My official day started off early this morning by a call from the hospital that Margaret Williamson had taken a turn for the worse. By 8:30 this morning, she had died. Her family was all with her. It was a very sad time, but we all had an assurance that she was saved and ready to go.
Yesterday, Gene Yoder died. Both funerals will be this Friday.
Afterward I left the hospital I had a funeral to attend, but the day improved from there.
Sam and I took Pastor Frederick to one of the Lifeway bookstores in Columbus. Pastor Frederick is from Kenya. In Kenya, he pastors a church and leads a training center for new pastors. He ministers primarily among the Muslims in the rural part of the country. We had a great time today hearing about his ministry and his church. When we got to the bookstore, he was like a kid in a candy shop. We were able to get him a load of books. He was so appreciative and he told us how pastors from all over will travel to his house to read and study those books.
It was interesting to hear his heart for evangelism and how many of those he leads to Christ have to live as secret Christians for some time because their family will kill them for being a follower of Christ. He told us about people who sneak out of the city and come to his services to worship the true God without being discovered by their families or the Muslim leaders.
It was also very interesting to learn that while their church is very different from ours, many of the problems they face are exactly the same as the problems we face.
Pray for Pastor Frederick and his wife that they will be a blessing to us and we will be a blessing to them while they are here. They fly back home at the end of the month.
Services went well yesterday. It was nice to have the Ferguson family in our morning service and for the dedication of the prayer garden. I hear they all made it safely home.
Well, tomorrow, I get tubes in my ears for the second time in six months. I got them back in December to alleviate a problem that keeps me from flying. The doctor told me then that they would come out in six months to two years. Well they got me through a flight in December and another flight in February, but I discovered on a flight last month that something had gone wrong. A physician in the church used his otoscope Sunday night to confirm that the tubes were gone. So after calling half the ENT's in Ohio, I found one that would see me tomorrow and put more tubes back in. Pray that these will stay in a little longer. It's not a fun (or cheap) procedure.
I'm first place in my fantasy baseball league. It won't last, so I have to brag while I can. I know the only reason they asked me to play was so they would have an easy team to beat every few weeks. I know nothing about baseball. I couldn't even tell you the name of one of my players. But I do know a little about statistics :), and ultimately this is not a baseball game, it is a game of probability and statistics. So, I should more accurately say I'm winning the 'Fantasy Math Game.'
Well, it's bed time.
Noel
