June is always such a busy and exciting month at First Baptist Church, especially for our youth. June 3-7 was Vacation Bible School. We were thrilled to have such a large group this year. Please see Candice Stryker’s article and pictures about our VBS elsewhere in the Dolphin Talk.
During the week of June 10-13, four of our third through sixth graders attended Camp KHOAS ( Kids hyped about our Savior) in Palacios at the Texas Baptist Encampment. The next week, eight of our teenagers will be enjoying church camp at Camp Zephyr on Lake Corpus Christi. Both camps offer exciting experiences for those attending.

The last Sunday of the month, June 30, our church will have a ceremony to honor our late Deacon, Doyle Adams. A stone cross and plaque will be installed in front of our Fellowship Hall. Doyle was instrumental in seeing that this building was built and was always so proud that it receives so much use. The ceremony will be held from 5:00-5:30 p.m. and everyone is invited to attend.

If you are looking for a church home, we are waiting to welcome you. We have Sunday school for all ages each Sunday morning at 9:45 a.m. Our church services are held on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., we hold prayer meetings. Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. for the next few weeks, our interim pastor, Robert Penley, is teaching a class on discipleship. Everyone is invited to join us for any of these. Our church van is available to pick up your children on Sunday mornings. Please call Mary Covarrubias at (361) 218-8641 by Saturday afternoon to arrange pick-ups.

PART TIME HELP WANTED: Nursery Worker – Our church is seeking a qualified person to work on Sunday mornings with children ages infants through kindergarten. For more details, please contact Ray Roberds at (281) 593-5870.

It seems almost impossible that the first half of 2019 is almost totally gone! It has been a very busy first half, but everyone who watches sports knows that the second half is when they bring out the “big guns” to finish in the winners column.

Pastor Joane did an excellent job challenging the ladies on Mother’s Day. The Chapel had surprised me with “Pie with the Pastor” on Wednesday before our men went to Hallettsville  for a Men’s Breakfast on Saturday before this special event. Each mother was presented a rose (thank you, John) and a handmade gift (thank you, Pastor Joane).

Our Warrior’s Weekend was an over-the-top success with Carol’s Egg Cracking Party, where we cracked and mixed 350 dozen eggs, and the early morning when we served 2,000 breakfast tacos. This year, Bubba came back just to fix our sausage from venison meat that had been donated. We had three woks cooking and more than 50 volunteers helping serve our soldiers, who have served us gallantly!

Pastor Joane and Ariel, our granddaughter who lives here, made a fast trip to Pennsylvania to celebrate another’s granddaughter’s graduation. It was good to be with Crystal, our older daughter, even if for a short time.

Captain Robert had another successful class taught here at the Chapel and eight students who successfully completed the course. He told me that it was a great class of very intelligent students who worked well and made his job much easier. We have not scheduled the next Captain’s Class yet, but will let all know as soon as it is booked.

What a sad time we had as we helped bury “Baby Mason,” Logan and Hannah’s young son, who was not yet six months old. The cause was called “SIDS,” but whatever the title, the event is extremely traumatizing to all concerned. We continue praying for this family and their families.

Father’s Day was a huge special weekend. Our older son, Monty, came to take his dad fishing and we almost limited out! Our ladies had their own version of “Chopped Kitchen” and enjoyed eating their creations (thanks Evelyn for hosting it and all your helpers). All our dads received a special gift (thank you, Marty) on Father’s Day and we enjoyed preaching on the topic of “Expending Ourselves”. Our new friends, C.T. and Jennifer Brummett brought their family to Port O’Connor from Arkansas for a retreat. AND, we hosted a Senior Pastor’s Fishing Retreat  for about 20 ministers from around the area. Special thanks to all the boat captains who volunteered their time and equipment to make this an extra unique experience for our ministers who have given their lives in service to the church.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our Executive Retreat Center. Our men (thanks guys for your hard, hot work), went to Colunbus and removed the porches to ready it for moving to our property right next to the Chapel.  It will allow us to provide a Retreat experience to some of our handicapped guests. We have it ready for moving, but once it is moved, we have to get it all ready for use. We have several Retreats already scheduled and get several calls each week asking about our facilities and their availability. Who would have ever thought that a small church in Port O’Connor could do so much!

Special thanks to the children who attended the Vacation Bible School held at First Baptist. They not only had a money offering each day, but a canned good offering as well. The pantry is much fuller thanks to the great leadership at First Baptist and interim Pastor Robert Penley, and the generosity of the VBS!

Fisherman’s Chapel is an interdenominational congregation who work hard at providing the finest opportunity possible for those seeking a closer walk with the Lord. We have those who meet Jesus in our activities and those who are growing in grace from the fellowship and teachings. One will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel and all are urged to, “Come grow with us.”

