Spring Tour 2016

Our tour of “Spring” has come full circle once again.  We began here in Summerville in March with the blossoming of daffodils and azaleas and the South Carolina pines swollen with pollen.  On the first of April we arrived in Union Mills, NC, about an hour east of Asheville.  Our April Sower project was at the Center for Intercultural Training, CIT.

CIT is a ministry dedicated to equipping servants to live in another culture.  They do this by focusing on teaching living skills that enhance their biblical knowledge and language abilities.  Participants are given insights into their individual giftedness and how to best use those gifts in the context they will be ministering in. There are classes designed for children as well.  There are relationship activities to build team work.

The participants range from whole families to couples and singles.  We had the privilege of having a number of them join us for devotions each morning during our stay.  It is a great blessing to hear how God has called them to the field and the steps He has brought them through.

There was a couple who are going to western Canada to live among native Indians.  Another is off to South America to teach in a Seminary setting.  There was a single cattle rancher who is moving to an Asian country in order to learn the language and immerse himself in a culture that is quite different from his Midwest upbringing.  Each situation was unique and we were continually amazed at God’s provision for each one in a broad number of areas.

Art the Facilities Manager, John, and Me

Our Sower partner at CIT was John Stoner.  We had served with John before and really enjoyed being together again.  John’s wife Rosie spends every other month ministering to her ailing Mother in Columbia SC.  CIT’s proximity to Columbia gives John the opportunity to serve the Lord and be with Rosie and her mom on the weekends.  This ability is what attracted us to Sowers.  We look for projects that are close to our children so we can spend the weekends with them.

Our main task at CIT this time was to paint walls and install vinyl tile flooring in one of the dormitory wings.  We put down about 3,000 square feet of flooring over the course of the project.  John celebrated his 70th birthday while we were together and as a cancer survivor is quite the role model for me.

Jane worked her normal magic with Gloria in housekeeping and helped out with the preparation and serving of noon meals for the participants.

We enjoyed the arrival of spring in the western mountains of North Carolina.  We were able to be at Maribeth’s for the celebration of our Granddaughter Olivia’s 4th Birthday.

Olivia and Wren

Wren, Olivia, and cousin Ella

Picnic in the creek

We moved north to Pennsylvania for our May project at Summit Grove Camp.  We were able to be with Jane’s Dad to celebrate his 93rd birthday.  Jane was able to give her sister a break from caring for her dad for a few weeks.  Summit Grove is about an hour from Annapolis so I worked Monday through Thursday and spent the weekends at Pop’s.

We were excited to learn that we would be serving with Doris and Frank Hutchison.  They were the first couple that we had the privilege to work with in Sowers three years ago.

They say April showers bring May flowers but the showers seemed to arrive a month late.  We had some inside tasks to do as we helped by putting the finishing touches on a new meeting room, painting and laying bamboo laminate flooring.

It seems that bath houses are our main focus at Summit Grove.  The second campground bathhouse was in need of a facelift and the rain held off for a couple of days allowing us to tackle it.

A tree had fallen on the roof so we were able to install a metal roof and a fresh coat of paint, and a gravel walkway that will help keep the floor clean.

Doris helped with getting rooms cleaned and made curtains for the upcoming season.  With Jane serving her dad for the first two weeks, Doris was able to establish a special relationship with a member of the staff and that led to an opportunity to model Christ to her and, ultimately, lead her to salvation.  We were excited to see God use this special circumstance to build a friendship that he used in a magnificent way.

Jane was able to join us for the final week of the project.  She manned her paint brush and helped finish painting the trim and was able to work alongside of Doris once again spring cleaning.

We are back in South Carolina for the summer.  We have all of our children and grandchildren coming into town the first week of June.  Two are coming for a wedding and the others don’t want to pass up an opportunity to get together.  Julie's youngest, Veda, is on the move in her walker so it should be a busy time with seven grands on the move.  Victoria will be six months old on the 12th so she will not be as mobile.

Victoria Jane

Our ninth grandchild will be arriving in August.  Maribeth and Ben have decided to await the arrival to find out if it is our third grandson or seventh granddaughter.  We are excited!  Ella, the oldest, will be 5 in June.

Our spring tour proved to be a successful one serving with Sowers, first at CIT and then at Summit Grove. We saw our Lord paint a magnificent landscape of fauna, sprouting newness of life for our enjoyment across the southeastern states.  The new birth in Christ of the young lady at Summit Grove topped off the spring tour.

Spring is our favorite season, as God again reveals His creative abilities. God’s voice is heard around the earth as He reveals himself to mankind through creation.  The budding of the trees, the blooming of flowers, the melody of the song birds calling to a potential mate, all cry out "God is!" and serve to bring our thoughts to the source of it all.

How about you?  Does the onslaught of spring beckon you to muse on the giver of life?

He desires your worship.  Jesus paved the way for us to enter into a personal relationship with the creator God.  You see, the sin nature that separated us from that relationship was fully secured on Calvary’s cross. Jesus paid a debt he did not owe and credits his righteousness to anyone who will put their faith in His shed blood.

Simply ask Jesus to come into your life and be your Savior.  He promises to give you a new life that will surpass any spring you have experienced before.

Until next time,
Godspeed,  Glenn and Jane