Happy Spring! (almost)
Thanks so much for praying for us
regularly! We appreciate it more than we can say. I have to tell you
that that is one of th emost encouraging things we heard when we were
back in Canada (and continue to hear through the grapevine!!) that
people are praying for us regularly, some even daily!
This March prayer letter, actually was written in February, and I'm finally able to get it out!
Mirellya
and the twins continue to do well! They finally gave her the actual due
date this week- April 15th! So she is almost at 8 months pregnant with
the twins! Truthfully, neither she nor the twins are supposed to be
alive right now! So we are praising God and are thankful for so many of
you who are lifting them up in prayer regularly!
This is a new letter format that YUGO has instituted! I hope you
like it, next time I'll get some pictures in it to spice it up a bit!!
Please
note at the bottom of this and every regular update / prayer letter is a
form that can be printed off and sent into the YUGO office in St.
Albert, AB to indicate new one time or regular monthly support for us.
Praise God, because of a generous donation we have a "reserve" account
that has covered our monthly shortfalls this year so far. But our
monthly shortfall as well as our extra ministry expenses are draining
this account!
Here is a small breakdown of the last 2 months...
January 2012= 39% of needed support and ministry expenses.
February 2012-= 54% of needed support and ministry expenses.
So if you are willing to join the financial part of our team, this form makes it easy to do so. Thank you in ADVANCE!
May God encourage you in this letter! God bless and thank you again,
from the bottom of our hearts for you, our partners in prayer and
finances. We could not be here without you and we are a direct extension
of your ministry!
Enjoy the letter and feel free to print it and pass it around or post it as you like!
God bless,
Mike, Shar and the boys.
--
Michael McDonald
Pastor and Leader Training/ Bible Institute Teacher
YUGO Canada
1-(619)400-3326 (North America)
661-100-3396 (Mexico)
pastrbuzz@gmail.com
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Ivan Martinez Prayer Letter
Many of you will remember hearing about Ivan Martinez and his ministry during our travels across the country this past summer / fall.
Some folks from Canada are supporting Ivan and his ministry financially so I thought I'd like to post his prayer letter for your encouragement~
Ivan is a YUGO Mexico missionary - living in Mexico and working in prison ministry as well as assisting me in our minstry to pastors and leaders in Mexico. If you'd like to partner with Ivan and his ministry, you can do so via YUGO Canada at:
YUGO Ministries Canada
PO Box 231
St.Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
ph. 780-461-0891
fx. 780-961-7690
Dear Brothers,
Some folks from Canada are supporting Ivan and his ministry financially so I thought I'd like to post his prayer letter for your encouragement~
Ivan is a YUGO Mexico missionary - living in Mexico and working in prison ministry as well as assisting me in our minstry to pastors and leaders in Mexico. If you'd like to partner with Ivan and his ministry, you can do so via YUGO Canada at:
YUGO Ministries Canada
PO Box 231
St.Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
ph. 780-461-0891
fx. 780-961-7690
Dear Brothers,
I Would Like To Begin By Saying Praise God For A New Year.
Now I Would Like To Thank All Of You That Have Kept My Family And Myself Under Prayer,
Praise Report:
 |
| Ivan Preaching in the Ensenada prison prior to the Baptism |
Prison Ministry Is Still Going Strong,Many New Believers Were
Baptize Last Year,Many Of Them Are Growing In The Lord,Learning To Seek
And Trust The Lord In Their Everyday Walk.
Its Not Easy To Walk With God In A Prison,Specially When You Know The Experience Of The Tough Challenges As I've Had.
But It's Not Impossible At All,As We Take The Word Of God That Is
Living And Powerful,And Sharper Than Any Two Edged Sword To Them.
And You Prayers And Support Has Been Very Helpful.
I Also Want To Thank God For Brother Irvin And His Family,
 | |
| Ivan and Pastor Rich Hay from Sequim Washington Baptising some of the inmates. |
You
See This Past Year,I Have Been Going To The Prison Alone,And It Can Get
Tiring After Awhile,So I Prayed For Sometime, Asking God To Raise Up A
Brother That Would Understand The Commitment That It Takes,Many Raised
Their Hands, But After Saying Lets Pray About It,I Never Heard Anything
Again...Many Are Led By Emotions,But We Know That We Walk By Faith And
Not By Sight.
 |
| Ivan getting into his baptism clothes! |
Anyways,Our Brother Irvin And His Family,Got Here To Mexico From
Canada,After Being Here Only Two Weeks God Open The Door For Him To
Enter Every Wednesday With Me At Ensenada Prison(Usually It Takes Longer
To Get Approve).
