Festival of Praise 2005
Here are the year verses from Dr. and Mrs. Harris,
our hosts for this annual event.
Year Verse: Isaiah 61:3:  "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."
Name:Dr. Merne A. Harris
School and Years Attended: CEI, 1942-46.
Year Verse: Judges 5:31--"Let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might..."
Name:Sue Reid Harris
School and Years Attended: CEI, 1943-46

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:10  (NIV)
R. Gordon Bacon

Year Verse: Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Comments:In verse two the Psalmist describes the threat of overwhelming physical disasters. We have been reminded only recently of our own frailty in the wake of these events. Coupled with global conflicts, wars, etc., there is the on-going threat of unbelief, injustice, and immorality. These too, would "overflow" us were it not for the "God of Jacob" who is with us.  He is both our security (refuge) and strength in times of unrest, uncertainty and doubt.  
Name:Steve Bagby
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1981-1984

Year Verse: II Corinthians 12:9:"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  Psa, 17:15 "As for me, I will see your face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness."
Comments:With the death of a second brother, I was having difficulties with acceptance.  God had to calm me down and comfort me.  He used His Word to accomplish this.  What a privilege for all who love Jesus that His grace is sufficient.
Name:Mattie Jane Birch
School and Years Attended: CEI, graduated 1955.

Year Verse: Jeremiah 15:16
"When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty."
Name:Delinda Bishop

Year Verse: 2Sa 22:33  It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.
NIV
Comments:In our church planting ministry it is God who gives the strength and He who leads the way.
Name:Larry and Sharon Carr
School and Years Attended: Vennard 78-81

Year Verse: Luke 1:38; 9; 49-50 (LB)--I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to do whatever He wants; Oh, how I praise the Lord, How I rejoice in my Savior; For He, the mighty Holy One, has done great things for me.  His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who reverence Him.  
Name:Betty Lee Chow

Year Verse: Galatians 2:20  NIV
"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Comments:Greetings to the CEI/Vennard College Family.  Praise God for our heritage of Christian holiness.  We continue to minister in the Wesleyan church in Naples, Florida, with  ministries to both English and Spanish congregations.  The Spanish outreach ministry is growing and we are praising God!
Name:Mitchell J. Cotrone
School and Years Attended: CEI,  1953-1957

Year Verse: Matthew 11:28-29 The Message:  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
Comments:The concept of unforced rhythms of grace is compelling - this is my prayer for this year.
Name:Sharon Harris Cox
School and Years Attended: Vennard, 1969-1974

Year Verse: Luke 11:9:  Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Comments:It was so exciting to come across this verse in my daily reading and realize the Lord was giving it to me for this new year of service.
Name:Glenna Dorothy (Paul)
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1961-65

Year Verse: Genesis 18:14a  "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Name:Ronald W. Farnum
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1966-1972

"O God, your ways are holy; Is there any god as mighty as you?
You are the God of miracles and wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
Psalm 77:l3,14 NLB
Mercedes Fouks Gribble
I read the Bible through last year in the NLB, and enjoyed the contemporary words. It encouraged me to try to write a psalm. (I have the first two lines -- maybe next year five or six? The Lord please give
me words strong enough to come close to what I have been reading.)

Year Verse: Psalms 28:7 ...my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped
Comments:I came across this verse late in 2004, and have been living with it ever since. It might just become my life verse.
Name:Sandy Harris
School and Years Attended: Vennard, 1974-1978

Year Verse: Luke 18:14b - "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Name:Dale Holloway
School and Years Attended: Vennard College, 1969-73

Year Verse: For unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required.
Comments:God continues to challenge me that I am but a steward and the more He blesses, the more I need to return.
Name:Donnie Hotz
School and Years Attended: Vennard College 1974-1977

Year Verse: Jim's   John 15:5  "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Linda's verse: Psalm 136:1  "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Comments:
Name:James (Jim) Hulett    and Linda (Goold) Hulett
School and Years Attended: Jim - Vennard College, graduated 1957        Linda - student in 1956

Dear Dr. Harris--and family:  Put me down for Isa. 41:10,  "Fear thou not for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I am thy God.  I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee; yea I will uphold thee."  God gave me this verse some 44 years ago and I went to St. Louis holding tightly to it!  I told my Superintendent "Yes, I will go, and God will go with me.  I will go single if you send me single, or I will take Mabel along if you send me married and God WILL go with me!"  I was fully confident that marriage was in God's plan and I have had no reason to change.  That verse was for me if I wanted  it.  It was as much mine as anyone elses in the whole world.  And God has been my help in many tight places since.
Kenneth Kendall

Year Verse: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6
Comments:Greetings to all from the beautiful state of Washington.  Naomi and I, along with our sons Kevin and Darren (also Vennard grads), own and operate two Adult Family Homes in Wenatchee. The close proximity of three of our grandkids and several other Vennard grads have made this an enjoyable place to live and work.
Name:Bob Key
School and Years Attended: Vennard  1956 - 1960

