Dear KKIKM Family,
It is great to start another week with you! PRAISE GOD!!!
It is right to give PRAISE and GLORY to GOD!!!
Change my heart Oh God, make it ever true.
Change my heart Oh God, may I be like You.
You are the potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.
Change my heart Oh God, make it ever true.
Change my heart Oh God, may I be like you.
Sgt. Joe was…………..
The widow of Sgt. Joe Harris, who was killed in the line of duty, wrote a letter to the Albuquerque Journal to thank the community for support to her and the kids….here is a portion of that letter when talking about her husband……..
As our society seems to get busier and busier, we seem to take less and less time to focus on the people around us. Joe did not do this. When he saw someone in need, he not only offered to help, but he rolled up his sleeves and went to work. If he saw someone hurting, he would stop what he was doing and listen, hold a hand, give one of his bear hugs, or find a way to let that person know he was there.
Those words written by Sgt. Joe’s widow, Tonia. A GREAT reminder to all of us! Joe demonstrated the love of Jesus Christ here on earth. I have heard that from a number of people.
Pastor Leonard shares this with us………
“The Christian on his knees sees more than the philosopher on tiptoe.” D. L. Moody
WOW!
What a Saturday! What a BLESSING!!!
Ed and Jan Moore of www.wfrn.com are in Las Cruces where Jan is undergoing treatment for her liver. I drove down Saturday to see them, Sharon was recovering from 12 to 14 hours a day nursing, but I jumped in the car with her blessings and headed to Cruces about 250 miles one way from the house and went down for a visit with my old friends and old bosses Ed and Jan. It was like we picked up where we left off! AWESOME LOVE! The bonus was that I got to see Shelly, Ed and Jan’s daughter, and her husband Aaron! PLUS baby Loren!!! I am an Uncle again! What a little Angel Loren is! I love Kids!
I worked for Ed and Jan for about 12 years with that being working at WFRN and serving on the Board and Consultant after we moved to New Mexico. They taught me much! The one thing Ed taught me was, “How is your daily walk with Jesus Christ going?” That has stuck with me!!!!
Jan is suffering from liver problems and the Doctor she is seeing, Dr. Burt Verkson of Las Cruces, NM has had much success in his alternative treatment’s for liver disease. The way I understand it he is an MD put also uses homeopathic treatments. We had a wonderful bite to eat and visit and then it was back to the Duke City.
Let us continue to pray for Jan. She will be in Cruces one more week before retuning home to South Bend/Elkhart, Indiana.
There is nothing like friendships in the Lord!!!! and speaking of friendships in the Lord……….j
Pastor Leonard Navarre reports that his and Diana’s celebration of 40 years of marriage went AWESOME! Pastor Leonard not only makes a great Pastor, but a great Husband, Father and Grandpa!!!! You should see how he interacts with his grand kid’s!!!
Let us continue to pray for Pastor Don and Dorothy………here are the latest two reports from Don from Israel……… What AWESOME BLESSINGS!!!!
Hello everyone,
Last night was a wonderful night of worship, testimonies, preaching (of course), mighty prayers and communion. We were joined by an evangelistic team from the U.S. directed by Tom Doyle, author of “Two Nations Under God,” a book that well defines the struggle in this land for peace. Tom has roots in Albuquerque. What a small world! He will speak at a special service tonight, as he was in Gaza yesterday, preaching at the only evangelical Christian church there (a church that has been burned down once and their pastor killed).
Last night, as we left the meeting which lasted past midnight, we experienced what Paul must have felt when he left Ephesus for the last time. The people, most of whom we will never see again, “began to weep aloud and embraced him (us), and repeatedly kissed him (us)” (Acts 30:37). What an expression of God’s love. Tonight I’m sure we will experience more of the same from others. Isn’t it amazing that the love of Christ transcends all cultural, ethnic and even religious barriers? “Let those who love God’s salvation, be continually saying, ‘Let God be magnified.'” (Psm.70:4).
Today we will enjoy a picnic on the beautiful white beaches of Haifa with our hosts. Tomorrow we drive to Bethlehem (which will be filled by members of Fatah for their political conference). We will stay at the Bethlehem Bible College guesthouse then an afternoon trip to Jerusalem before we depart for home on Wednesday from Tel Aviv. We can’t express to you how much your prayers mean to us. “Let God be magnified,” over and over again!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Don and Dorothy
Hello everyone,
In 2006, our hosts Pastor Pastor Philip and Violet Saa’d, stood on their patio with their children reciting Scriptures as they watched rockets from S. Lebanon rain down on Haifa. First they hit the sea, then the seaport two miles away, and then flew over their heads toward the city, belching their lethal flames. They came from the demonic military of the Hezbollah. Such is the daily potential in the lives of those who live in Israel.
