WorldVenture Community

Bilingual Youth Group and prayer requests for upcoming Men of Honor camping trip

Johnson Updates — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:22:38 GMT

Last year a couple of my former Men of Honor students with several other Morrison students started a bilingual youth group. Of the 40 or 50 students that come about half are from Morrison and the rest are from Chinese schools. This year they are going through all the topics in Philippians 4:8. I will be tonight's speaker (via a translator) and will be focusing on "whatever is nobel and honorable--think about these things". We will be touching on integrity, amusement standards, gossip...(read more)

“No fever, so you can come in”

Johnson Updates — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:42:35 GMT

Today, Morrison hosted the SAT tests. Because of the threat from H1N1 virus, the Taiwan government requires us to take everyone’s temperature before coming on campus. As one of the school nurses, Beckie is one of the ones responsible to take temperatures. Anyone with a fever gets sent home and tested for the virus. Any class with two confirmed cases can’t come to school for a week. So far we haven’t needed to close any classes at Morrison in Taichung but our Bethany campus in Taipei has had 6th ...(read more)

October News

Our Prayer Update Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:43:49 GMT

MINISTRY UPDATES I don’t know about you, but October was a blur and I can’t believe it’s already November! We had a good month of ministry. Jason was able to travel to Northern Ireland and speak in about four churches up there. This is something he does about every second year. While he was away we had 76 people at church and, of those, about 20% were Irish! Mandy was able to have a multiple hour conversation with the mother of one of Emma’s friends from school at our house - nearly the whole conversation...(read more)

Our Dinner “Family”

Johnson Updates — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:26:23 GMT

Every Wednesday, we enjoy adding Morrison’s kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers to our family for dinner. It is a tradition we have enjoyed for years. This week was Peggy’s birthday. Beckie made a German chocolate cake which Peggy said was her mom’s favorite dessert. Growing up in Chile though, they didn’t have the ingredients to make it so this was a first for Peggy. She liked it!...(read more)

Safely in Denver

janmreimer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:47:00 GMT

We are finally in Denver. We are actually two days later than we had anticipated because of the snow storm that hit this part of the country. We are now parked in a nice park and settled in. We had no trouble driving on the roads to Denver but we did have a bit of time getting into our RV spot. The ground was pretty soft as all the snow was melting.

We were able to have a late lunch with Kara and Nick. We spent a few hours catching up and just enjoying being together again. kent and I went home early and he went to bed at 8:30pm. That is even early for him but the time change to Mountain time as well as daylight savings time change and then the driving the past two days. I guess he just got tired out.

The weather has turned very nice again so we are glad for that.

Jan for the Roving Reimers
(now settled for awhile)

HOULETTE HAPPENINGS 11 3 2009

Houlette — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:50:00 GMT

HOULETTEHAPPENINGS Greetings! Beautiful brown, orange and yellow leaves continue to fall off the trees here in Wenham, and it has been a pleasant 60 degrees for a few days. We have been very busy in October. Eriko continues with her four classes and work and John has begun a Bible study and is mentoring two new students. MISSIONS UPDATE The Global Positioning Summit was a great success 10/26-29 with 14 mission representatives attending. Many students were challenged about going out to serve the Lord. Please pray for Steve and Angela, trip leaders for our missions trip to Memphis in March. We have our first planning meeting this Friday. During the above conference, I met two people interested in leading a team to Japan this summer, so pray that we could develop the most effective plan for kingdom ministry there. Pray for leaders for the team. It looks as though we will have 15-20 people going to Urbana. Joshua, the resident advisor for our Gedney hall, is leading this. I will be the staff advisor. GROWING LEADERS In addition to Joshua and Emma, my resident advisors here at Gedney, I am also mentoring Nathan and Mark in the Partners for the Journey program, and leading a Bible study with Connie from the Virgin Islands and Lucky from Nigeria on the book of Nehemiah. FOLLOW UP While I was in Japan, I had a great talk with Mrs. Sawasaki, baptized last month, and she is thankful to the Lord for her salvation. I talked to Mr. Takahashi once more before I left Japan, and he is sure of his decision. Pray for their continued growth. THE FAMILY THAT STUDIES TOGETHER....... Please continue to pray for Eriko. She is very busy with her studies. Pray for her stamina. Jeweliann is working on college applications. Jasmine is working hard on her grad. school classes and Christine is enjoying her classes as well. Yutaka is growing in his teaching skills. We will see him over thanksgiving. John finished his first project last week, and starts reading for the next class this week. He travels to chilly St. Paul, MN 1/25-29 for his second class at Bethel. CONFERENCES AND CHURCH VISITS John will be at the Northeast CBA Super Cluster 11/7 in Middleboro, MA and Calvary Baptist Church, Ukiah, CA 11/22. WEB UPDATE I have uploaded some recent shots of our student ministry on the houlettesinjapan web site below. Click on College Ministry. Thanks for your prayers for us! Blessings, John and Eriko Networking people with missional opportunities

My geometry students and  a request for a youth group presentation.

