BRAZIL 2014 Mission Trip Joan Hust

BRAZIL

Brazilian evangelists saw the World Cup as an opportunity to witness for Jesus.  The evangelicals who make up nearly one-quarter of the country’s population brought faith to the World Cup celebrations.

Brazil may have lost its bid to win the World Cup, but they took advantage of the few days left to win the souls of soccer fans. Local Christians did not let the opportunity slip past them.

Brazil's Christian population is enormous — more than 90 percent of Brazilians claim to be Christian — making it the world's second-largest Christian population with 8 percent of the total (the USA 11.3 percent). Most of those are Catholic. Evangelicals are gaining on them expanding from 15 percent of the population in 2000 to 22 percent in 2010.

Brazilians have a history of traveling to witness when other countries host the world's most famous soccer tournaments, but this time they had a home field advantage. Around 100 evangelicals hit Copacabana Beach to hand out 15,000 booklets on the history of Brazil and soccer that included an article by Brazilian soccer star Kaka, who said "the true sense of victory is having Jesus in my life”. Volunteers for the Bible Society of Brazil passed out 20,000 copies of the Gospel of John in eight different languages.

The day before the World Cup final more than 1,000 Brazilian evangelicals circled the Maracana soccer stadium to “send a message of peace to the world”. From where they were standing they were able to see the iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer. The July-August 2014 issue of Christianity Today reported how Brazilians online search the Bible, and successfully made evangelistic efforts  to connect with North Koreans at the 2010 World Cup that is now one of the top missionary-sending countries.

How blessed and fortunate I am to be asked to be part of the CPE (Church Partnerships Evangelize) team to go back to Brazil leaving here early morning of the 17th of July for five weeks.  I cherish your prayers.  Thank you.     Joan

Eleanor Roosevelt by Joan S. Hust

Eleanor Roosevelt     by Joan S. Hust

October 11, 1884 - November 7, 1962

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, holding the post from 1933 to 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office.
• She was a Roosevelt who married a Roosevelt. But it's important to know she was a Theodore-Roosevelt Roosevelt and certain traits from that side of the family were strong in her.
• The obligation of honorable, generous, and responsible behavior. Like her Uncle Theodore, she triumphed against the odds.
• She wore frumpy clothes. Her teeth needed straightening. But in all, in her way, she was beautiful, radiant. There were never any makeovers, no Hollywood savvy.
• She was terrified of speaking in public at first, and her high-pitched voice could sail off uncontrollably. Yet she became one of the most effective speakers of her time.
• She was a wife, a mother, teacher, and first lady of New York, first lady of the land, newspaper columnist, author, world traveler, diplomat, and a tough seasoned politician.
• She never imitated anyone. She was ever and entirely herself, and a very great woman.
• People were absolutely drawn to Eleanor Roosevelt. Her presence was felt the minute she came into the room. She sparkled.
• For more than 30 years Eleanor Roosevelt was the most powerful woman in America. Niece of one president and wife of another, Eleanor was shaped and driven by politics.
• She was one of the best politicians of the 20th century.
• There is a tremendous amount of conflict and hurt in her life and a great sense of loss and struggle. She was happiest in the public arena, she was least happy in her most intimate private life.
• She travelled far from her beginnings, to become the most admired - and the most controversial woman in America.
• Everybody liked her because there was not a mean streak about her. She was loyal. She always did what she said she would do.
• Theodore Roosevelt in 190 was the President of the United States. "Uncle Ted" always called Eleanor his favorite niece. Uncle Ted drove home the Roosevelt rule: never show fear and like all Roosevelt children, Eleanor was taught a strong sense of social responsibility.
• Twice a week she rode the public trolley downtown to the grimy, teeming slums of the Lower East Side. There at the University Settlement House she did volunteer work with young immigrants, helping them adapt to life in America. She taught dance and calisthenics. She thought of her work as the "highlight" of her week.
• Franklin proposed in November 1903, and Eleanor immediately accepted. He declared himself the happiest man on earth.
• On March 17th, 1905, Eleanor and Franklin were married. President Theodore Roosevelt gave the bride away.
• Eleanor and Franklin's early-married life was dominated by a powerful Roosevelt - Franklin's mother, Sara. Franklin D. Roosevelt 3rd, Grandson of Eleanor Roosevelt: Franklin was Sara’s only child and she was extremely possessive and did not want him to go off and marry somebody else and have some other life.
• In 1906, the Roosevelt’s' first child, Anna, was born. James was born the next year.
• They learned early that if their mother wouldn’t give them something all they had to do was to go see Granny. And they could charm Granny out of anything they wanted.
• FDR was not a good father.
• In the summer of 1917 Eleanor took the children north - to Campobello, the Roosevelt’s' sprawling summer home off the coast of Maine. Franklin stayed behind working in Washington. So did Lucy Mercer their social secretary.
• She discovered that Franklin had an affair; she was so stunned and didn’t know where to put this hurt.
• Franklin realized a divorced man could never be elected president. After he promised never to see Lucy again, Eleanor agreed to go on with the marriage. But they never lived together as husband and wife again. And never, in all her writings, all her memoirs, articles and interviews, did Eleanor ever mention Franklin's betrayal.
• Eleanor and Franklin moved back to New York in 1920. Eleanor, now 36 years old, embarked on a new life. She took a secretarial course; she joined the League of Women Voters, and the Women's City Club.
• Franklin's illness was diagnosed as polio. His legs were left withered and useless. He had to be carried off the island to return to New York.

