10,000 Bibles Ordered

The news actually came yesterday. Berean was able to buy the better Bible, the black leather like giant print study Bible with colored maps and a concordance. This was the Bible 3 different people picked out without talking to anyone else but they were just too expensive. Then for some reason this was the Bible picked to go on sale and are only $1.00 more than the paper back we have been sending out. Think God wants the prisoners to have this Bible? These Bibles will be delivered the end of this week and we will start sending them out next week, just in time for Christmas.
Our office was buzzing with the sound of happy voices today when the news was told.

 We had a lot of mail but thankfully had the helpers here to process the mail.

 Megan was able to come help on the computer today. She is fast and accurate and we were double blessed because today is her birthday. She could have stayed home to celebrate but instead came to help us. Below Marie is sorting the mail while Glenna and Eva Jean work on opening the mail.

 I would say Kathy is checking out a letter but that would actually be wrong. Marvin brought in Christmas cards for us with some pictures of his family and grand children.

 We had Kathy, David, Marvin and Leila were the readers today. Chuck and Marvin worked on labels and stamps, mom, Joyce, Jan, Glenna, Vonnie and Eva Jean opened mail. Marie sorted and kept the copy machine running, Megan and I were on the computer and Jeanette worked on labels.

 We had too much mail to be done by noon but took a break for soup and pie at noon then went right back to work.

We finally quit working at 2:00 pm leaving a lot of work for the Thursday group. If anyone has a few extra hours on Thursday morning we would love to have you. We won't be mailing out Bibles Thursday but will be finishing separating and stuffing studies.

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We had a good productive day at the Berean office. The first job was to wrap and label Bibles. Roma, Edie, Eva Jean and Chuck started on that as soon as they arrived and these 4 were working machines. They had an assembly line going and filled boxes of Bibles quickly. 

 Marvin came today to work on the new printer and helped me enter all the Bible requests for this week. We were pretty thrilled with how well the printer worked.

By the time we finished today we had 224 Bibles loaded in the car for mailing. This was actually 2 weeks worth as we didn't work last Thursday because of the funeral.  Chuck needed to stop at church to pick up a bunch of studies to mail out for grading as we only had a few here. We finished today at 11:00 am.

Election Day

NOTE: NO WORK AT THE BEREAN OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY NOV 9TH.

This was the most disappointing election day in my history and probably most of the Christians in America feel the same way. Yes I voted but after walking out of the booth there was no joy, no hopeful anticipation on electing a new president. The choices were either bad or awful. Mark and I left just after 6:00 am to drive to the polling place and when we arrived about 6:10 am there was a line of people waiting. It took about an hour to get our votes cast and get back home.
At least today was Berean day. That office is pretty much always filled with Christians joyfully working and visiting together. today was no exception. We had a great group come today to open and process the mail. David is on the board and brought us the good news that the new Bibles should be here soon. He, Kathy, mom, Marvin and Leila were the readers today. Bruce, Chuck and Marvin L worked on the back table. We were thrilled to have Bruce back. Today was raining so he took a break from farming to come help us.

 The picture below was taken before Marvin L, mom, Jan, Joyce and Kathy arrived. Glenna, Shirley, Eva Jean and Vonnie were put to work at the middle table. Marie worked on the second computer. 

 Mom arrived and was put right to work reading letters.

 Joyce and Jan took mail into the other room to open. 

 The clock on the wall read 10:30 am when Kathy arrived and we all teased her about being really late until someone remarked that the clock hadn't been changed from this weekend's time change.

 We worked until after noon then finally stopped to refuel our bodies. 

We had a lot of mail today and went right back to work after lunch. The printer is just about out of ink but Diane is pretty sure we have more at the office. I'll check tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow David B is going to be there and will start work before I can get there. I'm taking my truck in to East Peoria to get new tires put on before heading to Berean. 

NOTE: NO WORK AT THE BEREAN OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY NOV 9TH.  The computer is getting worked on.

Classing UP the Joint

David walked in the Berean office all gussied up and told us, "I'm trying to class up this place."

you can see Marvin's reaction by that statement in the picture below. That may be an incredulous look but also he may just be laughing out loud. David and Kathy could only work until 10:00 am then had to head to a funeral where David was asked to officiate. 

 Everyone else was laughing at that even though there were piles of mail on the table ready to be opened. Marie was busy fixing problems from last week while Glenna, Eva Jean, Vonnie and Shirley opened the mail. 

 Marvin, Leila, David and Kathy were the readers today.

 Wayne came in and in the picture below looks like he may be scolding us for the loud laughter coming out of the office but in reality he was telling me that the water heater was fixed. Wayne keeps everything running smooth here. 

 Jeanette came in a little late and Marvin was quick to practically beg her to take some of the 49 and 50s home to grade. I think he had to grade 90 of them last week. 

 Chuck walked in right after Jeanette and was put right to work applying labels. 

 Jan was busy at the same table as Chuck opening mail. We had a good amount today.

 While Marie and I were entering the last of the studies the rest of the group were in the other room stuffing the next sets to go out. 

 Marie joined them as the last of the intermediate labels were being printed. She also kept the copier running today filling slots. 

We had so much help today that even though we had a decent amount of mail we were able to finish by noon and enjoy a nice leisurely lunch. Another thank you is in order for these top notch classy volunteers.
NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO WORKING ON THURSDAY AT THIS OFFICE. THE OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED Thursday so the volunteers can go to John Honegger's funeral.

