Kelly and Connie’s Place

…the mission season that is.

Our ACMC team has 4 conferences happening this month, one every weekend (MD/VA, NY/NJ, NE/CT & OH) . Attendance at two of them has been around 160 each, with the attendees coming from a whole host of churches in their areas. So, even though economy issues are being felt in our church communities (which has been reflected in a lower than usual attendance), we are excited to see that turn out was still good. Churches want to know “how” to do missions and do it better, so that they are effective and make a difference in a world that is hurting.

You may ask, “What do they do at these conferences?”

They usually open with a general session for a time of worship.

Then, an informative and inspiring message from the keynote speaker helps everyone to focus on the task at hand. Next, everyone chooses from a list of workshops to attend in the morning and afternoon.

There is a break for lunch which allows for some great fellowship.

And, there’s a breakout time for networking with other churches.

You may ask, “Why attend these conferences on missions?”

• To learn trends & issues in missions
• To gain new vision and perspective
• To be encouraged by movements of God throughout the world.
• To be re-invigorated for ministry
• To discover successful strategies used by other churches
• To learn practical, how-to ideas
• To meet people who can help you

And the list goes on…

At one of the conferences, Kelly will be leading a workshop on “Rapid Response Preparedness.”

He will be helping churches think through a variety of steps to put in place now, to be ready for the next tsunami or devastating earthquake. We all felt like we were caught “flat-footed” during the Indonesian Tsunami and Katrina. Here is where the old adage: “a stitch in time, saves nine” says it all.

Back in Orlando…

Twenty-eight new workers, plus their children, just finished the last of their missions training before heading to the field. Some are departing this next week, others within the next couple of months. Their excitement is high with anticipation. They have shared their stories with churches that will support their work. Their tickets are in their hands, and they have placed unnecessary possessions in long-term storage.

Now their thoughts have turned to: What will our home look like “over there”? Will I learn the language quickly? Will the people accept me, or like me. Will God really be able to use ME??? What will it all look like? Will our church back home remember to pray for us after we been gone for a while?

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I will be your tour guide on this trip. Bring your name tag for the team meetings, an appetite for Uno’s Pizza, your best exhibitor’s smile for the conference and your suntan oil for a nature walk on the beach

30+ New Missionary Candidates

The week before our church festival, (mentioned in the previous post) we had a full week at work. It was our 5th and final Candidate Orientation Program (COP) for the year. This was The another large COP group, 30+ candidates. So once again, we needed 5 committees to cover all the personal interviews. I facilitated committee number 3 and was really excited about the caliber of young people going through the orientation. All 30+ received and accepted an appointment with Pioneers.

We had our full Church Partnership Team in for the week to meet with the new candidates. When we weren’t meeting with new candidates we were having team meetings, until Kelly was just about meeting-ed out. We were glad to see Friday come even though we knew we had a full weekend coming up.

Mission Conference On The West Coast

As soon as we finished our Saturday volunteer work at PCUMC’s “Pioneer Days Festival,” we headed home to pack for our next trip. One of our PIONEERS’ church partners in New Port Richey, Fl had invited Kelly and I to participate in their mission conference. All display tables had to be set up Sunday morning at 7 AM (ugh!) before the 1st of their 3 church services started. Since it was a couple of hours drive to the west coast, we decided to get there Saturday evening.

On the way over to the gulf coast, we stopped to have pizza with a pastor and his wife who were friends of ours from Bible school. It was great to see them and catch up on their news.

A Very Full Conference Schedule

The mission conference at CWCC lasted through Thursday so we were prepared for a full week of activities. The church also has a Bible School and the Missions Pastor, Dave, had asked Kelly to speak to the students during their Monday evening class. Wednesday evening we met at the Dave’s house. He wanted us to meet with a select group of church members who had a specific interest in missions. They were able to ask more in depth questions in this setting and we all had a great time.

A Break In The Action

On Tuesday we had a break in the schedule and Kelly treated me to a trip to the beach. Those of you who know Kelly well, know that relaxing at the beach is truly out of character for him. As a matter of fact, in the 4 years we have lived in Florida we have been to the beach probably 2 times and not for longer than a half hour each time. But Kelly surprised me, and maybe himself…we spent the whole morning at the beach.

