Category: Updates

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Our Saturday Blog

February 1st was the third year that I celebrated my Freedom Festival! It was a low key celebration, but it was very fitting that the very next day we were teaching Galatians which is all about freedom. Freedom from works, freedom to live by the power of Grace- all because of Jesus.
Things are really going well here. We are enjoying the food. The weather has been very nice. And most of all the Indonesian students are so wonderful! They are learning to hear God speak to them through the bible. We have a sharing time every Wednesday to hear what they are learning and it is amazing to hear what God has been showing them. One of our students Paulus shared how he was shown in the bible how God loves everyone and His grace is for everyone, not just certain tribes. This is a very meaningful realization in this land where there are many tribes and a lot of prejudice.
The four teachers we are discipling are growing as well. This is not an easy time for them as they have lots of studying to do to prepare for teaching books of the bible. Each of them feels overwhelmed, yet strengthened by God. Ben and I find our biggest tasks are 1) Helping them to see the essentials of what to teach 2)How to organize it 3)and Especially to pray with them and encourage them!
Our other teams that are all over the place are doing well! The China teams will be going out soon (they wait for the end of Chinese New Year). The Sudan team has made it into Sudan (from Uganda) and has begun teaching in an Anglican Seminary. The Aremenia team is teaching at the YWAM base (doing a similar thing to what we are doing but it will only be for three weeks). We haven’t heard any news from our India, Afghanistan, or Cambodia teams but we will let you know when we do!
Thanks for your prayers. This blog is a little longer than usual since we can only blog every Saturday, but we hope it helps you stay connected with us way out here in Indonesia!
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Dino’s story

Dino is our friend who translated for our team last year when we were here. Every time we taught in a village he would say- I want to learn to study the bible, maybe one day I can do the SBS. We saw his big smiling face (see picture in album) when we arrived back in Pontianak this year. "I didn’t get to do the SBS yet, but I can learn from you for two months! I will be your student!"
The next day Dino shared with us that he is starting a new ministry in a town nearby. Ever since he moved there he has been asked to preach 2-3 times a week. "I REALLY need to learn to study the bible because I don’t know what to preach about."
We are so grateful to be here with an amazing group of teachers and students. Jesus said, "It is better to give than receive."- I really believe that is true! Our hearts are full! Our friend Yan also shared his story on video which will begin playing automatically.
Cassie is having a great time too- you can read her blog a little farther down the page :)
 
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In Jarkarta

Right now I am in a mall with AC! YEA! It is so hot here. I was trying to prepare myself mentally for the heat, but no matter what I do it is always such a shock coming to such hot countries and having no AC. I guess that just goes to show how spoiled I am :)
 
We made it here to Jakarta and tomorrow we leave for Pontianak. We have an amazing team of teachers that we are travelling with. When we arrived in Jakarta we stood in the immigration line up for over 30 minutes only to find out we had to go back to another counter to buy our tickets first. A little frustrated at wasting all that time after travelling al day but no problem- until we saw the line up at the other counter. Again we waited for 45 minutes. BUT our team never complained at all. I think I will start calling our team the ‘dream team!’ Ben and I are excited to continue helping our team grow as teachers and learn from them as well! Their names are Jay (25 years old from Canada) Sun A (40 years old from Korea) and David and Sharon (31 and 28 married couple from New Jersey).  
 
One we get to Pontianak tomorrow we will meet our students and introduce you to them over this website! Get excited with us- you will make an impact in Borneo through your prayers and support!
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Oo Gway (WuGui)

Well, we’ve gone and done it again – bikeriding!
Actually, it turned out to be a really nice day – especially for winter. Our two friends, Brett & Lana took us across the river to Bali (literally: eight streets – sorry, its not the famous one). There we enjoyed some yuanbao (I think…but I’m probably wrong). Anyway, we were enjoying the sunlight (yes, Danshui is really cold in winter) and we decided to rent a bicycle (for all 4 of us!) and head out. So there we were, innocently peddling along when this little green thing on the side of the trail caught my eye.
 
