Chainsaw Certification Courses Graduate 13 "Cutters"

On November 11 the Riverchase UMC Disaster Response Ministry sponsored its second of two chainsaw basic use and safety classes at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Gardendale.  Today's class consisted of 7 participants.

Pictured from left to right: Rick Guhsé (kneeling), John Calhoun, Wes Savage, Eric Bradley, Jim Pressler (kneeling), Rev. Ed Brashier (course instructor), Mike Miller and Jason Cannon.

When added to the 6 participants who completed the same class on October 10/11, 2014, 13 "cutters" received certificates recognizing their completion of the Lutheran Emergency Response Team Training basic chainsaw safety and operation course.

We are proud to report that as of today 100% of the 15 "cutters" comprising the Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry current core chainsaw team - plus 17 other individuals who trained with us either at Camp Sumatanga in 2013 or in Gardendale this year; a total of 32 people - have been certified to operate their chainsaws by recognized third-party trainers!  This is a milestone achievement in the ongoing progress and development of our CFC disaster mission and congratulations are extended to all graduates!

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator

Obituary Notice

I thought the 38 members of our CFC team would want to know that CFC co-founder Boyd Martin's mother passed away this past Monday night.  Her visitation and funeral will be this Friday in Bessemer.  This is the obituary that was included in the Birmingham News AL.com online obituary listings today at http://obits.al.com/obituaries/birmingham/obituary.aspx?n=lona-mae-martin-peggy&pid=172974577&fhid=10191: Lona Mae "Peggy" Martin Obituary Jan. 1, 1922 - Oct. 27, 2014 Lona Mae "Peggy" Martin, age 92, long-time resident of Bessemer, passed away Monday, October 27, 2014 at the Shelby Ridge Nursing Home in Alabaster where she had been residing for the past eight years. Mrs. Martin was born January 1, 1922. She was preceded in death by her husband, William Hayes Martin; her son, Henry Hoyt Sellers; her sister, Marie Kendrick Martin; her brothers, John, Mack, L.V., and L.D. Kendrick; and a great grandson. She is survived by her son, William Boyd (Renata) Martin of Westover; her brothers, Joe Kendrick of Thorsby and Clayton Kendrick of Thorsby; her sister, Rachael Kendrick Keenum of Midfield; her grandchildren, Bari Sellers Wallace, Kevin Sellers, Rebecca Martin Ethridge, Melanie Martin Spaulding; several great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be Friday, October 31, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at Bessemer Brown Service Funeral Home with burial at Highland Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Friday from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent to www.bessemerbrownfh.com.

Even if you may not be able to attend Mrs. Martin's funeral service on Friday morning I'm sure Boyd would especially welcome your supporting prayers at this time.

In His Service, Bob

Kenley, Heather, Chris, Madison and James Williams The Williams Family in Costa Rica

Full Hearts and Empty Heads There is a special humbling quality inherent in learning a new language, especially for those who undertake such a task within the culture of the new language. The student must learn how to navigate the necessities of life without the aid of a robust and developed language, which results in the use of gestures, grunts and a Tarzan-like vocabulary. Every day is an adventure! A recent trip to the hardware store illustrates a fairly typical day in our blessed, albeit challenging life here in Costa Rica. Our bathroom sink was leaking so badly that it is no exaggeration to say more water drained into the floor than actually made it through the pipe to the sewer.  We called our landlady (actually our friend called her because we do not speak Spanish) who then responded by sending someone to "repair" the sink drain. This  gentleman replaced all of the plumbing under the sink except  the one piece that was actually leaking. Rather than continue the confusing and slow process of contacting the landlady and having the "disrepair man" return to the scene of his crime, I determined it more expedient to do the repair myself. This required a trip to the  hardware store to purchase the tailpiece. Upon entering the hardware store I realized, to my dismay, that it was a full service store. This means you step up the counter and tell the clerk what you need, and he then goes and retrieves the product and gives it to you, much like an auto parts store in the U.S. functions. I had absolutely no idea what the Spanish terms for plumbing were. So, the clerk politely hands a piece of paper and pencil to me so I can draw it for him. My heart starts pounding and I am sweating like it was the final round of "Win Lose or Draw"  with big money at stake. The problem is that my drawing skills are worse than my Spanish! Seriously, I can't draw stick people! After the clerk came to the same conclusion he breaks store protocol and gestures for me to come around the counter to find the parts myself. Now we are communicating! After repeating this scenario time and again in our public affairs one of our teachers spoke candidly with me in a private conversation that accurately captured our experience. She asked how we liked the school and Costa Rica. I expressed my love for Costa Rica and how much I enjoy finally having the privilege to learn Spanish, but then I shared my frustration with our inability to communicate. Our teacher, who had lived briefly in the States, sat back and agreed that living in a new culture and trying to learn a new language is difficult. Then she said, "Chris, you are a pastor. Pastor's are artists of words and they hunger for relationship with people to share what God shows them. Your heart is full but your head is empty. It is very difficult, but God will give you opportunities."  Heather found opportunity at the downtown market with a vendor who spoke some English. He asked why she was in Costa Rica. She told him that she was here to learn Spanish because God has called us to be missionaries in Latin America. She could have ended there, but she did not. She continued to converse with the vendor and shared the gospel of Christ with the man. God gave me an opportunity  as I walked James home from a friend's house in the dark and in the rain. James began asking about evil in the world and why God allows bad things to happen. We had an incredible conversation about evil, free-will, the love of God, God's sovereignty, sin, and the reason Jesus came into this world and gave his life at Calvary. At the corner of Parque Los Sauces, James and I stood in the rain and prayed together. He asked Jesus to forgive his sins and told the Lord that he wanted to live for Jesus. We celebrated on the rest of our walk home talking about what happens when we die and about a new heaven and earth. Regarding Spanish, our heads are still pretty empty, but our hearts are full of Christ's love for all people, whether our own children or street vendors! He knows what we need and He knows where and when He wants to use us to share His love in the lives of others. Thank you for your prayer and love. Your support of our family is a huge blessing! May God’s joy and peace be with you!

