travelmonkey4christ

At a Christian school assembly we asked, "What was the hardest thing about being a Christian?". The first grade teacher gave us the following kid’s responses – most with cute coloring illustrations :-) “The hardest thing about being a Christian is sharing my toys.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is a good attitude. I had a hard time understanding my mom because I have more chores to do.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is keeping Jesus in my heart.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is feeding my lizards.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is sharing my cars with my little sister.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is sharing stuff and helping others and the poor.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is I want my friend to be nice to me.” “The hardest thing about being a Christian is sharing and don’t swear and use God and talk in a nice kind way and help poor people. “The hardest thing about being a Christian is telli...

For those who didn't know, Carolyn has a blog at: cubsplace.blogspot.com She has been much better than I at getting updates in and it would be worth a look to see some of our ministry photos from Czech Republic. Here is a photo I thought you might enjoy. It's the morning family church service at an old Prague theatre with myself and the pastor's son Stephen doing the story of Jonah.

The bus to Brno Sue and Carolyn traveled by bus from Prague to Brno. This weekend they will be conducting Children’s Workers Seminars on Friday and Saturday with a Sunday morning service at a large church in the area. Where is Brno? Click here to find out.

In her most recent installment from Prague Sue writes, “Finding a toilet is not hard in Prague. It’s climbing up that’s difficult.”

Wenceslas Square Prague. Sue and Carolyn ministered in a church meeting that was held in a 100 year old theater.

Sue is working in the city of Prague. In her text message she writes, "Eva, a Pastor’s wife in Prague wrote and illustrated this children’s book. She has been asked to write for television."

My sister DeAnn came to help me again at the Onecho Family Camp at Pinelow Campground in Eastern Washington. We had a great time with the kids and this is one of the games we played with whipped cream and cheetos! The kids were great as always and it was quite a whirlwind weekend. I took DeAnn to airport today and I fly out tomorrow for Prague! Lots of packing to do but it sure helped to have DeAnn! (Though she says next year she is having a T-shirt printed that says: "No, I'm not Carolyn".)

Yes I am a ship's captain (for 3 whole min). I went with my sister DeAnn and her husband John fishing in Puget Sound yesterday and got to try my hand at the ship's wheel. I was amazed at the pull of the current in some parts of the water. Now our plan was to catch salmon. Technically one was caught. But it was too small and John had to throw it back. So the day wasn't a totally waste, if you could say that when you are in such beauty, we did some bottom fishing before going back to port. We caught about 30 flounder in 20 minutes. Cool thing was I also caught two sharks! They were about 3 footers. I also got a hit so strong - - it was pulling the line out against the brake on the reel - a 40 lb test line - which it finally broke on the knotted part. The real captain had set up my rigging and said when he examined it, "whatever it was it broke the strongest knot there is!" . Cool huh? He thought it was probably a huge skate! We all enjoyed our time. Want to tas...

Yes, you read it correctly, V=for very, e=for exciting, and BS= for Bible School! Cute! They had snacks each day that were also very creative such as (since we had a nautical theme): fish bones (pretzels), eye balls (grapes), mush mush (bananas), fish tongues (watermelon wedges), sea urchin balls (apples). Brenda Supasatit was the coordinator and one of the creative minds of this cool menu. The next Sunday, Carolyn and I spoke at the Church. I shared about the experience we had white water rafting on my birthday. We went rafting on the North Fork of the Payette River in Idaho. After signing up, one of the staff gave us the option of a rubberised water jacket to wear with Velcro cuffs, waist and collar. I thought since they offered, it was probably a good idea, though the weather was predicted to be hot. So we all got jackets, helmets, lifejackets and headed out. It was getting hot. The Guide sat in the back of the raft using his oar as a rudder and calling out rowing orders to ...

We are at a Mercer Island Starbucks before Vacation Bible School starts. They have an outdoor fireplace (it's 59 F degrees) and dog dishes.

It has been and is continuing to be a great summer. We really enjoyed Rachael, our intern featured in Pirates of the Palouse, and the kids at the various camps and churches. One young man, Christopher, stands out in my mind. He had never been to church and was brought by a neighbor to camp where he gave his life to Jesus. Then began to read the bible for the first time. This particular camp had a Bible Quiz each night with teams competing. Christopher quized second highest! Unbelievable! Of course some of his answers needed a bit of translating. Like when the official asked who appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of Jesus. Christopher replied, "A band of heavenly ghosts!" The judge accepted it.

Colfax Nazarene

Having a great time this summer traveling with our intern Rachael aka Tigerlily. Check out the three of us at Colfax doing the Pirates of Palouse VBS week!

May was a busy time in Idaho. I got to spend time with my family and friends - Mother's Day - birthdays - catching up with life in the Great Northwest. Had a nice meeting with a friend of mine named Dean Estes. Dean is an Idaho artist and works in several mediums, one of which is bronze. He is lovely and keeps asking me is he can do a bronze of me and some children. I keep telling him "Only if you can do bronze lipo suction!" One of the priorities during my time there was going to McCall to work on the parent's cabin which is up for sale. I went with my sister and her husband to clean and pack a few more things - presentation is everything if you watch "SELL THIS HOUSE". No one wants to sell but the proceeds are needed to help with the parents expenses, especially getting an access van for dad's wheelchair. Now I am back in Washington in a mad whirl of packing children's summer ministry materials - cleaning - errands - and catching up in general...

