{"id":2313,"date":"2014-04-07T15:53:52","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T20:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2014-04-08T15:37:21","modified_gmt":"2014-04-08T20:37:21","slug":"ekstrands-on-the-speaking-trail-in-iowa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2014\/04\/ekstrands-on-the-speaking-trail-in-iowa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ekstrands on the speaking trail in Iowa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This past weekend we had wonderful, encouraging interactions with new and old friends in NE and N central Iowa. We started with an overnight in West Union with friends from my days at Iowa State. Doug and I were on the same floor in the dorms in 1972-73! Does that date us or what?<\/p>\n<p>Saturday we left West Union for Decorah where we had 8 specific interactions in 24 hours. First, lunch with about 8 church members followed by afternoon conversation was planned to be with Luther College students, but no one showed so we just talked with Steve about his interest in international mission and God&#8217;s call on our lives. \u00a0After a pizza supper we played the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/jeopardylabs.com\/play\/congo-jeopardy-by-ekstrand\">Congo Jeopardy by Ekstrand<\/a>,\u00a0game which we created, followed by other powerpoints and questions. \u00a0Sunday AM we spoke at both the 8am and 10h45 services and two Sunday School classes in between. \u00a0I also played in a baritone-trombone duet for offertory. \u00a0Practice for that was Saturday afternoon. \u00a0After the second service we were to a home for dinner and conversation with 8 others. \u00a0The topics in the conversations can range from the simple (what is the climate like, where do you get your water, what do you regularly eat, what is the church service like) to the harder, more profound such as: \u00a0what are the long-term visions for your ministry, how much is the local culture being influenced by the outside, the West, \u00a0or what ownership does the local population have for the community development initiatives? \u00a0Great stuff that indicates a keen interest in mission and in our ministries.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday afternoon we drove 2 hours from Decorah to Mason City where we had two more evening presentations. \u00a0We shared about our ministries with the congregation followed by an being with the high school group where we were interviewed. \u00a0This morning we had more conversation with about 6 over breakfast at our host home. \u00a0Busy times indeed, but great times as well. \u00a0We feel loved, cared and prayed for. \u00a0Thank you (or we give a shout out) to each of our ministry partner churches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand?moderation_action=report_form&object_type=post&object_id=2313&width=250&height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This past weekend we had wonderful, encouraging interactions with new and old friends in NE and N central Iowa. We started with an overnight in West Union with friends from my days at Iowa State. Doug and I were on the same floor in the dorms in 1972-73! Does that date us or what? Saturday [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ekstrands on the speaking trail in Iowa - Ekstrands in Congo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ekstrand\/2014\/04\/ekstrands-on-the-speaking-trail-in-iowa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ekstrands on the speaking trail in Iowa - Ekstrands in Congo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This past weekend we had wonderful, encouraging interactions with new and old friends in NE and N central Iowa. 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