BMH Editor's Blog

Hawaii Grandfather Shepherds His Athletic Family

Posted by Terry White on December 30, 2004  |  No Comments

Today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin carries a story about Randall Senas, a grandfather from the Waipio Grace Brethren Church in Mililani, Hawaii (David Mitchell, pastor), who serves as a mentor and father-figure for a group of unusually talented athletic grandchildren. Here is a short excerpt from the article — to read the entire story click here. (Star-Bulletin photo)

Shuttling through traffic from one field to another, for practices and games, has a way of sapping a man’s battery. Every Sunday, Randall Senas and his tribe of grandchildren march into Waipio Grace Brethren Church.

Granda sits in the pews and gets recharged.

He worries about his grandkids, and especially Chustin, the oldest boy. “I try to keep him focused on teamwork, not individual things,” Grandpa said. “I tell him to stay away from things that harm your body.” . . .

. . . Grandpa commutes from Mililani to Mapunapuna daily, where he is a purchaser for Rasko Supplies. Then he heads wherever his grandchildren are playing.

They may disagree about things, but Chustin knows one fact about his grandfather. “You can always count on him to be there,” he said.

Grandpa doesn’t like being there. He loves being there. “This is what I was looking forward to. I don’t mind the running around,” he said.

David Ogden Update — The News is Good!

Posted by Terry White on December 30, 2004  |  No Comments

The following update from Russ and Betty Ogden on their son, David, who is pastor at Okeechobee, Florida, Grace Brethren Church, comes as welcome good news to the many who have been praying for David and this family.

When we heard of David’s hospitalization on December 16 with a pulmonary embolism, we asked God for a miracle that would restore David, bless his family, and bring glory to God.

A miracle is a big request; it is not in the routine of things and not to be asked for lightly. Friends around the world have joined us in prayer. We believe God has granted our request.

The providential hand of God is clearly seen in every step of his recovery. He was brought by friends to Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, Florida, rated as one of the one hundred best hospitals in the nation. On duty in the ER was the best pulmonary surgeon in the hospital.

He immediately sensed a blood clot blocking the lungs and inserted a large-bore catheter into David’s left shoulder to rush medication to the problem. He attached a respirator with an oxygen tube down David’s throat to rush oxygen into his blood stream. He attached a Heparin tube to dissolve the blood clot, several other tubes, and heavily sedated David so he would not move.

When we arrived on Friday, the 17th, his condition was serious. On Saturday, the 18th, his surgeon implanted a Greenfield Filter (it spreads like umbrella ribs in the vein ) between the blood clots in his left leg and his lungs to catch any large clots that might move. The medication would then help to dissolve them.

Angela, with 18-month Caleb, and Ben were there. David rested on Sunday, the 19th. On Monday, the 20th, the doctors began to reduce the sedative. David could respond to us with his eyes and head movements. He understood everything. He was breathing on his own.

Tuesday, the 21st, they removed the respirator, set him in a chair and gave him some physical therapy. He could talk freely, but his throat was sore from the oxygen tube. He ate a few bites of lunch from a hospital tray. At3:00 PM, Doug, Elijah and Bethany arrived from Sebring to visit. At 4:00 PM, nurses moved David to a private room on the fifth floor with a beautiful view of the Lucy River where it is a half-mile wide.

He ate a light supper Wednesday, the 22nd; his therapist walked him down the hall to the nurse’s station and back. On Thursday, the 23rd, he continued to gain strength. They started him on Coumedin, a blood thinner. His personal chaplain was our friend, retired pastor and missionary Dr. Ronald MacDonald who lives in Stuart. How many people do you know who can say that in their illness Ronald MacDonald ministered to them?

Friday, the 24th, at 10:00 AM, he was released from the hospital–eight days after being admitted in critical condition. We drove him home to Sebring as he reclined in the back seat of our car. His kids didn’t know he was coming, but were all in the driveway when we arrived for an emotional and spectacular welcome!

The family enjoyed Christmas eve (also Angela’s birthday) and Christmas together–except for Aaron and Kate who were vacationing with her parents in Mexico. We stayed for the weekend and returned home Monday evening the 27th.

PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW! Our deepest thanks to all you friends for your earnest, effective prayers. “To God be the glory, great things He has done!”

–Russ and Betty Ogden

Family Business From Ripon, CA, Church Featured

Posted by Terry White on December 27, 2004  |  No Comments

The Floyd Cover family from the Ripon, CA, Grace Brethren Church (Glen Shirk, pastor) is featured in today’s edition of the local newspaper, the Manteca Bulletin. The family, which operates a wholesale-retail nursery business called Park Greenhouse, is featured as a family-run, three-generation small business.