My Wife Is Still Helping The Teenage Girls At The Children Home In Tijuana Dibujando Una Sonrisa,Teaching The Sowing And The Word Of God.
Prayer Request:
Pray For Our Brother Irvin And His Family,That God Will Bring Them Back
Soon,As They Are Only Here For Two Or Three Months,There Is So Much Work
To Be Done Here In Mexico,And This Family Have Impacted Many Lives In
Such Little Time.
And Finely For Our Support Level Is No Near To Where
It Needs To Be,Pray That God Will Lead Those Faithful Hearts To Get On
Board.
Again Thank You Very Much For Your Prayers And Support,
May Our God Increase Your Blessings In Every Area Of Need In Your Lives,
YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN MEXICO,
Ivan,Alma,Aleyda And Gregorio Martinez.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Ministry Report
This is for those of you who didn't get to hear a report of our last 5 years ministry in Mexico and our plans for the next 5! click at the bottom (MINISTRY REPORT) to see it our report given at our sending church- Martensville Baptist Church on Nov. 13th!!
It has been great visiting with many of you over these last several months! We have been blessed by countless great meals, scrumptious deserts and excellent company!
Thank you to all of you for your encouragement, your hospitality, your support, your partnership and your interest in what God has been doing in Mexico!
You are appreciated!!
MINISTRY REPORT
It has been great visiting with many of you over these last several months! We have been blessed by countless great meals, scrumptious deserts and excellent company!
Thank you to all of you for your encouragement, your hospitality, your support, your partnership and your interest in what God has been doing in Mexico!
You are appreciated!!
MINISTRY REPORT
Thursday, October 06, 2011
September Prayer Letter
Thank you to those of you who have been faithfully standing behind us during our time on Home Assignment! We have been praying that we'll be a blessing wherever we go, and while you'll have to ask those we visited with about that.... we certainly have been blessed meeting with many of you during this time.
At the end of this letter, there is a bit of a serious prayer request, but first- let's talk about the last month!
This part of our journey was spent primarily in Ontario.
We st
arted out speaking at 2 churches in Ottawa- Calvary Chapel Ottawa and it's church plant in a suburb called Orleans.
We loved sharing with both fellowships what God is doing in the World, specifically in our part of Mexico. Andy Falleur, originally from Florida, is doing a great job pastoring these people in Ottawa. It was encouraging to see God working powerfully in Canada's capital.
After a short detour to Quebec City we traveled to Hamilton Ontario, Sharlene's hometown, to visit with family and her original church. We spoke in 2 churches - 1 in Hamilton and the other in nearby Oakville. While there we stayed in a camper trailer that my sister and brother and law lent us. It was a blessing to have our own space. We started Homeschooling the kids again out there in the mornings and in the afternoons we either visited family or went to the Library to continue school.
In Oakville we spoke at the Calvary Chapel Sunday morning. They have a great little multi-cultural church where we were able to speak Spanish again! We loved being a part of their Missions focus Sunday! I'm looking forward to hearing how they do as they follow God's path for their fellowship.
After that we went to my hometown, Wasaga Beach Ontario to visit family and supporters. We had a very busy time there as we often had a lunch meeting and supper meetings in the same day. We were able to accomplish a bit of school and were incredibly blessed to reconnect with people who have been so faithful towards us over the years. Faith Evangelical Missionary Church has been a part of the McDonald family since its inception many moons ago and its where Sharlene and I first went to church as new believers 20 years ago. It's their fault we're in missions now :) !! This body of believers continues to live out the Great Commission locally and globally and we're glad to be partners with them!
After a month in the East, we headed West. We saw beautiful autumn displays of maple and oak trees. It has been one of the things we missed the most about Ontario since moving away 19 years ago! It was a stunning display!
We spent some time in Manitoba with friends who have come down to do missions with us as families in Mexico. The 2 families both live on farms off the beaten path and it was a great time for us to unwind. The boys particularly loved the animals and the freedom to play games on the huge lots at night in pitch black darkness. The highlight for the boys had to have been the night they spent in a log cabin in the woods about 1km away from the house with the Abrahamson boys. They all had a great time without the parents and noone was eaten by bears! It was great!
