June 2016 Reinhardt Update

June 2016 Greetings from the Reinhardts in the hot, sunny deep south!

It's hard to believe that in a few more months, we will have been here in Mississippi for seven years! Today we would like to give you a glimpse into our life and ministry over the past six months.

In February, we had the opportunity to attend the Good News Fellowship (GNF) "denominational" meeting in Montgomery, AL. There were fellow believers there from all over the south-east.

A few weeks later, Duane's brother Carl and Marleen Reinhardt visited us on their way to Texas. It had been awhile since we'd had extended family members here!

Laurie's mother Carole, who had moved in with Duane and Laurie in late November, celebrated being five years cancer-free at the end of the month! :)

In March, our dear sister-in-law Delora Reinhardt went Home to be with the Lord after a very brief, severe illness. She had been a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. She was an anointed counselor and deliverance minister and was in the process of writing a book. We miss her so very much.

Delora and her family Dec. 2015

We at Pearl River Mennonite Church had our traditional Easter Sunday sunrise service at 7 AM, followed by brunch. 

Closing on the sale of Carole's house back in New Milford, PA happened later in March. We will miss the beautiful rural, wooded acreage, but it is a relief to know that we don't need to be concerned about maintaining the house or property from such a distance.

Every time it rained hard in our area of MS, water seemed to find its way into our church sanctuary. We were usually able to extract the water out of the carpeting with a Shop Vac, but we were concerned about the recurring moisture trapped in the drywall. Our congregation was greatly blessed by Ray and Jay Troyer, of Cornerstone Community Church in Macon, who brought their huge excavating machinery to the church one Saturday and corrected the drainage problems which were responsible for most of the issues.

In May, we were greatly refreshed spiritually by attending an awesome contemporary Christian concert in Jackson featuring Mandisa, Jeremy Camp, and Finding Favor. We went with our church sisters JoAnne Ben and Geri Jeanguneat.

We were able to spend a week over Memorial Day in northern Indiana with our daughters Heather and Brittany and their precious families. It was the first time we'd all been together since well before little Tucker was born. We enjoyed having new family photos taken, although Tucker was constantly on the move with each pose! We were also able to attend Maile's 6th birthday party during our visit. It's always fun to spend time with Duane's extended family, many of whom attended a South Bend Cubs baseball game together one evening. We loved attending our "home" church, Wakarusa Missionary Church, and seeing old friends that week.

Our Family: Glenns, Reinhardts, and Teruis

Great Grandma Carole with Maile, Kaira, Tucker, and Emelyn

 A few weeks ago, we had the privilege of praying at church with Jane Ben for her to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior! She looks forward to being baptized later this summer.

In addition to being the pastor of our small Choctaw church, Duane continues to work full time as the data manager of Educational Leadership Solutions in Meridian.

Laurie leads a women's group during the school year. This year the group is studying Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind. She also continues to fill the role of church co-treasurer.

Please pray for us to be discerning and wise when counseling troubled persons or couples. Also, please pray that persons who accept Christ as their personal Savior through our church would commit themselves to discipleship to strengthen their faith. Also, please pray that our congregation would see the importance of spending time in the Word and in prayer each day. Lastly. please pray that our church members would repent of and renounce sexual immorality and any occultic Native traditional religious beliefs and practices.

Until our December blog...

Blessings!
Duane and Laurie Reinhardt

duane_reinhardt@yahoo.com
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January 2016 Greetings from the Reinhardts

Greetings once again from the Reinhardts of Pearl River Mennonite Church in Philadelphia, Mississippi! We've had an exceptionally busy past four months, so we are a bit late in getting our Christmas update done and available for you!

But before I explain, let us go back to July. As usual, we enjoyed an evening together at the Choctaw Indian Fair; the musical attraction that night was the Oak Ridge Boys. Duane, as always, took in some of the World Championship Choctaw Stickball games. (Note: He did NOT participate as a player!).

