By Mark Hopper

Recently, my wife and I had the opportunity to travel to Niagara Falls near Buffalo, New York.  We had never been there before and it was something we had talked about doing for a long time. The Niagara Falls were amazing!

We actually visited the Falls three different times on our trip. On our first visit, we drove over the bridge to the Canadian side. The sky was overcast and gray. The heavy mist churned up by the power of the falls obscured most of our view. We did walk down several tunnels that provided a limited view from behind the falls.

In addition, we took the Horn Blower boat that goes upriver to the base of the Falls. They issue every passenger a plastic poncho because of the spray; mist and wind that is generated by the powerful falling water.  We did get wet – very wet.  But it was fun to see the water falls from a different perspective.

We also took time to have lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the falls.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch that also provided a different perspective on the size and power of Niagara Falls.  The volume of water and the height and shape of the Falls are hard to describe.

Later that day, we went back to see the Niagara Falls again after dark. They illuminate the towering waterfalls with powerful lights at night.  The colors change every few minutes.  The lights actually penetrate the mist and provide a clearer perspective of the expanse of the falls. Niagara Falls are in the shape of a horseshoe – almost 180 degrees from the American side to the Canadian side.

We were glad that we ventured out after dark to visit the park and the walking area along the American side of the Falls. The evening was cool but not uncomfortable and it was nice to see the Falls at night.

We planned to leave early the next morning.  But, when we woke up, we were surprised to see that the gray sky was gone and the sun was shining brightly!  We agreed that we should drive back to the Canadian side and get a better look at the magnificent waterfalls.  We were not disappointed.  The view was much better.  The mist and spray was more limited and we could clearly see the full expanse of these mighty waterfalls.

Did I mention that our return visit also allowed my wife to return and exchange a souvenir T-shirt that she had purchased the previous day?  We were glad we went back and saw the water falls again.

I suppose visiting something like the Niagara Falls is like visiting an art museum.  The more you look, the more you notice.  Just like an artistic master piece, these powerful waterfalls are difficult to describe and fully appreciate. Viewing them from different perspectives allows you to appreciate their beauty and majesty more and more.

Sometimes we need to look at things from a different perspective.  One look is not enough.  Sometimes we need to take a second or third look to get a clearer understanding of a person or a problem.  Let me encourage you to take another look.  We were glad we did and you will too!

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree Church of Diamond Bar

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

909-594-7604

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

Efreedb.org

By Mark Hopper

Last year my wife and I traveled to New England to see the Fall colors.  We flew to Boston and then drove through the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire.  We were amazed to see the beauty of the fall colors. This year, we traveled to upstate New York on a similar journey.  We flew to Buffalo, New York, to see Niagara Falls and then drove across the state to visit relatives in the Albany area.  In addition, we spent two days in the Adirondack Mountains in northwestern New York State hoping to see the fall colors again. We were not disappointed.  The hillsides in upstate New York were covered with trees in bright, vibrant colors.  We intentionally drove on the smaller country roads so we could see them up close and admire the beautiful scenery.  The further north we drove, the brighter the colors became. Guide books and web sites try to predict when the fall colors will be at their peak.  On both trips, we found that the week before and the week after Columbus Day are the best.  Both the temperatures and the moisture influence the changing of the leaves.  We were fortunate that both the rain and the temperatures cooperated to paint this beautiful landscape. We don’t experience the four seasons in Southern California.  The local mountains do get some snow and the high Sierras can get a lot of it.  But we are fortunate to have a moderate climate that makes us the envy of the nation. Our weather for the New Year’s Day Rose Parade is usually clear, sunny and in the 70’s, while most of the country is buried in snow!  I suppose that is why most of us live here.  The climate is hard to beat. However, there is something to be said in favor of Fall and Winter.  When you see the color of the fall leaves blanketing the hillsides of New England and New York, you do realize why people actually enjoy “four seasons”.  The beauty is difficult to describe and impossible to capture on your smartphone or camera.  It really is amazing! There is a verse in the Bible that says, “God has created everything for us to enjoy” (I Timothy 4:3-4).  The passage is actually referring to the food that God provides for us.  But, I think the principle can apply to the beauty of the world we live in too. God did not create a dull, drab grey world.  In His infinite wisdom, He crafted a world with an endless variety of creatures and colors for us to admire and enjoy.  Let me encourage you to find some fall colors near you before they are gone.  You don’t need to travel to New England or New York.  The leaves are changing in our local mountains and all across our country.  Make time to go and see some for yourself.  You will be glad you did!

