"Don & Brenda Ernst"

Sunnyside, that we had missionaries in Alaska. I had friends from Alaska in college and they were always just very enjoyable folks.

And often they talked about the peoples, people groups who lived in Alaska, and the conditions under which they lived.

And it was always a very interesting conversation about that. So, Don and Brenda you are most welcome.

Please come talk to us about what the Lord is doing in your ministry in Alaska. Well, let me just kind of give you just a little outline of what we'll do tonight.

I'll just give a short introduction and then my wife will come and share a little bit about our transition.

It was about a year and a half period and she will share about that. And then I will come back and give you a little more, try and give you a little more clearer picture of what we do now.

And then we're going to open up for lots of questions and answers. That's my favorite part. So, be ready for your questions if you have them.

And we'll go from there. But I was sharing with somebody earlier today with Dwight when we were sitting around the dinner table there and I said, you know,

I said, this church has been a part of our ministry for 30 years.

And that is a long time. And I was thinking back to when I first met

Harry Sr. And that was like 40 years ago. And so, there is a lot of history here.

And this church has always been a blessing to us. And I wanted to start out before I forget.

I wanted to share a little testimony, a little story about Harry Sr. because I don't want to forget it.

And I may have told you this story before. I can't remember if I did or not. Some of you are old enough that you won't remember either.

And some of you are young enough that you probably didn't ever hear it. So, I'll just share this because this is a story of how this church has always been a blessing to us, and not just as a church but even as individuals.

And I remember the time came in my airplane one time when the engine had reached the life, its life, and it was time to get another engine.

And my mechanic had recommended an engine to me, and it was going to cost like $40 ,000. And at the time he says,

I think this is really the way you need to go. And he says, how much money do you have? And I said,

I don't have any money. But I think that really sounds like a great engine.

We should go ahead and order that. And I said, I'll tell you what I'll do. I will send out a letter to our supporters and we'll just see what the

Lord will do. And so, yeah, let's go ahead and let's do this. And so, we ordered the engine, and I sent out a letter, and some funds started coming in.

And once in a while I would fly into Fairbanks to the mechanic, and I would check to see how that engine is coming.

And he'd say, oh, good. He says, how is your money coming? Oh, it's good. It's good. Anyhow, we went through a period of time.

And I remember walking into his shop right at the end and he said, okay. He says, here's the deal.

He said, they are ready to wrap up that engine, put on the final touches, and crate it up, and send it up, and they need the final payment.

And I said, okay. I said, great. I said, how much is that final payment? He said, $12 ,000.

And he said, what do you have? I don't have anything. And he said, well, what do you want me to do?

And I said, well, I don't know where that money is going to come from, but the

Lord does. And so you tell them just to wrap it up and get ready to send it. And so he was kind of taken aback, but he said, okay.

And we flew on home back to Hooslier. And I remember it was like about two days later my wife said, you ought to come upstairs and read this email.

And I said, okay. So I walk upstairs and I sit down, and I start to read this email, and it was from Harry Sr.

And he said, me and Corrine would like to help you with your engine. And he said, but we don't know where to send the money.

So what we need is an address. And so if you could give us an address, we will send some money. P .S.,

we're going to send, how much do you think he was going to send? How much? $12 ,000.

Exactly what I needed. And Harry and Corrine sent that to us. But this church has been just a huge blessing to us.

You have no idea. Harry has no idea how many times that has been a testimony for the

Lord. What a blessing. I will have my wife come and share a little bit about this time of transition.

Can I just pull this out? Okay. I would just like to say first of all, thank you, as Don has said, because one of the very first churches that picked us up and started supporting us when we started this adventure to Alaska.

And then not only money, the prayers that have gone up, and then we've got a lot of people that have given weeks of their life up there, too, in the

Bible camp and in Hoosley, working with the kids who are not kids anymore, just like you're not, and have invested in the ministry there as well.

And so we want to thank you. And some left a little blood behind on our house,

Andy, a few people like that, Josh, that were building it. So, yeah. All right.

You know, life is about changes. You know, when I was young, it's getting married, starting a career, babies, and it was pretty exciting changes, still overwhelming.

We've come, then life gets pretty normal, and we're plugging along. And then you get a little older and life changes hit again.

And they're maybe not quite as exciting. But and so the last about two years ago, well, actually, when we were out the last time here sharing about Alaska here at Oklahoma, that's when the changes started.

We had been telling people and planning our whole time to just stay in Hoosley, Alaska.