The following Sunday morning, Dr. Negiel Bigpond of the Euchee Tribe in OK came and led a special service at our church. A few months later, our Women's Group studied his book, "Women Warriors."

In August, Duane had the privilege of baptizing seven people at the Pearl River Community Pool.

Duane and Hank

In September, we went on vacation to PA to visit Laurie's mother Carole and relatives and friends in the area. Brittany and little Kaira flew in from Kauai! Duane visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown one day. Laurie got to spend an afternoon with her dear friend Terry. Later that week, we invited Carole to move to MS to live with us, and she accepted! Preparations began.

 Later that month, some of our youth attended Fall Youth Rally at Pine Lake Fellowship Camp (PLFC) near Meridian, MS.

 We attended and supported the annual PLFC Camp Sale in Gulfport, MS the first weekend in October, during which we also celebrated our 33rd anniversary. Duane enjoyed eating alligator, which is always a popular menu item at the sale! That evening, we ate supper at The Shed with Dave and Sue Weaver (Sue is formerly of Wakarusa, IN) and Louis and Kim Ferris. The following morning, Duane gave the sermon at Gulf Haven Mennonite Church.

At our annual church business meeting, it was decided that instead of teaching the Youth Sunday School class, Duane would now be teaching the adult Sunday School class, and Daelin (the young man he'd discipled since 2010) would start teaching the Youth class.

Each year our church families collect coins in little banks to give to a missions project. This year, we collected coins for Teen Challenge. On a Sunday morning in November, the Teen Challenge Women's Choir of Brandon, MS did a special program at our church; after the service, we presented them with a check reflecting the total amount of coins collected.

Pastor Duane, Geri J., and Laurie attended the Good News Fellowship (GNF) Fall Gathering in Atmore, AL. The pastors from our MS, LA, and AL churches were recognized, officially welcomed into GNF, and prayed over by the executive leadership during the assembly. What a wonderful experience!





Laurie spent three weeks in November in PA getting most of her mom's house sorted and cleaned out. God was so very faithful in raising up and providing family, friends, acquaintances, and services like Goodwill of Northeastern PA to help with this challenge. Laurie had a welcomed break one day and met with friends Terry, Deb, and Vickie for lunch. We hosted a party for Carole at the Methodist Church in New Milford so she could see some of her family and friends before moving south. Over Thanksgiving weekend, Duane drove her few remaining special possessions to MS in a U-Haul truck, while she and Laurie flew to Jackson, MS. We praise God for safety while traveling. So now Carole lives with us. And she has been warmly welcomed into the PRMC church family.

Major transitions are never easy. But change can be good.

The three of us spent Christmas in Indiana with Dustin, Heather, Eme (3), and Tucker (11 months). It was a very special time for all of us. We were happy to be able to attend church at Wakarusa Missionary Church on a Sunday morning during which Heather led the worship team. And we were also happy to be able to participate in the Reinhardt family Christmas celebration at Bill and Karen Martin's house.

We did something a little different at our church New Year's Eve party this year. After a brief worship service followed by snack time, we had fun singing contemporary Christian karaoke!

Please pray about Duane's employment situation; for us as we continue to help Carole get her many business affairs in order; for Laurie's brother Randy Fiske who has started a 4 month interim pastor position at Pine Glen Church of the Brethren in Lewistown, PA; and for our sister-in-law Delora Reinhardt who is seriously ill but is claiming to have a Grand Deliverance or a Grand Exit-- either one glorifying to Christ!

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 

I Cor. 2:9. (NKJV).

Blessings!

Duane and Laurie Reinhardt

Reinhardts' Mississippi Ministry Blog June 2015

Hot, humid summer greetings from the deep south to you!

Tucker

Brittany & Maile

On January 31, we welcomed Tucker Reinhardt Glenn into our lives! He was born to Dustin and Heather, and his big sister Emelyn is constantly loving on her "Bubby." Tucker is our fourth grandchild and our first grandson. We were thrilled to have the joy of spending time with family--including Brittany and Maile from Kauai-- in Indiana. It was a special blessing, too, to see Dustin's parents Gary and Susan Glenn who drove up from Missouri to meet Tucker. We are especially grateful to Duane's sister Karen Martin and her family who often host us when we visit.

