| Dear Ones,
It is quite a shock to wake up in the morning and see someone that looks a
lot like your grandfather staring back from the bathroom mirror. Then you
remember, “Hey, you ARE old!” It’s not like we are old enough to be President
of the USA or anything, but we both celebrate another lap the sun this month.
Back in 1982 our pastor preached from Psalm 67 in our wedding, and God is
still pouring out the mercy to walk it, “May God bless us still, so that all
the ends of the earth will fear him” (Psalm 67.7). We have received so many
blessings, and it has been our greatest joy trying to give them away!
Thanks so much for the many years of your prayers and support for us and
God’s Church.
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We continue to serve with the Community Life team of IDEAS.
“Vision: People and communities experiencing abundant life…Community
development is the foundation of all our work. We start by listening.
Partnering with local people to identify needs, IDEAS provides expertise that
is missing or underrepresented in the community. Our associates are experts in
Agriculture, Education, Health & Wellness, Disability Services, and
Anti-Human Trafficking. We seek out and amplify the voices of the marginalized.
With outstretched hands and humble hearts, our programs respect the local
community while encouraging people to pursue the values of God’s kingdom” (from
our website: https://ideasworld.org/ you will find updated
information here about what we are doing and where we are going…)
Our specific focus is to encourage workers in Asia (virtually, and in our
recent visit) and we are sharing mission opportunities with churches and
potential workers here in Hawaii. Also, we have been asked to be part of a
gathering of our Associates in early 2025.
“I have been young, and now am old, yet I
have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread”
(Psalm 37.25).
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God has been very gracious to our family.
We made a quick trip to Portland in early July. In the photo above we are
with our son, Aaron, and Nathan's wife Heather, and their sons, Kekoa and
Makana.
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Our son, Nathan, turned 40 this summer, while he worked with a salmon
fishing crew in Alaska for six weeks. Nathan is home now as he and
Heather and their boys get ready for the birth of # 3 this Fall.
This summer our son Josiah had a great visit with his daughter, Maylee,
in Almaty! Maylee begins her third year of University in Kazakhstan this Fall.
Josiah is working hard in Istanbul. His Tersane project is moving forward (https://www.tersaneistanbul.com.tr/) – if you’re looking for a
condominium in a beautiful location, he’s your guy.
Our youngest son, Aaron, just had a birthday too. We rejoice with Aaron
and Kara who were married on May the 4th. They are living in
Eugene, Oregon.
We celebrate God’s
heart for the nations in our little church in Kapa’au, Hawaii –
“Kalahikiola” – the dawning of a new day (https://www.kalahikiolacc.com/ ).
Last Sunday we heard from Tami who was born and raised in our church and
now serves in Honolulu. She works with young people being saved from drugs,
gangs, and heartbreaks - even in ‘paradise!’ (https://www.life360network.org/ ). The six young people in the photo
have already seen a lot of life. They came with her to our island for a
work project. Not all missionaries need a passport.
We also had a young man from Mexico, here on a mission project, and a young
man from Honolulu who is preparing for long term service in Armenia, with
us for worship. They are great modern day living illustrations for my
sermon series through the Book of Acts. Missions today are from everywhere
to everywhere.
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This month we had a “Keiki Bible Club.” Thirty children from our
community came for a week of Gospel ministry. We were blessed to have a team
come from Child Evangelism Fellowship to lead our program. We praise the Lord
for their faithfulness to the Word and their kindness to the children.
Please pray with us as we reach out to children and their families in our
community. We will have our August 25th Sunday service
at our local beach - followed by a baptism.
Recommended Reading for the
Journey:
“If you are like most people, it probably doesn't seem all that long ago since
you were a teeny bopper looking at people who were the age that you are now and
seeing nothing but a drooping bag of varicose veins, flab, wrinkles, and
dentures. You probably said to yourself in disgust, ‘I hope I'm dead before I
get that old.’ Here you are. You are that old….Oh sure; you could easily do
without the loss of memory, back ache, bleeding gums, fatigue, loss of memory,
sore joints, bad heart, loss of memory, extra weight, hemorrhoids, chronic
indigestion, loss of memory, arthritis and loss of memory. And the loss of
memory can be tough too…The purpose of this book is to provide enough
information that we can successfully eliminate your fear of a geriatric
future...at least the ones that you can remember…By the way, did we mention
that we have arthritis?”
from “Geezerhood” by Wayne Allred
“The boundary
lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful
inheritance”
(Psalm 16.6).
These words of David have proven so true for us. May you know this delight
through our Lord Jesus - whom David called Lord - as we journey together round
the sun!
Gratefully in Him, Mark and Dayna Blair
Phones Mark 808-218-4872 / Dayna 808-218-3698
Emails blairstan2@gmail.com / mark.blair@ideasworld.org
/ dayna.blair@ideasworld.org
Blog http://blairstan.blogspot.com
Web Site https://pastormarkblair.org
IDEAS, 7852 South Elati Street, Suite 202, Littleton, Colorado
80120 www.ideasworld.org
https://ideasworld.org/associate/blair-mark-and-dayna-support-0471