Today the Saa’ds are hosting a group of twenty-two from the States with E3 Partners. They are here to evangelize in the German Colony right below their home and where their church is located. The group will also be at our meeting tonight. Most of the Saa’d children are involved in the ministry with their parents. The three girls head up the worship team and Paul, the youngest, is out with the group today as a translator. Two of the girls, Nardene and Sharon are also in Medical School approaching internship.
They are tireless, full of faith, and have learned how to depend on God for everything. We have much to learn. Nothing is easy here in this hostile land and ministry is difficult trying to reach the Jews, Muslims and nominal Arabs with the saving grace of Jesus. And yet they are persistent and compassionate and trust that the Holy Spirit will do what man cannot. Please join with us as we encourage our brethren here with our love and prayers. They need our intercession. Judges 6:12 says, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” Surely he wrote this for the Saad’s and the Haifa Baptist Arab Christian Church as well. We’re so glad to be here for this season. See you soon.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Don and Dorothy
When I think of people like my wife Sharon, Sgt. Joe, Pastor Leonard, Ed and Jan Moore, Pastor Don and Dorothy, Pastor Joe Montoya Pastor Mark Tross, Dr. Larry Bates, Chuck Bates……..all my friends like YOU who surround me……… I think of Christian partnerships………..I am truly a blessed man……Oh my kid’s are so wonderful to me!
Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.
If one person falls, the other can reach out and help, But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.
And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone?
A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
I was sharing with Ed and Jan Moore what a wonderful family we have at KKIM and at the CUP! Thanks for being part of our family!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sharon and I value so much your prayers and love!!!
As we go about our lives here in the state’s…………..Let us not forget those who are giving their lives for us…….I sometimes think America is forgetting about our men and women in uniform and just produces lip service to their sacrifice………
The funeral for Benjamin Kopp was a long one.
It had to be.
There was too much to say about his remarkable life — his sacrifices for his country, his medals for saving six of his fellow soldiers, and the life he saved by donating his heart to a transplant recipient.
Army Ranger Spc. Chase Vanderhule shed a tear as he recalled fighting and partying alongside Kopp in Afghanistan.
“I said I would never have to wear a friend’s name on my wrist,” he said, raising his right wrist dramatically to reveal a rubber bracelet. “Well, now I do. My buddy, my friend, my brother … I’ll see you on the other side.”
Vanderhule was among the 700 people who gathered Saturday to honor Army Ranger Cpl. Kopp, 21, at Kopp’s alma mater, Rosemount High School.
Mourners included Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Minnesota Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar. Fifteen fellow Rangers flew in from Fort Benning, Ga., including three who had been with Kopp when he was attacked.
Meanwhile, in St. Paul, another military funeral was taking place at the Cathedral of St. Paul.
It was for Air Force Capt. Thomas J. Gramith, 27, of Eagan, who was killed July 17 while serving in Afghanistan. At his family’s request, there was no media coverage of that funeral.
The most memorable tribute to Kopp didn’t come during the service, but just before.
The hearse rolled quietly down a corridor of red, white and blue — a street lined with flags held by more than 100 volunteers. Near the
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door of the gymnasium, six uniformed Army Rangers slipped Kopp’s coffin out of the hearse and stood at attention.
A Blackhawk helicopter roared over the horizon. It slowed at treetop level, hovered over Kopp’s coffin, then floated up to the clouds like a spirit ascending in heaven.
“It made my knees buckle,” said Kopp’s mother, Jill Stephenson.
Stephenson recalled her son’s early stirrings of patriotism. “He said he wanted to be a soldier from the age of 12,” she said.
She said Kopp was inspired by his great-grandfather Leroy Rogers, an Army infantryman during World War II — and especially by Rogers’ case full of war medals.
“Ben loved history and nostalgia,” his mother said, “and I really believe he wanted to join the military to honor this country and to honor his grandfather.”
In high school, Kopp lifted weights and played football. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound frame, Stephenson said. “He was solid muscle.”
He enlisted in the Army in June 2006, just after high school graduation.
He served several tours of duty in the Mideast. Eventually, he joined the Rangers, the Army’s elite light-infantry corps.