In addition to welcoming Tucker to the world, we also enjoyed getting together with some dear friends, including Ef and Deb Nunez, Byron and Ellen Yoder, Doug and Claudia Blosser, Jerry and Sherry Martin, Kathy Yoder, Tim and Diane Overmyer, Cheryl Borowski, and others. And it was wonderful to attend our "home" church, Wakarusa Missionary Church, and our old Pathfinders Sunday School class.

At the end of January, our church Pearl River Mennonite Church left Gulf States Mennonite Conference (and therefore Mennonite Church USA) because of a difference in spiritual direction. Since then, we and some of our sister churches have joined the Good News Fellowship association of Mennonite/Anabaptist churches, based in Birmingham, AL.

Laurie suffered from severe sciatica issues for a few weeks in March, and was scheduled to meet with a specialist. But after Duane anointed her with oil and prayed over her at church one Sunday morning, the pain subsided and no further treatment was needed! Praise God!

Human Hungry Hippos!

In mid-March, Duane as our church youth sponsor took some of our church teens to the Spring Youth Rally at Pine Lake Fellowship Camp near Meridian. They always have a great time together, and this time they even got to play "Human Hungry Hippos"!

New to the family of God

For Easter or "Resurrection Sunday," our church had its traditional 7 AM worship service followed by a yummy brunch. Two siblings and their cousin (ages 10 to 13) were recognized in the morning service as having recently accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

This spring, Laurie started teaching the pre-school Sunday School class. It is certainly challenging when trying to keep their attention, but they do seem to enjoy the Old Testament Bible stories, doing simple crafts, and doing children's Bible songs with hand motions.

Recent grads

Duane & Daelin

Several of our church folks graduated this year. JoAnne graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, Merrill earned his certificate in woodworking, and Isaiah and Daelin graduated from high school. Duane has mentored Daelin in his faith walk with Christ since 2010. We enjoyed attending a graduation party for another young grad named Kennedy who hopes to play football for MSU this fall.

The Leslie and Esther Fiske Family
(photo courtesy of Angela Stone Benedict) 

Laurie started a facebook group called "The Fiske-Munson Clan" earlier this year. So far, there are 30 members. It's been fun posting old pictures and memories of our grandparents and aunts and uncles, and photos of Grandma Esther (Munson) Fiske's paintings. Some of my cousins posted that they had never seen pictures of our Grandmother; another cousin posted that he'd never heard of Esther's father Daniel before!

Duane has been counseling three men, individually, from church. Between this, leading Bible Study on Wednesday evenings, and leading Sunday morning church services and teaching the youth Sunday School class each week, he stays busy-- and that doesn't even include his full time data manager job at Educational Leadership Services in Meridian!

Women's Group Study members

Laurie led the Thursday evening Women's Group Study of the Neil T. Anderson workbook "The Steps to Freedom in Christ" this spring. Usually six women attended. It was very powerful and was based on the teaching that even when a person has sincerely accepted Christ as one's personal Savior, one's mind and heart still need to be redeemed by renouncing the specific sins and lies that had opened doors (even several generations ago) to strongholds of sin and bondage in their lives, and by filling one's self with the Truth of God's Word!

Grandpa Duane with Eme & Tucker

At the end of June, Heather, Dustin, Emelyn (2), and Tucker (5 mo) came for a visit from Indiana!

We would welcome visitors!!! Come and learn about the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians! And as we've said before, we are centrally located within a 3-4 hour drive of Memphis, Birmingham, Vicksburg, Gulfport/Biloxi, and New Orleans.

