Category: Updates

Today I checked our webpage and realized it has been four days since we last updated! The time is flying by! I just finished my book report for this quarter (35 pages later!) which feels amazing! Plus I am just about done my homework for this week; we finish the Old Testament this week! My goodness, I can’t believe it!

 

So I was trying to think of what I could write about for this blog and I clicked over to the CJOB 680 website (a Winnipeg News Radio Station). Guess what I found?? Yes-a little gift from God! The Bombers were right in the middle of playing their first pre-season game! What are the chances? All of a sudden I was listening to that familiar voice of Bob Irving calling the game. The words I am hearing now during the second quarter are: procedure, interception, incomplete… Well okay, they aren’t doing very well, but it is still the pre-season and I always have hope! Here is a picture of Ben and I at a Bomber game, and of course "J double K"(Johnson, Kwiatkowski, Krystik) two of my close bomber fan friends at a game just last fall!

Home…

 

We love our home. Growing up we have lots of memories. Ben thinks of fresh baked cookies, chocolate chip banana muffins…. yum! I think of a hot cup of coffee out on the deck with my two dogs running around. Then there is our home on Melbourne where we think of the days with Liza and Jacquie, youth coming over late on fridays, lots of BBQ’s with friends! Ah… Home.

 

Don’t misunderstand us, of course we love to travel, and we know the needs overseas, but nothing will ever replace Winnipeg as our home! We are excited to go home in a month – July 6th to be exact! But we still have four more books of the bible left, and a short time in California to visit Ben’s family that live there. We will also miss Kona, it has become another home with our cozy little room and porch, the view of the ocean everyday, and of course, can’t forget the ferrel cats! (See blog below).

 

Here are a few quotes on home:

Do you ever do things without really thinking first? This is disaster every time! Well, the past few days I have had two experiences that show this to be true…

 

Yesterday I left my room for a walk to the cafeteria when I saw a cute black cat on our walkway. This cat’s name is Coconut and she reminds me of our old cat Jaxon, looks the same! As most black cats do I guess. Well for some reason I thought I could treat this little black cat the same way that I used to treat Jaxon, and so I got up close and put my hand on its head and started to squish/pat/shake. It’s is hard to describe but its like when you see something really cute you just want to squish it! Does this happen to anyone else or is it just me? Well, anyways, here I am patting/shaking this little kitty’s head (in a loving way of course!) when it decides to pull out those nice long claws and scratch my hand, drawing blood! I suppose I deserved it, this wasn’t my cat after all, and of course I didn’t really think it through first.

 

Second episode happened at dinner time. Ben and I just finished eating our meals and we were walking to where we put our dishes for washing. Out of nowhere a water balloon splashes at our feet and I see two of our friends from our class laughing. Now here is where the no thinking part came in, I looked down to see a big glass of water in my hand and I took off after them. In all my wisdom I threw this cup of water in their direction, but it was also in the direction of many others having dinner, including a little 1 year old girl. OOPS! This little girl started screaming because she was scared. I felt so bad as her parents tried to calm her down and I proceeded to apologize profusely.

 

So the moral of this story is not thinking first can lead to pain and embarassment. I thought you might all get a few laughs out of my bad experiences. :) I think I will post a few pictures of Jaxon in memory of the moment!

 

In the past I have often considered that God seems to be different in the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). There is so much war and warning of judgment that it seems like thats all that is in the OT. This time of studying the prophets (the people who foretold the future and preached against sin) has really opened up my eyes to see how inaccurate that is. In every book by a prophet, there is a passage describing the love and compassion of God.

 

God doesn’t change, not even his message changes. His message was always ‘believe that I will bring you salvation and then live like you’ve got it, in joy and honesty, because you did, because you can do nothing to deserve it’. His message continues to be the same. God does the job of saving us, it is our job to respond to it. The same way someone responds to someone who loves them, that is the response God is seeking from us. And ultimately if we do not agree that it is He alone that saves then where will we turn for salvation?

 

It is a good day to thank God that he brings me salvation. Today I again choose to give my heart over to you, I did not earn your love before, I will not earn it now, but I am so glad that you do love. I would be dead without it, I am alive because of it. I will love you God by loving others.