A Tarpan Is A Coastal Fish

To reach the beach we drove south of Tarpon Springs; a city of just under 25,000 that is known for having more Greek-Americans than any other city in the U.S. These Greek immigrants came to dive for the prolific sponges offshore. The Sponge Boats line the marina and traditional Greek restaurants can be found everywhere.

Our destination was Honeymoon Island State Park which is part of Caladesi Island. The weather was ideal, the four miles of gorgeous sandy beach was sparsely populated by sunbathers. There were more shells along the shore than we had ever seen in one place. It was perfect. One can stroll along nature trails, kayak through the mangroves, hop a ferry boat on over to Caladesi Island (named America’s #1 beach in 2008) or scout out the exhibits at the Nature Center.

A Taste of New York

Kelly actually went 36 hours without checking his email even once. Now that is a record! On the way back to the church we found a great restaurant called, Lucky Dill Deli. It is a New York style Deli and we had the best corned beef Rueben sandwiches ever!

We wrapped everything up on Thursday and took a leisurely drive back to Orlando using the back roads. This week we are back at it in the office, but with a spring in our step…that one Tuesday morning at the beach was a real rejuvenator.

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Young and old lined the street with anticipation; some were standing while others had come early to stake out a choice spot with their lawn chairs. What was the attraction?

A parade was about to start to kick off the 35^th annual 2 day event put on by our church Pine Castle United Methodist Church (PCUMC)… and it is called - ”Pioneer Days Family Festival”. The mission’s department at our church organizes this event every year as a community service and outreach.

Last weekend, Kelly and I were a small part of our church’s large volunteer group who help with making it all come together.On Saturday, he and I worked the main entrance gate handling money and placing admission wrist bands on everyone wanting to take part in the festivities. I made change and handed out free gift bags while Kelly gave out the wrist bands.

Even our ministry organization (PIONEERS), had a float and booth at the event to advertise our upcoming missions conference called “Story 08” that will be held at PCUMC. Click on the link to learn more about “Story 08” being held Dec 28-30, 2008.

What’s Pioneer Days Family Festival About?

“The festival offers an education about our American heritage through arts and traditions with exhibitions of traditional pioneer crafts and skills such as: Basketry - Blacksmithing - Cane Cooking - Civil War Encampments - Indian Village - Pottery - Quilting - Spinning - Storytelling - Weaving - Wood Carving - and more… like live music, and local vendors providing food and souvenirs.”

History:

The Pioneer Days Family Festival was created by the Pine Castle Center of the Arts in 1973 to bring the community together in a celebration of the rich heritage of our forefathers. When the Pine Castle Center of the Arts disbanded in 1993, Pine Castle United Methodist Church carried on the mission that our heritage must be remembered and shared with today’s generation. Therefore, the annual festival has continued.

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Friends are really an important part of our day to day lives and we cherish those relationships.

Yesterday we returned from a business trip to find our phone’s ‘little red light’ flashing on and off, signaling a missed call. A couple from church, who are new friends of ours, were concerned about us since they hadn’t seen us at church on Sunday. When they didn’t get an answer they checked our blog and didn’t see an up date there either. Today we returned their call and learned of their concern.

How special it is to have friends who care and want to keep in touch. Kelly and I have lived in several different states and traveled the world. In each place we have made friends who have impacted our lives. We have tried to keep in touch but It’s not always easy in the busy world of today. That’s why we LOVE IT, when our friends call us instead.

This phone call made me stop and ponder about the sweetness of friendships and prompted me to surf the web for some “friends quotes”. I thought I would share a couple of the ones I really liked. (I hope I have noted them correctly.)

QUOTES:

• “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” Walter Winchell
• “The only way to have a friend is be one.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “A friend is someone who is there for you when he’d rather be somewhere else.” Anonymous.
• “Life is nothing without friendship.” Marcus T. Cicero
• “Treat your friends as you do your pictures, and place them in their best light.” Jennie Jerome Churchill

BUSINESS TRIP

Our business trip was to our office in Denver. We left on Sunday and returned Wednesday. Monday was a bit of a shock to my (Florida) system because the temperature dropped down to 43 degrees. Not to worry though, it’s Denver; the next day it was back in the 80’s and climbing.