“Legend” – photo by Steffen Springstein, Germany

The city of Kronach, Bavaria, Germany held their 14th International Light Festival from April 26th until May 5th this spring. Dieter Erhard, proprietor of ArtCenter Seadrift, won first place with his light sculpture, “Legend”.

Erhard’s “Legend” is a tribute to Amelia Earhart, the American aviation pioneer and women’s rights activist. It consists of stainless steel pipe and was constructed with the help of 200 children in the Bubenreuther (world famous for musical instruments) elementary school with approximately 17,600 particles. All the names of the children were engraved on the particles.

The festival began giving awards three years ago. Of the two years he has participated, Dieter has won first place twice.
Three years ago, he won first with his 21 foot sculpture “Marilyn”.

More examples of light-art can be seen at https://www.world-of-plexiglas.com/

“The Way I See It” is an attempt by the columnist to enlighten readers on a subject as he views it, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Border Crisis and Political Strategies

The Customs and Border Patrol “Apprehension/Inadmissible count” for May is 144,278, of which 11,391 presented themselves at Ports of Entry, the rest entered Illegally.. A very high percentage are now Family Units, 84,542 in May, plus 11,507 Unaccompanied Children. As well as 36,838 Single Adults apprehended. There was “One crossing of Illegal Aliens” in the El Paso Sector of 1038 people! All of these people must be “Detained”, cared for, given medical care, food, shelter, and protection. Most claim Asylum as Refugees, though few fit the requirement, and all that are from Central America, traveling through Mexico, are in violation of UN rules of claiming asylum in the “first safe country”- Mexico. They want to go to the USA, usually preferring CA because Welfare is better there. The Govt has to detain these Criminal Invaders that cross the border, rather than Legal Crossings, until they get an Asylum Hearing, or are processed and released waiting for their Hearing. Very few of those Released show up for their hearings, simply disappear into the Hispanic Community until they come to the attention of Law Enforcement for some other reason.

I reported in January, “Border Wall” article, the FY 2018 annual count was approx 161.000 for “Family Units”. This year has been 329,978 already, plus 56,275 Unaccompanied Children apprehended as Illegals and 33,920 Family Units and 3236 Unaccompanied Children as Inadmissibles. Many of these are turned back as Family Units, but some are returned to Country of Origin. I don’t know about the Unaccompanied Children, they must be cared for somehow. These people place a much harder burden on the BP than “Single Adults” of either sex, but obviously women must be protected also. “Single Adult” reflects their traveling status when apprehended, not their Marital Status.

So from a monthly average of about 13,400 Family Units/month last year, we now have 84,542 this May, an increase of 6.3 times! For comparison, the population of Calhoun County was 21,381 in the 2010 Census. So the May ‘Family Units and Unaccompanied Children’ equal 4.5 “Calhoun Counties” with the May total being 6.75 times our population! And that is just the ones BP caught! How many more snuck in with the BP tied up with handling these groups as diversions?

This is obviously a “Humanitarian Crisis”. However, the Democrats in Congress refuse to change the laws to discourage the Illegal Crossings, expedite handling of the Illegals, strengthen Border Enforcement, or build the Wall; but constantly harp on the BP on handling these hordes of Criminal Invaders. They have tried to undermine all of President Trump’s efforts to have these “Refugees” apply for Asylum in their own countries or in Mexico, and now they refuse to legislate funds to BP to care for these Invaders unless they get Amnesty for Millions of previous Criminal Invaders! Knowing that any Amnesty will only encourage more illegals. And the ones being apprehended now are not just from Central and South America anymore, but all over the world. 550 Congolese, fleeing the Ebola out-break there, were recently released in San Antonio. Also Muslim Asians from Bangladesh, and from many other places. The Previous “Reagan Amnesty” was for about 3 million, mostly Mexicans, the Dems promised strict Border Control after, but did nothing, and in a decade added 20 million to our population. Doing nothing also encouraged more Illegal Immigration, that by early 2000s even Dems estimated new Illegal Aliens at 11 Million, or more. Estimations of current Illegals range from 22 to over 40 million nationwide. Can you imagine the result of a similar “Amnesty”? Over 200 Million new people applying for Green Cards & Citizenship? How can we survive that?