Thank you for your interest in our family and ministry. It's not easy being so far from family, friends, and a support group. Please remember us in prayer. We desperately need wisdom and courage through the Holy Spirit in dealing with some disturbing situations within our small church family. We desire to see new converts commit themselves to follow-up discipleship, to see Christians acknowledge their need to renounce their syncretism of Christianity with shamanism (medicine men and traditional Native religion), and to see Christians desire deliverance from sexual immorality, rage/violence, and alcoholism.

May you draw closer to the King and the Truth of His Word in the challenging days ahead.

In Christ,
Duane and Laurie Reinhardt
reinos4@juno.com
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Reinhardts' Christmas 2014 Blog

Christmas greetings once again from the Reinhardts in Philadelphia, Mississippi! We are blogging to let you know what we've been up to in ministry and life these past six months. If you missed it, please read our previous blog from June.

Our Choctaw church, Pearl River Mennonite Church, held its second annual grilled hotdog sale in the parking lot of the church during the evening of the 4th of July. Our church parking lot happens to have a wonderful, unobstructed view of the Tribe's fireworks, so many people enjoy setting up their lawn chairs on the grassy area just off the parking lot and eating the hotdogs prior to the show. It's a great way to make or renew contacts within the Pearl River community, and it's a nice little fundraiser for the church.

In June, as alluded to in our previous blog, Duane ended up injuring some ribs while playing Choctaw stickball with the men's 35-and-over Beaver Dam team, so he was done after just one game. No more stickball for "Running Deer."

A few weeks later, we still enjoyed attending the annual Choctaw Indian Fair. It's always fun to see the exhibits, eat an Indian taco, admire the beadwork for sale, and see friends. We saw the David Crowder Band in concert one evening; we're grateful that the Fair committee tries to book a Christian singer or band each year, in the midst of several country acts.

Verda and Ana

We were happy to host Duane's cousin Verda Weaver (from Goshen, IN) and a missionary friend for a few days in July. It's always fun to get visitors from home!

Baptism

Duane had the privilege of baptizing six youth and one adult into the family of Christ at the community pool one hot August Sunday morning!

Deb, Vickie, Laurie, and Terry

In September, Laurie flew to New Milford, PA to spend a week with her mom. She also enjoyed visiting with her brother Randy and his daughter Matteah, some Van Housen relatives, several Fiske relatives, and some fun Blue Ridge High School classmates (C '76).

Duane, Laurie, Heather, and Emelyn were blessed by a friend with a trip to Kauai, HI to surprise Brittany and to celebrate her younger daughter Kaira's first birthday. What a lovely time we had (but we wish Heather's husband Dustin could have gotten the time off from work to join us!).

Surprising Brittany!

Emelyn, Kaira, and Maile

This fall, Laurie started up the Thursday night Women's Group Bible study again at church. They're studying Courageous Women of the Bible. Usually there are about five ladies attending.

Randy Reinhardt and siblings (May)

On Tuesday, Nov. 18th, we learned that Duane's older brother Randy Reinhardt had sustained a serious head injury in a work-related accident. We headed to Indiana, and as we were traveling later that evening, we were informed that he had passed away. We arrived in Goshen early the next evening. Brittany arrived at South Bend airport from Kauai at about the same time. On Thursday, there was a 7 hour viewing to accommodate all the people wishing to express their condolences to Delora and the family. The funeral was held at Yellow Creek Mennonite Church on Friday morning. We are so very grateful for all the friends who came to the viewing to see and support us at such a difficult time.

JoAnne Ben

Since we live quite a distance from our biological family members, we were grateful for an invitation from JoAnne Ben, a dear friend from church, to join her and her extended family for a Thanksgiving feast at her home. We thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship and the turkey, fried chicken, fried venison, hominy, greens, blackeyed peas, banana pudding, and lots of other yummy dishes!

"BLAST" mission team from WMC

The week after Christmas, a large group of college-aged adults called the "BLAST" ministry of Wakarusa Missionary Church, our home church in Indiana, spent a week ministering with and to our church and community. They led Kids' Bible School for three evenings (which had an average attendance of 50!), hosted a Youth Pizza Party, visited patients at a local hospital and nursing home, and did several work projects. Dustin and Eme came, too!

