsletter for mailing and finalized the next issue of The Voice of Truth International to send to the printing company. I worked on my lesson (“How God Communicates with Mankind, Today”) for Thursday evening at the Mississippi School of Biblical Studies (at the Siwell Rd. Church of Christ in Jackson, MS). In addition, I have been preparing for my Wednesday evening class on the Book of Job, also at the Siwell Rd. Church of Christ. Bonnie and I will stay over in the home of one of the elders and his wife of the Siwell Rd. congregation. Bonnie has been working on her lessons for our upcoming trip (February 1—March 1) to Guyana, South America, and I need to steal some time to do likewise. Our days are full from 7 a.m. when the alarm sounds until about midnight daily.

We go home from the office, but essentially we just exchange the desk chair for a reclining loveseat with lapboards sporting our computers. Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4 NKJV). We, too, have work to do before the nighttime of death engulfs us.

Weekly Mission Update – Coming to a Congregation Near You!

Early Sunday morning March 3, 2013, Bonnie and I left Rebecca’s house in Collierville, TN for our appointment with the Imboden, AR Church of Christ. Once a year, we report to this congregation, which is one of our encouragers and supporters in the mission work we do. For the 9:00 a.m. Bible class, I presented my PowerPoint lesson, “Beverage Alcohol.” Years ago, the congregation taught my book by the same title to teenagers. For worship, I presented a PowerPoint of mission trips Bonnie and I made in 2012, as well as the mission trip from which I just returned Thursday night. We are always graciously received and reinvigorated by the members.

For lunch, we were guests of Sharon and Gevan Murphy plus Gevan’s mother, Eleanor Murphy. The menu included mashed potatoes and gravy, beef steaks, green beans, kernel corn, biscuits, iced tea and cream pie. Besides the tasty vittles, the hospitality and friendly conversation completed our lunchtime pause to the day.

Bonnie and I returned to Collierville, TN at Rebecca’s home, from which Monday morning we will proceed to the hospital in Oxford, MS for Bonnie’s next procedure on her pathway back to good health. We did not have an evening appointment today. There are several openings in our calendar over the next several weeks, and I will need to make a number of phone calls to populate my calendar with appointments to update congregations regarding our mission work.

There is work to do besides (e.g., Gospel Gazette Online, The Voice of Truth International and other publications) that will keep us busy. Maybe I can squeeze a haircut in this week, that is if my barber (Bonnie) is up to it!

Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky & Indiana

The 2012 India Workshop (April 18-20) was held at the meetinghouse for the Central Church of Christ in Vincennes, IN. Roger Wright is the minister for that congregation, and he directed this year’s program. Between 60 and 70 were present for the sessions. It was my pleasure to be one of the speakers on Friday morning. Bonnie and I set up literature and a display about our overseas evangelism. We gave away cases of The Voice of Truth International magazine, plus sample tract packets, copies of my book Beverage Alcohol and copies of the Global Harvest magazine.

Saturday morning, we were part of a tour of historic Vincennes; I had not realized how crucial the history of Vincennes was to the expansion of the United States across North America. We went to a national monument and park in the city. We toured the former home of President Harrison, and we toured some of the earliest, simple buildings associated with the beginning years of Indiana Territory and later the State of Indiana. The influence of Vincennes once covered land from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from Ohio to Minnesota. Saturday, temperatures dropped and the chilly wind was unwelcome. I had brought my ice scraper just in case frost gathered on our car windshield; we escaped needing it – not by much.

Sunday, April 22 was a unique stateside experience for Bonnie and me as we worshipped with three congregations on the same day. We worshipped with the Main St. Church of Christ in Monroe City, IN at 8 a.m., at which time I preached, “What Is Jesus’ Plan for My Life?” Bible class followed at 9 a.m., during which I made my PowerPoint presentation, “Into All the World in 2011.” The Main St. congregation is a small (very small), newly established church.

At 10:30 a.m., Bonnie and I worshipped with the Central Church of Christ in Vincennes, whereupon I preached, “Worshipping Almighty God Acceptably and with Godly Fear.” Sunday evening, we traveled to Washington, IN and worshipped with the Lord’s church there at 6 p.m. I presented our mission PowerPoint, “Into All the World in 2011.” We were received cordially at each congregation and during the workshop the preceding week.

After Sunday evening worship, Bonnie and I drove for a few hours, stopping at Madisonville, KY at the Best Western for the night. Monday, we finished our return journey to Winona, MS.

During our outing, we were lodged graciously in the home of Gary and Kay Willis during the workshop and amply fed between their home and food provided at the church house. As time starved our schedule is for various activities, I was still preparing my lesson for the lectureship on Wednesday and Thursday of the workshop week. In our lives, every potential investment of our time must be triaged, and we simply do whatever is next!