Political observers know many of the Corporate Robber Barons want Open Borders for the endless supply of cheap labor, and the Marxist/Alinskyites want to “Change the Demographics” to implement their “Socialist Utopia” and a “One Party Globalist State”, but now the Leadership of the once Democrat Party is admitting it! They know it is increasing the Federal Debt, crime, and straining the Welfare System, but don’t seem to care, it their desire for New Poor Voters. Poor American Families, Single Mothers, and Veterans are denied Public Housing, because it is given to these Criminal Economic Invaders to come here to cast the Votes that Americans won’t. The DemonRat Leaders admit that their goal is to “Resist and Obstruct” Trump, and his major issue was to control Immigration, so it wasn’t damaging poor people and entry-level job-seekers, especially for Blacks, Hispanics, and young people, and depressing wages for all. Also straining all the Welfare Systems designed to help our poorer and disadvantaged CITIZENS! Not only are the Lib/Prog Trump-Haters using Illegal Aliens for cheap labor, servants, and encouraging them to vote illegally, but intentionally encouraging people from Central America to come here as families and live off our Welfare, Free Education, and Free Medical Care. It is an intentional Strategy to make Trump look incompetent and weak to his Voter Base for failure to stop the Invasion, and is another major ploy of the Cloward-Pivens Strategy. That is to “flood” the Welfare System, “break” the Federal Budget, raise the Federal Debt, increase the “Misery Index” for Americans so that they will demand a change to a Socialist/Communist Totalitarian Govt! Nothing new, been around since the early 60s, a plan cooked up by two Marxist Professors at Columbia U.

The Dems obviously want this horde of unskilled, uneducated, non-English speaking, law-breaking, often violent criminal, and sometimes disease-carrying people to come here, and just dump them on the local Social services. . And many are NOT Central Americans but from countries that support Terrorists and are hostile to the USA. Dems won’t agree to stop them, or fund programs to “take care of them”, monitor them, and treat them if they are carrying serious diseases, or are a threat to our people. But it all this is encouraged to make “Trump look bad”, and they brag about it among themselves, thinking Trump’s base will abandon him because. “He can’t fix the Illegal Immigrant Problem! Ha Ha!”. They hate Trump more than they love Americans.

Copperhead

There is no group of organisms that elicits more varied reactions than that of snakes. Even the bravest, animal-loving individuals may squeal or jump at the sight of one of these scaly critters. Our fear response to seeing a snake can’t be helped. We are taught from a young age that snakes are dangerous and our brains are hard-wired to instinctively respond to anything that shares their elongated shape, such as a stick or a garden hose. Many people have stories of encounters with snakes in their houses, in their back yards, or while doing various extracurricular activities. It is understandable and smart to be wary of snakes, especially if you aren’t sure what species you are dealing with and whether or not a snake is venomous. I have heard many people say that the only good snake is a dead snake, but that is not always the case. Snakes are actually very good for the environment and are an important part of every food web. Here in Texas, we have many species of snakes, with only four being venomous: rattlesnakes, coral snakes, copperheads, and water moccasins. If you learn how to identify these four species, where you are most likely to find them, and how to behave around them, then everyone will be safer for it.

I have had my own fair share of snake encounters over the past few years, with those numbers increasing recently as I’ve carried out more field work. It is always a nerve-wracking experience to suddenly stumble upon a snake. Many people need to understand that snakes can be found just about anywhere, so it is good to be aware of your surroundings. The majority of snake bites occur when someone is not paying attention to where they are walking or when they try to move a snake. If you are out hiking or walking in an area with tall grass, it is highly recommended that you wear close-toed shoes, long pants, and watch where you step. Unfortunately, as humans develop more land, snake and human encounters will increase. We can not blame snakes for winding up in our homes or back yards, and the best option is to either leave them alone or contact a professional before dealing with the animal yourself.

Of the four venomous species in Texas, only the water moccasin tends to be aggressive. The others will usually not bite unless stepped on or picked up and will tend to avoid humans. It is not always easy to identify venomous snakes, but two common characteristics between rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins are triangular heads and vertically slit pupils. Coral snakes are the only oddballs, but their distinct red, black, and yellow coloration should be a dead giveaway. It is highly unlikely, but if you are bitten by one of these venomous snakes, remain calm, try to take a photo of the snake, and do not attempt to suck out the venom. This does not work and may cause the venom to spread faster. Likewise, never try to treat a snake bite at home! You should always go to the hospital, even if you are sure that the snake was non-venomous. Bites like these can become infected if left untreated. While some people may see snakes as nothing but pests, many snakes, including the venomous ones, are very beneficial to society. They keep rodent populations low, which in turn reduces the spread of ticks and certain diseases. Some species, such as king snakes and indigo snakes actually eat venomous snakes! As stress-inducing as it can be, it is best to be thoughtful when encountering any snake, as they are often much more afraid of us than we are of them.

Amelia Grider is an intern at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the birds and their habitats along the entire Gulf Coast and beyond into their Central and South America wintering grounds.