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posted by Michael on 01/13/09

While Life FOCUS XVI green team was in Oklahoma we really enjoyed the wildlife. One evening, when a small scorpion crawled over Logistics Chief M. Wilkes’ hand, he decided to capture it and take it back to Indiana with us where we would reunite with Assistant Director J. Wilkes and blue team. But while he was off for a container, Team Leader M. Staddon, unaware of his intentions, killed it. Feeling indebted, the next day he found one while digging rocks and put it in an empty water bottle. There it stayed until the team returned north where it was adopted as the FOCUS XVI “mascot”. A.L.C. McClary made it a house out of a 2-liter bottle and the director dubbed it “Spike”. After FOCUS it traveled with M. Staddon back to West Virginia so that the rest of the Wilkes and Staddon families could see it. The festivities over, with no intention of returning it to the south or expecting it to survive in a strange climate, it was put to rest on December 29, 2008. Leave a comment to pay your respects.

11 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by James on 01/9/09

Looking back on the Christmas season, there is so much to thank God for! I remember on Christmas morning reading Psalm 145 together for family devotions. The chapter sums up quite well what God was able to accomplish in the last few weeks of 2008:

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
and His greatness is unsearchable.”

One generation shall praise Thy works to another,
and shall declare Thy mighty acts.”

They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness.”
Psalm 145: 3-4, 7

The Sunday before Christmas started out as any other Sunday. But as soon as the service started at Evergreen United Methodist Church, you could tell it was going to be like none other! Mom had helped organize a Christmas play following the wisemen  in their passionate search for Emmanuel. Hours of practice were manifested in the creative performance and rich voice inflections expressed by each participant.  The pastor  followed up with a simple yet persuasive exhortation to let Christ alone be our joy and peace during the busyness of the season even to the point of surpassing the activities of giving gifts. This perfectly adjusted our perspective on the activities of the next few days.

Finishing up at Evergreen, we drove up the hollow a ways to Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. Amidst the time of food and fellowship, we sang and played the bells and violins. Pulling ourselves away from the friendly group, we went back to town to sing at the Sunbridge Nursing Home for an afternoon of declaring God’s works from one generation to another. It was nice to meet good old friends again. After a quick nap at home, we went back to Evergreen for the evening service, where we performed our pieces for the third time.

Monday evening we sang at Serenity Hope Assisted Living in Jane Lew. Tuesday was Jonathan’s birthday, so with extended family in town, we just had to put on another concert. Saturday we participated in a piano  recital for Esther and Mom’s piano and violin students. After the Christmas weekend, we traveled an hour south to spend all Sunday in Buckhannon at Full Gospel Church and Buckhannon Union Mission Church. It was a very special time! Before each song, we praised God’s work in word of testimony and in conclusion of each service, Dad preached on God’s unsearchable greatness!

Amidst the busy schedule, we felt an overwhelming peace: a knowledge that God was in control of our schedule and that He was speaking directly to others through our words and music. When Christ is living His life through us, giving to others ceases to be materialistic and naturally becomes genuine ministry!

6 Comments » | posted in Ministry Reports

posted by Donald on 01/8/09

Relay races were a fun part of the Nan Jung Arts and Crafts Anniversary Festival.

7 Comments » | posted in Family News

posted by Jonathan on 01/6/09

A special New Years gift from our good friends the Wilkes was a video called Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution. It was very exciting to see all of the amazing animals that God so clearly created, especially this beetle with it’s incredible fiery defense system.

4 Comments » | posted in Tidbits

posted by James on 01/5/09

O the joy of selfless giving; O the creativity of homemade surprises! O the excitement of the Christmas Eve gift exchange!

Despite Donald’s distant locality in Taiwan, he was able to participate in the gift exchange by sending Michael a unique gift in the mail: a few authentically Taiwanese items including a pair of chopsticks!

Michael’s gift was presented to David: a handy pencil and eraser holder of original design skillfully crafted with artistic ingenuity from the branch of a maple.

David’s gift was for Donald, covertly sent to him earlier and unannounced until that night. He had compiled instructions for over 8 family-night games for Donald to play with the ministry team in Taiwan.

Next came Jonathan’s gift for Robert: an extraordinary and exceedingly innovative boardgame of Staddonopoly complete with custom-made properties and personalized chance and community chest cards!

Robert expounded on Daniel’s keen interest for refined classical music by assembling on CD a collection of classical masterpieces from the famed Van Cliburn 12th International piano competition. 

Completely unaware of the gift Robert was making for him, Daniel had created a very similar gift for Esther focused more from an educational standpoint. He had meticulously compiled three classical music CD’s with a 7 page booklet designed to familiarize the listener with the composers of various music periods and their distinctive styles.

Esther, knowing James’ desire to learn the art of meal preparation in Chicago, gave him some practical recipes and bags of pre-made mixes. Very practical!

The final gift of the evening was a booklet James gave Jonathan of tips and techniques to assist him in his videography interests!

The love that went into each gift was a reminder of the great love that motivated God to send to us the greatest gift of all: Jesus Christ.

3 Comments » | posted in Family News