Heather (7 mo along)

We have experienced great joys and deep sorrows this year. But we look forward to what God has in store for us, under His Lordship, in 2015. One thing we are looking forward to with great expectation is the arrival of Dustin and Heather's second child at the end of January!!!

Please keep us, our family, and our ministry in your prayers. Our church is facing a major change in its affiliation in the months ahead, and we desire to be led by the Holy Spirit with every step. And please faithfully intercede in prayer for the Christians facing horrific persecution in the middle east.

May you have a blessed Christmas and New Year's with those you love! We don't know what the future holds, but we know that Jesus holds the future.


Duane and Laurie Reinhardt
facebook: Duane Laurie Reinhardt
reinos4@juno.com

Reinhardts' June 2014 Ministry Blog

Halito! It's been six months since we last updated our blog. Our family has experienced some changes, and our ministry at Pearl River Mennonite Church here in Philadelphia, MS is always facing something new, so we will attempt to fill you in.

In January, our church was blessed by two brothers in Christ from Canada who voluntarily renovated the two church restrooms to make them handicapped-accessible. Since one of our most faithful attenders is in a wheelchair, we are happy to be able to better accommodate her needs.

Since we have such a small congregation, we frequently face the frustration of having too few adults willing and able to help with various ministry needs. One of the ministries we desire to see established is that of a young adult ministry. Many times after high school graduation, the church youth fall away from the church (and the Lord) if there is no active young adult ministry available. Laurie had the privilege of individually treating two young adults named Akela and Nadaysha from our church to lunch for some                                                    special one-on-one time.

One of the highlights of the winter for Laurie and several of the other church ladies was being able to attend the Gulf States Mennonite Women's annual conference at Poarch Community Church in Atmore, AL. It was such a joy to fellowship with our Creek hosts, to participate in the contemporary worship (including being introduced to the awesome song, "Break Every Chain"), and to receive the Word as shared with us by some Native American speakers. One of the speakers, Lillian Rose Grandchamp Liles, shared her powerful testimony of having grown up Lakota-Sioux in Montana.

In mid-February, we had the joy of keeping Emelyn for about ten days while Dustin and Heather went on a Caribbean cruise with Dustin's family. Dustin and Heather's good friends, Randy and Tanya Watkins, kept Eme on the weekends. She was spoiled...just a little...by all of us!

In early March, several members of the church joined us in praying through the church building and binding/casting out any dark spirits which we heard had been manifesting themselves at times there recently. We praise God for the power and authority available to us through the shed blood of our personal Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!



The Choctaws are absolutely obsessed with sports. A 7th grader named Aspen from our church family is already on a varsity girls' softball team because she's such an awesome pitcher. Her cousin Dalmericka, another gal from our church family, is also an amazing athlete.

New believers Zack, Nic, and Jared

Besides working as the data manager of a small company in Meridian and pastoring our church, Duane teaches the Youth Sunday School class and leads the church Youth Group. He's just another kid, although slightly older, when it comes to enjoying the Gulf States Mennonite Church Youth Rallies held each spring and fall at Pine Lake Fellowship Camp near Meridian. Duane usually comes home with a tick hitching a ride on him, but he doesn't let that diminish his love of youth ministry. Duane has had the privilege of leading four youth and two young adults to salvation in Christ so far this year. Sadly, it is often difficult to convince new believers to attend discipleship classes to help reinforce their commitments.

Sister Linda and Lillian Rose

We hosted Sister Linda Stabler and Lillian Rose Liles, from Poarch Community Church in Atmore, AL at our home at the end of March. We learned some fascinating things about Lakota-Sioux traditional religion, including the fact that Sasquatches/Bigfoots are very real spirit beings which the medicine men "call up" or conjure. Lillian shared her testimony, which some of us ladies had already heard in early February, at a special Sunday morning service to which we had invited the Nanih Waiya and Crystal Ridge Choctaw Mennonite churches. Lillian admitted that she has had quite a struggle doing away with some of her Native practices (some of which she feels conflict with her growing relationship with Christ), without losing her identity as a Lakota-Sioux. Praise God that, as born-again Christians, our truest and most important identity is who we are IN CHRIST!

