Thanksgiving 2016 part two
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Thanksgiving 2016
Ministry Update :: Ontario Trip
Evangelism & Discipleship Training
“It helped me see all of the connections of the Bible more clearly so that I can be confident and equipped to share my faith with others.”
This was one of the comments we received from students at the Word of Life Bible Institute in Ontario where I was a few weeks ago. John Cross and I were there to teach through By this Name as part of the students’ year of Bible studies. Over five days we taught 24 hours, teaching them the big picture view of the Old and New Testaments, showing how God created templates in the Old that Jesus fulfilled in the New. We are grateful to WOLBI for the opportunity to share with these young people who have given a year of their lives for Bible instruction.
We have been doing this since 2002 at this school, and it is looking like we will teaching this seminar at one or two more Canadian Bible schools starting next year.
While there, we met one student who, 10 months earlier, had been begging for cash on the side of the street to support his drug habit. After checking into rehab he was given a copy of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus, which was instrumental in him coming to understand the Gospel. Now he is taking this year to study God’s Word as he prepares for a totally different life!
Here are a few more testimonies from the students:
“It allowed me to see how the Bible flows and all connects. It is not just a random compilation of stories.”
“It has firmed up my belief system. It has given me additional info and facts as to why I believe what I believe. it has given me the ability to defend my faith. It has also helped me find ways to share the gospel in a more effective way.”
“I thought it was a great way looking at how the Old and New Testaments tie together in proclaiming that Jesus is the way. I found this study to be very interesting and beneficial.”
“It was good knowing how much the Old and New Testaments both portray the same thing. Both do it clearly but in different ways.”
“It has helped me get a deeper understanding of the significance of what God truly did when He sent His Son to die on the cross for us.”
Nate is a student this year at WOLBI, but he had also led a Bible study back home using By This Name. With his experience in using these evangelism and discipleship resources, we asked him to help teach for a bit as an example to the students about how anyone can teach!
Grapey McGrapes Grapes
We planted valiant grapes when we first purchased our house a few years back. After a couple of years we started to get a handful of grapes. Then in 2014, we built a trellis for the grapes, and things started to really go well.
This trellis is over 10 ft tall, and since then the vines have taken over the trellis and now grow up the wall.
The first year with the trellis we harvested 3kg (6.8 lbs) of grapes. We thought that was a lot.
Then in 2015 we harvested 5kg (11 lbs), almost double!
This year… perhaps it was the extra rains, perhaps it was just more established plants, or maybe it was our expert care (more negligence really), but this year, we harvested 11.8 kg (26 lbs) of grapes!
When we went out to start harvesting we pulled back the front layer of leaves to see the vines covered with clusters of grapes. We had to set aside the bowls we had taken to get a box.
Anyway, this will be a ridiculous amount of work to process. We will have to rethink our to deal with this many grapes for next year. However, I don’t expect it to quadruple the yield.
Update: Naomi was able to make about 22 L of grape juice, and and around 6.5 L of grape jelly!
Father and son camping trip
Ethor the Great is seven now, and I figured we were past due for a father and son camping trip. We had done some camping in the back yard, but of course that is not quite the real deal. This past summer had gotten away on me with other business, and I the weather was starting to get colder. At this altitude and this close to the Rockies, even in the middle of summer, a hot day cools off quick once the sun goes down. It is not that uncommon for a nighttime temperature of around 10C. Once you get to late August or early September frost warnings become regular. I had hoped to take him camping one night over the Labour Day weekend, but the temperatures were forecast to be wet and cool during the day, and just above freezing at night. We made a last minute decision to go camping just two days before school started. This meant that Ethan’s last day of summer would start with waking up in a tent with his dad! Not a bad way to send off the summer.
Naomi helped me gather together food and supplies to use that evening, I borrowed a two man tent from my brother-in-law (instead of our giant family tent), snuck out of work early and went to a nearby campground, Red Lodge Provincial Park.
Mid week in the last week of August, the place was pretty quiet. We had a nice spot near the river. After erecting the tent, Ethan got things situated inside while I got to work on the fire and cooking supper. Afterwards, we went for a hike by the river (with the slingshot) and then back for a snack and finally bed. We listened to light rain on the tent as Ethan drifted off.
During the night there was a thunderstorm that went overhead, but we stayed dry in the tent and we both had a pretty good sleep. Ethan woke up for his last day of summer break before school, and we cooked up some breakfast, packed up and headed back home so I could get to the office. A short, but fantastic little trip with my son.
Can’t wait to do this again next year!
