Monday, October 27, 2003

9:53 PM More on Anchor: Barb King writes from Albany, NY about distributing copies of Anchor at the Schenectady City Mission:

We just got home from serving the meal at City Mission and I gave away all 50 books that I ordered. I usually stand behind the line and dish up the food but tonight I stood by the window where they turn in their plates and silverware at the end of the meal so I could offer the books as they walked out. Some people declined and some didn’t look at me or walked around me, but for the most part the response was wonderful and the people were very thankful… . My friend Tyrone, who is a pastor and also the chaplain at City Mission, was very happy about the books. They said they would like to have more copies to hand out to the men in their residential program so I told him I would get more copies for them.

On Sunday a lawyer who attends Calvary asked if he could get 300 copies to use in his evangelistic efforts. We’re delighted to partner with folks near and far to reach people for Christ. 9:33 PM Anchor for the Soul update: A few months ago we shipped 100,000 copies of Anchor to Good News Prison Ministries in Richmond, VA, for distribution through their chaplains to prisoners across America. Each week we receive a steady stream of letters from prisoners thanking us for the book. Many write to say that have accepted Christ… . We also stockpiled 54,000 copies locally to be used in various ministry outreaches… . For instance, last week we heard from John Nolte, the captain of the missionary boat, “Glory to Thee,” that does evangelism along various rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. He sent the following e-mail:

My name is Rev/Capt. John Nolte of the Missionary Boat Glory To Thee. We are a evangelical non profit, independent, non denominational evangelistic ministry that sails the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico sharing the Gospel of Grace through Jesus Christ. Over the past two years we have been distributing you book to the folks we come in contact with and believe it works exceedingly well in conjunction with our nautical ministry. Our problem is that we have been paying retail price and because we are working with such high volumes our “materials budget” has been depleted. Presently we are in on the Tombigbee River in Alabama making ready to sail into the Gulf of Mexico early November. Is it possible for you to help us obtain a quantity of 250 copies for distribution in our missionary work? We are not supported by main line denominations and have been hit with a significant amount of repairs this past season. While we work to support our mission we could use some help if possible.

I turned this request over to our Anchor support team and they were intrigued by this unusual ministry. We definitely plan to help them. Check out their website. 5:53 AM I mentioned William E. Blackstone in my sermon yesterday. Here’s a good summary of his life. The title: “God’s Little Errand Boy.” Here is a copy of the Blackstone Declaration of 1891, signed by 413 Christian and Jewish leaders, asking for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.