Season's Greetings!

My how time flies! We received a Christmas card in the mail from some friends in Indiana that said, "We can tell that Heather got a job... the blog hasn't been updated recently." Well thank you for those words... and here's the latest news! :)

Things around here have definitely picked up with all of us working. Duane is enjoying his job at ELS (Educational Leadership Solutions). Laurie is having a hard time adjusting to a night schedule of nursing at the Choctaw Hospital. She works 3-4 days a week, 12 hour shifts, which are proving to be exhausting. Please pray that a day position will open up, or she will be able to adjust to sleeping during the day and working at night. Heather is working at Maust Woodworking between 30 and 35 hours a week. She has learned a lot and is enjoying learning how to use the CAD program to design kitchens for customers. She finished the semester with five A's! Next semester will begin in January and she will be taking 3 online classes again and two classes on campus in Meridian again.

Duane turned 51 on November 20th. Happy birthday to the old man with a gray beard! :)

Jazzlyn Ben (one of our youth girls) finally had her baby in the end of October.
Duane was able to perform his first baby dedication on Saturday, November 21st. We welcomed little Jaizlianna Sennimen Ben to Pearl River and prayed and sang blessings over her, Jazz, and Jesse and JoAnne (the grandparents). She is a beautiful baby girl!

Thanksgiving was a little bit different for us this year. Laurie had to work the night before and the night of Thanksgiving, so she was sleeping most of the day. Duane was invited to the home of Jesse and JoAnne Ben (close friends from our church) for an afternoon dinner of turkey, boiled rabbit and chicken, hominy and fry bread. (And JoAnne can cook!) Heather had the privilege of driving up to Ohio with her boyfriend Zach to spend the holiday with his family. She really enjoyed meeting his family and spending time with the Reinhardt side of the family in Indiana the day after Thanksgiving. Saturday and Sunday Zach and Heather spent time in Fort Wayne visiting her church there and friends from school. The drive back "home" to Mississippi was a long one, but the short trip was definitely a nice change of pace!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Duane and Laurie were blessed to have friends from home, Sam and Shirley Marks, come visit Pearl River with their son Steve and his wife Merilee who live in Meridian. They enjoyed the time of fellowship!

Despite our tiny house, Heather decided that we needed a Christmas tree. She picked one out... at Dollar General... and decorated it in early December. Some traditions just can't change! As Christmas is drawing closer, we are excited to spend the holiday with Matt and Brittany, who will be coming down to Mississippi. Brittany has begun to show, and we're all excited to see her "baby bump" in person! Heather is excited for Zach to meet her sister and brother in law, since they had gone to PA for Thanksgiving so they didn't get to meet.

A big thank you to those who have prayed for us during the past month or so. There have been some major struggles with certain individuals in the church, and these individuals decided to leave the church a few weeks ago. There are mixed feelings about the situation, but we trust that God has His hand on the individuals and the situation, and that His name will be brought glory through whatever comes about. Times of refreshing and growth are (hopefully!) in store for 2010!

Praises, Praises & More Praises

Hello all! Things have been very busy here, and it's hard to believe that it's quickly becoming the holiday season. Please bear with us as we try to keep you updated, as well as try to keep ourselves organized with everything that's going on!

Last weekend Duane & Laurie were able to attend the conference Pastor's & Wives retreat at Pine Lake Camp. It was a good time of fellowship with other conference pastors and their spouses from around the Gulf States.

There are lots of things for us to praise the Lord for right now. First of all, Duane & Laurie celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary on October 2nd. They celebrated on Saturday with dinner at Logan's Roadhouse and finally a weekend of nothing scheduled! Heather was able to give them some alone time as she accompanied Glenn & Emma Myers to Des Allemonds, LA for the camp sale, which raised over $22,000 for the fellowship camp in our conference. It was a great weekend!

We are also very happy to report that starting tomorrow (Monday, October 5th) all three of us will be working! Laurie starts a job as an RN at the Choctaw Health Center, and Heather will be working at Maust Woodworking in Meridian, MS as an office assistant. Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for our job situation... your prayers have been answered!

Today was the first time Heather led the singing at Pearl River. Last Wednesday she practiced with some of the youth to teach them to play some instruments, and today they helped her lead. It sounded great! We had Duane on the drums, Briana on the keyboard, Heather on the guitar (which she's just learning!) and Deidre on the flute. People seemed receptive of the new style of music and were attempting to sing along to the contemporary songs, even if they didn't really know them. Heather will be leading the singing all through the month of October!

Please continue to pray for the sale of our house in Indiana. God has brought together many loose ends of our adventures here, but there are still a few danglers! Thank you for your faithful prayers as we continue this journey.

It's All About the Youth!

