A Writer with a Fire

A Writer with a Fire.

I did not start as a writer and never intended to be one. Experience and faith can lead to unexpected paths.

I entered the Navy decades ago with an aerospace engineering degree, but I was also a young Christian getting my feet wet as I was learning to walk in faith. I spent most of my Navy time on a wooden-hulled, ocean-going minesweeper. It was like a second school without a degree, but I became good at ship-handling, running a bunch of sailors, and understanding the value of working together to make a small ship function.

Those four years ended with a return to Virginia as a civilian analyst studying helicopter systems for the US Army. My engineering background got me the job, but my experience in writing small things became critical. God blessed me in the job.

I got to know government representatives and contractors making the latest and best for the Army. My agency assigned many reports that I had to write. Schedules and editorial processes were companions as a technical writer and presenter. One month, it would be soldiers listening. Next, it might be a general officer. Contractors would ask for presentations and reports. I became successful in 30-year trends projections for a niche area deemed important by the agency I worked for. Decades passed. I retired from that life in 2005 to concentrate on Christian ministry with my late wife.

A Christian walk during my years of work caused me to love brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes that road was smooth, but the bumps along it led to the founding of CHRISTWORKS MINISTRIES, a volunteer ministry of “helps.” My part in the early years was paperwork, delivering food, and helping with a homeschool support group. I learned to love poor kids with problems. I learned biblical hospitality. The home became an important center of activity.

The practical wisdom of the Bible took an increasingly higher place. One ramification was the observation of the heavens from a biblical view, which became notes for presentations and exhibitions for children and adults in the US. The notes became a book, which I still use today. It can still be downloaded from our ministry site (cwm4him.org).

But writing was not constant because circumstance and tragedy often interrupt it. A family, whom we loved and often met with, had launched a bunch of kids before their father (my good friend, also) was badly injured. Gene and Faylene had to move away. After a few years, Gene died unexpectedly. My late wife, Linda, and I visited Faylene as she was coping with grief.  Five years later, after several cancers, I lost Linda. Both households knew grief.

I weathered the grief, but God intervened to heal the worst of it. While I was not used to being alone, I had work to do on the mission field and returned to the Philippines in early 2017. Writing continued with the transformation of a Bible study, which I had previously written, into an expanded book for a Christian federation of schools. It was not only a return to writing; the time was an explosion of love for young people.  Many were orphans. I was writing for them and so many more like them who did not know they had purpose and value to God.  I became passionate about the effort. When I returned to the US with the immediate aim of returning, I contacted Faylene to tell her what happened. I was one of five missionaries in the field for whom she was praying.

I was in a rush to continue writing, potentially move to the Philippines, and get my house ready to sell. On the other hand, she was making plans to return to Ghana to do more mission work. Both our plans were altered.

Through a highly unusual set of circumstances from April to June, Faylene and I were engaged, had our first date after the engagement, and were married by June 24th. All writing stopped during the breathtaking transition. By August we were in the Philippines together, where her heart was broken open to embrace a bunch of orphans and ministry staff. Within months I completed the first biblical creation book for local printing in that country. Then I found out she was a writer, a teller of stories, and a very helpful editor.

In 9 short years, I have written two books and am currently editing a third for re-publication. They are being used in several countries. Three booklets are waiting to be started. Faylene has written two children’s books. A third is in progress, and her cleaning book is in its final draft stage. We see no end in sight.

So, I am a writer with a fire in my heart and a passionate teacher who trains others in observational astronomy, biblical creation, and a few other biblical topics. All of it is oriented to the development of the hearts and souls of future generations. My wife works beside me.