Letter ONE from Caleb

Here is an excerpt from the FIRST letter we received from Caleb!! We were SO excited!!



"Hello Family,

How is it going at home? It's been really busy here. When I got here on Monday we raked leaves for 4-5 hours waiting for the rest of the recruits to arrive. R night (the first night we were here) was very interesting which is about all I can say about that right now anyway. The next day we got up early for PT which is Physical Training Exercise. It hasn't been too hard as of yet but I'm sure it will get harder. We are learning the basics such as: how to stand at attention, how to press and starch our BDUs, how to address authority, etc.

We have seven recruits in our squad. We are the Third Platoon Bravo Squad. Our squad Cadre is S. D. - he's the best squad leader, firm but fair. There is a booklet filled with regulations that if you don't get right you'll hit the deck and do from 7-17 push ups or flutter kicks depending on the infraction and circumstances. I've had to do a lot but we are getting better. I got your letter today. Thanks for all your nice notes!

Caleb"

*sniff sniff* It was so nice to hear from him! Keep up the prayers . . . thanks everyone!

5 Minute Challenge

And of course, if we prayed 5 min. per day for our persecuted brothers and sisters that would be even better! Sign up here: http://www.worldwatchlist.us/5-minute-challenge/?utm_campaign=worldwatchlist&utm_source=january_newsletter

ALERT blog

Check out the ALERT blog to see pictures of Unit 47 - see if you can spot Caleb anywhere! We noticed him in 4 pictures. :-)

http://www.alertacademy.com/alert/blog/

Caleb's Blog

Check out Caleb's blog for the address to write him at Alert, and for news and pictures throughout the next couple months as I update it!!!

http://ckstuntman.blogspot.com/

ALERT!

 

Caleb left very early this morning for the International Alert Academy. We were so sad to see him go, but so proud of him (above is a picture I took of him the day before he left)!!  :-)

We all went with to the airport and wished Caleb well. :-) ALERT is like a Christian boot camp so he won't be able to call home much (only 3 times total for the first 9 weeks he'll be down there). Thankfully we'll be able to write him lots of letters and e-mails (although he's only allowed to write home once a week).

 

Giving hugs goodbye :-(

 

Ethan was rather sad to see Caleb go (most of us shed at least a couple tears!). He's had a hard time getting to sleep without his special big brother, but I think we'll all survive, and we'll be glad to welcome Caleb back home! Prayers for Caleb are greatly appreciated!

North Korea: A Visiting Missionary

This entire article is from the VOM Canada Blog:

North Korea: A Visiting Missionary  

When the boy in the hotel finally spotted the visiting “businessman,” he ran to him and grabbed his hand. The startled visitor tried to pull away but soon realized that the boy was making the sign of the cross on his palm silently with his finger. The man, a missionary who had prayed to make contact with the church, looked down into the face of the rail-thin boy and immediately understood the message: “The church is alive in North Korea!”

The next day, the missionary met secretly with the boy. He learned that his father was a Christian who had been imprisoned years before. The boy’s family had greatly suffered under the brutal government and had to beg for food just to survive. Now because of drought, people everywhere were dying from severe malnutrition.

When the missionary asked what he could do, he thought surely the boy would request food for his family. But the boy asked him for only four things: to take his tithe that he had saved over many years, to baptize him, to give him Holy Communion, and to give him a better Bible.

The man was moved to tears as he realized the boy’s wisdom. Physical help would only serve him for a day or two, and then he would be back in the same predicament. Spiritual help would prepare him for eternity.

Wanting something and needing something are two entirely different things for most people. What they want is not what they need. Yet what they need most is not what they want. This is why so many people are frustrated. The child in this story teaches us what happens when all our wants are lined up with all our needs. He got it right. He wanted the very thing he needed most: Jesus Christ. When all you want is all you need, you will find great satisfaction. You may say you want money, but you’ll soon find that money meets only so many needs. You may say you need money, but soon you’ll want other things as well. Only Jesus can satisfy your wants and needs at the same time.