It’s hard to know what to write every few days that will help you to stay connected with us. So today I thought I would just share how I am feeling right this very minute.

 

We have just finished two very long weeks of work and we have another very busy week ahead of us. I have to admit I knew this course would be hard, but last week I hit that proverbial wall where you feel like you just can’t do it anymore. And then by the end of the week, I think I climbed the wall and got over it. Now even though I am tired, I am confident I can keep going, I will make it! Only one more month. This course has been one of the best things I have ever done in life, but I think it may be the hardest thing so far too.

 

This weekend I watched the movie Blood Diamond. My spirit churned within me seeing the desperate need that Africa is in. After the movie was done I couldn’t rest in my spirit until I took sometime to pray for this continent. What a mess we humans have made of our world (myself included). What mercy God has had with us. It is not often that Hollywood comes out with something that makes me think about the message all week, but I’m glad they did this time. I am even more inspired for the work we will do in Africa. If you can handle violence it is a good movie to reveal the corruption of governments and rebels in Africa, how big business and greed influence the continent, and how child soldiers are made.   

 

Thanks for taking the time to read a little glimpse into my heart and mind today. I’m off to bed!

I mean if this isn’t entertaining – I don’t know what is!

 

In the lineup tonight we’ve got the fuel 2006 summer camping trip – excellent dancing care of Philippe, Katelyn, Ang & Liza with a busy little Jacquie doing the dishes or somthin’.

Follow this up with a rockin’ teaching trip to Cape Town, South Africa back in 2005. Cherie & Ang enjoying their coffee a little too much I’d say…

Nothing like becoming a kid again, that’s Suzanna and Elly, Samuel’s crawling around in the background.

Never fear – Liza loves to dance – even if it is at the dinner table. We love you Liza!

Colin on the bags’ back at some christmas party or something & Heidi is laughin’ it up!

Back in the day when we were young enough to snowboard – those were the good ol’ days.

Gotta be careful when you com’on over – you never know if you’ll run into an elephant or … Fresh Prince. Really though, you’re always welcome, we always have room for one (or more) more!

 

Enjoy our silly lives.

"I’ve always wanted to, but between costs and courage just never have."

 

Do you have anything in your life like that?

 

Well, since I was about 18 I wanted to get my motorcycle license. But I never did. It is easy to put off doing new things, especially as we get older because we start to get in a rut. BUT I AM GOING TO GET OUT OF THE RUT! :)

 

Actually another reason is that in Taiwan it will most likely be our form of transportation, and if I don’t want to have to depend on Ben to drive me everywhere then I had better learn how to drive a motorcycle. 

 

So let me strap on my helmut and…. here we go! I’m off to register for my class July 25-29! Anyone want to join me?  

 

 

Last week we studied a BIG book- Isaiah! I think that was the most work we have ever had in a week, but it was great! The main idea of the whole book is that the Israelites needed to trust God for both their physical and their spiritual salvation. There is a contrast in the book between the King of Ahaz who is given the option of trusting God for deliverence from his enemies, but because of pride chooses not to. And then there is Hezekiah who also is confronted with the same choice and in humility he relies on God. The book is really one huge contrast between those who trust God in humility and those who refuse to acknowledge God in their pride. There are these amazing restoration passages and prophesies of a coming Servant. Here are a few that encouraged me this past week:

 

Why do you say O Jacob, and speak O Israel,

"My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God"?

Have you not known, Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31)

 

Another one that is so cool is the detailed description of what the ‘Servant’ will do written 650 years before Jesus:

 

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6)  

Ever notice how we are always looking forward to something? If it is winter… we are excited about summer, if it is friday… we are excited about the weekend. We are always looking ahead! Sometimes that can take away joy from the journey, but it is also a cool thing because it represents hope in our lives.

 

We are trying to find the balance right now between finishing well here and still planning for this summer (and for Taiwan this fall). Does anyone else ever have a hard time with this, or is it just us? Well, on the planning note we have had some friends ask us if we can teach them how to study the bible inductively. Of course we are willing, and so we thought we would throw it out there to our friends and family, if anyone wants to learn while we are home this summer we will try to find a night once a week or maybe once every two weeks to teach. Send us an email, or leave a comment if you would be interested (of course for Winnipeggers only- unless you fly us to your destination!).