• Geoffrey Ward, Historian: There was a real battle in the Roosevelt family over Franklin’s future. His mother thought that he should come home to Hyde Park and become a country gentleman and be a happy invalid. He didn’t want to do that. He loved Hyde Park. But he didn’t want to be there forever. Eleanor Roosevelt backed him. She felt that if he wanted to try to get back into politics, he should be allowed to try.


• I think they found life apart easier than life together. Both of them had causes to which they could devote themselves. They would come together periodically and then float apart again. The Roosevelt’s remained very fond of one another. I think that’s the way that they made their marriage work.

• Through her work, Eleanor made a circle of close friends - politically sophisticated, independent women like Nancy Cook. Cook was a creative, energetic organizer in the state Democratic Party. She lived in Greenwich Village with her partner Marian Dickerman.  Dickerman was a teacher and the first woman to run for the New York State legislature. When Dickerman took over the private Todd Hunter School in New York, Eleanor joined her teaching literature and history three days a week.

• Franklin supported Eleanor's independence and enjoyed her new friends. In 1925 he even built them a small stone house, called Val Kill, near his mother's Hyde Park estate.

• When occasion demanded Eleanor would entertain with Franklin at Sara's house nearby. But Val Kill was Eleanor's, and she would think of it as her real home for the rest of her life.

• That same year FDR decided to reenter politics and run for Governor of New York. To dispel rumors that he was still sick, he ran an energetic campaign, and he won. For the first time in nearly a decade, Eleanor was a political wife again. She moved the family to Albany, and divided her time between her duties as the Governor's wife and her own activities.

• Eleanor dreaded the idea of being First lady, of a life defined by teas and receiving lines. The day she realized that she was going to be the wife of the president was a traumatic day for her.

• Eleanor Roosevelt had phenomenal, unprecedented energy. She was in action, in motion, it seems, 24 hours a day. That allowed her to do enormous amounts in her life.

• In one three month period she logged 40,000 miles, giving lectures, visiting schools and factories, opening fairs. Six days a week, no matter where she was, she wrote a newspaper column called, "My Day." She talked to people from all walks of life. She saw firsthand the new government programs at work, and reported back to FDR.

• Eleanor learned that Lucy Mercer was with FDR when he died in Warm Springs.

