as the summer closes.

Certainly we have transitioned into the end of summer without even noticing that it was happening. Our schedule is full this season and will have us traveling some as we visit some churches and take part in some missions conferences. Already since camp has concluded we've enjoyed a couple of missions conferences.

At ANBC we hosted our post-summer camp Advisory Team meeting. As a team we decided that it would be beneficial to introduce some new members to the committee. We invited four local individuals and they all agreed to join us for a meeting to see what the advisory team is all about. It was a pleasure to have them join us and once I've heard back from those who wish to commit to the team I will announce them to you here on the blog! It's always encouraging to have people share in our excitement and desire to see ANBC grow and flourish as a ministry center.

We held the Grand Opening of the Waban-Aki Book Shop on Thursday, September 5th and have had several opportunities to have the bookstore serve by being open for events since then. The bookstore will be open on Thursdays from 1 to 5 pm and by appointment. The fact that we live here on the property will make it very simple for us to make the bookstore available to people at their own convenience. You can follow the book shop on Facebook where we will regularly post book reviews, articles, specials and updates.

Our Newly Renovated Book Shop (this building also serves as the Tuck Shop for our summer camps)

It was a blessing to have our fellow missionaries, Kevin & Marcia Strout visit the Book Shop on the day of the grand opening.

On the weekend of September 6 - 8, Cumberland Bay Baptist Church held a missions conference entitled "Missions in the Maritimes" there were several guests who shared various aspects of ministry and evangelism in Atlantic Canada. I was pleased to be able to share some of the need for ministry among the First Nations people of Atlantic Canada. You can visit the Churches website by clicking HERE to listen to the messages of the guest speakers.

The church hosted a round table Q&A on Saturday afternoon that was quite informative and enjoyable. 

On the Monday following the close of the Cumberland Bay missions conference we made our way to Green Hill Lake Bible Camp in Greenhill, NB. GHLBC hosted the NCEM Eastern and Arctic Field conference again this year. We had a wonderful time of fellowship, meetings and time in God's Word. We enjoyed a series of messages from Pastor Russ Worrad of Grace Church, Newmarket, Ontario. It is always a huge encouragement to get together with the NCEM missionaries. This year we were once again joined by the executive, who took the time to come way out East to join us. This year Atlantic Canada hosted the NCEM annual general meeting, and it was a pleasure to be able to take part. As a part of the meetings this year Liz and I received our NCEM Senior missionary membership, this is a qualification that is granted to field missionaries once they have served for two full years as junior missionaries. We continue to feel blessed to be able to serve with NCEM at Arrowhead and everyday marvel at how wonderful it is to be able to do so.

During one of our meetings we had a severe thunderstorm and the lights went out - but that didn't stop us. This is Alan and Esther Giesbrecht sharing with the group by the glow of the emergency lights.

We will very much miss Len and Lorrayne Breen as they transition into a different role with NCEM. It has been a pleasure getting to know them and serve alongside them as our field directors for the past four years!

Pastor Russ walking to the chapel from his cabin, and God showing some of the marvel of His creation behind him.

This past Saturday, the Barton Family annual reunion was held at Arrowhead. Arrowhead is available, during periods of time that are not in conflict with it's regular ministry, for rental - and it's always a great opportunity to meet people and expose them to Arrowhead, our ministries and just what NCEM is doing in Atlantic Canada.

We are looking forward this coming weekend to the Ladies Retreat "The Fruit of the Spirit". As always it promises to be a good time of fellowship. This year some of the missionary ladies are sharing the responsibility of speaking. Liz, Marcia Strout, Cathy Hill and Gracie Welch will each take a session. We'll post an update next week for you complete with pictures. But if you'd like a first hand account, why not join them. You can download the brochure by clicking HERE or read more about it on the Facebook event page HERE.

the Moose.

We would like to give thanks to God for His protection last evening. On Sunday afternoon I drove to Moncton to pick up Ben Bedecki; he is spending the week with us at ANBC to help with some cleaning and maintenance. On the return trip we turned onto highway 10 and commenced what is known as the four mile stretch. It's a very dark and empty piece of road, there are no houses or power lines.


Ben saw the moose first and called out, I had about a second to react. I think I hit the brakes before we hit the moose, but it is difficult to know. We hit it hard never the less. Both Ben and myself walked away unharmed, and for that we are thankful. Several agencies responded to the accident including the paramedics (just to check us out), the Cumberland Bay Volunteer Fire Department, Dept. of forestry and the police. By the time forestry arrived the moose had expired.

It was a frightening experience, and it certainly puts things into perspective. We are very grateful that God in His sovereignty has chosen not to take us. He did, however, take the camp truck. I am working with our insurance company on filing a claim.

The firemen believe the moose may have been texting, which would have distracted it enough to be in our lane. They found a pink cell phone case very near the moose. I heartily concur that the moose would never have hit us if it had been paying attention.