Visitors From Virginia

Our daughter-in-law, Liane, and granddaughter, Anna, came to visit yesterday.  They were spending the week with friends in North East, MD and came to visit with us for a few hours.

Before they came inside Margaret showed Liane around the yard.  In this picture they are checking out the herb garden.  That's Anna in the background waiting to go inside.

Margaret keeps an assortment of toys on hand for visiting kids.  Anna got the building blocks out to build a castle

No one had eaten lunch yet so we went to a local restaurant, the Wagon Wheel, to eat.

While we were waiting to be served Anna colored and the Margaret and Liane visited.

Our server saw me taking pictures and offered to get one of us together

Anna was fascinated by the restaurant's big aquarium

We went back home after lunch but I didn't get any more pictures before they left...I had a nap attack.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

Margaret's Flowers

Here are some more pictures of some of the beautiful flowers in Margaret's garden:

Celosia

She has a number of different kinds of Day Lily plants

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

AECC Northeast Conference 2007

July 13-14 Chaplains Tom Kramer, "Hoppy" Hopkins, and I went to Waverly, NY to attend the annual AECC Northeast Regional Conference.  We stayed in a lovely Victorian Bed and Breakfast in nearby Sayre, PA, the BriMarie Inn.

My room at the BriMarie

Chaplain "Hoppy", second from left, and Chaplain Tom next to him.
(see more pictures)

Some of you may remember that my ordination was at this conference last year.

The first session was Friday night followed by a time of fellowship.  I gave a presentation about our TFC ministry during one of the Saturday morning sessions.  Lunch was provided by the host church and no one left hungry.  The final activity before we left was communion.  It was great to see some of the folks we met last year.

Margaret and Tom's wife, Linda, did not go with us this year.  They were in D.C. for a Women of Faith conference.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins

CUFI 2007

This past Monday Margaret and I went to Washington, D.C. for the week. We were blessed with an all-expenses-paid trip, including attendance at the Christians United For Israel (CUFI) 2007 Conference. An elderly couple that support our ministry wanted to attend the conference but could not due to failing health. They decided to send us as their representatives.

We stayed at the Westin Embassy Row Hotel
(now the Fairfax at Embassy Row)

We had a great room

The conference sessions Tuesday were held at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel. The conference ran shuttle busses from the other hotels back/forth to the Wardman. There were over 3,000 attendees. When we got to the Wardman we went to breakout rooms according to CUFI Region. Delaware is part of Region12 which also includes Virginia, West Virginia, and D.C.

Regional Director Dr. James "General" Hutchens moderated our group.

The screen at the front of the room displayed a closed circuit TV signal from the main meeting room. The morning session was a Middle East Briefing with three panelist: Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy; Robert Satloff, Executive Director of The Washington Institute; and Brigitte Gabrielle, Founder of the American Congress for Truth. David Brog, CUFI Executive Director moderated.

A box lunch was provided followed by an afternoon discussion about our Congressional meetings tomorrow.

Tuesday evening was the "Night to Honor Israel" at the Washington Convention Center. There were more than 5,000 at the three-hour event. (My camera batteries were dead) Guest speakers included:

• Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.;
  .
• Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israel Prime Minister (via video);
  .
• Ambassador Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.; and
  .
• Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House

Tuesday was a LONG day!

Wednesday morning we took our shuttle bus to the Capitol to visit our Delaware congressmen.

Our first appointment was 11:00 A.M. in the Longworth Building at Representative Castle's office.

The Delaware CUFI delegates assembled outside the office for prayer before our meeting with Senator Castle's aid.
(left to right: Elizabeth; Chaplain Mary Beth; Pastor Ron, our spokesperson; Margaret; and Pastor Larrie - Elizabeth's husband; (not shown in this picture was Jo, from Newark, who joined us later)

Next we walked to the opposite side of the Capitol to the Russell Building for a 2:00 P.M. meeting with Senator Biden's aid. Finally, we went to the Dirksen-Hart Building to visit Senator Carper's office. We did not have an appointment at Carper's office but left a packet of information for him.

Thursday was a free day and Margaret and I decided to spend it at the Holocaust Museum. It was a very sobering day.

Friday morning we checked out of the hotel and returned home. (see more pictures from the trip)

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins