Tom Ledger, WLBC Mission report on Christmas

We have heard some initial good stories of people receiving the WHAT ARE CHRISTMAS AND EASTER ALL ABOUT? booklets.

A Fireman in Ohio, Juvenile Delinquent Chaplain in CA, Homeless & Youth in trouble in AZ to name a few. I have a few in the tire store as people wait to change tires for winter. Several copies went out on the airplane ride to a Hispanic grandfather and in the pocket in the chair pocket in front of me. Truck drivers get them when they deliver the books. CEF are using them for the “Release Time” after school for the children. “just to mention a few ways”

One dear friend is bagging them and throwing them from his Pickup truck onto lawns. He says they fly quite well and he is getting them right up on the porch most of the time.

GoodNews – BadNews.

In only 8 weeks, we have sent them all out. All 15,000 booklets. The Canadian office ran out and then we did here in Idaho. The books have been seen for a good deal and a fantastic way to share the Gospel. One gentleman called them little missionaries. He would say, “ I just sent out 5 missionaries today.” He meant that each book represented a means of sharing the Gospel with someone. Today, we just received the next order. This time we boosted up the count to 30,000 books.

We continue to receive suggestions for how to use them and get them to the people who need to know the Gospel. This morning I heard another suggestion that it needs to go to Pregnancy Centers.

One guy talked to his church one Sunday and told them it was in the back on a table and each person could take one home. But there is a catch. You have to give it away. Now of course, you can’t give away something that you don’t know what it says, so you have to read it first – then give it away. He just put into action the whole church body. They were sharing the message in their community in a tangible way.

Up north in Canada, they were able to distribute 1400 to a town. They said it went really well and quick. One part of the group had 5 cars and 7 teens and they were able to hand out or hang on the door knobs 500 in just over 1 ½ hours. The other group did something similar. They had preloaded each copy into a plastic bag with a handle hole in it.

Another way is to canvass an area is with a plastic bag with a door knob hole.

Go to www.ULINE.com and order clear plastic bags by the 1000.

Model # S-2176 ; size 6” x 12” ; 1.5 mil ;

$22/carton of 1000 plus S&H We paid...$31.16 Including S&H Comes to 3 cents apiece.

http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-2176C/Poly-Bags-Flat-Open/6-x-12-15-Mil-Clear-Doorknob-Bags?Model=S-2176C&RootChecked=yes

We then decided to make a bookmarker. 1 ½” by 8.5” My thought was to write on it,

“Discover the history and reason for Christmas”

A gift to you from: Bob and Sue or Church ABC

Suggestions:

You may want to say from what church you are. Church ABC

Other info? Location, Times of service/ Christmas service

Your Email address to receive comments.

Social events…Cantata, Play, Candlelight service, Manger scene, Coffee house to meet folks etc.

If you would like to learn more about the Bible, we offer an overview of the Bible study. Contact us at…

Just this morning, I received the attached suggested bookmarker. You may borrow thoughts and ideas from it.

Do you want to read more ideas?

http://www.goodseed.com/pdf/cne-how-to-use-the-book.pdf

Well folks, the imagination just goes on with possibilities. I pray that the Lord will guide you with the right way to proceed, by faith, to share the greatest and most important message this Christmas.

"equipping...the saints for the work of ministry"

Eph. 4:12,

Tom Leger GoodSeed Representative www.goodseed.com 208-665-2333 tomleger@goodseed.com PS I want to hear your ideas as well.

Hello to Croatia and the city of Zagreb from WLBC Missions

I was reviewing our blog today and came across an interesting statistic which reported that another country was viewing our blog more than our own. How curious! Within a 24hr period, our blog was visited 52 times by those within the USA.

However, the most visits came from the country of Croatia across the vast Atlantic ocean at 72 visits. Looking closer, the majority were coming from a city called Zagreb with 36 visits, with nearly a population of nearly 1 million at the latest count. With a total population of Croatia approaching 4.5 million, Zagreb is a really big city for 1 million. To put that in proper perspective, the population of our state of New Hampshire is only a little over 1 million- the whole state, never mind one city!

The city of Zagreb, in a country way across the globe was viewing our humble little blog, what a fabulous event! Croatia is a little smaller then West Virginia in the USA but with a much larger population, equal to that of Louisiana!

