Family

10 October 2023

In the Middle of Canada

Jim Family, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

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?

Jim Family, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

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. 🙂

14 July 2023

Retro: Hannah is Baptized

Jim Family, Just for fun, Retro 0

10 years ago today, Hannah was baptized, along with 25 other people from the two Path of Life churches in Ixtapaluca! There’s a video of the whole event here, but here’s Hannah giving her testimony:

15 June 2023

Nathanael’s Graduation

Jim Family 0

It may seem strange to some that Nathanael’s graduation took place before some of his final exams. But – be that as it may – Nathanael’s graduation ceremony is over, even though the exams are not! (Is that why they say, “It’s all over but the crying”?)

Anyway, Nathanael graduated with some of his class (“some” because, being at an “alternate status” school, many of the students were not from the area) on the 10th of June, at a special event at Zion Evangelical Missionary Church in Didsbury, Alberta.

Nathanael was on the grad committee, so he worked all through the year on various projects to make the grad a success. The committee came over the day before to work on the decorations for the banquet, and Nathanael in particular worked on PowerPoints and a unique banner for the event (which we ended up bringing from Mexico!).

The program was very Christ-honouring, and of course student-congratulating!

All four of us were there, along with Nathanael’s three grandparents.

Nathanael the graduate — *Nathanael and the Family*

We enjoyed a delicious banquet afterwards. Nathanael – great job on the grad committee – oh, and on many years of school! And thanks to all the teachers and staff who worked so hard as well. 🙂

30 May 2023

Nathanael’s Birthday Party / Goodbye Party

Jim Family, Ministry glimpses 0

This past Saturday, we joined together with the youth group for a special birthday party and goodbye party for Nathanael! As you may know, he’s planning to work in Canada for a while, so this is one of the last youth events he’ll be at.

Above is the banner we printed, showing the theme. Chess! And making the next move, of course – to Canada. Our theme verses were Joshua 1:8-9.

Of course, one of Mom’s cakes was involved…

Those chess pieces are homemade chocolate, by the way.

There were some games…

And a potluck meal. Yum.

There was also a Bible study time (part of the normal youth group schedule), and a time of sharing and encouragement for Nathanael, and a time of prayer.

There was even some actual chess playing!

We’re so thankful for these wonderful friends – and brothers and sisters in Christ!

20 May 2023

Retro: Xochimilco Ecopark

Jim Family, Just for fun, Mexico, Retro 0

Drive about an hour into Mexico City, and you’ll come across the beautiful Xochimilco Ecopark. Actually, we just went again this past March, and I was a little sad. What had been a somewhat “wild” overgrown place was now very developed. Yes, developed as a park – it’s still beautiful, but to my taste it isn’t quite what it was.

Ten years ago today we were there with Hannah and Nathanael. I think this is when they were doing some “wetlands” research for school. We had the place almost to ourselves – except for the many kinds of birds and bugs and plants.

Here’s one look – click the picture for a bigger version.

*El Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco – 2013*

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