Retro: A Brief Visit to Canada
In 2012 we had a very quick visit to Canada – and here’s why.
During our visit, we were able to visit some grandparents! One stop was in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan… 10 years ago this very day.
In 2012 we had a very quick visit to Canada – and here’s why.
During our visit, we were able to visit some grandparents! One stop was in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan… 10 years ago this very day.
Well, “Manic May” is upon us once again – traditionally our busiest month of the year. And this year is not disappointing.
You don’t want a long litany of what’s happening, but I’ll give you a quick overview of some things.
Our institute classes are up and running for another semester. This time around it’s church history! So I’ve been making visuals for each week. I’m almost up to the year 600, so that’s certainly progress. Here’s a little segment from the timeline:
I also have a couple of sermons coming up which I’m preparing for. One of them is a continuation of our journey through Exodus, which I’m enjoying very much.
We’re hoping to get the church leaders together for a mini afternoon/evening retreat soon, so I’m getting ready for that.
On a family note, Hannah just celebrated a birthday (Happy Birthday!) and we were able to spend a little time with her and some others in the family virtually. And Nathanael has a birthday coming up – so we’re getting ready for that. I think a cake is being created, among other things!
There are some official/paperwork things that will need to be dealt with over the summer, so that’s happening. And we’re getting some other plans together for the summer, which I’ll be announcing in our next newsletter. Which I’m also working on!
It’s nice to take the time to check out the flowers, many of which are popping up as a little bit of rain starts here and there. It’s really still dry season, but the clouds give it a try once in a while.
Nathanael is frantically trying to finish up his grade 11 year. He had another exam today, with more to come. Less than four weeks until he’s done – we hope!
We recently celebrated Mother’s Day at our church, so here are some of our mothers…. click for a larger image:
So anyway, lots happening! At the moment we’re just hanging on for dear life, but I wanted to at least stop by and give you a quick update.
There’s a bit of a light debate in cross-cultural missions regarding the status of young children growing up on the field. We all want to consider the whole family “missionaries”. But of course children are where their parents are because of a family choice. And they would have had varying degrees of input into that choice (depending on age and so on).
Many children grow up and choose to go into cross-cultural missionary work themselves. Others go on to serve the Lord in other ways. Sadly, some reject the faith.
The other day Shari and I were going through some boxes of old textbooks and notebooks, mostly from school. And I was reminded of two things.
First, there were some major challenges for our kids in school. I’m not talking about being cross-cultural, or learning a second language, or the work load (although that last one was a killer at times!). And in the case of our children, Mexican schools were the only schools they knew – they hadn’t been old enough to attend school in Canada.
The challenges I’m talking about are simply the challenges of going to a “secular” school. A school that sometimes promotes anti-Christian views.
“Oh, you have no idea what it’s like now, for my kids”, you may say, if you have young kids in elementary school now. Well, I’m a little more removed from that phase of childhood now, but I do know some of what’s going on. And your point is well taken – things have progressed significantly, and generally in the wrong direction. I would venture the opinion that school is a lot more harmful for children now than it was.
But much of what is so common now was already in the schools back then, in Mexico as well as in other countries.
So I’m proud of my kids for going through what they did. They faced a lot of challenges in elementary school.
Second, I am thankful for children who were (and are still!) involved in service to the Lord. Yes, they often helped with events and served in the local church. But they also reached out on their own, using their creativity and energy to share Christ in their own way. And without going into personal details, there were things in the boxes of books and paper that reminded me of that too.
So I’m thankful for my children, and proud of them. For what they did back then, and what they’re doing now. Way to go!
10 years ago this month (the first video is from the 14th of March, the second is the 4th), I took some random video of Hannah and Nathanael playing with some other kids. The first segment has both Hannah and Nathanael playing street hockey (no, not at all common here!). The second segment much more Mexican, as Nathanael plays spinning tops (called trompos) with some friends.
Ten years ago today. Nathanael had gotten a new skateboard for Christmas, and was already looking pretty expert.
I’m just stopping by to say hello and let you know what we’re up to these day! So first – hello! And second, here’s a visual hello from Shari and her boys:
Actually, there are a few new photos in our Photo Gallery, if you would like to check them out.
So, yes, chilly January is here. I think we were pretty spoiled with temperatures last year, but winter has truly arrived in Mexico. And all of you up north can just be quiet about comparing temperatures – the truth is, I’m cold most of the time these days. Except today, when I brewed turkey soup on the stove all day, and made a dessert in the oven. It was a nice reprieve.
But seriously, this is the weather when a lot of houses are pretty cold around here, and that seems to lower your immunity, and people get sick. That can be bad, but of course these days there’s the added dimension that people feel they need to shut down their lives when that sniffle comes around, and so that means checking on people and sometimes shuffling around who is in charge of what on Sunday morning.
Tomorrow our church will take part in Biblical Sexuality Sermon Sunday (read more about that here). I’m actually not the main preacher. But by God’s providence, Rod was already preaching on a related theme. And I will address the topic earlier in our service, and we’ll be praying for our fellow believers in Canada, and other parts of the world, who are sharing God’s love and truth.
I’m excited that we’re getting back into Exodus next week, although I have to wait until the end of the month to preach myself. But I’ve already been preparing and I’ve got a fascinating text (Exodus 6).
Next week we’ll be continuing our leadership Bible studies, finishing the pastoral epistles. I think we’ve all learned a lot from the Apostle Paul (and most of all, the Holy Spirit!).
Nathanael is finishing up his semester next week, so that is certainly the end of a journey (and another one will begin the following Monday).
And I started my second Greek course this week. So that has meant a lot of study. A bonus is that I’m the only student in the class, no extra charge! 馃檪
We’ve been excited about some past and future opportunities to share the gospel. So do pray for those who are hearing, that God’s Spirit would work in their lives and bring them to life.
And there are a lot of other things going on – every-day things, ministry things . . . even some online ministry at En la Biblia, and moving my Dad’s materials to the new WordWise blog.
Anyway, that’s just a little first-month-of-the-year update. Hope you’re all doing well!