Mission Trip Day 6

This morning we said our goodbye's to the LaLonde Family. We gave our hosts all the extra food and Canadian money we had in hope that it would be a blessing to them. We had a time of prayer and then hit the road.

Looking back over the trip, I have received a greater vision for the work here in Canada. My wife was talking to the kids, asking how they could pray for our missionary family more specifically. As I listened to their specific prayer requests, like... pray for Kendra and her recovery...Pray for Joe... I really understood the need for missions trips. Missions trips expands our vision for world evangelism, as well as breaks our hearts for those who minister abroad. In each of our missions trips the relationship between myself and the missionaries have grown. No longer are they pictures on a page, or a line on a prayer list; they are my friends. People who are like me in so many ways, and yet minister is so many differing places.

I challenge you to consider going on the next missions trip. Start praying now, and let God take care of the rest. I will see you soon!

Mission Trip Day 5

Sunday morning we awoke to a steady rain. In fact, we are expecting rain for the next few days. Church begins at 10:00 and we are planning to be there by 9:30. Sunday is always an exciting day for a pastor. It is the day we get to teach and prepare people for the Kingdom. In Quebec, it is no different. There is a genuine excitement in the air. There have been rumors about visitors planning to visit, and there is always the thought that God could bring someone unexpected.

When we arrived at the church, Pastor LaLonde was already there preparing for the days events. It was going to be a grand service. We were going to start off by having some testimonies and then having some "coffee and". I was going to be preaching with Pastor LaLonde doing the interpreting. This will be the first time I have spoken with an interpreter.

When service began, a visitor had come. It was a lady who was in language school with another missionary couple. I do not know her spiritual condition, but I prayed that she would understand the message of Christ.

Sorry folks, my laptop died. I have recharged it and am ready to complete this blog!!!

After services we have crapes with the LaLonde Family; Tim, Kim, Kendra, and Joe (all pictured above). They have truly been exceptional hosts. We have enjoyed the fellowship and look forward to many more years of partnership reaching the field Quebec. I have even spoken to Tim about the possibility of coming up for a few min-trips. You know, drive up Thursday, distribute Friday and Saturday, have services on Sunday and drive back Sunday afternoon. This would not be for the faint of heart, but would be a great time to see what a missionary does on the field.

Also pictured to the right is the Roy family (Guillaume, Christine, Cam, and Benjamin). Together, these two families have linked ministries to multiply their effectiveness. It demonstrates a great co-operation between men of God who are willing to work together to further the gospel. I applaud them and will be praying for further wisdom to reach the people of Quebec. And I know that you will be praying with me.

Tomorrow we head home. We will see you soon!

Mission Trip Day 4

Tired and sore, are how we start the day today. After yesterday and all the walking we did we all woke up this morning sore. Except of course the kids, they bounded out of bed ready to conquer the world. Today was a restful day full of fellowship and celebration. But it all started with breakfast.

This morning, mom woke up early and cooked breakfast for everyone. We had pancakes, sausage links and patties and fresh fruit. We all sat around the table and ate together. It even included a cup of coffee and chocolate milk. It was a relaxing way to start the morning.

After breakfast we headed off to the LaLonde's house to meet them before we head over to the Roye's house. The LaLonde Family and the Roye Family are partners in the ministry here in Quebec. Today in Benjamin Roye's 6th Birthday, so we went for a picnic to celebrate the event. It was a great time of celebrating with Benjamin and the rest of the church.

Around 3:00 PM, we left the Roy's place and headed out to see some more of Quebec. The first stop was a homemade ice cream and chocolate shop, where we sampled some of the local sweets. Then off to the Montmorency Falls.

At the falls, we took a gondola ride to the top and walked along the edge for a while. Then we came to a bridge that spanned the top of the falls. As you walk across a bridge of this kind, you cannot help but be a bit excited and scared. The noise of the falls and the rhythm of the flowing water shook the bridge a bit, which added to the excitement of the swaying bridge. It felt good to set my feet on solid ground. I am not a fan of heights, but the excitement of such a sight was to great to pass up. You travel from the top of the falls to the bottom of the falls by a set of stair cases that travel down the side of a cliff.

The reward for the long trail down is the "spray patio". At the bottom of the waterfall, where the water cascades off the rock below, a fine mist like spray gallops through the air. The kids loved this place because you can get soaked, and I must say, they did. It was refreshing after the 396 steps down the side of the cliff.

The only thing left in our day was to eat dinner and go home to get ready for Sunday. Please be in prayer for me tomorrow. I will be preaching with an interpreter for the first time. I look forward to reporting to you tomorrow about our exciting time at church. Until then, keep praying for the people of Quebec.

Mission Trip - Day 3

Well, the day of distribution has come and gone. It was a very busy day. My pedometer reads roughly 27,000 steps and a grand total of 9.7 miles. I must confess, not all of those were distribution steps, but all of them made for a very busy day. It all started...

