In the middle of the night on February 11th, 2019, my parents awoke to find that their garage/barn was on fire. By the time firefighters arrived, the entire building had burned to the ground. Inside had been their pickup, riding lawn mower, and tools. The attic of the barn served as my father's study, and he lost a library of rare books, all of his writings, many family photo albums, and more. We are all grateful that they were unhurt in the blaze, but they estimate the cost of their lost belongings to be over $4,000, not including the barn. They did not have insurance for anything that was lost.

My parents are retired missionaries and have had multiple significant medical bills in the past year, including for a knee surgery that my mother underwent a week ago. They have kept a positive attitude throughout this ordeal, and recognize that -- aside from the lost writings and family heirlooms -- everything is replaceable. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and any assistance for them as they look to replace their belongings would be appreciated. They have dedicated their lives to serving God and others.

Per my father's Facebook:

"Diane woke me up before midnight and said the garage is on fire. She'd already called the fire dept.

I dressed and ran out. The pickup, parked near the garage to the left, was a temptation to try to rescue. Instinct said don't try and minutes later it caught fire, before the good people of the Wakonda Fire Dept. arrived.

About sundown I'd put more wood in the stove in my upstairs study, to help keep it warm for the morning. Evidently a chimney fire occurred.
It was a wonderful study and library, at least $2,000 worth of books, some quite rare, sets of theological books including 10 volumes of Greek New Testament Theological Dictionaries, Hebrew Bibles, many, many Bible commentaries and resources. One Bible I preached from was packed with personal notes.

But also many personal things, all our family albums and records, mementos, photos on the walls, things collected over the years from near and far, sentimental things of 68 years of life, all my writings over the years including diaries and sermons, records of travels, all my poetry, etc.

Of course down below, gone are lawn mowers, tools, chain saws, lumber... No insurance coverage.

So Diane consoled me and said we are alive and good things are coming. She sang, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever ...""