Bam! Bam! Bam! Friday, Saturday & Sunday

Friday, March 16^th, 25 saints from the Booneville, MS Church of Christ descended on Winona, MS and congregated at the World Evangelism Building. They came to work for the Lord, howbeit, behind the scenes to the dissemination of the Gospel stateside and abroad through television, radio, Internet, the printed word, foreign Bible schools and overseas campaigns. Like ants, they divided the tasks among them and went full ahead to accomplishing every one of them. They prepared Betty Choate’s newsletter, assembled Paula Bates’ flashlight giveaways for when she is abroad next, packed boxes of books for overseas preachers, inventoried thousands of books, restocked tract supply racks and book supply racks from which we pull to fulfill requests daily and not the least of which unloaded seven pallets of books from a tractor-trailer and put them away in the warehouse. Altogether, they and we handled about 20,000 books – within an hour’s time! All that they did they were able to accomplish within four hours! We are always thankful for the help that brethren from time to time give us in Winona to help us do things that we five who are here daily cannot get done and keep up with the other demands of the work. There is more to do behind the scenes in the mission program known as World Evangelism than most people would imagine.

Saturday, March 17^th, our daughter Rebecca parted from us and headed back to her home in Collierville, TN, so that she could teach Bible class on the Lord’s Day. Bonnie and I armed the car with literature and luggage before heading for Huntsville, AL. Only 4½ hours of driving, and yet, it seemed to be a long journey that day. Upon arriving at the home of Patricia and Robert Gaffin plus their daughter Anna, we were treated to a delicious supper meal, attended also by one of the elders and his family and the preacher and his wife. Breakfast Sunday morning was no less super, and following worship, lunch was more of the same – great!

Bonnie and I attended Bible class and participated in worship Sunday morning with the Lincoln Church of Christ. At 1:00 p.m., I taught a map class in the auditorium for youngsters; it is amazing to see how quickly they can learn the Bible lands world – even duplicating the map of Palestine on a blank wall from memory! I presented my PowerPoint presentation Into All the World in 2011 for the 1:30 p.m. worship. The few books that we laid out for sale as well as the copies of The Voice of Truth International and Beverage Alcohol that we put out for free were gobbled up. One sister waited a whole year for our return to acquire a title she missed picking up when we were last there.

Sunday evening, it was my pleasure to deliver the same update of our 2011 mission trips abroad to the Winchester Road Church of Christ, also in Huntsville, AL. These brethren are dear to us, too, and it is apparent by their reception of us that we are dear to them as well. One of the elders observed that I talked very fast as I kept up with the pace of the automated transition of slides in the presentation.

Though offered lodging once more for the night in the Gaffin home, which we appreciated, Bonnie and I opted to trudge homeward so that we could make better use of the day on Monday. We arrived back at our Winona home at about a quarter to one Monday morning. I turned the steering wheel over to Bonnie the final 1½ hours or so; her dozing along the way as I drove enabled her to take her turn and expedite our arrival home.

Bam! Bam! Bam! – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Every day is populated with hustle and bustle, but some days outshine the rest.

Polishing the Pulpit

Saturday, August 13 was a long, tiring day of traveling from northwestern Pennsylvania to Sevierville, TN. Of course, this was a three-state day: Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Tennessee. We arrived about 10 hours after we departed the home of Bonnie’s brother Jim (and his wife Kay) at the convention center – at about 7:00 p.m.  By 9:00 p.m., we had the two tables set up in the exhibit hall – one table promoting The Voice of Truth International and Global Harvest magazines, as well as tract samples and my book Beverage Alcohol. The display behind these offerings touts colorful pictures of mission work from around the world in which the World Evangelism Team is involved. The second table hosted numerous books for sale (see the online book store at http://store.gospelgazette.com/). Next, we went to Pizza Hut for supper and bumped into some of the elders and their wives from the North Lexington, KY Church of Christ. After parting company, Bonnie and I went shopping for breakfast and lunch foods for in the hotel room, and so we arrived back at our lodging by 11:00 p.m. Finally, by a little after midnight, we turned out the light for a much needed night’s rest.

Sunday, morning we realized that we forgot to buy milk and bowls for the cereal; so, breakfast was a cereal bar apiece. Then, Bonnie and I traveled about an hour away to Greeneville, TN where I taught the Bible class in the auditorium and preached during the morning worship. My PowerPoint The One True Church of the Bible in the class was followed in worship with the PowerPoint Beverage Alcohol. A year earlier, one of the elders had come across my book by the same name and had ordered a case for the congregation. Now, it was my privilege to expound on the subject live, too. Following worship, we were treated to a fine meal at Ryan’s and enjoyed good company. Sunday evening, we returned to Polishing Pulpit (PPT) for evening lessons.

Monday, Bonnie and I taught classes of children; I taught 6- through 9-year-olds and Bonnie taught 10- through 12-year-old girls. Later, we taught a combined class with about 100 little ones in attendance. Tuesday and Wednesday was more of the same. We taught a combined 10 hours in three days to precious youngsters – one child stating that I have been teaching her since she was 6-years-old and she is now 10; she also says that I am famous for my (Bible) maps that I teach annually. Young ones smile and wave as we see them pass in the halls. We also taught this year Buckets of Bible Time besides Bible Maps and miscellaneous information about Bible Geography. Bonnie taught an outreach class for the girls. She also talked to them about our foreign mission work, and the young ladies especially enjoyed trying on Bonnie’s clothes from India and Myanmar (Burma).

