Christmas 2010

2010-12-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Ruth's 2010 batch of soap drying in back yard

Bruno helping Neil play Scrabble

Dear Friends-

Our House After Painting Completed

Life is a journey of the heart. Behind all the events of life there is a hidden journey of the heart which travels through these events. The Bible is full of examples of people whose hearts traveled through hard and good times trusting God and were blessed in the long term for it.
Ruth has been the most wonderful wife in the world. I am reminded as I write this that I need to hold her hand and rub the back of her neck more often. She takes care of all the financial accounts and mentors several young ladies. I have been mentoring another “Neil” who at age 15 is a junior at UMM. This is a special application for the father part of my heart.

Our hearts have bonded with the folks at Harvest Community Church (HCC), Fargo where I have been the interim pastor for two years. Some HCC members even drove down and painted our house for us this summer! What a marvelous group to work with. God has given us another chance to improve our parenting skills as we become mom and dad to a new group of young people. Phil and Katie Reindl have shared their home with us on the weekends. If the winter storms hold off, we hope to be in on helping them move to their newly purchased home near Horace, ND. Ruth preaches when I am not in the area and cares for the gals who need rides to church. We also meet with an engaging group before church on Sunday at the local Frying Pan restaurant. You never know who is going to show up or what the topic will be!

Young people in Kenya stayed attentive for 3 hour service

As I review the events of the past year in my mind, my heart rejoices in our connection with our Outfitters churches in Kenya. What a blessing to see how we can encourage and support people across the ocean in a culture so different from ours. There are 80+ orphans who receive assistance from our donors and are placed in homes in the local community. Although Ruth has not been able to accompany me yet because of her allergies to diesel smoke and dust, her prayers go with us as she relays our stories via email to folks back home. Our many thanks go to Jan Nieland who administrates ROCK, the Kenyan orphan project.

We have been blessed to watch Stephen and Maureen Holmes care for the people of their church in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Ruth and my annual visits there have been a part of our journey to connect with Bethany Eastvold, our Outfitters missionary at the Teen Challenge in Newbridge, just west of Dublin, Ireland. My heart weeps for the girls at the home who began life at such a disadvantage, took drugs to numb the pain, and are trying to start afresh with the help of Jesus.

The Voss home group in Brooten continues to grow in stature. Ruth and I have been driving over there for one night a week for over 5 years now. They have become family with us in a very special way. Ruth also teaches there when I am gone.

Whoever would think that Boy Scouts would be a part of our lives at this age? Through my UFFDA connection I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to be a chaplain for a week of scouting at Camp Wilderness near Park Rapids. There I share my heart with scouts, staff, and scout leaders, stressing the wonderful hand of God in creation. While there, I connected with the Morris troop. It looks like I may be taking my second group of Morris scouts to Canada for a canoe/camp trip in the wilderness this coming summer.

2010 Canadian Quetico Wilderness Canoe/Camping Trip

Did someone say “UFFDA!”? The annual hunt in Park Rapids was a wonderful event this year. I usually put 900 miles on my pickup scouting for places for the disabled to archery hunt deer as well as placing them in the field. I also am the chaplain and do the meat for 3 meals on my huge hog cooker. The heart-to-heart relationships formed there are so rewarding.

I am looking forward to being with my buddy David Garcia again this January in southern Mexico. I guess I have been going down there to see him for about 20 years now. The trips back into the mountains with the indigenous tribes are amazing. One man even named his baby after me but sorry, there is no “Neil” among my Indian friends in Mexico. “Neil” is not a name in their language. They have a word that sounds like Neil, but it means only “come”. However, the Spanish word for “come” is “ben” and that IS a name in the Bible: Benjamin! So the baby’s name is Benjamin, after the Indians’ name for me! They pronounce the name “Ben-ha-meen” and joke that I look like Marcos, the head of the rebels in that area.

As I write this I see in my mind’s eye many, many friends who have touched our hearts, whether it has been a listening ear or being a companion on one of our adventures. Truly we are thankful for our friends who have filled our lives in so many ways this past year. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

May you have a wonderful time celebrating the birthday of Jesus, our Jewish friend and brother. May the Lord bless you in 2011.