Year Verse: "For the Lord God is a sun and shield:  the Lord will give grace and glory:  no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightlyl"  Psalm 84:11
Comments:Bob and I are enjoying ministering to elderly adults in our care facility.  God provided us with a beautiful spacious home where we live with six residents from 83 to 95 years of age. We intended to retire at age 65, but God had other plans. Life is busy, but rewarding.  We love what we are doing.
Name:Naomi Maloney Key
School and Years Attended: CEI 1955-1959

Year Verse: John 1:14: "...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father."
Comments:I want to focus on Christ in 2005
Name:Dick Klein
School and Years Attended: CEI, '59

Year Verse: "...for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.   II Timothy 1:7
Comments:Praise the Lord!
Name:David Kushman
School and Years Attended: Vennard College

Year Verse: You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You - Isaiah 26:3
Name:Dr. Howard Ledford
School and Years Attended: Vennard College 1972-1977

Year Verse: Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. - Psalm 37:5
Name:Sherri (Lindahl) Ledford
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1972-1977

Year Verse: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Genesis 18:14a
Comments:As I needed spiritual renewal and additional financial support hoping to return to Uganda, God
reminded me that HE is able to accomplish His will.
Name:Mary Ann Lewis
School and Years Attended: Vennard

My year verse is:  God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."   2 Cor. 9:8
Mary Ruth Madsen

Year Verse: Deuteronomy 33:12 And of Benjamin he said,
The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
Comments:I discovered this verse while in a Bible study called "Beloved Disciple" by Beth Moore.  What a wonderful word picture---between God's shoulders--
close to His heart!  What an amazing truth that
God considers us "His beloved."  I am so grateful for the presence of the Lord in my daily life.
What a mighty God we serve!
Name:Rachel (Nygren) Maki
School and Years Attended: Vennard College-- 1983 to 1987

Year Verse: Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
Comments:Let us look to tomorrow and follow the pathway he is making for us with Him as Guide for our future!
Name:Paul C. Maloney
School and Years Attended: Vennard College, 1954-1958

II Thess. 3:5 "May the Lord direct your hearts into [realizing and showing] the love of God, and into the steadfastness patience of Christ in waiting for His return."
Sue Martin, Field Co-ordinator of Haitian American Ministries, a field of World Gospel Mission located in Central Florida

Year Verse: Luke 4:18,19 - "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for
the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (NIV)
Comments:This verse was first sent to me in Spanish which I consider appropriate since my husband, Elson, our three boys and I continue to serve as missionaries with WGM in Argentina.  I actually like the Spanish translation better since it speaks directly to my heart that this year will be a blessed and favorable year in ministry.  After a difficult term of service and bombarded by doubts to whether my call still stands true today, God has once again faithfully whispered to me His words of encouragement.
Name:Toy (Marshall) Mast
School and Years Attended: Vennard College (1983-1987)

Year Verse: Jeremiah  29:11 and Romans 8:28
Comments:I have used Romans 8:28 since 2950 at CEI Chicago.  Jeremiah 29:11 hass been more of a blessing to me  redently.
Name:JOHN   MCCLIMANS
School and Years Attended: CEI   1950-1954    GRADUATED  1954  BOARD MEMBER SINCE 1998

Year Verse: Zechariah 4:6 "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty.
Comments:God has been extremely good in the past year. He has helped me with many challenges. I am trusting Him to to greater things in my life through His power.
Name:Tim McGuire
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1983-1987

Year Verse: Romans 11:33 - "Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out."
Comments:This is a fantastic year in our lives.  In the world of higher education, where I am still ministering on a rather full time basis, all my teaching assignments are in New Testament Greek: Grammar, Exegesis, and Syntactic Analysis.  What a sheer joy.  But to dare to suggest that I have plumbed the depths is total folly.  I stand in awe at the "riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God."  Amazing truth displays amazing grace!  Daily I am awestruck at the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life, teaching me the Word of God in fresh and exhilarating ways.  No wonder I learned as a very young preacher that "there is a power resident in the Word of God found in no other book!"
Name:Dr. Robert L. Morris
School and Years Attended: Seattle Pacific Universithy (1948-1950); Willamette University (1951-1954); Western Evangelical Seminary (1958-1960); Whitworth College (1975-1978); Western Baptist Seminary (1979-1982)

Year Verse: I John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth.
Comments:I ran across this verse as it was referenced in a Children's Bible Quizzing lesson from I and II Samuel that I was preparing to teach. It was one of those verses that immediately struck me as being so applicable in so many areas at once. I'm challenged!
Name:Jeff Morris
School and Years Attended: Vennard, 1983 - 1988

Year Verse: Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
Comments:Initial observations:
1. The connection between what's in the heart, and what comes out of the mouth.
2. "Acceptable" is not just a passing grade -- but what really pleases Him.
3. He is my "strenth" to meditate and talk properly now, and He is my "redeemer" to forgive me for what I've thought and said in the past!
Name:Dr. Bruce Moyer
School and Years Attended: Vennard, 71-75

Year Verse: Be still and know that I am God...
Psalm 46:10
Comments:This year it is my goal to stop and listen to what God wants to tell me.
Name:Mary Roozeboom
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1997-2002

II Chronicles 6:14  "O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in the heaven, nor in the earth, which keepest covenant and shewest mercy unto thy servants that walk before Thee with all their hearts."
Rev. Betsy Schott, Pastor of Victory Wesleyan Church,Mt. Dora, Florida
This is an English church for the Haitians who want to learn English better and for the teens and children who do not really understand the Creole.

