Prayer and Praise

11 January 2024

43 Days – A Quick Look Back

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It’s been almost 43 days since we got home, and I haven’t been reporting much! So let me give you a bit of a summary of what’s been going on…

We’ve been settling back in, and cleaning up the volcanic ash inside and out that has accumulated (in spite of the fact that friends did some cleaning while we were gone – it builds up fast!). But also the van had to be verified (the day we returned), and we needed to make sure we had all the basics – gas for the house, water, food – it all took some time!

We’ve enjoyed some time with our church family. I had the privilege to preach on Christmas Eve. I finally got to join some others for a time of evangelism at a local hospital. We’ve also had some extra time to chat with everyone. Shari has been connecting with a couple of the women about Sunday School and women’s ministries. There’s a lot to catch up on! Lord willing I’ll be with some of the leaders on Saturday to talk about the upcoming months!

A lady we knew who is the mother/grandmother of some of the people in our church passed away in December. Along with other church leaders, I had the opportunity to share the gospel at the funeral. Please pray for those who still don’t know the Lord.

Over the holidays we were able to spend quite a bit of time with one another and with family from various parts of the world! And some board games very likely were a part of the rest time. 🙂 We also enjoyed time with the Lord, reflecting on the miracle of His coming.

Speaking of games, we were able to get together with our Avant mission team as well. It was a good time to get updated on how to pray for one another. And we introduced the team to Flick ’em Up…

Our coworkers Rod and Mayra are back for three weeks – you can get an update from Rod here.

At the first Sunday morning service of the year, our friend Oscar took a picture of us all (well, his camera took it – he’s in the photo!) – just click on it for a larger version:

Well, there are just a few of the things that have been happening over the last 43 days! Thanks for your prayers!

1 December 2023

Back in Mexico

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Just to make it official – yes! We are in Mexico. 🙂

Thanks to all of you who were praying for our trip. Everything went very smoothly.

Now that we’re back, there’s a lot to get organized. Our first day home I was already getting our van verified so that we could drive it freely (for those who don’t know or don’t remember, vehicles in Mexico City need to be emissions tested. They’re then categorized with fewer or more restrictions, based on the age and condition of the vehicle.) There’s a lot to do to simply get life going again.

And thanks to those who were praying for my Mom, who finally got a place to move into. Even though it may still be temporary, it’s a lot nicer than waiting in a hospital!

29 November 2023

Travelling to Mexico

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Yes, Lord willing we will soon be back home in Mexico! We appreciate those who are praying.

Not long before our trip south was to begin, we all got sick, which certainly meant some unexpected changes to our last few days in Canada. We’re still not at 100%, so that makes it difficult to look forward to all this travel. So if you think of it, do pray that we will be all right on the trip. There’s also a lot that needs to be done right away as we settle back into life in Mexico, so pray that we would be able to get those things done and have some time to recuperate over the next few weeks.

We’re thankful that my Mom is also moving – a room became available which will likely be temporary, but it is a room, a nice room actually, and it’s not in the hospital, where she’s been waiting.

Lots happening all at once, as always! For us at the moment, it’s planes and taxis!

8 November 2023

Travelling is…

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Travelling is good – a blessing – and also difficult.

We’ve been travelling for 5 months, which is a long time to live out of a suitcase, be out of your routine, be away from familiar surroundings. And if we’re here much longer, it will be a record time away from home.

But travelling has been a blessing as well. We’ve been able to spend time with family. We’ve been involved in ministry in many different churches. We’ve visited friends, and even made new friends.

We got together with some people at Avant who do so much for us (not pictured was Carolyn – we appreciate you too!):

One church even put together a pretty cool Mexican display for me to stand in front of (Prairie Tabernacle):

Prairie Tabernacle Mexico display (and I).

Shari shared at a women’s prayer meeting, and is preparing for another. And for those who have been asking, my Mom is doing a lot better! Here she is at the prayer meeting (front and centre)…

Shari, Beth, and other women at a prayer meeting.

