PROCLAIM! GALA

We had the Gala, our main fundraising/PR event for the year, April 24 with a good crowd and excellent evening. We have had responses of appreciation and encouragement from many who were able to join us.

Our local expression of Sax 4th Avenue provided great music and atmosphere and demonstrated the impact a versatile group such as this can have in a ministry setting. John used experiences from the recent tour in North Africa to effectively communicate the strategies that we use in cross-cultural evangelism ministry and how they play out in practical ways.

It was encouraging to connect with many new people as the network is expanding thanks to friends who are motivated to challenge others to be involved on some level. We are thankful too for many who sacrificed to give financially as Proclaim! along with other ministries, is being affected by the economy.

A special treat was a visit from our friend Sheila Blackler who surprised us and came out from Portland for the Gala. Michael and Sheila were with us in Anno Domini in Belgium in the 80s and later served in Sweden and Ireland. Sunday after the Gala all the former AD members here (Bowers, Petersons & Jenkins) got together to eat (of course) and relive lots of wonderful times. Jim got out some of the old slides of A.D. families, tour life, stage -- we had some good laughs and shed a few tears of nostalgia and of missing Michael who has been with the Lord for almost 5 years.

John, Jeanne, JP, Kathie, Jim, Kim, Sheila, Diana, Jami

Next stop: We're headed for Indiana and the surrounding area in June to connect with supporters in those areas. It has been many years since we've seen some of our faithful supporters in some places in Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Chicago area, so we want to get to as many of those as possible on this trip. We have been dealing with some vehicle challenges and uncertainty about what direction to go on that. But we decided to go ahead with a major repair on our car to try to keep it going for a while. We're trusting it will be in good shape for this trip. We're looking forward to renewing relationships.