The Ort Family

On June 15th, we celebrated Father's Day.  We are truly blessed with a dad who seeks to know and follow the will of the Lord above all.  Despite our increasingly busy lives, he still practices what is referenced in the quote below – Fireside Religion.  (Note that in this case "religion" is used referring to Christianity)

"A religion which will not stand the test of the fireside is not worth much!

Do not be dumb dogs, but speak up for your Lord and Master whenever you are."

-C. H. Spurgeon, "Beginning at Jerusalem"

Despite no plans for having a large garden this year, we have ended up with our biggest one thus far .  Much credit goes to Daddy for almost daily spending some time in the garden, and to the Lord who has blessed us with some harvest already.

One of the highlights of our year at LEI is hosting a group of students interested in learning about literacy ministry.  The first two-week module finished today, and six of the students will be going back home.  We look forward to spending more time with the other students in the 3 remaining weeks of the course.  Please pray that each one would learn what God has for them, and that they would be effective ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The International Literacy Training Institute (ILTI) group

listening intently

testimonies in the chapel

almost lunchtime

enjoying a meal

Update # 2

Update # 3

Update # 4

I read this biographical sketch while studying Discrete Mathematics and its Applications, Sixth Edition, by Kenneth H. Rosen (these paragraphs are on page 635 of the International Marketplace Edition of the text).

Leonhard Euler was the son of a Calvinist minister from the vicinity of Basel, Switzerland. At 13 he entered the University of Basel, pursuing a career in theology, as his father wished. At the university Euler was tutored by Johann Bernoulli of the famous Bernoulli family of mathematicians. His interest and skills led him to abandon his theological studies and take up mathematics. Euler obtained his master’s degree in philosophy at the age of 16. In 1727 Peter the Great invited him to join the Academy at St. Petersburg. In 1741 he moved to the Berlin Academy, where he stayed until 1766. He then returned to St. Petersburg, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Euler was incredibly prolific, contributing to many areas of mathematics, including number theory, combinatorics, and analysis, as well as its applications to such areas as music and naval architecture. He wrote over 1100 books and papers and left so much unpublished work that it took 47 years after he died for all his work to be published. During his life his papers accumulated so quickly that he kept a large pile of articles awaiting publication. The Berlin Academy published the papers on top of this pile so later results were often published before the results they depended on or superseded. Euler had 13 children and was able to continue his work while a child or two bounced on his knees. He was blind for the last 17 years of his life, but because of his fantastic memory this did not diminish his mathematical output. The project of publishing his collected works, undertaken by the Swiss Society of Natural Science, is ongoing and will require more than 75 volumes.

The accomplishments of Leonhard Euler were certainly impressive, ones that ought to encourage me to strive for greater accomplishment in all areas of learning that I am pursuing.

During the last few summers, Peter has been hired for quite a good amount of lawnmowing work in our neighborhood.  Since he wasn't able to drive a car to transport equipment, he came up with a creative solution…

Mr. and Mrs. Celick were surprised with a 25th wedding anniversary celebration, and we were grateful to be invited.  They and their children emigrated some years ago from Russia, have made their home here in Tulsa, and are kind friends.

The Celick Family (minus one member) 

Mr. and Mrs. Celick sharing their story. 

The location of festivities. 

Generosity of friends and family. 

Special music was sung in Russian and English. 

Georg Ort, Victor Schulz, Paul Celick

Cutting the cake.

Friends

Mr. and Mrs. Schulz, the gracious hosts and instigators of the surprise.