• Franklin and Eleanor had experienced two world wars; they had witnessed unimaginable destruction, and millions of senseless deaths. For years they had talked about how to prevent another war and FDR had laid the groundwork for the United Nations.
• In December 1945, the new president, Harry Truman asked Eleanor to be a delegate to the UN's first meeting in London.  Eight months after Franklin's death, Eleanor arrived in England to begin a new career.

• After Republican Dwight Eisenhower became president in 1952, Eleanor Roosevelt, like all presidential appointees, resigned her post. She was 68. For the first time in nearly 25 years she had no official duties to perform. She traveled extensively. She made the first of three trips to the newly established state of Israel. She visited Japan, the Soviet Union, and India. Although her visits were private, she was greeted like a head of state nearly everywhere she went.  She was often accompanied by her friend and physician Dr. David Gurewitsch, the son of Russian émigrés, a worldly, cultivated man.

• Eleanor Roosevelt was the most admired woman in the world. Her popularity was quite extraordinary.  She was recognized as the best that America could be in her lifetime.  I was privileged to hear her speak when I was a student at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.  The reason we were so fortunate to have her as a guest speaker was because she was a friend of Dr. Spivey, the President of Florida Southern College.
QUOTES
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart”
“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.”
“We are afraid to care too much; for fear that the other person does not care at all.”
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. ”
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
“No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”
“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”
 “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.”
 “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

 “No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”
 “You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”
 “If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if they betray you twice, it’s your fault.”
 “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
 “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.”
“We are afraid to care too much; for fear that the other person does not care at all.”
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. ”
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
 “No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful.”
“You can often change your circumstances by changing your attitude”
“If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault; if they betray you twice, it’s your fault.”
“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.”
“The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.”
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”

“Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.”
“Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, excitingly, imaginatively; unless you can choose a challenge instead of competence.”
“You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.”
”In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
“Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say
yes.”
 “Happiness is not a goal...it's a by-product of a life well lived.”

 “Friendship with oneself is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”
“Work is always an antidote to depression.”

“Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this.”

“Every time you meet a situation you think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it, you find that forever after you are freer than you were before.”

“One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility”

“Lest I keep my complacent way I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?”
“As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along.”

Edward Irving Koch

Edward Irving Koch

December 12, 1924 – February 1, 2013
My father is Jewish,
My mother is Jewish, I am Jewish.
A proud Jew, a loving New Yorker
And a patriotic American.