Dustin and the moving van

As Christians, Easter (Resurrection Day) is usually one of our favorite times of the year. However, this year it was bitter-sweet:
Duane helped Dustin, Heather, and Emelyn move from here to Goshen, Indiana (our home area) that week. Dustin and Heather decided they wanted to move closer to extended family, get jobs, and eventually attend Indiana University-South Bend for further education in Social Work.



We were THRILLED to spend about ten days in Indiana at the end of May. Not only did we get to spend time with Heather, Dustin, and Emelyn (20 mo), but Brittany, Matt, Maile (4), and Kaira (8 mo) were there from Hawaii, also! It was a busy week, since Matt and Britt (and Matt's parents Jerry and Karen) were there to clean out their rented storage unit and prepare for and participate in a housing development-wide garage sale.

Our Glenn-Reinhardt-Terui Family

We appreciated being able to stay at Bill and Karen's house during our Indiana visit. We enjoyed being treated to bonfires and a picnic supper by Randy and Delora. We enjoyed seeing old friends, including Tim and Diane Overmyer. We loved attending our "home" church, Wakarusa Missionary Church, one Sunday morning and sharing briefly about our ministry. And we were able to spend an evening with many members of Duane's family, including Carl, Marleen, Brandon, and Brandon's fiancee Ruth from Ohio. We hadn't been home to Indiana since Dale's funeral in 2012.

Elder Dave Yoder praying over us at WMC

Much of our congregation is made up of single women raising their children or grandchildren. That fact gives a unique perspective to the meaning of Father's Day each year. Many biological fathers are absent from their children's lives. Several single mothers/grandmothers feel that they need to be both mother and father. Countless Choctaw children (and adult children) struggle with strong emotions about fathers, including the idea of God the Creator being a loving, faithful Heavenly Father.

Duane is planning, once again, to play stickball (ishtaboli) on Beaver Dam's thirty-five and older team at the Choctaw Indian Fair in July. There are some great informative youtube videos available for your viewing. Update: Duane ended up with some bruised ribs and subsequent severe muscle spasms after playing in a game at the end of June. No more stickball!

Duane, the other pastors, and the church councils of our small Gulf States Mennonite Conference, part of Mennonite Church USA, are facing some very difficult decisions. We would ask that you would please keep us and our congregation in your prayers in the weeks and months ahead.

Living so far away from close family is very difficult for Laurie. Please lift her up before the Throne as the Lord brings her to your minds and hearts.

Cousins Emelyn, Kaira, and Maile

That's all for now. Remember that we'd love to have you visit! We have two guestrooms with your names on the doors! We live within 3-6 hours from Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, and New Orleans. FYI: Did you know that there are over 30,000 alligators in Mississippi? Such fun!

We'll post again around Christmas time! Blessings!

In Christ,
Duane and Laurie
reinos4@juno.com
facebook: Duane Laurie Reinhardt

Christmas 2013 Blog from the Reinhardts

Christmas is once again just around the corner. As 2013 comes to a close, we wanted to update you on our ministry and family. Please note: our previous post covered the first half of 2013.

August marked the fourth anniversary of our move here to Philadelphia, Mississippi to minister at Pearl River Mennonite Church (PRMC). Duane also works as the data manager of a small company in Meridian.

JoAnne at Nanih Waiya cave 

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians recognize a special holiday each year in August called Nanih Waiya Day, on which they celebrate their proud heritage and the recent return to them of their sacred ancient burial mound property. A large cave not far from the mound is also an important part of their history; they believe that their first ancestors were created by Chihowa (Creator) in the hill and emerged from the cave thousands of years ago. JoAnne Ben, from our church family, invited Laurie to the Tribal celebration.



