Friday

Today Kedra and I did a little shopping in Bloomington, after sending Lester off to Monroe City to see his future wife; he’ll return Sunday afternoon. We got quite a lot accomplished, especially in the area of getting things for our Down Under Adventure. I managed to stay in the car for a couple of stops. Why is Kedra so quickly agreeable for me to do so?

I think we are getting geared up for the big trip. We leave at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. My beloved nephew Matthew is going to take us to the airport. I won’t tell you what he did that makes him willing to do this in return for me not telling. JUST KIDDING! He is just being his usual good servant-hearted self.

Yesterday I helped Lester smoke his first couple of racks of ribs. It was quite a rite of passage. He did very well. We complicated the matter by trying cherry wood for the first time instead of hickory, plus I was gone a lot of the time. There were a few temperature issues, but it all turned all very well.

Yesterday Darrin C. and I met with someone to move further along with our plan for Capstone Ministries to help a single mom go to college. We soon will begin looking for candidates for our “scholarship.”

Here, in part, is our rough draft document:


Capstone Ministries, Inc. (Capstone) is a Christian non-profit corporation which exists to partner with the Mitchell and surrounding community to serve people in need. Capstone desires to identify and support a candidate for a degree program at Oakland City University-Bedford (OCU-B).

The Capstone Ministries Scholarship would provide financial assistance, mentoring, and other assistance for someone who has encountered obstacles to continuing their education. Providing help with the costs of childcare and transportation is the first priority of the scholarship, other assistance is likely depending upon the needs of the recipient.

Who Can Apply?

For an individual to be considered as a candidate for the Capstone Ministries Scholarship Program, such individual:
• must reside within the Mitchell Community School district
• must display adequate intent and capability for pursuit of a degree through OCU-B
• must have and be able to identify financial and practical obstacles to enrollment and pursuit of a degree at OCU-B
• if selected for the scholarship, must be willing to be involved with a caring community of mentors for support, counsel, and accountability
• must be able and willing to enroll at OCU-B for the Fall 2008 semester

Other Considerations
• The scholarship will be for one academic year, renewable for up to four years.
• Mid-semester and post-semester evaluations will be conducted and will determine whether the scholarship will be renewed for the next academic year.
• A lack of High School diploma does not eliminate you from consideration if you are able to obtain a G.E.D. prior to August 2008.

We are looking to make this an incarnational approach, where we really enter this person’s world and she ours. The design is for us to surround her with two accountability/encouragement groups. One will be a group of Christian women in a church context, and the other group will be formed on campus.