1998

Let me tell you about nineteen ninety-eight
All things considered I would say it was great.
Hubby and I blessed with many a date
And he even found time to use fish bait.

Royal, our dog, found himself a young mate
And now Sasha and he happily share their big crate.
The fire is blazing so warm in the grate
And not a bit of our lives have we left to fate.

Many times through the year on God did we wait
And we know that His timing is never late
So now as we watch He is opening the gate
And I'm happy to say that our Lord is first rate.

Just before Christmas we were browsing on our new Christian Bookstore. While talking with the salesperson, she mentioned a children's camp she had attended last summer where she came away changed. Imagine our joy and delight to discover we had been at that camp. It was actually quite a memorable camp for us as well - besides the fact that our mostly female family was lodged in a boy's cabin.
We spoke three times in the less than 24 hours we were there. On the Saturday evening and Sunday morning we spoke to the younger children. We saw over 20 children including one Muslim accept Christ. On Saturday night, Joel spoke to the junior youth out by the campfire. Three responded to the invitation, two of the boys being Muslim. God is reaching across religious and cultural backgrounds and it is exciting to be part of it.
We have received several invitations to minister in India should we be blessed to visit there. In spite of or maybe because of the turmoil going on there we know that God is doing great things. We were given a new story this year involving a rich young Indian man.
The young man's life was full of drugs and women and they were the means by which he made his living. One day he felt ill and visited a doctor. The doctor gave him three months to live.
He left the doctor's office and made his way to a Hindu temple. He stood inside and looked at all the idols and said, "Surely there must be a God who hears and answers prayer."
Immediately Jesus stood before him and said, "I am the God and I have come to save you and heal you."
Instantly the man was saved and healed. As a result of his testimony over 100 village churches have been birthed.
It is truly amazing what God is doing!
Now on to our family. I am so glad that God is in control and knows the end from the beginning. We had made plans to go to the West Coast this spring, but our plans were slow in coming together. As it turns out our daughters are expected to be recuperating from mouth surgery and braces in February and March. We discovered that not one but three daughters need braces. We are just waiting for the surgery date for teeth pulling from our dentist. We would certainly appreciate your prayers for them as Charity and Anya will not only be having out their wisdom teeth but 4 others as well. So, we expect to be going to California in October.
Anya is keeping well. In October of last year she passed her driving test. That sure makes things easier around here, since I don't have to be the only chauffeur now. She has been going to school for instrumental music and will be doing her final theory and playing exam within the next week.
Charity takes vocal music at school and she too will be finishing up within the next few days. Her piano was also coming along very well until a few weeks ago. She entered grade 2 in November but due to a skiing mishap just after the new year, she broke her thumb. It is in a splint now and we hope that lessons can resume next week.
Rhian's birthday saw her officially enter the teenage years as she turned thirteen. Although still very petite she is turning into a very nice young woman. She really enjoys being part of Junior Youth on Friday nights. She attends Junior Youth at the church that The Chapel amalgamated with, so she knew several of the kids.
We are definitely on the busier side this year. It is barely the third week of the year and we have already completed two of our four January bookings. Plus we will be busy every Wednesday night at The Pentecostal Tabernacle in Port Colborne, Ontario until the end of April. They have asked us to come in and run their mid-week children's program. There are only 2 or 3 children in the congregation. Last week (13th) was the first week for this new outreach and due to the weather we had the great attendance of 0. Last night we had 11. We were thrilled. At least three of them had no church affiliation. At the end of the evening all of them stood to say they wanted to follow the one true God. PTL
January is only the start of what is starting to look like a busy year for us. We are thrilled. It looks like February, March and April are not too far from home. April will be in Hamburg, NY at the New York State Sunday School Association . Dick Gruber from Bloomington, Minnesota will be the keynote speaker. Lord willing, we will be heading to the Canadian East Coast in May and June. Our summer is still sketchy but we have a lot of pencil scratchings - just waiting for confirmation. Then with the end of summer, Lord willing, we expect to be heading to the West Coast - American and Canadian. You can find our schedule on our website and if we are near you - we would love to see you.
In the meantime, we keep updating our website. We have made a major renovation since October. You can now receive our newsletter by mail (the regular way), read it on our site or now by email. Just sign up at the top of this page. We also have a history page now, including photos. The story page has been revamped and we now have a selection of stories for everyone and for Christian Educators. Our two newest additions are Graeme's Job for children and Jewels for Keeping for the children's pastor - although I think that it is a story that everyone can enjoy. Either Joel or I have written all the stories on the story page.