(posted by Mindy)

The trip to the Wausau Youth Conference was a blessing.  We had a great time of fellowship with friends we don’t see often as well those we see on a more regular basis.  We were able to connect and talk with many people who have had a history with the Adventure Learning Centre over the years.  It was neat getting to hear their stories.

We would like to say a public thank you to Bill and Fayette Van Ryn for their hospitality.  We, along with Ian and Barb Taylor from Kenosha, WI, were guests in their home Friday and Saturday evening.  We visited and laughed together each evening after the conference.  Also, thank you to the Ledgisters for housing Zachary and Steve and Suzi Richetto for housing Logan.

At the Wausau Youth Conference at Bible Truth Chapel

Zachary with his best friend, Granton Ledgister, at the Wausau Youth Conference

Logan and his friends at the Wausau Youth Conference

Have you noticed how beautiful the leaves are this year?  As I look at them, I find myself trying to appreciate them more than usual because this may be the last fall we get to spend amongst the yellow, red, and orange foliage.  This happens to be my favorite time of year, and I have always said that I would never want to live where the trees did not change colors in the fall (in other words, I never wanted to live outside the Midwest).  I love my four seasons.  Needless to say, that is one thing I am going to have to relinquish if we end up in the Bahamas.  There is one season in the Bahamas, and that is “summer.”

Beautiful Fall Colors

A display of our Creator’s creativity!

View while walking down the road from our house to camp

More on the road down to camp

“About Us” tab

If you have visited this site before and had clicked on any of the tabs in the upper right corner of the page, you may have noticed that we had a note on the “About Us” tab that said “content coming soon.”  Well, soon has arrived.  We updated the content on that page, and you may read it if you so desire.  It is a brief synopsis of who we are, where we have come from, how God has directed our lives, and where we are headed.

Grandpa

We got a call from my mom last weekend saying that Grandpa has seemed to rally a bit.  They admitted him on Friday to the VA home where it looks like he will live out the remaining days of his life.  It is sad for me to think that he had to be put in there instead of getting to be at home, but it is just too much work for anyone to take care of him at home.   He has resigned himself to the fact that this is the way things are going to have to be.  I sure wish I could be there for him, but that is not realistic.

The calming before the storm

My nursing research class and Tim’s hermeneutics class drop off our schedules in a little over a week.  We are so excited that we each will have one less time consumer to deal with.  Zachary and Logan have only 2 weeks of soccer left, and they too will have one less responsibility.  Of course, as December approaches, so does more work in packing, sorting and purging.

One of the trailer loads of to-be-donated items

Speaking of purging, on Tuesday and Wednesday, we went through the garage and the house again and added to our pile of to-be-donated items.   On Wednesday, we took two trailers full of the earthly possessions to the garage sale our church mission team to Haiti is having this week.  It was not as hard to let those things go as I had anticipated.  Several wedding presents and the baby bedding that all four of our babies used were left at the sale amongst the other garage sale treasures, and I was no worse for the wear when we pulled away. The fact of the matter is, we cannot take those things with us, the Haiti mission team can use the money from the sale of those items, and those items can be used again by someone else (better than sending all those things to storage or a landfill).

Ministry transition update

Last Friday’s skype interview with Pastor Jackson, the pastor of Shepherd’s Staff Mission Facilitators, went very well.  We received word from our mission committee at church and our pastor that they have heard from Pastor Jackson and have given their approval to our ministry plans.  We are now waiting for Shepherd’s Staff to send us the email with the contract that we need to electronically sign, and when we receive it and sign it, we will be officially able to start raising support and accepting funds to help support our ministry in the Bahamas.

Two weeks from tomorrow is the ALC board meeting, and we are excited that we get to go to the Bahamas again to see our new friends and to meet the rest of the ALC board.   We leave La Crosse, WI on Tuesday, October 16^th and arrive in Nassau on Wednesday afternoon, October 17th.  (We have a 15 hour overnight layover in Atlanta on Tuesday and will be staying with our friends, the Underwoods.)  Besides the board meeting, our goal for this trip is to shop around for prices on items we will need to buy once we get there (vehicle, furniture, household items, etc).  We return to the states on Monday, October 22 and get to experience an eleven hour overnight layover in LaGuardia airport before arriving home via Minneapolis in La Crosse on Tuesday afternoon of the 23^rd.  Please pray for safety and for strength and stamina on the trips and for wisdom as we make preparations for what lies ahead for us as it relates to the Bahamas.

Have a great weekend!