Trampled Grass

Iles family and other interested persons: This is a letter written by my great-great aunt, Eliza, of her 1920 trip to a Mission Station in the Belgian Congo. Let’s use this blog page to gather information and learn more about Aunt Eliza’s life and early missionary work in what is no the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). You can reach …

  I can’ t get this poem off my mind. My life has been a succession of travel on the road less traveled. This New England poem takes me back to Africa. The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood …

Immediately after Moses’ baptism, I jotted         the outline of this story in Journal #73 This week, I’m Camp Missionary at Pineywoods Baptist Camp in Texas. The following is a story I related to the boys at camp. I hope you enjoy it as they did.   BAPTIZED IN MUDDY WATER His name was Moses.   And I witnessed his …

A word from Curt The Borderlands Team is compiling a devotional book for Refugees. The following is a short devo I wrote. I hope it blesses your life.     Bricks without Fire   Scripture:  Daniel 3:24-25 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar . . . declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to …

Hotel cleaning lady in Entebbe. On my arrival, I was badly jet-lagged. She came to me, “Bwana, your shirt is on backwards.” This is after I changed it correctly. I thanked her   New Life and Death: On the Refugee Camp Rollercoaster   Sometimes I write because I want to. Other times, it’s because I have to.   Today is …

Of all the things I learned from three years in Africa,  a lasting lesson was the sacrifice of families who serves overseas. Grandchildren grow up a world apart from their grandparents with only yearly (or less) face-to-face visits. Missionaries worry about their aging parents as the years roll on. Parents in the United States pray, worry, pray, and worry some …

I never met Tyler Lundin. At least not when he was alive. My journey to learning about his life and death began on a dusty soccer field near the Nile River in Uganda. Africans wear all manner of American shirts and caps.  I always enjoyed talking to them about who the Boston Celtics were, Adrian Peterson’s Vikings jersey, and my …

Like most of you, I’m committed to being a Life Long Learner. It’s an attitude. It’s a habit. It’s the desire of my heart. It defines my mantra: Stay curious. Be Amazed. Tell Stories. “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago; the second best time is today.”                     …

  DWW     Driving While White Like all Americans, I’ve been stunned and confused by events of the past few months. Our country is hurting and is extremely divided. It’s easy to deny and ignore it, but that doesn’t make it not so. As part of a national discussion, we need to sit down and listen to each other. It is …

  What we’re about in 2016: 1.  Staying Curious. 2. Being Amazed. 3. Telling Stories. It’s Friday, which means it’s time to think about LLL. That’s Life Long Learning. It’s the reason I want to stay curious,discover, and share good stories. I. This week’s word is Gratitude. Here’s my favorite story on gratitude: Vance Gill, my guitar-playing Dry Creek friend …