Johnson Updates — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:59 GMT

I’m really enjoying the students that God has given me this year for geometry. They are a wonderful bunch. Everyone of them is hard working and conscientious. I can’t say that about all of my classes over the years. It’s a great treat this year. (I’ll post about the Men of Honor class once I get a picture of them.) I just finished spending 2 days presenting in the relationships Bible class. My hope is that the students will be better equipped for life knowing that God has created us male and female...(read more)

November Prayer Calendar

Come journey with us! — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:08:02 GMT

"Early church believers felt so passionate about the need to evangelize that they were willing to die trying. Today many of us see things differently. Evangelism is not only no longer worth dying for; it's hardly worth stressing a relationship Read More......(read more)

My Birthday

janmreimer — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:55:00 GMT

That is right! Today is my birthday...now no, I am not going to tell you exactly what year. But I am so grateful that God has given me another year of life.

We awoke to almost no snow and drier roads. So we got ready and left as quickly as possible. We had a beautiful day to drive. Blue skies and dry roads to drive on. We drove along countryside that was so pretty with the snow covered fields.

We saw lots of cattle in the fields as we passed mostly pastureland today.

We also passed the traditional windmills Like in this picture.

This is the kind that is used to give water to the cattle in the fields. In case you have seen these and don’t know what they are used for.

We drove about 200 miles mostly south along another “red road” and then about 100 miles west on a highway.

We passed by a lot of dirt roads and were very glad not to be on them with snow and the mud all over them.

We got set up at a camp site that is not closed but we are the only customer...Hah! It is close to the highway and therefore easy to leave in the morning.

We so appreciate not only the old...but the New...as in the cell towers. They allow us to call and receive calls from family and friends.

We want to make it to Denver tomorrow. We will celebrate my birthday with our daughter Kara and her husband sometime tomorrow.

Tonight I didn’t feel like cooking and so we went to a local restaurant. I had a delicious chicken dinner. They even gave us a chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert for free. Kent had mentioned that it was my birthday. We actually were able to walk to the restaurant about 1/4 of a mile as we had sat all day and wanted a little exercise.

We got back to our house and our son called to wish me Happy Birthday. That was so sweet. Now I am watching a favorite movie that I own that it a feel good type movie. Nice way to end the day.

Have a great day!

Jan for the still Roving Reimers

Waking up with snow in October in Nebraska

janmreimer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:12:00 GMT

Yes, we are still in North Central Nebraska and did indeed wake up to several inches of snow. We knew a storm was coming into the area and decided we would sleep and see what it looked like in the morning. Well, needless to say we knew we were not going to travel down the road in snow.

So we hunkered down for another day here in this very comfortable park. We had no problem with our water lines as it was just above freezing. We were grateful for the good temps and had plenty of ways to stay warm with full 50 amp electric hookup. We are doing very well and nice and cozy.

We decided to go to a local laundromat because we needed to get some laundry done and I wanted to wash sheets and towels which hadn’t been done in a week. So that is now done. The snow has stopped and the temperature has gone up and so everything is melting and we hope to be “on the road” tomorrow morning going to Denver. They got even more snow in Denver but we only had about 4 inches.

I thought you’d enjoy seeing some pictures of us in the snow. I took some pictures of us in the park the day before the snow and then Kent got some this morning while it was snowing. Enjoy!

Also I have included a picture of our friends that have ended up having us around twice as long as they had expected. We are enjoying getting to know each other even better. They took us to this local mexican restaurant. It was delicious food.

Jan for the Roving Reimers

Little girls, Dads, and Tears

Helovesyou — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:18:00 GMT

Mouth hanging open, young Annie listened intently. Could the people in Africa really be like that? In her little eight year old mind, African people were “uncivilized”; they had bones in their noses and wore very little clothing. What she was hearing amazed her! Sitting on the floor with twenty-thirty other elementary students, Annie’s excitement grew as she discovered more about the children and people in Uganda – real children, similar to herself. Throughout the four weeks that Teah shared, Annie learned about Ugandan customs, religions, and traditions. She loved the games, Ugandan tea, and pictures of the people there. During this time, she, along with the other students, had been practicing “Asante Sana Yesu” (Thank You Jesus in Swahili) for their church’s upcoming mission’s conference.

