June 2006

The real burden God has placed heavily on my heart these days is to complete the New Testament Bible History Illustrated study series. It looks to be a 26-lesson series which will take almost a full school year to study, if the student takes one session each week. The first draft of the textbook has been written and is about 425 letter size pages in length. Now the work of writing the lectures and recording them on video is well underway. Following the completion of that phase, we will start editing the films with visuals, maps and photos added in. Each phase takes a great deal of time and work, but we are making good progress, thanks be to God.

At the end of last year, I began having bouts of extreme chronic fatigue almost every day. This fatigue affects every area of ability to accomplish what one desires to do. There has been a lot of this fatigue with the MS through the years, but I hadn’t had it this extreme for a long time, and neither had I had it so regular as it was this time, almost every day. It really slowed my work on the project.
Thank God that about two months ago relief came (no known reason except the mercy of our Lord), and I have been able to really make a dent in the current phase of the New Testament project! I am so thankful and so thrilled at what God has done. Thank you for your prayers.

I realize that we live in weak, frail bodies that are winding down for our exodus from this world. This heavy burden to finish this project may be working against a deadline, I don’t know. But life is not going to get easier, and the burden is there, so I am working hard! I would like to leave something in this world besides a tombstone with my name engraved on it. Of course, we want to leave the testimony of lives that were spent for God, but it would be nice to be able to leave something a bit tangible that might actively play a part in ministry. I believe that can be done through these Old and New Testament Bible History study series. So please continue to pray with us about the completion of the New Testament project.

A couple of weeks ago, the eye specialist who diagnosed the MS that was taking my sight some twenty years ago, also fears that he sees the beginning of macular degeneration in my one good eye which is already working at about 25% original potential. It is unrelated to MS, and he said it likes old people! I came home a bit discouraged about that, but again, I put it on the altar and gave it to God. That’s what I did twenty years ago, and the doctors said I definitely would not get any remission, but the Lord saw otherwise and gave me remission for a number of years now. So God knows about the new development, and He is in control.

We pray God’s blessing on all of you and deeply appreciate your prayers and concern. One quick request: the pastor who is the father of Rachel, the young lady who had a brain tumor whom I have requested prayer for the past year, has been sick for about three weeks with a severe headache and vomiting. Please pray for Fred and his family who have been through such a trial this past year. The doctors haven’t been able to discover what is causing it.