Lots of really great things are happening in our youth group, and we want to share them with you! First of all, on Monday night of last week, Nick Charlie met with Duane to accept Christ as his Savior! Praise the Lord for our new brother in Christ. Nick is a senior in high school and plans to attend college in Florida next year. Pray that he will grow in the Lord as he pursues his education further and that he will be diligent in finding Christian friends and groups to be involved with even when he leaves for college. Nick's a great kid, and we have high hopes for him!

This past weekend, Friday night through Sunday morning, Duane and Heather took 10 of the youth to the Gulf States Mennonite Conference Youth Rally. The forecast called for rain every day, but the Lord was more than faithful and it only rained the first night we were there! The theme for the rally was "Taking Risks for God" and the speaker was a young woman who is a recruiter for Mennonite Missions. The youth were challenged to step outside of their comfort zones, which was a relatively difficult concept for many of our youth to grasp. Heather is going teach further on this in the coming weeks. The youth girls participated in the Pine Lake's Got Talent talent show on Saturday night at the rally, and so did Daelin, one of our youth who did a dance to Michael Jackson's "Beat It". It was extremely entertaining and we were glad our youth got involved!

This coming weekend is the Pastor's & Wives retreat at Pine Lake Camp, which Duane & Laurie will be attending, while Heather has a small group sleepover at the house for the youth girls!

Heather's schooling is going well and she is enjoying her classes. She and Laurie got to go to the main campus of MSU today to visit Nancy Fultz, the head of the National Student Exchange program that is hosting Heather at MSU this year. Laurie and Heather got to share TONS about the ministry we are doing at Pearl River Mennonite and Nancy and the two other MSU faculty that went to lunch with us were very impressed with the ministry we're doing, as well as with Heather's willingness to serve. It was an encouraging time!

Please be praying for Duane's knee. He says he "tweaked it" at the youth rally. Not really sure what that means exactly, but he's been icing it a lot. Hopefully it will heal completely! Also, please continue praying for the sale of our home back in Indiana. Heather has been applying for jobs down here and has not heard anything back from any of them yet. And also keep the Pastor's & Wives retreat in your prayers as well! We will continue to update you! God bless.

The End of a LOOOONG Week

Duane's first week as official pastor of Pearl River Mennonite ended up being quite a tiring one. One of the most prominent members of the church, Annie Pearl, and her 4 children who attend semi-regularly had an emotionally draining week as their father (Annie's ex-husband) had a massive stroke on Monday. On Tuesday they decided to take him off of life support, and Wednesday evening he eventually passed away in the hospital. Duane was at the hospital numerous times throughout the week encouraging and praying for the family. Thursday and Friday night were the wake for Glenn Bell (the man who died), and as Choctaw tradition goes, the pastor delivers a devotion and the members of the church who are present sing a few hymns to the family. Glenn's body was at Annie Pearl's house, which had to have been very difficult for her considering it was her ex-husband, but she wanted to be strong for her kids. It was quite the testimony of forgiveness, because she shared with us later that he was a womanizer and abusive. The funeral was then held on Saturday and Duane assisted Glenn Myers (the pastor who just retired) with the funeral. Heather and Laurie sang with some other members of the church at the funeral. It was very emotional. After the funeral we were all exhausted. It had definitely been a long week.

Wednesday was church as usual. Heather led the youth group and taught about how intimately we were created by God. It involved everyone making a man out of playdough (our Adam) and realizing that in order to create all of his organs, and brain, and connect all of his veins and blood vessels that it would be a very intense process. It seemed to go well!

Sunday was Duane's first Sunday preaching, and Heather's first Sunday playing the piano along with the hymns. Next month Heather will be in charge of leading worship... should be interesting!

Heather has stayed very busy with her schooling. Taking online courses is proving to be a time-consuming venture, because she is basically teaching herself. She ended up not getting the job at the bank that she had applied for, so she applied at Pizza Hut but hasn't heard anything back from them yet. With all the school work, she's not sure how much time she could devote to a job anyway. Please pray for her as she looks for a job. Anything will do at this point!

And last but not least, Duane found a job! The man who owns the company goes to Jubilee Mennonite Church (one of our sister churches) and came up with a software program to help schools track student's progression in classes throughout the years and to see how teacher's students do in comparison to other teachers. Apparently the program has caught like wild fire and is going state-wide, so production is up and they need help! This is right up Duane's alley since he just finished his certification in IT services. Thank you so much for your prayers! Duane will start his job on Tuesday the 8th.

Installed Successfully

Lots of good news to share! First, Heather FINALLY was able to spend some time with someone her age and was invited to a high school football game with Heather (the only girl she has met at school) and her husband Chase. They are committed Christian people and Heather had so much fun. She also met a girl who usually attend Pearl River Mennonite who is 22 and a college student too. Her name is Deidre. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for Heather's social life... it seems to be improving! :)

Saturday was a Youth Leadership Retreat at Pine Lake Camp, which Heather and Duane attended. It was a great time of refreshment, encouragement, fun, and prayer. There were only 9 attendees, but they were able to make some good connections with other youth leaders from the Gulf States conference and also a few from Alabama.

