Category: Updates

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Who is acceptable to God?

Isn’t that a question we all ask? Am I good enough? Did I do enough good things this week? Does God really love me for who I am or who I try to be?
 
He does. Really love you I mean.
 
We were studying Acts this week- great book that Acts. Crazy adventures, Paul, Peter, stoning, healings, I mean, I don’t know if there is a movie out there with as much excitement or adventure, but the book answers one main question- Is Theophilus (the Roman official to whom it was written) also loved by God? Can he be a part of the family?
 
Now you need some background to understand how big of a question this was. Romans were looked down upon by everyone in the empire, who weren’t Roman. Nobody really liked them because they were the rulers, the ones who had the special privileges. but the Jewish people of that day especially didn’t like them because they didn’t worship the true God (The Romans were polytheists). So you can imagine the racial tensions…
 
And then comes Paul, a man…a jewish man…and says to these yucky romans- God loves you too! In fact, he loves you enough to send Jesus to die in judgement for you, so that you don’t have to. He even rose from the dead to conquer death for all who will believe Him.  Jesus…a jew…Paul… a jew… this is a book that says, God loves the whole world (From Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ENDS OF THE EARTH!) Picture it today, God loves the native of Vanuatu, the Chinese Buddist, the Muslim Imam…you get the picture. (By the way…my friend Dionne takes great pictures!)
 
Does Theophilus decide to believe? We don’t know.
 
And by the way, in case you are wondering, yes, God loves you too- no matter what! Even if you are a Roman :)
 
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Imposters!

I know what you’re thinking. This doesn’t sound like Ben. Doesn’t sound too much like Angela either. Then who could it be!? Who has usurped one of the best blogs on the internet?

Well none other than the same man who shares the exact same birthday as our dear friend Ben. No this is not Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Kyle & Marilyn Rudge (Kyle shares the birthday). We’ve been visiting with Ben & Ang for a few days now and Ang had this marvelous idea! Get Kyle & Marilyn to write the next blog for their readers.

What to say. I mean I imagine you all want to know just how Ben & Ang are doing. Well, Ang is across the room studying very hard while biting her nails and Ben is sitting at their computer studying as well. The School of Biblical Studies seems VERY INTENSE. From the brief overview of showing us their work, it seems relatively straight forward but you can easily see how it can become so very daunting. But thats the glory of the Bible right? That thing is jam packed with peanut-buttery Godly goodness.

I must say the campus here is spectacular! A lot of attention to detail has been put into the landscaping. I could continue on about the ocean, the weather, the smell, and the community around the campus. However, the highlight, first and foremost is the genuine hospitality that has been showed by both of these two. Marilyn and I came to Hawaii to attempt to hike Mauna Loa, however, that attempt was dashed when we reached 8000′ above sea level. My heart rate increased from a resting 80 to 130. Even after resting for 10 minutes it refused to lower. That combined with headache and slight dizziness sealed the deal. With altitude sickness there is no way of predicting who will be more susceptible and can be a matter of life or death. We had to turn back.

So instead of spending 5 days on a mountain we were stopped dead in our tracks on Day 1 and forced to return.

We are not dissappointed however. Our trip to the island of Kauai (the northern island) and then here for the past 2 weeks has really started to open our eyes. God has brought us again to a point of refocusing our lives. So instead of days on a mountain it has turned into days in a prayer room. Hopefully our remaining time here will allow us to discern God’s will for our lives, and give us the opportunity to serve Ben & Ang as they study God’s word so dutifully. During writing the blog I did bring Ben some ice cream! Serving comes in many forms, I suppose.

– Kyle
Our Trip to Hawaii

Ps. It is Ang’s birthday tomorrow. Be sure to send her an email or something! I happen to know she likes wal-mart gift cards *hint hint*

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Most Excellent, Theophilus

Well the time is flying by, a month has passed already. We got our first letter this week as well as Angela’s first birthday card! Thanx.
 
We spent this week studying the book of Luke. Luke wrote it to a Roman official, Theophilus to give him an accurate account of all that transpired concerning Jesus Christ. A couple interesting thoughts, Luke was written by a gentile (non-Jew) to a gentile, the first time in the history of God’s revelation to man (the Bible). The main idea Luke tried to convey to Theophilus is that Jesus Christ came to save everyone, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, child and parent, rich and poor – Jesus came because of his love for everyone. Watching Jesus impact people with the love they need: healing, physical compassion, geniune love, correction for wrong thinking and those who make judgement, Jesus was the most wonderful representation of our Heavenly Father. But He challenged people to believe, to have faith.
 
