Blogging Our Furlough

You'd have to use a Texan road machine for that, wouldn't you?:laugh:

 

Hi, John. We haven't firmed up that date yet, but hopefully in Feb.

 

Some quick thoughts about America:

So many different restaurants! We're already gaining weight.
Americans are as friendly as ever.
Lots of old junky cars on the road.
Fundamental Christians are behind missions more than ever before.
Cars drive fast here! (Japanese speed limits are lower.)
Sioutheastern Baptist Theological Semiinary has a beautiful campus and lots of nice people.
Lots of Muslims all over the country.
American ice cream--yum!
American stores--incredible variety.
American thinking: gone past materialism into hedonism.

 

Well, Feb. didn't work out to be in Houston. I'll be putting the towns we're in here on this thread monthly, so keep a lookout.

October:
2-3, Missions conference in Watertown, WI
9, Kalkaska, MI (AM) and Burt Lake, MI (PM)
15 (Martial Arts clinic in the AM) and 16, Osceola, WI
17-19, BWM 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting at Downer's Grove, IL. See www.baptistworldmission.org.
23, Loves Park, IL
31 to Nov. 3, Fairfax VA

If interested, PM me for more information on these dates.

 

During the month of Sept. we saw Patty's family in Lansing, MI, some of my family in Chattanooga, TN, and our son Paul in Wake Forest NC at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Paul has finished the classwork for his Ph. D. there, and has finished the first chapter of his dissertation.

We had a wonderful time with Paul seeing the SEBTS campus, researching in the library, going out to eat, and just hanging out together. It had been 6 1/2 years since we all three were together, so the fellowship was wonderful.

It was especially good to meet some of Paul's profs. We had dinner with Dr. David Alan Black, his mentor, and an Ethiopian student. (Dr. Black's wife is ill with cancer, so please pray for her.) Dr. Black considers himself to be a missionary first and a Greek prof second. So he goes to Ethiopia every year to teach, and is currently in China, where he is lecturing to church leaders, seeking to influence the next generation. At dinner we had a wonderful time talking about missions, Greek, textual criticism, translation, etc. (He is the lead translator on the International Standard Version.) By the way, I recommend any all of his books for Greek students and others. See his website and blog at: http://www.daveblackonline.com/index.html

We also had dinner with Dr. Maurice Robinson and his wife. Paul grades Greek classes for Dr. Robinson, who is the co-editor of the Byzantine Textform Greek NT. I've corresponded with Dr. Robinson for some time, but it was great to meet him face to face. During dinner we mostly discussed the textual criticism of the NT, about which he has encyclopedic knowledge. It was also great to just sit in his office one afternoon and chew the fat for a couple of hours about textual criticism, Greek, translation, etc., and to hear his personal testimony.

I don't know what image you have about Bible scholars, but they are just people--brilliant people it is true. But these men were gracious, knowledgeble, great conversationalists, and dedicated believers in Jesus Christ. I count it a privilege to have gotten to know them. And of course we're just kind of riding on our son's coattails in that!

P. S. Dr. Black mentions our dinner with him on his blog at: http://www.daveblackonline.com/blog.htm. Look after the proud grandparents' photos on Sept. 21 at #5).

 

We're in Watertown WI, where we had a wonderful meeting on Sunday evening. We lived here last furlough, so we have many friends here, and Monday & Tuesday were filled with friendship, including dinner with fundamenalist scholar and old friend Fred Moritz and his wife. Dr. Moritz is the former director of our mission.

Then last night we heard that Mom has gone on to glory after collapsing at supper. Please pray for us as we travel down to Chattanooga for the funeral.

Mary Lloys Himes was the second daughter of famous evangelist John R. Rice. She graduated from Wheaton College, where she met Dad, a young preacher named Charles Himes. They were surrendered to be missionaries to Tibet under the China Inland Mission in the 1940's, and even attended missionary "boot camp," but were unable to go when the Communists took over. In the following years she served God faithfully with her husband in many different churches for 60 years. She was known for always being willing to help those who were in trouble or in need, and she loved to tell people about Jesus Christ.

Mom is in Heaven now with Dad, her parents, her older sister Grace, and many other friends and loved ones, including those she led to Christ or helped in other ways over the years.

 

Thanks much Tom Bryant, Mexdeaf and Gwen for your prayers, and anyone else who prayed. God gave extra strength and grace the whole time. I literally could feel being held up by the arms of God through your prayers.

On Saturday we had a celebration of Mom's Homegoing. It was wonderful. We saw relatives and friends we had not seen in many, many years (being in Japan). Two of my siblings (Andy the black sheep and Lloys Jean the eldest) and all four of her surviving sisters gave testimonies about Mom, and there were several special numbers of songs she loved. Then I preached about "Mom the Missionary" from Matt. 28:18-20. My sister Faith did such a wonderful job in getting it all ready, working with the funeral home, but she and little sister Joanna were not up to testifying, as we could well understand. Faith took great care of Mom these last few years.