Our address for receiving letters, cards or small packages: Instituto de Lengua Española Apartado 100-2350 San José, Costa Rica América Central We now have Magic Jack phone service, which enables us to have a US number that allows incoming and outgoing calls without long distance charges.The number is: (205) 687-1861

Wilderness First Aid Training Available

If you work in disaster relief the day may come when you'd like to have some knowledge of field first aid techniques - especially if you're working an hour or more away from any other available trained medical help.  If so, this course just might be the one you need.  One of our Riverchase UMC Disaster Response Ministry members, David Allen, recently sent me the attached information about the next class which is going to be offered through Boy Scout Troop 367.  The class is open to anyone.  Learn more about it at https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ohczh0ivczpc0p/RUMC%20-%20Wilderness%20First%20Aid%20Training.pdf?dl=0.  If you'd like to pursue attending the training, please contact the instructor directly.

Another CFC Participant Commits to Missions Work Many of you will remember Madison Kimbrough - a.k.a. "Bobette" thanks to CFC participant  Rev. Sam Williamson who identified the team Bobs as Bob1 (Bob Suellentrop), Bob2 (Bob  Nabors), Bob3 (me!) and threw in Bobette (Madison) just for good measure on the day we all  showed up to work together in Clay, AL following the January 2012 tornado.  Madison was the  only youth member of the Riverchase UMC Disaster Response Ministry team in 2012, owing to  the fact that she was being home schooled and had the flexibility in her schedule to work with  us on several of our weekday deployments.  She was 17 back then and now, at age 19, she  has committed her life to the pursuit of missions work.  She will be embarking on her first  assignment soon through the Passport Program of the Adventures in Missions organization,  leaving to spend January through April 2015 in Nicaragua.  She's even hoping that she may  be able to ultimately reside there permanently.  You might be interested in reading her personal  letter soliciting support at https://www.dropbox.com/s/s6lbebbnf1cc54j/Madison%20Kimbrough%20Fundraising%20Letter%20PP-2015.pdf?dl=0.  If you are able to be of assistance to her, I'm sure she would be appreciative  of your help. And as you already also know, CFC participant Chris Williams, his wife and three children  recently moved to Costa Rica where they are spending a year immersing in the local culture  and learning Spanish before heading to Colombia for 4 years thereafter through the One  Mission Society organization.  You can keep up with Chris' activities by checking the CFC blog  from time to time at http://cuttersforchrist.blogspot.com/.  I'm quite sure that donations to help  with his call to spread the Gospel, develop Colombian missionaries and start new  congregations in Latin and South America would always be gratefully accepted, as well, at https://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/TheWilliamses.

Chainsaw Certification Course We started out registering 13 participants, but for a variety of quite different reasons we ended up only certifying 6 class members on October 11.  Two of those receiving certificates were CFC cutters, leaving just 4 more to be certified before we can assert that 100% of our CFC core cutters are chainsaw certified!  Pastor Ed has agreed to train them - and any others who may just happen to be available and want to join their class, as well - on a weekday in November.  We're in the process of determining that date now and as soon as we have it set we will inform everyone so if others want to attend they'll then be able to contact me and sign up.

An update from member John Boettner.

