N.I.C.E. Director's Retreat

Our annual Director's Retreat took place this past week Monday-Wednesday in beautiful Sun River, Oregon. The Mission (NICE) rented a five-bedroom home for all of us that gave us the privilege of all being together. Our Director's wife, Shirley planned the meals and the other ladies helped her out with preparation and table setting. Maria Cordova wasn't able to make it but Jesus, our Hispanic Director was able to come. Earl & Shirley Brubaker (Executive Director) led our discussions. Others who attended were our Inland Northwest Field Director Roger & Karen Hayden, Oregon Field Director Jerry & Lois James, and Katherine along with myself. We were so glad Jerry was able to make it after his previous stroke. He is doing remarkably well! We also missed Larry & Linda Ott, our former Assistant Director who now lives in Sequim, Washington.

The weather was interesting as it snowed most the time but occasional rain also. Shirley commented that she should have brought a Christmas tree to decorate the place for the flurry of snow we evidenced.

Monday night we began with a fabulous Lasagna dinner. Earl then led us in a discussion of prayer requests for our NICE family in specific fields of ministry. After some time in discussion and prayer we had a time of fellowship of ice cream and goodies.

Tuesday morning following breakfast we discussed Progressive Dispensationalism and those within the IFCA that may be leaning that direction as opposed to Classic Dispensationalism, Calvinism and recent amendments to our Statement of Faith. Then we had a break for lunch and then free time for a few hours. A few of the gals headed out to visit the shops down by the Sun River Lodge. The guys worked on their computers, read and took a nap.

When we came back together in the late afternoon we spent some time discussing "Vision America" mainly concentrating on the uniqueness, similarities and differences of "Internships" and "Church Residency" programs; the former dealing mainly with under-graduates and catering to a broader scope of ministry while the latter deals with graduate level men specifically designed for church planting & training under a church planter.

After a wonderful ham and baked potato dinner we met in the living room again and spent some time discussing parts of "From Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church." Along with this we discussed planting churches and serving churches. Earl also gave us some update in administrative changes and challenges without the Ott's in the office. We spent a short time looking at the N.I.C.E. Website updating areas and asking about changes or additions that might need done. The retreat was a great time of fellowship and discussion as usual.

One the way home Katherine and I stopped at Calamity Jane's in Sandy, Oregon to split a "big" hamburger. We were the only ones in this 1930's building. The economy has really hit them hard. We also drove around Napavine and downtown Chahalis and Centralia to get a physical view of churches. This is another area we are looking at starting a Bible study with the goal of a Bible church some day. Then on our way home we stopped by DuPont to participate in the Bible study in John's Gospel, taught by Pastor Timothy Atkins. What a blessed time to see the folks sharing and asking questions. We only got through two verses in John 17 but it was a rich time of learning.

Bong Wedding & Loomis Community Church

Wedding bells rang in Wenatchee this weekend as we attended Missionary Dan & Donna Bong's youngest daughter's wedding. Grant & Ashley returned vows at the Eastmont Baptist Church on the East side of Wenatchee Saturday evening.

It was a nice wedding with Pastor Dan (dad) escorting his daughter to the front and then giving the prayer of dedication. The pastor from Eastmont gave a short encouraging talk and then the couple shared vows and rings. Follow the ceremony was a reception in the entry way. We headed afterwards to our hotel to relax. Katherine ended up not feeling well so Bob headed out to roam Wenatchee until he found a Dominoes Pizza and brought dinner back to the room. As a little side note we got two pizza's for the price of one so we shared part of one and put the other in the little motel freezer and the rest of the other in the fridge.

On Sunday morning we headed out for Loomis Community Church about 6:30am and about half way up Katherine mentioned, "We forgot the Pizza in the freezer." This was supposed to be dinner on the way home Sunday night - oh well.

We had a great time a Loomis. The Adult Sunday School class ended up doing a partial dvd on Islam. During the Morning Service, a missionary couple from southern Mexico with Wycliffe, shared from the Word and their ministry. Afterwards we all enjoyed a nice potluck. An added blessing was another local church that joined us for the dinner and even sang a couple songs.

