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Construction Workers Christian Fellowship
Hard Hats for Christ
Staff articles and reports
Summer 2011
Office : 360-423-5022
www.hardhatsforchrist.org
E-mail: [email protected]
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 636, Kelso, WA 98626
Five years ago, the board of el-
ders at the Living Water Community
Church felt that it was time to
reach out to needy people in their
community. At that time they were
holding church services in a local
high school building and needed a
facility of their own. They started
searching for property to build on,
or an existing building to remodel.
God led them to an old bingo par-
lor, and then worked miracles to
help them purchase it and turn it
into a house of worship.
Before they had officially moved
into the building they were able to
use the offices. One day, as Pastor
Jeff was studying for his sermon, a
young man came in and asked the
secretary if she could call a cab for
him. While he was waiting for the
cab to arrive he was able to talk to
Jeff. He was pretty drunk but sober
enough to carry on a conversation
and to know that he shouldn’t be
driving. He wept about the mess
he was making of his life. He had
just recently been released from
prison and was living at a halfway
house. When asked where he
would like the cab to take him he
was not sure that he could return to
the halfway house and was hoping
that they would let him stay in spite
of his condition. However, he end-
ed up spending the night in his car
and was back at Living Water
Community Church the next morn-
ing, telling more of his story.
He had had everything he could
possibly want: a six figure salary, a
beautiful wife, and a little girl. One
day he met an old friend who of-
fered to “blow his mind.” That was
the first time he tried crystal meth—
and he spent the next ten years
addicted to it. During those ten
years he lost everything. When he
came to the door at Living Water
Community Church he was crying
out because he didn’t want to
continue on this destructive path.
Pastor Jeff told him that he
could not get his life back by will
power alone, but he knew Some-
one who could restore him. Then
he told him all about God’s great
plan of salvation for mankind. The
young man prayed and made a
commitment but also knew that he
would need help. The staff at the
church searched all over the state
until they found a room for him in a
facility in Spokane, WA. They
bought him a bus ticket to Spokane
and put him on the bus. Upon ar-
riving in Spokane he checked into
Teen Challenge where he went
through detox quickly and was do-
ing well. He was already fellowship-
ping with other believers and sing-
ing praises to God. Pastor Jeff
challenged him to return to their
church in Vancouver when he
completes the program at Teen
Challenge. He also asked him to
bring his daughter with him. Their
whole congregation is praying ex-
pectantly for this young man— and
so are we!
We have opportunities for you to
help other churches and Christian
ministries as they reach out to the
unsaved. Not all of us can preach
or counsel, but all of us have been
equipped to do something to build
God’s kingdom.
In April last year Duane
had a chance to re-
new friendships in
southern Mexico. He and Joe Newton
were in Mexico City to help build an
addition on the Maranatha Baptist
Church and do some much needed
repairs on the home of a missionary.
When that work was finished, Duane
took Joe to Matias Romero to see the
work that had been done by Hard Hats
in the 1980s. While there they met
Irasema, a daughter of the Perez fami-
ly, with whom Duane had lived 20
years ago. She and her husband
have been able to build and run an
orphanage without any outside help.
Occasionally groups come in to help
with a few things but this truly is a
“homegrown” ministry.
Continued on next page
Duane Atkinson
Years ago Bill and Janice Wood
started sending money to help support a
child in Thailand. While traveling for his
work they decided to find out if the mon-
ey they had been donating was going to
a real child. They not only found that
child, but many more in need, and from
their side trip an orphanage was born.
Although they were educating the chil-
dren in the orphanage, the Thai govern-
ment wanted the children to be sent to a
formal school. God provided and they
were able to build a school and get the
permission needed to teach the children
with a Bible based curriculum.
The school is educating not only
the children from the orphanage and
training them to follow God, but they are
also reaching out with the gospel to the
community around them. Buddhist par-
ents are enrolling their children because
they want them to learn English. They
know that the teachers are Christians
and that their children will be exposed to
the Bible, but learning English is such a
valuable skill that they overlook the rest
of the curriculum. Some of these chil-
dren have already come to faith in Jesus
Christ. Pray that their parents will also
desire to know the Savior.
Until March, classes were held in
a building with bare concrete floors. The
Woods dreamt of beautifying their
school building with tile floors. After
contacting Hard Hats for Christ about
someone to lay the tile, they stepped out
in faith and purchased enough material
to cover the long hallway and six class-
rooms. A plea went out in Hard Hats’
Action Gram for a tile layer who was will-
ing to try. That is, to try to lay 6,000
square feet of tile in three weeks, during
a school break!