Thursday morning before heading out, children’s classes provide a little fun and games for them. As a part of that, Bonnie worked the cotton candy machine. She said she ruined the first batch, but she got the hang of it by the second batch. Also Thursday morning, on behalf of World Evangelism/J.C. Choate Publications literature, I handed out to future preachers (10- through 14-year-old boys) who made speeches The Voice of Truth International and Global Harvest magazines, Beverage Alcohol book and a sermon outline book or other book of their choice.

PTP is one of the finest programs within the churches of Christ, and it is a time to maintain and develop rapport with fellow Christians, besides being edified by the many good lessons from which to choose. PTP is heavily pointed toward Christian families, so much so that nowhere else in the brotherhood have I seen such a high attendance by families with children. After Thursday morning lectures, it is time to help tear everything down before heading homeward. The frog fountain was just part of the décor, much of it with water themed, of PTP.

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Eldridge, Alabama

Saturday after lunch, July 9, Bonnie and I headed for Eldridge, AL where I would speak three times on the Lord’s Day. The brethren arranged for us a hotel room at the Winfield exit to US 22. We ate supper at a local eatery, and the food was very good. Bonnie and I drove for miles to survey what our choices might be for supper, and we opted for the restaurant that by far had the busiest parking lot – judging that this was the best indicator available to us as to how much we were likely to enjoy the food. Except for fast food some miles away, all the restaurants were locally owned and unfamiliar to us. Nothing fancy by any means, we selected Yamptown for supper. The meal was one of the tastiest we have experienced.

Sunday, I met for the first time the Eldridge Church of Christ. It was my pleasure to teach during the auditorium Bible class What Is Jesus’ Plan for My Life? and to preach during worship What Is the Mission of the Church? Following, we enjoyed a fellowship meal, after which was singing and a devotional that I led. We distributed a case of my book Beverage Alcohol to the families. Again, we made new friends, not the least of which was a cute, 2-year-old girl who flirted with me. Then there were two little, song leader boys without any bashfulness who willingly led songs not only during the singing, but happily during the meal and later in the empty auditorium. They are sweethearts!

Only two and a half hours from the house, the bonus for Bonnie and me was to get home not only before midnight, but to get home before dark! How often does that happen? Saturday night in the motel and after returning home, Bonnie and I worked on our lessons for Guyana, South America as well as on The Voice of Truth International and Gospel Gazette Online. Remember those dueling, twin laptops that Bonnie and I have? Our office is truly mobile!

Monday, we finally finished The Voice of Truth International and readied it for shipment to the printing company. It takes us about a quarter to get the quarterly magazine ready! We are about a week late getting it to the printer this time. We also completed the July issue of Gospel Gazette Online and sent out the email notifications that it is ready for use. Besides these tasks, other smaller matters received some much needed attention, too. Overall, today was a good day.

What Does the Bible Say about Alcoholic Consumption?

Wednesday, June 22, Bonnie and I plus Rebecca headed to Jonesboro, AR. That evening I spoke to the Nettleton Church of Christ about Beverage Alcohol with my PowerPoint concerning the same subject; in addition, we made sure that each family had a copy of my book Beverage Alcohol available to it. Besides members, copies were left for a weekly substance abuse class taught at the meetinghouse. Through the generosity of brethren in Texas, we have been able to give away over 17,000 copies of the Beverage Alcohol book.

I am available to present lessons on Beverage Alcohol to congregations of the Lord’s church, and I have made numerous presentations in several states. Whether I come or not, a limited number of Beverage Alcohol books are available free for distribution, though we do request the shipping expenses if possible.

The Nettleton Church of Christ subscribes to and receives several cases of The Voice of Truth International magazine each quarter when it is published. I am one of the Editors of the journal, and Bonnie does the bulk of assembling the files into digital format. All of us at the Winona, MS office, of course, take our turn at trying to eradicate spelling errors and the most serious grammar infractions. Byron Nichols, the Editor, selects most of the articles that he desires to appear in each issue; his wife Gaye comprises his “office staff” in Springfield, MO where they reside.

Instead of traveling all the way back to Winona, MS from Jonesboro, AR after evening services, we lodged for the night at Rebecca’s Collierville, TN home. This was at least the second time that Rebecca came two hours south to our home in Winona, MS, only to pack a bag to layover in her own home as she accompanied us on one of our regional trips to visit churches of Christ. The first time, she found that awkward, but now she simply goes with the flow, so to speak.

On the way back to Winona, we did some necessary shopping, and we got the oil changed on the car. Most of our shopping occurs en route to some appointment or returning from some appointment. Once an elder was dumbstruck that on our way that very afternoon to an appointment where he was an elder we had the oil changed in the car and had the tires rotated. Bonnie’s ringtone is “On the Road Again,” which often aptly describes our days. When one’s life is frequently, “On the Road Again,” shopping, oil changes and tire rotation occurs along the route of travel!