 

For other summer planning news, we won’t be working the fruitstand except maybe here and there for people who need a day off once in a while. Our plan is to spend as much time with people as possible. After this summer we will most likely be gone for at least two years before coming home again and so friends and family are priority number one!  Want to get together? Have a BBQ? Coffee? We’d love it! On July 22 we will be sharing the message at Kilcona (our church) with a BBQ afterwards. Cherie Campbell will also be sharing because she will be home for the summer from South Africa.

 

Stay tuned for upcoming posts (every three days) on more about Titus Project in Taiwan and of course what we are learning daily here. Hey why not make us your homepage so you never miss an update- we are way more fun than google! (The Canadian anthem with helium, does it get much better?)

We waved farewell to Howie & Kelsey on Sunday afternoon. What a great time we had with them and it only reminded us how much we love you all back home. So we cheer for Canada (in the World Cup) and the Senators this week as they skate it out on the ice. (BTW, it sounds like it got pretty warm in Winnipeg yesterday, we’re looking forward to being home to enjoy it with you). But for now we continue on with a bunch of big books in the next month, this week we’re taking a big picture look at Isaiah.

 

We love you lots.

Enjoy Angela’s rendition of ‘O Canada’! :)

 

Some of you who are regular blog viewers probably appreciate Ben and Angela’s fantastic videos that are posted on this blog! Sometimes they make you laugh, sometimes they get right to the heart, you get the point. Well let me tell you- as we spent some time here in Hawaii, we got to experience behind the scenes of what goes on in the making. Here is the inside scoop- the real deal!!!!

 

Those who know ‘Bengela’ it won’t suprise you that Ang is often the initiator of the ideas. Then Ben is the planner of how they unravel… We also found out, Ben is quite camera shy, and Ang doesn’t mind the limelight.

 

We watched what took place for the filming of the "Canadian Anthem at the hockey game", the bloopers of this flick are funnier than the film itself! Priceless! Ben is antsy to get it on the go, Ang is ready at the drop of a hat.

 

To sum this all up, if you are like us we often wondered what went on in the makings of these films, and now we know! When it comes down to it, these two crazy kids are normal people with a commitment to keep in touch with you in a creative personal way. Ben and Ang, we all love the way you have personalized the art of communication!

 

Keep making those videos, and for those of you who are reading this, keep posted for "The Canadian Anthem" by Bengela-

Since we’re dwelling on love this week (happy 30th), I’ve paraphrased a passage of the Bible that we are studying this week (the book of Hosea) that describes the love of our heavenly father for his people.

 

When Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son.

The more I called him, the more he went from me;

he kept sacrificing to false gods and worshipping idols.

 

Yet it was I who taught Israel to walk, I took him up in my arms;

but he did not acknowledge that I cared for him.

I led him along with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.

I was like those who lift infants to their cheeks, I bent down to him and fed him.

 

But since my child refuses to return to me,

he shall return to slavery in Egypt and be forced to serve Assyria,

for my people are determined to desert me.

 

How can I give you up, how can I let you go?

My heart is torn within me and my compassion overflows.

No, I will not unleash my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Israel,

for I am GOD and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.

 

For someday my people will seek me.

I, the LORD, will roar like a lion.

And when I roar, my children will return, trembling from the west,

like flocks of birds from Egypt, trembling like doves from Assyria,

and I will bring him home again, says the LORD.

 

Our own parents demonstrate so well for us loyalty and dedication in their relationships that the LORD has for us. And this isn’t even the the tip of the iceberg! Take a moment to trust our Father in heaven, read it over and insert your name for Israel.

When Ben and I got married we decided that we would never use the word divorce. Out was not an option. Now after five years we still keep to our rule and when the relationship gets a little rocky or difficult we know that we are both committed for life and we will always work it out. This brings such stability and peace to our lives. But you know what? We have been so blessed with this way of thinking because of our parents. We have had such examples in both of our lives and for that we are so grateful! That is very uncommon in our culture! My (Angela’s) parents are celebrating their 30th weddig anniversary today and I want to dedicate this entry to them. We love you very much and we are so grateful for the wonderful parents you are, but we are also grateful for the relationship you have with each other that gives us a wonderful example to follow! We hope you have an absolutely wonderful day celebrating the gift of your relationship!

