Two months later!

Friends, it's been almost two months since we've written on the blog. Gosh, I didn't realize how long ago it had been. Actually, September and early October were fairly quiet for us. We didn't have many meetings, so we haven't traveled far. We've stayed home a lot and caught up on things that had been neglected. We got a prayer/newsletter written and sent out and many of you have already seen that.

INSIGHT GROUP
By the middle of October, things were getting more interesting. As we've mentioned earlier we took a Living Free training course in July to facilitate small groups in the church, helping people face and overcome life-controlling issues. We are hoping that this will be really useful in Ukraine. Well, in order to become full-fledged faciliatators we have to go through the first group ourselves, not as facilitators but as ordinary participants. There aren't many groups meeting in our area of Oklahoma, but Frank found a group not far from us. The Mustang Assembly of God Church has a number of groups meeting, and we were able to get into the entry-level group, called an Insight Group. The interesting thing about this group is that it is primarily made up of inmates from a nearby correctional facility (i.e. prison) as well as their wives and girlfriends, and a few other folks from the community. We're definitely like fish-out-of-water in this group, but so far it has been extremely educational.

One of the men has been in prison for five years and has grown spiritually in a wonderful way. Sometimes he mentions how he witnesses to other prisoners, and the reactions he gets from them. Another young man mentioned this week how one of his major emotions is insecurity and jealousy. He has a very attractive girl friend and he is always worried about how men will hit on her while he's in jail and he won't be able to protect her or be there just to be with her. One young woman mentioned how she is angry over things that have happened to her in the past and how she doesn't trust people because of these things. Another woman mentioned how she is trying to stop smoking and how the Lord brought to her attention that she needed to do that.

It is wonderful to see these men come in with their Bibles and participate in the group. Of course, some of them don't say anything. In fact, Frank and I haven't contributed much to the discussions. We know we are different, better educated, and have been serving the Lord for a long time, and we don't want to seem to be like know-it-alls, or get too preachy. If anything, we need to share some of our emotions and feelings just like they do. We actually just want to be accepted as part of the group just like the rest of them. That may take a few weeks or more to accomplish.

COMING EVENTS
We'll try to do better in the coming months to keep you informed and up-to-date on what's happening in our lives. November will be busy and then of course December will be full of events. This weekend (Nov. 1-2) we will be in Wichita, Kansas, at a missionary convention held at a large Methodist Church. The following weekend we will be in Wichita again at a convention held at a satellite church of the Methodist church we're in this weekend. Does that sound okay? Is it clear? I hope so. More to come . . . . . keep tuned in.