Team Wisconsin Update

Pastor LeRoy and Dorene Drake were honored this week as he steps down from active pastoral ministry. Thursday night about 50 specially invited guests – family, friends, fellow pastors – gathered to honor and celebrate his 43 years of ministry, all of them in the Wisconsin district. Sunday morning was a bitter sweet service as, once again, Pastor LeRoy and his wife, Dorene Drake, were honored. It was a beautiful service, even with everyone realizing that it would be the final one as the Gull Lake Wesleyan church. The entire Drake family was present, leading the worship service and doing a variety of musical selections. I was privileged to share the message and commissioned the members of the congregation to go out and serve Christ wherever He leads them. Appropriately, Pastor Drake led the congregation in celebrating communion as the final act of worship.

What is really cool is that Gull Lake’s offering on their 90th anniversary celebration was designated to go for church planting. The property will be sold, with the proceeds to go to church planting. And all of their equipment and furnishings that can be used will be distributed to any of the six newest congregations that have been started in the past few years. We celebrate with Pastor Drake and the Gull Lake congregation the ministry they had over the past 90 years, but also the way they will continue to impact the ministry of the Wesleyan church for years to come through the distribution of their people and resources into the mission field here in Wisconsin.

News and Notes

Senior High Camp is on! Pray for them this week that God will do what He wants to do in the lives of our senior high youth. And don’t forget to pray for Chopper Brown and his team.

Nicaragua Partnership has added two major projects this year, in addition to the other ongoing ministries. The first one is to find a property and building a district ministry center and central Wesleyan church. The second one is to provide funding for leadership training for the pastors and leaders in the churches. TEE is Theological Education by Extension. TEE is being produced and taught by missionaries Mike Knox and Jim Eckhardt. The cost per student per year is only $336 (which includes all expenses for 3-4 classes). Our goal this year is to have 25 student scholarships. 25 individuals or local churches, or combinations of local churches would cover the needs for this year. Our first donation was given by Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana, our newest and most under-resourced church in the district. Hats off to Daniel Munoz and their congregation. To make contributions, make the check to “Wisconsin District Nicaragua Partnership” and send to Irene Tripp.

World Hope has added the Friends of the King School in Tipitapa to their child sponsorship program. This is a brand new school that has started out of the Tipitapa church – Amigitos Del Rey. A delegation from World Hope was there last spring and distributed school packs to students at several schools in Nicaragua, including the ones that are affiliated with the Wesleyan church. They are accepting 25 sponsorship applications through their Hope for Children project. Please pray that these children will find sponsors quickly. You can go to the World Hope website http://www.worldhope.org/ for information on how to sponsor a child. If you are interested, you need to put a comment in the comment section that you want a child from Nicaragua -05 project or Tipitapa. You will be sent a child’s bio and photo along with a welcome booklet that explains the HFC program in detail.

Please pray especially for Bessie Winterberg, Pastor Dwayne Winterberg’s mother, as she faces a difficult surgery on Wednesday. Bessie is a member of the Beulah Wesleyan church.

Dates for your Information

July 30-Aug. 4 Senior High Camp
August 4 Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana visit
August 5 The River, Spooner, Hayward visit
Meet with Gull Lake leaders
August 9-11 Willow Creek Leadership Summit
August 11 Jason/Alya – Transformation City
August 12 Our Savior’s, Mukwonago visit
August 19 Parkway visit

Team Wisconsin Update

Dennis and Sela Jones moved from Eastern New York a few weeks ago and are settling into a very nicely remodeled home at the Beulah Wesleyan church. The congregation, who has been without a pastor for several months, took the opportunity to do some significant upgrades to the home beside the church – new bathroom on the main level, new hall and laundry room, and an all new kitchen. A special thanks goes to Chuck Davis, vice chair, and the board, for their leadership and hard work in maintaining the ministry during the time of transition. I had the privilege of installing Pastor Dennis on Sunday, then Reenie and I enjoyed the tour of the home and dinner with them. Pastor Dennis and the congregation are excited about the future!

News and Notes

Youth Camp starts next Monday. For registration information, go to the website http://www.wisconsindistrict.org/. They’re anticipating a great week at SkyLodge camp in Montello, WI. Chopper Brown and his team have done great preparing. God has plans for each of the teens’ lives. Pray that every one of them will hear from God and many will experience life change.