Joe and Sherry Newton saw this
as an opportunity to continue serving the
Lord. Sherry had never had a passport,
but her application proceeded without
delay, so she was ready to go be Joe’s
“Gal Friday”. Laying 6,000 square feet
of tile seemed like a daunting task for
just two workers, and many others were
asked if they might be available to help
out. It wasn’t until everyone thought it
was too late to work out the details that
Gerald Starnes came forward, ready to go
and help. Phone calls, emails and meet-
ings took place until, on March 25th, the
three set out to see how God would use
them.
When they arrived in Thailand
the tile was waiting and ready. None of
them spoke any Thai, and the young peo-
ple who helped and the school custodian
spoke very little English. But despite the
language barrier, humidity, heat, no
Home Depot or Lowes around the corner,
and the short time allotted for the project,
each and every tile was beautifully in
place by the day before they were sched-
uled to return home.
Our tile layers came home rejoic-
ing, not only because they had accom-
plished the task set before them, but also
because they had been able to contribute
to the spread of the gospel. The nicer
facilities will certainly attract even more
Buddhist families who will be introduced
to Jesus. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I
will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians
4:4)
After returning to the US, Duane learned
that the Mission’s Committee in his home
church was discussing ideas for a mission trip
in the summer of 2012. He let them know that
the orphanage in Matias Romero could use
some help. Howard Butz, the mission director,
wanted to see the orphanage and figure out the
logistics of taking a group down there. He invit-
ed Duane to go with him and show him around.
They packed their bags, anticipating lots of
good visiting and lots of good food. Before they
left he received an email from Irasema with
pictures of rain damaged ceilings. They had
had torrential rains and the roof was leaking
and she was afraid that it would collapse the
next time it rained. Duane had to tell her that
they were only coming to visit and look at the
possibility of doing some work in the future.
They didn’t even pack any work clothes.
They were welcomed with open arms, great
food, and though there were some language
difficulties, great visiting. Duane shares that
every conversation came back to the roof.
Irasema let them know that as the rainy season
approached she was praying more fervently for
someone who could fix the roof. So, he finally
agreed to look at the roof and sure enough it
was in terrible shape and did not look like it
would survive the coming rainy season. Duane
and Howard discussed what in the world they
could do to help. They had not come prepared
to work! Howard mentioned that there was
some money in their missions fund and won-
dered what they could do with that. They de-
cided that if they put a sealer on the roof it
would last until they could return in 2012. So
they purchased the sealer and painted it onto
the roof wearing their good clothes. Remarka-
bly Duane didn’t even get any of it on his pants!
Praise the Lord, the roof no longer leaks, and
the white sealer actually lowered the tempera-
tures inside the upper story bedrooms by sever-
al degrees— a real blessing in that tropical
climate! Duane and Howard are looking for-
ward to taking the church team down next sum-
mer.
As this goes to press, Duane is leading
church teams in the Dominican Republic, put-
ting an addition onto the second church he built
in the DR many years ago. It’s almost like he’s
living in the past, except that, as always, he’s
building for eternity!
Spreading the Gospel in Thailand
The first annual
Construction Minis-
tries Summit Con-
ference was held
in Olathe, Kansas
(Kansas City), on June 23rd. The
purpose of the conference was to
gather people from the construc-
tion industry, whether contractors,
business owners, or ministry leaders,
to begin to network together to see
the people in the industry reached
for Christ. The US Department of
Labor states that, as of 2008, the
construction industry accounted for
7.2 million wage and salary jobs
and 1.8 million self-employed and
unpaid family workers – one of the
Nation’s largest industries (http://
www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs003.htm).
We like to refer to it as one of Amer-
ica’s “ least-reached people
groups”.
Hard Hats for Christ missionary Tim
Cupp proposed sponsoring the
conference, and we spent several
months contacting people in the
industry. What we learned is that
the harvest is great, but the laborers
are, indeed, few (Matt. 9:38). A
number of men expressed interest
in attending, but ultimately only
seven of us gathered in Olathe, with
another joining us by phone for the
conference forum discussion. An-
other dozen or so joined us in the
evening for a concluding banquet.
In spite of this small beginning we
are encouraged. We believe the
Lord truly met us there. We were
encouraged through messages
brought to us by Tom Bassford in the
afternoon, and Pat McCown at the
dinner. We had lively discussion
around the table during the forum,
and came up with several ideas to
pursue. Mainly, we want to be
obedient to the Lord’s command in
Matthew 9, “Therefore ask the Lord
of the harvest to send out workers
into His harvest.”