Check it out - I'm back in the states. Arrived Thursday April 20th. Felt great to be home until two in the morning. That's the time I woke with the flu. Typical! Had everyone praying for a smooth flight, I was blessed with an upgrade to business class for the 14 hr flight, but did I say "and pray I don't get the flu" ? Of course not! Ok, I did get people praying after the fact and I will say the fever broke by Sat. a.m. and I was in church Sunday morning so that was sort of miraculous. Most of the people I know who got the flu were down with it for a week or two. Well, two days to clean and my sister and brother-in-law arrived to celebrate their anniversary. We had a great time. They even sacrificed two of their vacation days to help me go looking for a vehicle. God has been miraculously sending offerings toward my getting a new vehicle since last December. We test drove several cars from different manufacturers and I finally settled on a Subaru Forester! I...

Off for a few days break on the gold Coast. This is the Virgin Airlines sign at the gate. Starting to feel refreshed great weather, great views, Burleigh Heads Queensland Since our calling is to save the planet, we had to visit Surfers’ Hard Rock Café. Just so you get us geographically located! We are enjoying our last Day in Queensland. This sign (below) was at the top of a tower at Surfers’ Paradise (higher than the Eiffel tower).

Sue writes: We’re back from Sydney. We ministered at CityLife Hobson Bay Church, west of Melbourne, which is a multi-site of CityLife Knox Church, where Carolyn and I are a part of the church missions department. Worship team at the Sydney Kids’ Reach Conference. Carolyn received an award for outstanding contributions to the children of Australia.

Sue writes: The Sydney Conference at the Wesley Center displays this chair used by John Wesley along with other of his artifacts.

George Forman on the Today Show Australia. They’re on location on the banks of the Yarra in Melbourne – Covering the Common Wealth Games. George signing autographs after his grill demo . Sue writes: Carolyn & I got a day in the city. We went in early enough to catch the Today Show on the banks of the Yarra. We were surprised to see George Foreman interviewed. He came out to do the TV commentary for the boxing in the games! We were two feet from him (as close as his body guard would let us!)

Sue and Carolyn are in Sydney for the weekend. The photo to the left shows the youth outreach service at which they spoke. A children’s outreach program, featuring Rainbow and Larry, and a Sunday Family Service are also on the agenda. They will be returning to Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture at right shows some of the teams that are training for the Commonwealth Games that are being held in Melbourne. The teams are evangelizing through the use of creative arts. Sue writes, “Our Ballooning class for the games.”

Sue writes: “Meet me under the clock” used to be a traditional gathering phrase in Melbourne.

The Yarra River Spectacle – 71 floats with flags and fish sculptures representing all of the Commonwealth nations. The floats are lit as part of the nightly presentation. One of the fish floats Karak is the official mascot of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Carolyn (left) Graeme (center) Angela (right) Sue and Carolyn return to Melbourne just in time to celebrate Carolyn’s birthday. There to join in the celebration were good friends Graeme and Angela Jones. We’d all like to wish Carolyn a very happy birthday.

Carolyn on Ferry Sue and Carolyn have completed their ministering in Tasmania for this year. They traveled by ferry back the Melbourne Australia with the arrival time of 6:00 am.

The The Ministers' Fellowship International Conference was held in Tasmania. This year’s conference boasted over 100 delegates from 7 nations. Conference worship team

Slogan for Christian churches, combining four outreaches during the Commonwealth games in Northern Melbourne. More than Gold 06

Sue's Caption reads: Binalong Bay is five minutes from St. Helens Tasmania. The sand is so white that it hurts your eyes and squeaks under your feet when you walk! The Aqua marine waters are birthed in the Antarctic. The beach is covered with thousands of miniature shells. Tasmanian Sunset

Rainbow the Clown at the Georgetown Baptist Church Pastors John and Cheryl Denman at their favorite counseling spot, the St. Helens Coffee Shop.

Anyone traveling to Tasmania may want to check in with Sue and Carolyn regarding good places to eat. Sue writes, "This Seafood platter (left) only cost 12 USD. Shared, that is six dollars each. "

Sue writes: Japanese Jellies with lychees served at our friends Alan and Helene’s house, in Melbourne. Yum! This photo was taken during a visit to Pastor Richard Holland during his stay at the hospital. Pastor Richard is the founder of the largest church in Melbourne. Pastor Richard’s surgery to implant a pacemaker was successful and an answer to prayer. Sue writes, [His] pacemaker should have him up and running for the Commonwealth Games!

The first of three trips this month to Tasmania went very well. Carolyn and I departed Melbourne on the ferry called the Spirit of Tasmania. We took Carolyn’s car to leave there for transportation this month. The ferry docks in Devonport and then we drove into Kingston, a small community outside of Hobart (am I challenging your geographical knowledge of Tasmania yet?). We arrived on a Friday and on Saturday began a seminar for City Light Church consisting of us as the speakers from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday we did two family services, morning and evening. Monday morning we did a combined chapel for the Christian School belonging to the church. We had a few days break before going on to our next camp located in Orford, Tasmania. This camp was very interesting. The type of camp we were originally asked to do changed three times in the space of two weeks. It reminded me of one of the sessions I taught in the Kingston Saturday seminar. I mentioned the importance of flexibility in ...

Sue and Carolyn are continuing their travels through Tasmania. To the right is Sue's latest addtion to her travel blog. Her caption for this photo is, "Stonehinged Haystack Tasmania!"

Children working on the David & Goliath posters. Kids' camp chapel Sue writes that the camp is going well. She mentioned that only three or four of the children come from church backgrounds. Sue and Carolyn have 21 adults helping with the camp.

Sue's photo for today: The caption reads Oyster Bay at Swansea

Bronze statue of Louis Bernacchi explorer, magnetical observer, Southern Cross Antarctic expedition 1899 Hobart Post Office Circa 1800s Dusting of snow on Mt. Wellington Tasmania, mid-summer Sue also writes: This weekend we head to a camp in Orfords on the North East coast.

Sunday February 5, 2006, Sue conducted a chapel for Kingston School. The Kingston School students range from ages five to ten.