Our Story
WHO WE ARE
We have been married for twenty-eight years. We have accepted what Christ has done for us on the cross for the redemption of our sins and have a desire and willingness to tell others about God’s indescribable gift to mankind.
“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”
II Corinthians 9:15.Our home base is West Concord, Minnesota, where we attend Faith Community Baptist Church. We are involved in Children’s Ministries and AWANA. Our daughter and her husband, Curtice and Katie Huntington, also are involved in our ministry.
WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
We are able to compliment any event that brings souls in for the Harvest. With a bag of popcorn and a tract, with the salvation message, attached to it, we can hand out popcorn to everyone. The smell and taste are alluring. It reminds me of the Yogi the Bear cartoon show when Yogi and Booboo would be honed in on the smell of the pick-n-nick basket.
“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” II Corinthians 2:15.
We also play Christian music to rejuvenate the souls of the workers, and to give inspiration to those who come into the Harvest.HOW WE GOT STARTED
When popcorn was made for over eighty AWANA kids, it was popped in the microwave. What a mess, a lot burnt. The next time it was popped in an air pop popcorn popper. Well that took 4 ½ hours, not again. Finally, a 4 oz. popcorn maker on cartwheels was used. Now we’re popping, 1 hour of work!
We were asked to be on a mission’s trip to Standing Rock Indian Reservation, McLaughlin, South Dakota. Mr. Tepley, Mission’s US and Canada heard about the popcorn machine and making popcorn for the AWANA kids. He suggested we bring our popcorn machine and staple a tract to a bag of popcorn as a way of giving out the tract, Three Truths Every Native American Should Know. We did about 350 bags of popcorn. What a great way to hand out tracts. Not only were they accepting, they actually read them, I never seen that before. Even more amazing, I never saw a tract on the ground.Let’s give out the salvation message again using popcorn. Let’s even look professional. You know . . . apron, hats, uniforms, carrying buckets. Oh yah, how about a 14 oz popcorn machine? By the way, Lord, what would you have us do?
We had no idea that God would be taking us down this path. So we asked God, “Is this really what you want us to do on these mission trips?” After this prayer, we received our first confirmation; a pastor called and wanted to know if we needed some popcorn. We said, “Yes!” We had no idea it was going to be 750 pounds. All we could say is, “Lord, are you kidding me, 750 lbs.? Then three days later, 12,000 tracts showed up at our door from someone we didn’t know who lived in Pennsylvania. All we could say again is, “Are you kidding us, Lord, 12,000 tracts?” Now this is too much to absorb, so we asked for one more sign to make sure this is what God wanted us to do, even though it was pretty obvious.
Our final confirmation came when we were out at the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Another ministry team member, from a church in Bemidji, invited us to bring our popcorn ministry to the Red Lake Reservation.
WHERE HAVE WE BEEN
AND WHAT WE HAVE SEENThe Standing Rock Indian Reservation, McLaughlin, South Dakota, the Lakota people with Pastor Carl Noble was the first mission trip with the popcorn machine. God really touched our hearts on this trip. I received about 25 “thank you’s” and four hugs. This was unusual for me, especially among strangers, but I am sure God was showing us how much he loved these people.
Every March our church has a booth at our County Expo. We give out popcorn and a tract and talk to parents and kids about AWANA. Many people have come up and said, “This is the best popcorn ever!” Trust me; it’s just plain old theater popcorn. But, once it’s been prayed over, it is the sweet savor of Christ.Every spring, we go to The Feast of the Passover, at All Nations Church with Pastor Gus and Terry Craven in Mission, South Dakota (Rosebud, Lakota people). Our kids, Curtice and Katie made this trip with our new 14 oz. popcorn machine. What a great growing and learning experience it was for them, as they did about 500 bags of popcorn.
The next day they traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Wamblee, South Dakota. This is a tough and challenging reservation. The year before, there where fights in line waiting for food. This year, popcorn, that included a tract, was given to them as they waited in line. There were no fights. Praise God! But the day is young; the red and blue bandana gangs came to disrupt the gathering. The kids offered them a bag of popcorn. They pretty much told them to “stick it.” But Katie was persistent and kept trying. Finally, she just stuffed some in their car.Well they came back. Here we go again with a pile of trouble. But this time they had questions. “We didn’t know Jesus looked like us,” they said and continued, “We were told he was a white guy.” After talking to these gang kids, they explained they knew that their lifestyle would end up in jail or death. They didn’t know how to get out of this lifestyle.
It’s amazing what prayer can do to a bag of popcorn!In the spring of 2007, we traveled to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe with Pastor Snipes, Eagle Butte and LaPlante, South Dakota. They were so pleased to have us. So many “thank you’s.” Others were asking, “Can you please come to our reservation?” so many needs.
Before we made this trip with Pastor Snipes, somebody asked, “Why bother, those people aren’t going to change?” If you can only see the smiles on their faces, that someone would take the time to serve them hot food and give out perishable food items. And as far as change goes, that’s up to God. As I know, the power of God and prayer changes people’s lives.
Again a question is asked, “How many new salvations on these trips?” I’m reminded of the movie, The Guardian with Kevin Costner, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. He never kept tract of the number he rescued. Only the one’s he couldn’t. There are a lot of souls that need rescuing.
ENDORSEMENT
The special popcorn ministry of Doug & Linda Wenzel has popped up in our church. It has been fun to see them grow with the new ministry opportunities which God has brought them.
They are a blessing to our church in many ways and their popcorn ministry can reinforce the message of Christ in a tasteful way. I highly recommend them.
Rev. David Breederland,
Faith Community Church; West Concord, MN
507-527-2244