Year Verse: "Will he plead against me with his great power? NO
but he would put strength in me."  Job 23:6
Comments:CEI gave us a sound footing for our faith.  Our memories are precious and we have life time friends. The Lord has been good to us and as we are in those senior years we want to be faithful to HIM.
Name:Forrest & Jean (Kress) Shuck
School and Years Attended: Forrest - CEI -1949-1951 - Jean - CEI - graduated in 1951

Year Verse: My soul, wait silently for god alone, for my expectation is from Him.  He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In god is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strenght, and my refuge is in God.  Paslm 62:5-7
Comments:We continual stand in amazement as we see God working in lives of people.  What a previlege to witness daily the power of God and His mercy.
Name:Ernie  Smith
School and Years Attended: Vennard  1970-1975

Year Verse: Isaiah 26:3,4 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast. because he trusts in YOU.
trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.  NIV
Comments:What a wonderful reminder that God can bring peace even in turbulent times, when we place our trust fully in Him.
Name:Doug  Swarthout
School and Years Attended: Vennard  College  74-78

Year Verse: Micah 2:12-13 (The Message Paraphrase)
12"I'm calling a meeting, Jacob. I want everyone back--all the survivors of Israel.  I'll get them together in one place--like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral--a milling throng of homebound people!  13 Then I, GOD, will burst all confinements and lead them out into the open.  They'll follow their King.  I will be out in front leading them."

Comments:I have been asked to chair the Leadership Development and Gift Oriented Ministry committee at my Corps (that's church to all non-Salvation Army folks).  God is challenging me to become the leader He's asked me to be so He can use me to His best ability.  I long to see Him "burst all confinements and lead...".  I am excited about what He is and is going to do through those who love, listen, and obey.
Name:David Tooley
School and Years Attended: Vennard 1989 -1993

Year Verse: Ezra 10:4  Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.
Comments:This verse came along at the perfect time in my life.  I need to "arise," take ownership of the matters that affect me and my home, take courage in the great people which surround me, and "do it." 
Name:Renee (Degenkolb) Tuning
School and Years Attended: Vennard College, September 1974 through May 1977

Al Wagner.  114 E Doggie Dr. Safford, AZ 85546.  Tel. 928-428-8171.
Revelation 10:11" Then they said to me, You are to make a fresh prophecy concerning many peoples and races and nations and languages and kings."   I asked the Lord how can this be?  Then I got on staff with "Every Home For Christ" president Dick Eastman and now I have a little idea what is beginning to happen in my life.  
Love/Prayer  Al Wagner

Year Verse: Mark 6:50 "Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Comments:
Name:Dora Wesche
School and Years Attended: Vennard    graduated 1955

Year Verse: "From everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
Comments:This is the verse I have been focusing on this month and realized that this is my year verse for 2005. What a faithful God we serve!
Name:Charlotte "Sherri"(Meidinger) Williams
School and Years Attended: Vennard College, 1960-1964

Year Verse: Joshua 24:15 (New International Version)
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD ."
Name:Edna Zimmer
School and Years Attended: Vennard, 1967 - 1969 (AA); Current member Board of Trustees

Year Verse: Day and night they never stop saying:"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Rev. 4:8b (NIV)
Comments:How calming and reassuring that He is the Lord of my was, my is, and my is to come. He is God and fully on the throne, and totally in control.
Name:Joy Wease Boutakov
School and Years Attended: Vennard ('73-75)

Year Verse: You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!          
Isaiah 26:3 NLT
Comments:This verse has sustained me throughout my years
Name:Howard R. Higgins
School and Years Attended: Vennard  1955-1958

Year Verse: Isaiah 43:4-5
Comments:This is a year of  transition for us.  These two verses are a great source of strength and encouragement through the transition.
Name:Lloyd Hanton
School and Years Attended: Vennard College   1958 - 1962

Year Verse: Ephesians 3:20  "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.
Comments:I am continuing to serve the Zumbrota Wesleyan Church in Zumbrota, MN as Pastor...  Am excited to be a part of His great Kingdom work.  Recently elected to serve on the Zumbrota Public Library Board!  God is giving me opportunities to reach out to people in the community.
Name:Jan Fischer
School and Years Attended: Vennard College -- 1972-1976