RVA class of 1990

There is a new blogspot for RVA 1990 grads. It will be much easier to comment on this blogspot. And you shouldn't need to know the password and username. Check it out and see what you think. By the way the first post is mine and I forgot to sign my name ... silly me. Be sure and pass this on to everyone. I think keeping up will be much simpler thanks to new technology!!!

http://rva1990grads.blogspot.com/

Jennifer (Hoffmaster) Christian

Happy 15th this July. Can you believe that we are that old? If you are reading this have a great summer!
angie

Hey good to hear from you Desta. Not much activity is going on here lately. Everyone must be pretty busy! Me too. Work is moving along taking care of all those sick little kids. I finally have a weekend off so am relaxing. Brigitte is working so I am being the laundry guy and plenty more. I've got Chris Tomlin (Arriving) playing in the computer right now and recommend it to all who have not heard it yet. Saw him in concert with Steven Curtis Chapman and Casting Crowns in the Fall of last year and his music has the seal of approval from God and his songs fit my tenor voice quite well. Our weather is acting like Spring today with temps in the 50's so the snow is melting away. Makes me want Spring to come quickly but it is a few months away here. Well, better get back to some house work. Praying for all of you that we all would shine in the darkness in this new year! My favorite verse of the week is John 3:30!!!!!

Michael Schimming
mschimming@sbcglobal.net

Hi everyone! I havn't seen much activity on the blog lately so I thought I would write:) Everyone is probably as busy as I was over the holidays and is just recovering. We have been in Kansas City for almost 6 months now and are really enjoying being stretched and growing in our faith and in what God is doing in our lives. Eric has had 100% healing and no longer needs the machiene to help him breathe at night. He also has no more back pain which is such a miricle. He is able to wrestle with the kids again and play tag football etc. God has been so good to us. I am spending most of my days at home with the kids (I have really missed that:) and I try to take a couple of evenings a week in the prayer room in worship and intersession.(its a 24/7 prayer room so you can go at anytime) Eric usually spends 6-8 hours a day in the prayer room and will soon be working in the healing room praying for healing for people. So all in all God has been so good to us! Zoe is turning 7 tomorrow Zion is turning 9 on the 13th Zeke is turning 4 in March and Zack is turning 2. Wow! The years go by so fast. Anyway, I've been praying for you guys! God bless you all.
Desta
ps Congrats To Angie for climbing Kili again at 32 yrs old!!! I'm totally impressed!!!

Hello. Is anyone out there? :) Just wondering what you are doing for Christmas. Are you all living in places where it looks like the Christmas cards we get her in Oz? Lots of pine trees covered with snow, tobogganing?
We will probably have a stinking hot Christmas day. We can't go to either Andrew's or my parents for Christmas because of the church services Andrew has to run, but at lunch we travel an hour to spend the afternoon with Mom's three sisters and eight brothers and all their families. The uncles get tipsy ( in a nice way, I guess) after they finish cooking the roast meat on the BBQ. There is always a game of cricket followed by a rowdy water fight. Then home for a very quiet night.
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year all of you,
Michelle Taylor

Hi, Everyone! Sheri here. Thanks for all your prayers for my dad. He has recovered nicely and is feeling great. But we have had a tragedy in our family. My husband's sister's little boy died on Monday night,Oct 25. His name was Trevor Wicken and he was 2 years old. Last Sat, Oct 23, he was climbing on a kitchen stool, not more than 3 feet high, fell off, and hit his head on the hardwood floor. He went unconscious almost immediately, was rushed to Children's Hospital for brain surgery, but never regained consciousness. There was no brain activity and no reflexes, so they let him die on Monday night. We just came back from Vancouver where they had a lovely funeral service for little Trev. The whole family is of strong Catholic faith and they all know he is up in heaven with Jesus and the angels, but we would all appreciate your prayers for the family so they can get throught this loss. Thank you.