So everyone – have faith! :)
And lest we forget- go bombers go!
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Kona Ironman Triathlon

STATS:
2.4 Miles Swim (Almost 4 km)
112 Miles Bike (Almost Wpg to Brandon)
26.2 Miles Run (Full Marathon)
1700+ Competitors from 51 Countries
25,000+ Family and Friends to cheer them on
Ages: 17 – 79
7.00 am start, winner in at 3.11pm, cutoff midnight (you thought you worked overtime – 17hrs long)
 
We had quite the night! Our shift started at 7pm, working security detail and cheering on the runners in the final mile. About five minutes in it rained really hard so we were wet all night, but it must’ve been nice for the runners. We had fun banging our noise makers. One of the coolest parts about working the late shift is that the real heroes come in like the 79 yr old man who made it in during the last hour. This is the most difficult triathlon in the world and it was awesome to be a part of it!
 
 
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Gender Based Injustice

I wish I could type more each day, but it is really difficult with one hand. Please continue to pray for recovery, it is really swollen which hurts quite a bit. One thing I’ve been trying to learn is to be a little less independent. Anyone who knows me well knows that I can be too strong willed and independant sometimes. The good thing about this whole surgery thing is that when someone (Ben) has to do everything for you, you learn a little humility.
 
So, I won’t be able to keep up on the 30 day prayer journey for gender based injustice on this blog, but if you really wanted to pray with me just let me know and I will send you the booklet when I am done (today I am  praying about Purdah).
 
Hope you are all enjoying the fall weather! I’ve been a little homesick lately. Thinking and praying for each of you! 
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Right now?!

"Right now doc?"
 
Well I didn’t actually call him doc, but he did take me by surprise. I have to tell you this story. My wrist has really been bothering me since I got here and I noticed a bump (turned out to be a ganglion cyst- not dangerous) on the top of my hand last week so I thought I should get it checked out. I started calling doctors near the campus here because we don’t have any transportation. Every one I called wasn’t taking patients. I knew there was a doctor that came to the campus on Wednesdays, but I didn’t want to wait that long. So each doctor gave me the number of someone they thought was taking patients. After about ten calls I finally found a doctor taking patients and it turned out to the same Christian doctor that comes to the campus. The first appointment available was for Monday (yesterday). I thought to myself I should just wait until Wednesday so that I don’t have to find a ride, but I felt a pull inside that I should make my appointment for Monday, so I did. All weekend I was trying to figure out a ride to get to the doctors and by Monday morning I still didn’t know how I would get there. Then, that morning a friend here asked me how I was getting to the doctors and offered me a ride. Once we got there I thought he would look at the bump, do an x-ray and then maybe make an appointment for another day to take it out. But it turned out because of the earthquake he had some cancellations and so he did an hour surgery right then and there. So it is a good thing I went in on Monday instead of waiting for Wednesday. God sure is looking after me.
 
So now I have to do everything with my left hand for about a month. Crazy! Pray for Ben, he’ll be doing his homework, housework and taking care of me.
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Earthquake!

We had just turned on the bomber game and were waiting for kick-off when it suddenly got loud. Ben and I thought it was just the kids upstairs above us, but then we knew something was wrong. The whole building was shaking. Ben quickly reacted and brought me under a door frame (I was just panicking so it was a good thing he knew what to do). It only lasted about 25 seconds but it felt alot longer. It was pretty scary because you always think the ground is so solid under your feet and all of a sudden it was like liquid.
 
Afterwards we found out it was a huge earthquake rating 6.3 on the Richter scale, with the second ‘tremor’ we felt afterwards rating at 5.5. CRAZY!  Thankfully no one was hurt that we know of. The YWAM base really had no damage at all which is amazing because it was not built to withstand earthquakes. However, the rest of the islands were not so lucky.
 
They have told us to prepare for a second one so we are waiting and keeping everything off high places. We also made a little video just under the photo section so check it out. This video is only 1:10 seconds but it takes about 5 minutes to load- sorry about that. It will start automatically when it is done loading.
 
On another note:
DAY 3 of the journey… (30 day prayer journey I am on relating to gender based injustice)
 
Today the issue is domestic violence. The stats are unbelievable- between 70-90% of women in Pakistan experience domestic violence. Every 9 seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted and beaten. 1.1 million women in Australia have experienced violence by a previous partner.
 
How to Pray: That God would stir His people to raise up the standard for mutual respect in a marriage. That God would raise up men who have mentor others how to be godly husbands and fathers.
 
Remember: prayer changes things!
 
 
 
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Voice for the Voiceless Day 2

Aids- A serious fatal disease of the immune system. There is no known cure.
 
Stats- Aids has killed more than 25 million people since 1981- more than four Jewish Holocausts or 22 Rewandan genocides. Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.
 
Pray- that God would intervene against this epidemic, that he would raise up medical researchers and doctors to discover solutions to HIV, that God would release bible teachers to confront the causes of AIDS to see personal and social transformation.
 