And not that we were looking forward to being buried there. But we wanted to be buried there. We just wanted to stay there till we died.

We had people tell us, you know, this, you need to live here and you need to die here.

And so that was our plan. And when we were out in Oklahoma the last time, two separate times, but close together,

God just laid on each of our hearts individually. Just just let me know one day out of the blue your time in Hoosley is over.

And I was like, no, you've I thought you wanted us to stay there for the rest of our life.

And so I balked a little bit, but I thought, okay, our time's up.

And so what made it difficult was then another year of knowing, okay, our time's up, but God not letting us know what's next at all.

Didn't know where we were going, what we would be doing. And when you see the time winding down, knowing you should be leaving, and then it gets a little nerve wracking when you don't know what to be planning.

And so it was a hard year. And I have to admit that not only not wanting to leave Hoosley because it's been my life.

Don built our house. He's built our boat. He's we've invested in the people for 27 years.

We probably buried about 75 people during that time. We had a lot of tears there.

And I just as I just didn't want to leave exactly. And the love that God had given for us for the people.

And so it was hard. And then on top of that, I had five grandkids now living there in the village.

Our daughter had married and lived there. And so I was a little reluctant. And yet God wouldn't.

Well, he heard a lot of whining, but he didn't change his plans for us. But after a year, then the mission did approach us and asked if Don would take over being the regional ministry director.

And he can explain more, but it's basically being over all the missionaries that are not on the road system.

And, and to just be a representative and an encourager and to help with that.

So we had the what, but we didn't know where. And so I was I was on the internet looking for housing in the valley around Anchorage and, and finally started working my way up the highway to Fairbanks and just, just nothing seemed to be coming out clear where we should be going.

And it was just ironic then because we had, he had been teaching down in Saldatna, we came back up, stayed in Fairbanks at a hotel, and another missionary was in taking flying and said,

Hey, I didn't know you guys were in, let's get together. And she told us about some friends who just had their renters move out of their house and they wanted to sell rent something.

And she says, you wanna go see it tonight? And we was it the next day, I think, and we went to see it. Well, we can imagine

God just had taken us to the right place at the right time. And it was more than we were ever looking for.

We were kind of looking for small one story home to retire in maybe. And God has given us this big house that can, we can host families down in the basement.

It has a garage workshop for Don who loves to work wood. And, and once you know, there's a little runway right by it, where we pull off and park our airplane.

And so there was that change. The other changes going on as we were mentoring people at the time, thinking one of the couples, the first couples that came up is good, we'll, we'll have them for Houslia.

But they felt their heart was in Alakacket. And that was the village way north of us.

And so they went to Alakacket after a year of us mentoring them. Then another couple came and we mentored them.

And we'd kind of chased them down. And we were out four years ago, we went up to Minnesota to see them and put a little plug in their ear about Houslia, Alaska, just in case.

And so they came up and we mentored them for a year. And then they decided they would be interested in staying and taking our place.

And so they, they moved into our home there in Houslia. So we had to change jobs.

And then on top of this, then we get word that my dad has cancer. So we come out and spend a little extra time.

And, and so we're visiting with him a little more than normal, too. But we get all packed up, get everything on the barge and move it out.

So we can pick it up and we move it into our home. And we just got it in our home and we got a call that Don's mom was failing rapidly.

And so we, as soon as we could find our clothes to pack, we went out and we didn't get there in time, but his mom had died.

And so we had that funeral and we come back and it wasn't even two weeks and we got the call that my dad was dying.

So we went back again. And so just a lot of changes were hitting us at once.

And then we really didn't even get to settle into the house. Don's job requires a lot of traveling and then it was home service time.

And then we come back and travel and it's home service time again. And so I'm a homebody.

So this is a little challenging to not be home when you have a home. But again,

I guess what I want to say is all this, and it's not that it's poor on me, but it's just been a lot of changes, a lot of transition.

And I can say, God is good. God is good. I'm happy to be where I am.

God is blessing things that we're, he's using us. I still, you know, I've kind of struggled.

Okay. He's the regional ministry director. What am I? Because I was the village missionary. Now, what am

I? And yet, um, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think about what to look for to do because God keeps bringing it to me.

And so, uh, I, I was, there were tears for all these changes and yet, uh,

God is good. I've been blessed and I know there's a lot of changes coming. I know our age, I know what's coming and I can't say we're real excited about aging and stuff.

And yet God is good. We're changing, but God never changes and you can just rest on that.

