Some Book Learnin'

This week I am in Prince Albert for some training. For my time here, the focus of training is in relation to finances. Roan Elford, NCEM's CFO, has graciously dedicated a few days this week to teach me how to properly manage the bookkeeping for Arrowhead. After I have done this training, I will be assuming the responsibilities of finance and bookkeeping for Arrowhead. I am looking forward to undertaking this challenge. There are a lot of various books within NCEM and Roan has spent a lot of time making sure they are all done correctly and that they will all work together properly.

I am very much enjoying my time at headquarters. It's always nice to spend time with these folks, they're a great bunch out here.

Lizzie took the opportunity, while I'm away, to spend some time with her brother and sister-in-law. They are visiting in Maine for a few days. It'll be nice to be together again on Friday!

Roan and I in his office.

Dennis Siemens manages the print shop, he'll be printing our new prayer cards so I can take them home with me on Thursday.

Christmas Devotionals

Our home church in Windsor, Nova Scotia publishes an Advent devotional booklet each year. We were pleased to be asked if we would again like to contribute. I sent two offerings for the booklet and thought I'd post them here for you to read as well. We were limited to just 150 words, which I found to be a challenge... I do tend to prattle on. :0)

Below you will find the devotional for December 14th.

December 14
Reading: Matthew 6:24
Two Masters

"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Matthew 6:24

We live in a materialistic society. Life and love are defined by material possessions. Every Christmas, with increasing ferocity, we teach our children (and each other) this very lesson. We purchase mountains of junk, and allow ourselves to be so distracted by stuff that we entirely neglect Jesus Christ.

Christ defined true love for us at the manger and demonstrated it to us at the cross. He sacrificed heaven to come to Earth. To be born, to suffer and to die. To spite this we’ve allowed the World to define life for us in our possessions.

What if, this Christmas we actually sought to serve God and not pander to greed. This year sacrifice, but sacrifice as service to God. You may enter the New Year with less stuff, but when life is all over, God will not be remotely impressed by your collection of things. Your relationship with Christ is far too valuable to be traded for the sparkly trinkets of this world.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, I know that the purpose of my life is to bring honour and glory to You. May I seek always after You, and not be distracted by the things of this world. Help me to allow my ‘self’ give way to your glory.

There and Back Again

This week has been great. On Monday Kevin and I traveled to N.B.B.I. to visit some of our summer staff who are students. We have five students there who have worked at Arrowhead in the past. We took them out for supper and spent the night in the dorm with the guys. It was a great time, and we had an opportunity to reconnect with them and with some old friends at the school. Both Kevin and I took the opportunity to sit through some classes and chapel - it was very refreshing.

When we returned on Tuesday, Liz and I had the pleasure of visiting with some good friends from Windsor. Our pastor and his wife, Jeff and Sharon White came to visit with us. It was a great encouragement to see them and be able to spend some time with them.

Yesterday, Liz and I took the opportunity to do a little more unpacking and catch up on some office work. It's coming along, slowly but surely... it's beginning to feel like home.

Today, Liz and Marcia set off for N.B.B.I. This weekend is the Ladies conference at the school. They were picking up Venus Coté and a couple of other ladies on their way, it should be a good opportunity for them to spend some time together and enjoy some fellowship and teaching.

Next week promises to be a little quieter, it should give us an opportunity to finish our move into the mobile home, here in Cumberland Bay. But it should also allow Kevin and I to get some winterizing projects done before the work team arrives in a couple of weeks.

Later this month, I am scheduled to go to Prince Albert to headquarters to receive training from Roan Elford, the head of our finance dept. For the two days that I am there, I will be trained to do the books for Arrowhead. Having this training take place at headquarters is important to maintain consistent book keeping throughout the departments in the mission. I look forward to starting in on helping with the ministry at Arrowhead in this practical way.

Discipleship Weekend

We have had a student intern working with us and living at Arrowhead for the past six months or so. Deanna Bleakney is a student at Bethany Bible College in Sussex and as a part of her course requirements has been involved in various aspects of this ministry.

As a part of this program she was required to organize and operate an event at Arrowhead. This past weekend she ran a discipleship event for some of the kids who came to know the Lord this past summer. We were expecting a group of about ten kids, but unfortunately at the last minute a lot of them pulled out due to H1N1 concerns in Oromocto. We did still have a couple of kids wanting to come, so she held the event anyway. And in fact it turned out really well. The young fellas that did come have had some real struggles and the Hills have been praying for them for quite some time.

