FORT DeCHARTRES APRIL 2013

Dear friends, I've really been slack about my posts. I've been WAY too busy with home and family projects. Here are some pics of our last reenactment down at Fort de Chartres this past April. It was a great event and we were able to add a wonderful new family to our camp; John, Angie, Joel and Joshua. We were truly blessed to be with them. One of the best things that stands out about this camp was the food. We had pheasant, dove, salmon, sauage, bacon, veggies, fried apples, blackberry cream pie and more! I left casting a larger shadow than when I arrived. Another neat thing was that Logan got to do the auctioneering at the auction. He did a fantastic job. I can't wait for our next camp meeting!

A Special Lantern #87

This lanterns is special. It's one I just recently made for my wife. Of all the lanterns I've made, she's never had one of her own to decorate and that suited her. So, I was able to get some scrap walnut boards from my dad and started buiding only the second lantern that I've made with a front door. What was neat was the different colors of wood within the walnut. It took me 2-3 times longer to build than a normal lantern but I think it turned out pretty well. I finished it with an old furniture oil that my wife's dad had called "Powder House". It really made the grain "pop". I don't think I'll be making another one like this very soon. :-)

2012 Deer Expo

Had a great time at the annual Deer Expo that my sister and brother-in-laws church puts on in Pittsfield IL. It's always the Wednesday night before the first deer shotgun season and caters to the hunters. It's a great ministry and my first time to set my Bibles For The World/Lanterns of Light table up. Selling is not allowed but I made some good contacts and loved talking with the people....and there was a LOT of people! I was able to hand out a few Bibles, business cards and ran out of gospel tracts. As usual, the kids keep coming back for more. The tracts from Livingwaters are the best ever. Here are some pics of the event.

Fort de Chartres Winter Camp

We had a great time camping at Fort de Chartres the first weekend of November. There were a lot of firsts for me this time. It was the first time I got to tent camp with some new friends named Logan, Dillon and Zack. They are a great bunch of guys and a joy to be around. My normal camping buddies, Dale, Simeon and Brooke were there too. I can’t say enough about what good friends they are. I look forward to many more camps with or new formed group again. It was also the first time that I had camped in temperatures that got below freezing! Friday night, when we arrived, they were out of firewood. We’re not allowed to bring our own in but Dale and I had not had supper yet and it was getting much colder after dark. Finally, about 8:00 a load of wood arrived and they, thankfully, dumped it just a few yards from our campsite. Dale and I cooked fresh trout on a flat rock and it was late when we turned in. Saturday night is when we got the really hard frost. There was a heavy fog in the morning. At least we had enough wood to keep everyone warm around the fire. The one picture is a guy trying to brush his teeth.

It was the first time that I got to hang my business shingle on its new hanger. We were camped back only the levee, away from most the vendors, but I believe that the sign helped to draw attention to my lanterns and my dad’s totes he had made. I was able to get rid of all my lanterns but one!

A lot of good memories were made this weekend. We had four guns made by Jackie Brown in our camp; a smooth rifle 20 gauge of Dales, a smooth rifle 28 gauge of Simeon’s, a 20 gauge fowler of mine plus a .45 caliber pistol. The fowler is not finished yet so will be a good winter project of me.

I’ll not forget the three younger guy’s tent almost going up in smoke. The rear door flap caught fire from being too close to the stove pipe. We got it put out before too much damage was done.

Dale led our Sunday service and he really did a great job. Talking about God’s blessings and how He has worked in the lives of our fore fathers is always great. We want to make that a permanent feature of our future camps.

This was really one of the better events that I’ve been to. The food was great, we had guests to our camp, we froze to death, fun with good friends and we picked up some new gear! Plus, I sold some lanterns(the proceeds from these will go to help with the medical clinic expenses that Bibles For The World just finished). They put on a Woodswalk event as well and hopefully by next year we can have a team to participate. That will be another first!

Here's a few more event pics. Thanks for visiting.

That all the world may know!

I would be very grateful to anyone who would be willing to help me reach my goal and send Bibles to Nepal. You can follow the link to the right under my listed emails, called grouprev, for information about how to do it. This link is for use with a credit card only. If you wish to send a check directly to me, please send me an email. I am at $200 towards my goal of $500 at present. Thank you for helping to send God's gospel around the world! Our Lord and King, first served, Mark

Prairie Land Heritage Steam Show 2012

I was able to set my Bibles For The World table up in the barn this year where other craft booths were. It was great not having to tear down and set back up each day. I also had some great neighbors around me. We had three days of fantastic weather and a large crowd was on hand this year. When business was slow on Saturday, I went out on the grounds and did some "town crying". Not sure if it worked but business seemed to pickup shortly after. It could have been that it was approaching dinner and the ham and beans drew them my way, since our booths were right next to the kitchen! My parents had a spot outside to sell assorted wood products and odds and ends. I made some great contacts and sold a few lanterns. My granddaughter, Julia, helped me hand out gospel tracts. She was a big help. This is beoming one of my favortite events. I may do things a little different next year and hope to have a peddlers cart to move my wares around the grounds instead of being restricted to one place. We'll see. Here's some pictures of the event. Until our Lord's return, I remain, Mark Bentley