Stella proves that it’s never too late in life to do something that will make a difference in eternity. She is just one of some 20 snow birds – retirees – Saints of the Lord – a true angel in disguise, who is storing up treasures in Heaven doing volunteer work at PIONEERS. She is freely giving of her time, giftings, and talent to see the Kingdom expanded.

Meet Stella our Volunteer

For the past 11 years Stella and her husband, John, have been spending the winter months of their “golden years,” serving the Lord through volunteer work at PIONEERS. John is a retired business man and his wife is retired from 30 years of corporate work. But they aren’t sitting back in a rocking chair…no sir!

They drive their 5th wheel down from Michigan and camp in our KOA campgrounds. Orlando S.E. / Lake Whippoorwill KOA has over 120 sites for campers and RV’s of all types, and also cabins and cabanas that can be rented. Visit the website link above to see all the amenities and activities that are provided. Below is an example of what you might see at the KOA site.

Sites for all size RV's are Available, Like this Super Sized Lot

Cabanas to Rent

Stella Helps Kelly & Connie

Stella has been a real trooper, working in a different department each day. One day she helps at the receptionist desk, another day in the finance department and on Thursdays she has been helping Kelly. She has organized all his files, inventoried my web-store resource materials and helped update our database by making data entries for us. She’s saved us a ton of time and work.

Stella gets Kelly Organized

Kelly's Office & You Can See Connie's Computer & Desk in Background

A Bushel of Blessings

There are many other volunteers working in areas where they can use their own special talents and gifting. Some help in the area of maintenance: building repairs, carpentry, plumbing, painting, & grounds upkeep. Some enter computer data for various departments, do filing, help in the mailroom, housekeeping for our guest rooms, kitchen help for meals, making airport runs to pick up guests and visitors. They all have true servants heart, willing to do whatever the need is.

But it’s not all work for them. They have their share of fun in our rejuvenating Florida sun. They go to the beach, visit tourists sites, fish in our lake, gather for grill outs and picnics and often meet in the Rec hall for games and planned activities.

Fishing, Canoeing, Biking, Swimming, Hot Tub & More

Swimming Pool in Walking Distance

Showing Appreciation

This will be Stella & Johns last year as volunteers. After 11 years I think they deserve a break. But, they aren’t leaving us; they will still come down next winter with their 5^th wheel and just enjoy themselves.

Thursday night we had a special “Volunteer Appreciation Dinner” for all of them. But truly, there is no way of repaying them for all they do for us. Those rewards will come later in the form of a crown with many jewels.

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God’s call to fulfill His promise to see a people from every tribe, nation and tongue brought into his Kingdom has not gone unheeded (Rev. 7:9). Forty-five new missionary candidates attended our January Candidate Orientation Program this past week (Jan. 4-9). It happens five times a year so this is just the beginning. What a great way to start the new year of 2009!

I never tire of seeing these “called out ones” of all ages, from all over the country, stream into our training center. Each one has their own story of how God has touched their lives and brought them to this point. We feel privileged to hear these stories first hand and be a part of seeing their dream start to come to fruition.

Take for example, Nazir (not his real name), a 67 year old US citizen from Pakistan. He came to the US over 30 years ago with his family as a teacher. Now this guy has a story! He proves it is never too late to answer God’s call.

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Christa says: “WOW! Last night was amazing! I never felt that close to God. It was the ideal way to start off the New Year! I loved Story ’08! It was great to hear from all these different missionaries and to meet new people.”

Those are quotes or “reviews” from a couple of attendees at Story ’08 which I have copied from our  Story 08 Facebook page.

The main sessions were held in the sanctuary where a world globe helped us all focus on the needs of the world. Worship was sweet and the speakers were great.

Pine Castle United Methodist Sanctuary with World Globe

The crowd was great, some 300+ in attendance with the majority coming from out of state. Just take a look at the young people in these photos:

The crowd gathering in the lobby between sessions.

College students come to Orlando for the conference.

The Lobby Is a Great Gathering Place

Kelly and I were in charge of book sales and they were brisk. It looks like we sold over $8000 in mission’s books and resources.

One such book table full of resource material

Kelly runs the cash register

The Line Gets Longer as Kelly Adds up Sales

Taking A Break Between Sessions

We finished the event off by bringing in the New Year with a “Concert of Worship and Prayer.” It started at 9 PM and closed at 12:30 AM on Jan 1^st.

Concert of Worship & Prayer New Year's Eve

We took the globe off its stand and everyone gathered around to pray for the world.

Praying For The World

Then, just before midnight we started passing the air-filled globe from one side to the other. It was a blast. It was also “heavier” than I thought it would be.

The Globe Goes Up and Over The Heads

Hands Go Up and All Join in as the Globe Is Passed Overhead

Here are a few more quotes:

Lesley: What an amazing week! Thank you, Pioneers, and all the people who worked to pull it off! What a great way to ring in the New Year…thanks for the experience. I hope there is a Story 09!

Irma from NY: STORY ’08 was awesome. I’ve been so blessed this week and am glad I came to the conference. Thank you Pioneers!!! God bless~

Emily (student at TCU): Thank you so much, Story’08 Crew!!! I know it was a ton of work, and it was such a blessing for me to learn from y’all and watch your example lived out in front of us. Thank you so much for the incredible amount of yourselves you poured out for us!! It was such a privilege to be around you, and I’m challenged to pray and seek hard to follow your examples in Christ. THANK YOU.

Ted (Valencia Com. College) Story 09…… Story 09….. Story 09…..

I don’t know if there will be a “Story 09″, only time will tell.  Kelly and I were exhausted when it was all over, but it was worth it!

