The His Way Board of Directors held their annual meeting in March. We accepted the resignation of a dear sister who has been, in some way, a part of His Way almost from the first. Marie Smith was a member of the His Way Board of Directors for over thirty years.
I will never forget when I first met Marie. It was in March of 1972. I was in a little construction shack that I used for an office. It was on the patio of Jerry's Restaurant, a large and attractive restaurant in Pleasant Hill, California. About seventeen months after I started His Way, there was a knock on the thin plywood door.
A small, attractive young woman stepped into my office. She asked if the place was a religious organization. I told her that some people would call it that. She said that she was a fairly new Christian and she was filling out an application to work with a Christian ministry that was active in the National Parks in the summer. She said she didn't know how to answer some of the questions. I particularly remember there were some questions about a Christian attitude toward labor unions. She told me that she was a new Christian and had no idea how she should answer some of the questions.
I learned that her family was nominally Catholic but did not attend church regularly. She came to the Lord though the influence of a college teacher and listening to the Unshackled radio program. She was not part of a church at that time. (By the way, her testimony was later featured on Unshackled.)
As we were talking, something happened that was not an every day occurrence. The Lord spoke to me very clearly, "This is your secretary." I had been lost trying to function by myself and had been praying for a secretary from the time I left the Navy and started His Way Ministries. I told Marie that I would be glad to help her with the application if she wanted me to, but that I believed she should come and work with us.
We talked a bit more about her application and she left. Every day for the next week I kept expecting her to come to work, but she never did. About a week later, I woke up feeling discouraged. I told God, “You said Marie was our new secretary but she hasn’t come to work.” I felt like I had reached the place where I just had to have help. Fleta and I prayed. I told God I needed a secretary now.
I had not gotten Marie's address or phone number, but I did remember that she lived with her parents and her last name was "Simon." So I got out the phone book and started calling Simons. After a few tries I recognized Marie's voice on the other end. We made an appointment to meet later that morning at my office at the restaurant.
I met her as scheduled and proceeded to try to find out where she was in her thinking. I told her I was surprised she hadn't come to work. She told me that when she had left before she thought I must be crazy. However, as she kept rethinking the situation she could see herself working with me. She said that she didn't think I had really asked her, and thought she should wait for me to ask her to work with His Way.
We then started to talk about the conditions of employment. I told her I didn't want someone part-time because that just wouldn't do the job. It had to be full-time and I didn't exactly know what that meant. Probably somewhere between 40-80 hours a week, depending on what was going on. I told her she would not be paid anything the first three months. After that there might be money for a salary, depending on how much came in. Lastly I told her that there would be no insurance. Marie said, "I'll take it." If my memory is correct she started the next day.
For any of you who were with us in those days, we held an event in Cottage Grove, Oregon a couple of weeks later. About thirty of us went there for a Crusade. Marie had the organizational responsibility of putting everything together and keeping it running smoothly. She did a good job and has been a faithful, committed co-worker all these years. She served full-time as secretary and administrative assistant for seven years. Since she resigned from those duties she has continued serving on the Board.
I love Marie and she is loved by many. She and her husband Dave Smith (a former associate director of His Way) are pastors to singles at the Church of the Highlands in San Bruno, California. We will miss having Marie on the His Way Board, but we look forward to more contacts in the future with this dear sister in the Lord. To me she is not only a dear sister, but a unique manifestation of God's blessing and faithfulness to an ordinary guy whom He has redeemed and called to carry the Gospel message to others.
Marie then -- and now.
We are saying good-bye this March to a dear friend of many years. Annie DeWitty came to the Lord many years ago through the ministry of His Way when a door-to-door team visited her in San Francisco. I remember Jan Kendall (now Belt) telling me at the time about this sweet lady that her team had called on. She did not accept the Lord but Jan was going to continue having Bible studies with her. Annie had been a Jehovah's Witness for over twenty years and was still involved with them.
