From Sea to Sea ~ 1991 - 1996

Through pastoral changes we became interim pastors in PEI. At this time we knew God was directing us back to Ontario. We moved back and within two weeks we had located and settled into our new home. Joel had found a job with a Christian boss who knew the importance of our children's ministry. He would allow Joel whatever time off he needed to go out and minister.

Our first summer back on the road we would find ourselves at camps and DVBS's (Daily Vacation Bible School). One of these would be the beginning of a lasting relationship with people that God would use in the future. We actually stayed in the home of a family of five who were away on holidays. The next year when we came back we would meet these people and they would number among our closest friends. As this church advanced so did we. Our first DVBS with them was spent in their old church. By the next summer when DVBS time rolled around they would have been in their new church less than a month. And by the next year they would join with the church that had bought their old building and have joint DVBS. At this first joint year we would discover the importance of not just using Christianese. One young boy responded to the altar call of "asking Jesus into his heart". He looked up at me and asked, "Will I get a stomach-ache?"
"Why, are you not feeling well?" I asked.
"No, when Jesus comes into my heart, will I get a stomach-ache?"
We assured him that accepting Jesus would not give him a stomach-ache.

While we had been in PEI our van had become unusable and we had been able to make an even trade of our trailer for a car with low mileage. Now that we were travelling again we were praying for a motorhome. God was certainly proving His faithfulness for in May of 1991 we were given a converted bus and a motorhome. Because the motorhome was more suited to our needs, we returned the bus. We would use the motorhome for two seasons. One of our first bookings in our new 'home' would be in Northern Ontario. We would spend a full month at the camp and go through a full year of programs in the fifty or so services that we held. Anya had her first babysitting job while we there.

In the autumn we were able to enjoy the fall colours as we travelled to the East Coast. We were also able to enjoy many of the worlds amazing wonders. We were enjoying unseasonably warm weather when we there and we would find ourselves catching the edge of a hurricane.

One of our classic stories is about forgiveness at the first Thanksgiving. One of our great joys is when children and adults respond and accept God's forgiveness for themselves or choose to forgive someone that has hurt them. Then of course at the end of a crusade there is the necessity of packing up everything so that we can move on. From the earliest days, we have made this a family affair. Everyone is able to do their part.

It was in 1992 that we felt God laying on our heart the need to train others to do the same type of ministry that we do. We talked with a young couple fresh out of Bible College and after praying about it felt that they were the couple to travel with. So Pastor Shawn and Aunt Stephanie joined the team.

Shawn had a very unique gift in storytelling. At the first place they joined us in, he was asked to be the counselor to the most memorable kids any camp could have. Every night at bedtime he would encourage them to get into their bunks quickly and then he would begin to weave a story. Every night there would be a different adventure. The characters in the nightly tale would have names and personalities remarkably like the boys in their beds. The story would continue until finally every young adventurer was fast asleep. Shawn's first attempt at public storytelling fell on Canada Day. He told the story of 'Tommy, the Biplane". Everyone sat enthralled as the adventure of this WWI leftover became a hero of WWII. How long had these spell bound listeners sat? Not 5 minutes, not even 15 minutes but 55 minutes without a sound. His cabin of boys wanted to hear it again that night - and the next week the kids all wanted to hear it again.

Aunt Stephanie brought a dimension to the ministry that had been missing up until this time. She was extremely talented in music. With Stephanie on board we began having special music as part of the program. She made sure everyone stayed on key and kept in time. This took a lot of the burden off of Joel as up until this time he had done all the music himself.

Shawn and Stephanie were very involved in every aspect of the ministry from music and storytelling to puppets and clowning. As Douly came out in his "Army Clothes" Stephanie helped him learn that rubber boots, paper plates and Shield soap was not the armour that God wants us to wear every day. (Ephesians 6)

As was God's plan, Shawn and Stephanie moved on and now are involved in children's and youth ministry in Sudbury, Ontario.

