Serving Others Together

 We didn't have a lot of mail today but there was enough to keep us all busy. Skip and Marvin were the only readers. Leila and Bruce were serving at a nursing home today while Kathy was visiting her grand children.  Below Skip and Marvin were trying hard to read an address on a request letter.

Shirley is working on the intermediate studies below.

Chuck, Shirley and mom are stuffing studies. 

Once the studies were done we worked on getting the Bibles ready for mailing. Below Vonnie and Chuck are getting the address labels on and the Bible postage.

Shirley is stuffing the intermediate studies.

Bill is checking information on his phone.

We were finished with everything, including our snack by 11:00 am. Mom and I drove to the post office to drop off the Bibles and mail the first class letters and post cards before heading home. It was another good day of serving others together.

Another Productive Day

 We were hopeful there would be a lot of mail today as last week over 400 Bibles were sent out but that didn't happen.  I have to remember it takes a couple weeks for the Bibles to get to the prisoner and the prisoner to do the study then mail it back so hopefully next week we will be swamped. We had a good crew come in today. 

Below Skip was eating a brownie while bringing in a sheet of labels and below Leila and Shirley are working on Bibles, Vonnie and Bruce are working on studies and Bill was making copies.

Shirley finished with the Bibles and went to work cleaning windowsills.

Below almost everyone was working in this room either filling studies or working on Bibles. Shirley was in the other room finishing up the intermediate studies and not pictured.

We were able to finish before 11:00 am then sat and had some sweet treats and coffee before heading to the Bartonville post office to drop off the Bibles. Another productive day.

400 Bibles

 There were 5 cars already in the parking lot waiting for the mail when we arrived and more came later. We had a good group of volunteers and today we really needed them. Today not only did we have a lot of mail, we also had a lot of Bible requests and this week over 400 Bibles will be sent out. We sent out 96 just today from here. Bill will be sending out more than 300 directly to jails and prisons that chaplains requested. Below are a few pictures of the morning.

Ron opened the envelope below then handed it over to Shirley. We all had a good laugh. Those are kisses on the back of the envelope.

Thankful for each and everyone that volunteers for this ministry. They really are working as servants.

Another New Volunteer.

 We arrived at the Berean office just in time to watch Chuck unlock the door. The mail was brought inside and as each arrived they went right to work. Our computer needed to update so the studies couldn't be entered until 9:30 am but there was other jobs to do while the update was happening.

We had a new volunteer today, Jenifer was willing to come learn how to help.

We had 28 Bible request today. Those were labeled and stamped then loaded into the car.

We finished the work before 11:00 am and enjoyed visiting with Joan, the lady that comes from the Brethren church to pick up studies for others to grade. She told us that before she delivers them she drives to the fellowship hall, parks and prays over each of the studies. We enjoyed the visiting time after the work was done.  The Bibles were taken to the Bartonville post office on the way home. It really is a blessed morning to get to work at that office. All of us are glad to and want to serve.  ATTENTION! The BEREAN OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED Tuesday July 6th, 2022.  

Double the Blessing

 Mom and I left a little early this morning. We drove first to the Casey's in Hanna City, but there were too many cars, too many people and not enough donuts so we drove to the one by the jail. They had plenty of donuts BUT the donuts weren't near as good as the Hanna City Casey's. They don't use as much icing and frankly they didn't taste as fresh, kind of like they had been sitting there overnight AND cost $3.00 extra. I guess if we want fresh donuts I have to go to our Hanna City Casey's EARLY in the morning. It is worth the extra 8 miles (4 there and 4 back) to get delicious fresh baked. That is probably why there are so many people lined up for donuts in Hanna City. Those customers are more than likely coming from Peoria.  When we arrived Chuck and Skip were already waiting with a fresh pot of coffee. They decided to eat theirs before working.  We had a very good crew working today and got a lot done. We also had 36 Bible request today. Below are a few pictures of the morning. 

Above Marvin is asking someone to pray. At 9:30 am we stop what ever we are working on for this important prayer. Not only do we pray for the prisoners but we pray for us the volunteers also.

Today we wrapped 5 boxes of Bibles. They are all stuffed with the introductory letter, a business reply envelop and the first 4 sets of the study.

We fins a good percentage of prisoners that ask for a Bible will also send in the studies. We have one prisoner that has gone through the basic study and the intermediate 2 times each and is working on  the 3rd of both at the same time. He needs something to fill his time while in prison and loves getting the graded study back with encouraging comments. We are thankful for the opportunity to volunteer for this ministry that not only helps prisoners it is a blessing for the volunteers also. That's what we call, "double the blessing!"

Donut Shortage

 Mom and I stopped at Casey's this morning early to pick up donuts for the Berean volunteers. Casey's was open but accepting cash only AND they were almost out of donuts. I was able to snag 9 but wasn't sure if I had enough cash on me so put them on the counter, told the customer who I was behind in the long line that I was just going out to the car to look for cash then went out to the car and asked mom if she had any cash. She had $6.00 on her and between us we had enough to purchase those 9 delicious donuts. The lady that was saving my place in line asked as soon as I walked back, "do you need some cash? We really have nice people here in Hanna City. BUT if you want more than 9 donuts one had better get there when they open. I guess we also have a donut shortage along with our gas and lumber shortage.  We had a good group of volunteers today and got everything done by 11:00 am. Below are a few pictures of our morning there.

Above Leila is checking the board as she opens a letter. Below Marvin and Skip are trying to figure out the spelling on the name of a Bible request. That is one of our big challenges. If we don't get it correct, the prison rejects them with the notice "name and number don't match" and then we have to pay the same postage to get it back as we did to get it to the prison. 

Bill had the prayer today. Each morning Marvin's phone alarm goes off to remind us it is time to pray for the prisoners and us.

We had more people than donuts but everyone get at least some of a donut. We are good at sharing at that office. 

 

A Way to Serve

 We are getting concerned that our Bible requests are dropping but then realized during the pandemic they let thousands of prisoners out and made marijuana legal. Hopefully those that need and want a Bible will still know where to ask for one. We were able to finish everything by 11:00 am. Below are a few pictures from our morning.

We really do have a good time working in this office and are thankful for a way to serve.