The Bible Story Family

  CREATIVE CHRISTMAS GIFTS               We used to joke that the Fourth of July fireworks would someday explode with the message “Do your Christmas shopping early.” This year that hardly seems like a joke, what with the delivery delays many are predicting.             So, in order to help you with the task of choosing creative gifts for Christmas, the Bible Story Family has compiled a wish list for your use. GIFTS FOR CHILDREN “Wolfgang, the Well-Mannered Lobster”             Children of the sea learn table manners. “Smoky, the Cheating Dragon”             Western boys teach a dragon to play fair. “Bible Kids Speak Up”             36 video scripts for children and teens. “Billy Sunday”             Home Run to Heaven “William Jennings Bryan”             Golden-Tongued Orator “Daniel Webster”             Defender of the Union “The Write Book for Christian Families”             Helping children learn to serve God through writing. “Character Needed”

  “What are you? A medium, or something? I thought I heard you say you were a DEATH INTERPRETER?” That is only one of the strange questions Joe Peal has had to answer when trying to explain his goal of becoming a Bible interpreter for the DEAF! Not for DEATH! At a recent meeting I attended Joe spoke for about twenty minutes and then spent most of the next hour answering questions. “Historically, deaf languages have been understudied,” he explained. “The first deaf dictionary didn’t appear until 1965. The first complete Bible in sign language was not published until 2020. And even using the word published is not quite correct. This is not a print Bible, it is a video Bible.” Joe informed us that it took thirty-nine years to complete that video Bible in ASL or American Sign Language. But there are more than three hundred and fifty sign languages in the world each with its own grammar and syntax. His goal is to join with Wycliffe in bringing God’s Word to other deaf communities

  Carmen and I are rejoicing in the opportunity to share in the support of the Deo Cantamus concert October 23. “Consolation For The Suffering” will be presented at Fourth Baptist Church of Minneapolis at 4:00 p.m. that Saturday. This concert of music and narrative focuses on the many who suffer for their faith. New music by Ed Willmington, along with video presentations from Frontline Missions will create a special time of listening, contemplation and prayer. Deo Cantamus is directed by Al Hawkins. “This event will amplify stories we do not often listen for: the voices of the daily persecuted and suffering Christians around the world,” according to the Deo Cantamus advertising brochure. The concert is presented without charge and a free-will offering will be accepted.

  Our pastor’s son mowed our lawn for nothing. Actually, Micah Morrell had started a business he called Cutting For College. He would mow a lawn without charge, only asking for contributions toward his college fund. It proved to be an effective strategy. But it didn’t end there. Given a drone with photographic capability, Micah earned a commercial license and began working at car shows. He found that owners of classic cars would pay a premium price for videos of their machines in motion. Next, the Exotic Premium Travel Adventures Company invited him to use the drone in the production of a film of their Alaska Adventures. Several weeks during the summer found him filming volcano fly-overs, back-country fishing expeditions, and glaciers. But it didn’t end there. After just two years of business classes, this young entrepreneur took a semester off to expand his high-end arcade kiosks. Called the “Mall Racer,” his small businesses exist in four locations with four more to open before