The fall Medical Team to Nicaragua is near the end of the recruiting time for team members. The dates are September 5-13, 2007. Information can be accessed at the Eau Claire Wesleyan church's web site: http://www.ecwesleyan.net/. Contact Hannah Peterson for further information at kentandhannah1@hotmail.com or call 715-878-4961. Applications should be sent to Hannah Peterson as soon as possible. Both medical and non-medical people are needed. People can contribute used eyeglasses and new toothbrushes.

World Hope has added the Friends of the King School in Tipitapa to their child sponsorship program. This is a brand new school that has started out of the Tipitapa church – Amigitos Del Rey. A delegation from World Hope was there last spring and distributed school packs to students at several schools in Nicaragua, including the ones that are affiliated with the Wesleyan church. They are accepting 25 sponsorship applications through their Hope for Children project. Please pray that these children will find sponsors quickly. You can go to the World Hope website http://www.worldhope.org/ for information on how to sponsor a child. If you are interested, you need to put a comment in the comment section that you want a child from Nicaragua -05 project or Tipitapa. You will be sent a child’s bio and photo along with a welcome booklet that explains the HFC program in detail.

Jeff Anderson, pastor of the Janesville church, has resigned and will be leaving to take an administrative position with his Alma Mater, Vennard College in Iowa. Jeff and Betsy and their family have been at Janesville for eight years, steadily growing and refocusing the church every year. Their last Sunday will be August 12. We wish them the very best as they prepare for a new chapter in their lives. Remember to pray for the Janesville church as they prepare for this transition.

Dates for your Information

July 29 Gull Lake – LeRoy Drake Retirement Sunday

July 30-Aug. 4 Senior High Camp
August 4 Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana visit
August 9-11 Willow Creek Leadership Summit
August 11 Jason/Alya – Transformation City
August 12 Our Savior’s, Mukwonago visit

Leading a great team.

Your Servant,

Dan Bickel
Wisconsin District Superintendent

Team Wisconsin Update 7/17/07

Pastor Alan and Irene Tripp started ministry at the Burr and Valley churches before our second son was even born. Last weekend the two churches honored them for 25 years of faithful ministry. Alan and Irene’s entire family was there. The people had planned all of the events and services for the day, leaving the Tripps with nothing to do but show up and smile a lot. Following the two services, a dinner was served at the Valley church. Then, it was back up the hill for cake and a reception in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day. Two congregations really appreciate their pastor. And two people, Pastor Alan and Irene Tripp, really love their congregations. Congratulations to Pastor Alan and Irene on good, faithful and fruitful ministry. And congratulations to the Burr and Valley churches for being the kind of good, healthy congregations that make it possible for a pastor to survive and thrive in a long term ministry!

News and Notes

Speaking of celebrations, the Hayward Wesleyan church had a special celebration for Pastor Ben and Lois Drown, in honor of their 50 years of ministry in the Wesleyan church. After having served congregations as the lead pastor in Wisconsin, Pastor Ben “sort of retired” and moved to Hayward to serve on staff. Not knowing the meaning of ‘slow down’, he jumped in and has done pastoral care there ever since. Congratulations to Ben and Lois. We celebrate, along with them, the faithfulness and the way they have served the Lord and His church.

At the end of this month, Les and Linda Burch will be leaving for Colorado to take a pastorate there. Les has been working through the ministerial preparation courses and has almost completed the work. They have been members of the Sand Lake Wesleyan church, serving as lay people there while preparing for ministry. We wish them well. Pray for them in their move and as they start their ministry there.

Jesse and Krissy Hamble are leaving Red Cedar the end of the summer. Jesse grew up in northern Wisconsin, worked in Rice Lake and eventually came on staff as the Pastor of Celebration Arts. After giving really good leadership on staff, they feel called to full-time music ministry on the road. Pray for them as they transition out of the local church and go on the road.

Please pray for Paul and Beth Myers and both of their families. Paul is assistant pastor at Hales Corners Wesleyan. Last Wednesday Beth’s grandmother fell, hit her head, and died later on that evening. Sunday night Paul’s grandmother died at the hospice she was at. The disease she had caused her body to quit producing blood platelets. She passed away in her sleep.

Nicaragua Youth Ministry Team – Great Story!