• Born in The Bronx, New York City, New York
• Son of Yetta and Louis Koch, immigrants from Eastern Galicia.
• Alma mater: City University of New York; New York University
• Mayor of NYC
• He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith.
• He defended the City of New York and its people.
• He loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II.
• He played the violin since childhood.
• He grew a beard in his final days.
• United States Army as a Sergeant from 1943-194 6 – 104th Infantry Division
• He denounced the state of Israel for its massacres of children.
• Buried in a Catholic cemetery
• The date of birth on his tombstone was engraved with the wrong birth date.
• 105th Mayor of New York City
• First New York mayor to win endorsement on both the Democratic and Republican party tickets
• Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from NY 18th district
• Lifelong Democrat who described himself as a "liberal with sanity"
• Author of an ambitious public housing renewal program in his later years as mayor
• No children and no publicly acknowledged romantic relationships, but declared his heterosexuality after his retirement.
• Big supporter of Israel
• He was a radio show host, author, and political gadfly in political retirement.
• Wrote a children’s book with his sister, Pat.  The book EDDIE, HAROLD’S LITTLE BROTHER told the story of his childhood and his brother, Harold who had baseball talents.  It was not a success.
• The NY City Council renamed the Queensboro Bridge the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge.
• A documentary about the life of Ed Koch had its world premiere the day of his death.
• Known for his quips and one liners.  My favorites were:
 "The people have spoken...and they must be punished.
"I'm the sort of person who will never get ulcers. Why?  Because I say exactly what I think. I'm the sort of person who might give other people ulcers.
"If you agree with me on nine out of 12 issues, vote for me. If you agree with me on 12 out of 12 issues, see a psychiatrist.
BOOKS:
• Koch, Edward I. (1980). The Mandate Millstone. US Conference of Mayors
• How'm I doing? The wit and wisdom of Ed Koch. William; Koch, Ed (1984)
• Rauch, William; Koch, Ed (1985). Politics
• Koch, Ed; O'Connor, John Joseph (1989). His Eminence and Hizzoner: a candid exchange. Morrow
• Jones, Leland T.; Koch, Ed (1990). All the best: letters from a feisty mayor.
• Paisner, Daniel; Koch, Ed (1992). Citizen Koch: an autobiography
• Koch, Ed (1994). Ed Koch on Everything: Movies, Politics, Personalities, Food, and Other Stuff.
• Resnicow, Herbert; Koch, Ed (1995). Murder at city hall. New York: Kensington Books.  Koch, Edward I. (1997). Murder on Broadway. New York: Kensington
• Koch, Ed (1997). Murder on 34th Street. New York: Kensington.
• Koch, Ed (1998). The Senator Must Die. New York: Kensington.
• Koch, Ed (1999). Giuliani: Nasty Man. New York: Barricade Books
• Graham, Stephen; Koch, Ed (1999). New York: A State of Mind (Urban Tapestry Series). Paisner, Daniel; Koch, Ed (2000). I'm not done yet!: keeping at it, remaining relevant, and having the time of my life. New York: William Morrow.
• Warhola, James; Thaler, Pat Koch; Koch, Ed; Koch, Edward D. (2004). Eddie: Harold's little brother. New York: G. P. Putnam's sons.
• Heady, Christy; Koch, Edward D.; Koch, Ed (2007). Buzz: how to create it and win with it. New York, N.Y: American Management Association
Ed Koch died in February from congestive heart failure at the age of 88. He was buried at Trinity Church in Washington Heights at a plot he bought back in 2008 because, as he told reporters, "the idea of leaving Manhattan permanently irritates me."
Favorite Quotes
• You punch me, I punch back. I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag.

• I have said many times:
 To be a New Yorker you have to live here for six months, and if at the end of the six months you find you walk faster, talk faster, think faster, you're a New Yorker.

• I know many writers who first dictate passages, then polish what they have dictated. I speak, then I polish - occasionally I do windows.
• The fireworks begin today. Each diploma is a lighted match. Each one of you is a fuse.
• God gave me a very good hand to play over my 88 years. I have no regrets.

• The best way to lose weight is to close your mouth - something very difficult for a politician. Or watch your food - just watch it, don't eat it.

• It's a lot more fun being a critic than being the one criticized.

• No, I am not a homosexual. If I were a homosexual, I would hope I would have the courage to say so. What's cruel is that you are forcing me to say I am not a homosexual. This means you are putting homosexuals down. I don't want to do that.

• We're in the hands of the state legislature and God, but at the moment, the state legislature has more to say than God.

• Water, water, everywhere, Atlantic and Pacific. But New York City's got them beat, Our aqua is terrific!

• Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life.

• I was born at the age of twelve on a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot.

• Citizens, thank you for all your birthday wishes. I am 88 years old today and still lucky to live in the greatest city in the world.

• Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life.

I was born eight years after Ed Koch.  He was a household name.  Even though as a family we did not live in NYC but for some reason the neighborhood where I grew up in Michigan he was a subject of conversation on a regular basis.  My aunts and uncles really liked and admired him.
Did I like him or do I like him?  A big YES with an exclamation mark.

Billy Graham

Billy Graham

William Franklin Graham Jr.