Jan and others held a regular Bible Study with Annie for about a year. Finally she came to the knowledge of Christ as Savior and received the assurance of her salvation. It was a real joy to watch Annie mature in her walk with Jesus over the years. Those of us in the His Way Chapel Fellowship in San Francisco came to love this dear lady and were very aware of being loved by her.
Annie was frequently an inspiration to many of us. I would like to also say that although Annie received a fairly low pension, she became a significant financial donor to His Way Ministries. In her later years she suffered from Alzheimer disease. Her love and generosity were greatly appreciated.
Annie, good-bye for a while. We will see you again at the big banquet with the Lord.
Annie DeWitty
We had a very enjoyable stay here at Buffalo Ridge. The quiet country setting is very conducive to relaxation. In fact, watching the buffalo below our window in the Loft, provided me with a spiritual lesson of contentment withing the boundaries of God’s fences. I am taking some of your brochures to give to my fellow pastors. - Kansas
From our younger guests . . .
Dear people of buffalo Ridge,
Thank you for letting us stay at buffalo Ridge. I loved the buffalo espeshaley
the one I named Hannah. I hope we can come here again. I liked the sheep.
I also liked the chickens. I hope that you liked my note.
p.s. don’t hug the buffalo they will not like it.
Dear People of Bafalo Rige.
Thank you fo rleting us stay hear. We enjoyde staying hear. I loved seeing
the animals. I loved Buffalo Ridge too. I loved the green green grass and
the browns too.
by Karen Renfro
Last August began another leg of my journey in the Christian life of faith. We ventured out in uncertainty; somewhat like Abraham who went out not knowing where he was headed, just sure God was moving him. When he became an old man, his desire was to secure a bride for his son, Isaac. He then sent out his servant to accomplish this mission. As he made the journey to find the right young woman for his master, he also received the answer to his prayer along the way. (Genesis 24:27) As I seek to follow my Master, He has been so faithful to guide me through His Word. As our family stepped out, my prayer was that God would make His direction for our lives clear and that He would verify it by His Word. Several months later as I was reading through the end of the New Testament, He brought these Scriptures to my attention, which beautifully confirm the ministry here at Buffalo Ridge.
III John 5-8 (The Message Paraphrase)
“Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible . . . It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.”
I am certain as I continue to seek His way, He will not fail to give guidance as I keep my eyes focused on Him and my feet following His footsteps along the way.
* * *
Sam & Karen Renfro and six of their children have joined the His Way team here at Buffalo Ridge on a provisional basis, dependent on them raising the financial support they need to continue to minister here on a more permanent basis. They have already been a tremendous help and blessing. Sam has been using his carpentry skills to put finishing touches on the Fellowship Room, and Karen has been helping with preparing guest rooms and meals during a very busy February and March. Please pray with us that the Lord would continue to raise up their remaining support.
Now that Spring has sprung, David Green is ready to use his expertise to begin some much needed landscaping at Buffalo Ridge for our guests to enjoy. Below is a list of plants, flowers, and bushes that we would like to have to get started. Would you have something to share? Please contact us so we can prepare the soil.
Forsythia Bushes • Lilac Bushes • Burning Bush
Pampas Grass •
Fountain Grass • Shasta Daisies
Other Perennial Flowers •
Ground Cover Roses
What if His Way Ministries earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, now we can!
GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates ad revenue, about a penny per search, to the charity its users designate. Use it just like any search engine, and it’s powered by Yahoo!, so you get the same great results.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter His Way Ministries as the organization you want to support. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7,300 in a year without anyone spending a dime! Please spread the word!
Character is what you are in the dark. - D.L. Moody
The goal of the Christian life is to be restored to God's likeness,
to be holy as God is holy, to be like Christ in character. It is not primarily
to have direct experiences of the spirit or to become a kind of spiritual
athlete. - Jerram Barrs and Ranald MacCaulay
God's agenda for our lives may be far different from our own. He cares more
about our character than our convenience, comfort or cash. - Joseph
M. Stowell
Happiness is not the end of life; character is. -
Henry Ward Beecher
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