I saw a picture of a cutting torch, lit
and burning, but having no effect
because it was not focused on the
metal it was to cut. I liken that to
our witness and prayers with regard
to the construction industry: our
light is burning, but it hasn’t been
very effective because it has not
been focused. Will you join us in
focusing our prayers toward the 9
million men and women who ex-
press the image of God in them by
being builders? We plan to hold
the conference again next year in
Kansas City. Please pray for work-
ers in the harvest, and make plans
to attend if you have an interest!
Congratulations rise up all
around. This young man has been
faithful in attending every work
day. Jacob has spent hours with
Henry; working, talking, praying,
sharing scripture, listening, chal-
lenging.
Henry goes to church, he's heard
the message. It was time to make a
decision and he was faced with a
question,
“If you died right now and were
standing before God, if He were to
ask you , 'Why should I let you into
heaven?’ What would you say? ”
Henry responds, “I’ve never
thought of it that way before.”
A few minutes later Henry is praying
to give his life over to Christ. All of
heaven rejoices!
Hard Hats for Christ is more than
a construction ministry, it is an
opportunity to show Christ to those
who are seeking. As Hard Hats for
Christ Missionaries, we meet a
physical need in each ministry we
serve, but it's more than that. We
have the opportunity to pray with
and encourage those who are
ministering to their community. We
have the opportunity to reach out
to the volunteers and workers that
need to be hired on the project.
Traveling from Minnesota to
each ministry community allows us
to talk about why we do what we
do. It is an opportunity to explain
that, with God, there are no acci-
dents and that we crossed their
path for a purpose: to introduce
Christ. Every where we go is an op-
portunity to express the love of
Christ, the reason for the hope we
have and the work we do.
We are just about wrapped up
with the project here in Springview,
Nebraska. The youth are just a few
weeks away from using their new
building. The pastors are anxious to
start a new level of ministry with the
youth; new challenges, new pur-
pose, new outreach. They are all
glad that the days of having to
cancel youth group because the
school needs to use the gym are
almost over!
We have enjoyed serving along-
side these pastors who are pouring
their lives into their ministry. We
have been abundantly blessed by
this wonderful community of believ-
ers who live out their faith with
action and passion.
For more pictures of this project
and an update of when the dedi-
cation service will be held, visit our
blog at www.ThielFamily.com
announced Henry at the work-day lunch break. “I accepted Christ today!”
Henry and Jacob
Hosted by Tim Cupp, Hard Hats for Christ Kansas City Chapter
Tim Cupp
Construction Summit in Kansas City
My verse of the
month is Joshua
22:5: “But take
diligent heed to
do the commandment and the
law, which Moses the servant of
the LORD charged you, to love the
LORD your God, and to walk in all
his ways, and to keep his com-
mandments, and to cleave unto
him, and to serve him with all your
heart and with all your soul.” My
prayer is that I will really love God;
love Jesus Christ- to really cleave
to Him. To do it on purpose, and
with the willful intent of my heart –
giving diligent heed!!
I represented the mission in
March at the IFCA regional confer-
ence. I enjoy representing HH4C
at the monthly pastor’s breakfast
as well. Jean and I were also able
to visit with John Hollo, Clyde &
Five years ago work started at Faith Commu-
nity Church in Chandler, Arizona. Hard Hat mis-sionaries Dick and Vi Avis made friends with church members, neighbors and sub-contractors, as they returned each year to work on this 15,000 square foot education wing. Last November when Dick and Vi arrived to work, it seemed to them that it would be impossible to complete the job in the next few months. God took over and with two other Hard Hat couples, Don and Vernita Anderson; and Terry and Debbie Parsons, along with some help from an electrician pro-vided by the church the project moved forward to completion.
continue to provide a Christian education for children in kinder-garten through eighth grades. Faith Community Church had just finished a brand new wing of classrooms. After much prayer and consideration they will be able to begin classes there at the beginning of the next school year. Pastor Michael Tucker says, “now Faith and Hope will be together in the same building.”
Even before the dedication on Easter Sunday they were able to start using the space for 8 adult Sunday School classes. These rooms are also being used to reach out into the community. They are used to minister to people in Alco-holics Anonymous, Narcotics Anon-ymous, and Al-anon classes. One of the rooms is set up for young people to meet and play in. They have a large screen TV and com-fortable couches to lounge on when they aren’t playing pool or air hock-ey.
