Prayer Letter :: August 2007

Posted on August 31, 2007 by Troy

Dear Friends,
It’s almost time for our big move! We have grown in many directions as we have served here and we will look back with fondness on our time at Word of Life. The school grew in just about every way this past year, for which we praise the Lord.

This month we saw the fifth class of students (our largest yet) graduate. They have been an effective class for the Lord, with over 180 salvation decisions made through their ministry outreaches during the school year. It has been exciting to be a part of their lives. We pray they have learned and grown much and will continue to be faithful in their service to others. Troy will continue in the office into the middle of September, helping year six get started.

Westward Ho
With the help of Naomi’s mom, Naomi and the girls will fly to Calgary on September 30. Troy will arrive a few days later with Naomi’s dad in the van. At least we hope it will go that smoothly. There are still a few details to be worked out concerning the transportation of all our worldly goods among other things, but we are excited to see things falling into place. The Lord has certainly been good to us.

Specific Prayer Requests

that all the details involved in this big move would come together and nothing would be overlooked
safe and uneventful travels
a smooth transition into our new life, as a family and as missionaries
guidance and provision as we look for a place to rent or buy
that we would reach our goal of 60 prayer and financial partners

Thank You
Those two words seem so paltry for the gratefulness in our hearts to those of you who have stood behind us for these last five years. We have been blessed again and again as you have encouraged our hearts in many different ways. We look forward to updating you in another few months on the great things the Lord has done for us as we begin our ministry with GoodSeed.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

If you would like to help in our ministry as one of our sixty ministry partners, please visit this GoodSeed website.

New photos

Posted on August 29, 2007 by Troy

I uploaded some new pictures of my silly girls to http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnstonekids/

I also uploaded some new photos of a praying mantis I found the other night to my other flickr account.

Good day to go flying

Posted on August 27, 2007 by Troy

Ellie still loves air planes and continually talks about flying. She is always pointing out real or imaginary planes in the sky. I carry her and she puts out her arms like wings as we race around the house and experience engine problems, resulting in a big crash on the bed. If she climbs up and stands on top of anything (a chair, rock, book..) she invariably says “I up so high like an airpaane.”

(click the images for a larger version)
This morning she got to go up in one of her beloved airplanes. Ellie and I went flying to get some aerial photos of the Word of Life campus. Debbie came along to help with Ellie, and Dennis was our pilot.

We spent about an hour flying over the campus and the city of Owen Sound. We had clear and steady skies and the sun was still low in the east.

I went flying with Dennis five years ago to do the same thing.. the campus has definitely changed in that time! New pathways, basketball court, remodeling of one of the office buildings, new beach volley-ball court, and a bunch of stuff you can’t really see in the photos.

(the campus five years ago)

Ellie seemed to really enjoy the experience of being in a small airplane. She has probably flown 8 or 10 times already in her short life, but this was the first time in a small plane.

Ellie, Troy, and Dennis

Thanks for the great flight Dennis!

Ministry Update :: August 23, 2007

Posted on August 23, 2007 by Troy

Over the past weekend we held the graduation ceremonies for our fifth class of the Canadian Word of Life Bible Institute. It was a nice weekend to reflect on what the Lord has done in the lives of the students this past year. We were encouraged in the testimonies we heard from a few of them as they looked back on the events of the year.

(WOLBI choir at grad)

(Troy closing the graduation ceremonies)

For Naomi and I, it was perhaps a bit harder to see the students go as we had built some strong relationships with some of the students. This is also our last graduation with WOL, making for a bitter-sweet day. (If you are on Facebook, you can see photos at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4810733731 )

We had some good friends from Alberta stay with us over the weekend. Their daughter, Missy, was one of the ones who graduated on the weekend and we had a good time visiting with them.

Graduation is one of those sad days as we say goodbye to many friends. I also had to say good-bye to an old friend of mine.. my old car. I drove the Prelude for 11 years before I sold it a few years ago to a co-worker who in turn recently sold it to one of this year’s students. Crystal, thanks for letting me take it for one last ride! Take care of the PPL *sobs*

With Grad over, we now only have a few weeks before the start of the next school year. The final push of summer is here to get everything ready for another group of young people who are seeking to learn about God and how to serve Him. Naomi and I also have only 37 days until moving day!

Troy & Naomi

It Came From Outer Space

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Troy

(click images for a larger view)
This past weekend was the annual Perseid meteor shower. Every August 11-12 is the peak of the shower where the Earth passes through the dust cloud left by comet Swift-Tuttle. This year it was also a year without the moon shining, making for a nice dark sky. It is also the only “warm” meteor shower as it is in August.

I wanted to try to get some photos of this event. Naomi and I went outside around 11:30 PM on Sunday night and I stayed out until about 2:30 AM. It was very enjoyable and we saw many good meteors, sometimes seeing two or three a minute. God’s creation is amazing!

Unfortunately, I had the ISO turned down too low on my camera to really capture many on the night of the shower’s peak. I only got one of good shot of a meteor flash in the sky. I tried again the next night and saw many more meteors, but only a few happened to go where my camera was pointed.. oh well. Who needs sleep?

Meteoroid: a small object in space, usually from the size of sand up to a boulder.
Meteor: said object hitting our atmosphere. Most meteors that we see in the sky are a the size of a grain of sand or smaller.
Meteorite: one of those objects that has made it through the atmosphere to hit the ground.

I actually own two meteorites. I wish I could say that I witnessed a dramatic bright streak in the sky and followed it to the impact crater where I discovered the meteorite fragments. Instead I found them in a cardboard box with silly trinkets at an auction.

I was waiting for something else to come up that I wanted to bid on so I was poking around looking at some boxes of junk when I discovered a couple of rocks. I was curious as to why their previous owner had wanted to keep these rocks and why they ended up in a box of trinkets. Upon further examination, I saw several tell-tale features of meteorites: fusion crust, “thumb prints” (the large hole), signs of melting, slight magnatisim, and an unusual weight for small stones. I then hovered over the box until it came up for bid. There was no bidding war, and I picked up two meteorites (and some junk) for $1. An elderly gentleman wanted one of the trinkets I was going to toss and paid me $2 for it! So I actually made a buck!