Mailing Out Bibles

Thursday's we typically work first on finishing the labeling of the Bibles and load them into the car or van before starting the studies. Eva Jean was the first to arrive and jumped right in putting on the postage label.

 Edie was in charge of putting the prisoner name and address label on the Bible. 

 Anna was helping with the return address label. 

As we were busy working, Wayne walked in to make sure everything is working well. Wayne is the owner of the Berean office and we are so very grateful to have the use of this perfect little building. 

  It has everything we need to get the studies and Bibles out plus a few luxuries like a big table, a small kitchenette, a bathroom, a second room that holds the computers and working tables,  lots of electrical outlets in both of the rooms, and most important plenty of parking for the many volunteers.
Roma had walked into the second room to start working on opening the studies. 

 Chuck arrived with a box. Every couple weeks he brings in a box to stuff studies into and then mails them out for grading to his sister and Brother-in-law Mim and Lynn from South Carolina and also to his daughter Judy in Indiana. 

 Below is the typical mess we make labeling and boxing up Bibles for prisoners. These were stuffed and wrapped yesterday so today we had an easy day just labeling, boxing and hauling them out to the car. 

We had a light mail day today. Chuck read the few letters that came, Roma and Eva Jean labeled the studies as soon as I had them entered and printed out, Edie organized, Anna stamped, then we all stuffed. We were able to finish around 11:00 am then went to Bob Evans for a late breakfast. Another good day!

Engagement Story

David and Cindy arrived at the Berean office ready to work but before they started entering the Bible labels we asked David to tell his story.  The story of how he ended up engaged to Lanae. 

He and Lanae were announced on Sunday at the Peoria and Rockville, CT churches as David's family is from Rockville. His parents came to Peoria Sunday for the announcement and to meet Lanae and her family, and the picture below:

It was hard to keep working while listening to how God led them together. If you want to hear the story you will need to ask them, it was refreshing to see God working in their lives.  Even with that distraction they were able to enter all 123 requests from this week while Carol worked on lessons.

I was in the other room wrapping the Bibles which will be sent out tomorrow. The last label was entered around 11:00 am. Once those were printed we were ready to quit for the day.

Fun Times

Even though we are all busy working at the Berean office, the laughter that bursts out at any given time is infectious. It seems when one of us starts laughing the rest of the volunteers are quick to join in. One of the helpers that seem to keep us in chuckles is Marvin L. He is a riddle asker and when we give up on the answer sometimes just have to groan at his response. We also learned he really likes potato chips and brings them into the second room to snack on while opening mail. He says this is the only time he gets these unhealthy full of salt but flavorful snack as his wife Jane won't buy any. Shirley, pictured with him just had to laugh when he carried the chips in and set them down on HIS table.

Chuck is another volunteer that keeps us in stitches. Today the coffee was just a little too strong but Chuck told us it was great as he was twitching from all the caffeine. Below he is standing tall now that his hip has been replaced. It wasn't that long ago he was rolling around on the chair to do his job.

I arrived a few minutes late today, really not more than 2 minutes but the room was already full of volunteers that had already started working. Marvin is in charge of making sure the computers and monitors are all up and running. Sometimes these pieces of equipment keep him running...running for help. 

 Below Marie showed up early to enter some studies that were left from another day. Marie also keeps the copier running almost the entire time we are in the office working. We hear the constant thump thump of that machine as it spits out 130 copies a minute.

 Mom provided the lunch today. As a reward for that she was given letters to read, lots of letters. Actually those are kind of hard to read, the hand writing can be atrocious. 

 One letter came in today that was written very neatly. It was signed Dr. T-----N and this doctor was in prison asking for a Bible. Marvin said this man couldn't possibly be a doctor the hand writing was way to legible. Jeanette usually comes in a little late (she needs to get the mail opened first at her business) picks up work to do and goes into the other room to do it. Jeanette only stays for lunch if we are serving chocolate and not just any chocolate, she loves chocolate candy.

 Leila, Marvin and Kathy were the other readers today. We are very thankful for Kathy and her smart phone. So many times she needs to look up addresses or zip codes for the people entering the studies. We do not have internet here. 

 Everyone is hard at work in the picture below. Doesn't it look like this room would be quiet as everyone concentrates. Today the room was so full of chatter that I truly wished I could have had a recording.

 Marvin and Chuck are busy below applying labels to envelopes and then the envelopes to the correct studies. 

 We took our lunch break at noon. Marie and I had not finished entering so were busy working until the rest sat down then came in to join them.

 The soup today was delicious. Mom made plenty and some of us went back for seconds. This was served with crackers and cheese, grapes, strawberries, chips, pumpkin loaf, brownies and cinnamon rolls. Today we feasted!

 After lunch came the stuffing and sealing of envelopes. 

We finished up around 2:00 pm, loaded the car up with 2 mail boxes full of studies to be mailed out and 1 box of studies to be taken to church for grading. Another amazing fun day at the Berean office today. A big big thank you for the wonderful fellowship along with the amazing amount of work finished in a few hours. I thank you and the prisoners thank you even more. They look so forward to this mail, love the comments left by the graders and absolutely love getting good grades. We had one prisoner write that this was the first thing in his entire life that he had ever finished. He was so thankful for the certificate and had to tape it up on his cell wall so he could look at it each day.