Date With a Movie Star

Last night Amanda and I had a nice little outing. The mother of one of her students invited us to her cafe to get a bite to eat. Well, not only did she treat us to some of the best food we’ve had here, but it was all on the house, including a cup of real Starbucks coffee! 

Not only was the free meal a nice surprise, but Amanda got to have a date with a movie star. Many of the locals tell me I look just like a famous Indian actor, I have no idea who, but they swear I look like a star. Well, last night it went a little further. The lady who treated us to supper told us that her son is always curious about me, what I’m like and what I look like. So his mother explained in slightly broken English (she is Korean), “I tell him, you are handsome man. Yeah. Look just like Kevin Costner” 

At first I figured, this poor woman must have been hit on the head or something. But the more I think about it, how can you not like someone who gives you free food and tells you you look like a star?

Glamor!

Wow, it has been a whole since I wrote anything. I’ve been a bit dazed, and very busy. Over the past few weeks my schedule has gotten very full and our internet connection has been down a lot, throw in the tiredness of not sleeping whole nights because of the heat, and that is my full excuse for not blogging much lately. 

Just to catch you up, I am finished teaching at the Bible School. Next week is final exams, for my classes anyway. So the past two days have been full of all the ‘glamor’ of being an Associate in Missions. I’ve spent two days sweeping, scrubbing, washing toilets, and doing all the other housework needed to be completed at our college’s apartment. As you may have heard, we have renovated the apartment because of flooding earlier in the year. Well, it’s been 9 months but we are just about finished with the renovation. You can just imagine how much dirt and dust was in that place, it hasn’t been cleaned since October, and on top of the usual dirt, was about 50 pounds of broken bricks, tiles, and cement pieces, thrown all around the floor. 

This is the apartment that will be ‘home base’ for our international guests during the up-coming General Conference, which leaves me about 3 weeks to get everything perfect. Not exactly the most glamorous job, but it is still part of the work of God. I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, minister to get on his knees not just to pray, but to work.

Tired

It is never a good thing to be over-tired and think, “I wonder if I can make my scarf into a turban”. Witness the results for yourself. 

 

Old For My Age

I read a joke a few days ago from one of the English Newspapers here. The writer described being ‘old’. He said, ‘when you are young pulling an all nighter means staying up all night without sleep. When you are old, pulling an all nighter mean sleeping all night without getting up!’

Well, between Amanda’s pregnancy and the heat, I guess we are now officially old because most days all we want is to get a full night’s sleep.

Thank God For The Rain

Just to keep everyone up to date: at 11 o’clock this morning the temperature here hit 106 degrees Fahrenheit, 41 degrees Celsius! Then a light rain started and kept the temperature down in the high 20’s. All I can think of is “Thank God for the rain!” If it hadn’t started raining then in the noon time sun it may have been a VERY hot day (as if 41 isn’t hot enough!).

Snow = Political Upheaveal

So yesterday I compared your abundance of snow storms to our abundance of sun. Today I want to compare snow to the political unrest in this country. Last week we had to take a day and just sit inside because of the political rallies going on through out the country. There was a lot of potential danger as people in crowds tend to get very violent here. School was canceled and we were told to stay at home. About mid-afternoon I said to Amanda, “It’s not so bad. We just need to think of this as our snow day”. In other words, when a storm hits us at home, if it is too bad we stay home, locked away until the storm passes. Why? It’s too dangerous to be out on the road. The same thing is true here with political rallies. The storm comes in, and you stay at home until the storm passes. Maybe you could go out on the roads and be fine, but why risk it. So, I’ve decided you can keep the snow, we’ll keep the political unrest, and although neither of us may like our situation, we might as well enjoy a snow day when one comes our way!

Relentless

I have heard many stories about winter back in NB this year. I’ve decided that we are having our equivalent of snow now: the sun. I know, I know. Snow and sun are very different. But the thing I hated most about winter in Canada was that it never seemed to end. It was relentless. That is the same as the sun here. Sure, it sounds nice to be in the warm weather, and it is! However, just like you are all sick of snow, we are about to get tired of the sun. Tomorrow the forecast is calling for temperatures in the low 40’s - Centigrade! That is over 104 Fahrenheit and it will only be March 3rd! That means when June, July and August roll around people here will be dreaming of snow the same way you are now dreaming about sun. The thing about it is that the day time high is bearable. It’s been over 30 for about a month already. What makes it hard is the relentlessness of the heat that is starting to set in (early this year I may add). Over the past month almost everyday has been around 30 Centigrade. However, the night time low has risen from about 8 degrees to about 20 degrees! That make the heat harder and harder to escape. So, while I won’t volunteer to change places with any of you sitting through another snow storm today, but remember… the grass isn’t always as green on the other side of the fence as you think. We’ve got our own issues too!

The Power of A Testimony

About a week ago we were asked to preach in a neighboring city. It was a long and full day, but we were blessed by the people and by God’s pressence. During that service God impressed me to dust off an old message, the one I did at Miller Lake two years ago. The message was about the sword of Goliath and I made the point that this sword was special because it represented a past victory. It was a testimony. But not just for David, but for all the people of Israel. It was a testimony that allowed others to rise up as giant slayers. My point was, the power of the testimonies happening around the world, including here, are not testimonies of Foreign Missions, they are the testimonies of the body of Christ and we can all rejoice and receive strength from those testimonies. 

Well, God just re-confirmed that for me this morning. Our Sis Shalm sent us an e-mail today saying that they were in a home missions church in North Western USA this morning and a young man came in, seemingly not so interested. She said during the service he responded and sought God. Then she told him my story, my testimony, and it gave him strength and encouragement. It is always awesome to me to hear how one persons testimony can help others in their journey. 

When God created these wonderful bodies of ours he gave us an ability to heal, it’s built into us. And when he created this Body of Christ he intended that we would minister to each other and use what he put into us to help bring healing to the hurting members. That is the power of a testimony! So why not share what God has done for you? I know God is doing amazing things in the church, we just need to learn the power of a testimony and be willing to share. Remember, your testimony is not yours alone, it is for the body and your testimony may be the sword of Goliath to someone else. Your testimony may set someone else free to rise up and slay the giants in their life.