Sure enough – there was the little turtle. We took our juice cup and put some river water (much nastier than the Red River) into it and added one green little turtle. On our ride home, Angela named him Master WuGui (oo gway – like the old turtle in "KungFu Panda"). Now he is chilling out in our living room. He doesn’t eat much and he probably won’t "make it", but he didn’t seem to be doing so well in the wild. We’ll see how he did when we get back from Indo, we’ll let him stay with our friend Rachel while we’re gone.
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Resolution

My friend Kelly reminded me that I was supposed to blog about my New Years Resolution. I like New Years Resolutions. You know, many people don’t like them because they say what they resolve doesn’t actually happen. But I really like them because it helps me realize there is still lots of things that I can grow in, learn, or change :)
So this year I have decided to stop telling people how busy I am. I think that is a way that I unconsciously prove my worth. It is like, if I am busy then I am validated. I am removing the word ‘busy’ from my vocabulary. Everyone has 24 hours. We all use the 24 hours in some way- so in fact busy is only a perception. If I feel I have more to do than I have time for then it is: 1) a lack of time management or 2) it is a lack of discipline to say no to things. So from now on if someone says, "Hey Ang, how are you?" I am not going to answer "Well, I am good, but very busy." A friend shared with me that always talking about how busy you are makes people feel like you are too busy to be with them so they close themselves off from you or begin to rush their conversations with you. That is the last thing I want. So the word busy…gone! 
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It is a big job!

Figure out the fees…make cookies for the staff party…check-in schedules…fill in forms for the UofN… Who knew that leading a training course would be so much work! Week 1 is over and it was a hit! We had 6 different people this week teaching our 24 students about all different topics related to teaching. It is always exciting to watch our students teach for the first time on the Friday of Week 1. They all did amazing! We were very impressed with the amount of preparation they put in.
 
Only 2 more weeks and they will be in countries such as Sudan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Cambodia (and others) teaching to LIVE audiences. We do our very best to train them so that they can give the very best to their audiences. For some of the people that they will be teaching, it may be the only time they have a bible teacher come and help them understand how to study the bible. Therefore, it is very important to give our students the tools and training they need so that they can do their best possible.
 
Check out the pictures of week 1! We had a ‘fun night’ tonight with the students and put stockings on their head (in case you were wondering what is going on in those pictures!)
 
 
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Hualien

That is the name of the town that we travelled to on the East coast with Frank and Angelica. Have you ever been in a place where the beauty just takes your breath away? That was our experience this past weekend. It was really nice to get out of the big city. Breathing clean air has become a bit of a luxury.  
It was also a little gift to have a few days away to relax before our schedule gets busy again for the next three months. We are leading the Titus Project school right now. Today was day two. We have 25 students and 11 staff. It has gone really well so far. All of our students are very scared to teach, but super excited to go share what they have been learning for 9 months. We’ll keep you updated on how everything is going for the next three weeks. Thank you so much for sending us to be here to do this!  
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It’s 2009

Happy New Year Everyone!
 
Our friends Angelica and Frank are here to visit us from Thailand. They came in last night and we headed downtown to watch the fireworks come off Taipei 101. They said it may be the last year they do it, so off we went. it was NUTS! There were SOOOOO many people. At 11:40, Angelica and I thought we would go find a bathroom. We had 20 minutes so we thought lots of time. We found a bathroom and by the tiime we were done it was now 11:50- 10 minutes to go. No problem right? WRONG! We found ourselves in a throng of people. And I mean throng! (def:. A multitude of persons or of living beings pressing or pressed into a close body or assemblage; a crowd.) And so Angelica and I held hands and tried to desperately make our way back to the guys, but it seemed impossible. At one point we almost gave up, no one could move, much less give us room to get through. Finally we broke through to the street where we knew the guys were and we made it to them with only 1 minute to 12:00. I have never been in a crowd like that in my entire life!!! Totally worth it though. Ben and I kept telling ourselves- see we are not almost 30!! We’re at the coolest party in town :) Happy New Year everyone!
By the way, I’ve made a New Years Resolution- I’ll tell you in the next blog what it is. Do you have one?
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Crazy..our world is Crazy with a capital ‘C’

I am writing out of anger and passion…hopefully it comes across.
 
