To whet your appetite...

There's a Men's Breakfast planned at Arrowhead on Saturday morning, June 6th. We will be blessed by special guest speaker, Pastor Tim MacDonald from Faith Bible Baptist Fellowship. And don't forget the food... it promises to be laden with Cholesterol... which always equates to yummy!! (and for those of you operating under the Cholesterol high water mark, we'll have... something equally as delicious I'm sure)

Those of you interested in coming just drop us a line and let us know... and if you need to come Friday night we can certainly make arrangements for you at the camp (just bring along a sleeping bag and pillow... also some soap...)

This is an excellent opportunity to share in a great day at Arrowhead, and make a contrbution to the work that will be going on this summer. We will be taking up a free-will collection of Canadian Tire Money from guests at the breakfast (and although we are obsessed with Canadian Tire money we will also accept real cash in the event you don't have any spare CDN Tire lying around).

If you have any questions or if you need a lift, just holler! I look forward to seeing you there!

God is Great, God is Good...

...and we thank Him for this food!

On behalf of Arrowhead Native Bible center, I want to take time today to say a huge thank you to all those of you who have contributed to the Grocery Grabber Coupon program. There is support for the camp through this program from several church groups, and it is such a wonderful blessing to have this need taken care of.

Habitation Baptist Church delivered their contribution to the camp with Marcia last week. This afternoon I had the privilege of traveling to Coldbrook Baptist Church to receive the gift of groceries from that fellowship. Elizabeth and I will deliver these items to Arrowhead this weekend (as you can see from the pictures below ... it may take some creative packing)

Mr. Flemming met me at Coldbrook Baptist Church this afternoon with this wonderful gift of groceries for Arrowhead.

These items are a vital part of the camp ministry this summer.

Clear!

Our little Mazda has had life breathed back into it after a heart transplant and a zap from the paddles. A good Samaritan has put us back on the road. Lizs' brother, Jonathan is a mechanic in the lower valley. After work today he high tailed it with one of his cohorts (Dana!) to our place. They picked me up and we hit the highway. Jonathan installed the new alternator and we were back on the road!

Step 1: remove damaged heart

Step 2: Clear!

By way of an update, we have had three viewings here at the house over the past few days. Two of the prospective buyers found it a bit small for their needs and we are still waiting to hear from the other. But the market has certainly picked up!

home again home again...

We've made it home. As you've read, our trip out to Saskatchewan was fraught with adventure... and as it turned out our return trip was no less exciting. We were at the Saskatoon airport bright and early and lifted off from there without mishap at about noon. There was a brief layover in Winnipeg and we headed for Toronto. At Toronto the weather was a bit nasty and we were forced to circle for about forty five minutes. The timing for our connection was close, but we made it.

We landed in Halifax about 11pm. We bundled all of our luggage into the car and hit the road. The battery light was on, but soon blinked off as the alternator charged it. This however was a short lived relief... just after we got on the road the battery light blazed back again. We got past Sackville and were approaching the last exit for quite a piece at Mount Uniacke. The lights started to dim and blink. so we gunned it for the exit and made it just to the Irving station in time. Our little car quietly died. I made a late night call to our mechanic, Lizs' brother Jonathan, and then to a good friend of ours in Windsor, Adam Pearce. Jonathan confirmed the death of the car (certificate pending) and Adam clambored out of bed and came to retrieve the weary travellers.

Now that you all know how poorly we seem to travel, I'll give you an update on the week at Timber Bay. It was fantastic! The seminars were run by World Resource Group and focused on Worldview training. There were some wonderful insights, some practical experience examples and a good deal of interactive group work, which all served to help us to learn to be learners. A vital piece of cross cultural ministry is the ability to learn and understand, in an appropriate way, the charactersitics and nuances of individuals and groups. Liz and I were both blown away by the material packed into the week. We certainly have a lot to think about... and read. I took the opportunity to visit the bookstore at headquarters and filled my suitcase with materials.

The fellowship at the conference was huge for us as well. We had the opportunity to meet and chat with a lot of people over the course of the week. It was a great encouragement and we look forward to seeing them again at general conference in August.

If you'd like to see more pictures from the week, click here for an album. And then simply click on the thumbnails to see the larger images.

The seminars were held in the Rec Center at Timber Bay Bible Camp.

After we'd woken up enough of our friends we figured we'd resign ourselves to our fate and unpack the deceased car.

Worldview Training Sessions...

Liz, Lydia & Venus enjoying the fresh air.

Kevin, Venus, Liz and I at headquarters

Everyone is off at break - so I thought I'd take the opportunity to give a quick update. We've begun the training sessions and they are fantastic. We are discussing worldview and have begun to be introduced to the importance of understangind the worldview of both ourselves and those to whom we will minister in order to adequately proclaim the worldview of the Lord - His ultimate desire for our lives. Our speakers are Mike Matthews and John Cosby, and we have really been blessed by their clarity in sharing their insights. We are really enjoying our time here at Timber Bay and look forward to a wonderful week.

Prince Albert, Saskatchewan

Well, we've made it. It was a long journey yesterday that began in Windsor, NS with Kevin. Here's a bit of a recap of our day for you!

5:15 rise and shine.

6:30 out the door and hit the road, each lovingly hugging a Timmy's

7:30 we arrived at the park n' fly at Stanfield International Airport

8:00 we checked our bags and endured security... strangely enough Liz was the only one they had to pat down.

9:00 lift off, we were on our way.