November 07, 1918

     Evangelist

• Born in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Parents: William and Morrow Graham
• Raised on parents dairy farm
• Education: Bob Jones College, Florida Bible Institute, Wheaton College
• Age of 16 attended a series of revival meetings run by evangelist Mordecai Ham
• After high school moved to Tennessee to enroll in the conservative Christian school, Bob Jones College
• Married Ruth McCue Bell and they had 5 children. Their names are Virginia, Anne, Ruth, Franklin, and Nelson.
• Joined a Southern Baptist Convention church where he was ordained in 1939
• President of Northwestern Schools, a group of Christian schools in Minnesota
• Hosted a program called The Hour of Decision, a program ABC initially transmitted to 150 stations before reaching its peak of 1,200 stations across America.
• Preaching at an L.A. revival and was a guest on Stuart
Hamblen’s radio show in 1949 publicity made Graham a superstar
• 1952, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association created the Billy Graham Evangelistic Film Ministry as a means of distributing personal conversion stories to the public through films
• Began broadcasting his sermons globally.
• BGEA Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
• Scouts would be sent to cities all over the world to reserve a venue, organize volunteer choirs and arrange speakers. At the end of these events, audience members would be invited to commit to Christ and meet with volunteer counselors.
• 1952, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association created the Billy Graham Evangelistic Film Ministry as a means of distributing personal conversion stories to the public through films
• 1958, BGEA started Decision magazine, a monthly mailer with Bible studies, articles, church histories and crusade updates
• Preached the Christian gospel to as many as 215 million people in live audiences
over 185 countries
• Credited with preaching to more individuals than anyone else in history, not counting the additional millions he has addressed through radio, television and the written word.
• Time reporter dubbed him “the Pope of Protestant America”
• "One of the Ten Most Admired Men in the World" a staggering 51 times
• Retired in 2005
• Awarded the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Freedom Award, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion, the Big Brother Award, the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, and the Speaker of the Year Award
• Recognized by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for promoting understanding between faiths, and bestowed with the Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)
• Announced that he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a disease similar to Parkinson's disease. His son William Franklin Graham III was chosen to take over BGEA upon his father's retirement
• Billy and his wife Ruth eventually retired to their home in Montreat, North Carolina, in 2005
• Ruth Graham passed away from pneumonia and degenerative osteoarthritis. She is remembered by her husband, five children and 19 grandchildren.
• Turned 95 in 2013
• A celebration for his 95th birthday in Asheville, North Carolina on November 2013
• Around this time, Graham released what some have called his final sermon. In a video entitled My Hope America, he expressed concern for the spiritual health of the nation. "Our country's in great need of a spiritual awakening," he said, according to a report in USA Today. "There have been times that I've wept as I've gone from city to city and I've seen how far people have wandered from God."

JUST a FEW of his BOOKS
…Just as I Am …The President’s Devotional
…Billy Graham …The Reason for My Hope: Salvation
…The Billy Graham Story …The Heaven Answer Book
…Nearing Home with Grace … Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing
…Hope for Each Day     Well
…Angels …A Catholic looks at Billy Graham
…Unto the Hills …Peace with God
…The Billy Graham Christian Worker's Handbook
…Invitation: Billy Graham and the Lives God Touched
…The Legacy of a Couple: Ruth & Billy Graham
…Billy Graham: A Life in Pictures
…The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House
…Billy Graham, God's Ambassador: A Celebration of His Life and Ministry
…The Heaven Answer Book
…Answers to Life’s Problems
…Death and the Life After-Slightly Imperfect
…The Key to Personal Peace …Hope
…Angels   …Day by Day
…God’s Blessings of Christmas …Wisdom for Each Day
…The Secret of Happiness …The Holy Spirit







QUOTES

“God never takes away something from your life without replacing it with something better.”

“The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.”

“I've read the last page of the Bible; it's all going to turn out all right.”

“Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears she for others is a sign of strength.”

“When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

“Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion; it is like a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.”

“My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world.”

“God has given us two hands--one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for sharing.”

“We are the Bibles the world is reading; We are the creeds the world is needing; We are the sermons the world is heeding.”

“A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.”