The Choctaws are huge sports enthusiasts, and each year they participate in different tournaments with the Cherokees and other USET (United South Eastern Tribes) teams. This is, of course, in addition to their local school and community sports activities.

Dave and Kathy Yoder

In September, we were blessed and encouraged by a visit from our dear Wakarusa Missionary Church (WMC) friends, Dave and Kathy Yoder. They made the trip on their new black Harley!

Mahli Bell, the beautiful senior from our church youth group who died following a terrible car accident a few years ago, was memorialized with a granite memorial plaque which was dedicated on a September morning at our church. Her mother Crystal was in attendance.

A small group of women met at the church one Monday morning to work on a lap quilt for Emma Myers, whose husband Glenn pastored PRMC for over 30 years. Many Choctaw women love to quilt, but it seems to be a dying art form among the younger generations.

Kaira and Maile

Laurie had the privilege of spending two weeks in September in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii to help Brittany and Matt with three year-old Maile and newborn Kaira Faith!  

Emelyn's first birthday

During that time, Emelyn, Heather and Dustin's daughter, celebrated her first birthday with a big party here in Philadelphia, MS. It is such a huge blessing to have them living close by!


We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary on October 2. A few days later, Duane took a few youth to the annual conference camp sale in Gulfport, MS where they helped sell Choctaw beadwork and other crafts, benefiting the camp. The youth enjoyed spending a little time at the beach before heading home.

Akela, Nadaysha, and Kaymerin at Gulfport

Later that month, we attended a conference workshop near Hattiesburg. It's always a joy to spend time with other pastors, pastors' wives, and other church leaders at such events.

Randy, Rose, Rob, and Matteah

Terry and Laurie

A week later, Laurie was able to spend a week in New Milford, PA visiting her mom, aunts, and cousins. Laurie, Carole, and Connie spent that weekend in Mt. Joy, PA (near Lancaster) with Laurie's brother Randy and his family, including Audrey and Adam's newborn Annelise; Randy pastors Florin Church of the Brethren. Laurie enjoyed meeting her former high school classmate Terry Lewis Rychlewski for supper in Hallstead one night that week.

Our church members saved their extra change in globe mission banks since February, and we raised almost $400 which was donated to the Tribe's Hittak Himmona Women's Shelter. Domestic violence, which is often alcohol-related, is a very serious problem on the Rez.

It is always an honor to be invited to Choctaw birthday parties or other family celebrations. We attended a party celebrating the discharge home of a young husband/father who'd spent two long years in the hospital due to very serious health issues.

On Nov. 29th, Matt, Brittany, Maile (3), and Kaira (2 months) came from Hawaii for a visit! It was also their 5th wedding anniversary that day! Our week's activities included Maile helping Grandma make peanut blossom cookies, Grampa and Matt taking Maile to a fun local park, us celebrating being a family with a late traditional Thanksgiving meal, Maile and Emelyn playing together, us getting family photos taken, and us spending a day in Jackson at the Mississippi Children's Museum (more like a discovery center) and doing some last-minute shopping before Matt and Brittany and the girls headed back to Hawaii.

We are happy to be seeing real spiritual maturity developing in some of the members of our Pearl River Mennonite Church family. Duane continues to pastor and lead the youth group; he had the joy of leading two adults to salvation in Christ and led a church membership class attended by one adult, one youth, and one child this fall. Laurie leads the Monday night Women's Group study; recently she has been teaching some basics about cults and a few of the major world religions. Did you know that the Mormons believe that the Native Americans are descendants of one of the "lost tribes of Israel"?

We praise God for our family, our extended family, our PRMC and WMC church families, and dear friends. Sadly, we were not able to visit Indiana this year.

Please keep us in your prayers in 2014. Among other things, we have been praying for God to bring us leaders for a young adult ministry and a contemporary worship ministry. Come for a visit sometime!!!

Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year!
Duane and Laurie Reinhardt

409 Indian Hospital St., Philadelphia, MS 39350
reinos4@juno.com
Duane Laurie Reinhardt (facebook)