A long overdue update!

Hello friends, I must first begin by making apologies for the long delay in this post hitting the interwebs. Since camp has concluded, we have remained exceptionally busy; first with our Eastern Field conference and the grand opening of the Waban-Aki Book Shop. We have spent the past several weeks doing a great deal of travel and ministry updates as we've visited family and friends abroad. But prior to that we hosted our annual ladies retreat here at Arrowhead.

There was a smaller turn out this year than in past years, but a wonderful time of fellowship and teaching of the Fruit of the Spirit was enjoyed by the ladies. Special music was brought by Jane Ness and Theresa Hickman.

 Of course, craft time is always important.

And, the afternoon tea!

After the ladies retreat, we had the pleasure of visiting and opening the Word at Forest Hills Fellowship Baptist Church in Cole Harbour, NS. It is always wonderful to be with the folks there and share with them what has been happening with NCEM at ANBC.

The following week we were given the wonderful opportunity to have a few days of rest in North Conway in New Hampshire. We were able to enjoy some relaxation and time together in a beautiful community, we even visited the Fryeburg Fair - a wonderful agricultural fair in Maine.

Ivy very much loved all of the animals.

Ivy & mommy having some chowder.

Ivy & daddy at Old MacDonald's Farm.

It was such a wonderful blessing to be able to have these few days of vacation together. We are so very thankful for the kindness of friends who made this possible for us.

After our little vacation we were truly blessed to be able to share with our friends at Lisbon Falls Baptist Church in Lisbon Falls, Maine. We will also be looking forward to having a group of folks come from there to join us at the end of this month for a week of ministry in labour at the Center! We treasure our time with them at this time of year!

Upon our return from Maine we enjoyed a one day trip to the Miramichi to be with the missions society of Calvary Baptist Church for the first of their monthly meetings for this fall. They are a committed group of believers who apply themselves to prayerfully and financially supporting missions.

Our last visit this fall was with our friends at The People's Church in Truro, NS to be a part of their missions conference this past weekend. We shared with them the upcoming work weeks and our need for labourers - and the response has been overwhelming. There is a gentleman with a construction company who is planning to bring some of his crew up to help us install the roof steel on our cabins.

Although, as a family, we are feeling a bit weary we are so encouraged and excited about the ministry here at ANBC. We really feel that the Lord is preparing ANBC for some growth in ministry. We will have opportunity for a rest for the month of December as we work in the office and prepare for the new year - and I know that we will look back fondly at all of the wonderful things that the Lord has done this fall. It is a blessing for us to be able to serve here at Arrowhead and we very much love the ministry here.

A Victorian Christmas Tea Party

It's amazing how our annual ladies retreat at Arrowhead seems to come around the calendar year so quickly! And yet, here it is come and gone already.

It was with great excitement and anticipation that I prepared for the weekend. Venus Coté was slated to speak, Crystal Welch and Dianne DeNuke were going to be our special music. Plans were made well in advance, things were coming together. And then, the day before the retreat started, Crystals father was being rushed to the hospital with chest pain. Upon further observation it was a blockage and major surgery would be required. Crystal made the right decision to remain with her family at that difficult time. So, the duet became a solo. Dianne carried on and all were blessed by her beautiful voice and song of praise to our God.

No doubt, some may have come to our retreat especially to hear Venus Coté speak. Our experienced NCEM missionary shared her testimony on Friday night, the first of the four sessions at which she was to be speaking. During the first session, she began to experience a tightness in her chest, and great discomfort. She finished speaking, but afterward it was decided that it would be best for her to go to the hospital to be checked out. She was kept over night and the rest of the weekend for observation and tests. Based on her symptoms, the doctor said it looked like Venus had suffered a heart attack. More tests would need to be done Monday to determine just how severe a heart attack that it had been. Venus told the doctors that people all over the country were praying for complete healing and that she believed the Lord could heal her. And then, a miracle. The test showed No damage to her heart and that she had actually not suffered a heart attack at all. The doctor called what she had suffered, "broken heart syndrome", which mimics the symptoms of a heart attack? Thankfully all that was required for recovery was lots of rest!

Isn't it something how you can make all the plans in the world and think you're prepared, but really God has His own plans in mind!?! Even before Venus left for the hospital Friday night, two of our very faithful NCEM missionaries, Cathy Hill and Gracie Welch, came to me and said they both had messages prepared and were willing to fill in if needed. God had laid on both their hearts these messages and had said that they would be sharing them sometime! And what a blessing it was to hear what God had lay on their hearts They both shared as if they had been preparing all along for that weekend! Certainly God had been!