Bob will be speaking at the church on May 31st for their new Building Dedication. We always enjoy revisiting with the folks as they are dear to us. It was almost 7 years ago we stepped in as a "new" Field Director to help the church in finding a pastor.

On the way home we stopped for a hamburger just outside of Wenatchee. This must have been our time for food trouble because two couples after us got theirs first. After Bob finally asked about our order they discovered they lost the ticket so it wasn't even cooking yet. But we eventually got the order and devoured it on a beautiful, sunny evening.

One thing we did on our way over and back was to read eight chapters of the book, "Embers to a Flame: How God Can Revitalize Your Church." Bob read while Katherine drove. This is a book that we will be discussing at our Director's Retreat next week. Bob also wants to take the Elders at our home church through it as a training tool.

DuPont Church Planter Candidates

Closer to the Goal? Perhaps the Lord is allowing us to see the DuPont Church Plant become a reality after all these years. A few weeks ago Pastor Tim Atkins and myself spent a couple hours interviewing Mark & Tracy Wilson for the Church

Residency Program for the Church Planter in DuPont. We invited them to fly up for a week from California where Mark is attending Seminary and teaching College. They arrived last Friday hitting the ground running. Since they both have family in the area this has been an added blessing for them. They are staying with the Atkins on South Hill which gives them time to chat and fellowship about church planting. Saturday was a busy day as Mark shared God's Word at the Men's Breakfast for Faith Bible Church and then they headed out to DuPont to see the area and do some canvasing. On Sunday morning Katherine and I attended Faith Bible Church Worship Service where the Wilson's were introduced to the group and Mark gave a greeting and read Scripture. Pastor Tim finished preaching through the book of Philippians. We shared time in Sunday School in prayer and a survey of James. Following the service we met at the Atkins home for lunch and had more time to visit with Mark and Tracy; whom by the way both grew up in Western Washington. Sunday night we met at the Silver Creek Retirement Center for a time of singing and sharing. Katherine and I were invited to do a duet so we sang "In the Sweet By & By." After a short introduction by Pastor Tim, Mark Wilson preached from Jeremiah 28, "Discerning True Hope in Deceptive Days." He shared from the passage that we need to Consider the Source: Who the Prophet Is and What He Is Saying (vs1-4); Apply the Scriptures by: Responding Wisely, Recounting Prophecy, and Reacting Appropriately (vs5-11); and Trust the Lord to : Preserve His Promises, Protect His People and Punish False Prophets (vs12-17). On Tuesday night Mark & Tracy will be meeting with the Leadership Committee of Faith Bible Church for a time of dinner and interview. This will be an opportunity for the men to get to know them better and ask questions, etc. Wednesday morning we will meet the Wilson's at the N.I.C.E. Headquarter Office in University Place and have them greet our Executive Director and wife, Earl & Shirley Brubaker. Then we will have lunch together somewhere close by. In the evening we will gather in DuPont for the Bible Study where Wilson's will be introduced and have an opportunity to formally see the progress of the church plant in action. All in all it will be a long week for them with very little relaxing time. They have got to spend some time with family which is good. Keep praying for the Lord's direction for the Wilson's and those of us in leadership as we move forward and watch God bring about His purpose for the ministry in DuPont.

Shelton Bible Church Ministry

This past Sunday we had the opportunity to spend some time with the folks at Shelton Bible Church. They are not a big cChurch and over the almost four years of existence they have struggled with attendance. The group was small on Sunday but a good spirit.

They meet in the Funeral Chapel which is a beautiful bright building. Most people would hardly think it a Chapel for funerals. Since it was a small group we met in the back around tables singing hymns, choruses, a time of sharing praise and prayer requests and message.
Don Wantland, one of our NICE Missionary pastors shared the Word from 2 Thessalonians 2. His wife Jody was also with us. Don introduced the chapter by reminding us of the pressures and sufferings we will have as Christians in light of the fact of Christ's soon return. Following a short time of fellowship after the message, most of us headed to downtown Shelton for lunch at "Blondies." It was interesting to discover that one of the elderly ladies had done some sky diving up the road where Katherine did her jump.

They had a good time swapping their "leap-in-the-air" stories. Pray along with us please for Shelton Bible Church and God's will for them in the community.