God even had bigger plans for the addition than the church had visualized. The Hope Christian Academy had been able to meet at another local church until recently. They were looking for a space to
Five Years in the Making
Dick & Vi Avis
Brenda continues to be a vital part of the
office staff even though she works from
home. She is making the change from Mi-
crosoft 2003 to 2010 trying to find where the moved eve-
rything. Please pray for her mother as she is in her 80’s
in Florida.
Jim and Jean Hodges Maria Allen and Kory and Mickey
Slaatthaug. It is always a blessing
to visit with some of the older Hard
Hats. We are saddened by the
passing of Pastor Dave Engebret-
sen as well.
Each week the Hard Hat’s staff
meets for mission updates and
prayer. You are welcome and en-
couraged to send me (or the of-
fice) prayer requests or praises as to
what God is doing in your life. Pray
also for my wisdom and diligence in
the research of “Hard Hats” history
(I have written 16 pages – lots to
go). There are many file boxes to
go through, and “tons” of pictures –
mostly slides. I have already looked
at some I cannot identify.
Jean enjoyed being with her sis-
ter in South Carolina and the Wash-
ington, D.C. area for several weeks
in April when she attended Maria’s
wedding. And, YES, I stayed be-
hind to take care of Mr. Milton
Sheppa, age 105 and 7 months
(that’s Jean’s daddy). He is need-
ing more constant care.
We are planning a 50th wedding
anniversary celebration with a trip
to Scotland. As we plan a big
concern is the care of Mr. Sheppa
while we are gone. We are plan-
ning to be gone the same month
that he will turn 106. His birthday is
on the 17th of September.
At 70 years old I have learned
to text. Jean turned 70 this month
and she is learning to text as well.
Send us one and see if we can do
it!! My cell is 360-430-0342 and her
cell is 360-431-0623. I am always
overwhelmed by the love and
faithfulness of my personal prayer
partners and donors. Even though
I am “officially” part time, it is a joy
to serve the Lord through Hard
Hats for Christ.
Cody, Crystal and the boys are expecting a
new addition to the family. Cody still assists
the office with computer issues and stays busy
working on a ranch in Montana.
Cody & Crystal Swanson Brenda Jeffries
Dennis & Darlene Korneychuk
Over the past 21 years , we have shown up in
many different places and the Lord has done so
many neat things. We’ve seen the Lord get a
church built under budget, a youth camp grow and
expand— reaching more underprivileged children. Time and again
we’ve watched the Lord supply the needed funds to finish a church.
The list could go on and on. The Lord has allowed us to meet many
great people and have many lasting friendships. It’s why we do
what we do!
On most days we come into the office, start up our
computers, talk to people on the phone, take out
the garbage, make lists, write letters, clean the
bathrooms, get the mail, answer emails, and keep
pretty busy. While we are busy doing all that stuff, God does amazing
things all around us. He gave us the opportunity and funds to visit
three potential project sites. Right now Hard Hat missionaries and
volunteers are working on two of these. God has enriched our lives by
making it possible to visit with several of the Hard Hat Alumni and to
hear their stories. He has also provided an apartment for Robert’s
Dad. He now lives right below us and is doing quite well. We contin-
ue to depend on God to provide the wisdom and guidance we need
each day as we grow in our understanding of what God wants us to be
doing here at Hard Hats for Christ.
The Suitter’s continue to gather sup-
port for there upcoming service with
Hard Hats for Christ. Lee will be leading a group of
young people from his home church on a project later
this summer.
We are entering our fourth year in Hard Hats for Christ and are as convinced of God’s leading in this ministry as we were on our first day. At both projects, Moreland Bible Church in Portland,
Oregon and Potter Valley Bible Church near Ukiah, California, we were blessed to witness God’s strong hand. As Claudia Pollock said, “We saw how God worked it all out.” Whatever we needed, whenever we needed it, He provided. We were blessed.
The highlight of this past year was when our son, Russ, pro-posed to Caroline. We have an entire new family to love. No doubt the highlight for the Pollock’s has been the birth of their great grand-son, Caidon Bryer. He is a charmer.
An added blessing from this ministry has been the friendship of Claudia and Jerry Pollock. Today, the four of us are at Cascade Ranch near Grants Pass, Oregon, doing repairs at the camp. Later we head on to St. Helens, OR, for a another project. God is amazing.
“I just showed up and this is what God did.” He showed us that our ministry at Hard Hats is not about just the construction but the people we come into contact with while we are on a project.
