| In
1972, Bob and Shirley Friedl prayed the verse found
in Colossian 4:3, “…that
God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak
the mystery of Christ.” The
first door was opened when Bob started doing chalk programs
while Kent Wray did storytelling for Rural Bible Ministries
(RBM). Soon after that Shirley began traveling with
Bob to be the storyteller. The second door was opened
when RBM Ministries asked Bob to design a serpent puppet
for the Creation series they were writing. Everything
fell into place when Bob and Shirley and their children
were confined to the house for 11 days because of a
blizzard. Every night as a family they would watch the
“Muppets” on TV for ideas. Then Bob sketched
and designed the serpent puppet as well as many others. |
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"...
a school bus was donated,
-- the “pickle”..."
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By
adding puppets to the already established chalk ministry,
Bob and Shirley’s schedule was quickly filled.
Many hands are needed for puppets; so their children,
Bob Jr., Brian, and Renee, were also a part of the
first puppet team. It wasn’t too long before
their schedule became so busy that it was interfering
with Bob’s work at RBM Ministries. After much
prayer, they recognized that their next step of faith
was to resign from RBM Ministries. In
1980, Bob and Shirley stepped out in faith and began
the full-time ministry of God’s Helping Hands.
In the very early
days of traveling, a tent provided their home away
from home. Next came a pop-up camper! In order to
have a better way to haul equipment and still have
a place to eat and sleep, a school bus was donated
-- the “pickle,” as it was lovingly named.
In 1985 God provide a 1957 GMC. Since then, God has
added a 1966 Motor coach, a 1995 motor home and a
1985 Eagle. |
| In
the beginning, the office and workshop of GHH were located
in the Friedl’s home. As the ministry grew, it
continued to consume more and more of their home until
it took over the basement, living room, dining
room and kitchen. They
received a little relief when they moved part of the
ministry into a site office trailer and brought in two
semi-trailers to be used as storage and a workshop in
front of their home. In 1997 the ministry moved into
our current location that is able to house our offices,
workshop and bus garage. This project began in 1991
and was completed under Jeff’s direction with
the help of many volunteers. It was by God’s grace
that needed funds continued to come in until the building
was completed. Praise the Lord! We moved into our new
office building with no mortgage hanging over our heads.
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Over
the years, GHH has added missionaries to its staff
to help keep up with the needs of the ministry. The
current staff includes Jeff and Robin Awe, who in
1986 became the second traveling team and went from
“just helping Mom and Dad to full-time status.
In December of 1998, our current office manager, Norma
Bales, was hired. In June of 2002 the board extended
the position of Director of Ministries to Steve McPeck.
In October of 2006 Nicole Bielawski, Juliana Carlson
and Chris and Amber Knobloch became missionary appointees
and began to raise their support.
We have also had employees
who have come and gone that have meant so much to
the ministry. They include Jeff Lilge, Kathy Henson,
Mike and Kathy Frodahl and Eric and Angie Smith.
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| Another area
of our ministry is the follow-up program. In the early
years of GHH, Audrey McCormick began our follow-up ministry.
Then Shirley Brown took over and remained a faithful
servant for 17 years. Her retirement came just as Bob
and Shirley’s travels began slowing down. It is
now Shirley Friedl’s privilege to handle the follow-up
lessons and to enjoy the personal contact with the kids. |
| Sometimes
it is hard to believe the thousands and thousands of
miles our vehicles have managed to take us. We have
done programming in churches both large and small, camps,
nursing homes, Christian Schools and open air events.
God has given us many different opportunities to share
the love of Jesus from Kid’s Crusades in California
to Family Crusades in Maine; from VBS in the inner-city
of Chicago to an orphanage in Mexico. Since the inception
of GHH, the teams have traveled to a total of 31 states,
Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela and have done programs in
English as well as Spanish. Young and old alike have
enjoyed the spiritual lessons taught through the puppets,
music and chalk programs. Consequently, GHH
is referred to as a ministry to “children of all
ages.” We marvel as we see lives changed
as a result of individuals accepting Jesus Christ as
Savior. All of us at GHH have been blessed by individuals
like you who have become our friends and prayer warriors.
Please pray with us that the “door of utterance”
would remain open so we can continue to share the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to the lost. |
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