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What footprint will you leave on this earth when you are gone? As I looked at this promotional add for our Story 08 Mission Conference, these thoughts ran through my mind: First I thought of the poem, “Footprints in the Sand”. (I like thinking of God’s footprints appearing beside mine as I walk through life, it’s very comforting.) Then, carbon footprints popped into my mind and that made me think of spiritual footprints vs carbon footprints..

If you goggle “carbon footprint” you can read about; “calculating your carbon footprint,” and “learn how to reduce your carbon footprint”. Here is Wikipedia’s definition: the carbon footprint is a “measure of the impact that human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.”

What about our “spiritual footprint”? Consider this definition: the spiritual footprint is a “measure of the impact that your Christian (witness) activities have on mankind (your neighbor, family, friends and even strangers) in terms of the amount of “fruit” produced in units of lost souls that are saved.”

Can we “calculate” our spiritual footprint? If the above definition holds, we definitely wouldn’t want to “reduce” our spiritual footprint…on the contrary we would want to expand it. That is what Story 08 is all about…expanding our spiritual footprints in this world. Acts 1:8 “…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

One of my favorite quotes is from Jim Elliot (missionary to Ecuador 1927-1956): “Missionaries are very human folks, just doing what they are asked. Simply a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.”

Now, a few words from our Story 08 website:

http://www.story08.com/

Creative, unpredictable, entrepreneurial, unconventional? If those words describe you, you may be well-suited to answer the casting call for a drama that God has been writing for 6,000 years. The risks are high, but the rewards are unlimited. Whatever stage you are at on your life journey, you will come away from Story’08 with tools for making connections with the unreached.

Discover your role in God’s global drama at Story ’08—a mission conference for people who don’t like conferences.

Story’08 is an event that will connect you with the least-reached people on the planet, by giving you a first-hand glimpse of the global needs, joining you with others who share your passions and helping you discover the next step to glorifying God among the nations.

Pray for us, we start this Sunday and go through Wednesday evening with sessions starting at 9:00 am and going to 12:00 pm each day.

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What lasts for 3 days, takes place only in the state of Florida, gathers a diverse crowd from other states, produces a network of contacts and resources, and focuses on God’s heart for the Nations? PIONEERS’ Church Partner Forum in Orlando.

Here We Are For Our Group Photo

Yes that is right! We’ve wrapped up another successful Church Partner Forum event on our campus at PIONEERS. Kelly and I are very pleased with how well the event was viewed by those in attendance.

We ask our guest to fill out an evaluation of the forum. Here is one of the questions and the answer we got:

What is your overall assessment of the value of this event?

“I was “so” close to burn-out you could smell the smoke…The rest, the hospitality, the care, the pampering, the HELPFUL focusing…it was all great- we’ll be back –you’ll have to ban me from the campus J !”

The weather was a bit “cool” but we did provide the sunshine that we had promised. We actually hit a night time low of 39 degrees while our guests were here, a record for this time of the year.

Some Of Our First Arrivals

As for us, we are the most rested after one of these events than ever before. Why less stress and weariness? Our team has grown and matured to the point that the two of us, as leaders, could step back and watch them take on more of the program responsibilities and details. It was great! We were freed up to interact on a more relaxed scale with our guest, which was enjoyable and very satisfying .

Greeting Our Guests The First Evening

Everyone Arrives - We Mingle and Get to Know One Another

Kelly & Ted (Kelly's boss on left) Getting To Know Our Guest (on right)

As for our guest, they were very engaged and full of questions. It was encouraging for us to see their passion for missions expressed in a variety of ways. We had a very diverse group of churches represented. Here is a random example:

• A rural American Baptist Church (ABC) from Ohio with a congregation about 300 in size. (Sr. Pastor & Missions Pastor attended)
• An Independent Baptist Church of Virginia founded in 1913 with an attendance of about 750 today. (Global Missions Pastor attended)
• From Charlotte, NC a new church plant started in 2002 by 2 members of John Piper’s Bethlehem Baptist Church. These 70 faithful members already have 4 of their own sent out as missionaries. (Assoc. Pastor & 2 of their Missions Team attended)
• A First Presbyterian Church here in Florida, founded in 1876 by 11 members has grown to 4,800 today. (Executive Pastor attended)
• An Evangelical Free suburban church from the Twin Cities of MN with approx 3,000 members (Director of Global Ministries & his wife)
• Another Ohio church founded in 1985 by a team of Liberty University grads that now has 1800 attending (Missions Director attended)
• An independent 50 year old Fresno, CA church with about 4,000 people, they also have a Spanish language congregation and host a Farsi-speaking Persian church (Assoc. Pastor & wife attended)
• A Southern Baptist Church (SBC) from St Charles, MO with a ministry staff of 13 and a support staff 16 (Missions Director attended)
• And a Porter Ranch, CA church that became non-denominational as a result of a merger of a SBC and a Christian Church 10 years ago and now has 7000 members (2 Missions staff attended this year after their Pastor and Missions Director attended last year)
  

  Churches Sharing With Churches

On Wednesday & Thursday we have sessions that allow for a lot of interaction among the churches. As they share what works or doesn’t work for them in their church, they are networking, building relationships and helping one another with issues that matter to them.

Kelly & Connie Lead the Opening Session

Kelly Gives the Group Instructions

Our Guest Listen to the Instructions before Discussion

Interactive Discussions Around The Tables

It’s not all sitting and talking. There is free time factored in to allow everyone a chance to relax and soak in our Florida sun, shop at our craft store or tour our facilities if they choose.

Connie Gives the Pastor & His Wife A Tour of Our Facilities

Each of these churches are partners with us to send and support their missionaries on the field. So, the relationship doesn’t stop when they return to their respective churches. We will continue to work together in partnership for the sake of their workers on the field. PIONEERS has about 2500 active churches supporting our workers, so we keep pretty busy, and love every minute of it.

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…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 CCWC 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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