We also learned that our neighbors, coworkers, and people we meet on the street are all opportunities to show God’s love. We just finished up our first Hard Hats project, spending the winter in Chandler, Arizona helping Dick & Vi Avis, finish up the education wing at Faith Community Church. While we were on the project God provided many opportunities to share our faith, most of the time we did not have to say a word, just being kind to a neighbor or having a listening ear for a helper on the jobsite. It is amazing how God will use a situation to open someone’s heart towards Him. We made some new friendships with our Hard Hats co-workers (on the job site and in the home office) and our neighbors in the mobile home park. We enjoyed our first project. We are so glad we are volunteers for Hard Hats for Christ and are looking forward to our next project. We can’t wait see what God has in store.
Lou & Kathy Aschenbrenner Lou and Kathy spent the winter at Fisher-man’s Bend Camp and will be there for the summer. They plan to move on to a pro-ject this fall in northern Oregon.
Name__________________________________________
Address________________________________________
_______________________________________________
E-Mail_________________________________________
Why is this
here? Take a
look on the
next page.
Robert, Verna & Rob Atkinson
Rolan and Lee McKay
Terry & Debbie Parsons
Lee, Caroline, Tyler, Drew
& Ryan Suitter
help us get the word out about this
ministry by showing it to friends and
family, please let us know! We’d like
to stop being one of America’s “best-
kept-secrets”!
The weak economy caused a slow-
down in building, even in the number
of requests for assistance coming to
us. But we’ve stayed busy! One of
the advantages of a slack period is
that it gives time to do some re-tooling.
We are doing just that here in the
home office. In July, roving IT mis-
sionary David McQuoid will be re-
vamping our database program to in-
clude a receipting module. When
complete, the project will allow us to
do all our receipting from within the
existing main database. This will elim-
inate the gaps caused by the need to
constantly be trying to coordinate and
synchronize the data in our Quick-
Books accounting program with the
data in the main database. But like all
major technology revisions, this one
will probably be similar to changing a
tire on the proverbial rolling bus, and
will mean some minor (but painful) re-
training of staff. Please be in prayer
for us, always, but especially in July!
With a growing office staff enabling
YES! I would like to help you to continue “Serving those who serve Others” by:
Being a Prayer Partner for _____________________________________
Would like to show the Hard Hats for Christ video. My Name is ___________________________________
Becoming a Financial Supporter for $__________ monthly quarterly For _______________________
Helping with the computer upgrade in the amount of $_____________ to Account # 301
Learning more about Hard Hats for Christ My e-mail is: _____________________________________________
Return in the envelope provided or e-mail to [email protected] OR call 360-423-5022
us to expand our ministry and vision,
the old (2003) software and hardware
was becoming outdated and sluggish,
so a series of upgrades was necessary
in order to accomplish the database
change. Even though we’ve received
major discounts on the needed new
software and hardware that accompa-
ny this change, the final cost still
amounts to several thousand dollars
(present estimate exceeds $5,000). In
the retail business world, we’d be look-
ing at a figure at least three times that.
Still, it’s not something we totally budg-
eted for, and these expenses will im-
pact the General Fund and home office
operations pretty hard. If the Lord
leads you to send a contribution to help
bring our operation up to speed, we’d
greatly appreciate it. Please mark it for
Account 301, computer upgrade.
Much more exciting than a comput-
er upgrade, we have several new fami-
lies and couples coming on-board for
missionary service, needing to raise
their support. Please pray with us for
them and their growing support team,
as they tell their stories and share
God’s calling them to serve those who
serve others.
A wayward
soul saved in
the Pacific
Northwest. Orphans cared for and
Buddhist families attracted to Christian-
ity through a school in Northern Thai-
land. A suburban ministry greatly ex-
panded in Arizona. A young man
“crossing the line” to salvation in rural
Nebraska. An orphanage enabled to
keep functioning in Southern Mexico.
Boy’s lives transformed at a ranch in
southern Missouri. These are a few of
the outcomes we’ve had the privilege
of helping to produce by providing con-
struction assistance through the mis-
sionaries and associates of Hard Hats
for Christ. Though we are not a “front-
line” ministry in the sense of planting
churches and so on, we participate
with those who are by “Serving Those
Who Serve Others”! It is always en-
couraging to see and hear of lives
changed through the ministries we
serve.
And there are more good things on
the horizon. The new, eight-minute
Hard Hats for Christ video is nearly
complete—we hope to release it in a
few weeks. It won’t be coming to a
theater near you, but if you’d like to
Ann & Dave Williamson