Brian Byrd

Description

In February I told you about the new Web site I had just launched called Your Islamic Future , which presents information about Islam, and its relationship with Christianity, as well as numerous book reviews on these topics. For the first three months of its existence I wrote quite a few articles, but then for the next three months I had to concentrate on my computer networking classes at the community college rather than writing articles. But during the 25 days between 9 August and 2 September, I wrote 25 articles! This is very time consuming — it's almost like a full-time job. Even though it does not earn me any earthly money, hopefully my labors are earning me treasures in Heaven. If you have not done so already, I strongly encourage you to have a look at Your Islamic Future and take the time to read all of the articles. With Islam being more and more in the daily headlines, this is not some insignificant fringe issue, and you as an American (or Westerner) cannot afford to disregard Islam or remain ignorant of the Islamic agenda. Unfortunately, the mainstream media seems more dedicated to promoting the Islamic agenda rather than exposing it Labor Day this year was also Catherine's birthday, so just like last year, the family went to the Rheinlander German Restaurant in Portland to celebrate the momentous day with food and song. As before, Greg the accordion player came by to serenade us, this time with many more songs than last year. And this year I had the foresight to bring our video camera, so we could share with you some of the highlights of the evening. Unfortunately, I am still not completely used to our new camera, so about two-thirds into the video the sound is often distorted for the remainder of the video. Live and learn — hopefully I've learned my lesson and won't repeat that mistake. If you are ever in Portland, don't miss having dinner at the Rheinlander for an evening you will always remember! (And don't forget to give Greg a good tip!) Just a few days after Catherine's birthday, we took Joanne to the YWAM Salem center to attend her first-ever NIKO camp . Here is a summary of her experience in her own words (and photos): NIKO is a Greek word meaning to subdue, conquer, overcome, or prevail against — a great name and word to describe the experience! Run by YWAM Salem, the program was held in the wilderness of the Coastal Range. Not much information about what we were going to be doing was given, I just knew it was going to be five days in the great outdoors, of physical and spiritual growth and stretching. NIKO far surpassed my expectations (in a good way)! It was amazing. It was hard not knowing what was going to happen next or what the schedule was, but God turned those times of uncertainty into something good. Because I'm a person who likes planning and knowing the schedule, that aspect of NIKO was stretching. When I felt like I was getting comfortable and maybe in somewhat of a routine, something would happen or we would have to do something that would get me way out of my comfort zone. I had to learn to just accept and surrender not knowing, and to trust God.

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