When we left we were concerned that Hurricane “Ike” might interrupt our return flight, but he decided to pass our state on by. (So our prayers are with those in Texas who get to deal with him this time around; especially our friends Darrell and Ellen who are in Houston.)

In our Denver office we are in the midst of doing some restructuring, which is not always easy but sometimes very necessary. We are grateful that our Denver team is a dedicated group who want to see the church mobilized for missions and are flexing with the changes. One change is that we will not be moving the office for another year. Moving is “a lot of work” and in this sense, I think they are glad to not have to deal with that right now.

We are glad to be back home and not dealing with Ike. Tomorrow our temperature will be around 92 degrees. WOW! I love Florida.

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Mission Coach Training;

This week we had 2 of our teams, ACMC Team & Church Partnership Team (CP Team), fly into Orlando to go through a 3 day workshop on “Church Missions Coach Training”. There were 22 of us all together. They arrived Sunday night and we started the sessions first thing Monday morning. Our 2 instructors flew in from New Mexico.

Kelly in the back, running the sound system

The Fly In The Ointment = Snow Day

On Monday, the city shut down our water to test the underground water tank on our property. How can you have 90+ staff people come to work with no bathroom facilities…you can’t. Our Executive Vice President, being from Minnesota, declared Monday a “Snow Day” and closed the office. J (Really! A snow day in Florida, that’s what he said.)

HEY, What About Us?

That was great for them, but we still had 20+ people coming for a 3 day event. Now we had no water, no bathrooms and no support staff to cook meals. OK, not a problem, we had it covered. We had bottled water, ordered “Port-a-Potties” and catered in food for one day. I was in charge of food pick-up. It was a little inconvenient but we were all missionaries and used to these kinds of things (and worse).

Our 2 Instructors, Barry on the left & Matt on the right

Lee with the ACMC Team & Tom with the CP Team getting better acquainted

A Second Fly In The Ointment = FAY

OK, the “Snow Day” on Monday was now followed on Tuesday by a “Hurricane Day.” (Is that possible?) Again, the office was closed pending this oncoming storm. WAIT! This means no support staff for a 2^nd day, and we hadn’t counted on that…. “no cooks” and all restaurants would be closed.

Taking a break between sessions

Chief Cook & Bottle Washer

Now, Kelly and I would also have to be chief cook (if there’s electricity) and bottle washers and prepare 20+ guests for a possible Hurricane. This meant calming down our guests while we batten down the hatches, and compete with 1000’s of other Floridians flocking to nearby stores to stock up on candles, more bottled water and edible food (if we’re unable to cook without electricity) for 20+ people.

Greg, Larry & Curtis discussing missions between sessions

Kelly discussing details with instructor Barry

Near Miss

Thanks to prayers, the hurricane did not materialize but remained a tropical storm. We’re a little soggy (no, a LOT soggy), but we retained our electricity and the guys pitched in and helped in the kitchen. (See photo below.) We ate well – too well! Wednesday the office re-opened, the staff came back, including the chef, and we finished our sessions. No flights were canceled so everyone made it home as scheduled. The whole event was a great success…God is good!

Connie and her newly recruited kitchen help

(Photo above) It’s 7 AM Tuesday, and Mike & Greg (to my left) are fixing scrambled eggs for breakfast. Joe, (front right) is slicing baked chicken breast to top our salads later for lunch. I’m overseeing the guys (and watching the bacon in the oven). Joe was enjoying the “kitchenaid knife” a little too much, so the rest of us were staying well away from him.

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HOW OLD IS TOO OLD IN MISSIONS

Is the age “67” too old? Actually, we like to leave that one up to God. I mean, who are we to question God’s calling? All we have to do is discern:

• if they really heard from God
• are they missionary material
• if their values and vision fit those of PIONEERS
• can we help them fulfill their call

Last week, Aug 2-8, we had 25 new missionary candidates go through a week of orientation on our Orlando campus. This is our fourth group for the year. And yes, we had a young lady who was 67 yrs young. I have to say she has more energy than Kelly and I put together, and her passion for God was outstanding. In reality, the real record setting age was a young fellow who was just 18. His vision is to serve one year on the field before he returns to the US to start his college studies.