And so, you know, we're up here and you're, I'm sure you're, you're looking at us after 40 years and going, yep, you changed.

And I hope it's because some too, you can see how God has grown us, um, through all the changes in life and the challenges.

And yet I remember one of the ladies that I was doing a Bible study with in the village. And she said,

I don't think we can ever get to the level of trust you have. And I said, I didn't get here overnight.

You know, God is taking us, taking us through things to teach us that we can trust him no matter what.

And he's just reaffirmed it again through all these changes. These last couple of years, I can trust him no matter what.

So that has been good. And I just want to say too, though, that, you know, there's been those changes, but there are things that are steadfast, like you guys that are always here for us.

And I know that, I know you're praying for us. And that does so much to help somebody keep going when, when it gets a little tough, you know.

And so thank you for just being here. It is a blessing to see you all. You've become dear friends.

I remember when we started and didn't know hardly anybody. And now we can't wait to come back to see people again, because you've really became special to us in our hearts.

So thank you for all you've done for us. Well, what do

I do? That's a good question. Anybody got any answers?

The Regional Ministry Director, I was trying to give somebody a little bit of an idea.

And basically, as my wife said, we are there to help mentor, and support, and encourage all the village missionaries throughout the state.

And to give you some way to put that in perspective, if you took

Oklahoma, and you almost set it side by side, the area that we cover is almost the size of four

Oklahomas, and it's all by airplane. And so we travel a lot of distances.

These villages where the missionaries are, are scattered hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of miles apart.

And part of our job is to go there and not just to sit and listen as they go through struggles, which we know are going to come.

But part of our job is to encourage them as they go through these struggles. And some people who know me a little bit, they say, how can

Don encourage anybody? And so my wife, you know, she's pretty sharp.

And so, she thought about it for a little while, and she says, I've got it. I've got it. You can encourage every missionary that we go visit.

As soon as you tell them, well, I'm going to go now, they'll be encouraged. So, we go around and we encourage the missionaries.

But more than that, one of the things that I was really, really frustrated with when the

Lord called us out, because I mean every Sunday, every Sunday I got to preach.

And preaching is just my passion. That's what I want to do. And I thought, here

I am Lord, you called me out of Hoosley, and now what? But it's been amazing how the

Lord has opened up opportunities. The little church that we found in North Pole that we started going to, we found out as soon as we got there the preacher was leaving.

No, wait, don't tie that together. No, no. I see your minds working. Don't tie that together.

No. He had already had that planned for some time. But anyhow, he left. And so, hey, they've got to have somebody fill in.

And I was there for the month of May, and I got to preach the month of May. And then in September I got to preach the month of September.

And one of the things, it's been a huge blessing because we've spent so many years in the village.

And we've been through a few things as we walked down through that trail. And so, the

Lord has given us opportunities not just to go and visit the village, but when there are special programs going on, training programs,

He's given us opportunities to go there. I've had some great opportunities to go to some different Bible centers, and to teach through some studies.

In the end of May we have what we call the Northern Ministry Training, and it is set up for all new missionaries, new pastors, new teachers, whoever is going to be going out to the bush, and living in the village it is just like a four -year training program one week every year to help get you prepared for going out to go cross -cultural, and what you are going to deal with.

And so, that's been a huge blessing. Every year I get to teach a bunch of courses in that.

And so, the Lord has given me opportunity, even though I had to leave Husslea, and so that's been good.

So, there are all those elements of flying around and visiting missionaries. And one of the things, our heart is such that there are probably about 15 villages, and close to probably 21, 22 family units that we go visit.

But then, that's within our organization, within Send North. But then there are families who are not with Send North, who are out in the village doing the very same thing, trying to plant a church, trying to be a witness in that village.

And they really don't have much for support at all. And so, you know what?

It don't matter who you're with. If you're out there working for the Lord, hey, if we can come along and help you, and encourage you, we'll be there.

And so, there are some families outside of the organization that we go, and we visit. And again, when

I leave, they are, okay. But it's been a big change.

But I think it's been a great change. The young couple that replaced us in the village, they come in with a new heart, a new passion, and a lot of youth and energy.

And I look at the kids club that they're running, and the youth group that they're running, and they've got great, they've got a great program going, great attendance.

And that's what they needed in the village, was somebody young again. And I'm still young at heart, trust me.

But anyhow, the body does make changes. So, anyhow, that's basically, that is basically what we're doing now.