Viki Cover Rife, who directs communications for the Women of Grace and is the daughter of former GBIM missionary Robert Cover, helps connect the families. She says,

” You can basically assume that all the Covers in that area are related somehow. Floyd’s dad and my grandfather were cousins. John and I were married in the Ripon church by my dad, assisted by Jack Cover, who is Floyd’s brother. Floyd and Glenna did the flowers for our wedding and did a beautiful job of making that old school-gym-turned-sanctuary look appropriate.”



Here are several paragraphs from the story–to read the entire article click here.

Michelle Cover, like her other siblings, also speak very highly of her grandparents.

“I’ve worked here off and on since we were little, but more permanently this past five, six years,” she said.

She enjoys the job immensely, she said, and most especially working with members of her family especially her grandparents.”It’s a blessing to be with the family and to be able to help out here,” she said.

The family worships at the Grace Brethren Church on Main Street in Ripon.

As for her grandparents, “They’re always keeping busy. You can tell they enjoy it and everybody enjoys having them here. They’re very hardworking. They’re friends with everybody. But the best thing I’m grateful about them is the godly heritage that they passed down, and their Christian example is a blessing,” Michelle said.

Cones Relocate Their Ministry to U.S.

Posted by Terry White on December 26, 2004  |  No Comments

Mary Cone, recently-returned GBIM missionary to Germany, was the Sunday morning soloist today at the Maranatha Grace Brethren Church in Hagerstown, Maryland (Jay Fretz, pastor). Mary, her husband Kip, and their boys were visiting Mary’s parents, CM and Marie Hicks, who are founding members of the Maranatha church. The Cones have served nine years in Germany, but beginning January 1 will join the staff of the GBIM international missions center in Winona Lake, IN, working with recruiting and developing new missionary candidates.

Althea Miller With the Lord

Posted by Terry White on December 24, 2004  |  No Comments

The following message was received this Christmas Eve afternoon from David S. Miller, son of Robert and Althea Miller. The Millers are well-known throughout the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches for Robert’s many years of pastoring, teaching, and evangelism. Althea for many years wrote a column for the Brethren Missionary Herald magazine entitled “Under the Parsonage Roof,” and those columns were later compiled into a 96-page paperback book by the same title, published in 1969 by Moody Press. More details will be forthcoming as they are available.

Two weeks after her stroke, my mother flew away home to live with the Lord.

At 4:30 this Christmas Eve morning she took her last earthly breath as my youngest brother Mark sat by her side. We are grateful the Lord allowed her to bless the lives of countless people for more than 93 years.

Yesterday morning she opened both eyes and smiled at Dad, her last present of love to him; in September they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary.

The memorial celebration will be held on Jan. 8 at 10:00 at the Rose Drive Friends’ Church in Yorba Linda, CA.

Simi Valley Coach Displays Trophy

Posted by Terry White on December 23, 2004  |  1 Comment

Terry Gourley, Simi Valley’s Grace Brethren Coach-of-the-Year, has had an outstanding football season record of 13-1-0. Not only did his team with the 11-man championship in their division, but Gourley was also named Coach of the Year.

Posted by Terry White on December 23, 2004  |  No Comments

Terry Gourley, coach of the Simi Valley Grace Brethren High football champs, holds high the trophy. 

David Ogden Update–Doing Better

Posted by Terry White on December 23, 2004  |  No Comments

This PRAISE! update, dated December 21st, on Pastor Dave Ogden is from his father, Russ:

“When we arrived [at the hospital] on Friday, we didn’t know if [Dave] would live or die. He has several blood clots in his left leg (not the right one which was injured).

On Saturday the doctor implanted a filter in the vein that sends blood from his leg to his lungs to block large blood clots from reaching his lungs, or heart, or brain. He came through the procedure well.”

On Sunday David was much improved. Monday, they were able to take him off the respirator, most of the tubes, and stop the sedatives. By mid-afternoon they propped up the head of his bed, lowered the foot so he was partially sitting, and taking some nourishment. His mind is sharp and he is able to talk.

Today, Tuesday (Dec. 21), he will start therapy and probably be moved out of ICU to a regular room. His surgeon says he will be back to work in about six weeks. Praise God!”

Grace Students Replicate Rainbow Prayer Meeting

Posted by Terry White on December 21, 2004  |  No Comments

The Friday, November 19 entry in this blog (see November archive) detailed the all-night prayer meeting in the Rainbow Room of the Westminster Hotel in Winona Lake, Indiana, which preceded the Billy Graham 1949 Los Angeles crusade. That article will also appear in the January/February issue of FGBCWorld, soon to arrive in homes and churches.