You’ve heard the age range: here are a few more statistics: 25 candidates - 11 singles (5 females & 6 males) and 7 couples. They came from the following states: CA, CO, DE, FL, IA, LA, MD, OH, TX, SC, TN, and WA. And, where do they want to serve? There were 7 who aren’t clear yet as to where God will have them serve, and the rest indicated: Vietnam, Thailand, India & and at least 5 other security sensitive countries that are best left unmentioned.

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Once again we had “the gang” in for their quarterly, planning meeting. (I posted a group photo of this growing team on our blog back in April.)

The good news is: we’re still growing. We have added another couple to our ranks and I’d like to introduce them to you. Please meet Danny and Judy from South Carolina (photo below). Kelly and I first met this couple when we both were serving in SE Asia. We are blessed to have them join the ACMC team.

The team arrived Sunday evening, June 29^th for 2 ½ days of meetings. We all left Wednesday afternoon; each of them to their respective homes, and Kelly & I to Jackson, TN to visit my family.

A Side Note: Frank wasn’t able to be with us for this meeting. He lives in Alaska and is still raising his support. Meanwhile, he watches his budget and plans his trips accordingly. He was with us in Dallas for the Perspectives Conference just a couple of weeks earlier.

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OK, sorry for not updating the blog recently, but as you will see…we have been racking up the travel miles again…

OUR CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS TEAM COMES TOGETHER June 1-6

From June 1 through the 6^th we had 24 new missionary candidates on our Orlando campus going through our 3^rd orientation for the year. This is why our entire team for Church Partnerships (CP-team) was present in Orlando during that week.

(Top-Left) Kelly, Denny, Tom, Greg, Mike, Doug; (Bottom-Left) Connie, Nancy, & Patty

Denny & Nancy live in Orlando but are from Michigan & they cover several mid-western states, Tom & Mike and their respective families live in Philadelphia and they cover the states in the northeast and others, Greg & his family live in Virginia and he covers that area, and then Doug & Patty live in Colorado Springs and cover the Rocky Mountain & Plains states, the other states are divided up among all of us.

With 5 new team members, it was a great time to hold a vision casting meeting. So, when we were not meeting and interviewing new candidates, we were meeting together as a team (see photo). It was a great time to train the “newbies” and get us all on the same page. In the photo below, Kelly is bringing everyone up to par on technical resources that we can use to serve churches more efficiently.

Now that Kelly is a VP, he has been able to turn immediate CP-team leadership over to his assistant, Denny. He is doing a great job and has helped free up some of Kelly’s time needed to oversee all 5 teams.

OFF TO SACRAMENTO June 5-8

With our team in Denny’s capable hands we left Orlando on the 5^th to fly to Sacramento, CA to attend the “Harvest Gathering.” This was a 2-day conference for churches throughout Northern & Central California. First Baptist Church of Elk Grove hosted the conference with about 400 believers participating. Two of our California ACMC team members were a part of the conference. Ken was responsible for all book & resource sales at the event, and Larry was a presenter for several workshops.

Both were a big success and book sales totaled close to $4000. (Photo above, as you can see the book tables were very popular.)

Kelly gave Ken logistical help with the book sales, and we also represented PIONEERS with a display booth. (Photo: Kelly talks with a young man who is interested in missions and learning more about PIONEERS.)

NEXT STOP DENVER June 8-11

From Sacramento we flew to our Denver office on Sunday to see how our teams were doing. Our office lease there will expire at the end of the year so we looked at office space in 3 different locations. One office was particularly interesting so we will take the next steps to see if it is a good fit for our teams. Tuesday was a day of meeting with all three team leaders. Pray for wisdom and God’s leading as we look for just the right office space for our Denver teams.

ON TO DALLAS June 11-15

Wednesday we were off to Dallas for the Perspectives National Conference. Most of you have probably never heard of Perspectives. www.perspecitves.org

‘Perspectives on the World Christian Movement’ is a dynamic, 15 week course (college credited), about God’s heart for the nations. Classes are held in local churches with trained instructors teaching on the Biblical, Historical, Cultural and Strategic perspectives of missions. The course is for anyone who wants a closer walk with the Lord and to see where, how and why they can play a part in the biggest thing God is doing….and has ever done!