And now we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan, our Canadian Home. We have bookings for almost every Sunday from now until we go back to Mexico. If you are in the Saskatchewan area and would like to have us over for a visit, we will do all we can to make it work! Our October Sundays are booked as follows:
Oct 8- Northwest Community Church, Meadow Lake, SK
Oct. 16 visiting friends in Moose Jaw, SK
Oct 23 Bagley Baptist Church- evening
Oct. 24 NBC Chapel
Oct. 26-30 LaRonge, SK
November will bring us to Meadow Lake, Martensville and North Battleford, SK with one Sunday still open!
PRAYER REQUEST
It is normal over the years to gain some new supporters and lose others for one reason or another. But, mostly due to economic reasons of our partners, our monthly regular support has slipped about $900/month over the last few years. That is one of the reasons we are back: to reconnect with current partners and see if God is leading new people or churches to partner with us. God has been good and His people have been generous and through many larger one time gifts, our needs have been met. But now we find ourselves in a difficult situation. We have kept our support level low to reflect the area that we live and work in as well as the hard working people we partner with. But the last few months, we have used up any reserve fund we had.
Simply put, we're asking folks to pray with us that God will supply our needs here in Canada and when we return to Mexico. We are also asking that if you are not a regular financial supporter of ours- if you would pray and ask God if He would be leading you to become one. I get Facebook messages and emails regularly from our people in Mexico asking when we will return to the work there! Your prayer and financial support over these last 5 years have resulted in many people coming to Christ, in men and women being made disciples and planting churches, training others and glorifying God. I believe that the first 5 years were foundational but that in the next 5 we will see the investment of time, prayer and finances grow as the ministries we partner with grow exponentially!
Thanks again for all you mean to us, we love each of you and appreciate you very much!
May God bless you all!
If you would like to partner with us please contact our office at:
YUGO Canada
PO Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
780-461-0891
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
YUGO USA
PO Box 58
National City, CA
91951-0058
619-336-9003
outreach@yugo.org
At the end of this letter, there is a bit of a serious prayer request, but first- let's talk about the last month!
This part of our journey was spent primarily in Ontario.
We started out speaking at 2 churches in Ottawa- Calvary Chapel Ottawa and it's church plant in a suburb called Orleans.
We loved sharing with both fellowships what God is doing in the World, specifically in our part of Mexico. Andy Falleur, originally from Florida, is doing a great job pastoring these people in Ottawa. It was encouraging to see God working powerfully in Canada's capital.
After a short detour to Quebec City we traveled to Hamilton Ontario, Sharlene's hometown, to visit with family and her original church. We spoke in 2 churches - 1 in Hamilton and the other in nearby Oakville. While there we stayed in a camper trailer that my sister and brother and law lent us. It was a blessing to have our own space. We started Homeschooling the kids again out there in the mornings and in the afternoons we either visited family or went to the Library to continue school.
In Oakville we spoke at the Calvary Chapel Sunday morning. They have a great little multi-cultural church where we were able to speak Spanish again! We loved being a part of their Missions focus Sunday! I'm looking forward to hearing how they do as they follow God's path for their fellowship.
After that we went to my hometown, Wasaga Beach Ontario to visit family and supporters. We had a very busy time there as we often had a lunch meeting and supper meetings in the same day. We were able to accomplish a bit of school and were incredibly blessed to reconnect with people who have been so faithful towards us over the years. Faith Evangelical Missionary Church has been a part of the McDonald family since its inception many moons ago and its where Sharlene and I first went to church as new believers 20 years ago. It's their fault we're in missions now :) !! This body of believers continues to live out the Great Commission locally and globally and we're glad to be partners with them!
After a month in the East, we headed West. We saw beautiful autumn displays of maple and oak trees. It has been one of the things we missed the most about Ontario since moving away 19 years ago! It was a stunning display!We spent some time in Manitoba with friends who have come down to do missions with us as families in Mexico. The 2 families both live on farms off the beaten path and it was a great time for us to unwind. The boys particularly loved the animals and the freedom to play games on the huge lots at night in pitch black darkness. The highlight for the boys had to have been the night they spent in a log cabin in the woods about 1km away from the house with the Abrahamson boys. They all had a great time without the parents and noone was eaten by bears! It was great!
