Niagara Falls ~ 1996 - 2000

We didn't actually live in Niagara Falls . . . It would have been awfully wet and cold, not to mention dangerous. But we did live in the part of the city that most people don't even realize exists. The non-tourist section :o)

Our time in Niagara Falls can be described as a growing time. We had actually been trying to leave the travelling life - at least for a few years while our family made it through high school. So we settled into church life.

Our first year was definitely a time of living by faith. We had come to a new, small congregation with no promise of income. Our first Christmas was extremely difficult. We had been able to scrape together $5.00 and Joel used this to make seven Christmas gifts. Early Christmas morning he was up sawing and nailing but that year became a memory we didn't want to forget.

Not long after moving into our new home, we knew we would not be in it long. Because of black mould Charity was very sick and missed over 40 days of school. As a result many of our boxes remained packed in the basement. When things became difficult Joel would joke that he had lost his brain the day we moved and it must still be packed in the boxes downstairs.

It was Christmas Eve and none of us had gifts for anyone. The only gifts under the tree had come from other family members. The girls came to me and asked how they could give Daddy a brain for Christmas. So we took a solitary green pea and wrapped it up with a note. The note said that it was a hardly used brain that would expand with use but needed to be swallowed whole to get the best effect. It was the last gift to be opened and the gift of laughter that was given to us that day is one we now treasure.

By spring, God directed us to leave the church we had come to Niagara Falls to be part of. In the fall, the church amalgamated with another church in the area and so we see God's wisdom in leaving when we did. We also moved out of our home and had not yet located another place to live. So while we began our summer ministry, friends were trying to locate a home for us to live in.

The next two years would be phenomenal however. In the spring of 1997, Joel would be asked to sit on the board of directors for the New York State Sunday School Association (NYSSSA). By the year end, Mary would also sit on the board. NYSSSA puts together two conferences per year for the training of people in ministry. The administrative skills learned from this committee have been priceless considering where we now know God is directing us. Also through this organization many doors have been opened up into Western New York for ministry.

In the summer of 1997,we decided to raise a missions offering this year to support Child Care Plus, a ministry of the PAOC. While at Mount Zion Pentecostal Camp in Gunter, Ontario we began our missions raiser. The money was coming in pretty slow the first week until Pastor Joel but an incentive out. When $200 came in he would shave off his beard in front of the kids. He didn't really think that they would make it but by the middle Sunday, Joel was outside shaving off his beard. When he went back into the main service, the only reason people recognized him was because of his clothes. Before the summer was through, we would be able to raise over $1000 for Child Care Plus - just from the kids.

In the fall, God opened up another door for ministry. We joined the staff at Central Gospel Temple in St. Catharines, Ontario for an eight month contract. Joel was the part-time assistant to the Christian Education Director and we were responsible for upgrading the Sunday School curriculum. Again our creative juices were brought to the forefront as we created everything from colouring sheets to complete Sunday School lessons.

We moved into our new home the same week that we began at Central - now how is that for God's timing. But God still had skills we needed to learn so for supplemental income Joel was employed by the Salvation Army in Niagara Falls. There Joel was placed into the retail world as a store supervisor.

Joel's contract came to an end at Central in June 1998 and we went back into the world of full-time itinerant evangelism. Even though the girls had enjoyed their schools, they were all excited about getting back into home schooling. Life on the road never looked brighter.

Have you ever had one of those times - or should I say years - when even though you have no doubt that you are in God's will somehow things are just not coming together? The Fall of 1998 seemed to be one of those times. The bookings were scarce, money non-existent, and we felt like David when he was being chased by King Saul. Then God stepped in and everything changed.

Along came 1999 and the calendar was booked solid from January until September. There was the odd weekend we had off and it just happened to snow that weekend, or the dog had puppies, or . . . You get the picture, it was a weekend we needed off. We were able to buy a new camera, the old one had broken in 1996 - that's why there's no pictures. :o( We began a $21,000 fundraiser - Catch the Vision - so that we can minister more effectiviely to the Millennial Generation. As of November 1999 almost $2000 has been raised.

This year was a year of firsts. We took our first ministry plane ride into Quebec's north. Waskaganish is an Cree Indian Reserve that sits on the eastern shore of the James Bay. While we were there we had anywhere from six to a hundred children in our service. Many of the children responded when asked if they wanted to be followers of Jesus. On the closing Sunday, some of the children were at the church waiting to go in three hours before the doors opened.

We also did our first street ministry which consisted of puppets and mime on the streets of Tobermory Harbour. The new portable sound system that we had been able to purchase this year made it possible. Rock climbing and snorkling were also firsts enjoyed by some of the team.

We also had new team members added to the group this year. During the summer Sam Martin joined with us and brought with him the unforgettable personality of Professor Hinkledinkle. At the end of the summer Sam returned home to go to school. Even though he had only been with us for two months we keenly felt his loss.

One of the other benefits of having another guy on the team meant we were able to do 'Ugly Louise', a drama that involved the whole team. Louise was the girl in class that no-one liked but even though no-one wanted to be her friend she new that Jesus loved her. It is a poignant moving drama that affects young and old alike. Hurts and past rejections can be taken to Jesus where healing takes place.

One of the camps we ministered at in the summer invited us to move there, making their place our home base. At first we said a very definite no, feeling that we were very happy in Niagara Falls. But then God began to open up a dream in our hearts. Some years ago, Joel had written the curriculum for a survival camp and we sensed the possibility that God was leading us toward the developing of the new camp. As a result Camp Rustic was born. Camp Rustic, where Radical Unequalled Saving Trust In Christ is the underlying theme that will determine every decision made, is a new ministry of YASM.

Since at the time of our move, the camp facilities were still quite rustic we looked into buying a trailer that would become our home for the next several years. We found a beautiful one that had been only used one season. So in the late fall our new home was delivered to the camp and we moved there just after Christmas.

The couple who invited us to come were planning on building up the camp and creating a trailer park. However, as they began their plans, they decided that it would be much more advantageous for them to build a lodge that could be used year round than a trailer park that would primarily be used in the summer. So as a result, we found ourselves in the position of having a home but nowhere to put it.

But as this is a story of up to today, we are at present looking for a new location to place our home. We still feel blessed because we now have a home. Up until we purchased our trailer we have always been paying somebody else's mortgage. Now at least we are paying our own.

As for Camp Rustic, we are still developing the plans and it will happen in God's time.