"Got the all clear from my heart surgeon, I still have a 30# lifting limit and no swimming until Oct 1, then no restrictions at all. I feel great and am looking forward to the class next month. All in all a much smoother recovery than I could have ever imagined."

An update from one of our members Chris Williams as they serve as OMS Missionaries.

The Williams Family in Costa Rica We have arrived in Costa Rica, our new home for the next 12 months. This has been an exciting week! We arrived Monday evening and were greeted at the airport by our good friend Jonathan Killen who is studying here with his wife, Amy, and children, Eli and David. We arrived at our house to discover that the Killens had our beds made and ready to sleep in. What a blessing after a 15 hour day! Amy and Jonathan have spent the past week showing us around and helping us set up house. The children have had a blast playing with Eli and David! Before leaving the States our children were less than enthusiastic about moving to Costa Rica. However, they have been doing great! The Ticos (term used for locals) love the children's blonde hair and often will stop to rub their heads. One lady at church greeted James with a traditional kiss on the cheek. His eyes were big as saucers and he about melted into the floor! Kenley and Madi act like they know Spanish already and try to strike up conversations with the neighbors. It isn't long though before they exhaust their greetings and revert to hand gestures and pointing. We are praising God that they are engaging the culture and are embracing their new home with great attitudes and with joy. We ventured to the farmers market Saturday and tried several new fruits and came home with bags of fruits and vegetables. We then went to a large grocery store and bought supplies for the week. Our last stop on the walk home was at the local meat market where we bought rope sausage and ground beef. Our friend told one of the workers my supermarket background and that I had managed a meat market. He then began to give me the tour and show the various cuts he had on display. Orientation at the Spanish Language Institute begins Tuesday the 26th. We are excitedly anticipating learning Spanish, Latin culture and growing as a family committed to the call of Christ. Thank you for praying and for supporting our family in this journey. We pray for God's purpose to continue to be worked in your life and for Him to bless you richly! Love, Chris, Heather, Kenley, Madison and James.

Our address for receiving letters, cards or small packages: Instituto de Lengua Española Apartado 100-2350 San José, Costa Rica América Central We now have Magic Jack phone service, which enables us to have a US number that allows incoming and outgoing calls without long distance charges.The number is: (205) 687-1861

Another update on John Boettner
Bob visited John on Friday morning and filed this report.  "He was in good spirits and stated he was feeling well.  His surgery apparently went off without a hitch.  They used his own pericardium, harvested when they opened his chest for the surgery, for the patch to cover the dime-sized hole between the two chambers of his heart which had been the cause of his problems.  He reported that the almost 30 day wait before his surgery was performed from when it was scheduled was actually the hardest part of his surgery - the anticipation and worry before the event.  He was about to finish his pain meds when I saw him and he felt that Tylenol would be sufficient to deal with his waning chest incision aches.  He has restrictions - he can't drive or lift anything or throw his arms over his head, etc. - at least until his follow up visit with his doctor on September 3.  He promised to keep us posted on his post-op recovery."

Helping Neighbors Even When There's No Disaster Our Workday Reprt for Tuesday, August 19, 2014

When we hear of a team member's friend or neighbor who needs some help, we're not far away.  Especially when there's no severe storms debris calling us to share our ministry with affected survivors and we want to keep our skills honed.  So today our CFC team consisting of 8 members, plus the Asbury UMC skid steer "Abel" - (standing from left to right) Bob Thompson, Buddy Williams, Bob Suellentrop, homeowner Milton Hendricks, Tim Smith, Ray Miller, Bob Nabors, Boyd Martin, and (lounging in the wheel barrow) Jim Pressler traveled to Clay, Alabama at Buddy's request to assist his community neighbor in the removal of a big hickory tree that had been split during a storm (yet thankfully missed Mr. Hendricks' house!), plus three dead pine trees, a sassafras tree and part of a cypress tree. Before After Before After Before After And yes...those dead pines were guided to perfect landings, missing the beehives that help to pollinate the Hendricks' garden and flowers.  Mr. Hendricks was extremely happy with our work and thanked us over and over again for our service. It really was a great day to work...yes, it got a little hot and humid, but we stayed hydrated and took a few breaks.  All in all the whole job took us just 3 and a half hours.  We finished up just before lunchtime and some of us ended up staying in Clay for lunch at Papa Sal's Italian Restaurant on Old Springville Road.  Great food, very reasonable prices and outstanding service.  It's well worth the ride to Clay for lunch if you're looking for some wonderful Italian cuisine in an unpretentious location. We're scoping out another possible job in Titusvile tomorrow afternoon so stay tuned to learn if there might be the possibility of some additional work for us which you might be interested in assisting with during our "off" season! In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson Cutters for Christ Disaster Response Ministry Deployment/Team Coordinator