Judy Daniels, of the Grace College alumni publications office, has alerted us to a recent replication of that meeting by current Grace students. Read and be blessed. To receive Judy’s updates contact her at connect@grace.edu.

STUDENTS HELD AN ALL-NIGHT PRAYER MEETING at Westminster Hall on December 3, led by the Grace Ministries in Action Prayer Team. The meeting was the idea of senior Candice Cavett, who was inspired by a Youth for Christ video that she saw this summer. The video included a segment on the famous all-night prayer meeting in 1949 at Westminster which included a young Billy Graham.

Candice thought another all-night prayer meeting in the same location would be a good idea for Grace. The night was divided into segments with students praying for specific requests such as the college and seminary, missionaries, the persecuted church, and local churches.

The meeting ended with a prayer walk around campus where students prayed for specific buildings as well as ones to come, such as the Event Center.

“The whole night just came together so beautifully,” Candice said. She hopes that students continue the all-night prayer meeting at least once a semester in future years.

Simi Valley Wins Division Title

Posted by Terry White on December 21, 2004  |  No Comments

Grace Brethren High, affiliated with the Simi Valley, CA, Grace Brethren Church (John McIntosh, pastor) has clinched the title in its football division with a 13-1-0 season. First-year coach Terry Gourley was named Coach of the Year and was featured this week on local television following Monday Night Football.

This was Grace Brethren’s first 11-man title, although the school won an 8-man championship in 1999, finished as the Division XIII runner-up in 2002 and was a Division XIII semifinalist last year.

Grace Brethren’s record-setting tailback, Chad Kackert, completed one of the best individual seasons in Ventura County history, rushing for 3,437 yards and 56 touchdowns (tied for sixth all-time nationally) as well as intercepting eight passes. Kackert’s 131 career TDs and 804 points rank in the top 10 nationally, according to the national High School Sports Record Book.

Kackert, a 5-foot-8, 177-pound senior, carries no regrets about playing football at Grace Brethren, a small school which enrolls fewer than 190 students. “God has taken me here for a reason,” he says. “I wouldn’t do anything different.”

His coach, Terry Gourley, says Kackert got the opportunity to play running back as a sophomore only because he was at a small school.

“At any bigger school, he would have been way too small to play running back,” said Gourley. “Here, he got a chance to play fairly early, and he’s a much more polished player with the experience.”

Posted by Terry White on December 21, 2004  |  No Comments

Simi Valley’s Grace Brethren team clinched its division championship this year with a 13-1-0 record. 

Posted by Terry White on December 21, 2004  |  No Comments

Players and cheerleaders from Grace Brethren High in Simi Valley, CA, were featured on local television following Monday Night Football this week. 

Posted by Terry White on December 21, 2004  |  No Comments

Simi Valley cheerleaders pose for TV cameras following Brethren High’s championship season. 

Posted by Terry White on December 20, 2004  |  No Comments

David Jeremiah, Grace Seminary alumnus, debuts his Baptist Press column this week with thoughts on God’s “Very Best” present. 

David Jeremiah on God’s "Very Best"

Posted by Terry White on December 20, 2004  |  No Comments

Grace Seminary alumnus David Jeremiah has recently joined Baptist Press as a columnist. Jeremiah is senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif., and has been featured on the “Turning Point” radio and television ministry since its launch in 1982. Here are excerpts from his first BP column:



God Sent the Very Best

By David Jeremiah

Joyce Hall became the founder of Hallmark Cards, Inc. He is best known for the Hallmark slogan, “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best.”

Quality was his trademark. Not a single Hallmark greeting card reached the marketplace without his “O.K.-J.C.” signoff. He was committed to giving the very best to his customers so they could give the very best to their loved ones.

We are motivated and inspired to strive for “the best” because we strive to reflect the character of the One — the only One in history — who absolutely did give His very best.

God gave His very best. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The gift of Jesus Christ to the world represents the high price God paid to give us His gift. God Himself is the best.

God gave the most expensive gift He had for you and me — Jesus. God gave for the best purpose. The best gifts accomplish the highest good for the recipient. They’re given for positive, uplifting purposes. God’s gift was given for the best purpose: That whoever believes in Christ, God’s gift, should not stay mired in sin but might be lifted up and planted on the solid rock of salvation and eternal life.

Joyce Hall set a high standard for excellence. But the perfect example of “caring enough to send the very best” is God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. God loved enough to send the very best to those who could only be saved by a perfect Savior.

At this time of the year our thoughts are turned toward gifts. The most important gift we have to give every year is the gift we give back to God Himself — the gift of all that we are and have. Jesus described it as our “heart … soul, and … mind” (Matthew 22:37).

