Ministry Course

Today I finished the course titled, "Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry". It is offered by the Chalmers Center, which is part of Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. It is the first course in a series of five courses related to micro-finance development programs in the third world.

This course ran for four weeks in the month of February. Since I was planning to be home the entire month of February, it worked for me to take it. The textbook for the course was a book by Bryant L. Myers titled, Walking With the Poor. It is an excellent book.

The course outlined definitions, causes and solutions to poverty. The solutions we implement are determined by the definition we have of poverty and what we think the causes are. One interesting comment made in the course is that the problems of the non-poor are often mirror images of the problems of the poor. For example, the person living in poverty often has health problems due to undernourishment. The non-poor person often has health problems due to consuming too many calories. The person living in poverty often is stressed by trying to provide adequate shelter for his family, while the non-poor person is often stressed trying to care for the large house that provides shelter for his family. The person in poverty spends a lot of time finding water for the needs of the family, while the non-poor person has an abundance of water but is worried about the purity of the water due to pollution.

It was a good course. I found it to be helpful. I am looking forward to taking the second course when I can fit it into my schedule.

Spaghetti Dinner and Auction

Last evening we had the Cornerstone Christian School annual spaghetti dinner and auction. It was well attended and things went relatively smoothly. I was the auctioneer again this year. We started the auction at 6:30. It took about two hours to sell everything.

I think everyone enjoyed the evening. It does have a bit of entertainment value. One of the men suggested that I do a Sunday morning message sometime in an auctioneer style. I really don't think that would work.

The total income wasn't quite as much as the last two years. Things are not as good economically and I think people are not quite as free to spend money for things that they don't really absolutely have to buy. But, we still did well and I would say that the evening was a success.

Here are a few people enjoying the spaghetti dinner.

We had a good turnout. I haven't heard a final number of how many people were served at the dinner, but it seemed quite busy.

Valentine's Day

Last Saturday Edith and I attended the Valentine's Banquet at Camp of the Woods. We had a really good time there. There was a good meal and some fun activities. We won a door prize of a free night at the Holiday Inn Express in Dryden. There was also a good message on marriage by Al Huckabay.

Today is a day when we think about relationships. Love is so foundational to any relationship that works over the long haul. Edith and I have been married almost 36 years. It hasn't all been easy, but I am so grateful for her and the ways our relationship have blessed me.

I am wondering what you gave or received for Valentine's Day this year. I gave Edith some red roses. I a lady heard on the radio this past week saying that it doesn't matter to a woman if you spend a gazillion dollars of just a few dollars. All she wants is something so that she doesn't have to tell her friends that she didn't get anything. She doesn't want to have to make excuses for her man by saying that, "He just isn't into that kind of thing".

Today I am grateful that God designed marriage. Marriage has been very good to me. I like the way it has given me a partner and soul mate with which to share life experiences. I like the way it has brought maturity into my life. I am very happily married and thankful for it.

This was the group of couples at Camp of the Woods for the Valentine's Banquet.

These were our table mates. Bill and Joy Bruce and Doug and Mary Ellen Bowman.

How Old Am I Now?

I pick up a certain six year old girl after school some days, and take her to her house. The other day I went into the school to help her get her snow pants, boots and coat on. Another girl from Grade 1 was also getting ready to leave. She asked me if I am the six-year-old's grandfather. I told her, "No, I am her pastor". "He picks me up every day", my little friend informed her.

When we got out to the car I was faced with a barrage of questions. Most of these questions ended with another question, such as, "Did you know that?" or, "Is that cool?". I heard most of the questions but some slipped past me.

One question did catch my attention. "Did you know the wise men that came to see Jesus?". "Well, no" I assured her "I didn't personally known the wise men". Her next questions was, "When were you born?". I told her I had been born in 1953. She said, "Well, I was born in 2007".

I'm taking it as a sign that she sees me as a wise man and thought I should know the wise men, rather than that she sees me as old enough to have actually known the wise men.

School Auction Train

Dallas and I finished our train for the school auction today. I think it is better in some ways than the one we made last year. We have it finished two weeks before the auction too, which is nice.

The school auction is coming up on February 21. It looks like we are getting things together for the auction. I hope that we have about the same amount as the last two years.

MEMO Cuba Sioux Lookout Container

The shipping container for MEMO Cuba Sioux Lookout arrived today. It has been in Thunder Bay for a few weeks now. We had a local company pick it up and deliver it. They were gracious enough to do this as a donation.

Another local company sent two of their men and a loader over to unload the container from the truck. They lifted the back of the container and slid it back on the trailer until the one end was out over the end of the trailer.

When he got back far enough, he lowered the end of the container to the ground and then went around and picked up the front. The truck drove out from in under the container and they set it on the driveway.

When the container was on the ground he lifted the one end just a bit and slid it into the spot where we wanted it. With all the packed snow and ice on the driveway and ground, it was rather easy to slide the container around.

Here after the container is in place, Nate Hochstetler and Chuck Abela discuss plans for the future.

We are hoping to load this container over the next few months, and ship it to Cuba this Summer or Fall. We are collecting medical equipment and supplies that are no longer needed or in service here in Canada. It looks like we might be getting some things from the health centers in Dryden and Fort Frances as well as Sioux Lookout.

Currently we are working on raising the $8,000 it will cost to ship the container to Cuba. I am sure by the time we have the funds raised, we will have enough equipment and supplies to fill the container.

I'm not a mechanic

Last week I took our one snowmobile to Dryden to get fixed. It was hard to start. It would flood itself, and I had to pull the rope at least 20 times to get it started. Usually after about the fifteenth pull it would start to sputter, and I knew it was going to start soon. Then the pull rope got frayed at the end. If I pulled it out too far it wouldn't go back in. Then I would have to open the hood and fool around with the frayed part of the pull rope and force it back into the recoil thing. At 20 below zero that was not my idea of winter recreation.

Now that I got it back from Dryden, it starts! I even need to use the choke when the engine is cold. The pull rope has been replaced too. It has an electric start, but the guy at the shop said it would cost about $1,000 to fix everything that is wrong with the electric start. I can pull the rope for that amount of money.

One of my pet peeves is things that don't start. I love things that start the first or second time I pull the rope. I am not a mechanic. I have no idea even where to start looking if something doesn't start.

Richard Newswanger told me one time that I should never pull the rope on anything more than three times. He said if it doesn't start with three pulls of the rope, then it is time to stop pulling the rope, and start looking for the problem. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The problem for me is that after I pull the rope three times and it hasn't even sputtered, I have no idea how to even start looking for the problem. So, that leaves me with two options, 1. keep pulling the rope, or 2. pay somebody to fix it. Usually having more time than money, my best option is to keep pulling the rope.

Anyway, I am really, really happy about having a snowmobile that starts before the third pull of the rope!