I was born into a Christian home in Grand Rapids, Michigan (‘50), and was fortunate to have grandparents that started a Christian camp before I was born. I was saved when I was about 6, while we were living at the camp. In 1957 we moved to Houston, Texas, where I spent the school years. Then each summer we went back to Michigan to spend the summers at camp. Pretty cool, huh? It was at camp that I learned many Bible stories and memorized much scripture with my grandfather’s coaxing, all before I was 12. To this day many of those memorized verses are still retrievable. During my teen years, I was a typical teenager and enjoyed life (mostly). I also gained lots of scriptural head knowledge, from camp and the church we attended as a family. At the ripe age of 24, after 4 years of college (no degree), I met Denise (in Michigan) and we got married, and shortly thereafter moved back to Texas. It was home for me, but my poor bride was now 1300 miles from her family. There were good times and hard times. We survived the many stormy times with the commitment that “divorce is not an option”, faithful prayers of good friends and family, God-given counseling, and sheer hard work, and of course, God working in us, in spite of much stubbornness on my part. God had still not become “real” to me, even after all those hard times, and all that Bible learnin’. My faith was changed radically when we embarked on our first East West missions trip to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in 1999. I did not want to go, but had told God that if He brought in the money, I would go. Oops! I also gave God all the objections that Moses had, and He lovingly walked beside me and was there for me anyway - even on the other side of the world! Denise and I returned to Kyrgyzstan the next year, and were astounded, once again, to see how God used us to share His love. At this point, I've been on several more trips. I would love to share how God truly has become real to me now. Below is a photo of us in Bishkek with Denise’s interpreter, Anya, and Ulan - a Muslim man who came down from the mountains looking for a job, and found a Savior instead. We were blown away.

It has been a joy to me since that time, to not only go on more short term trips, but to also encourage others to go, and watch how God becomes "more real" to them, too! So now I'm beginning this blog to share how God uses a vessel (cracked pot) like me - and others - in Russia.... Come on back to visit!