Our 'theme' was a Victorian Christmas, and so we enjoyed many a Yuletide decoration and even a lovely Christmas tree to sit by. Our Saturday afternoon was spent working on some lovely Christmas crafts, facilitated by hostess extrodinare, Tracy Burgess. She also gave us some great decorating tips on small touches that make Christmas extra special.

We also had our second annual tea. Irene VanAsperen baked us many delicious sweets to go with our tea. She always makes sure we get well spoiled with her goodies!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the men that cooked in the kitchen. What a wonderful job they did! Thanks to Todd Neilsen, Zack Neilsen, Justus Neilsen, Jonathan DeNuke, Andrew Ardern, Len Breen and Grant Fawcett for providing such lovely meals. Especially the lovely candlelit dinner Saturday night in which we were served our food! Todd even serenaded us during our desert!

It truly was a wonderful time. But not because of the planning, not because of who was going to be there or what we were going to be doing. Yes, those are all good, but because God is in control. And it was wonderful to see Him work everything out. Although He had nothing to work out, He had it planned that way all along.

The Victorian Christmas Tea Party

the kitchen help

Christmas craft time

special music with Dianne DeNuke

proudly displaying our Christmas wreathes

 

 

a couple of "cabinet cards" from our Victorian photo booth

encounters with Jesus

What a wonderful weekend it was at our annual Arrowhead Ladies Retreat again this year. Janeice Hill was our guest speaker, Janeice's title for her devotionals was Encounters with Jesus. Through the Scriptures she showed different examples of peoples life changing encounters with Jesus as well as her own experiences. She encouraged each one of us to daily dig into God's Word and really get to know Him and become more like Him every day.

Our special music was by Theresa Hickman who once again blessed us very much with her voice and the messages in the songs she sang.

The ladies enjoyed making ladder lace necklaces Saturday afternoon. They were a bit challenging at the beginning but everyone was very determined and felt great satisfaction in finishing their beautiful necklaces!

We also enjoyed a lovely tea later in the afternoon with delicious sweets and scones. There were lots of laughs and fun and more laughs...I'm told we could be heard from a distance!:o) It's always such a special time to get together with other Christian ladies to encourage one another in Christ.

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.

Right on the Dot.

A week ago today Marcia and I were doing the last minute things that needed to get done before the ladies retreat began. This was the 3rd Arrowhead ladies retreat that I have been to, and from what I've been hearing, one of the most special and amazing retreats yet. And I have to agree, God truly blessed us with such an encouraging and inspirational weekend. One of the inspirations was our special speaker, Pam Izon. She is currently battling her 3rd brain tumor and has already won the battle with several other forms of cancer. Her positive outlook comes from the hope she has in her Saviour, Jesus Christ. Her future is uncertain, but as she says, 'either way I win'. Pam's daughter-in-law. Tammy, accompanied her to NB from Maine and she also shared her experience and impact that Pam's illness has had on her and the rest of the family. Again the message of hope we can all have in Jesus Christ and how He is our strength was evident.

Our theme for the weekend was 'Right on the Dot'...God's timing is perfect. Even when things may happen far from when we think they should happen, God knows best and has a perfect plan. As Psalm 37:7 says, 'Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Janeice Hill gave her testimony Saturday night which was very encouraging. She reminded us of the importance of reading God's Word daily and really cultivating our relationship with Him. Psalm 119:103 says, 'How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth'! We should have a hunger for the Word of God!

Another inspirational part of our weekend was the music! Theresa Hickman provided our special music and was a real blessing to everyone. She is a very talented woman with a beautiful voice with which she sang worshipful and meaningful songs. We even had a hour long, on the spot sing along in which we sang favorite hymns and choruses after our meeting Sat night. Theresa accompanied the sing along on the camps old, very out of tune piano...what an amazing pianist she is! She made that piano sound beautiful!

The weekend went way too fast, it really is a wonderful time to come together as ladies and hear from other women how God has been working in their lives and to encourage one another. And of course we had lots of laughs and lots of food, that goes without saying!

I feel that I have not adequetley described what a wonderful weekend it was and how much we were all blessed by Pam Izon. She really is an amazing woman and despite the fact that we were unsure if she was even going to be well enough to come as speaker, it was obvious that God meant for her to be here for that weekend and that she was used and continues to be used by God to minister to others.

Please keep Pam in your prayers as she continues to fight her battle with cancer.

Megan & Alex with their fall bouquets!

Theresa Hickman our guest singer blessed us with her gift of music!

Janeice Hill shared with us her tesitmony.

We were truly blessed and encouraged by Pam Izon.

We had a great turn out and a wonderful time together.

We had fun learning how to put together a fall bouquet with Carolyn Thurber!