We are back from our trip to Ontario, as of last night! For those of you who haven’t been keeping up, this was another trip to Ontario. We went down to be with the family for the funeral of Shari’s Grandmother, Ethel Winger. The funeral went very well. Shari and I were two of six pallbearers. (By the way, ever wondered where that term came from? I found this at takeourword.com: By the 15th century, pall was being used to describe a cloth that covered a coffin, hearse, or tomb. Then, by the mid-18th century, we find the term pallbearer, which originally referred to those who held the corners of the pall cloth at a funeral. Eventually, those who carried the coffin itself came to be known as the pallbearers, by association.)
Shari read a poem called,”Thoughts on Moving Day”, comparing going to Heaven with moving day. The poem was found among Grandma’s belongings. Shari’s sister Amy gave the eulogy, and Shari’s parents sang,”Face to Face” (you can see and hear the song at the CyberHymnal). I won’t tell you about the whole service, but it was well done, with a great Gospel message. The service ended with “He the Pearly Gates will Open” (I don’t hear that one much anymore…here it is in the CyberHymnal).
We were able to spend some good times with family, and even got to see a few people that we missed last time we were in Ontario. So it was a good trip. We’ll miss Grandma Ethel, but we’ll see her again before you know it.
I’m adding a few select photos from our trip to our photo album, so check out our Recent Shots to see them.
I’m actually home for a brief interlude before we head to Ontario tomorrow. Yesterday afternoon I drove the 2 1/2 hours to Wetaskiwin, Alberta (near Edmonton). After some delicious chicken pot pie with my friends the Farrs, I got to meet up with their Bible study group. They’ve been doing a Bible study on missions, based on a study by Helmuth Graewe at VTI. So I came as the “real live missionary”, and shared a bit about our ministry and about missions in general. It’s so great to see a group of people really interested in serving God at home and around the world. I was inspired!
One of the questions that was asked that I really need to add to our Missionary FAQ revolved around the qualifications for being a missionary. I have thought about it before from various angles – such as, why are we missionaries, why should other people be missionaries, why do missionaries succeed and fail, and so on. I was reminded of several things last night. For one thing, there is a place for all types of people with all types of skills on the mission field. Another important thing is God’s call. This is actually a simple and yet complicated topic. I think we waver between two extremes – (1) Oh, I haven’t been called, so I don’t need to be involved in missions (oops – read the Bible – we’ve all been called already!), and (2) I’m so convinced that God has called me to this specific ministry that I refuse to listen to any counsel (some people think they’ve been called for all the wrong reasons, and with all the wrong motives, and no one can make them see it!). Somewhere in the middle is a solid conviction of God’s leading, and a teachability as He leads you forward.
I got home late late last night, crammed in a few hours of sleep, and now I’m getting ready to fly in the morning. Hannah’s looking forward to the airplane trip. We’re not looking forward to the cold Ontario weather (it’s 18C or 64F here right now, but about 1C or 34F down there). Ok, it could be colder! 😉
It will be good to see family and friends. Keep us in your prayers as we travel, and remember the family as we attend the funeral on Monday.
I just heard from Harrison Smith, a CAM missionary who is working with the Prairie Bible Institute students who are in the Discover Program. There are 19 students this year, and Harrison has been very impressed with the team.
Next weekend the team will be getting ready for their last 2 1/2 weeks of ministry in El Salvador. The team will be working with three different churches and doing bilingual ministry – everything from kids clubs to community development. Keep praying for this team as they serve the Lord in EL Salvador. This ministry will be taking place in April. I believe the students are in classes right now.
The Discover Program is a great way to get your education, and also get a better understanding of missions, other cultures, and what God is doing other places in the world. No matter what your career, these are things that will serve you well for the rest of your life. To check out the program, click the Prairie link above.
Early this morning Shari’s grandmother, Ethel Melissa Winger went to be with her Lord. Grandma celebrated her 91st birthday this past December, and we enjoyed some good visits with her while we were in Ontario. This picture of her and Nathanael was taken in October (click the picture to see the full-sized version in our photo album). Ethel is reunited with her husband Arthur who passed away almost 40 years ago.