Two news articles in CBC news on the web:
 
Both of these articles were written the same day. One has under 50 comments, the other over 850 at the time of this writing. Idiocracy! In Palestine, the two sides want to completely annhilate the other, like two little boys that will fight each other unless restrained and hundreds write in terrorizing the other side. In Zimbabwe, an evil dictator rules the country, paying off his buddies and the people will not stand together against them.
 
Meanwhile, people possess outrage over 225 deaths in Gaza while basically ignoring the far more deadly goings on half a continent away. It is a good thing to be outraged – they should – but it definitely seems inbalanced to me that they don’t care a whips a** about the 6x as many deaths in Zimbabwe. While I’m going off about inbalanced. Do you want to know something about 9-11 – under 3,000 people died. How many died in the tsunami in 2004 – an estimated 229,866. I don’t want to put down someone’s loss – it is very real and very painful. And we need advocates. But I hope those who advocate are not just selfishly motivated by their own loss but instead actually care a little about the loss of others also, those who share the same world.
 
Ok – I’ve ranted! And now I want to just delete it all because it doesn’t come out all nice and pretty. And it is sad, terribly sad, the destructive world we live in, the non-caring, selfish world we live in. But what is the solution? Or is there none – are we doomed to fight and hate till we alone are left in our own little world.
 
The solution is complicated, or difficult or both. Actually, I think it even gets right down to the purpose of life – why and what we, you and I, live for each and every day. And if our answer is no more than living for our own selfish desire (happy, healthy and wealthy or whatever), then what hope do people like you and I have…
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Highlights from Christmas 2008

On Christmas day I had a flashback. A picture flashed through my mind of sitting on a train going to south Taiwan. Last year on Christmas day we were travelling to visit a friend and do some sight seeing in Taiwan when all of a sudden for the first time I felt Cassie kick in my stomach. I remember that being such a gift to make Christmas feel special even though we were away from family. This year we also were given a gift- the chance to celebrate our first Christmas with a child.
We had a wonderful time with friends sharing the holiday and had a great balance of time with people, yet not feeling rushed or busy. We enjoyed a beautiful Chinese choir on Christmas Eve, a sleepover with friends, waking up Christmas morning to yummy pancakes with real Canadian Maple Syrup, a Turkey dinner with Dane, Bee and many other friends, and finally, tonight to finish it off a party with our Taiwanese friends. We hope you enjoy the short video of our highlightes from Christmas 2008.
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Christmas…

Probably 2 weeks ago we received a number of Christmas cards in the mail. It was a great day as we delightfully opened and read each one. Some with sparkles, some with snow but every one with some words of encouragement and joy! My mom has always hung the Christmas cards around the house and my wife does the same thing. This year its been a little more difficult than most, though. Since we are … frugal, she made the choice to buy some little sticky hooks instead of 3M quality because they were a much better price. That night she hung up the cards on a string hanging between two hooks. Actually, there were three strings filled. The next morning there was one … and it wasn’t a trick of the eyes. The top two strings fell directly onto the bottom one. And before it could fall, Angela managed to rescue them. On her second attempt to hang the cards, Angela got more creative, I think it involved crazy glue or something. Anyway, the next morning the world came crashing down. She finally gave in – the heavy duty hooks are hanging on the wall – do you think they will last the night?
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Vision

It is our eyes, our vision, that lets us see what is in front of us. In our lives, Ben and I try to keep our eyes on the present, while considering and planning for the future. In 2003 we went to South Africa and we saw the tremendous need in all of Africa for Christians to live out what the bible teaches. In the bible 1 John says that ‘we know that we are children of God if we obey His commandments’. God’s commandments improve life for all people: love God, love others, pray for your enemies, help the poor, don’t judge, forgive… But the sad thing in Africa is many people say they are Christians but live lives of corruption, hate, violence etc.  So we had this ‘vision’ to go and disciple people by starting Titus Project in South Africa.
 
