The 4 guests were the winners. Kurt and Curt didn’t see a deer.

Rob Ellis got a 4 point buck and an antler less deer opening morning in the “Bear Swamp Blind”.

Phil Niekerk got a 7 point buck early in the opener, from a tree stand in the Rom / Henry zone.

He tracked it over a quarter mile, with the help of Rob, Rick, and Curt.

Randy Gentry got his 1st deer, the 1st time ever hunting, the next morning and missed another in the “Bear Swamp Blind”. 

Rick Gravelyn missed another deer later in the same area.

Phil missed a 3 point buck in the same area the next morning.

Deer were scarce in contrast to last year.

We did find bear signs, scratched over 9 feet high in a tree nearby. 

Fellowship was rich.

God stirred us deeply as we observed His work through the landowner, Norm Tuinstra.

Norm got a call reporting his friend, Ed Jesche was killed in Oklahoma Nov.15.

The next day, Tom Jesche, Ed’s brother drove up from the Green Bay to visit Norm and make funeral arrangements.

Our hunting world stopped for some time as God expanded our “heart world”.

Tom shared how God worked through Norm and Marla’s home, and other key people, to bring Ed and Tom to Christ 15 years ago.  These two rock band brothers became “righteous brothers” at 10 pm,. They said , “We’ve got to tell brother Joe in Milwaukee about this!” They drove from 10 pm ‘til 2 am, woke up Joe, explained Joe’s need for salvation and their new faith. Joe received Christ later that morning.

All three brothers began to see changed lives, playing music in churches and home fellowships, witnessing in the bars they used to play in. (Norm had gone through similar changes just 16 years before.)

Their former bar buddies told lies about them, claiming they “sacrificed babies” and other weird stories. Tom went to the home of one particularly rough friend, Bert, feeling a burden and boldness from God to try one more time to share with him. Bert banged the table several times with a beer bottle in each hand, and finally bellowed, “Well, what am I supposed to do?” Tom told us, “I knew I needed to rely on the Holy Spirit, not fancy words, so I told Bert, ‘You need to repent, be born again, to be saved.’” 

Bert banged the two bottles on the table again, and said, “How do I do that?”

Tom said, “You admit that you are a sinner, ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your life to save you.”

Bert paused, then said, “ OK, now what?”

Tom was dumbfounded. Bert meant business with God.

The next day Bert’s wife asked him, “What’s wrong with you? You haven’t cussed or busted anything all morning?”

Bert replied, “I told you I got saved last night.

The Jesche brothers finally got through to me.”

Bert later disclosed that he was near suicide before Tom’s visit.

Everybody in the community knew the old Bert. They marveled at the Light of the world shining where only  darkness used to be.

Tom then shared how God worked when his 21 year old daughter was killed by a serial killer 10 years ago. Joy shone grief as Tom described the hundreds of people who attended the funeral, where over 60 people received Christ. Two of them were high ranking police officials.

He and my Dad Curt shared the pain only a parent can feel when he loses a child.

We remembered my brother David’s death 10 years ago, and how God worked through those days to bring good out of loss.... how God worked through the death of Lance Brew Jr. and the Lance Brew Memorial Outreaches for several years after.

I just spoke (Nov.20) with Norm about the Nov.19 funeral for Ed.

People shared testimonies for 1 hour about the impact Ed had on lives around the world.

He’d used most of his earnings as an engineer to support missions and Bible College.

Bert closed the sharing with his testimony and a challenge to be saved and surrendered to Christ. (Didn’t bang beer bottles this time)

It’s too soon to tell, but I wonder what God will do in the next chapters about the Jesche brothers who moved from the rock band to be “righteous brothers.”

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In just an hour of sharing, God used these stories of His remarkable work through these ordinary people to stir us hunters to greater faith.

Who would have thought that entire communities would be impacted so powerfully by farmers, engineers, Bible studies that met in the very room where we packed all our hunting gear?

After praying for Tom and Norm, our time in the woods, and during travel home, were deeply stirred with the power of  the gospel.

How can God work through us to be more bold and effective?

How can we equip more and more people to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to share more effectively with more people like Ed, Tom, Joe and Bert?

Will you pray that God will work mightily to show us His answers to those questions?