  

Well folks, we are in the home stretch- two more months and we will have completed our training, having gone through every book of the bible verse by verse using the inductive method. We are getting excited to go out and give after receiving so much! As we prepare for working with Titus Project in Taiwan we are motivated as we read different accounts of those working with Titus Project. Many of you are involved and are part of sending us overseas to do this work. We also want to encourage you as you have persevered through this past year with us.  We want to share a story with you from someone who is serving with YWAM in the Titus Projet. In order to share this story we need to take out the country, but it is a country in the continent of Africa:

 

"Our seminars in _______ were hugely successful and well-attended so I’ll admit when we arrived at one particular seminar we were a little disappointed that only ten people showed up. We were very tired from teaching in another village, but despite our weariness, we gave everything we had. We were encouraged by the responsiveness of our students. We learned that the entire leadership of the church was present; all were very engaged in class, giving wonderful answers to our questions. At the end of the two-day seminar the pastor stood up and told us that he just came back from finishing seminary two weeks before, and had been discussing with his elders his desire to incorporate expository (verse by verse) preaching into the church by teaching the Bible book by book. This type of teaching is very rare in _________ since there is little Bible training and most pastors don’t use the Bible at all when they preach and teach. This pastor was excited about expository teaching but he shared that he felt frustrated that he did not have a framework by which to study and then teach it to his people. HE TOLD US THAT GOD MIRACULOUSLY ANSWERED HIS PRAYERS BY SENDING US TO SHOW THE LEADERSHIP HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE GIVING THEM A FRAMEWORK TO FOLLOW AS THEY TAKE THE CHURCH IN A NEW DIRECTION! I can’t express with words how in awe we were of what God did. Our sovereign God, in His divine timing, sent us there at that time as a direct answer to this pastor’s prayers and we had the honor of being able to give them a foundation for the future."

 

We are excited to be used in ways like the above in this coming year, thank you for sending us and believing in this much needed work overseas!

After a wonderful time with Angela’s family it feels a little like when Kevin is left home and the family leaves for Europe (from the movie Home Alone – you know, when he wakes up and he’s sad because they left without him). It was a real treat to have them visit. Especially because it was the first time we met Kevin’s (that’s Ang’s brother – not the actor) girlfriend Tanya.

 

We enjoyed a very unique trip to the top of the world and some down time too. There were laughs, there were tears but we never made it to Denny’s the whole time they were here.

 

Well Mom and Dad, Kev and Tanya – we sure enjoyed your visit! Enjoy the pics.

Well, I don’t really know if that is a word but it is what comes to mind when I think about tonight.

 

For our worship service at the ywam base this evening we focused on children! We had kids greeting, a family with children MC’ing, a kid’s story book read, a song sung, and the children played with tambourines and drums during worship! Can you picture it?

The scripture shared was from Matt 18:4-5 "Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." And the highlight from the evening was at the end all the kids on the base came up to the front and if anyone needed prayer they came up and had the kids pray for them! It was so awesome! I (Angela) had a little boy named Caleb pray for my cold and I am feeling a little better already :) 

 

We will post a few pictures from tonight but first here are a few sayings that kids have said to give you a smile:

 

Yesterday we went up the tallest mountain in the world (if you measure from ocean floor) to see the sunset and stargaze with Kevin (my brother) and Tanya (his girlfriend). 14 000 feet is pretty high up and it was amazing. Check out the video for the 30 minute sunset sped up to 1 minute and 30 seconds.

 

 

 

Good adventures come from family trips don’t you think so??

 

Well, last night my family flew into Kona (dad, mom, brother and girlfriend) at about 10:30pm. By the time we got their luggage, the rental car and some food it was about 11:30pm. Everything was right on track, but boy were they tired (it was like 4 am to them). They had rented a house to stay in, a really nice place! We had the directions how to get to the house and everything was fine and dandy…

 

Unfortunately things didn’t turn out so fine and dandy. The first thing we notice about this house is that the driveway is literally at least a 45 degree angle up. No prob! We start cruising up this driveway and we get about half way when the tires start spinning. Loud screech marks at 12:00 midnight is not the best in a residential neighbourhood, but what are you going to do? So we reverse down and a few of us get out thinking we will walk up the driveway to see what we are heading for. All of a sudden we see people on our balcony. Turns out that we had the wrong dates and they were not due to be out of the house until tomorrow! Now what?

