Gary and Diane on their way to Latin America!

Honduras bound, Gary and Diane took off this morning!  Please remember to pray for their work there, the reach of their ministry, the persistence of the trainees and those that they will reach!

Preparing for Honduras

We wanted to give you a short update on our ministry as we jump back in after a bit of a summer break.  And invite your prayers as we prepare for another exciting trip.

Early Wednesday Gary and I will be making another trip to Honduras. This is the second phase of training for the Train and Multiply Program. In the time since the first training class, the volunteers have been working hard in their local prisons to start new churches inside the prison walls. The dedicated volunteers are from cities located all around the country of Honduras - Comayagua, LaPaz, Marcala and LaCeiba. The plan for this trip includes visiting some of these prisons.

This phase of training will be held on Saturday and Sunday since the volunteers must work during the week. The dates of the training are September 27 & 28. 

Please pray for safe travels for us and for Dollys Gallinda, the trainer coming from Columbia representing Prison Fellowship International. But most importantly, please pray that the Lord will be present during the training so that His name will be glorified among those who have yet to know him. Please pray for our host family, the Reyes'. They have been working in the prisons in Honduras for many years and now are honored to watch as their son Herasmo takes over leadership of this program that we are partnering in. 

We thank you for your prayers. We are so grateful that The Lord has called us to serve in this way.   Blessings,Gary and Diane.  

How it looks from the middlest...

No story about how Gary and Diane answered the call to missions would be complete without the view from the middle, or the middlest as our family referred to her birth position.  She saw a lot of facial expressions that the rest of us missed.  And more fear and heartbreak.

I remember when Dad started with Kairos.  None of us knew much about it including Mom.  Her reaction was pretty funny when she learned how many cookies she had to make.  But we had fun helping bake that first year. We heard Dad’s stories after the weekend and there were some good stories. But those stories did not touch my firsthand experience seeing transformation during the closing ceremony. Seeing all the guys there and how important my Dad had become to them and them to him was overwhelming.  Dad was looking for them, standing up and craning his neck and they were doing the same as they got settled in this big room.  And then at the end, seeing the love and respect with these men was really moving.  He told us stories of passing out cookies to the cell blocks and them chanting his name. They developed lasting relationships. The same thing happened to Mom when she spent the weekend in the kitchen for Kairos. 

Then the two of them started talking about missions work after retirement.  I have to say that I was leery about their plans out of selfishness.  I wanted them to be around and we saw them so often it would leave such a hole. I remember the weekend before they found out where OMS would send them.  Dad showed me a video of Columbia and the prison and how God was working there. I just got tears in my eyes because I could so clearly see at that moment the providence of God and how he had been working all these thing together. I said, “Dad I know you are going to Columbia.” 

God worked on the selfishness in me too. In January as I was going through cancer treatment, against all odds, God enabled Mom and Dad to be here for my surgery. They left for Costa Rica for language school a few days after. Somehow we all were ok talking on Skype and messaging on Facebook. 

Sometimes we can't see from our perspective what is going on but when we look back God does amazing work.  He is continuing to do that for Mom and Dad and all of us. 

Yes! We're awake! And we're BACK!

Happy end of summer to all of you!

We've been relatively quiet for the last month and a half since my dad's return from Columbia.  Diane and Gary have been enjoying family gatherings and picnics and the national parks of this amazing country, as well as getting accustomed to this long term thing called retirement. And as their blog coordinator, things have finally calmed down for me enough to get back to prodding them to give me material to update all of you!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share my perspective on their journey.  Carrie, my youngest sister, shared a little bit about the beginnings of the transformation in both my mom and dad as they began serving in the prison ministry.  I knew something was different.  All along I knew that he was changing but until I saw it in person at the first closing ceremony for KAIROS, I didn't know just how much.  When the men came into the room, my dad was craning his neck to see his guy.  When they each gave a few words to tell what the weekend had meant to them, my dad was getting choked up.  And when the ceremony was over he had zero hesitation about introducing this man to my mom and me.  Zero.  I saw my Dad being a dad to a bunch of men - many who had never known the love of an earthly father.  That was real change.  And I couldn't have been more proud of him.