Does anyone know what it takes for someone from the US to hunt in Tanzania? or is that even allowed. Didnt know if anyone was up to date on that.
If anyone is interested in climbing Kili with us we will climbing around Jan 9. We have been able to make this climb into a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If anyone is interested in donating let me know- 100% of donations will go toward the foundation. adstorrer@wichita.edu
Angie

Hi again everyone!
Just wanted to give you a quick update on Matthew. He is 10 weeks old now, weighs over 5 lbs and is mostly breathing on his own - Praise the Lord! He came off of the ventilator last Sunday and has done pretty well since then. If (and that's a big IF) everything goes well, they are talking about him coming home in late October/early November. He will have to learn to eat (sucking, swallowing and breathing all at the same time can be pretty complicated, can't it?) before we can bring him home and his lung function still has to improve a good bit.
We are thankful for the progress we've seen in him and give the glory to God for answering prayer! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for him.
Andrea

Hey Everybody!

A quick note from Niki and Bruce....well, not much of news, more of request for information.

We are down here in Lexington, Ky visiting Nik's family. A quick visit! Hey, we are driving up thru Indy to see some friends on Wed/Thur and I was wondering if anyone that is reading this in the next couple days knows Burleigh Laws details...I think he moved up there. I usually would call him when down here in Lexington, but forgot he moved to somewhere near Indy. If you have his email or address, it would be great...I'd like to stop in and see them!! Also, Dr Mike, if you are seeing this during these few days too, do you know when Dilworths were flying back to Kenya? I saw a sign on I 75 while we were driving down from Windsor, Ontario that made me think we were close to Trisha's families town...I think they were furloughing there. Do you have that phone number? Is it Lima, OH?

Hey, thanks for any help!

Obviously these questions should have been asked before we came down here, but really, one never knows how the vacation will go. Plus, our two kids keep up tres busy...and both Nik and I have been tres busy with work over the past few months....I'll try to remember to update when we get home. How bout the easy stuff....

We moved to Calgary in March, mostly because of my new job.....I now pilot planes for WestJet Airlines (see WestJet.com ) and life is cheaper for us in Alberta. (please support the import of Canadian Beef back into the US...ranchers are losing their farms!!) Niki has just finished her orientation into a Special Care Nursery at a Hopital in Calgary. Our kids are always moving fast...thus we had to come down to KY and show them off before they grow up too fast. Natalie just turned 3 in Sept, and Jacob (aka Bishop now!!) is 17 months and starting to talk.

Andrea and family....just caught a bit of your news as I scanned thru the news to get to this spot....so sorry for this tough time in life for you guys! Hang in there! We know a bit about that...almost had early delivery issues with Natalie.....and Niki has seen many early babies come thru PICU/NICU's.

Must run. OH, and if you have any info on the above... email: fleyeng@hotmail.com or phone 403-614-7862. Thanks again!

Bruce Wilton

Hi all! Michelle (Warner) Taylor here. I've read all the posts diligently but haven't written anything yet myself, being a real procrastinator. I love reading what you are all up to. Andrew and I are in a country town (real country, only 1500 people and most of those live out on properties) in Australia, and Andrew is the minister of the Anglican church. It is our first year where Andrew is IT. He used to be an Assistant minister in our last posting. So, it's a big learning curve.
I did primary school teaching, but am not doing any at present . In fact, he very thought terrifies me! My pashion is writing. I've completed a young adult's fantasy book, and am currently editing it. If I ever get published, that would be my dream job! Highly unlikely though.

We have three children: Bodie ( a boy, in case you weren't sure!) 9, Zachary 7, and Kara 5. And three days ago I discovered that baby number four is on the way. Aggh. Did you all hear me screaming? A real shock, being on the pill and all! Oh well, God knew.

Hope you are all well. Sheri, I pray for your Dad's health whever I remember. I have very fond memories of him. Tell him I said hello. And Andrea, how are you and Matthew going?

Andrea,
I just read your posting. One of my friends here had the same situation 5 years ago and I remember how hard this period of time is. You and your family will be in my prayers!
Angie

Andrea,

We will all be praying for you. I certainly know a little about what you are going through as I finished my pediatric training only a few years ago and remember taking care of many premature babies in the NICU with multiple health problems. I pray that God will give you all strength, hope and peace.