The one on one time Kevin and I were able to share with them was very valuable. One of the guys is a teen and very much into reading some dark fantasy novels and role playing games. Over the weekend, Mr. Hill read through one of his novels. After reading the novel and seeing some of the vast complexities of the storyline etc. he strongly encouraged this guy to read some of the stories in the bible. By the time we dropped the guys off at their home, he had read a vast portion of Revelations and seemed to be like it... he had a lot of questions, but seemed to really grasp what was being expressed. The Hills had recommended that he might like the 'Left Behind' books, so we may try to get him some from that series to read.

We had a lot of fun too, some of the young people from Cumberland Bay Baptist Church came and spent Saturday night with us, we played some Risk® and there was some flashlight tag, lots of junk food... and much giggling.

On Saturday Deanna had two sessions with the guys, one focusing on prayer and just what prayer is about. What exactly it means to talk to God. The second was about devotions, reading your Bible, how to do that and why it's important. The weekend ended on Sunday morning with a service, Carroll Hill gave an excellent message, very appropriate to the guys.

Kevin and I drove the guys home on Sunday afternoon. We got about twenty minutes from the camp when a radiator hose blew and spewed water all over the truck. We pulled over to have a look and found a very burst rubber hose and a very wet engine. Kevin made a desperate call to Tim Weaver and he and Lisa buzzed out to rescue us. He had a hose that fit and had us back on the road in a few short minutes!

It was a great weekend. Please pray for the two young guys that came from Oromocto for this event, and that the fellowship and Bible study will impact them. That they will have a desire to know God more and attend the Hills kids club regularly. So they can continue to learn and grow.

A Plethora of Pennies!

MDP training is right around the corner. As you know the 9 weeks of training that we were slated to take last year were postponed until 2010. We've begun to receive correspondence about the upcoming sessions and are preparing ourselves to go.

We and the Strouts will be setting off for the West in late April next year for our P.A.T.H. training (formerly MDP).

Both of our families work as volunteers, relying 100% on financial gifts from individuals and groups who wish to contribute to the work being done with NCEM at Arrowhead. Arrowhead, a ministry of the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission, has a mandate to reach Canada's First Peoples here in Atlantic Canada with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

N.C.E.M. requires all new candidate missionaries to take training in preparation for working in the various aspects of ministry throughout the country. As such, both the us and the Strout's have been asked to take part in 9 weeks of courses and training in Saskatchewan.

It is our understanding that these courses will encompass many important areas that can affect our ministry and are intended to equip and provide us with skills and knowledge to better serve at Arrowhead. These are to include, cultural training, language training, worldview, Biblical, Even survival training.

These courses are not given by N.C.E.M. and as such are quite costly to the missionaries who attend. We will also bear the burden of travel expenses. We are planning to travel together with the Strouts to reduce these costs.

We are expecting the costs associated with this training, including travel expenses to come in at around the $20,000 range. (this figure is a total including travel, tuitions, childcare, room and board for both us and the Strouts) Which brings me to our task at hand. It is our hope and prayer, that with your help we can raise the expense for this training by collecting 2,000,000 pennies. And you can help! Every single penny will count!

We will be hosting a penny rolling party at Arrowhead on February 27 (details to follow) we'd love to have you come. If you are too far away to attend and you or your group would like to contribute to our penny collection (if you're in Nova Scotia or England or the US you're still welcome to participate :0) feel free to host your own penny rolling party in the new year and take some pics for us. Then simply cash in the pennies for a cheque or money order and send it to the address below with a note, ear marking it for the Strout's and Fawcett's training. All of the pennies we collect will be evenly split between the Fawcett's and Strout's to cover the expense of this training. If you do have a group (youth group, W.M.S., choir, seniors, congregation, Bible Study, office, etc.) that is collecting, it would really encourage us if you let us know.

We are trusting in the Lord to provide for this one time expense, and look forward to completing the training and getting back to Arrowhead to the work at hand. Thanks in advance for your support... P.S. spread the word.

To contribute send your donation, with a note indicating that it is for the Fawcett's and Strout's training to:
Northern Canada Evangelical Mission
PO Box 3030
Prince Albert, SK
S6V 7V4
Canada
Phone: 306-764-3388
Fax: 306-764-3390

Oh Well!

Unpacking can certainly be a big task, this I know from years of experience, this move to Arrowhead is actually the thirteenth time I've packed and unpacked. We are taking a bit of time to do it, because we are doing some painting and things beforehand so we won't have to do it later on, after we're all settled in. But it is coming along, I think we'll be all done with any painting and building this week and should be right at home by the end of next week.

