Dear Friends in Christ,Thank you for your continued support of the CSE Ministry Team. Your prayers are greatly appreciated. We are often asked, “How is Dr. Hovind, and what is the update on the legal case?” Regarding the legal case, we await the prosecution’s response to the appeal briefs which were filed in April and June on behalf of Dr. and Mrs. Hovind. An extension was granted to the prosecution, and their response is now due August 14, 2008. Further legal updates will be forthcoming after the prosecution’s response has been given.Regarding Dr. Hovind, he is doing what he has always done: he is reading, writing, praying, studying, leading others to Christ, discipling men for God, and loving others, his family, and the Lord. He is again reading through the encyclopedia and is currently in the “M” section. He has read over two hundred books during his twenty-one month incarceration. While writing several books, he is also answering many letters each day. He reports, however, that the absence of secretaries and computers does slow down his answering of mail! Dr. Hovind’s passion—soul winning—has not waned. The following is an excerpt from his July 28, 2008 letter to Mrs. Hovind.
I’m sitting outside after a thunderstorm. It’s a little hot and humid, but the storm is beautiful. I just spent the last hour leading Nelson to the Lord! He is a public school teacher who moved here from Cuba. I used a Spanish Bible. He was raised under Castro and Communism and knew very little about the Bible. I’ve been talking with him for about three weeks. Because of the storm, all the men were in the dorms except the two of us—so it was an appointment from God!
To say that Dr. Hovind misses his family would be an understatement. Prior to his incarceration, you would find him with his grandchildren at least a few minutes almost every day that he was not traveling.
One of the ways he has chosen to try to stay close to the grandchildren—now ages one, three, four, and five—is to write them stories that also teach them about God’s creation. Four separate series have emerged from this one-way dialog. Here is an episode from one of them, Adventures with the Three Bears.
“The Three Bears and Chamel, the Chameleon” June 8, 2008
Dear Grandkids,I love you and miss you s-o-o-o-o-o much. Today, I want to tell you a story.Once upon a time there were three bears—Daddy Bear, Mommy Bear, and Baby Bear. They lived in a house in the woods. They loved each other s-o-o-o-o-o much and they loved God. One day they decided to go for a walk in the woods. As they walked, Baby Bear saw a lizard on a tree. He stopped to talk with him.“Hi, Mr. Lizard,” Baby Bear said. “What’s your name?”“My name is Chamel. I’m a chameleon,” said the lizard.“Hi, Chamel! I’m Baby Bear. Say, how are you holding on to that tree?”“With my five toes and my l-o-o-o-n-g tail! Although I’m only four inches long, my tail is as long as my body.”“Wow!” said Baby Bear. “I have five toes for walking and I have a tail, but I can’t hang on to trees with my toes and tail! My tail is t-o-o-o-o short. Chamel, your eyes look uh…different,” said Baby Bear.
“My eyes are really special,” said Chamel. “I can move one eye to look around while the other one doesn’t move. Can you do that?”
“No way!” said Baby Bear. “If I move one eye, the other one moves with it. I can’t do what you do.”
“That’s right,” said Chamel. God made me special. He made it possible for me to catch flying bugs for lunch.”
“How do you catch bugs?” asked Baby Bear.
“God gave me a really special tongue. It’s as long as my whole body! It hooks on at the front of my mouth so I can flip it out really fast. It hits the bug like a hammer and knocks him out. He doesn’t even know what hit him. God is s-o-o-o-o-o smart! There are lots of bugs, so I always have plenty to eat. What do you eat, Baby Bear?”
“I eat mostly grass, fruit, and berries, but now sometimes my mom fixes deer meat for supper. It is really good too. We also love to catch fish to eat. They are s-o-o-o-o-o good!” said Baby Bear.
“You see,” said Chamel, “God made us different. I have what I need, and you have what you need. God made me so I can change colors to help me hide from enemies. When I’m on a green bush, I turn green; and when I’m on a brown branch, I turn brown. Can you do that?”
“What! You can change colors?” said Baby Bear. “I stay brown all the time. It’s a good thing that God made us bears big and strong. So, even now that things are no longer perfect—the way God made us in the beginning–not too many enemies bother us.”
“I love to see all the beautiful things God made—and learn about them,” said Chamel.
“I do too,” said Baby Bear. “I love to go for walks with my mom and dad. They teach me s-o-o-o-o-o many things!”
“Oh! Hold real still!” said Chamel. “There is a fly on your head. I’ll get him.”
Baby Bear didn’t move a muscle. Then, as fast as lightning, Chamel’s tongue shot out and caught the bug and ate it. It happened s-o-o-o-o fast that Baby Bear didn’t even see it! Chamel slowly chewed her bug.
Daddy Bear said, “Come on, Baby Bear, we have to finish our walk and go home for our supper.”
Baby Bear turned to Chamel and said, “I have to go now. I’ll come see you again some day.”
Chamel just waved her five-toed hand because it’s not polite to talk with your mouth full of food. Especially bug food!
“Daddy,” said Baby Bear. “Can we come see Chamel again sometime?”
“Why sure, Baby Bear,” said Daddy Bear. “Or maybe we can see one of her cousins. Did you know that today there are eighty different varieties of chameleons? God really likes chameleons. So He made them with the ability to adjust to changes.”
“Does God really like us too?” asked Baby Bear.
“Oh, yes, Baby Bear!” said Daddy Bear. “He gave every creature that ability. There are eight different varieties of bears today and every one of them are s-o-o-o-o-o amazing. Let’s finish our walk and go home. Maybe later we’ll have a lesson about how special we bears are.”
“I’d like that,” said Baby Bear. “I love you, Daddy.” “I love you too, Baby Bear,” said Daddy Bear. “Let’s go home and eat some of Mommy Bear’s good cooking!”“Oh, yum, yum, yum!” said Baby Bear, and they both walked home. THE END
I love you!
Grandpa
Thank you for your continued prayer for Dr. Hovind, his family, staff, and ministry.For HIS glory,The CSE Team