And now we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan, our Canadian Home. We have bookings for almost every Sunday from now until we go back to Mexico. If you are in the Saskatchewan area and would like to have us over for a visit, we will do all we can to make it work! Our October Sundays are booked as follows:
Oct 8- Northwest Community Church, Meadow Lake, SK
Oct. 16 visiting friends in Moose Jaw, SK
Oct 23 Bagley Baptist Church- evening
Oct. 24 NBC Chapel
Oct. 26-30 LaRonge, SK
November will bring us to Meadow Lake, Martensville and North Battleford, SK with one Sunday still open!
PRAYER REQUEST
It is normal over the years to gain some new supporters and lose others for one reason or another. But, mostly due to economic reasons of our partners, our monthly regular support has slipped about $900/month over the last few years. That is one of the reasons we are back: to reconnect with current partners and see if God is leading new people or churches to partner with us. God has been good and His people have been generous and through many larger one time gifts, our needs have been met. But now we find ourselves in a difficult situation. We have kept our support level low to reflect the area that we live and work in as well as the hard working people we partner with. But the last few months, we have used up any reserve fund we had.
Simply put, we're asking folks to pray with us that God will supply our needs here in Canada and when we return to Mexico. We are also asking that if you are not a regular financial supporter of ours- if you would pray and ask God if He would be leading you to become one. I get Facebook messages and emails regularly from our people in Mexico asking when we will return to the work there! Your prayer and financial support over these last 5 years have resulted in many people coming to Christ, in men and women being made disciples and planting churches, training others and glorifying God. I believe that the first 5 years were foundational but that in the next 5 we will see the investment of time, prayer and finances grow as the ministries we partner with grow exponentially!
Thanks again for all you mean to us, we love each of you and appreciate you very much!
May God bless you all!
If you would like to partner with us please contact our office at:
YUGO Canada
PO Box 231
St. Albert, AB
T8N 1N3
780-461-0891
yugoministries@cruzinternet.com
YUGO USA
PO Box 58
National City, CA
91951-0058
619-336-9003
outreach@yugo.org
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
July/ August Prayer / praise letter
It's mid-summer already!
We are almost 2 months into our home assignment time here in Canada. We've had a great few weeks here speaking in camps, visiting friends and speaking in churches!
Camps
We had 5 weeks of Bible Camp service from Northern Manitoba to Southern Saskatchewan and almost everywhere in between! This year was different from years past, because the boys are getting bigger and more able to serve at camp themselves.
I spoke at 4 camps this summer and served as program director at one.
Sharlene spoke with me at 2 camps and worked as a counsellor and kitchen help in 2 others.
Elijah was a camper for 2 camps and a junior cabin leader for 2 weeks.
Caleb was a camper for 4 weeks and worked in the kitchen for 1- and Jacob was a semi-camper for 3 weeks, full camper for 1 and kitchen helper/ big brother to camp kids for another week.
All in all it was a great camp ministry experience. We started off in camping ministry and love coming back to it every so often to serve churches that support us and also to speak into the lives of young Canadians. It also helps me hone my speaking and preaching skills. I am of the opinion that if you cannot speak to kids and keep their attention, you may not be keeping the attention of the adults you are trying to speak to! So this is an incredible help in my preaching and teaching ministry as well!
We saw God do some amazing things those 5 weeks of camp- from providing vehicles and accomodations and finances to speaking into lives and turning hearts towards Him. We were not after many easy "converts" but were going about our Fathers business making "disciples", followers of Jesus who are willing to turn from their sin and follow and trust in Jesus. We sowed the seeds and will not really be able to see what grew- maybe ever in this lifetime! But God is in charge of the growing and many kids expressed a desire to follow Jesus! Praise God!
Churches
Almost every Sunday was spent speaking in churches as well. It's been good to reconnect with supporters this summer. For those of you in Eastern Canada- we plan on being out there for the month of September. We'll be in the Golden Horseshoe area in the first 2 weeks of September or so- and the Georgian Bay area for the second 2 weeks of September. We have some churches lined up to speak at during that time, but we would love to get together personally with all of you if you can make it work! This is what this time is about!
Vacation
We are currently on a short vacation to one of our old stomping grounds, Victoria, BC. Jacob was born here and has been praying for a long time that we could come back so he could see his "homeland". So we have been exploring the places that we often speak about, but he doesn't remember. He now has some pictures in his mind to put to those stories-and we have a few new stories to share with each other as well!
