• Cheryl (who works in the office), has two sweet little kids. Yesterday, her daughter went into the office and asked, "Mom, why is Les’ and Iris' garden so much prettier than ours? Is it because they are so old?" We all have chuckled several times over that one.

• Since our last letter, we have been out to Ohio and Indiana and stayed busy for nearly two weeks, but it was a taste of heaven. The love and hospitality always overwhelms us.

• How I wish I could answer every note and letter, but that is utterly impossible, even though we still read each and every one. When one of you hurt, we hurt with you; and when you experience joy, we share that as well. When people write of how God has opened hearts and spiritual ears, we truly rejoice.

• We know that, compared to most ministries, we are extremely small – but we pray that we are reaching and teaching others for Him. We are happy to tell you that in 2002, Laura and Cheryl sent out about 30,000 copies of the little Bible books, about 6,000 videos, and 3,000 of the Question/Answer books. We praise the Lord for all of you who are using them in Sunday school and/or home Bible studies.

• I am going to close this with two quotes that I use quite often:

In 1888, J. I. Patton (who at the time was president of Princeton University) said: "Unless Christendom goes back, back, back to the Pauline doctrines and the atoning blood, it is on, on, on to apostasy and despair."

In 1937, William R. Newell wrote; "As fast as liberalism is coming in to the denominations, I can see the day where the only place you will hear the truth of God’s Word will be in a home Bible study."

Iris and I both wish you God’s richest blessings until we hear the trumpet call. Les

Bookkeeper’s / Secretary's note: As always, we want to say how much we sincerely appreciate the support - both financial and prayer support. It is wonderful to work here at the ministry and to see how God uses His own to meet our needs. It is also wonderful and humbling to know that so many of you write and tell us you pray for Les, Iris and the whole ministry on a daily basis. It is SO appreciated. There is so much power in prayer, and we often say that it is the prayer behind us that makes the ministry what it is. However, in a world that goes around because of money, we want those of you who support with financial help to know we couldn’t do it on prayer alone either! It is just like Paul says - it takes everyone doing their part.

For those of you that are newer to the ministry, you might find it interesting to know that 100% of your donated dollar goes directly back into TV and radio, while proceeds from product sales take care of all the ministry expenses. So, for all of you who ask if buying materials helps the ministry – most certainly it does! We are amazed that, so far, even with the books and audios being on the Internet for free, product sales are still staying even with ministry expenses. We thank the Lord daily for this!!!!

I need to let everyone know that the turn-around date for the programming looks like it will be sometime in November. This is when the TV shows airing daily "catch up" with Les and the current lessons (as Les only tapes 4 programs per month) This means that you will be watching shows teaching near the end of the New Testament and all of a sudden be back to Genesis and 1992 reruns. This is the only way to continue to air daily.

Three other little notes- 1) Please let us know if you are moving or have a change in address. It would really help out on saving some postage. 2) If ever you happen to receive a defective video, please just call and let us know- we will replace it free of charge. 3) If, for any reason, you do not wish to receive our newsletter, please call us at 1-800-369-7856, or drop us a note, and we will be happy to remove you from our database.

Again, thank you so much for your prayers, friendship, and financial support – we absolutely could not do it without you all! Laura

P.S.Once again, please remember we are a very small ministry - with no full-time employees - so if you are calling and get the answering machine, just leave a clear message and we will get back to you. A good time to call to get a person is Monday - Friday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Central Time. Thanks.

All eyes are on the Middle East and rightly so. Human history (His story) began there, and we know the Bible teaches it will all end there.

Daniel’s prophecies are appearing in the news like the setting sun. Iraq, the head of Gold (Babylon), Iran, the chest of Silver (Meads and Persians), Syria, the belly of Brass (the major part of the Greek empire), and western Europe (the European Union), the ten toes. Suddenly, they are all becoming major players on God’s stage of history again. As yet, they are an enigma (kind of like a shower door); we can see shadows of things to come, but we cannot sort out all of the details.

The war with Iraq, which I consider nearly as miraculous as Israel’s 6-day war, had to happen; but what the immediate result is to be, no one knows. We can speculate, but would probably end up with egg on our face. The other two members of that evil triumvirate, Iran and Syria, will have to be dealt with next if we are going to diminish terrorism. We will never obliterate it. The world is fast becoming as Luke 21 put it - the nations in perplexity.

And then, at the core of it all is little Israel, who defies every facet of common sense by being a group of people who have never numbered more than they do at the present time (about 14 - 15 million in a world of about 7 billion). Having been scattered into every nation under heaven and persecuted and despised, yet they are back in their homeland as God, in His Word, decreed they would be. They have survived and will survive until the fulfillment of the promises made to their forefathers. It’s exactly as Paul put it in Rom. 11:12,15, and 23.

I do not see any peace between Israel and the Palestinians until the Counterfeit Christ makes a false peace. No matter how close they come on many of the issues, the one that I believe will always remain a point of controversy is the matter of "Right to Return." Watch for it in the news and media.

In 1947 and early 1948, the Arab world (Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt) offered the Arabs living in Israel refuge if they would leave Israel to the Jews. This was so they would not have to be cautious about killing any Arabs when they united to invade and destroy the Jews (then those Arabs that left Israel could go back and occupy the land). But, it did not happen. As you know, Israel won the war and would have occupied what is now the West Bank had not the U. N. intervened. The Palestinians who left back in 1947 and 1948 numbered between 500,000 - 800,000, and now they want the right to return. But Israel, rightfully so, is saying, "No," because those who left have multiplied to about five million since then. If Israel were to let all those Palestinians come back, the Palestinians would out-number the Jews by over a million people.

So, unless this issue is resolved, there will never be peace in the Middle East until the Prince of Peace returns.

A note from Iris: As a proud "Mom," I finally got a photo of my daughter,Laura (who started working for the ministry in 1998) and her wonderful assistant, Cheryl, from Kinta (who came to the ministry just in time in 2001!).

Laura and Cheryl have been so faithful to answer your phone calls, keep you posted with newsletters, send out products and receipts, and keep track of 101 other things we could not get done without these two lovelies. They are absolutely the Best! Please pray for them as well, as they cheerfully do the Lord’s work along with us. We thank the Lord often for them!