The Early Years ~ 1985 - 1990

Joel was sitting in the rocking chair with our two eldest daughters sitting on his lap. They couldn't have been more than five and three at the time. He had a picture of Joseph in his multi-coloured coat. With only a picture and his voice, Anya and Charity sat entranced for over half an hour as he wove the story of the young boy and his story that changed the course of a nation. The story was over but the girls clamoured for more.

We had always recognized that God had given Joel a special gift in communicating. Now we knew that He was directing us to use that gift to declare His love to children.

It was 1986, we had just resigned as pastors of a small rural church in southern Ontario. We were going to experience life on the road with our three young daughters. It was a scary time but it was also very exciting because we knew God was in it.

There were two things we were certain of

We wanted the name of the ministry to represent our purpose and not glorify ourselves.
We knew that children everywhere were hurting; many of them were more accustomed to having a slap than a hug. Yet there was Someone who loved them more than we possibly could. Jesus had a message for each of these challenging, wonderful young people. When he reached out to the little children on the hills of Israel, He gave them this message then and He still gives it today. "My children, you are special. I love you." And so, You Are Special Ministries was born.

We wanted our daughters to always view the ministry as something we did together - not just what Mom and Dad did. Anya and Charity were only five and three when we began and they would help us sing songs and do some puppet songs. Throughout the years they have developed into much more able assistants. Rhian was not quite one when we began. She was our miracle baby and so it would be many years before she would be able to take an active part but when she finally began to walk she would give hugs to everybody.
1987

The following April 1 found us moving to a new home. On March 30 we were three hours from home giving teacher training when a freak snowstorm blew in and stranded us overnight. The next morning treacherous conditions made driving an experience. So it was late afternoon before we arrived home to start packing up the house we had to vacate by midnight. Thank God for good friends with strong sons.

1988

Over the next couple of years we would find ourselves ministering in Eastern and Central Canada and New England. At one camp over 150 children made decisions for Christ. One of these children was from a home in which not one sibling would have the same father. She arrived at camp bringing with her unexpected and unwanted guests - a head full of lice. Her hair was washed and cut and we complimented her on her new appearance. It was the last night of camp. This girl was coming straight to him. He knew the rule - keep your head away. She was going to sit down right beside him and plop her head on his shoulder. If Joel let her, he might receive her friends. If he pulled away, what message would she receive? Sure enough, she sat down beside him and plonked her head on his shoulder. Joel gave her a hug, it would have been wrong to turn away. Jesus loved her too, and no, Joel did not receive any unwelcome friends.

From there we found our way into Northern Ontario where one of our team members was put on trial for tardiness. Loving Open Caring Kind Enthusiastic Tickle (LOCKET to her friends) was on trial for constantly showing up late at chapel services. I am not sure that it did much good though. She seemed a little bit slow in the understanding.

We loved the north and found many of our most enjoyable experiences took place up there. One of our favourite spots was Pickle Lake. It was just about as far north as you could actually drive in Ontario. It was also where another memorable LOCKET event took place. LOCKET had a teddy bear that would love to come to church with her. During one particular service she and Bear were having a conversation just outside the door - naturally being picked up by the mike she was wearing. LOCKET was informing Bear that he was not allowed to come to church because bears were just simply not allowed in church. The camp caretaker was slightly flabbergasted and not sure what was happening because just about two hours earlier there had been a REAL bear not 50 feet away from the chapel doors.

The following year we would be back. One of the favourite activities of the kids would be cabin clean up. Yeah, right! Well there was an incentive that the kids couldn't resist - the cleanest cabin over the week had the privilege of throwing Pastor Joel in the lake.

So now that he was clean and since we didn't have to rush away, Joel went with Ian Winters, the camp director, to take some of the campers home again. The flight would take them into one of Canada's dry (alcohol free) Indian reserves, and even though they were coming from a Christian camp all of the passengers were completely searched when they landed at their destination.

During the trip Joel counted about twenty forest fires sparked by the thunderstorms that we had been having. We were interested to discover that unless the fire is near people that no attempt would be made to stop it. In the far north the fire would clear out the dead brush and the heat would cause pinecones to pop and spread new seed.

In the autumn of 1988, we would have our first BIG tour. We would be travelling to the East Coast of Canada for three weeks. We had been praying for a trailer and the day before we were to leave God provided it. What a hectic last day that was. We were finally ready to leave, only to find ourselves broken down on the 401 at midnight in a pouring rainstorm. It would be almost suppertime before we resumed our journey.

By the time we arrived on the coast, we had travelled a thousand miles, narrowly missed having an accident, had a total of ten hours of sleep in three nights and had ten minutes in which to set up before our first program. Following the program we had $3.65 to our name and had only a bag of chips to eat since a breakfast of corn flakes at 6:00 that morning.

We found a variety store and bought a can of mushroom soup and a loaf of bread. Supper had never tasted so good! We all slept well that night, and in the morning drove off to our next booking. On the way out east we had discovered a few things about trailering. One of these was the need to have trailer brakes. So we stopped off at a trailer dealer and made arrangements to have them installed. It was going to cost us $125 and we now had less than $1. We met our next hosts and they wanted us to stay inside their beautiful home instead of in the trailer. We took the trailer back out to the dealer so that they could also check out the furnace as well. We later discovered it never worked because of a bird's nest that had been built inside.

Sunday morning arrived. We had an open session in Sunday School and we were sitting in the main sanctuary waiting for church to start. We would be teaching Children's Church during the sermon. A lady approached us. She handed us an envelope and said, "This is for you." We had never seen her before and if we were to see her again we would not recognize her. We opened up the envelope and inside was $200. It was enough to pay for the repairs and work on the trailer. God had provided right on time.

We would minister in several other locations and finally end up in PEI. We arrived at our location at 3:00 in the morning - too late to call up the pastor. We did not have directions to the church. We had no way of knowing where to go, so we prayed. As we drove up the street we decided to turn the corner. A few blocks later we saw the church. We were lost but God wasn't. He had directed our steps and took us right up to the doors.

While we were there the church invited us to come on staff as children's pastor and resident evangelist. We felt that this was where God was directing us and accepted. We moved into the parsonage on January 1, 1989. While there we would travel in the Maritimes and across Canada to Saskatchewan. We would stay in PEI until 1990 when God directed us back to Ontario and back on the road full-time.