Opportunity To Serve

On Sunday evening a man named Frankie Palermo came to the fellowship hall and gave a talk on his life as in the mob, his father, the mob boss, his incarceration of 18 years in the 2nd toughest prison in America, his conversion and now his preaching in jails and prisons.  The talk really was amazing. Frankie wrote a book called A Trophy of God's Marvelous GRACE and gave each one there a copy of his book. Below are a few pictures of the evening.

We enjoyed the evening.  Today we had a good amount of mail but also a good amount of volunteers to process that mail.

We mailed out almost 60 Bibles and sent 206 studies out. This really is an amazing ministry and all of us volunteers are glad we get the opportunity to serve.

Given a Chance

The Berean Banquet was a success. The speakers were amazing and the testimonies wonderful. Joan Schick organized and helped cook the meal and we all enjoyed it. The food was delicious. If you would like to see pictures of the banquet click HERE.
Today we didn't have a lot of time to talk about it until we broke for lunch. Below are a few pictures of our morning.

We are thankful for each person that came to the banquet to help support this ministry. So many people believe these prisoners are getting what they deserve BUT..don't they too deserve to know they CAN be forgiven from their sins? Don't they deserve to know Jesus died for them too and that HE loved them AS THEY ARE enough to shed His precious sinless blood for each and every person. If they are not told how will they know?  Each prisoner that asks for a Bible should be given a chance to read that Bible and this ministry is trying to give each that asks this special gift.

Gearing UP For the Banquet

We had a very busy day at the Berean office processing around 130 Bibles and over 200 studies.  Thankfully we had a good group of volunteers to help with all of the mail.

The Berean Banquet is THURSDAY, just 2 days away and there is STILL room. Please contact Bill Schick if interested in coming. 520 395-6000, if interested at all in prison ministry you really won't want to miss this banquet. The Berean Banquet starts at 6:00 pm. This will be held at Five Points Washington in Washington IL.  The featured speaker this year is Gracia Burnham.  For 17 years, Gracia and her husband Martin served with the New Tribes Mission in the Philippines where Martin was a jungle pilot delivering mail, supplies and encouragement to other missionaries, and transporting sick and injured patients to medical facilities.  Gracia served in various roles supporting the aviation program and also home-schooling their 3 children Jeff, Mindy and Zach- all of whom were born in the Philippines.  

On May 27th, 2001, while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island, The Burnhams were taken captive by a militant group of Muslims called the AbuSayyaf Group.  In addition to the Burnhams, the group seized several more guests and took them to Basilan Island, an ASG stronghold.  In the ensuing months, some of the hostages were killed but most were set free.  From November 2001, only the Burnhams and one other hostage remained in captivity. For more than a year, and under the total control of their captors, they

were constantly on the move living in primitive conditions in the jumgle, evading capture from the Philippine military, enduring gun battles, and witnessing unspeakable atrocities committed by the men of Abu Sayyaf Group.  Soon after the events of Sept 11th, the news media took a greater interest in Gracia and Martin's plight and kept their story in the national headlines. On the afternoon of June 7th, 2002, over a year since their abduction, the Philippine military attempted another rescue. Tragically, Martin was killed during the gunfight. Wounded but alive Gracia was rescued and returned home under a national spotlight.  Gracia talks about the spiritual lessons she learned during her captivity and how God has blessed her and her family since Martin's death.

NoCommunication

We were very efficient today at the Berean office. There were plenty of volunteers and everyone went right to work as they arrived.

 We were able to process the studies finishing before 10:30 am.

 Above Jeanette is reading letters and below Bruce is taking a break from running the postage machine. 

 As soon as the studies were finished a good group went into the other room to get the Bibles ready for mailing. We just had 57 request this week for a Bible but everyone that requested was sent one.

 Kathy and Dave provided the lunch today. Kathy called Sam's Club and ordered 2 pizzas to be picked up in 15 minutes. When she arrived she found out the lady that took her order forgot to communicate with the person making the pizzas and the pizza not only wasn't done it wasn't even started.  Kathy sent a text asking everyone to please WAIT for her to get back. As a joke we all sat around the table, grabbed a fork, snapped a picture and sent a text that we were ALL waiting for her.

 She got a good round of applause and lots of laughs when she arrived with the pizza.

Lunch was delicious. Kathy also served her special salad with vine ripened tomatoes and other toppings, grapes and for dessert brownies topped with salted caramel ice cream!  We all enjoyed the fruits of her efforts. A special thank you to Kathy and Dave for providing a meal for the Tuesday Berean volunteers and thank you to everyone who came to volunteer. We sure have a good time serving others.

Working Side By Side

Most of us arrived before the storm hit this morning and we were all safe inside working hard when the lightning, thunder and rain started.  Inside was bright and cheerful as we worked side by side processing studies and filling Bible requests. 

 Mark helped on the computer until the studies were processed then helped Marvin and Leila with reading the letters.  Joyce, Vonnie and Ray were working hard in the other room stuffing and wrapping Bibles.

 Bruce, Shirley and Shirley worked on the studies until Bruce was needed to run the postage machine.

 Chuck had been helping with the studies but as soon as they were finished he joined the others wrapping Bibles.

 The group below had an assembly line going to get the Bibles stuffed, wrapped, labeled and stamped.

Everyone here works well together side by side. 

Don't forget to call or send in your reservation for the Berean Banquet which is coming up Thursday night Sept 12th, at 6:00 pm. This will be held at Five Points Washington in Washington IL.  The featured speaker this year is Gracia Burnham.  For 17 years, Gracia and her husband Martin served with the New Tribes Mission in the Philippines where Martin was a jungle pilot delivering mail, supplies and encouragement to other missionaries, and transporting sick and injured patients to medical facilities.  Gracia served in various roles supporting the aviation program and also home-schooling their 3 children Jeff, Mindy and Zach- all of whom were born in the Philippines.  

On May 27th, 2001, while celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary at Dos Palmas Resort off Palawan Island, The Burnhams were taken captive by a militant group of Muslims called the AbuSayyaf Group.  In addition to the Burnhams, the group seized several more guests and took them to Basilan Island, an ASG stronghold.  In the ensuing months, some of the hostages were killed but most were set free.  From November 2001, only the Burnhams and one other hostage remained in captivity. For more than a year, and under the total control of their captors, they

were constantly on the move living in primitive conditions in the jumgle, evading capture from the Philippine military, enduring gun battles, and witnessing unspeakable atrocities committed by the men of Abu Sayyaf Group.  Soon after the events of Sept 11th, the news media took a greater interest in Gracia and Martin's plight and kept their story in the national headlines. On the afternoon of June 7th, 2002, over a year since their abduction, the Philippine military attempted another rescue. Tragically, Martin was killed during the gunfight. Wounded but alive Gracia was rescued and returned home under a national spotlight.  Gracia talks about the spiritual lessons she learned during her captivity and how God has blessed her and her family since Martin's death.  

Banquet Invitation

The Berean Banquet will be held Sept 12th, 2019 6:00 pm at Five Points Washington in Washington, IL.  Our speaker will be Gracia Burnham  Please click on this link to learn more about Gracia. 

A steak dinner is being served, $30.00 per person or $240.00 for a table.  You can make your reservations by calling (309) 672-0991.  We look forward to seeing you.

Please click below to view the invitation

2019 Berean Banquet Invitation