“Therefore i live for today-certain of finding at sunrise guidance and strength for the way.
Power for each moment of weakness, hope for each moment of pain, comfort for every sorrow,
sunshine and joy after rain!”

“It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge and my job to love.”

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”

‎"Sincerity is the biggest part of selling anything -- including the Christian plan of salvation.”

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

“World events are moving very rapidly now. I pick up the Bible in one hand, and I pick up the newspaper in the other. And I read almost the same words in the newspaper as I read in the Bible. It’s being fulfilled every day round about us.”


I was so fortunate to meet Billy Graham and his wife Ruth when I was a student at the St. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College in St. Petersburg, Florida. When I would see Billy and Ruth downtown or walking on the beach barefoot I just stopped and looked at them.  They were such a good looking couple. The President of Florida Bible Institute that was located on the outskirts of Tampa was Dr. W.T. Watson (Christian & Missionary Alliance church) and a close friend of Dr. Charles M. Leaming (President of the S. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College).  Billy was a student there for almost four years.  During his time there I was a student at the St. Petersburg Bible Institute and Florida Beacon College. Classes were held in the Sunday school classes at Faith Temple located at 950 Fifth Avenue South.  The students of both colleges got together often for graduations, special dinners, seminars that helped not only me but all who worked as counselors, singing in the choir, ushers, greeters at every meeting and kneeling at the altar praying with the innumerable people that came forward in the evangelistic meetings to accept Jesus as their personal Savior that were held in the St. Petersburg-Tampa area.

It has been such a thrill and blessing to experience how HE has used Billy and Ruth Graham to minister to so many people on every continent in my life time.

Betty Ford

Betty Ford

Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren

April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011

U.S. First Lady

• Born in Chicago, Illinois; Place of death: Rancho Mirage, California
• Maiden name: Elizabeth Anne Bloomer
• Became First Lady when President Nixon resigned and made her Vice President husband, Gerald Ford, the acting President
• Third child and only daughter of W. Bloomer Sr and Hortense Neahr
• 8 years of age studied ballet, tap, modern movement
• 14 years old taught younger children the foxtrot,  and waltz
• Opened her own dance school when she was a HS student
• Dad died when she was 14 and her mother supported her as a real-estate agent
• Studied under choreographer, Martha Graham; performed at Carnegie Hall
• Fashion coordinator for Herpolscheimer Dept. Store
• Married William C. Warren in 1942 and divorced in 1945
• 1948 married Gerald Ford and had four children: Michael, John, Steven, Susan
• Became the First Lady of the USA in 1973
• Diagnosed with malignant breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy
• Time magazine named her WOMAN OF THE YEAR in 1975
• When Gerald Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in the election Betty Ford delivered his concession speech due to her husband's bout with laryngitis in the last days of the campaign.
• Entered Long Beach Naval Hospital in 1978 for drug and alcohol rehabilitation
• Full recovery in 1982 and established the Betty Ford Center dedicated to helping all people, but especially women with chemical dependency.
• 1987 published a book about her treatment: Betty: A Glad Awakening,
2003 published Healing and Hope: Six Women from the Betty Ford Center Share Their Powerful Journeys of Addiction and Recovery
• 1991 earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H.W. Bush; received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999; honored with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service
• Gerald, husband of 58 years died at the age of 93
• Remained active as chair-emeritus of the Betty Ford Center
• Died at 89 years old of natural causes at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, CA.
• Buried next to her husband on what would have been his 98th birthday

Betty Ford was a pioneering first lady whose public battles with cancer
and addiction changed the lives of millions. I greatly admired her.

My favorite quote of Betty Ford:
         I have an independent streak. You know, it's kind of hard to tell an independent woman what to do.

