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Our daughter-in-law, Jessica, just drew our attention to a poem by the Swiss hymn-writer, Henri Malan, who wrote over 1000 hymns in the early 1800’s. About 25% of the hymnal we used in the Evangelical Church, Lausanne, Switzerland. where I was baptized, were written by him. This is a very timely poem in light of what our friend and neighbor, Avery Willis, is going through. This is a reminder that this world is not our home, we’re just passing through.

It is not death to die
To leave this weary road,
And midst the brotherhood on high
To be at home with God.

It is not death to close
The eye long dimmed by tears,
And wake in glorious repose
To spend eternal years.

It is not death to bear
The wrench that sets us free
From dungeon chain, to breathe the air
Of boundless liberty.

It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust,
And rise in strong exulting wing
To live among the just.

Jesus, Thou Prince of Life!
Thy chosen cannot die;
Like Thee, they conquer in the strife,
To reign with Thee on high.

H.A.C. Malan.
Trans. by G.W. Bethune.

“O death, where is your sting?
O grave, where is your victory?!!

We were recently in the Seattle/Tacoma, Washington area at the invitation of Russian/Slavic congregations who put together two services of what they called a Ron and Patricia Owens Music Celebration. Our part was to share the inspiration and Scriptures behind the choral numbers they sang. They also had us minister in song, preach, as well as direct several of the choir numbers. What a glorious experience it was. We felt as though we were back in Russia. There are many strong Russian language churches in that part of the States serving a Russian population of over 600,000.

We are now heading for the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Florida, where we’ll be meeting up with Iris and Duane Blue. We have been very encouraged at the response we have been receiving from Iris: Trophy of Grace. We’ve heard from readers as far away as Warsaw, Poland. In addition to an autograph session arranged by the Publisher at the Convention, Iris will be honored by the North American Mission Board for her 30 years of ministry with the Mission Service Corps. Duane, whose bio, “Call Me Blue,” I have started to write, is also going to be recognized for his 25 years of service with NAMB. It should be an exciting time.

“A work in progress”—most of us are familiar with the expression and perhaps use it in several different ways. At this moment it seems to describe some things for us in terms of projects in which we are involved, but there’s also an awareness that it is a pretty apt on-going description of our lives in general. Of course this latter use of the expression is to be expected because God is continually at work in the lives of all of his children. He uses different situations and experiences to stretch us and produce changes in us, because He’s not just interested in what we do, but also in who we are. He’s wanting the life of the Lord Jesus to be more and more evident in us.

In terms of projects, we’re grateful to be able to share that Ron has completed a book which he spent the better part of a year in writing. The book is entitled IRIS:Trophy of Grace. It’s the miraculous story of Iris Urrey Blue, the “incorrigible” who encountered the irresistible force of God’s transforming power. The book has recently been released and we are very thankful to see God already using it to touch, challenge, and encourage people. Some are reporting that God is using it to produce changes in the lives of some of their friends and family. Some spontaneous and unexpected comments about the book have really blessed us. One person wrote “Many Christian testimony books are exciting up to the point of conversion and then it turns dull—not so with this book! You’ll love it to the very end.” When so much prayer and work has been invested in this kind of project, it means a great deal to see God use it for His purposes.

We don’t as yet have a separate website for this book. If any of you would like to obtain a copy of it now, however, you can do so by going to “contact us” on this site and making a request for the book, or send an email to ronowens3@gmail.com. The book sells for $15.00 plus postage.

There are other “works in progress” in terms of writing projects in which Ron is involved. One of those is entitled “The Milldale Story” and it has some important relationships to the book he completed earlier on the life of Manley Beasley. God willing, he hopes to complete the writing by the end of April and have it published and available for readers by September, 2010. We would be grateful for your prayers for this project.

A number of years ago we were talking with some friends about the never-ending work involved in keeping our yard mowed, etc. We began to laugh and try to out-do each other with creative ways to get around the yard work. Things became sillier and sillier as we talked, until one of us finally came up with the winner—we could rent a goat! This idea, of course, was eventually expanded to the suggestion that we could even start a Rent-A-Goat business, which undoubtedly would become a huge moneymaking success! Well, nothing ever became of all those creative thoughts and the conversation was forgotten until a couple of weeks ago…..

In the mail we received a Gift Catalog from World Vision, and there, on the front cover, was the photo of a smiling child holding a goat! The cover also included the message:”Share the true Spirit of Christmas with a child in need!” Inside the catalog were words explaining the benefits to a child and his family that the gift of a goat would provide. There were other possibilities listed, such as giving 2 chickens, or 5 ducks, or Bibles in a child’s own language, or emergency food, or life-saving medicines, etc.
Somehow, we just couldn’t get the picture of that goat out of our minds, and so we found ourselves compelled to take action.
So, we may never get into the Rent-A-Goat business, but it has brought us joy to GIVE a goat this Christmas—given with the prayer that it will touch a child and his family with the power of the Savior’s love. And, let us add, we pray for each of you—a blessed and joyous Christmas season!

This time of the year can too easily become one long meaningless holiday blob—Thanksgiving merged into Christmas—without time to truly reflect on the significance of either of these special days! But we don’t have to allow this to be the case in our personal lives and don’t intend to do so. We want to express our thanks to God for his goodness, mercy, and faithfulness to us, and our thanks as well to our friends and family who bless us with their interest and love.

It’s worth noting that in the life of ancient Israel King David considered thanksgiving to God to be of so much importance that, on the day that the ark of God was brought to Jerusalem, he assigned specific Levites to “celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.” His admonition to them was “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.” 1 Chr 16:4-10.

And with the desire to express something of what is in our hearts at this Thanksgiving season, we share the following with you.

THANK YOU, LORD
“Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful things,
For ears that hear, for birds that can sing.
For warmth of the sun on bubbling springs,
For eyes that can see your beautiful things.

Thank you, Lord, for the flowers that grow,
For summer and rain, for winter and snow,
For mountains above and valleys below,
All speaking aloud of your power and love.

Thank you, Lord, for the sorrows and sighs,
For winds that blow, for rivers that rise,
For rain that frames your bow in the skies,
Helping me lift my wondering eyes.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace which has shown
The glory of God in the face of your Son,
For Jesus Who died, now risen above,
More glorious than all is JESUS-the gift of your love.”
-Patricia H.Owens