"Mike...Mike... do you know it's 9:15?" My mother whispered through the door. I has awoken earlier and must have slipped back to sleep. I was important, because we were to meet up with the missionaries at 9:30 at the church for the start of distribution. We were going to be late, ans there was nothing I could do, but prompt people along.

We arrived a bit late to see our missionary host loading the cars and making everything ready to distribute. We were divided into teams with each team having an English speaker and a French speaker. Then off to the doors. We distributed packets from 10:30 - 1:00 PM. While we were distribution, there was another group back at the church putting together more packets. We were able to finish three large areas of the map. It was a good day of distribution.

We left for lunch and to try some authentic Canadian food. Pastor Tim and Pastor Roye' has been talking about a Canadian disk called "puttin" of something like that. It was french fries with cheese and gravy. So we had to try some. Mom, Shawn and I all tried the dish. Mine included some "sloppy Joe" type meat on the top. I must say, it was pretty good. Shannon had a Canadian roast beef sandwich.

After much fellowship and eating we decided to call it a day and head into the "old City". SO about 4:00 we headed into Quebec City. It was a great time, but it included about 4 miles of walking. The old city was beautiful. In fact, Quebec is celebrating its 400 year birthday this summer. Pastor Tim, did a great job filling us in on the history of Quebec and the uses of all the building on the old city.

All in all, it was a great day. Much work for the Lord was completed and there was genuine fellowship between the believers. It is so amazing to partake in the work with our missionaries. I hope that you will make plans to go on a missions trip soon. Talk to you tomorrow.

Missions Trip Day 2

Today, we packed bags for distribution. We brought about 8000 trifold brochures, and we probably packed about 7000. In the end, we were scrounging for supplies to finish the full 8000. It rained today, so we were unable to do any distribution. Maybe tomorrow.

We stopped packing about 6:00 AM and met with the missionaries for dinner. We had made White Chicken Chili for dinner and the missionary provided a salad and some veggies. We all had a great time. Then we presented some gifts for the missionaries. For Joseph (13) we provided a new water gun with refilling backpack and a new MP3 player. For Kendra (23), 7 new books for the series' she has been reading. For Kim, Tim's wife, spending cash for an upcoming vacation, and for Tim, Microsoft publisher 2007. They were very appreciative for the gifts of love that our church provided. It is always a blessing to see our missionaries, and even a greater blessing to be an encouragement to them.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Missions Trip Day 1

Hello everyone! Greetings from Quebec Canada. We have arrived! The first day was comprised mostly of driving. We left about 7:30 AM and drove until we reached Quebec City. We stopped only for restroom breaks and to get a bite to eat. We stopped to eat a picnic at a park in Vermont, only to have our plans twarted by a passing storm. We looked at the park while the rain pelted the windows of the van. We had hoped to stay around the park for a while and stretch our legs, but as the rain continued to fall, we decided to continue on our journey.

Only six miles later we were at the Canadian border. We made it through with no probelems, and we did not even have to unpack out van. ``Thank you Father, because you know how hard we worked to pack everything in its proper place.`` The only hang-up came when they asked us the name of the church we would be helping. I did not know the name of the church. Afterall, I`ve only seen it written in French. ``Luckely`` I did not have room to store all the fliers in the intended loaction, so I had to store one small box under my seat. There at the bottom of the flier was the name of the church. The border guard looked at the flier and told us to pass on.

I anticipated Canada looking very similar to Vermont, but to my surprise, I started noticing changes almost immeditely. This one tree seemed to predominate the horizon. It was tall and norrow. The leaves hung close to the trunk and branches. Maybe it looked this way because of the previously mentioned storm that had preceded us into Canada. My mother remarked how the trees seemed to be smaller. As I looked, they did not seem to be as tall as the trees were in Vermont. But the largest difference was that the lanscape seemed to get much flatter. Vermont was a winding road that seemed to rise and fall over and around every hill. This was further demonstrated by the gas economy rating. While in Vermont the meter reat about 18 miles per gallon, but in Canada we peaked at 22 miles per gallon.

Three hours after the border we arrive in Quebec City at 5:00 PM. You got it, right in the middle of traffic. have you ever been in rush hour traffic, in a city you did not know, where all the road signs were in an different language. Not very easy to deal with. Yet we made it, with a little help from Richard. (Richard, is our name fo the GPS).

No sooner did we arrive, than Bro Lalonde called as said he would meet us at the hotel and take us for a quick bit to eat, then off to Wednesday evening services. It was unusual to hear the hymns in a different language, but we hummed right along with the congregation and worshiped our great God. Pastor Roye` preached and Bro Tim intrepreted for us. It was a great service. By the time we got home, we were exhausted and ready for bed. All in all, not a bad days worth of work for our first day on the mission field. Tomorrow, we begin to get our hands busy with the work of the ministry here in Canada.