Eric Henry Liddell

Eric Liddell

Eric Henry Liddell

1-16-1902 – 2-21-1945

Athlete and Missionary

·         Born in Tianjin (Tientsin), Qing Empire(China)
·         Died: 21 February 1945 (aged 43) Weihsien Internment Camp, China
·         Second son of the Rev. and Mrs. James Dunlop Liddell, who were Scottish missionaries with the London Missionary Society.
·          Attended school in China until the age of five. At the age of six, he and his brother Robert, eight years old, were enrolled in Eltham College, Mottingham, a boarding school in England for the sons of missionaries
·          Chosen to speak for Glasgow Students' Evangelical Union because he was a strong Christian
·          His job was to be the lead speaker and to evangelize the men of Scotland
·          Joined his brother Robert at the University of Edinburgh to study Pure Science
·          Refused to run in a heat held on Sunday (the Christian Sabbath) and was forced to withdraw from the 100-metres race, his best event
·         Awarded the Blackheath Cup
·         Eltham College's sports centre was named "Eric Liddell Sports Centre" in his
·         memory Captain of both the cricket and rugby union teams
·          Headmaster described him as being "entirely without vanity"
·         Fastest runner in Scotland while at Oxford College
·         Team: Scottish International
·         Club: Edinburgh University
·         Sport: Athletics & Rugby Union
·         Called the “Flying Scotsman that could not fly”
·         Scottish athlete
·         Medal Record: Men’s Athletics; Competitor for Great Britain
·         Because of his birth and death in China, some of that country's Olympic literature lists Liddell as China's first Olympic champion
·         Rugby union international player
·         winner of the men's 400 meters at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris
·         Olympic training and racing, and the religious convictions that influenced him, are depicted in the Oscar-winning 1981 film Chariots of Fire, in which he is portrayed by fellow Scot Ian Charleson
·         First job as a missionary was as a teacher at an Anglo-Chinese College (grades 1–12) for wealthy Chinese students
·         During his first furlough from missionary work in 1932, he was ordained a minister of religion
·         Married Florence Mackenzie of Canada missionary parentage in Tianjin in 1934
·         Three daughters, Patricia, Heather and Maureen
·         One of his daughters visited Tianjin in 1991 and presented the headmaster of the school with one of the medals that Eric had won for athletics
·         1941 life in China had become so dangerous because of Japanese aggressiveness that the British government advised British nationals to leave
·         Florence and the children left for Canada to stay with her family when Liddell accepted a position at a rural mission station in Xiaozhang, which served the poor
·         Accepted a position at a rural mission station in Xiaozhang that served the poor
·         Joined his brother, Rob, who was a doctor there. The station was severely short of help and the missionaries there were exhausted; Suffered many hardships
·         Japanese took over the mission station and Liddell returned to Tianjin.
·         1943 was interned at the Weihsien Internment Camp (in the modern city of Weifang) with the members of the China Inland Mission, Chefoo School in the city now known as Yantai
·         Became a leader and organizer at the camp, but food, medicine and other supplies were scarce
·         Busied himself by helping the elderly, teaching at the camp school Bible classes, arranging games and by teaching science to the children, who referred to him as Uncle Eric
·         Last letter to his wife, written on the day he died he wrote of suffering a nervous breakdown due to overwork
·         Had an inoperable brain tumor; overwork, and malnourishment may have hastened his death
·         Died five months before liberation
·         Refused an opportunity to leave the camp, and instead gave his place to a pregnant woman. The Japanese and British with Churchill's approval had agreed upon a prisoner exchange
·         Eric Liddell was the most popular athlete Scotland has ever produced, according to the public voting for the first inductees for the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002
·         Buried in the garden behind the Japanese officers' quarters, his grave marked by a small wooden cross
·         1991 Edinburgh University erected a memorial headstone, made from Isle of Mull granite and carved by a mason in Tobermory, at the former camp site in Weifang
·         Living memorial, the Eric Liddell Centre, an Edinburgh, Scotland based charity, was set up in 1980 to honor Eric’s beliefs in community service whilst he lived and studied in Edinburgh
·          Liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) remembers Liddell with a feast day on 22 February
·         The 1981 film Chariots of Fire chronicles and contrasts the lives and viewpoints of Eric Liddell
·         Rival Harold Abrahams said in response to criticism of Liddell's style: "People may shout their heads off about his appalling style. Well, let them. He gets there."