Fast forward to two weeks after the mission’s conference, Annie’s dad is sitting across the table from Teah at a missions meeting. Annie’s dad leans over and says that Annie had a great time during the kid’s mission’s time at his church. He says that at the end of the program Annie cried all the way home. She had had so much fun and didn’t want it to end!

This is a true story! During the month of September, I got to volunteer at one of my supporting churches in helping prepare their kids for their mission’s conference and teaching them about missions and ways they can be involved. Annie, along with the other children, stole my heart. They were so eager to learn about the people in Uganda. It was a pleasure to share about what life is like there. Annie’s story touched my heart because this is what missions is really all about. Missions is not about speaking well, talking to large groups of people, or motivating people to give extravagant amounts of money; it’s about speaking to open hearts like Annie’s. It’s about proclaiming the need to share the Gospel to all people – here and there! It’s about placing a passion in others hearts to join the work that God has already started in proclaiming His name to the ends of the earth. This young girl, Annie, cried because she thought this was the end of mission and learning about Uganda. Fortunately for her it’s just the beginning!

You can be involved in Teah’s ministry to the children and people of Uganda. Check out the green link, “make a commitment” above.

Fall harvestime in Nebraska

janmreimer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:01:00 GMT

We drove yesterday to North Western, Nebraska. We had such pretty fall weather. We drove through lots of fields of corn, soybeans and cattle and hog farms again but it was such a pretty day it made it so nice.

We also passed by a windmill “farm”. It was many windmills together. Now not the old quant type of windmill but the modern ones that produces electricity. I got a few pictures for you t o see what this looks like if you never have seen it.

We are on a “red road.” You know, the ones on the map that are not the super highways. So we went through lots of small towns and farmland. We feel that you get to see the real America by traveling the red roads. BUT we do have to be careful that other semi trucks also travel these roads so we wouldn’t have any problems with heights etc.

We are in a medium sized town compared to many that we have traveled through. This one is about 4,000 people. Most towns we have gone through were a few hundred to 1,500. So this one is a bit bigger.

Our friends and supporters here we’ve known for a long time. Kent went to church and youth group with Don and his wife we met over 33 years ago in our first year of marriage. We had Christmas together in New Jersey. Good memories! Don remembers that Kent used to beat him up. Hah I didn’t know that about Kent. New revelations when you are with people that knew you a long time. We have also known Don’s parents for years and Kent of course knows Don’s brothers and sisters.

We got a call from our daughter in Denver. Apparently today Denver is getting a LOT of snow. She even had a snow day today. They were predicting 12-24” of snow..SO we have changed our plans too. We will stay put where we are and let the roads get completely cleared before we head out. We do not want to drive this big rig in the snow!!!!

We are parked in a town park where they also have RV hookups with electric and water. Then a dump station for emptying tanks on the way out. We can stay here completely free for 3 nights. If you want to stay longer it is only $10 a night. Pretty nice and a real blessing for us. So we are here till things settle down weather wise in Denver.

Here are a few pictures of our travels. Nebraska is a very beautiful state and especially at Harvest time. Lots of these pictures were captured with a stop action setting so they are sometimes a little blurry. Please bear with me.

Jan for the Roving Reimers

Obituary

The Penner Place — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:11:11 GMT

Augusta "Gussie" Marie (Thiessen) Baum, 81, passed away peacefully with her children by her bedside at the Kansas City Hospice House on October 28, 2009, in Kansas City Mo. She was born in Buhler, Kansas, on December 3, 1927. While she worked as a pediatric nurse at Children's Mercy Hospital she attended Kansas City Bible College. She graduated in 1952 and went to the Philippines as a pediatric nurse with the International Christian Leprosy Mission. She was married in 1955 and joined...(read more)

WorldVenture's Fall Leadership Luncheon

un californien à paris — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:04:15 GMT

We are in the final stages of preparation for WorldVenture's Fall Leadership Luncheon featuring Denver Seminary's new president, Dr. Mark Young. To get an idea of my role in all this, click on this link: Leadership Luncheon Intro....(read more)

Driving through fall foliage in Iowa

janmreimer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:01:00 GMT

We left Kansas City, Missouri last Thursday and drove through a hard rain storm most of the day. I was so glad to get off the road in Des Moines. We did get set up before more rain came. Then Friday we continued driving to East Central Iowa to a Community Bible Church.