This article was written by Pastor Mark Hopper, efree Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd, 909-594-7604, Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM, Efreedb.org

By Mark Hopper

My wife and I recently traveled to upstate New York to see Niagara Falls.  In addition, we drove across the state to visit some family members near Albany.  My wife was born in Long Island, NY, but moved west with her parents when she was a young girl. When her family moved to Arizona in the late 1950’s, they left behind extended family members like grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who remained near the east coast.

Over the years, there were phone calls and letters, but very little direct contact between the relatives in the east and relatives in the west. Some of the extended family attended a family wedding in Arizona in the 1970’s and there were a couple of visits by the Arizona clan to the east.  But, the contact was limited while parents were busy raising families in different parts of the country.

The internet and Facebook have helped to reconnect my wife with some of her east coast relatives.  They have been able to share pictures and update one another on their families. Our visit to Albany reunited my wife with a cousin that she had not seen on over 40 years.  It was a happy reunion.  In addition, another cousin drove up from Long Island and completely surprised my wife. They had a lot of catching up to do. Conversations included the death of parents, the marriages of children and the births of grandchildren.

One of the cousins had a photo album filled with old pictures.  This album belonged to their grandfather and included some photos that my wife had never seen before.  It was filled with memories and images that helped deepen her understanding of her heritage and extended family.

Hopefully, the cousins won’t wait another 40 years to re-connect with each other.  In fact, there is already talk of another reunion on the west coast next year. Are there some friends or relatives that you have not seen in a long time?  The years pass quickly.  The internet can help, but it takes time and effort to stay connected with people.

Let me encourage you to call or email a friend or family member this week.  There may be an old neighbor that would love to hear from you.  Don’t miss the opportunity to reach out and re-connect with someone soon.  They will be glad you did and you will too.

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree church of Diamond Bar

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

909-860-9556

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

Efreedb.org

By Mark Hopper

Recently we had a clean up day to get ready for our church’s 50th birthday party.  There was one specific area on our property that really needed some sprucing up. The ground cover was thinning out and we agreed to order some new mulch and bark to make it look better.The area that we targeted was on the southwest edge of our property.  We refer to it as the “point” on the right side of the driveway that exits our site.  It is an odd shape – not quite a triangle but certainly not a clean square or rectangle.  One of the men agreed to order the mulch if I could just give him the dimensions of the area to be covered. The site was too large for a tape measure, so I simply walked over the space estimating that my step or stride would be about 3 feet long.  That is what golfers do on the fairway to estimate their distance to the green.  Find a fixed distance on the fairway and then “walk it off” to your golf ball.  By adding or subtracting your steps, you would get a pretty accurate distance to the green, sounded pretty simple to me.  So I “walked off” the length and width of the area to be covered with mulch and came up with a number that I shared with the man ordering the material.  He gave my estimate to the supplier and they ordered the bark / mulch. I was a little surprised when I heard how many bags of mulch the supplier was sending, Using the information I gave him, he estimated that we would need about 400 bags of mulch.  Four hundred bags!!  That was certainly more bags than I thought we would need, but remember, I was only the “estimator”.  The mulch man was the expert.  Who was I to question his knowledge and experience?When I told our crew of volunteers how many bags that we had ordered, they laughed!  Four hundred bags of mulch for that small area.  They all thought I was crazy.  But, it was too late to back down now.  The delivery truck was on the way with 400 bags of mulch and bark. When the delivery truck arrived at our church, it was loaded with pallets of material.  Most of it was for us!  It was a full-size 18 wheeler flat bed truck.  I can’t even describe how big it looked piled high with pallets of mulch!  The truck was so big, it had difficulty pulling into our parking lot! Did I mention that the truck driver had to use a fork lift to off load the pallets onto our parking lot?  I think there were 4-5 pallets.  Each of them taller than any man on our crew.  Four hundred bags of mulch on 4 or 5 pallets taller than us.  That was an impressive sight! Fortunately, the crew of volunteers took it all in stride.  They continued to poke fun at me for my extravagant estimate but they graciously unloaded the bags of mulch and spread them over the target area.  We all agreed that the new mulch and bark looked great. As we neared the end of the project, I did point out to the team that we were not short on materials!  We had plenty of mulch!  In fact, we had enough mulch to also fill all of the flower beds at our church with a plenty to spare!  I’m sure that the event committee was pleased to see 400 bags of new mulch enhancing the appearance of our property just in time for our 50th birthday party. I think we all can learn a lesson from this experience.  When in doubt, order more than less.  Trust the experts.  Trust your instincts.  Don’t worry if you order too much mulch.  My new slogan is, “You can never have too much mulch”! Let me again invite you to our church’s 50th birthday party on Saturday, October 21st.  Free food and activities begin at 1:00 PM with the main event from 4:30 – 6:00 PM.  I hope you will come and enjoy this special day with us.  And, come see the new mulch, too!