I just, I told somebody, when we get done being outside at this point, and we finish up our

Mexico trip, and we get back home, about the first of the year is when we really get back home.

And we're going to be there two months before we have to travel again. And out of close to a little over a year, probably about 16 months, those two months are going to be the most that we've ever been in the village back to back.

And so, we're kind of looking forward to that time. But let me open it up for questions.

And who, let's see, I got a thing. Oh, yeah, you guys are going to come, Dwight, and you guys are going to come up with really hard questions.

So, yeah. Anyhow, so we're not going to take any from you. But anyhow, we want to open up for questions.

So, if you have a question for my wife or myself, now is your chance. Just raise your hand or start talking or something, and we'll see what we can do to answer it for you.

I just say, if there ain't no questions, I'm going to start preaching. You'd be wishing you asked questions. Yes? I would say somewhat what you experience outside here is you see that there is a shortage of pastors in many denominations.

And even up there in Alaska, you can go to the Friends denomination, you can go to the

Covenant denomination who have a lot of work going on more in the Eskimo type country.

There are churches, I mean church after church that does not have a pastor. So, there is a huge shortage of pastors in Alaska.

We have, I have villages where there are openings where we could send missionaries if we had them.

But that's a huge challenge right now is for the Lord to raise up missionaries that are willing to go up there, and live up there, and be the light.

And it is not an easy place. As we've shared time and again as we've come through here, it's not an easy place.

And I've seen missionaries come, and I've seen them go, because it's just, they just say it's too hard.

And I remember one of the most heartbreaking times was there was a young mission family, they came up and they went into this little village.

And I had been in that village, and I knew that village. And they went in there, and there was a little church already there, a little

Bible church already there and everything. And so, they went there. And of course, pretty soon after they are there, it's village setting and tragedy strikes.

There's always tragedy. And like my wife shared earlier, you know, we've probably 75 people in our village, and probably the most, that's a lot of people in a small village when you're talking of a few hundred people, to lose that many.

But in all of those funerals, I am not aware of one, not one, where I would say he or she was a believer.

So, it's tough. And so, this young couple went in the village and tragedy hit.

And someone had committed suicide. So, they were there to minister to the family, and trying to encourage the family, you know, hey, listen, listen,

God can get you through this. We know it's hard, but the Lord, He is faithful. He is true.

He can get you through this. His grace is there. And it wasn't but a few months after that that they planned to leave the village.

And they had only been there six months, and they were ready to leave. And me and my wife, we flew over to that village because they called us up and wanted to have a meeting.

And we went over and we met in one of the homes. And I just remember them talking about where I thought he told us that God is there.

He is faithful. He is true. His grace is there. He can get you through anything. Why they left.

And they sat around in chairs in a living room, and some of them wept saying, we need a pastor.

So, it is a huge challenge in the churches in the villages. If there is a church there, or even if someone needs to go in and start a church, that we have people who are willing to go and serve up there.

That's huge. Yes? I know that funding for missionaries overall has been in sharp decline.

And I was just wondering about is that part of the challenge of getting, trying to raise up new missionaries to go anywhere, but also

Alaska. Is there any talk about, I don't understand village life like you do, but is there any kind of tent making opportunities for missionaries to be more of a bi -locational presence?

If they are homesteading or working, doing something, is there any opportunity for that to offset the great degree of funding that is normally required?

In some of the really small villages, there is not really much of an opportunity for tent making because jobs are so hard to come by, so scarce, that the local people almost fight amongst, well they do sometimes fight amongst themselves to get that job and to try and make ends meet.

So, if you went in there as a missionary and said, I think I will take this job, then that could be a challenge.

Unless you would go in as potentially a teacher. A teacher position, there is that opportunity under that setting for that.

If you go to a hub village where it is a little bigger village, a mixed village of white and native, then there is a better chance of doing something like a tent making proposition.

There would be that there then. Part of the, but there is that huge challenge.

It is taking missionaries who want to go into the mission service full time, it is taking them longer and longer to raise their support to get up to the field.

I think some of them probably get, just like give up on it and just do something else then, but it is a challenge.

Because a lot of churches have shifted their emphasis from career missions to short term missions.

So, there is a lot of short term mission trips that take place, but not so much emphasis on career missions.

And even some to the point where even missions is not up on the forefront like it used to be.

Yes? What is the difference between Eskimo and... Okay, between like the

Eskimo group and then say the Alaskan native, Eskimo starts with an

E, native. But there are a few other differences also, yes.