We had been invited to come by some friends of ours. We met Andy and Connie while on our anniversary trip to Israel several years ago. We have kept in touch with them as Connie has had a rare cancer and thankfully has recovered and is doing great. We were able to meet two of their 7 children. Some of their older children are married and one is a missionary in India. We had a good visit with them.

Their church was exceptional. We felt such a thirst for sharing the gospel authentically. Also it was such an alive church and a mixture of ages and music. We so enjoyed ourselves there.

Saturday we had a day that had no commitments during the day. It was a beautiful weather wise day and so we went to a park nearby. We got to walk through the crisp leaves and see the river view and just enjoy the fall weather.

We left there today and drove through much farmland on our way west. It is mostly corn and soybean farms. Also cattle as well as pig farms. Kent and I always enjoy seeing the pretty countryside especially when it is so pretty as today.

We are in Sac City, Iowa tonight. We got settled into the town park and then took a 1 mile walk to the local grocery store. It was good to walk after sitting all day long. Here is our view out our back window tonight.

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather wherever you are!

Jan for the Roving Reimers

Our “Ministry Account"

gshogren — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:04:00 GMT

We’re still raising money so that our “Ministry Account” will be replenished. Please pray and consider whether you would like to make a donation. Go to http://worldventure.com/Missionaries/Missionary-Directory/Missionary/Shogren_Gary_Karen.html and click on Make a Donation or Make a Commitment. This is the time when one-time gifts will go a long way.

Gary's New Theology Blog

gshogren — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:01:00 GMT

Check out Gary’s new blog on theology etc. at http://justinofnablus.wordpress.com/

Shogrens' October Newsletter

gshogren — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:57:00 GMT

God bless you all, particularly those who support us and have returned us safely to Costa Rica! We left so quickly that we didn’t get a chance to personally thank all of you, but please know how much you’ve blessed us.That’s right, since our June letter, we reached 100% of our support need. We heard the news on the afternoon of Sunday Aug 23, that Sovereign Grace Fellowship in New Hampshire had put us over top. That evening we dashed over to our home church in Quakertown, PA for a brief commissioning service, and the following Friday Gary and Vikky flew to CR to be there in time for their fall semesters! Karen followed two weeks later. Congrats to Sovereign Grace, for winning the piñata “Cienporciento” (Spanish for “One-hundred-percent”), filled with candy! So, Gary is back teaching at ESEPA, in (slightly rusty) Spanish; this term he has New Testament Backgrounds and (with lots of Greek) General Epistles. Vikky is in her senior year at Sojourn Academy down the street from us. Karen is putting the house back in order after nearly 2 years of absence.

FAMILY NEWS:

Ben has asked his girlfriend Stephanie Jennings to marry him...and she said yes! They are both students in the Templeton Honors Program at Eastern University, and plan to be married in two years when Ben graduates. All the Lord’s blessings, Ben and Stephanie!

ALSO Steve and Sara have just moved to Pennsylvania! Sara just got a new job at the Boeing plant, about a half-hour from the rest of the family, working on the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter!

Check out Gary’s new blog on theology etc. at http://justinofnablus.wordpress.com/

To learn more about us: http://worldventure.com/Missionaries/Missionary-Directory/Missionary/Shogren_Gary_Karen.html

Please Pray for the Shogrens

Þ PRAISE GOD for sending us back to Costa Rica!Þ PRAY for ESEPA’s financial needsÞ PRAY for us to be safe in Costa Rica. Our home was robbed in July, and we face street crime every time we walk out the door

Kansas City

janmreimer — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:22:00 GMT

Kent and I are back in Kansas City, Missouri. We had a great time at the rally in Kansas and Kent learned a lot. Our friends Phil and Mimi came but Mimi was sick most of the time. We still managed to get in some visiting though. The weather turned winter-like with cold, rainy days. But I still enjoyed touring the other women’s RV houses and seeing what they do to make them home like. We did have a nice day to drive to Kansas City.

We got into KC on Saturday went to church on Sunday and spent the day with some dear friends Phil and Carol. Sunday I started coughing and feeling worse so Monday and Tuesday I spent most of it in bed. Just a bad cold but enough to not want to visit. So Wednesday and Thursday I washed clothes and disinfected my house. Since then we have been on a made race to get to see everyone we want to while here. We have had great visits with special friends and I have had some good talks with my girlfriends. That I have missed more than anything in this lifestyle. So I am gathering all the fun memories I can while here. We leave tomorrow, Thursday and drive north into colder temperatures. We do hope we can stay out of snow especially for the driving part.

I will include some pictures of our friends. Enjoy!