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Spiritual Disneyland!

That was the other name of Ephesus! The book of Ephesians is written to a group of people who grew up in a culture where if one god is good then two was better. There were Mystics, Artemis worship, Emperor worship, cosmological dualism (flesh is bad, spirit is good) and Judaism. Most people didn’t just pick one, they did everything! Can you imagine trying to live life satisfying a bunch of gods that desire different things? Whew! That would get so tiring. That is why in Ephesians the words "You are saved by grace alone, not of works, so that no one can boast, it is a gift of God" would have been like music to their ears! So, what would be a timeless truth from Ephesians? Stop working to earn God’s love- it comes all through trusting Jesus! I put a bunch of those words up on the wall today, "Chosen, destined, blameless, loved…" just to remind me of who I am and my true identity.
 
We just finished laundry and all of our homework. Tomorrow I am waking up early to listen to the Bomber game on CJOB. if they win this one they should be in the playoffs!
 
Hope you enjoy the pictures. Atmosphere night was an evening where we were learning how to distinguish atmosphere/emotion in writing. We had a wonderful dessert evening in Paris…
 
I had better stop writing, Ben always says my blogs are too long :)
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30 Day journey

"A few years ago I ws asked the question, ‘What will be the greatest global challenge as we enter the 21st century?’ You may think of war, terrorism, famine, AIDS and a number of other colossal needs, which surely all qualify. But among the most serious issues is gender injustice- the abuse and suppression of women. Why? Because it is the biggest, most far reaching, and most hidden" Loren Cunningham
 
Yesterday we had a couple speak at "The Gathering" (every thursday night we have a community wide worship meeting). God has been stirring their hearts to be a Voice for the Voiceless. They have printed 30 day prayer booklets, and Ben and I have committed to praying for these issues for the next thirty days. Every day I am going to put an issue on this website, please pray with me and the many others that are praying. Let God break your heart for the injustice that occurs all over this world, mostly in developing nations. "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, God will now arise" Psalms 12:5
 
We will continue to also update you on what we are learning and our prayer needs as well.
 
Day 1- Child Prostitution- It is the sexual exploitation of a child for renumeration in cash or kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary (parent, family member, procurer or teacher)
Stats: 10 million children worldwide are engaged in some facet of the sex industry. Each year, at least 1 million children (as young as the age of 3) mostly girls, become prostitutes. Children are more susceptible to HIV and other STD’s
Pray: 1) That God will arise and defend the little ones. 2) That God would raise up lawyers, moviemakers, and governement rulers who wil bring an end to this savage exploitation. 
 
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Wedding Weekend

This weekend was wonderful as we enjoyed some friends on their honeymoon. Sunday morning breakfast was a special treat with Graham and Pamela Penner and Graham’s bud Bryan! We missed out on thanksgiving – but we gave thanks anyway – phoning our family gatherings and hearing the joy. And the Skimo’s lost to the Al’s – go Bombers go!!!
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Colors and Charts…

Notice something new on our website? Yes that is right! A video player. We are going to be putting mini video’s on our site every once in awhile. It may take awhile to ‘buffer’ but just hit play first, and then go down to read the blog or look at some pictures. It took about 1 minute 30 seconds on my computer to buffer to 100%
 
We have been hard at work this week, re-learning the inductive method and studying two books of the bible: Philemon and Colossians. So for those who have been studying with us, please feel free to leave comments on this blog that talks about what you have been learning. We have discovered that Philemon and Colossians were written at the same time to the same place. In fact, Philemon was probably a member, or the leader of the church in Colossae.
 
Philemon is a letter about a slave owner forgiving and welcoming back a slave that ran away, and even goes as far as to challenge him to give the slave freedom. It is a book that has timeless truths that apply to all generations including: Forgiveness, reconciliation, owning up to past mistakes, seeking forgiveness, and leading by example (Paul the writer demonstrates this because by sending Onesimus back to Philemon he was taking responsibility to pay back every day that Onesimus was off work). There is so much more!! Finding those timeless truths are the most important because life change/application is what bible study is all about!
 
Colossians tackles a different topic. The Colossian church was filled with new Christians (as were all churches at that time ) who had been mixing Christianity with the culture and religions all around them. This letter was to correct their beliefs about Christ and to show that Jesus is the fullness of God and that He is everything that they need! They were worshipping angels and treating their bodies severly trying to earn their way into heaven. Some timeless truths from that book: Christ is everything we need to live powerful, loving, peace-filled lives, bar none. Be sensitive to how the culture around us influences our picture of Jesus and of salvation, make sure the bible is your foundation and not the worldview of your culture. There is lots more, but you need to dive in for yourself to find them!!
 