SO, when he began telling us that he was earnestly contacting organizations that specialized in retirement missionary service, I wasn't surprised.  Seems the softening of my dad's heart was real and had taken a deep hold.  And I had seen that same thing in the life of my husband, so I knew the deep and pervasive power that God could have on a life.  And I was practically giddy getting to watch this happen in my mom and dad.  REALLY!  Who gets to say that in their life!!!  What a privilege!

I watched them go through training that was hard for both of them.  But I have to say that since those days of watching my dad change, the most dramatic changes since then have been inside of the two of them and in their relationship to each other.   SO if any of you think God is done growing you - THINK AGAIN!

My mom never believed she was smart - which is ridiculous.  She spent over 30 years as a great dental hygienist, learning all manner of process, science and eventually information systems along the way.  So going back into the classrooms was hard for her.  And she has NEVER embraced changed very well.  But this was different.  I got to see my mom be challenged and exceed her own expectations.  And I got to see her thrive in their ministry as she connected to others with her smile and her welcoming spirit.  She is finding a stride that she didn't know she had.  And my dad?  Well, our struggles with flaws have always been painfully similar.  Dad is in his element coordinating and organizing and he connects well to others - which was made him an exceptional technical salesperson and rare in his field.  But his growth has come from ceding to God's plan and timeline and methodology.  He is learning patience and faith and trust in ways I bet he didn't think possible.  So proud of them both - because this is hard stuff.

As they have served together - whether it was in the mountains of Oaxaca or the language school in Costa Rica or in their separation during my dad's last journey to Columbia - they have grown personally together.   These two people who have known each other all of their lives but 15 measly years at their beginnings are changing every day.  They are learning to communicate better, support each other unselfishly, and love each other  more than ever.  Love is patient, love is kind, love is not easily angered.  Those are tall orders without Jesus and even taller when it comes to our closest partners who see our very worst.  But Jesus is teaching these "old dogs" new tricks.  Most of you have known Diane and Gary for a good while.  They will always be like thunder and lightening at times but something has changed and that has been that their marriage and their partnership is honoring God more than ever.

So as they prepare for their next big trip at the end of September, I am asking you to please be praying for their marriage, their health, and whether you can contribute prayerfully and/or financially to the work they are doing to spread the gospel of Jesus to all the nations.  We can't all go - but we can all send.

Missing You! - from Diane

I've been thinking during my time alone this last week with Gary being gone in Columbia. This is the first time we have been apart for this long since I retired (and even quite awhile before that!) It has been much harder than  I ever thought. When the girls were teenagers Gary traveled all the time. We didnt like it but we were used to it. But it is different now. I have just recently gotten used to spending every day with him. So when he is not here its very lonely. I thought the hardest thing about our calling would be the travel. I NEVER thought that a really hard part would be when I needed to stay home! But I will say one thing. It has made me appreciate him so much more! We can only message each other on facebook and email - thank you God for those tools! We could skype but I am not that tech savvy. But I can tell you before the next solo trip I will learn to skype!   I have decided that it is harder to stay home than it is to travel and be with him. The Lord has taught me not to take my husband for granted. We all need to learn that lesson when it comes to our families. Maybe this was necessary for me to get the mesage!

Family Support - Diane writes!!!!

Since I read Carrie's blog post I have felt motivated to write the story of how all three of our wonderful daughters have encouraged us on this journey. You will quickly see that the writing talent in this family did not come from me, but here goes.....

As Carrie referred to in her story, The Lord brought me along on this journey just slightly behind Gary. I thought prison ministry was Gary's calling and that was fine with me. But when he came home and told me we needed 120 dozen cookies for the four day event, I was NOT fine with that. I remember talking to Carrie and she said she would pray for me, that God would change my heart. And He did, but not all at once. Then Emily said, "We can do this at my house. The kids will help and my friends will come and we will get it done!" And Dena had friends from church baking cookies and she delivered them. All the while the girls were helping and praying for a change of my heart. And God answered their prayers.