After this we travel to Alberta to officiate at the wedding of Rebecca Hoople an MK from Mexico who is getting married August 20th. She was our faithful and excellent babysitter in Mexico. Sharlene and I stodd up for Rebecca for her grad as "Padrinos" -kind of like "godparents" and we are all looking forward to being there for this next step in her life as well!
From there we head to Ontario to speak at a church in Ottawa and then a short stint to Quebec City before coming back to Southern Ontario to visit family and supporters and perhaps some potential supporters.
It is inevitable after being on the mission field for 5 years to need to re- establish full support. So we are again on the lookout for people whom God has chosen to partner with us financially in this ministry. If you are interested in investing in this ministry of training pastors and leaders and church planters for the unreached and needy parts of Mexico- please feel free to call or email us and we'd love to sit together with you over coffee or a meal and tell you the wonderful things God is doing!
If you are already a faithful supporter and won't be able to make it out to one of our church dates but would still like to get an update and visit with us-- please call or email us! We'd love to come see you!
Thanks again for your faithfulness in financial and prayer support. We could not do this without you!
Mike for the family.
We are almost 2 months into our home assignment time here in Canada. We've had a great few weeks here speaking in camps, visiting friends and speaking in churches!
Camps
We had 5 weeks of Bible Camp service from Northern Manitoba to Southern Saskatchewan and almost everywhere in between! This year was different from years past, because the boys are getting bigger and more able to serve at camp themselves.
I spoke at 4 camps this summer and served as program director at one.
Sharlene spoke with me at 2 camps and worked as a counsellor and kitchen help in 2 others.
Elijah was a camper for 2 camps and a junior cabin leader for 2 weeks.
Caleb was a camper for 4 weeks and worked in the kitchen for 1- and Jacob was a semi-camper for 3 weeks, full camper for 1 and kitchen helper/ big brother to camp kids for another week.
All in all it was a great camp ministry experience. We started off in camping ministry and love coming back to it every so often to serve churches that support us and also to speak into the lives of young Canadians. It also helps me hone my speaking and preaching skills. I am of the opinion that if you cannot speak to kids and keep their attention, you may not be keeping the attention of the adults you are trying to speak to! So this is an incredible help in my preaching and teaching ministry as well!
We saw God do some amazing things those 5 weeks of camp- from providing vehicles and accomodations and finances to speaking into lives and turning hearts towards Him. We were not after many easy "converts" but were going about our Fathers business making "disciples", followers of Jesus who are willing to turn from their sin and follow and trust in Jesus. We sowed the seeds and will not really be able to see what grew- maybe ever in this lifetime! But God is in charge of the growing and many kids expressed a desire to follow Jesus! Praise God!
Churches
Almost every Sunday was spent speaking in churches as well. It's been good to reconnect with supporters this summer. For those of you in Eastern Canada- we plan on being out there for the month of September. We'll be in the Golden Horseshoe area in the first 2 weeks of September or so- and the Georgian Bay area for the second 2 weeks of September. We have some churches lined up to speak at during that time, but we would love to get together personally with all of you if you can make it work! This is what this time is about!
Vacation
We are currently on a short vacation to one of our old stomping grounds, Victoria, BC. Jacob was born here and has been praying for a long time that we could come back so he could see his "homeland". So we have been exploring the places that we often speak about, but he doesn't remember. He now has some pictures in his mind to put to those stories-and we have a few new stories to share with each other as well!
After this we travel to Alberta to officiate at the wedding of Rebecca Hoople an MK from Mexico who is getting married August 20th. She was our faithful and excellent babysitter in Mexico. Sharlene and I stodd up for Rebecca for her grad as "Padrinos" -kind of like "godparents" and we are all looking forward to being there for this next step in her life as well!
From there we head to Ontario to speak at a church in Ottawa and then a short stint to Quebec City before coming back to Southern Ontario to visit family and supporters and perhaps some potential supporters.
It is inevitable after being on the mission field for 5 years to need to re- establish full support. So we are again on the lookout for people whom God has chosen to partner with us financially in this ministry. If you are interested in investing in this ministry of training pastors and leaders and church planters for the unreached and needy parts of Mexico- please feel free to call or email us and we'd love to sit together with you over coffee or a meal and tell you the wonderful things God is doing!