Love,

Neil and Ruth Thielke

Books we have read: Waking the Dead by John Eldredge, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Phillip Yancey, The Pilgrim Church by EH Broadbent, The Calvary Road by Roy Hessian, Hearing Heart by Hannah Hunnard, and The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson. We have also enjoyed two video/dvd courses this year in our studies: The Alpha Course by Nicky Gumbel, and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Gunnard

2010-10-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

by Neil Thielke, Christmas 2006

Sunday I took Gunnard, my cat, to church. It was our annual Christmas program where individual families bring something to share. I brought Gunnard... So you might think what could Gunnard possibly have to do with Christmas?

We see many cats around the world. Here are a couple in Barnaul, Siberia:

Beautiful kitty and caretaker

"I'll make you a deal you can't refuse"

After seeing such beautiful cats as we travel, why would we take in a stray? Last winter we had a pane of glass out on the west side of the garage under a roofed area that I store my boat in. Throughout the winter I would hear thisscrambling sound once in a while when I went into my garage. I figured it was a cat but not once did I see it.How could you not see a cat run through your garage? Well, if it was my friend’s garage, I could see why you would ask the question. My friend keeps his garage spotless and you could see a mouse run any where in the place. On the other hand, my garage is STUFFED with things that I need. I do hog roasts, guide canoe trips to the Canadian wilderness, weld and fix my own equipment. I have woodworking machines as well as the wood and supplies to work with. And I am the son of a line of farming survivors of the dirty thirties- we keep everything because “You might need it some day”- so my garage has all this stuff that I just may need in case of a possible hardship some day and I am just too busy to re-arrange it all.In the spring we had a young man living in the apartment in our basement and, unbeknown to us, he began to catch sight of the cat early in wee hours of the morning when he returned home from work. He befriended the cat and started to feed it some scraps. So the cat made its appearance during the day and Ruth and I discovered it. We called the kitty over to us and started to pet it. He was very friendly jumping up on my lap and pushing his big head under my chin and PURRING loudly. He also was very skinny from the foraging he had to do to survive over the winter. Temperatures got to -20F and the wind howls here in west/central Minnesota.

I called our friend Linda from the humane society and lined up a pick up for the stray. Linda said that she would pick him up after the weekend. In the meantime, the cat would come around for food and petting. Ruth named the cat “Gunnard”. By now you can see the trap was laid.When Linda came she said that the humane society was filled to capacity with cats at the moment and that Gunnard would have to be a foster cat after his shots and neutering. We volunteered to be a temporary foster home for Gunnard until a home was located and the trap quickly snapped shut behind us. The shots and neutering cost $80- which we were told was a good deal since the vet is a volunteer for the humane society. By the time Gunnard arrived back at our house for foster care Ruth and I had already decided to keep him- even though we already had one cat. So we paid off Linda the $80 ($80 for a cat- My grandfather would roll over in his grave!) and possessed Gunnard for our very own.Here are 3 lessons we have learned from having Gunnard:1) Gunnard spent the whole winter in my garage as a stray. Humankind before Jesus had all gone astray too (“All we like sheep have gone astray”). We are just like Gunnard prior to knowing the Lord- skinny, scruffy and “free”. When we come to the Lord we entrust our lives to him and come under his authority and peace. We also come into his supply. Jesus came to make a way (“I am the way”) that we might come into his house where it is warm. Now Gunnard steps back from the door when I open it and the cold air comes in. No way does he want to go back out there- neither should we.

Gunnard ENGAGES everything and everyone around him. When we carry him he always has a paw out looking for some toy to latch on to. God wants us to actively engage Him- both corporately and singly. If only we had our hands out to him every opportunity we got! And what about all those people that God put around us to engage and love? Is there someone we can put a paw out to today?

"look how it goes 'round, & round, & round, & round"

Ruth and I enjoy Gunnard. God enjoys us the same way. As we begin to enjoy God and his Word we sense his enjoyment of us. His acceptance of us when our lives belong to him is a given. His enjoyment of us is condintional -- according to conditions we choose, that is. In other words, if we want to stay in the garage, we can.

And so, you see, Gunnard has a lot to say to us about Christmas. May the Lord bless your Christmas this year, and every year to come!

Love, Neil & Ruth Thielke

Outfitters for Adventure Greetings

Christmas 2010

Gunnard