Jan for the Roving Reimers

Pat and Loree and family

Good Friends, Carol and Phil and Dallas and Kaye eating Chinese

Alma and Cindy and I eating at a wonderful restaurant

Karen and I saying goodbye

Waiting to Go

Come journey with us! — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:19:02 GMT

Waiting to Go from Charlie McDavid on Vimeo . RSS readers can find video by clicking here. Read More......(read more)

Today begins a new phase

Come journey with us! — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:23:05 GMT

Since I stepped down from my student ministry position I have worked part time jobs over the last year and a half. Last summer we began to intentionally focus on raising support as we followed God's call to minister to North Africans in Spain. But Read More......(read more)

Ending well

The Penner Place — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:52:08 GMT

Meanwhile, Mary Esther is in Kansas City having some last days with her Mom. She lived a full life and is ready to meet Jesus. We are especially thankful for some precious interactions that Mary Esther will be able to carry with her into her days of mourning. Do be praying for us, though, as it is still a painful loss....(read more)

In Dallas

The Penner Place — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:50:54 GMT

Mark is in Dallas for the next three weeks, along with three Japanese Deaf people from ViBi. With us are Deaf translators from Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Finland, and the U.S. First is BT2009, a major Bible Translation conference, which runs from Friday night until Tuesday. Saturday was pretty intense. Mark was the only JSL interpreter for back-to-back workshop and general sessions all day. Today (Sunday) was a bit of a break, but Monday and Tuesday will be non-stop again, so pray for clarity...(read more)

HOULETTE HAPPENINGS 10 14 2009

Houlette — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:01:00 GMT

HOULETTEHAPPENINGS Greetings from Japan! I arrived in Japan on Tuesday, after a great weekend at Calvary Community Church in Rohnert Park, CA. Jet lag was easy, and I have spent each day meeting with missionaries, pastors and believers at Nishitama Baptist and Saikyo Hope Chapel. Tomorrow I am at Denen Grace Chapel. Please pray for me as I share a message at our Day of Business on Monday. Lost and Found I began today with a nice run, and then met Alex Hoad, our mid-term missionary at 10:30 to head to Toda Koen and Saikyo Hope Chapel for our Barnabas Kai Men’s Bible Study. We bought box lunches at a local supermarket, and as I was leaving the checkout stand, I found 2000 yen on the floor, which I gave it to the lady at the counter. At Saikyo we had a great time catching up with Mr. Akiyama and Mr. Saito. We were able to open the Word together revisiting all that Jesus has done for us including taking on humanity so that He would be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. After lunch and Bible study, we decided to visit Mr. Takahashi as he could not come. He had been sick so we just planned to greet him at his door and go home, but he welcomed us warmly into his home. It turned out that he was not sick, but suffering from stress. He has been diagnosed with prostrate cancer and if it spreads takes 5-6 years to do so. His wife has Alzheimer's. He feels pain but when he went to the doctor, they did not find anything. The doctor told him it must be stress, as he is overwhelmed with worry about his cancer and care for his wife. We talked about this, and I encouraged him to give his fears, worries and stress to Jesus, who promises to worry for him. Upon until now, Mr. Takahashi has expressed an intellectual knowledge of the Bible which he has read voraciously, but always said that he was not ready to accept Jesus as his Savior. Today was different. He was happy that I was visiting. We have known each other over ten years from the time we interpreted together for junior high students from Australia who were visiting Toda. He has been studying the Bible with me for many of those years. I asked him directly if he would like to accept Jesus as his Savior. He looked intently at me almost ignoring Mr. Akiyama and Mr. Saito as I explained what he needed to do. He said yes, he wanted to believe, and I led him in a prayer. He was glad to finally accept the Lord. Please pray for Mr. Takahashi that he would experience the peace and rest for his soul that only Jesus can give. I was able to visit him the Friday before I left Japan. He did remember his decision and wants to return to the Barnabas kai. Mrs. Sawasaki, Eriko’s English student and Christine’s voice teacher was baptized in the Tama River on 9/25! I was able to talk with her on the phone. Oh, on the way home from Mr. Takahashi's I went to an ATM machine and as the lady in front of me left, I approached the machine. She had left her card in it, and I had to yell to her as she headed toward the entrance of the train station, she heard me and retrieved her credit card. It was truly a day with many reminders of the joy of lost things and people being found! Blessings, John and Eriko

A brief trip to the homeland

Serving Third-Culture Kids in Germany — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:59:11 GMT

In September Jonathan and I took a 3 week trip to Colorado to visit my family. They have been wanting to see Jonathan again for so long. Since Christmas fares are a bit pricy, I decided to take the trip alone and go in the fall. Let’s just say that traveling alone with a [...]...(read more)