(cont from previous page) College in Tennessee were saved when they all scrambled into a small bathroom in the dorms, and after the storm was over, the bathroom was the only thing left intact; the building around it was gone, and they were unhurt. All of these hit and miss events make me wonder what God was thinking and why some were saved and others were not. So I asked my Pastor about it. Pastor Frank has great insight into matters like this. He asked me to look it in terms of the sovereignty of God. Since God has the absolute right to do all things and cause all things according to his own will, we should not question why he causes things and why these events sometimes result in death and destruction, and sometimes people are miraculously saved. Things like tornados are unpredictable but inevitable in certain parts of our country. Common sense would perhaps help to minimize injury or death. We need to recognize the threat of these events and be better prepared. For example, this tornado in Arkansas completely flattened a mobile home park, yet people keep living in this type of housing in tornado country. After all, God has shown us where such events have occurred in the past, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to show us what we should do to prepare. Here in Bakersfield maybe we should be considering installing stronger or heavier roofing. So when you give your tithe this month, just thank God that our Church still stands and no one was hurt here in Bakersfield, and pray for those that lost loved ones during these storms. Please bear with us as we struggle to make the necessary repairs to our church, so that we can continue to keep on keeping on, and spreading the Good News across the land.P.S. Scriptural references for the sovereignty of God: (Dan. 4:25, 35; Romans 9:15-23; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 4:11).

Another Former Member On The Mission Field
Sherry (Guess) Eggleston and her husband Perry have been appointed to serve Christ in Central Asia with Mission Aviation Fellowship, (MAF). The MAF has a fleet of 54 aircraft flying more than three million miles each year in remote regions of the world, providing the salvation message to otherwise unreachable people, assisting Churches in remote areas. I talked to Sherry about this exciting new chapter in her life. pShe told me the “Humanitarian Workers” involved in this ministry also bring communications services, learning technologies, community development, medical assistance, and disaster assistance to isolated areas world wide. Effective August, 2008, they will be serving in Afghanistan. Perry will be coordinating MAF worldwide assignments, and Sherry will be teaching at the International School in Kabul. pThis assignment is for 21 months.Many of you will remember Sherry’s bright smiling face as a member of our church back in the early 1990’s. My old 1992 church pictorial directory includes a picture of her and her two boys, Kyle and Troy. Sherry married Perry in 1999, and after finishing school, she has been able to fulfill a life long desire to serve God in Foreign Mission work. Both her boys have been called by God into the ministry. p Kyle, now married, is in his last year at Fresno State, after which he plans to also enter the Foreign Mission field. Troy has just finished a degree at California Baptist University, is also married, and has moved to Texas with his wife to go to Baptist Southwestern Seminary. He plans to return to Riverside and teach at CBU.pWorkers like Sherry and Perry in the MAF are supported by prayers from home churches and funded through private donations. They are looking for prayer and financial partners. If you are interested in receiving their progress letters or providing support, the MAF donor services number is 1-800-359-7623. Please keep this couple in your prayers as they enter this exciting work.
Grandpa Dickps: Little known fact. Sherry was once elected as honorary mayor of Oildale. How about that!

Neighbor Builds Dune Buggy while Grandpa Dick Builds AWANA Car In April each year the garage at Grandpa Dick’s house becomes a workshop for building AWANA Cars for the big AWANA Grand Prix Race at the end of April. This year’s Race and Award Ceremony was on Sunday, April 27, 2008. One of our AWANA kids, Greg Marquez, lives next door, and with help from our granddaughter Kari, has been working on his car. The last two weeks before the race were really busy in the car workshop as we worked on shaping and painting our cars, adding weights, axles and wheels. We also put the finishing touches on cars made by some of the kids that don’t have help at home. pMeanwhile, in a garage just two doors over, our neighbor (lets call him Robert) is building a dune buggy. Sounds of metal saws, grinders, and welders echo though the cul-de-sac. I was particularly interested in the similarities as we worked on different projects. pWhile Robert is busy cutting and welding pieces to make his chassis, and cutting pieces to form the body, we are cutting and shaping our blocks of wood into chasses and bodies for our cars. We are precisely adding weight to make the 5 oz. requirement, Robert is carefully installing the hopped up VW engine. He is adding shocks, steering mechanisms and offroad wheels, and we are carefully attaching our axles and wheels. We both spend considerable time sanding the exteriors smooth as glass. pOne day I heard Robert start up his spray painting equipment as he began to paint the body. Meanwhile we were putting the finishing paint and stickers on our cars. Then I heard him fire up the engine and give it a final tuning. When finished we admired our products. pWe both had fun racing our cars, but it was a different kind of fun. Robert loaded up his family for the weekend towing his buggy. We took all the cars to Church to compete in the design and speed competitions at the AWANA Car Race on Sunday afternoon. We smiled as the kids we helped proudly showed off their cars. pI would suspect that Robert and his friends had a presentation of winners. Our Award Ceremony was in the Church Sunday evening, and some of the cars we helped to build won awards for the kids. p So, yes, I’m sure we both had fun, but if I had to choose between the two, the choice is a no brainer. I would choose the AWANA program every time.