Personal from Ministerial and Member Services

I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and weekend here in the U.S. Barbara and I greatly enjoyed spending it together, after a very full couple of weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. With the 10-day Pastoral Development Program and the North Central Regional Conference on its heels in southern Minnesota, it was nice to relax a bit.

Prior to the conference, Barbara and I greatly enjoyed our Sabbath visits to two of our congregations served by David and Jolinda Schreiber, in La Crosse, Wisconsin and in Ellendale, Minnesota. We also enjoyed spending more time with the brethren in Ellendale with a potluck and gym night. La Crosse also had an excellent potluck after a morning service. I certainly haven't lost any weight lately!

We are always encouraged by the bond of love and devotion between God's people wherever we go. This has been true throughout the 45 years I have personally experienced in God's Church. God's Holy Spirit is a very powerful force that binds us together in love and peace. May we all yield to God's Spirit more faithfully in the years ahead!

It was also very encouraging to experience the camaraderie and the love of the ministry who serve our brethren in the North Central region of the United States. Iron does sharpen iron physically, but this is also true spiritually. There was a great deal of interaction in this round of conferences as our regional pastor, Mitch Knapp, our pastors, our elders and their wives addressed many important topics to help sharpen our desire and ability to serve God and His children more effectively.