9:45 we arrived in Ottawa after an hour and three quarters for an additional 1 hour layover

11:00 we flew to Toronto arriving at 11:45am

12:00 noon we discovered that our flight (originally scheduled to leave at 3:00) was delayed until 6:20.

12:30 we were treated to a complimentary dinner by Air Canada

1:00 to 6:00 we wandered aimlessly around the terminal, fell asleep in precarious places and Liz tested hand cream at every possible occasion.

6:00 we boarded our flight bound for Saskatoon

6:10 we were informed by the pilot that there was an error on the flight manifest regarding fuel and we would have to wait fifteen minutes or so for it to be reconciled

6:30 we were informed by the pilot that they were unable to reconcile the fuel log and would have to measure the fuel manually.

7:15 we were informed that the fuel had been measured and we would be on our way shortly

7:20 we were informed that we were still awaiting sign off from the ground crew and would be just a few minutes

8:00 lift off

9:50 we arrived in Saskatoon (11:50 our time)

10:00 retrieved our luggage (which all arrived in good order)

10:30 supper at Subway in Saskatoon with Venus and Andrew

12:20 arrived in Prince Albert, by this time we had been traveling for very near to 22 hours, Kevin, Liz and Venus were getting quite dozy and I can't remember much of the drive, although apparently I was 'awake'...

We had a wonderful rest at the Mission Guest House and a lovely breakfast with Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Today Liz and I have enjoyed meeting with some of the executive and have had a tour of the headquarters. It has been great to see some old friends and meet some people that we've talked to on the phone. We are really looking forward to a wonderful week at Timber Bay.

We will be leaving Prince Albert on Monday morning and driving about 90 minutes north to Timber Bay Bible Camp for a week of meetings. There will be 50 people in attendance. I'm not sure if I'll have any access to internet there or not, but I'll give an update when I can.

The Happy Travellers, patiently waiting at Pearson.

Just Mind The Gap Storefront

Now Available Online

Just Mind the Gap apparel is now available at
our storefront with CafePress. There are several designs currently available, and we will be adding to these regularly. Any proceeds from the sale of these items will go directly toward our ministry expenses. This is a great opportunity to share in the ministry and at the same time "wear the gospel on your sleeve". Each design features our slogan and many of the designs feature scripture verses. If there is a piece of clothing you would like to see and we do not yet have it available, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

If you'd like to be stylin' with Just Mind The Gap clothing, you can visit our online store by clicking this link www.cafepress.ca/justmindthegap

janitors, airplanes and ...

It has been a couple of weeks now since I finished up my job with BeaverTails. It just so happened that our church was at the same time beginning the process of seeking a new janitor / custodian to fill a part time position. I applied for the job and as it turns out they have given me the position in the interim while we sell our home and prepare to move. The Lord is faithful and has continuously provided for our needs as we've stepped out into this ministry opportunity. Praise the Lord! This job will be flexible enough to allow us to continue our deputation and make the numerous trips that will be required of us over the coming few months.

We have had three viewings here at the house, the most recent of which was the most promising, but has apparently not worked out. The perspective buyers were deliberating between our place and one other, but we haven't heard from them since the viewing. I'm certain the Lord has someone out there, who is in need of a home, all lined up to buy ours at just the right time.

We are preparing, this week, to go to NCEM headquarters for the first of several week long meetings. These training sessions are in addition to the MDP training that we will be taking next Spring. We are both very much looking forward to visiting headquarters and meeting some of our colleagues. The meetings themselves are being held at Timber Bay Bible Camp, a couple of hours north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. It will be great to reconnect with some friends that we made at the Eastern Field conference last August as well. From what I understand there will be about fourty NCEM missionaries at this round of meetings.

On Thursday, I will be driving to Victoria Beach, NS to pick up Kevin. Kevin and Marcia will be arriving in NS via the Princess of Acadia ferry on Wednesday. I have to take our puppy, Lucy to the farm for a week of baby sitting, so it works out perfectly. He will come here to Windsor and spend the night Thursday night. Then we will leave from here early Friday morning to catch our flight in Halifax at 9:00 am. Our flight itinerary takes us through Ottawa, to Toronto and arrives at Saskatoon later that afternoon. Someone from the mission will meet us at the airport there and transport us back to Prince Albert.

I will try to get my hands on a computer while we're out West and post an update on the meetings and goings on. We appreciate your prayers as we travel, it has been a lot of years since either Liz or I have flown - so there is some anxiety about that.

Alive & Well: CCI/Canada Atlantic Region Spring Conference

Kevin Strout and I had the opportunity last week to attend some meetings as a part of the CCI/Canada Atlantic conference. The conference was held at Greenhill Lake Camp near Mactaquac, New Brunswick.

We attended several sessions led by Rev. Dr. Terry Atkinson, Senior Pastor of Brunswick Street Baptist Church in Fredericton. He covered a broad range of issues pertaining to camp leadership and management. He focused for us, on some very important issues regarding team building and operations. The sessions involved interactive discussion with the directors and leaders of various other Bible Camps in our region and were very informative. It was a real blessing and encouragement to learn some very practical skills specific to our ministry.

Both Kevin and I were encouraged to meet some other people in our area involved in Camping Ministry. We hope to stay in touch with these folks over the coming months and years as they will have some valuable insights for us as we work to develop the camp. We also enjoyed seeing the facilities at Greenhill Lake, they have a beautiful facility and it certainly got our creative juices flowing.

Greenhill Lake Camp "Where Christ is Made Known"

The chapel at Greenhill Lake Bible camp is a renovated church
that was moved onto the property. There are bunk, shower and washroom
facilities in the basement where we stayed.