I was living in Chingola, Zambia when I saw the film CHARIOTS OF FIRE playing at the only movie theatre in Kitwe.  Our friends from Scotland that were living and working in Zambia invited Bill and I to go with them.  Needless to say the theatre was packed with Scottish families living in Zambia.

 One of the many Treetops Safaris with the  St. Mark’s Church Youth in Chingola, Zambia

TREETOPS
Kafue National Park

Kafue National Park covers is two and a half times larger than the size of the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The road from Chingola to the road going north into the Park was fairly good. It was tarmac most of the way. We had four to five hours driving on sand. Once you get to the camp at Treetops game viewing can be stunning. It is close to the Busanga Plains where we saw a herd of Cape buffaloes the very first day. The road the last three or four hours  had been graded and driving  was less bumpy but there still were many huge potholes to drive around if there were not too many rocks  The children got out and filled up some of the potholes with stones and tree limbs. Total journey time is about eleven hours. We broke down three times.  The first time we were fortunate as there was an Acacia tree which provided us with some shade. The main vegetation of the Kafue area is called "Miombo".  It has more trees than you can count.

The Park is North and South by the Kafue River which comes out from the Zambezi River. The Kafue is a long old river that changes its moods from slow to swift channels between trees in the little islands and the rapids flow furiously from the Itezhi-Tezhi dam below which flows out in to the Kafue Flats. Once we saw nesting sites for Bee eaters in the sandy banks. Also some of the students saw two otters, a ugly water monitor that is scary, two hippos and several crocodiles that looked sleepy but of course they are not.  One of the boys threw a rock that was not very big but his eyes opened up probably due to the splash.  Farther down the water became tranquil water and was a haven for wildlife watchers. Two of the boys with their dad threw out their lines and caught some bream, and pike.  One of the fellas thought he had a bream but he lost it.  They caught enough for our dinner and enough to share with the local men that worked at the camp.

  

The Northern Section of the park is a slightly rolling, scenic plateau and has two rivers. Treetops camp is on the banks of the Lufupa River. The area is covered by Miombo and Mopani woodlands with occasional open grassy plains. There are many hardwoods, sausage trees and to everyone’s delight the enormous baobab tree was at the center of our camp. The school room at Treetops has a huge Baobab tree beside it that they told us it was hundreds of years old.  We saw many Baobab trees on this trip.  One of the cooks at the camp who only spoke Bemba, and with the help of the Zambian children that were with us that spoke Bemba fluently showed me how to make a delicious drink from the fruit of the baobab tree.  It tasted like lemonade, and all the children loved it.

We identified martial and fish eagles, crowned and wattled cranes, saddle-billed stocks and a wealth of hornbills, kingfishers and babblers with the help of  camp guide. Kafue also has a huge variety of wildlife. The antelopes that we saw were puku, impala, kudu, bushbuck, hartebeest, defassa waterbuck, sable, roan, lechwe, oribi and blue wildebeest. The predators that we saw on the Busanga Plains were lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and packs of wild dogs. We also saw elephants, herds of buffalos, zebras, many hippos and crocodiles basking in the sun on the grass and sandy shores. 

The focus of the trip to Treetops was to educate the children on the wildlife, and the natural resources. I taught not only about the natural resources and the wildlife but began each day with prayer and reading the Psalms in the Bible.

A huge Baobab tree is the central attraction at "Treetops" Camp which is not far from the Busanga Flood Plains. The camp helped the children from the Copperbelt during the dry season for ten days to help educate them about the wildlife in the Park, and to learn more about the book of Psalms. The camp had boys and girl’s dormitory, teachers huts, dining room, open air classroom, toilet facilities with a shower, and a kitchen with two refrigerators.