 

Everyone is so tired, desperately just wanting a nice bed to sleep in, and now my family is homeless for the night :) This is what memories are made of! We offered them our floor in our place, but they kindly refused the offer and we found them a nice little hotel just a minute away from our campus. At the end of it all, it all worked out (doesn’t it always?) but it was definitely a little stretch to remain relaxed and stress free!

 

So now we have a super funny memory, and we’ve all learned another small lesson that it is good to be flexible in life :) Today we will re-attempt the driveway! Hopefully we can make it up! 

Transition week – the week between semesters is now behind us. But we had a wonderful week filled with rest, hiking, windy roads and beautiful views! We hopped a short commuter flight for the garden island, Kauai b/c we had to leave the base anyway.

 

We each made it through almost three books, some fiction, some biography :) as well as the other pursuits. If you ever want to read a book about a missionary couple who experienced a move of God through their obedience then read one called "Anointed for Burial" by Todd and DeAnn Burke – excellent!

 

But I think the most enjoyable part was just being there, so even though pictures can never capture an experience, we’ll share them with you and hope you can enjoy the wonder and magnificence of God’s creation and simple pleasures.

It is appropriate that we celebrate Easter at the beginning of spring, because spring conjurs up thoughts of new life… stark dead trees getting new buds, fresh green grass growing where it is only barren brown. That is what Easter is all about: suffering… death… RESURRECTION!

 

As I reflect on Easter this year a few different thoughts come to my mind.  

 

Did you know we could get rid of crime in one day? Yes its true, you would just have to take away all laws and that would get rid of crime. None of us would want that of course because the law stops a society from spiraling downward. God out of love gave us a law to keep our world from spiraling downward, for our own good. He summarized them in ten laws, the first four had to do with our relationship to him (don’t have any others gods besides Him, don’t use his name in an unholy way…) and the last six had to do with our relationships with others, things like don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t covet a neighbour’s possessions. Now these would have only been advice (not laws) unless there were consequences. Just like today our laws are only advice unless there is a justice system to enforce them. Obviously I have broken those ten commandments, so what are my consequences?

 

There are actually lots of consequences that come from disobeying the law, but ultimately it is death and separation from God eternally. God never designed for people to die, that is a consequence of breaking the commandments (or sin as the bible calls it). Right now I know a few people who are grieving the deaths of people they knew and loved. It hurts. But God always had a plan, from the time of the very first humans who disobeyed God had a rescue plan. His name is Jesus.

 

Some people think of Jesus as just a good teacher. But lately as we have studied the bible I’ve realized that isn’t an opinion one can hold if they know anything about Jesus. Basically there are only one of two opinions one can have about Jesus. Either he was insane or he was God in human flesh. Why do I say this? Because He claimed to be God. Understandably we would say that someone claiming to be God would be a little crazy(!!)…unless he actually was.

 

His life lends to the latter statement being true, people healed, bread was multiplied, his disciples were willing to die for their faith, his family believed he was (think about that for a second!) but ultimately Easter sunday is what really proved it! After he was totally tortured and had died by crucifixion (taking my penalty on himself), three days later he rose from the dead and appeared to many people (over 500 at one point)! Amazing!

 

And so, I have come to live my life in faith that Jesus’ claim to be God was true. Not only did He die, but He did it for me, so that my penalty for breaking the law could be paid. So that I would have true life! Resurrection life. Now that is true love.   

 

So why am I writing all this today? Well, really today I am using this blog as a journal to write out some of my thoughts and reflections. Sometimes I get so influenced by my western, materialistic culture that I question having faith in God. But faith is more than just believing in the existence of God, it is believing in His character. And at Easter time I am reminded that His character is loving, gracious, and just. It is my favorite holiday!  

 

So whenever you see a tree getting new buds, or a flower coming into bloom, think about the resurrection and celebrate! Happy Easter!