A couple of weeks ago we had a great team of teenagers come to Nicaragua to do a series of vacation Bible schools in area churches. Included in each VBS was a station in which the children received a new pair of shoes. One of the churches really used the event to leverage its own outreach to unchurched kids in the community. Here’s the story from missionary Mike Knox:

At the end of the week there were some shoes leftover. In the past we've given them to other churches or schools. But this year we decided to try something different. One of our pastoral couples, Alfonso and Connie, have a "pulperia"--a little store--in their home. Connie used to sell clothes on the street but when her manager asked her to move to a route in a more dangerous part of the city, she decided to open the pulperia instead. They have done well, and have been making monthly payments on a refrigerator that they bought from the mission for their business. The money from the sale of the fridge goes back to the national church to be made available for other micro-loans. So this year, looking for another way to maximize the benefits of the shoes, the youth team agreed to give the leftovers to Connie to sell in her little store, but with the understanding that one half of all the profits would go back to the national church to augment the micro-loan fund.

Mike Knox dropped in to visit Connie and Alfonso a few days later, and Connie told him this great story: Three years ago she had a dream that someone gave her a boat-load of shoes to sell. She shared the dream with her family and a couple of friends and it became something of a running refrain between her and one friend that when they would run into one another on occasion, she would say, "I'm still waiting for my shoes!" Connie told Mike that she had just recently run into this friend and she had told him, as usual, "I'm still waiting for my shoes!" So when Mike delivered about 100 pairs of shoes to her a few days later, it was a surprise but not totally unexpected. The Lord had given her a vision three years earlier that one day He would provide her with a bunch of shoes to sell.

God is at work in Nicaragua, as He is all over the world. Thanks to many, many of you for your prayers and gifts to help establish a new Wesleyan district in Central America.

Dates for your Information

July 22 Beulah – Dennis Jones Installation
July 29 Gull Lake – LeRoy Drake Retirement Sunday

July 30-Aug. 4 Senior High Camp
August 4 Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana visit
August 9-11 Willow Creek Leadership Summit
August 11 Jason/Alya – Transformation City
August 12 Our Savior’s, Mukwonago visit

Team Wisconsin Update 7/11/2007

Saturday evening and Sunday at the end of June were beautiful days of celebration for 90 years of ministry for the Gull Lake church. Saturday evening was highlighted by a pig (and we’re talking the whole thing) roast and a concert. Sunday morning featured a lot of music and the sharing of memories by congregants and former pastors Rev. Russell Buck and John Heavilin. Rev. O.S. Warner and a layman, Frank Hotchkiss, opened and pioneered the work at Gull Lake in 1917. For a number of years the church was on a circuit with the Chitimo church, located east of Minong. Now, after 90 years of faithful service, they have come to realize that times have changed, the community has changed, and the demographics have changed. 19 different pastors have served the church alongside many faithful lay people. The past 15 have been under Rev. LeRoy Drake’s leadership. It is with some sadness that they have come to the end of this chapter, but it is also a celebration of the lives that have been changed over the years and the anticipation of investing the talents and resources of the people and the facilities to assist and plant other congregations in the future.

Nothin’

That’s how much work I did for the district for a whole week. Lots. That’s how much time I spent with family. Brent and Laura and our first grandson Jackson came for a few days, so I got to do the ‘grandpa’ thing. It was wonderful! Brice and his girlfriend Brittany came for about four days. On Friday he asked her to marry him and she said “yes”, so we are going to have a new daughter-in-law sometime next spring. That was wonderful! Then, last weekend we had the Bickel reunion – mom and dad, six kids and their families. You can imagine the zoo that was. Well, maybe you can’t. Anyway, that was wonderful, too.

News and Notes

Please continue to pray for Mary Coolidge as she deals with the loss of her husband and colleague in ministry, Skip. She is taking a short respite from ministry. Jack Martiny, assistant at Mt. Pisgah, will be ministering to the Woodland congregation during this time.

The fall Medical Team to Nicaragua is now recruiting for team members. The dates are September 5-13, 2007. Information can be accessed at the Eau Claire Wesleyan church's web site: http://www.ecwesleyan.net/. Contact Hannah Peterson for further information at kentandhannah1@hotmail.com or call 715-878-4961. Applications should be sent to Hannah Peterson as soon as possible. Both medical and non-medical people are needed. People can contribute used eyeglasses and new toothbrushes.

Dates for your Information

July 8 Vacation
July 15 Burr/Valley
July 22 Beulah – Dennis Jones Installation
July 29 Gull Lake – LeRoy Drake Retirement Sunday

July 30-Aug. 4 Senior High Camp
August 4 Iglesia Cristiana Wesleyana visit
August 9-11 Willow Creek Leadership Summit
August 11 Jason/Alya – Transformation City
August 12 Our Savior’s, Mukwonago visit

Leading a great team.

Your Servant,

Dan Bickel
Wisconsin District Superintendent