physical needs update...

Hello friends, what I'm about to share with you is not something I've done before, since we entered into ministry. And, it is a difficult thing to write about. In 2009 I did write a short blog about some of the needs of a missionary, below is an excerpt from that blog entry.

"Trusting in the Lord completely to provide for our needs is a bit scary, especially as new missionaries. It means that we have to let go of control... and that is no easy thing. Liz and I have entered into a new phase of our lives, one that gives us the opportunity to trust the Lord in ways that we never could before because of ... well, quite frankly our selves. It's an exciting time and we are looking forward to it very much... We've begun to find that Faith missions seems to have become something of a cultural oddity in our society. There is a misunderstanding of just what it means to work as a (missionary) and be supported by those who believe in the work that we are doing with NCEM at Arrowhead. Much in the same way that a pastor/minister relies on the financial support of his congregation, missionaries rely on the financial support of churches and individuals who would like to be a part of the ministry in a practical way. God doesn't call everyone to be career missionaries, praying for and financially supporting a missionary is a way that you can share in the ministry in a very real way."

The reason that I am sharing this with you is because we have been struggling, somewhat, financially of late. This Spring we re-evaluated our personal budget, that is to say, our perceived personal financial needs. We reduced our forecast to $2,875.00 per month. This amount takes into account all of our financial needs, insurance, food, fuel, clothing, taxes, ministry, etc.

Although we have been at about 80% of this new budget for some time, over the course of the past few months we have found that we've had a couple of months well below 50% of our budget. Which brings me to the point of burdening all of you with this. Working in faith missions, trusting in the Lord completely, as I mentioned above... it can be scary, and stretching, and humbling. Liz and I try not ever to make it a point to ask for money, and we are so very grateful for all of those who sacrifice from their own pockets to support us financially as we work at Arrowhead. But, sometimes it is necessary to make our needs known so that people can both pray and, if the Lord leads, contribute financially to the work we are doing here.

A lot of our financial support in the past has relied on one time gifts, for which we are very grateful, but for us to be able to continue on in a stable and functional way, we are praying for individuals and churches who will commit to support us on a regular monthly basis. This is not something to be taken lightly either, if you feel like you want to contribute financially to NCEM for our ministry, I would ask that you pray about it first. And please know that there is no amount too small, monthly gifts of even $5 or $10 go a long way to meeting our needs. We strive to be good stewards of what the Lord allows us to have, and He often multiplies in wonderful ways that which is given.

It is NCEM's policy that if some of their missionaries are below their required income for an extended period of time, they will call them from the field to revisit their deputation. We sincerely hope and pray that it will not come to that for us. We have accepted new roles as the managers of Arrowhead Native Bible Center and there is much to be done over the coming months.

But if you do feel led to join us in ministry financially you can do that in several different ways. For a traditional method of support you can click HERE to download a form that you can print at home and mail in to NCEM. For those more comfortable with internet giving you can follow the link to the right, or visit NCEM's home page by clicking HERE.

We appreciate so much, all those of you who have contributed in the past and who contribute now, financially to our ministry. We thank you for your faithfulness and kindnesses. But there is a form of support that is not only necessary, it is vital - and that is prayer. We invite you to join with us in ministry as often as the Lord brings it to your mind.

The Kindnesses of Others...

We're always humbled and blessed by the generosity of those who support the ministries of NCEM and Arrowhead Native Bible Center. Here are a few blessings ANBC has received recently.

We are so very grateful to have received a gift of funds to purchase this bike for ANBC. It will certainly be put to good use at the Center!

This quite new upright freezer has been donated to Arrowhead and installed in our pantry. It will certainly make life in the kitchen more convenient.

Some good friends of Arrowhead blessed us with this beautiful door for the ANBC office. If you look closely at the design in the stained glass you will see the design of an Arrow! It is a beautiful addition to our new office building!

We are very grateful to receive this leaf blower... and as it turns out it's also a leaf vacuum... it will make cleaning up the fall foliage a 'breeze'...

Turkeys.

Some wild turkeys wandering down to ANBC for a visit.
(no - these are not the turkeys we fried for the corn boil...)

It's been another great week in Cumberland Bay. We were visited on Monday by some friends of ours who are missionaries to Ecuador - Dick and Carol-Lynn Grover - they are currently on home assignment and have been traveling in Atlantic Canada visiting churches and friends. It was great to have them with us for the night and have some time to share ministries together.

On Wednesday I met with someone at the camp to talk about the possibility of running water lines and installing sewer to our larger cabins and office. We are in the process of looking into this for the future, we'll keep you posted!

It's been cold here lately, and it's got me thinking about winter a little bit. I called and ordered some furnace oil for ANBC this week. It's always a little tight for ANBC in the fall and winter, but Liz and I will be doing some deputation for the center this year to make people aware of the needs of the Center. It is our hope, Lord willing, to find 100 individuals who will commit to support ANBC in the amount of $20 a month to help with all of it's regular expenses (oil, electricity, insurance, vehicles, internet, telephone etc.).

On Saturday morning I held a yard sale up the road at the home of our new pastor and his wife. We had some items left from the last yard sale and have received some more items to host another one. It was a brisk morning, but there were a few people out and we were able to clear out some more of the items. Some of the donated items will be very helpful at ANBC and we have several boxes of items that we will give to goodwill tomorrow.

While I was doing the yard sale thing, Liz was busy back at the Center preparing for a corn boil. We hosted a corn boil for our local church, Cumberland Bay Baptist Church, on Saturday evening. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a good chance for us to get to know our new pastor a little bit. There was a good turn out and some great vittles!