Mom and Dad were surrendered to be missionaries to Tibet under the old China Inland Mission, and actually went to CIM "boot camp" in Philadelphia before the Communists took over. Mom was always a witness for Christ, and was no doubt greeted in Heaven by many she had won to Christ. She always witnessed to our friends while we were growing up, and was always trying to help folk. I shared one story of how she took a single mother under her wing who lived down the block, making me play with the woman's son--whereupon he taught me poker!

What a wonderful time we had remembering and loving Mom. She is so happy now in Heaven, free from her pain and weakness, sin and sorrow. She is reunited with Dad, her parents, her older sister, the three babies she lost over the years, and her many friends from around the world.

The body was interred next to my Dad's grave at the "Memorial Gardens" at the Bill Rice Ranch in Murfreesboro, TN. This is where both the Bill Rice and John R. Rice branches of the "Rice Clan" are buried, as well as workers of the BRR and the Sword of the Lord. My aunts kidded about all getting together there at the Rapture to go up together.

 

Didn't get to walk through this time, but I have so many friends and loved ones there: Grandma & Grandpa Rice, Great Uncle Bill Rice, Dad and now Mom, Uncle Allan and Aunt Grace (JRR's 1st daughter), Uncle Billy Carl Rice (husband of 5th daughter Joanna), "Handicapped and Happy" Miss Dotty Reichal who supported us many years, and others.

 

Saturday and Sunday were spent in Osceola WI with old friends "Doc" and Jan Haralson. We go back almost 2 decades in the Christian martial arts, and did a martial arts seminar in Australia togeter years ago. Boy was that fun!

On Saturday I taught some Shaolin animal moves and the Saam Chien form from Fukien, China, to his students. In the afternoon I taught Hsing I kung fu to his black belts, and they ate it up. Sunday mornng we reported our work in Japan to the church, and it was well received, with many questions in the Q&A time.

 

Thanks for the prayers, Bob.

I have a wonderful heritage in my godly parents. Mom always witnessed to our friends when we were growing up, always tried to help those who were hurting, always loved the Word of God. She was always teaching the Bible in various classes and seminars in her later years.

 

We are in Cincy now for a few days at my sister Lloys Jean's house. It's so good to see her and her family. She's been a faithful Christian school teacher for 42 years! This evening another sister, Joanna, will come over for supper and that will be fun.

Last week was the BWM 50th Annual Meeting. What a blessing! We got to hang around with people of God such as Jim and Audrey Norton (over 40 years in Japan), Fred and Judy Moritz (scholar and theologian, former BWM director), Pat and Mary Delaney (many years in Asia, now our Asia director) and many others. We knew very few of the other missionaries, but it was fun getting to know the young ones. It was great to see old friends Don and Jill Vanderhoof, missionaries to Germany, headed back to Germany after a 6 year leave of absence. Eleven years ago Don survived bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which has a 100% mortality rate.

One afternoon we took a bus tour of Chicago, including a tour of the Pacific Garden Mission. What a wonderful ministry that is! Praise the Lord for the drug addicts, alcoholics and homeless saved through that ministry.

 

I'm finally back. A furlough missionary's life is very busy: travelling to meetings, setting up more meetings, correspondence, meeting pastors, conferences, etc. I'd like to tell you about the International Conference on World Evangelism, held on October 31–November 3.

The IFCE is the brainchild of Dr. Bud Calvert, the pastor emeritus of one of our supporting churches, Fairfax Baptist Temple near Washington DC. This church has a tremendous emphasis on world evangelism, supporting many, many missionaries around the globe, and planting or helping to plant many churches in the DC area and other states. Dr. Calvert could have built a megachurch, but instead elected to reach the general area, his Jerusalem and Judea, by planting churches of like faith and practice. I wholeheartedly agree with this approach. So FBT has many daughter churches in the area. Dr. Calvert's son Troy is now the pastor and continues his father's burden.

The conference's main focus is planting churches around the globe, and that is what the sermons and seminars are all about. I was asked to be a backup speaker at the conference since one of the main speakers was on a waiting list for surgery, but thankfully the speaker was able to make it. Still, I was honored just to be a backup.

It would take too long to tell about all of the sermons and seminars, but most of the sermons were about the Great Commission and most of the seminars were about different aspects of church-planting. There was one excellent one, though, about using modern media in your church, Facebook, the "cloud" and the like.

Probably the most memorable and exciting speakers were the father-son combination of Dr. Kenneth Baldwin, pastor of Crossroads Baptists Church (http://www.ourcrossroads.org/index.cfm) and his father, Dr. Louis Baldwin, pastor emeritus and founder of the Conference on Evangelizing Black America (COEBA, http://www.ourcrossroads.org/content.cfm?id=324). I believe it was said that these men have planted or helped plant 28 churches.

For Patty and me, the most exciting moment came on the last night of the conference, when we were honored for 30 years on the mission field of Japan. Lest we get the "big head," honored with us were Marvin and Becky Robertson, who have been missionaries to Spain for 40 years! (And in Chattanooga recently we met a missionary who retired from S. America after 50 years!) We were called up to the platform where some nice words were said about our ministry, after which we were given a nice check and a beautiful, decorative gemstone globe. What a good memory!