Friend and fellow Ranger Ryan Lundeby recalled how Kopp was the life of every party. “He was always stuck on full throttle,” Lundeby said.
Kopp’s unit was assigned to Afghanistan in May. On July 10, Kopp’s unit attacked a Taliban safe haven and was involved in a firefight for hours, killing about 10 Taliban.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Votel said Kopp didn’t back down and saved the lives of six comrades.
But he was shot in the knee. With an artery severed, his blood pressure dropped to perilously low levels, damaging his brain. He was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
He died of his injuries July 18. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star with Valor, the Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart — awards just like his great-grandfather had.
But his death opened the door for a new kind of heroism.
Stephenson had found that her son wanted to be an organ donor. When he died, she posted the news on a Web site, mentioning that his organs were available for transplant.
Her cousin, Maria Burud, quickly replied. A friend of hers was dying with a congenital heart defect. Maybe, Burud said, the heart would be a match.
Seven hours later, she called Stephenson with the news: Kopp’s heart was a match for her friend — 57-year-old Judy Meikle — and the organ was being flown to Chicago.
Stephenson got the news on her cell phone. “I was walking down the sidewalk at the time, and I stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t walk.”
One day after Kopp died, his heart was transplanted into Meikle’s chest.
“It truly is a miracle, isn’t it?” Meikle said when contacted at a Chicago hospital last Tuesday, the day she was discharged to return to her Winnetka, Ill., home.
“Ben’s heart is so strong. My temperature is now normal. … My pulse, everything is better,” Meikle said.
“Jill will get to know me through this and see the other side of a transplant … and I’ll see the other side, too,” Meikle said.
She praised Stephenson for helping her and many others benefit from Kopp’s organs, including kidneys, liver and pancreas.
“She has given the ultimate gift to all these people … her son,” said Meikle, her voice choked with emotion.
Burud recalls touching Meikle on the chest. “I felt Ben’s beating heart,” she said.
The transplants have been a comfort to Kopp’s mother. “I’ve been able to find a great amount of joy in giving Ben’s organs to someone in need,” she said. “It does ease the pain; it really does.”
Kopp will be buried Aug. 7 at Arlington National Cemetery in A rlington, Va. But he won’t need a headstone to be remembered.
At the funeral, Chaplain Mike Shellman talked as if speaking to the spirit that ascended like the helicopter: “Ranger, son, grandson, friend, defender of freedom … go ahead, march on.
“May you rest in peace.”
Let us continue to pray for our men and women in uniform.
Sometimes many of us ask, What is next…………
Make Friends With Whatever’s Next
by Max Lucado
Embrace it. Accept it. Don’t resist it. Change is not only a part of life; change is a necessary part of God’s strategy. To use us to change the world, he alters our assignments. Gideon: from farmer to general; Mary: from peasant girl to the mother of Christ; Paul: from local rabbi to world evangelist. God transitioned Joseph from a baby brother to an Egyptian prince. He changed David from a a shepherd to a king. Peter wanted to fish the Sea of Galilee. God called him to lead the first church. God makes reassignments.
But, someone might ask, what about the tragic changes God permits? Some seasons make no sense…do such moments serve a purpose?
They do if we see them from an eternal perspective. What makes no sense in this lie will make perfect sense in the next. I have proof: you in the womb.
I know you don’t remember this prenatal season, so let me remind you what happened during it. Every gestation day equipped you for your earthly life. Your bones solidified, your eyes developed, the umbilical cord transported nutrients into your growing frame…for what reason? So you might remain enwombed? Quite the contrary. Womb time equipped you for earth time, suited you up for your postpartum existence.
Some prenatal features went unused before birth. You grew a nose but didn’t breathe. Eyes developed, but could you see? Your tongue, toenails, and crop of hair served no function in your mother’s belly. But aren’t you glad you have them now?
Certain chapters in this life seem so unnecessary, like nostrils on the preborn. Suffering. Loneliness. Disease. Holocausts. Martyrdom. Monsoons. If we assume this world exists just for pregrave happiness, these atrocities disqualify it from doing so. But what if this earth is the womb? Might these challenges, severe as they may be, serve to prepare us, equip us for the world to come? As Paul wrote, “These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing” (2 Cor. 4:17 CEV).
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Let us pray……….
Father, Help us do what we can, with what we have, for You today. Help us not compare or compete with others who serve You. Help us focus solely on what you’ve called us to do. In the name of Jesus, AMEN!!!
In the Love of Christ, Dewey Sharon and family