Every five years the International Mission Board hosts a “Celebration of Emeriti” at Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly in North Carolina. The conference used to coincide with Foreign Mission Weeks at Ridgecrest and Glorieta, but since those weeks have been discontinued, this massive periodic gathering provides an opportunity for missionaries from the past to fellowship and stay […]

I received a unique gift from my son, Russell, earlier this year for my 70th birthday. It was a promissory note to underwrite a skydiving experience. Knowing my proclivity for adventure and new experiences, he encouraged me by reminding me that former president George H. Bush skydived on his 80th birthday. I tried to be […]

People around here in the South get fanatical about local football and live for hunting season, but nothing creates excitement like an approaching storm. Our town was touched by a fairly destructive tornado last year, and we are close enough to the Gulf Coast to feel the lingering effects of hurricane force winds. So as […]

We have been sharing travel experiences from Central Asia and candid photos of grandkids for the last three weeks. As we move on to a full calendar of socializing and ministry opportunities at home, I want to share one final picture of our daughter and family who have been serving among unreached peoples in one […]

“God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us–that Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 67:1-2) This initial verse of Psalm 67 expresses a familiar refrain. I have often heard it pronounced as a benediction at the close of a […]

One of the most unique aspects of our American way of life is the freedom to be different. A person is not constrained to conform to a particular political ideology as in many totalitarian countries around the world. One does not have to adhere to proscribed religious doctrine as it is imposed in most Muslim […]

We used to readily adjust to the jet lag induced by international travel. Before the trip we would stay up all night in order to sleep timed to our destination clocks and fast for two days to force our digestive system to adapt. Maybe its our age, being out of practice, or simply the 37 […]

“O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” Psalm 55:6 The Psalmist captures an attitude that seems so prevalent in our hectic pace of life. The demands of family, work and over-committed schedules put us in bondage to lives with little margin. We wilt under the burden […]

The glare of the sun reflected relentlessly off the barren rocky mountains that surrounded this remote Central Asian city. Fed by the fast-flowing runoff of melting snow from the previous winter, the narrow valley appeared lush with a band of green as trees and gardens sought to claim the diminishing source of moisture that eluded […]

“And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:3 Every Christian has a pretty good idea in his mind what their life should be like. It is usually an […]