The Eskimos tend to be more along the coastal region which makes a huge difference because they've been exposed to the

Gospel at least 50 years more than the interior of Alaska because the ships always went around the coastal country.

And the Eskimos lived off of the water, what was ever in the water.

So, they were there on the coast and the ships came through. So, the trading began. And so, they have their culture and it is very different than the native culture like the

Athabascans that we work with. It is a different culture. Many times even they not only look different just sometimes the way they think and operate is different.

And like I say very exposed much longer period of time to the

Gospel. When you get into the interior because it was more remote and isolated not as many people went into that country.

And so, they really haven't had the Gospel near as long.

And because they were more isolated for a longer period of time maybe a little more resistant also.

Eskimos tend to be very much more joyful, and open, and they will listen to you talk about spiritual things, and they will listen to the

Gospel and they may respond. As a matter of fact they may respond every other week to the invitation if you give it.

Kind of shallow there. But the Athabascan normally across the board they don't even want to listen.

So, there is a difference there, spiritually a very much difference. And they each have their own belief system and things like that.

In our travels, in the time I've traveled around up there we got to know some of the

Eskimos, and I got into some of those villages. But most of the ministry that Send North does at this point is within the

Athabascan region. But as Regional Ministry Director I'm starting to look beyond that saying, okay these people are talking to me saying, we have no preachers, we have no preachers we need them.

And so, I'm starting to explore the opportunity of expanding Send North into those regions where there is nobody there in the churches.

Yes? Is this a hard question now? Okay. I would say through the years it's been all of the above there.

It's been everything. I mean sometimes I've went in with maybe VBS groups, yeah, from this church.

I've went in with groups like that from the church. Sometimes I've flown in with another, maybe a native person from our village.

Other times I've just flown in by myself. It just kind of really the circumstance kind of dictates what

I would do. Most of the time now when we fly around normally it's just me and my wife flying around to go to the villages.

Yes, Ken? Speaking of flying and you talked about your plane earlier, how is your plane?

How is it holding up? Have you gotten a new plane or what's the status on that? Well, I think, let's see, it was probably about a year and a half ago

I sold the one plane, the Cessna 180 that I had. Man, I loved that airplane.

I had that for like 20 years. And when I used to open that door and climb in and sit in that seat

I was more comfortable there than any chair in my house. I mean I just spent so many hours in that airplane.

I knew that airplane. And so I loved that airplane. But I don't know how this happened.

I don't know how this happened. But somehow some of the supporters when we started out they got old.

And some of them passed on and anyhow. And so financially we started struggling a little bit and we said, well, maybe we just need to get rid of the airplane because it took a lot of money to run it.

But I didn't really want to do it. And so finally we came to the agreement that, I'll tell you what, if the

Lord wants us to sell it, he can bring somebody to us. And then in less than two weeks

I get this email. But I told my wife, I said, if so, I've got to have this much money out of it. So in less than two weeks

I get this email from this guy and he says, I would like to buy your airplane. I'll give you this much money, which happened to be exactly what

I told my wife, and I'll pay for the annual. And so I looked at her and I said,

I guess it's gone. And so we sold it. And then we went about a half a year without it and then

I bought another little airplane. Still a four seat, but much smaller, more economical to operate.

And it's fabric, more fabric instead of all metal. But it's doing what we need it to do.

And it's a good airplane. And it gets us around slower, but it gets us around. But that's all right,

I'm slowing down too. So, yeah. Yes? How did you meet

Brother Michael in Alaska? Oh, you know what? I did not.

But that would be a great place to meet him though. He could someday maybe come up and see us. He's young.

He looks strong to me. I think I could put him to work. Okay, yes, another question.

Oh, yes? I think I was getting far from you though.

Okay. I was talking to those trees. Yeah. Yeah, Cochrane Hills, for those of you who don't remember,

Cochrane Hills Bible Camp was a Bible camp located on the Yukon River between Ruby and Tanana.

It serves most of, a lot of the villages in the interior, northern part of the interior.

And for years we used to, I flew kids into Bible camp in my airplane. And at that time there was no runway.

But being on floats, the river was the runway. And so we got kids in and out of there and everybody came by boat.

And now in the last, I don't know, probably six, seven years or so, they punched a runway.

And just if you remember, if you've been to Cochrane Hills, there's a little stream that comes down.

And just to the east of that stream, they cut out a whole bunch of timber and they made a somewhat crooked runway going uphill.

And so, now it's just totally switched around.