The great news is that Titus Project in South Africa started and is strong! They have awesome leaders and lots of staff. So now we are asking God, where else should we go start Titus Project? All of us in Titus Project (internationally) have a vision to have a Titus Project location on every continent by the year 2011. Right now the only two continents that don’t have Titus are Europe and South America. So right now we are praying about where to go. It doesn’t look like South Africa is going to be our next destination (although we love it there and may have to go back to visit one day!) If you pray for us, please talk to God about this. We are confident He has a plan and will lead us, we just need to be patient and keep listening. Meanwhile we are in Taiwan, loving it here and have a hard time even thinking about leaving…  Okay, time to go change the ‘Vision’ part of this website.
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Struggles

Missionaries are often put up on pedastals, but we are just real people with struggles and problems too.  I wanted to take a blog to share some of those so that you don’t get the idea that we are perfect, and so you can pray for us. Lately Ben and I have been getting stressed out about: finances, the school we are running, how to raise Cassie, and what to eat for dinner :).  
We’ve been travelling non-stop since July and we can tell that is making us more sensitive and more argumentative than usual. It is amazing how life’s circumstances can affect all areas, like relationships. Also, Cassie and I are both sick with colds, and my neck has been tight and sore for days now. And so, overall, it has been hard to keep a positive attitude.
 
Thankfully I have a refuge I can run to. I can identify with David when he writes Psalms 18:28-33
 It is you who light my lamp;

the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.

 By you I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
 
For who is God except the Lord?
And who is a rock besides our God?—
the God who girded me with strength,
and made my way safe.
 
He made my feet like the feet of a deer,
and set me secure on the heights.
Thank you to everyone who prays for us. We know that God hears and answers. Life isn’t always this perfect bowl of roses, but God is faithful to help us endure. Thanks for listening (or reading!)
 
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December 1

This month went by SO fast! I remember thinking the
first week, "How am I ever going to remember these peoples names; Gulzat, Sagan,
Alibek…". But as we left on Saturday, these strange faces with strange names
had become wonderful familiar friends. We were foreigners to their land but they
welcomed us with hospitality and love. We in turn devoted our time and effort to
giving them the best teacher training we could. Leaving is always hard but it
was definitely worth going. And maybe someday our path will take us back to
Central Asia. But for now we’re on our way back to Taiwan to get ready for our
next Titus Training Time that begins the night of January 4.
 
Lots of love, ABCD
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November 15 – Getting Tired

9:00pm is our regular bedtime, if we make it that
long! 6:00am seems to come so early. It is hard to remember back in the day when
I worked for WestJet and 6 am would have been considered a ‘sleep-in’
day!
This past week was jam packed with Rachel, Ben and I all teaching. I
taught a new lecture I hadn’t taught before on learning styles. It was a
lot of fun, and was a good reminder not to ask the question "How smart is
Joe?" but instead to ask "How is Joe smart?" Don’t worry, I contextualized
it by changing Joe to Asan (a popular name here). For many it was an important
two days of learning so that they, as teachers themselves, will look for
the potential in every student.
Just as a reminder, we can’t access our email
and facebook until we get back to Taiwan, so we aren’t ignoring you if you have
emailed us or written on our wall, we just haven’t received it yet.
In
Cassie’s news, Ben cut her hair today for the first time. She looks a little bit
like a monk with a bowl haircut. But to us she looks as cute as ever- isn’t that
the miraculous part of parenthood!! No matter what everyone else thinks, to
us she will always be the cutest little thing!
Well, off to go buy some
coffee to make in the french press that Katelyn bought for me. Thanks
Katelyn!!!

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November 9 – Week 2

Things are going great. Ben will be teaching on
Tuesday – The Basics of Pre aching. Angela has Wednesday & Thursday – How
People Learn. Our 15 students taught for the first time last week – they did
great but there is still lots of room for improvement. Can’t wait to see how
they’ll do this week.
 
We just changed homes, this is where we’ll
stay for the rest of our time here. It’s a nice home and we’re sharing it with
some other people. Cassandra is sitting up lots by herself, today was her first
shot in a high-chair. No food yet, though, just sitting up with the big people –
she loved it!
 