Then there were posters  and place mats that we also needed for the four day events. That was also a family project. All the grand kids worked on them and even our daughters! Carrie even had her Sunday school class from Indiana do some and sent them to us in the mail. This is all just to explain the support we got from the very beginning.

Now that we are doing what God has so clearly called us to do, we are still getting the great support that we got in the beginning. Before we left for language school Emily had her breast cancer surgery. Thankfully the Lord allowed me to be there for it, but we had to leave the day she came home from the hospital. To ease my worry about who would help Emily and because they love each other, Dena and Carrie each came for many days to be there for Emily. Even though Emily would have rather had me stay home, she still encouraged me to go saying that she would be fine. Always the encourager.

When we were first trying to begin to tell our story of how God brought us to this place of serving Him, the girls all encouraged us to practice telling our story in front of all of them and their husbands. It helped us so much to share our story with them first.  Dena even had a gathering of friends at her house so we could tell them our story. And I must not forget that Dena watches our dog when we leave the country AND takes us to the airport.

So these are just a few instances ( and I am sure I missed some) of the many ways our daughters have supported us. We feel so blessed that our whole family - son-in-laws, grandchildren and everyone is praying for us and supporting us in many, many ways . We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

So how DID they get there? - Part 1

Because Gary and Diane have been telling the story of how God "maneuvered" them into ministry, we thought it might be a fun to tell you how WE, their daughters saw it all happen.  This first installment is from the youngest sister, Carrie.  Carrie and her husband Dan and their two girls, Emma and Hope, live in the great and flat state of Indiana.  Even though they live the furthest away, their consistent trips home to Ohio have afforded all of them a front row seat to what our parents have been doing.

Part One - Carrie

Imagine a 50 foot RV cruising across the country piloted by two retirees. Familiar maybe. Carving out an adventure side by side as they’d lived the ‘daily grind’. That was Gary and Diane’s five year plan probably about five years before retirement.

When the RV purchase came to fruition the intials “EVG” in the license plate seemed to foretell to them that maybe God would give them a purpose (EVanGelism) in their travels. Chance roadside encounters, maybe? Yet God was beginning to prepare a whole new horizon for them. Their speculation and thereby their openness to a newly prepared dream found their way more and more into Gary and Diane’s own dreams of how retirement might look.

This began in probably the most diametrically opposed place to the “open road”. Prison outreach. Gary began working with Crossroads Ministries which gave Bible lessons to inmates and offered personal written feedback. This limited commitment expanded as Gary came to know one of his customer’s involvement in Kairos Ministries. Kairos offers inmates personal connection to the gospel as well, but it is through special intensive weekend visits centered on speaking the message of Christ’s redemption into inmates’ lives with weekly prayer meeting follow-ups.  Gary soon became involved in the training for such an event. Little did he know that this would also envelope Diane’s involvement in one element--the cookie ministry. Each of Kairos’ outside attendees is expected to bring 120 dozen cookies. “Perhaps, I've misunderstood,” Gary told Diane. But, alas, it was the expectation. What seemed overwhelming and burdensome at first--place mats, cookies with dimensions and rules, posters, prayer partners--became a ministry for Diane. Those, with whom she had usually spoken about her kids, grand kids and her dog, over the 2 years and 4 weekend visitations became familiar with the cookie ministry, which expanded to serving in the kitchen one weekend, and Gary’s Thursday prayer circle.

The truth “To whom much is given, much will be expected,” became more and more evident. Obedience showed more opportunities. A short term mission trip to Mexico revealed to Gary and Diane that they were both useful to God. Diane spent several 10-12 hour days cleaning teeth and showing God’s love through broken Spanish. “Escupo!” One of the settings was high in the mountains, but another was, by God’s providence in a prison. God does have His own bold print and italics, doesn't He?

            By this point, God had spoken into both of their lives. And, miracle of note to any of us who are blessed with marriage, they were on the same page, at the same time. They began searching for a missions organization for their post-retirement years. There weren’t many other possibilities that seemed viable until One Mission Society. It took some time for training and assignment to focus, but when it did, the same bold print and italics was evident. Gospel sharing in the context of Prison Ministry--in South and Central America.