And today was the BIG DAY! The morning service was a very emotional one as the congregation shared many tears and much laughter, reminiscing on the 36 years that Glenn & Emma Myers have been leading Pearl River Mennonite. They were presented with a beautiful handmade quilt with squares from many congregation members and other families and individuals who have been blessed by their ministry. The youth were excited to share another modern worship song as a gift to Glenn & Emma today as well.

The 100 attendees to the service were then joined by members of Choctaw Christian and Nanih Waiya Mennonite churches for a fellowship meal, followed by Duane's installation service. Duane and Laurie were presented with gifts from Glenn & Emma as they turned over the ministry. Gifts included the church keys, church cell phone, a few leadership books, and a handmade shepherd's staff made by Jesse Ben from the church. Art Smoker (conference pastor) and Mark Roth (Pearl River Mennonite's overseer) presented Duane with his pastoral license. Heather played and sang "The Potter's Hand" and then people laid hands on Duane and Laurie and blessed them and prayed for their future ministry.

So, it's official! Duane is the pastor of Pearl River Mennonite Church. His first task? Plunging the toilets in the men's room. Task complete. If that's any indication of how the ministry will be... it should be an adventure!

A Week and Counting...

We have officially been in our house for a week and a day, and you'd be surprised how many boxes we've gotten unpacked and closets and rooms we've been able to fill! And, Heather was finally able to find a car (A 2001 Malibu... just what she wanted).

This weekend we were blessed to be a part of the church business meeting held at Pine Lake Camp, about a half hour away. The meeting went well, though not as many attended the meeting as attended the lunch afterward! Heather will begin leading the youth on Wednesday nights and Duane and another lady named Arlene will lead on Sunday mornings. The worship will also be led every other month under the leadership of Heather and the musical talents of the youth... which we hope to develop greatly considering how interested they seem in doing so!

After the lunch at camp we were privileged to take part in witnessing the baptism of two of the young girls from church: 10 year old Camry, and 16 year old Mahli. Duane even got to help baptize Mahli. He's getting some practice in already! :) It was a fun time of fellowship with the church members, and Duane was able to freshen up on his basketball skills thanks to 17-year old Jazzlyn Ben, who gave him a run for his money... which is even more impressive when you realize that she's 7 months pregnant! Heather has begun forming a strong friendship with Jazz and hopes to be able to be a strong support and mentor for her.

Today, Heather led the youth in singing "Breathe" which is one of the first contemporary worship songs the congregation has heard. Heather played the piano and Duane got up and sang too so the young men would feel a little more comfortable. Heather received lots of compliments after on how delighted the congregation was to see the young being involved. Last Wednesday night Heather had taught on the meaning of the lyrics of the song and had presented it to the youth for the first time, giving them an opportunity to listen and think about the song before practicing it to perform on Sunday. It went really well, and hopefully will continue to do so!

This week will be more job searching, and continued studies for Heather. This coming Sunday will be Pastor Glenn Myers' retirement celebration service in the morning and then Duane's installation in the afternoon. Things are becoming more and more official everyday... and God continues to open doors. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Getting Settled...

WOW! God is so good... especially for bringing us so many amazing friends who were willing to help us pack up our belongings, load the trailers, lend us trailers/trucks, and even go down with us to help us UNload!

At 6 AM on Friday most of us left for Mississippi. There was a second group that didn't leave til the afternoon but drove all night so we could get the trucks unloaded into our house on Saturday morning. It was amazing how fast everything was unloaded, and from what I heard, everyone's trips seemed to be pretty fun. Always a good thing! Many of our church members from Pearl River Mennonite provided dinner for our family and our friends at Glenn & Emma's house Saturday evening. Our friends left to drive back and made it safely by Sunday morning. We are SO GRATEFUL for everyone who helped us... thank you all so much!

Sunday we attended church and then continued to unpack our boxes and try to get things settled in our house. It's been quite the ordeal figuring out how three people are supposed to share one tiny bathroom, but we're figuring it out. :)

Monday we had some visitors from back home in Indiana already! Clyde & Sharon Moore were driving through on their way back from Louisiana, so they treated us to lunch and we gave them a high-speed tour through the reservation and our church. It was a blessing to have them visit!

Heather started classes at Mississippi State University-Meridian on Monday evening and also had a class on Tuesday evening. She met a Christian girl named Heather in her class on Tuesday and is hoping to form a friendship with her and hopefully find some other Christian friends that she can hang out with!

All in all things are going well. We are going to Wednesday night church tonight for the first time. Duane and Heather are leading the youth group and are introducing one of the first of many contemporary worship songs... hopefully it goes well! Other than that we are still applying for jobs and praying that God will open doors that need to be open. Duane and Heather have been diligently looking for a car for Heather as well. The pickins are slim!!!

Please continue to pray for us, and please feel free to visit sometime! More updates soon...