I just want to say thanks for visiting and we pray you enjoy the material. Feel free to write a comment or say hello to any post you like. It is truly a small world and we are happy to have everyone reading and exploring the truth found in the bible.

Grudda Mission Update 5, WLBC

The days since August have been a flurry of activity! Bill has traveled ten out of twelve weekends, visiting 18 supporting churches. We've also managed to celebrate our anniversary in Chicago, squeeze in a visit to Austin in Georgia, do an official college visit with Tanner in Pennsylvania, watch many of Luc's soccer games, and spend time with Brandon and Hannah. At times it's seemed a little hectic....but it has almost ALWAYS been fun!!

Anniversary

Those of you who have visited Chicago may recognize this! We spent a beautiful day in the city, segwaying, walking, and biking through the parks on the shore of Lake Michigan as we celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. It's a little hard to tell, but that's us standing in front of the "jelly bean" in Millenium Park!

Celebration

On Tanner's 16th birthday we drove to Pennsylvania for a college tour and visit. It's hard to believe it's already time for Tanner to be thinking about those decisions! Yikes!! Just a couple weeks later it was time for pumpkin-carving! Thanks to Aunt Nancy for some monster-size beauties! They were pretty impressive!

Georgia It was fun taking a trip to Georgia where we spent time with Austin and got to watch him play soccer. He's enjoying Emmanuel College. Click hereto check out their website. While down South, we also connected with some special supporters in Savannah, and with some friends we hadn't seen since in years.

Bethel College It's been enjoyable living close to Bethel College this Fall. Tanner is taking dual credit classes this semester and enjoys the challenge. Luc is an RA this year and continues to enjoy playing soccer for the college. To read a great article click here. Despite the hours and hours of traveling, Bill has enjoyed connecting with many of our supporting churches this Fall, giving updates on the work going on in West Africa. Our prayer is that many of you will sense the urgency of sharing the good news of Christ with those who haven't heard. We hope you will be challenged to become direct participants in missions yourselves. If we can help that happen, don't hesitate to ask!

Sincerely, Bill & Dianne

Grudda Mission Update 4, WLBC

We thoroughly enjoyed being a family of six again when we got to Mishawaka, Indiana in mid-July. That only lasted a short while though. Just over two weeks after arriving in the U.S. we had the extreme joy of becoming a family of seven as we welcomed a daughter into the family! A picture is worth a thousand words, so rather than try to describe Brandon and Hannah's wedding, we'll just let you enjoy the pictures below! Bill & Dianne

Grudda Mission Update 3, WLBC

TRAVEL!

When we returned to Dakar in July following three weeks with a Short-Term Medical Mission Team in Ivory Coast, we began packing, sorting, cleaning, and generally getting ready to leave for our 6-month Home Assignment in the States. The day before we were to leave, someone emailed us asking if they could sublet our house until they found their own place to live. We were happy to make it available to this missionary family since it gave them a place to live temporarily, AND it helped us in paying rent! What a great answer to prayer...one that, quite frankly, we thought wouldn't be answered! With all last-minute details taken care of, we were ready to take off for Europe on our way back to America. As we "played tourist" for several days in France and England, I was particularly struck by three things.... "the frustration of cultural differences," "passion," and "sacrifice."

Cultural Differences

As we drove (or more accurately, as Bill drove) through England, I was reminded of how frustrating cultural differences can be. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to have Bill chauffeur you in one of our vehicles in Africa, try to picture this.... We rented a VW in London and left the airport on the "wrong" (i.e. left) side of the road. The country roads we were zipping along near Canterbury were oh-so-narrow! On more than one occasion I put my foot on the "phantom break" on my side of the car as we came too close to the shoulder of the road or as we clipped a curb making a turn with the steering wheel that was on the "wrong" (i.e. right) side of the car. Fortunately, after a couple days, I didn't need to "use my break" as Bill got used to driving on the "wrong side of the road." Steering wheel and driving lane aside, we were still addled by what we viewed as incomprehensible the many road signs and map directions we tried to figure out. On numerous occasions, (after making many wrong turns) we found ourselves saying how "stupid" such-and-such was. After several similar statements came out of our mouths, it finally dawned on me that that's exactly what some of you who have done mission trips have thought about different things while in Africa. And to my chagrin, I have to admit that from time to time it has irritated me that some people haven't been able to accept the differences between the American way and the African way for what they are.... DIFFERENT!.... not "stupid" or "backwards" or "ridiculous" ... just DIFFERENT! So forgive me for being impatient when you've expressed your frustration over cultural differences. (I hope I hid it well enough that you never picked up on it!) Riding on the left side of the road, reading road signs that made no sense to me but perfect sense to those from Great Britain, was a good reminder to me to be patient in helping you see, appreciate, and accept cultural differences when you visit us in Africa.

