With thanksgiving…

I wanted to write and say thank you. These are both precarious but powerful days to be in ministry. Demands, new and old, arise everyday. I just received a call from another evangelist friend who told me of his transition in ministry to become a pastor of a local church; another good evangelist off the field. More and more evangelists and missionaries are leaving their posts for more “stable” and “secure” positions of ministry; or more sadly, even out of the ministry all together. Did you know that records tell us the number of evangelists in full time itinerant ministry has declined by over 50% in the last 10 years alone? While that saddens my heart, it also motivates me more than ever to heed the call God placed on my heart 34 years ago.

As I reflect over these past 31 years of ministry- God’s faithfulness has been so enduring and God’s people have been so loyal. This holiday season we want you to know that we are so very thankful for you! Your prayer and support mean more than you can imagine; in fact only eternity will reveal the outcome of the partnership we have with you. Thanks.

Would you indulge me a few moments to relate a very special story to you?

As we recently celebrated Thanksgiving this year in America, I want to especially thank the Lord for one particular couple- Evart & Dee; and here’s’ why. It was over 38 years ago that I was at my grandmother’s house in Frontenac, Kansas for the summer. Nearly every day, my Kansas best buddy (and still a dear friend today) Scott, and I would ride our bikes to the community swimming pool in Pittsburg (a bordering town) about 4 miles away!

We got to know a life guard there at the pool named Evart; a guy in his early 20’s who had just gotten married that spring. In between all the whistle blows, he would talk with us and even helped us learn how to swim! If I recall, it was during one of our “breaks” one day that he asked us if we wanted to go to a “youth camp”. “What in the world was a ‘youth camp?’” we said. He explained it was where lots of kids our age went to a special place for a whole week, played games all day and had a “little” church service each night for a few minutes. Well, games all day in exchange for a church service for a few minutes at night seemed like a good deal! So I went back and asked my grandmother and she said I could go!

I will never forget what happened at the “little church” service the last night of camp. After the speaker had finished his talk he gave us a challenge and he invited everyone who wanted to take on that challenge, to come to the front- and the last night I did! The challenge was to believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, ask Him to forgive my sin, come and live in my heart and dedicate my life to Him. It was so simple to do- to just believe by faith- yet so profound an outcome. My life has never been the same since that day.

I left Kansas that summer and came home a different boy. Four years later, I accepted another challenge at youth camp- to dedicate my life to be an evangelist and share the life changing, eternity securing message of the gospel with as many as possible. From that day at youth camp that summer in 1974 until now- the pages of my life’s scrap book have been filled with priceless memories of ministry at dozens of youth camps and services, countless revivals, hundreds of mission’s conventions, and ministry in 52 countries across 5 continents!

A couple of years ago, after many years of wondering what ever happened to that life guard and his wife I began a search to find them. Just a few weeks ago, after numerous Google searches, probing, computing, and piecing together various and scattered bits of information, I found a telephone number on teh West Coast for an “Evart and Dorothy". I called and a man answered the phone; I clumsily told him who I was and why I was calling. As I mentioned more and more details of the info I had found on “Evart”, he understandably and reluctantly began to confirm he was that man! Amazingly as I heard his voice after all these years- I clearly recognized he was the guy!

I quickly began to inform him that I had been looking for him for several years. I wanted him to thank him for being kind enough and sensitive enough to ask a little 10year old boy at the community swimming pool one day if he wanted to go to “youth camp”. After I reminded him that I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior that week at camp, I informed him that because of his simple gesture of asking a near effortless question- hundreds of thousands of people had since accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior! I owed him the greatest depth of gratitude.

Well, as you can imagine, it was hard to talk and share the rest of our life’s stories through all the tears. Since we were together 38 years ago, the Deckards had gone on to answer the call of God into full-time ministry and become great church planters out west. It was interesting to hear of how each of us had faced seemingly insurmountable odds- the loss of family members, sickness, cancer, etc.; and yet God had been ever so faithful. We gave God the glory for what He had done!

So this year, especailly during this Thanksgiving season, I am especially grateful for the “life guard guy” who took the initiative to ask a boy to go to youth camp. It will be an awesome day in heaven one day when the big picture is revealed and the results of that one deed will be known! Thank you Lord, for Evart and Dee!

We recognize it is your faithful support in prayer and finance that enable us to continue in ministry today. Thank you. I can hardly wait to tell you about a tremendous new and exciting ministry focus for India in evangelism that we are embracing. I can tell you now that it will be the greatest challenge in 31 years of ministry! But we know God is calling, and we are answering!


So as we now prepare for Christmas- we just want to say thank you again; our prayer is that the blessings of the Lord will be yours this Thanksgiving, Christmas and the rest of the year. We love and appreciate you.

En agape’,

Dean & Brenda
Nathan & Lauren