When we give ourselves wholly to God, we make known the riches of His grace and glory to the world, proclaiming Christ’s death until He comes (Romans 9:23; 1 Corinthians 11:26).

In the midst of your gift-giving this Christmas, reserve your best gift for the One who gave His best gift to you. Resolve this year be to give yourself — heart, soul, mind and strength — to God every day.

Make Christmas a year-long event as you unwrap yourself in the presence of God each day.

Show that you care enough to send Him the very best.

Simi’s Gourley Named Coach of the Year

Posted by Terry White on December 20, 2004  |  1 Comment

Pastor John McIntosh of the Simi Valley, Grace Brethren Church, has notified FGBC World that Grace Brethren High School football coach Terry Gourley has been named the 2004 ABC7/National Football League’s High School Coach of the Year for the Southern California Region. This is in addition to a previous award as Coach of the Week.

Gourley will be honored on a local Sports Zone show today, Monday, December 20, after Monday Night Football. Gourley’s team won the state championship last weekend by beating Ontario Christian School, 31-6.

Grace Receives $997,791 Lilly Grant

Posted by Terry White on December 18, 2004  |  1 Comment

According to the lead story in this morning’s Warsaw (IN) Times-Union newspaper, Grace College has received a grant of nearly $1 million from Lilly Endowment, Inc. as part of Lilly’s initiative to recruit and retain intellectual capital for Indiana higher education institutions.

According to Grace’s president, Dr. Ron Manahan, the grant will be used to expand one existing program and to launch two new ones. Manahan said, “The purpose of these initiatives is to draw additional intellectual resources to Indiana through faculty and students.”

The announcement says the money will be used for three programs. The first is to establish a Criminal Justice Administration program that will be held by a widely-experienced faculty and that will complement the college’s existing Criminal Justice program.

Second is to refocus and upgrade the Communication and English programs by increasing the intellectual capacity among faculty and placing greater emphasis on organizational communication, business communication, and communication arts.

And third, the college will establish an honors academy (Millennial Scholars Academy) to attract additional gifted students to the college.

Dr. David Plaster, vice president for academic affairs, says, “These changes will make Grace much stronger academically and, in the end, will be directly beneficial to students.”

Grace is one of 37 colleges and universities in Indiana that received grants from the Endowment. A total of $100 million was distributed in 2004 for this latest initiative. Further information is available from John Boal in the college’s advancement office at boaljr@grace.edu.

Prayers Requested for David Ogden

Posted by Terry White on December 16, 2004  |  No Comments

Russ and Betty Ogden of Indianapolis request prayer for their son, David, a Grace Brethren pastor in Florida. David is a single parent, having lost his wife to cancer several years ago. We will post updates here as they are available. [UPDATE: Russ and Betty have decided to go to Florida and are leaving 9 a.m. Friday, Indianapolis time]



URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Our son, David, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church and School in Okeechobee, Florida, is in Martin Memorial Hospital in Stuart, Florida, with pulmonary embolism– that’s the medical term for blood clots affecting both lungs.

He is in Critical Care Unit. His condition is serious.

A few weeks ago he got a scrape on his right leg that became severely infected. The hospital in Okeechobee did surgery to clean the wound. It appeared to be healing, but difficulty breathing alerted friends to admit him to the larger hospital in Stuart.

Dave’s son, Ben, will fly down tonight from Baltimore. Ida Frushour, his mother-in-law, will go from Ft. Meyer to Sebring tomorrow to look after Doug, Elijah and Bethany. Betty’ s brother, George Ralph, lives in nearby PalmBeach Gardens and will monitor his condition.

His cousin, Doris Russell, lives in Stuart and has been in to see him, but he was sedated.

Russ is registered with the hospital to approve medical procedures while David is sedated. We will decide tomorrow morning whether or not we will go down. We urgently ask your prayers for David’s full healing and for God’s guidance to us in this crisis.

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 62:5, 6).

Yours in Christ, Russ and Betty

BMH, FGBC and Friends Enjoy Holiday Open House

Posted by Terry White on December 16, 2004  |  No Comments

About 125 friends, neighbors, and fellow FGBC National Organization employees enjoyed a Holiday Open House this noon at the newly-renovated BMH/FGBC offices on Kings Highway in Winona Lake, IN. A highlight for many of those who attended was the opportunity to greet newly-arrived European missionaries Kip and Mary Cone and Larry and Vicky DeArmey. Those who weren’t able to get there today in time for the meatballs and punch are invited to stop in to 1104A Kings Highway anytime they are in Winona Lake.

Posted by Terry White on December 16, 2004  |  No Comments

Tracy Owen (left) and Ken Herman (right) settle some difficult world problems in the conference room during today’s Holiday Open House at the BMH/FGBC offices in Winona Lake.