He raped the whole country of morality, of integrity. He implemented a trend of corruption in a people who were not corrupt. He raised a generation of people who wanted to steal rather than to work for personal gain. -Robert Kayanja, Miracle Centre Cathedral in Kampala, Uganda That is a… Read More »The Hero of Africa
Last Sunday in church Phil quoted from Henri Nouwen’s book Wounded Healer. The quote struck me as being somewhat profound, so I thought I would share it because it is something that I have been thinking about all week. Compassion is not pity. Pity lets us stay at a distance.… Read More »Compassion
The Taiwan Times By Mark Wolfram Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan May 2009 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15 Every Tuesday night we have Bible Study in English for the… Read More »Taiwan Times – May 2009 Issue
Mark’s April Newsletter. The Taiwan Times By Mark Wolfram Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan April 2009 Daddy Doug and the Boyz… Greetings to all of you, in the love of Christ. The title of this was the name given to a group of Americans who invaded a public school… Read More »Taiwan Times – April 2009 Issue
Last night was Good Friday. At the conclusion of our church service the congregation walks by a simulation of the crucifixion. I’m not going to pretend that this is one of my favorite things that my church does, but I took a few pictures since Logan played Christ. I guess… Read More »Jesus Christ Pose
Last night my church had a fairly unique service. A woman from Jews for Jesus came and gave a presentation on the traditional Jewish Passover feast. She explained the meaning of each cup, prayer, tradition and food item. The presentation was interactive, so we sampled many of the foods. Most… Read More »Prayer, Reflection, Horseradish & Jumpshot
Today is Maundy Thursday. I have been asked a few times lately about Maundy Thursday, so I will give everybody a small succinct answer about what Maundy Thursday means. At least if you are a Methodist. It has slightly different meanings for other denominations. Maundy Thursday, also called Holy Thursday,… Read More »Mandatum
Mark’s March Newsletter. The Taiwan Times By Mark Wolfram Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan March 2009 Exciting News! Greetings to everyone. I would like to open this newsletter by informing everybody that I have decided to extend my service in Taiwan for another year. After much prayerful consideration, I… Read More »Taiwan Times – March 2009 Issue
Mark’s February newsletter. The Taiwan Times By Mark Wolfram Reporting on God’s mission in Taiwan February 2009 Christian Support Here at Concordia Middle School, I teach Bible class for 7th and 8th graders, and like any classroom it has both rewarding and challenging aspects. On one hand, it is a… Read More »Taiwan Times – February 2009 Issue
Jesse and I woke up in Coolidge, Arizona and made our way to a local diner for breakfast. This place was certainly McCain Country. We sat at the breakfast counter and listened to a couple locals complain about the governor for “being nice” to Obama. They agreed that the governor… Read More »Arizona Day 4
The final picture of the 2009 Calendar. This is a picture of the Downtown First United Methodist Church in Des Moines. The picture was taken from the top of a parking ramp across the street.
The day after Christmas we had a very Special Friday Night Supper Club. Robert was back in town from Wyoming and was having a hankering for a tenderloin from BK’s. Jay, Jesse, Willy, Monica, Robert, Jeff and I braved the extreme weather and made the trip to BK’s. I took… Read More »Foggy Night Supper Club
As you may know, Building 429 is one of my favorite bands. This year they released a new albums and thus one of my new favorite songs. Here in the Christmas season I felt it was necessary to share the lyrics to the song Always. AlwaysI was standing in the… Read More »Merry Christmas
Tonight is my favorite church service of the year. I love Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve! It is one beautiful service that manages to completely encapsulate the season of Advent for me. It is one service where I definitely can feel Hope, Love, Peace and Joy. Plus I love the… Read More »Christmas Eve
Teresa and I took part in an Advent Study at church on the 4 Tuesdays of Advent. At the end of one of the studies, the one that Teresa skipped, George Eckstein came across the room and sat on my couch. He handed me a bag and said that he… Read More »Advent Study Gift
I began this Saturday morning (12-20-2008) by rising out of bed around 5:45 in the morning. I often don’t sleep that well, but on this night I purposely slept on the couch so that I wouldn’t sleep well and I would get up in time. I was getting up at… Read More »Matthew 25:40
May’s picture. This picture is from the mission trip I took to Cedar Rapids to help clean out houses after the flood.
I started Thanksgiving by helping serve the free Thanksgiving dinner with my Mom, Teresa and Logan. I was given the extremely important duty of collecting trays. After my shift concluded I talked dogs with Karma’s former vet Jordan and his family. Even though I know when I get a dog… Read More »Thanksgiving
As I look at the year that is rapidly approaching, it turns out that 2009 is going to be the Year of the Meeting. For starters, I will be the Marketing VP for the Ames Jaycees in 2009. That means two board meetings a month in addition to 2 membership… Read More »Mr. Meeting
When Sara and I went to Ottumwa I think we might of had a glimpse into Boone’s future if it becomes the proud home of a Juice Bar. I should start out by pointing out that on our way to Ottumwa Sara got pulled over and issued a speeding ticket… Read More »The Future of Boone
Here are some pictures from the suffrage march on Saturday. My favorite sign is from the march is the sign about “Idiots” having the right to vote, but not women. For some reason that sign reminds me of Buck vs. Bell. The 1927 Supreme Court where The Supreme Court concluded… Read More »Suffrage March