The people who run the classes are called coordinators and there were more than 400 coordinators attending this 4 day conference, going to workshops and seminars to sharpen their skills.

(Photo on the top is one side of the room showing half the crowd, and the 2nd photo is the other half of the room.)

Once again, Ken, from our ACMC team was asked to set up a book store and we were there to lend our logistical support. This time, sales were close to $20,000…a very productive weekend. (Photo below: Kelly helping Ken with book buyers.)

While Kelly helped in the book store, I helped one of our Orlando Team members, Laurie Nevius at the PIONEERS booth. (See photo below) We had a great time talking to people about an upcoming PIONEERS event called: ‘Story 08′. (More about it later.)

BACK HOME IN ORLANDO Jun 15

We returned home Jun 15^th, Sunday evening at 11:30. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted but pleased with how well the trip went.

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Kelly and I just spent all of last week (May 12-16) in Albuquerque for our first ever, off-site Church Partner Forum. (We usually hold these forums in Orlando at our Pioneers campus.) The exciting part of this event was that none of the 8 churches who attended had any previous connections with Pioneers! It was a great opportunity to open the door for the possibility of future partnerships.

We took 3 of our team members with us and co-hosted this event with another agency called: You can learn more about this group at www.1615.org . They coach churches on how to design their missions programs to fit the DNA of their church.

One highlight of our trip was seeing New Mexico’s state bird – a real “Roadrunner” scooting across the parking lot at our hotel. Kelly captured a photo of one on his cell phone and maybe he will add his picture to the blog. Here’s a link to Kelly’s photo! This is the same bird that was made popular in Wile E. Coyote’s Warner Bros. cartoons. (Credit for photo above: Photo: and no it did not go beep-beep www.birdwatchersdigest.com/)

Roadrunner Facts: Roadrunner is the state bird of NM. They prefer walking or running, attaining speeds up to 17 mph. hour; and are quick enough to catch and eat rattlesnakes.

Description: The roadrunner has a long, graduated tail carried at an upward angle, long stout legs and a distinctive head crest.

Albuquerque Facts: Dry, dry, dry is my description. Officially, the climate is classified as arid (defined as: a severe lack of available water). That’s an understatement! The city was founded in 1706 and is named after a Spanish village Alburquerque (extra “r”) and a “family name” from Spain and Portugal. Living at sea level in Orlando, this view of the mountains is breathtaking. (See photo above)

The red area on map above shows where Albuquerque is located in NM. Population: 534,089 (2008); Elevation (at airport) is 5,352 feet (1,631 m) above sea level.

(Hot Air Balloon photo © Cindy Petrehn photo)

The Rio Grande (photo left) flows through the city north to south. (3 Albuquerque photos come from “wikipedia.org” ) A Striking Site: On a previous trip we got to see a view like this of the hot air balloons. A popular attraction in early Oct. is the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

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A week ago we wrapped up our 2^nd (for the year), Candidate Orientation Program with 27 new individuals going through training and receiving an appointment to serve overseas.

These are the statistics from those 27 people 6 couples and 15 singles (3 were male & 12 females) from 14 states

Their anticipated destination of service: 2 to S. America/ 2 to Africa/ 5 to Middle East/ 2 to Europe/ 4 to Asian countries/ 1 to China /and 5 who are undecided.

WINTER WONDERLAND FOR A DAY- IN DENVER

Then last week we went to our Denver office. We arrived on Tuesday and it got up to 80 degrees. On Wednesday a cold front went through and by noon, huge snow flakes were coming down in sheets. It was beautiful, like a winter wonderland. We got 5 inches of snow.

The snow caked on the trees and grass but never stuck to the streets or sidewalks, making it the perfect snow fall (not requiring any snow removal). We woke up Thursday morning with the sun glistening off the clean white snow. By noon it had all melted away and we were walking around in short sleeves. Now that’s the way a snow fall should be. Twenty-four hours of blissful white snow, and then, GONE! SWEET!!!

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