Apparently it takes 11 Baptist men to cook a turkey and some corn!

Our friend and neighbour Ron boiled up the corn for us!

And Roger did a couple of his famous turkeys!

Our new pastor and his wife, Andrew and Kayla Ardern!

Tomorrow, Liz and I will be picking up Len & Lorrayne Breen at the Moncton Airport. They are coming down to assist us with preparations for the ladies retreat as well as visiting the Eastern Field missionaries. We always enjoy having them here and are looking forward to seeing them again!

Liz has been busy preparing for the ladies retreat - and there is still room for anyone who would like to come along and join us. There are already a number of groups of ladies planning to attend, so we are excited for a great weekend. For more information about the retreat simply click the link at the top right of this page. This week promises to be quite busy with final preparations - we will be doing the grocery order tomorrow while we're in the city to pick up the Breens.

We appreciate your prayers and continued support as we serve here at Arrowhead. Liz and I are so blessed to be able to minister here with NCEM, and are humbled, that through everything, the Lord has provided for our needs through the faithfulness of you. Our physical needs, financial needs and Spiritual support have been met with the Grace of God - and we are thankful.

ANBC Ladies Retreat

The ANBC Ladies Retreat, "Encounters with Jesus." is right around the corner (Sept. 23 - 25). We will be hearing from Janeice Hill, who will share with us from the Word for the weekend, while Theresa Hickman will bless us with her ministry in Music. It is promising to be a wonderful weekend and we look forward to seeing many of you there! You can download the brochure by clicking the banner to the right. If you would like more information or to register, please drop us a line.

As the days roll by...

Well, as you have likely guessed, Liz and I have returned home safe and sound from the NCEM General Conference in Pinawa, Manitoba. What a wonderful conference it was. Liz and I were both very blessed by the opportunity to be a part of the conference, the fellowship, fun, the meetings and seminars, it was all a refreshing opportunity to spend time with our mission family. So, to those of you who made it possible, we tank you very much for your kindnesses.

Liz and I returned home just in time to beat 'Irene' to the punch. Although the effects of the hurricane were not as dramatic as suspected, there were over 58,000 NB Power customers without power after the winds came. In our part of Cumberland Bay (as though it is a big enough geographical location to have regions of it's own) the power was out for two days. This put us behind the gun a little bit with respect to getting back into the routine after conference. So, once again, I must apologize for not posting this update earlier than this. Praise the Lord that there were no major problems at ANBC as a result of the hurricane. In fact there wasn't even enough wind to knock over the plastic lawn chairs that I had neglected to bring in. There is some small debris to clean up, but all in all, we were spared.

Liz and I are currently in NS visiting with her parents for the long weekend. It had been my intention to return to Cumberland Bay today, but it seems the Lord has other plans. Our van went in to the Ford dealer yesterday for a recall, and everything with respect to that is fine. But Lizs' brother, while doing an oil change, did discover that we have a very severely leaking rad hose... so I'll be here for an extra day or two while that is getting repaired! We are very thankful for Jonathan's willingness to share his skills with us in this way!

Liz is busily getting ready for the Ladies retreat. It is sneaking up on us quickly, but the Lord has provided for all of the various aspects of the retreat that were lacking. Stay tuned for details in the next day or two about registration.

Plans are coming together for the Mission tour in October. I have been asked to represent NCEM on a week long PR tour of New Brunswick with members of several other missions. I will be traveling with representatives from Wycliff, SEND, OMF, Avant and HCJB and visiting Crandall, Bethany Bible College, N.B.B.I., St. Stephen's University, Devon Park Christian School and some other venues yet to be determined. It will be a busy week, but I am looking forward to the opportunity to share about the ministries of NCEM and Arrowhead.

I will be meeting with an excavation company this week at Arrowhead to discuss the logistics of running water and sewer to our three large cabins and the shop. Lord willing, we will be receiving funding this fall to complete this project. This will significantly improve these buildings and give us greater freedom with respect to their use. We will be closely looking at our water system and water quality at the same time and are looking forward to having a healthy and robust water system that conforms to all health and safety standards.

The work on the new office building is almost complete, with a little bit of flashing and soffit, it will be complete and up to date. We are hopeful, over the next couple of years, to bring all of the buildings on the property up to a level of regular maintenance. Our tuck shop is the building with the most need of attention and we will be focusing on it this fall during our work week in October. If you are available and would like to come and serve with us for the week, or for a portion of the week in October, we would be most blessed.

Here are a few more pics from our time at the NCEM General Conference.

We were blessed by worship times led by various individuals and groups made up of NCEM missionaries.

It was most excellent to reconnect with old friends! (we miss you Jan!)

It was great to fellowship with our mission family!

Near the end of the week the MK's did a presentation for us from what they had been learning in the childrens program.

I was very blessed to connect with the other NCEM camp managers during the conference. I'm on the left, in the middle is Lucas Gabrielson, manager of Pine Ridge Bible Camp, on the right is Jason Boucher, manager of Big River Bible Camp and NCEM camp co-ordinator.

This was NCEM's 65th anniversary and General Conference. Pat Elford, Barb Heal and Ardys Winger (not pictured) worked very hard to make this the wonderful conference that it was! We very much appreciate all of their hard work.

Staff devotions.

We flew home with Mark and Ruth-Anna Dana, NCEM missionaries working in Quebec. It was a lot of fun and a great chance to connect with them a little bit.