Founders
Corner
Thank you for stopping in and spending a little time where I reflect on our life experiences. I am just an ordinary guy surrounded and encouraged by a terrific girlfriend turned into the mother and grandma of our two kids and eight grandchildren. We have been together for over 50 years.
Over a 22 year period, we have lived in three foreign countries, worked in another six, and visited over forty. We have had the privilege of being in the real estate business for over 15 years and then founding an international water filter business.
Lived in
foreign countries
Worked in
foreign countries
Visited over
foreign countries
My claim to fame is that I really enjoy long distance hiking having hiked the Camino (502 miles in 31 days) and the Appalachian Trail (2,172 miles in 181 days).
Now I am working on the North Country Trail, 4,200 miles.
It is the relationship with the giver of life that our journey has purpose and meaning. Those of you that we know have also added a deepness and richness to our lives for which we are forever grateful.
Rwanda Diary – January twentieth second – twenty third
Wednesday, January twentieth second. We spent the whole day visiting communes and Bourgermeistres (counties and county supervisors or mayors). In Mabanza they want us to organize a food for work project on a 12 km stretch of road. Keith arrived on a new motorcycle for...
Rwanda Diary – January twentieth – twenty-first
Monday, January twentieth. Twelve agencies were represented at the NGO (Non-Governmental Organization meeting. For the first time we heard there had been an attack at Ruhengari, about sixty Interahamwe soldiers involved. Three volunteers were killed outright. This is...
Rwanda Diary – January sixteenth – nineteenth
Thursday, January sixteenth. Today was a step back into time. I drove down roads I had been on two years ago when the first one million displaced Rwandans had been returning from Eastern Congo. I was seeing some of the same needs, meeting friends, and staring down the...
Rwanda Diary – January thirteenth – fifteenth
Monday, January thirteenth. As I write I have a 40-year-old-man with a six-foot tree branch wiping out the spiders and cobwebs off the ceilings and walls. Works perfectly. I took a shower this morning, no hot water although the house is plumbed for it. It will...
Rwanda Diary – January tenth – twelfth
Friday, January tenth I am exhilarated and discouraged tonight. I am right in the middle of a chance to make a huge, maybe even a life and death difference, in the lives of the locals. There is so much to do to just get up and running. We do not have access to seed...
Rwanda Diary – January seventh – ninth
Tuesday, January seventh It was almost 11:00 A.M. when I got up. I am rested from the over- night flight to Europe. I walked up to Badhoevendorp center, about ten minutes from the hotel. I had an excellent sandwich at a place called De Herbergh. I asked the...
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Rwanda Diary – How it all began
In 19994 and 1996 I completed two assignments in Rwanda. The first was a six-month period on the shores of Lake Kivu where one million souls were returning from Eastern Congo. Two years later, tens of thousands, in a second wave were returning home. I was there for a...
CHRISTMAS 2017
This Christmas letter is about going home! We all know, deep in our soul, without exception, death will knock on our door. We do not like to think about it, don’t plan for it, and rarely talk about it. Both of our parents have been gone for a long time. Neither of us...
God being the Trinity
Christians talk about God being the Trinity, God-three-in-one. I feel that I am of that same construct. For example, most of my life, my mind determines what it is that I do, think, and am. My body responds and for the most part is obedient to my mind. There is an...
Romeo Cultural Tour 2017
ROMEO CULTURAL TOUR 2017 There were six of us; Tom Sibley, Marlin Baker, Lou Haveman, Jerry Kaizer, Rod Osner, and Steve Dooley. We are all retired, kinda, representing six different professions; juvenile court, probation, real estate, business,...
Heading South on the North Country Trail
Petoskey, Michigan…Heading South on the North Country Trail May 26-27, 2017 Outside of hiking the streets of Grand Rapids, it has been a good six months since being on the trail. I couldn’t believe how good it felt to be hiking over Memorial Day. I am also...
Another side of St. Patrick’s Day
This past Friday, March 17, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with parades, green everything, and beer. Here is another side to this holiday. He was a human trafficking victim in the 5th century, who became a missionary to the people and land (Ireland) where he was a...
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