It happened during a camp meeting at Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the 1940s. Our Howell family prayers often included all the missionaries of the world, though we had never really seen a missionary. So at camp meeting we were enthralled to actually get our picture taken with Pastor Salau from Papua New Guinea. 

 

Salau taught us the words of his native tongue to the song “Wonderful Words of Life.”  To this day when this song is sung, his words to the chorus still resonate: “Good fella talk, good fella talk, good fella talk too much.” 

 

Here’s the photo of this happy moment (from left): Mary, Kathy, Grace, Pastor Salau, Raymond, and Nancy—the Howell family. Though our parents, Raymond and Grace Howell, are now deceased, they were lifelong, faithful church members!

—Nancy Martin, Farmington, Washington

  

 

“At some point we need to put legs on our lessons and feet on our faith.”

 

—Pastor David Asscherick, in a message presented during the 2011 Week of Spiritual Emphasis at the General Conference in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 

 

When my teenage granddaughter Samantha was about 3, I was reading a Christmas story to her from My Bible Friends. When I got to the part where the angel says, “I bring you good tidings of great joy,” she stopped me and inquired what “good tidings” meant. I told her that “good tidings” could be replaced with “good news.” She promptly responded: “Well, then, why don’t they just say good news, so I can understand it?” 

 

What a valuable insight from a child! Out of the mouths of babes, for sure!

—Dianne Holtry, East Waterford, Pennsylvania

 

 

It was an afternoon session at camp meeting and, as the beginners class members were taking their seats, I sat at the piano, gazing up lovingly at the beautiful peony bloom I had brought from my garden. I was oblivious to the assembling of the faithful little campers.

 

Suddenly a strong, masculine voice rang out: “Let’s HIT it!”

 

Oh, I thought, the music!  Then immediately my fingers pounced onto the keys of the piano and the children lustily sang: “Camp meeting time is a H-A-A-A-P-Y time!”

—Ethel M. Jensen, Marlborough, Massachusetts