We are going to be going to the funeral, which is on Monday March 7th in Southern Ontario. Shari’s brother and his family will be going also, and we’ll be flying back with them on Thursday. Shari’s parents are in the process of driving to Ontario from Saskatchewan. Grandma had another son whose family is in Ontario.
We would appreciate your prayers for the family at this time. Please pray for the Lord’s comfort, for wisdom in the practical details, and for a time for everyone that is glorifying to God and a witness to His love and power.
Last month I was remembering out loud my visit with a jaguar in Belize. Actually, I remember waiting up one night trying to catch one in the wild (on film, actually), but he must have caught our scent (and decided we weren’t good to eat) because he never showed up.
Anyway, last weekend we went to the zoo and were able to see a couple of jaguars. They are beautiful creatures! The jaguar is the largest native cat in North America, but it’s becoming extinct. Most of the remaining North American jaguars are in Sonora, Mexico. Naturalia, a non-profit company in Mexico City, purchased a ten thousand acre ranch to be used as a reserve for the jaguars. The hope is that some of them can be reintroduced into the southern USA as well.
As you can see, my pictures didn’t turn out that great. The second picture here shows both jaguars, with the black one in the back.
I’m not sure why, but several times I’ve been asked for advice on how to cut a pineapple. Sometimes by total strangers. I don’t know if I just look like someone who should know, or what.
Well, I may not be an expert pineapple-slicer. But strangely enough, I used to work at a golf and country club, and the chef there did indeed teach me how to do it right. So the last time I had the opportunity, I took these pictures so that you too can learn to cut pineapples the way the elite do it. 🙂 Please remember that this is really only one way to slice it. It’s good any way you slice it, especially if you buy it fresh from a market in Mexico… The pineapple originated in South America. It eventually became popular in the Caribbean and there became known to the Europeans when Christopher Columbus and his crew visited.
Pineapples are difficult to ripen at home (I’ve heard it said that you should turn them upside down to ripen them), so it’s best to find them fairly ripe at the market. A good pineapple will have deep green leaves, and will smell sweet. It should be free of bruises and very soft spots. First, slice off the top and bottom of the pineapple, as shown. Now you’re going to slice off the skin, using a knife, from top to bottom. You can see that I’ve already done one slice here. Now I’m going to look on the side and use that as a guide for my next slice. At this point, I just want to cut off the skin, but I’m not worried about all the eyes. After a few slices I’ll be all the away around the pineapple. You’ll see that I happened to peel this pineapple in seven slices, so it is now septagon. This will give the slices a nice look when we’re done. At least, in theory.
Now we’re going to remove the eyes – here’s how we do it. We’re going to take the knife and put it at an angle to the pineapple. We’ll make two slices at an angle to take out each eye. You’ll see what I mean in the next picture (I hope) – this is the hard part to describe. You may have been tempted to stick the point of your knife into the pineapple and twist out the eyes. You might save a bit more of the pineapple, but you might also mangle it, and you won’t have the cool look that I almost succeeded in getting at they end (hey, nobody said I was actually good at this!).
Now you can see what I meant by cutting at angles – there are cuts all around the pineapple, all at the same angle. It looks almost like a screw, except of course the grooves are short and don’t go all the way around. It’s time to actually slice the pineapple. Try to slice it nice and evenly. If you cut out the eyes properly, you might get a nice pinwheel effect in the final slices. It worked for me a couple times, but of course I didn’t take a picture of those slices, so too bad for me.
I simply sliced out the core at an angle on each half slice, but another nice way to do it is with a round metal cookie-cutter, if you have one the right size. Eating the core won’t kill you, but it’s a little hard. There they are, in all their glory! Serve them however you want, don’t let me intrude upon your creativity. They’ll even keep in the fridge for a couple of days – but who wants to wait that long? Now your family and friends can sit down and enjoy the fruit of your labours. There’s nothing like fresh pineapple!