If you are already a faithful supporter and won't be able to make it out to one of our church dates but would still like to get an update and visit with us-- please call or email us! We'd love to come see you!
Thanks again for your faithfulness in financial and prayer support. We could not do this without you!
Mike for the family.
Monday, August 08, 2011
5 weeks of Camp...
Camp blog
Pre-Camp...
We started off with a new to us chevy Astro van from Turtleford , SK. We were headed to Swan River, MB to speak in a church and visit some friends/ supporters prior to going to our first week of camp.
Another friend lent us a tent trailer to help us make our trips a little less expensive and also to accommodate us should any camps not have enough room for a speaker family of 5...
The van-camper combination didn't last long as just a short time into the trip we realized that the camper was too heavy for the van. Every time we slowed down, we lost brakes and steering! So we CAREFULLY made our way as far as we could until the check engine light came on! We found a campground near saskatoon and bunked down there for the night. Our friend who had lent us the van brought us another vehicle ( chevy suburban) to help us out.
The suburban seemed to be doing well for a while. Then, in the last half of our trip for that day it just stopped for no apparent reason. It would eventually start again- it did this four times in the last 200 kms of our trip- meaning we arrived later into the evening. Thankfully the northern summer sun still shone nicely until almost 11:00pm and we had enough light and time to set up the camper.
It was a blessed week as we visited with friends and a brother in Christ/ mechanic gave the truck a look over to help us get on our way to our next destination.
Steeprock Bay Bible Camp...
It's always better coming back to somewhere than going there for the first time. I remember a couple years ago arriving at steeprock to the accomodations they had for us and being a little shocked! This time, we had our tent trailer--- but we were not prepared for the welcoming party.
It was the most insect-filled place i'd ever seen! There were bulldogs (large horseflies that take chunks out when they bite) millions of mosquitoes (more than i've ever seen anywhere) and other various bugs... when we finally got our trailer up (in the dark) we had to use some mosquito poison (coil) to kill the hundred or so that were planning on emptying us of our excess (and not so excess) blood...
It did a good job, but then the camper was filled with smoke we had to get rid of, so we opened the windows – only to find another problem. No-see-ums... a tiny little biting bug that is small enough to fit through the screen holes-- and soon we were filled with them-- so we closed up the windows and killed off whatever bugs we could see--- it was now 1am and time to maybe get some sleep.
After trying for an hour- we realized that somehow, more bugs were getting in-- we kiled another 50+ mosquitoes and duct taped any openings we could find-- then drifted off again to sleep- kinda- until about 4am- when the ubiquitous sounds of 50+ blood sucking mosquitoes filled our trailer again and I could no longer sleep... I killed what I could and took some of the boys with me to the truck where we tried to sleep-- but the sun was already up and it was difficult...
That day they put us in the same accomodations we had last time, but this time it was like a luxury palace compared to the insect infested tent trailer! We slept REALLY well the next night!
The camp itself went very well- there were about 40+ kids from the surrpunding area and moose lake, MB. We only had 1 chapel session at this camp, but I also had the opportunity to speak to the staff in the mornings about discerning God's will and following Him. God blessed the time we had there and the Good news was presented clearly! Seeds were sown and we'll find out in Heaven what took root! Elijah also had the chance to serve as a jr. counsellor that week- it was a growing- stretching experience for him too!
Big River Bible Camp
We were given a cabin to stay in in Big River- and our boys were not with us that week! They had been picked up and taken to Silver Birch Bible Camp for their own week of camping without mom and dad...
BRBC used to be a place we dreaded to go--- we had OUR camp (Pine Ridge) and used to dislike this camp a lot! But Jason and Anita Boucher have been used by God to develop an excellent discipleship center / camp and we saw their heart and dedication for the kids and for the staff... they have been raising up local First Nations and non-first nations staff for the last few years and have a great group of people there. There was an awesome feel to the camp as Jesus Christ was lifted up and it was obvious that He was first in that camp!
We heard testimony of many kids and staff saying that they were blessed by the messages- God had touched them and taught them about himself... Praise God!
Silver Birch Bible Camp.
Silver Birch is the camp our kids consider “their” camp. We pastored here for a few years and directed camp for 3 summers here. Our kids were “camp kids” their before becoming real campers themselves!