We will write more hopefully on how we are applying this specifically to our own lives and what changes we are going to make :)
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Newest Addition!

No we don’t mean a baby (sorry moms!) We just posted our study schedule on the left side of the page. Some people might like to follow along with us. Each week we will be posting what we have discovered in the bible, and we hope that if you read along with us you will post what you discovered too!   
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From the middle of Canada to the middle of the ocean

When you are landing in Honolulu, all you can see is ocean around you. I was gripping Ben’s hand, just as he gripped my hand tighter too. We really were in the middle of the Pacific ocean. But our plane did touch down on concrete and we made it here safely.
 
Even though our trip to Hawaii started with a bit of fear, any fears we had about our living conditions in Kona Hawaii were alleviated today. An amazing 140 acre campus (only 20 acres developed at this point) of gorgeous buildings and landscaping. Our room is spacious and has a screened in sun porch. We are blessed to have a place that already feels like home, even after only one day. If only I had remembered to pack our coffee maker…
 
Tomorrow morning at 8:00am we start class with about 30 others from around the world. In the next few days we will be posting our study schedule for those of you who want to study with us. We commit to updating this site twice a week. Have a great weekend!
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The best things in life…

Grandma Klassen gave us a card that said, "The best things in life aren’t things." Some people might disagree, but our trip so far has reminded us that family and friends bring so much joy!
 
We left on Thursday morning and drove to Briercrest Saskatchewan where we enjoyed an awesome meal with Maria and Ike (our sister and brother) and our sweet nephew and nieces. Jacquie met us for dinner too and she enjoyed a meal that wasn’t spaghetti! We even ate it over candlelight (thanks for remembering our anniversary Maria).
 
Alliance University College is really high tech and modern! We visited Jenn and Emma and saw their super cute condo. Don’t worry about those girls, they are living it up. Fiore is an awesome italian restaurant on 17th Ave. in Calgary that my brother Kevin recommended. We met him, Jon, Mandy (our other brother and sister) and Denae (Mandy’s sister) for a fantastic meal on friday night and then stayed overnight at Jon and Mandy’s new condo. I haven’t laughed that much in a while!
 
We flew out to Vancouver the next morning and met Uncle Rick, Auntie Maureen and Grandma Klassen for lunch in the airport. We had about 5 hours to kill until our flight to Honolulu, and our wonderful family stayed all day with us (and I am sure paid a heafty parking bill). Starbucks with family never tasted so good!
 
And so we see the best things in life are friends, family…and food.
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Overwhelmed

It felt like the 100th to do list for the week! I scanned it and realized there was no way I could get everything done before Thursday morning-scheduled time of departure! Ben is telling me I need to learn to let somethings be undone.
 
We leave in 1 1/2 days for Hawaii (after a one day visit at Briercrest to visit family and then another 1 day visit to Calgary to visit family again!) and we feel totally overwhelmed with this significant life change we are making. Thankfully we have awesome friends and family, and a great church that is helping all of this to go as smoothly as possible!
 
Many people have been asking how we are doing financially. We are currently about half way to what we have budgeted  for monthly income. It has been awesome to see people really come around our vision and make it their own! Even our younger cousins from California have pledged a little from their allowance each month. How encouraging!! But not everyone can afford to give on a monthly basis or even one time, and more important for us is the emotional/prayer support, so start writing those letters
 
By the way, if you have any comments to this entry please use the link just below this paragraph to leave a little note for all to see. That is what makes this an interesting conversation! We are going to be posting a new blog entry every week!
 
Next entry will be once we are in Hawaii…
 
  
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DVD is coming….

Well, Ben just got back from a very difficult, busy week at camp- but he loved it! He was a counsellor for boys ages 14-15 and was the only counsellor in his cabin- we are talking difficult time! But Ben, as only Ben can do, absolutely loved on those kids! Way to go honey! (as you can tell, Angela is writing this entry).
 
We are also getting set to mail out our DVD’s so keep your eyes on the mail! The DVD gives a great explanation of our plans for fall. If you have any feedback feel free to post it here!
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Kit Kat Break!

Summer has been very busy, but this weekend will be a break for us as we go camping with some friends at Clear Lake. Some BBQ, a little bonfire, definitely some swim time and some time to rest, away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Enjoy the weekend!
 
 Ben and Ang
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It is Finished.

The bathroom is all but finished. No pics, but it sure does look good! On to bigger things – our DVD is in its final stages. We are doing the final touches up and we’ll be making copies this week for distribution!
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Hey there!

Angela and I are preparing for the adventure of a lifetime! Sure is exciting! I just finished reading about Hudson Taylors adventures – WOW! Let’s make a go of it and give it all we’ve got!