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree Church of Diamond Bar

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

909-594-7604

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

Efreedb.org

By Mark Hopper

The idea of starting a new church in Diamond Bar was the dream of a man named Wally Norling. He was the District Superintendent of the Evangelical Free Church in Southern California.  He loved to plant new churches in new communities that were popping up all over Southern California 50 years ago. Wally personally approached a few families and individuals and challenged them to start a church in Diamond Bar.  Two families already lived in Diamond Bar, another family lived in Rowland Hiehgts and another in La Habra Heights.  They did not have the backing or support of any other church.  They were on their own. This small group of people accepted the challenge and set out to start a new Evangelical Free Church in Diamond Bar.   In my previous article I shared about how this small group grew during the following decade under the leadership of several pastors including Pastor Scott Owsley and Pastor Steve Campbell. They met in a number of different locations until they were given the property on Diamond Bar Blvd by a generous contractor in 1980.  The first building was completed in 1983.

Pastor Steve Campbell continued to lead the church until 1987.  Steve and his wife Peggy faithfully served at the church for over 10 years.  In 1988, the church invited my wife and I to come from Arizona to serve as the next Pastor of Diamond Bar Efree Church.  It was a new adventure to leave our roots in Arizona and move with our four kids to Diamond Bar, California. As the church continued to grow, we lacked adequate classroom space for the children of young families.  One solution was to rent the Peppertree Preschool around the corner on Brea Canyon Road to help meet this pressing need.  We also launched a new building campaign to construct an education building on our property.  Instead of borrowing money, we decided to build “pay-as-you-go”.  We were amazed at the generosity of people in our church and the many unexpected gifts that enabled us to complete this project debt free in 1991.

Not only did the new two-story education building provide additional classroom space, it also enabled us to open a Preschool.  Mrs. Jean Thornton agreed to serve as the first preschool director and opened the school in 1991 with about 15 students.  The preschool eventually grew to three classes and over 50 children meeting five days a week from 8:30 AM – noon.

During the 1990’s, our church began to send out short-term mission teams to serve alongside missionaries around the world.  Our first two-week team went to Guatemala to help construct a school building in 1992. In the following years, we also sent teams across the border to help build homes in Mexico.  Other teams went to Russia, Romania, Kenya, Korea and other countries to serve in various kinds of ministries. As our church continued to grow in the 90’s, we realized we needed more classroom space.  The Hughes Aircraft Comapny was closing a plant in Fullerton and offered some of their portable modular units to non-profit groups for one dollar each.  However, we did have to pay to have these units moved and for the clean up of the old site and for set up on our property.   We remodeled these large modular buildings into four large classrooms on our property.

Near the end of the 90’s we knew we needed a larger worship center and more classrooms.  In 1998, we broke ground on the largest building on our site – the Familiy Worship Center.  During the next eighteen months, the campus looked like a war zone.  The building site was surrounded by fences and piles of dirt and mud.  Equipment and building material covered our property. We had record rain fall in 1999 which slowed the work and delayed completion.  But, on Easter Sunday, 2000, the new worship center was finished and ready for use.  It was a day to remember!  Did I mention that underneath the worship center there is a lower level with eight large classrooms and additional restrooms.  (This allowed us to donate the modular units to a church in Rowland Heights). The Worship Center also has a large elevator that provides access to all the levels of the Worship Center and the Education building.

There are more stories to tell about the life of our church.  I hope to share more of our history in my next article.  Let me again invite you to come to our 50th birthday party on Saturday, October 21st.  There will free food and a variety of activities on our campus starting at 1:00 PM and the main event will be from 4:30 – 6:00 PM in the Worship Center.  We hope you will come!

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree Church of Diamond Bar

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

909-594-7604

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

Efreedb.org