Instead of bringing kids to camp by boat, they are all brought in with airplane.

And so it's just been a huge shift. But there are still a lot of kids that go to camp.

And one of the neatest things, if you remember probably through the years, I've told you a story about Roger Huntington and everything.

And well, there came a time in the history of the camp where Roger wasn't totally in charge of the camp, but he was beginning to have some authority within that setting.

And there was someone else who was like in more authority. But there became a discussion about, well, you know what, now this is a camp and we want the kids to have a lot of fun.

And so, we don't really want to confront them about their sin, and we don't want to talk about repentance, and none of those things, because we want them to have fun.

And Roger was saying, no, no, no, no, this is a Bible camp. And one of the first words that Jesus used as recorded in Scripture was what?

Repent. And so, we need that Gospel message in there, and we need to follow the

Word of God. And he kind of got animated about it. And anyhow, he won.

And so, the Bible camp is exactly that, it has remained strong to the core, to the

Word of God. And it's so neat because he demands a lot of those kids when they come, you don't have a

Bible? You will in a minute, and they'll get them a Bible. And when you go to session, you will follow along in the

Scripture. I mean he demands a lot. And they respond. And they respond. So, it's a neat camp, still.

Yep. Yes? >>[inaudible question from audience member 1]: I asked you about your daughter the other day, and you shared.

Why don't you tell us about your kids? Update us on them, and we'll be able to hear from them.

Okay, we have three that are doing good. Anything else? Hon. >>[inaudible question from audience member 2]:

Maybe this was for your wife. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I give you the guy answer, okay.

She tells you the really story. >>[inaudible question from audience member 3]: Our daughter is still in the village, married and we have five kids.

They are from 9 to 19, and I was graduated. So, getting to learn to be a grandma to an adult, that's interesting too.

And our oldest son, Joshua, just moved to Portland, Oregon. Married, has a little 16 month old girl.

And you can be praying for him, specifically. Really, really good kids.

Joshua and Liz, they are good hearted people. They need God. They need to be God's people. And then there is

Jason, who goes by Darius. Darius Jason, our youngest son, is in Cancun.

And he still has his Tree of Life ministry. But YWAM approached him, the youth information approached him and asked him to open a base there.

And so September they started their first discipleship training school there.

And I think he has nine students. And he's excited because I think four of them are local people from the church they've worked with.

And so, their ministry is going really, really well. So, he has a nine year old daughter.

And so, kids are doing great. The grandkids are too. That's pretty near what

I said. Okay, yes. We're going to have to wind down really quick here.

Yes. It can be.

It can be. It's amazing when you go through that period of darkness.

Like in Housli where we used to live you would probably, it was dark like 20 hours out of the day.

And it's cold. You're running through some of your coldest weather the 40, 50, 60 below zero.

And you think you're not going to let it get to you. You think you can rise above this.

But somehow, somehow with all the cold and all the dark it does take you down.

And I just remember when the light used to start coming back and I would walk around the village and I'd come back home and I'd say, you know what?

People can still smile. I saw a person smile today.

I mean it just takes, it takes your attitude down and people get grumpy and complaining.

And so, yes, it affects you for sure. You need that sun in your body. And so, yes, it makes a change.

But, yes. All right, let's. Okay, there are some, let me just say yes, there are some brochures in the back.

Are there some pictures back there? And there are some, I think some new prayer cards back there. And then we just have a computer set up and it's just rotating through slides.

If you just want to look at that for a minute or two, you're welcome to do that. But, again, we want to thank you so much for being part of our ministry.

And I'll tell you what, Norm, when you go through that, when you go through that darkness or when you go through a tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, when you wrestle through some of the situations in the village, as my wife said earlier, knowing that there are people back here praying, it just lifts you up just to know that that is going on.

That means a lot. And if you do not receive our newsletter, my wife writes a great newsletter every other month or so.

And if you would like to receive that newsletter, if you would back there you could just put down your email address, and we will no, let me stop right there.

She will make sure that she puts it on a list and gets that newsletter sent to you.

So, thank you again. Thank you for coming out tonight and listening and just sharing with us.

So, thank you. I'm leaving.

If y 'all did not get a chance to write a check for donation or put something in an envelope, you can see

Brother Dennis back here. Hurry back, and he'll make sure that it gets to where it's supposed to go. Don and Brenda, it's our joy to support you with our prayers, with our finances.

We're glad to have you. So, thank you, guys. Don't let Don and Brenda get away.