On Saturday, May, 24, 2014 we visited Pastor Amanda at the First English Lutheran Church in Kimball, Nebraska. Pastor Amanda's willingness to go over key elements of rural ministries was fully appreciated by the whole group. Pastor Amanda has a down to earth type personality, and her insight into rural ministries was exceptionally spot on. We all were entertained and inspired by her wit and skill to articulate how to deal with important issue while working in a rural context as a pastoral leader.

Saturday evening Pastor Eric invited our combined group over to his house to treat us to a wonderful home cooked meal. The hospitality, generosity, and kindness that Pastor Eric and his wife Robin provided made us feel warmly welcomed in their lovely home. Thank you Pastor Eric and Robin for your time, energy, and love and sharing those talents with our group we appreciate your kindness.  

This is my last blog for this trip and I would like to generally thank everyone who has been instrumental to what I feel has been a very successful experience. Although, this is my last post there will be other writers who will carry the torch of this blog by articulating their experiences during the remaining portion of the Nebraska immersion. Through their experiences there will be the possibility of illustrating different points of view that will aid to bring forward new ideas of importance through their perspective.

A beautiful gift given to our group has been the hospitality of the people who worked with us throughout the week which has been absolutely wonderful. One individual who has been instrumental to our group feeling at home has been Kent Miller. Throughout the first week of the Nebraska immersion Kent has been a delightful companion, leader, and friend to our whole group. Kent has made our experiences in Nebraska insightful, educational, and overall very fun. Because of Kent’s hard work our group was comfortable, fed, and felt like we were a part of his family. We all thank you Kent.

People's willingness to take in a bunch of strangers and have them live in their homes or visit them at their work has been truly remarkable and awesome experience. The time, effort, and friendship given by everyone we visited during this immersion truly illustrated a deep sense God's love through the generosity of these people. We are truly indebted to your wonderful hospitality that we all received throughout this week in rural Nebraska. 

It is safe to say that I would endorse that the Nebraska immersion course should be a mandatory experience for any pastoral leader looking to serve in a rural context. Also, I would fully recommend any student to take this course so they could experience how wonderful the people in rural Nebraska are. 

On a final note here is an awesome lemon cookie recipe that the Matthewson family served to us when we visited their ranch on Saturday morning. It is definitely worth trying this recipe because these cookies  are deliciously addictive.