Michael Schimming
mschimming@allsaintshealthcare.org
mschimming@sbcglobal.net

Hi again everyone! This is Andrea (Pollard) Briley again. I just wanted to ask you all to pray for David and I and our baby Matthew. David and I were expecting twin boys in September/October but we had some complications with the pregnancy (twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome) and the boys were born in late July. Jonathan, the oldest one, only lived about six hours but Matthew is hanging in there. They were born at 28 weeks so Matthew is in the NICU on a ventilator and probably will be for a few months. He is gaining weight (he started at 1 pound 12 ounces) but has had a couple of infections already. Please pray for Matthew to have infection-free days and good developmental growth.
Thank you all!
Andrea

Hi, Everyone! Sheri here. My dad had another heart attack last Sun so they air ambulanced him to Victoria and he had an angiogram and 4 stents put in. Hopefully that will take care of the problem, but the next 6 months will tell. Thanks for all your prayers. Sheri

Kris Oliver here. I was going to read all those updates and all, but I am so far behind. It has been several months since I have been on this site. All is well. My lovely wife, Sara, and our daughter, Camryn (5 months), are both doing well. Work is busy with the Homeland Security stuff going on, but it's managable. Sheri and other requesting prayer requests, we will be praying for you all. Desta...2 of my brothers-in-law work up in KS City!

Sheri,

We will be praying for your Dad. Not great news for you to get but we hope he will make a full recovery! Thanks for keeping us posted.

I had a visit with Rich Dilworth this week (class of 1991) and he and his family are soon headed back to Africa. They were in Somalia working with the muslim people there but due to security issues they will not be headed there for the moment. Most likely they will go to Northern Kenya or wherever else they might be needed. Please pray for them as ministry with the muslim people is quite a challenge, especially in this day and age but God can get through to anyone! Thank you.

Our summer is flying by here in Wisconsin. Enjoying our state fair this week. Next week is our next big Christian concert with MWS, Mercy Me and the David Crowder Band. Cannot wait. I am a bit hooked on Contemporary Christian music.......it's the only stuff with meaning for us anyways so it is the only thing I listen to (hope you all choose to do the same)........Wish we had some of these praise songs while we were all at the Rift. I can still see us all singing on Monday nights in that video/meeting room. Lot's of great memories.

Keep praying for the presidential election here in November also! I feel pretty confident in standing behind the man with the best character and devotion to God. So far, Bush has fit both. I may not agree with all his policies but I agree with his values and it is wonderful to serve the same great God. Scott Canady is also working hard for Rep. Baker from Louisiana and keep him in your prayers to be a witness and strong influence for him in an often hostile and God-less town. Thanks all! Have a great week.

Michael Schimming, MD
mschimming@allsaintshealthcare.org
(414) 454-0002
2453 N. 85th Street
Wauwatosa, WI. 53226

Hello all! Sheri (Dickens) Kinahan here. Just an update and prayer request. Last weekend my dear old dad had a heart attack. It was an 8/10 for severity, but he was in the hospital when he had the attack, so they got to him quickly. He is home now in Williams Lake, BC, but is pretty well on bedrest for the next 6 weeks. I'm going up with the kids in a couple weeks to visit. He sounds like he's doing fine, but it's just a little shake-up to make you realize how short life is. Anyway, we'd all appreciate your prayers. Thanks. Sheri

Well just a quick update. We are moving to Kansas City. We are feeling called to the International House of Prayer in KC. They have a prayer ministry that is 24 hours a day 7 days a week and 365 days a year. We are in the process of joining staff there. For more info you can go to the Friends of the Bridegroom website at fotb.org. We would covet your prayers in this transition. I will post more later. God bless you all!!!
DESTA

OK everyone, here is an interesting book that is available now! Phil Dow has written a history of RVA/the evangelical movement in Kenya/colonial history book and it is available from William Carey Library, site is http://www.gospelcom.net/wclbooks/rva/. Ought to be interesting, especially the appendix on RVA-isms!!! Check it out!

Love, Laura B

Hey, Sherri I heard this news about Dave Pollack too - too awful! I had just read his book about TCKs last fall (finally). Thanks for passing that info and the info on Miss Love along - that is what this blog is really good for! Mike, I think I have the email, I will look.

Laura B

Hi guys! Sheri Dickens here. For those who haven't heard, a couple of tidbits I heard through AIM. Dave Pollock died. He was the guy who did the re-entry seminars and was at RVA a LONG time ago when I was in Titchie Swot. He was doing a seminar in Austria and got acutely ill, had surgery for gallstones, arrested, went into a coma, and became braindead. Anyway, he was a wonderful man and it came as a shock to me. The other thing mentioned was that Nancy Love had a boutwith cancer but is ok now and teaching music at a Christian school in Texas. Take care everybody and keep on writing. I enjoy keeping up with everybody. Sheri