This week, I was the director and Shar was helping in the kitchen. Caleb and Elijah were both able to join a cabin and enjoyed their week of camp. Jacob helped out in the kitchen and was “big brother” to a few of the younger kids whose parents were working at camp that week. We were all blessed...
The Monday night we were about to have our campfire when we heard rain coming across the lake... we quickly decided to cancel the fire and send the kids to their cabins.
In the 4 minutes it took me to help clean up some stuff and take it to the kitchen, a fierce wind blew across the camp and blew the dining tarp (about 20x30 feet big) clear off its frame as soon as I was in front of it. We ran into the chapel and called for all the campers to come to there-- we watched as trees were bending in abnormal ways and rain pounded the building. The power went out and we sang and prayed for the hour and a half that the wind continued. After it abated, we all went back to our cabins and got to sleep.
The next day were were met with the aftermath of the storm. A tree had fallen on the path we all took from the campfire to the cabins / dining hall. Thankfully, noone was hurt! There were 5 trees down in camp in all and several that had the tops blown off. We spent the first part of the morning all helping to clean up the trees, branches and other stuff that had blown around.
About 100 Meters away there was a swath of land where probably 40-50% of the trees were either blown completely down or their tops were blown off-- it was not far from us and was far worse than what we experienced-- we only got the sides of that wind, praise God!
We survived for 44 hours of a power outage thanks to the hard work of the maintenance crew and the generous lending of a couple generators to keep our kitchen going well!
The chapel messages for the first few days had been about darkness- the darkness of sin within us. We were in the darkness during this time! As soon as the chapel messages changed to being about the Light, the lights came back on!
We saw God move mightily at this camp and we're thankful for his including us in this aspect of His work!
Island Lake Bible Camp
Island Lake is the camp run by another of our sister BGC churches in Turtleford, SK. It was a pleasure to serve with them again. It's the 3rd time in the last 6 years we've been able to be speakers at this camp.
There were 43 teenagers and only about 11 staff- including cooks and speaker! Thankfully the campers never caught on as to how much they outnumbered us, or we may have been in trouble!
I was speaking on offering ourselves as living sacrifices and what that looks like- to not be conformed to the world, and to be transformed in Christ's likeness. The campers were challenged to Love Jesus with al their heart soul and strength and serve Him by loving everyone else like themselves. I think they really understood what that meant, because many were wrestling with what that realy meant, to give up even our own lives for Jesus- to make Him first. Seeds were sown, we'll see in the coming years if and how they grew...
Glad Tidings Bible Camp.
This was a VERY different camp then we were used to. We are northern- Saskatchewanians, for the most part. All of our camps have been on lakes in heavily treed areas-- This camp brought us down to the bald prairies of Southern Saskatchewan where trees are an oddity!
This camp was built on a man made "lake" (kinda more like a slough) that someone in the neighbourhood thinks is big enough for a motor boat and waterskis! They have a pool, but it is in need of repair and was unavailable for swimming. Some fo the brave kids would go into the slough to swim- and had a good time doing so!
The biggest attraction at this camp was the horse program! They have a bunch of horses (and donkeys) for the kids to use at this camp. They do a great job of teaching about following Christ through the horse program.
Caleb got to be a camper during this week- for the 3rd time this summer! He was in a cabin with his best friend Matthew (who used to live in the area). Their cabin was notorious for its "man-smell" that emenated from it at all times of the day. I think they'll have to burn it down to get rid of that awful stench.
Elijah was a jr. cabin leader this week and seemed to enjoy his time there. He got the opportunity to give a devotion, and like a good calvary chapel-er he did a verse by verse message for his campers. Elijah's sr. counsellor was impressed with his ability to communicate to the guys!
We spoke that week and it went well for the most part. It was the toughest group I've ever spoken too in my memory! They weren't as attentive as I'm accustomed to. I've spoken to this age group before- but usually to northern youth- primarily Native kids. This is the largest group of "church kids" I've spoken too before.
God was still working as 2 kids came to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. One was a recent immigrant from Zimbabwe, Africa. He was telling us in his testimony that he used to be a bully and would beat up on kids- even though he went to Church in Africa- he was a very bad boy. He repented of his sin and placed his faith in Jesus that week! During the last night, some of the kids started a pillow fight. He got excited and said " a fight o good, i must get my pillow... ahh wait, I cannot do that any longer, I am a man of God!"
All in all it was a great week and a great summer! Thank you for praying for us!
Mike for the family.
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