Passion

Now for "passion." As most of you know, our boys have all played and loved soccer from an early age. While in England, we visited two football (in the world-wide meaning of the word) stadiums... Anfield, home to the Liverpool Football Club, and Emirates Stadium, home to the Gunners of Arsenal. It truly was fun to take a tour of Anfield, entering the team locker room, sitting in the very spot that post-game interviews are done with world-famous soccer players, walking into the stadium and sitting in seats that a multitude of fans have frequented for years while cheering on their idols! One of the most amazing things I witnessed there was a wedding and photos of the wedding party being taken in the team's on-site museum. I admit that it was quite stunning to see this beautiful couple amid all the glitter and glitz of the trophy rooms. But to plan your wedding at an old sports stadium??? Now THAT'S what I call PASSION for your team! In fact, I started to think, "These people are all crazy!" But you know, the more I thought about it, the less crazy it seemed. It reminded me of Michel's disdain of David dancing before the Lord, and his willingness to be taken for a fool to show honor to the God he loved. I have to admit that I was challenged to show more passion for the eternal things I believe in.

Sacrifice

Last, but by no means least, my thoughts turned to "sacrifice" again and again as we toured many World War II sites and museums of Normandy. Viewing the beaches where Allied forces met what appeared to be insurmountable odds was unbelievable. Walking through the American Military Cemetery was at the same time sobering and inspiring. When Allied Forces stormed the beaches on June 6, 1944, they knew the cost in lives would be obscenely high. Yet, they did so because they believed what they were doing was for a greater good - freedom from tyranny and oppression.

On a different level, the sacrifice God made to release us from the tyranny and oppression of sin was even more obscene. He allowed his perfect Son to take all our punishment. And what's amazing is that Jesus did so willingly! The words of the old hymn come to my mind.... "Amazing love, how can it be? That Thou, my God shouldst die for me!"

I know I told you I'd keep these "catch-up emails" short. Sorry I wasn't able to do that with this one. Thanks for working your way through it all! You can probably tell that we had a great time on our travels back to the U.S. We're grateful God allowed us such a great opportunity!

Be watching your Inbox for the next "catch-up email" - Wedding!

Dianne

Grudda Mission Update 2, WLBC

Within a few days of Austin's graduation from Dakar Academy, we headed for Bamako, Mali where we welcomed a team of five young women, and WorldVenture's Director of Recruitment and Mission Coach, Jim Copeland. Wanting to jump right into ministry, we all piled into our Land Cruiser a day later, and started the long drive to Torogo, Ivory Coast

This group was so much fun to work with. There was more than one occasion during the three weeks they were with us that we laughed so hard we cried!! And what a diverse group ....from Alabama to New York to Pennsylvania to West Virginia ....recently-graduated nurse, cardiac-care nurse, nursing students, pre-med student ....quiet, loud, funny, introspective...

One of the best things about spending time with these girls was observing their enthusiasm, not only for medicine, but also for reaching others with the message of Jesus. While most of them didn't speak the national language fluently, they still were able to communicate the Gospel just by BEING Jesus' love to those who needed a touch from The Great Physician. It was particularly exciting to hear them talk about the likelihood of returning to the field to do medical missions again, possibly even long-term. Please pray for them as they continue to seek the Lord's guidance and make life-decisions about how to best serve Him.

Thank you for being an integral part of our ministry with short- and mid-term missionaries through your prayer and financial support. We are very cognizant of the fact that we could not be on the field without you behind us!

Sincerely, Bill & Dianne Grudda