And of course there was another Where did the Bible Come from? seminar. Here’s a group pouring over “ancient” manuscripts of the fabled story of Javier the Louse…

Where did the Bible come from? - studying "ancient" manuscripts

Well, there has been so much happening that I won’t go into it all here. But it’s been fun!

But we’ve also been missing Mexico. In fact, we even missed a church anniversary service for the first time – although we were “there” in spirit, and we did record a video message for the service.

And so the time is coming to prepare for travel back to Mexico. We would appreciate your prayers for reasonable tickets, and that God would give wisdom as to timing! There’s a lot to do before we go, so I’d better get to it.

10 October 2023

In the Middle of Canada

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So there we were, right in the middle of Canada, and I decided to ask the dangerous question, “Where are you from?”

No, literally, we were right in the middle of Canada. See?

Ok, well, the middle of Canada from east to west, anyway.

We saw another family there, and my Mexico spidey-sense went off, and I asked them where they were from. Sure enough, Mexico! But they now live in Canada. We enjoyed a long chat with this family right there – pulling out our slightly dusty Spanish – right smack-dab in the middle of Canada.

Well, we’ve had all kinds of interesting experiences here in Canada. For two weeks we travelled through Saskatchewan and Manitoba – and finally, at the pinnacle (or at least mid-way point) of our trip, we visited our mission office in Winnipeg, in spite of rain and hail on the last leg. 🙂 We appreciate everything that the folks at Avant do for us! And we’ve had some good times with various people, and did some ministry in a couple of churches.

And by the way, the new friends from the middle of Canada weren’t the only Mexican people we’ve met. We even enjoyed an evening with a Mexican pastor and his American wife, who are planning to go into full-time ministry in Mexico. It’s always an encouragement to hear of more people joining the work of the Kingdom!

And, once in a while, Mexican food has been a part of our travels…

We’re looking forward to some ministry at the Prairie Tabernacle in Three Hills, and will also be returning to Cremona to run the Where did the Bible Come From? seminar. As always, the upcoming events are all here.

In family news, you’ll be glad to hear that my Mom is doing much better after a fall at the end of August!

Without going into all the details – it’s crazy-busy, we very much appreciate your prayers – and that’s all for today!

13 September 2023

Unusual Summer – or Silent Summer?

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If you’re on our Support Team, you should be getting our quarterly newsletter soon, with the theme “Unusual Summer”. Well, it’s been unusual all right, for a lot of reasons! But here on Finding direction, it’s also been rather – silent!

But here I am, finally, taking a moment to write. So, yes, as you might guess, it has been pretty busy, in many ways! If you’ve been following on Instagram or X or Facebook, I’ve at least been trying to keep you up to date on our speaking engagements and seminars (which reminds me, I should send out a reminder about this Sunday! *adding to list*). Our schedule is also here, of course. But there have been a lot of other things going on.

We’ve enjoyed visiting quite a few churches in Alberta. As a bonus, I had the opportunity to teach a seminar on The Environment in Glendon, taking a look at the Bible’s teaching and how it relates (quite often clashes) with current views on environmentalism. We have a lot to think about and talk about!

We’re thankful that Nathanael has found a job – er – jobs. So both he and Hannah are keeping busy, and will likely be even busier as fall activities rev up. But this past Saturday we were able to celebrate Independence Day (Mexico) a little early, by going for tacos together! We even had the chance to chat with someone there from our home state. It was a rare time for the four of us to hang out together for a while!

We’ve had a lot of personal things to get done while in Canada, for ourselves and for family, so that means a lot of trips hither and yon. As I mentioned in our newsletter, when you’re missionaries visiting your “passport country”, you’re usually trying to cram a lot into a short period of time!

Ministry will be continuing in the weeks ahead, in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and back to Alberta, including another Where did the Bible Come From? seminar. I have some fun tweaks planned for the seminar, so I’m looking forward to that.

Anyway, I can’t promise I’ll be stopping by here more often, but I’ll try! Meanwhile, if you’re going to be in the neighbourhood during any of our upcoming engagements, it would be great to see you. 🙂

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