One of our favourite places to be is in the north. We would finish out the year in Ontario's north both with tragedy and triumph. While ministering in Fort Francis one of the pastor's sons was killed in a snowmobile accident. The pastor chose for the crusade to keep on going in spite of his personal heartache. For the remainder of our stay we would hold them up in prayer, answer the door and the phone and weep with them. From Fort Francis we would travel on to Sioux Lookout.

For months Sioux Lookout had been praying for this crusade. We entered a church that was ready to receive a harvest of children. The sanctuary was decorated with 300 helium filled balloons. During the next few days we would see over 300 children enter the doors of the church with many of them accepting Jesus for the first time.

Our theme for 1993 was From Sea to Sea in '93 and From Coast to Coast With the Holy Ghost and that is exactly what we did. Beginning in March we travelled to British Columbia and spent about two months on our beautiful West Coast. Our newsletter for that trip began. . . "Our trip to British Columbia reminded us of the three R's - Rain, Roads and Repairs." It was one of BC's wettest springs so much so that the newspaper was making fun of it. We travelled the Fraser Canyon five times and I think we knew where just about every Tim Horton's in BC was located. And we were stranded on the road five times with major vehicle repairs. We had more problems mechanically with that trip than we had ever had in all the previous years put together. But in spite of all the problems, we met wonderful people, had great services and people were saved . . . and that made it all worth it.

In May, the girls swam in the Pacific Ocean and in August they swam in the Atlantic. We truly did travel from Sea to Sea spreading the good news of Jesus. We had a wonderfully busy year and when we returned home in the fall we felt God directing us to eroll the girls in our local public school. It was a small school with only about 180 students and the principal was a Christian. Joel and Mary became part of the PTA and worked closely with the school over the next two years. With the events that were to come it would create stability for the girls that would be missing at home.

As was often an occurence in our home during the winter, Joel would find employment so that we could pay the bills. The fall of 1993 was no exception. As a matter of fact, with all the breakdowns in BC it was even more of a neccesity. So the job hunt was on. It would be February before Joel would actually be employed. As with many occasions before, Joel was employed with a Christian who recognized the value of YASM and opportunity was freely given to minister when the opportunity presented itself.

March 1, 1994 began as any other normal working day. It was also Ladies Bible Study at the church around the corner. As Mary was leaving Bible Study, she felt impressed to invite Beth and Bonnie, sisters, over for lunch. Three times she attempted to leave without doing so but finally asked them over. They were delighted. They had barely walked in the door when the phone rang. It was the hospital - Joel had been injured at work. All Mary knew at that time was that he was alive - no other details had been given.

While at work that morning, Joel had been splitting wood with an hydraulic log splitter. A log had slipped crushing Joel's left hand between it and the ram. Beth accompanied Mary to the hospital while Bonnie stayed at home to be there when the girls arrived home from school. Now Mary understood the urgency she felt about inviting them over for lunch. Beth and Bonnie had been God's provision in her time of need.

Following surgery, Joel's hand would take a full year to recover from the accident. Repeated attempts to save Joel's index finger were made but in December 1994 his index finger was amputated. During this time ministry was very restricted as tri-weekly trips to the hospital meant we had to stay close to home. We were still able to do some summer ministry though on board the Starship Ecclesia.

As December and the time for surgery would roll around, Joel determined that he would not let this accident interfere with his ability to play guitar. So with the hand still in bandages, he began teaching himself a new way to play the C chord.

A few months later our senior pastor and Christian Education pastor resigned. The church wanted to be careful in its selection of a new pastor and since the CE position could not be filled until the senior postion was filled, the church asked Joel if he would be interim CE Director until that time. He agreed knowing that when his position came to an end so our time in Sarnia would come to an end. We had felt the nudges from the Holy Spirit letting us know that we were getting ready for a change.

Our new senior pastor arrived in April, the new CE guy arrived in May. We knew it was time for us to leave but where were we to go?

Friends of ours, Noral and Michelle Woodburn, had pioneered a new church in Niagara Falls and in May 1996 asked us to come on board with them. After spending time in prayer, we felt that God was directing us to Niagara Falls. So we rented the biggest U-Haul we could, packed up all of our belongings into it and moved to the beautiful city of Niagara Falls.