We've had a busy week at Arrowhead. On Monday we got a call from a local Well Drilling company, the owner, Mr. Mowat had been to our men's breakfast and had offered to drill a new well for Arrowhead. He came on Monday afternoon for a look, and soon returned with his trucks. Over the course of the next day or two, Mowat's Well Drilling sunk a 215 foot deep 10" well. They capped it yesterday and we will be testing the water in the next week or two. The first response from the well was 10 to 12 GPM, which is a massive improvement over our old well. We had been having trouble keeping enough water during busy times, but we shouldn't have any trouble now! Mowat's Well Drilling has done this work as a donation to the camp! Praise the Lord!

Lisbon Falls Baptist Church

We're home.

As you know we've been in Lisbon Falls, Maine to represent Arrowhead at a missions conference. We had a wonderful week, and had a lot of opportunity to share about the ministry happening here at ANBC.

For the duration of the conference, we were billeted out with some friends of ours in Lisbon Falls, Dan & Gwen Michel. It is neat how the Lord ties everything together. As a matter of fact, this was not the first time we have been in the church in Lisbon Falls. Liz and I were there three years ago to attend Peter & Elizabeth's wedding (Lizs' brother and the Michel's daughter). We've been growing closer with the Michel's ever since, so we felt very much at home for the week while we were visiting with them.

The church also provided for our meals for the week, individuals graciously took us into their homes at dinner times, between sessions. It was a great way to get to know some of the folk from the church.

The conference officially began on Sunday morning, Kevin was asked to take the Junior Church, I assisted him with that. He did a great job of illustrating for the kids the importance of having Christ in our lives.

On Sunday afternoon we were treated to a wonderful dinner at the home of Mrs. Sanborn. She is a wonderful lady with a real heart for missions, all summer long she holds yard sales to raise money to send to mission organizations that are really on her heart. And the Lord has really blessed her ministry, through donations of goods, she is never short of things to sell for Him.

Each session of the conference featured presentations by two missionaries, and a great time of fellowship afterwards. Neither the Strouts, nor ourselves were involved in the Sunday evening sessions.

On Monday we were invited by Larry & Melissa Strout (Kevins parents), missionaries in Argentina with Avant, to the family home in Paris Hill for a BBQ. We enjoyed very much the time to get to know them a bit more and spend a few hours with Kevin, Marica and their family.


On Monday evening Kevin shared about growing up as a missionary kid and how that impacts his ministry now at Arrowhead Native Bible Center. There were four missionaries slated for Monday evening, so his time was a bit short, but he made excellent use of the time he had and gave an excellent presentation.

Tuesday morning, Liz and I did a few necessary errands in Lewiston and Topsham. We had run short of prayer letters and prayer cards and were able to get a few more printed before the evening session. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and fellowship in the home of Brian and Peggy Ganong on Tuesday evening. We had wished the session were a bit later in the evening to give us a bit more time to visit.


Tuesday evening was our turn to share. We were given about half an hour to introduce ourselves, share a little bit about how we were called to this ministry, and just what is happening at Arrowhead and with NCEM. Lisbon Falls sent a team of 13 people to camp this past summer, as a result, many were already familiar with Arrowhead. Their excitement about the ministry and things happening at Arrowhead was a huge encouragement. It was exciting to be able to share with them a little more in depth, just what we are hoping the Lord will use us to accomplish here.

We very much appreciated the chance to share and fellowship with our friends, supporters, prayer warriors and co-laborers at the Lisbon Falls Baptist Church for their 48th annual missions conference.

On Wednesday morning, Kevin, Marica, Liz and I were able to share in Chapel at the A.C.E. Christian school at the church. It was quite a moving morning. We shared the camp promo, talked a little bit about the camp, Kevin once again shared some illustrations about the necessity of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And at the request of the pastor we shared the 'Letter from Hell' video with the senior students. This video is a short clip that Kevin discovered, this past summer we used it in our staff training. It is a powerful video and very graphically illustrates the importance of verbally and practically sharing the gospel with those people in our lives who don't have it. The school principal gave opportunity for students to stay behind afterwards to talk to us. We had opportunity to minister to three students from the school who had questions and concerns about the gospel.

The missions conference concluded on Wednesday evening with quite possibly the largest pot luck dinner I've ever had the privilege of attending. We had a wonderful missions challenge from Larry Strout and several hours of fellowship. It was a wonderful conclusion to a full week!


We had good traveling, the Lord kept us safe on the roads and kept the Strout's van running. We traveled together with them, and used two-way FM radios to communicate.

Now that we are home, we're hoping to finish with the unpacking and are planning to assist Deanna (our intern student) with an event she has planned for this weekend, as a part of her course requirements. I'll certainly keep you posted on our progress.