Finding direction

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!

18 September 2023

Retro: Drama Class

Jim Just for fun, Ministry glimpses, Retro 0

Not everything that we try at the community centre “works”. The drama/theatre/cinema course was one of those things.

I created a complete course in the community of Jesús María, but for whatever reason it fizzled out. Time of day? Promotion? Time of year? A poor teacher? Who knows!

That’s not to say it won’t be resurrected someday! Meanwhile, all I have are the memories, and lots of notes and course materials.

This poster represented some basic “house rules”. The other photo shows two students doing some improv.

House rules for the community centre drama course.

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. 🙂

8 August 2023

Retro: Baking Classes and Kids’ Club

Jim Just for fun, Ministry glimpses, Missions 0

Ten years ago today we were at a kids’ club in the community of Jesús María. There were about 80 kids every day (and not always the same kids!). Shari helped out with the little kids, and also found time to lead a baking class (that moms could come to while their kids were at the club – another opportunity to make friends and talk about the truth).

There was a visiting short-term mission team from Pennsylvania, and so the baking class mission was to make whoopie pies!

The theme of the kids’ club – airplanes! Hence the cool piñata…

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:

7 July 2023

Thanks for Your Prayers (even while we’re in Canada)!

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Yes, your prayers are appreciated – even while we’re in Canada!

Things have continued to be very busy, but we did manage to take a day off last week as a family, which was very fun, and may possibly have included a board game. 🙂

Some of you may have heard about the tornado that hit, about 45 minutes from where we’re staying. It damaged about a dozen homes, completely destroying some of them. From here, we were watching the clouds carefully (see photo). Please pray for those who lost so much.

We’ve enjoyed some times of ministry already, and are busy preparing for upcoming opportunities. We had a great time this past Sunday, seeing old friends and making some new ones. And if you’re near Cremona or Mirror, check our schedule and be sure to come out and see us!

We’re looking forward to enjoying some time with family this month – including some family members that we haven’t seen for many years (and a younger member of the family who some of us haven’t even met yet!).

We also appreciate your continued prayers for the church in Mexico, and the short-termers who are visiting. We’ve been hearing good reports of new contacts and opportunities, and we’re praying for much fruit! Right now there’s a family visiting from the USA, learning about ministry in Ixtapaluca. And on Saturday another team comes. That’s in addition to other visitors and interns, and all the Mexican believers who are serving with them. Today there are two baking classes happening through the community centre – a great way to reach out to more people in the community in a fun way!

Thanks for your prayers! There are a lot of exciting things happening, in both countries!

«‹ 8 9 10 11 ›»