Missions conference ll

Four down and two to go.

Wednesday evening was wonderful. After our tummies were full of bar b que and beans and wonderful potato salad plus desserts to die for, we gathered in the living room for the introductions. Tom is the committee chairman and he was the master of ceremonies. There were 31 of us. He asked us to tell our name, why we were there and our nickname. I think the funniest nickname was his wife, KimF. She loved to wear a sweatshirt of her mother's when KimF was in high school. When her mama wore it, it said 'Charlotte'. When Kim , who was smaller than mom, wore it, it said 'harlot' . A close second was Terry who said that his wife calls him ' Terwy' ( like Elmer Fund would say it). Lots of laughs.

Thursday. My day began when KimT picked me up at 10. We had loaned one of our cars to a missionary to drive while they were here. KimT and I met Barbara and Sandy at The Old Mill for lunch. Thursday is the busiest day in the kitchen because we don't have all the kinks worked out on where stuff should be served plus we are making as much as we can for the next day. The meal that night was ham, hash brown casserole, green beans, a roll and banana pudding. It was wonderful if I may say so. We heard from Darlene , who is serving in Japan, and Scott and Kathy, who are raising support to go to Mexico. Our main speaker , Dr Medeiros, is from Brazil. He gestures greatly and pounds the pulpit to get a point across. He spoke from Matthew 4. He exhorted us to be deliberate for Christ. He was very witty and I was sad when his time to speak was over.

Friday. The meal was Swedish meatballs over rice, marinated salad, a roll and three milk cake. mmmmm. We had door prizes this night. It is fun to see how much folks are paying attention to this conference and to those in the past. It was moving when the question was asked " Who has been on a short term mission trip?" About 100 folks stood up. Wow! Dr Medeiros spoke from Matthew 9. He charged us to pray, pay and participate.

This morning the ladies had a breakfast buffet. We were in a new setting and it was wonderful. The room we had was more intimate than in years past. I believe we had 69 ladies with us. The missionaries shared what God is doing in their lives. God was teaching them all about change and that HE is in control. One is striving to learn to let God carry her burdens, one has had to come off the field because of aging parents, one is wondering when they will have enough support to go on the field and one came off the field because she has a brain tumor. She said that she doesn't know if she has months or years to live. She is writing and getting in contact with all her friends and contacts because she doesn't want to leave this earth with unfinished business. I am still blown away by that.

We have a college and career supper tonight then SS and church tomorrow. I think I will go to bed tomorrow about 3 in the afternoon. I may wake up on Tuesday.