It snowed here, good thing we grabbed warm stuff
before we left! Hopefully, you’re enjoying your snow as much as we are ours. Ben
ran outside, grabbed a handful and brought it inside when he first saw it. It
was really nice, reminded us of home! Lots of love, ABCD
 
PS. Thanks
for "thinking" of us so often, we covet your
"thoughts".

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From November 5

We are half way through our first week here. I shared yesterday and Ben did today. Both went very well! We have a great translator and the people here are amazing! They are warm-hearted and very kind – especially to Big C. We have 15 students who are all going to be travelling and teaching their own people! Ben and I were just saying yesterday how privileged we feel to be here doing what we are doing. Life is good.
 
Our first few days here we stayed with a super nice couple and now we are in an apartment. There is no heat yet but the apartment is really nice with two bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms and a nice kitchen. We didn’t expect such a great place to be but we are thankful! On the 11th we’ll move to a different place where we will be the rest of our time here. We can’t put up any pictures yet, but when we get home at the end of the month we’ll show you this beautiful place.
 
We can only update the blog from where we are and not anything else, so for the next month this will be Cassie’s blog too. She is doing great, she is sitting up really well on her own and she LOVES the Jolly Jumper that Chris and Lorne lent us. All this travel is getting to her though, she has been waking up at 4:00am since we have gotten here. She goes back to sleep after about 20 minutes, but it is still rough on mom and dad.
 
Hope you are all doing well, time to go finish dinner, and feed Cassie hers.
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We’re Off

The bags are packed…well not quite! You would think after all the packing we’ve done this past year we would have it down to a science. Unfortunately..not so!
We are off to Central Asia to train local believers how to teach their own people how to study the bible. It’s going to be awesome! We are going with our leader Rachel who has set the whole thing up! She works so hard, we are privileged to have her as our teammate and friend.
 
We went to a beautiful place in Taiwan today, it is at the very north tip of the island. We’ll put up a couple pictures. It was fun to get out with a bunch of friends and be in the fresh ocean air of Taiwan. since we live in the city I often forget how beautiful this island is.
 
Well, bed is calling. Tomorrow is a big day. Central Asia here we come!
 
PS. The prayer opportunities have been updated – thanks for praying!
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Home

Home. For everyone that word brings up different images and experiences, places and people and of course, emotions. For us, the simplest way to describe home is like a big sigh. Everything melts out of you as you take a few deep breaths.
 
We just spent 10 days at home. Sigh. We got to see all of our immediate family as well as nearly all of our extended family and even much of our church family. Many people made trips to Winnipeg specifically to see us – well, probably more to see Cassandra than us, but who can blame them. Sigh. Thank you all for taking time for us, to bless us and show your love, we really appreciate it.
 
After more than 16 hours in the air (plus a few extra waiting in airports) we have arrived home – Taiwan home. Yes, this is also home. Sigh. Both of our homes have very special places in our lives and we would be amiss if we didn’t call both ‘home’. We are healthy, though rather tired as we begin the time change in earnest. Cassie is a little out of sorts, of course.
 
But we all will soon adjust to being home again. Sigh.
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Blessed

Right now I am sitting on the lanai overlooking the ocean thinking about just how amazing God has been to me. After being out of a 1st world country for a year (Taiwan is pretty good but you still can’t flush the toilet paper) Hawaii is such a blessing, plus being able to see my best friend and spend time with her…wow! Not only that, but our time here is for more than just ourselves. We will be able to pour our lives into 40 students who are just beginning the 9 month journey of studying the bible. We will be teaching them through Ephesians and it is going to be awesome! We are also going to be doing an extra night to teach people how to involve others in their mission through communicating and fundraising etc. Plus we were asked to help promote Titus Project in the other SBS as well. Never a lack of things to do :) Thank you to those who are praying for the students. Teaching the bible is much bigger than just giving the students head knowledge to memorize, we need their hearts to be open so it goes deeper. For those in Winnipeg, we look forward to seeing you soon!!!