Even though my contrarian nature makes me want to delay this report after the comments Calvin made on my last post ( ;-), of course), I do want to write about my "holiday," as another commenter so quaintly put it (again ;-), of course!)

It was a great trip, very enjoyable in every way, and very profitable and encouraging as well. On Thursday evening I arrived safe and sound in Neerlandia (which some of the Prince George folks have taken to calling "Neverland" and "Narnia"), where I brought the rain with me from B.C. The Neerlandi-ites were thankful for that, so if nothing else, that made my trip a success. On Friday, the pastor of the Neerlandia congregation, Rev. John Louwerse, took me on a tour of the hamlet of Neerlandia.

Thirty seconds later, we went exploring the countryside, which has a beauty that does grow on you! I got to see the very edge of civilization (a place called Vega, which is not pronounced like the car), and later that afternoon I had the opportunity to visit the least centrally-located bookstore in the history of Christian bookstores, Inheritance Publications. Of course I couldn't leave there without an armful of books!

Friday night I gave a presentation in the Neerlandia church. The number of people in attendance and the interest that was shown by those who came was very encouraging indeed. I got to meet some people I haven't seen since high school, and someone my Dad used to work for in Edmonton, who remembered the Dutch expression he would use when he would hit himself on the thumb with a hammer. I've forgotten what it was, but it was pretty good, I do know that.

Saturday afternoon and evening I met with the evangelism committees of Barrhead and Neerlandia. It was exciting to see the ideas that these committees have about working in a nearby community, and their enthusiasm for the evangelistic mission of the church. They peppered me with questions which I did my best to answer, and in the evening they plied me with barbecued burgers and more good conversation.

Sunday... I led the worship services in Barrhead in the morning and afternoon, which was another pleasure (enhanced by the excellent piano playing, which lifted the tune-keeping responsibilities from me, for which I remain thankful).

Then after the second worship service I drove to Edmonton, where I had dinner with the Aasman extended family (Rev. Aasman is the pastor of one of the Edmonton congregations), after which I gave another presentation in the church that he pastors (Immanuel or Providence - I get them confused). Given the short notice they had for my presentation, and the fact that I was following another missionary who had spoken there a couple of days before, the attendance in interest was also very good! More good questions and discussion followed, after which I followed Rev. Slomp, the pastor of the other congregation (Providence or Immanuel) on a circuitous tour to his home (several times during that little excursion I was wondering whether I was actually following the right car), where I slept, and from which I departed yesterday.

The support and encouragement that I received was like a shot in the arm for me. It's great to see the interest that people have in the Prince George congregation, to experience the support of these congregations, and their enthusiasm for spreading the gospel, and just experiencing the communion of saints with the people in the Edmonton area was a true pleasure. Thanks to those who did the organizing, to those who put me up, fed me, and gave me a place to stay, and thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and practical support! It was a real blessing, to say the least.

And to top it all off, on the way home I got to see a whole bunch of elk, deer, mountain sheep (a herd of which snuck up on me while I was setting up my tripod on the side of the road), and a couple of black bear families, too. The drive through Jasper National Park is a beautiful one.

Now it's good to be home. Nallely is leaving for Mexico tomorrow to visit her grandmother, so I'll be enjoying something rather euphemistically known as a "vacation" for the next week.

It's road trip time!

Tomorrow morning I'll be loading up the car and heading east, bound for the bustling metropolises of Neerlandia and Barrhead. On Friday I'll be giving a mission presentation in Barrhead, on Saturday I'll be meeting with people from Barrhead and Neerlandia, on Sunday I'll be leading the worship services in Barrhead, and on Sunday evening I'll be giving another mission presentation in Edmonton.

I've got the iPod loaded with audiobooks (which, I've discovered, are available for B.C. library card holders for free!), and lectures from Reformed Theological Seminary, who have podcasts available of a number of their courses on iTunes (including a great church history course taught by Frank James, and another excellent course on the Puritans by J.I. Packer). My camera's packed, so I'm hoping for good weather as I head through the mountains, so I can get some good shots with the pinhole camera, which hasn't seen much use in the dark months just past.

I'm looking forward to meeting many brothers and sisters in Northern Alberta, seeing the world-renowned hamlet of Neerlandia for the first time, and hopefully getting a chance to meet some people I haven't seen for a long time. I hope to return to Prince George on Monday evening, so I'll report back then, the Lord willing!

Last Friday I was invited to speak to the students and parents of Tyndale Christian School in Calgary about the mission work in Prince George. During their "Mission Month" this year, the students focused on the Prince George Mission - you can see the fruit of their labours in the pictures below. They did some very nice work - kudos to the principal, the teachers, and the students involved for the work they put in and their enthusiasm for the mission work!

And on behalf of the congregation and everyone involved in the mission, a hearty thank you to the students and the student council for their fundraising efforts, and to everyone who made donations - over $600.00 was raised altogether, including a large cheque from the student council (and I mean physically large - it was at least three feet long - I felt like I had won the lottery when they presented it to me)!

I spent an enjoyable couple of days in Calgary (actually only one full day - I flew in on Thursday night and flew out on Saturday afternoon), and thanks to the fine folks at Tyndale for their warm welcome!








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Due to a volume of rather gross spam, I've turned comments on to "moderate all" - so don't be offended if your comment shows up as "pending moderator's approval," I'll only delete the spam comments.

Just out of curiosity, this morning I decided to count up the number of sermons that I've preached here in Prince George since we arrived in March, and it turns out that last Sunday marked a milestone (a very small one), when I preached my thirtieth sermon.

That's approximately three times the number of sermons that I prepared at the theological college during my studies!

Right now I am preaching through the book of Romans. I'm working on the tenth sermon in this series, and I've made it as far as the fourth chapter. Working through a book in this way has been a great process, in getting to know the flow of Paul's argument, in really getting into the text, and working toward a greater understanding of it. As I arrive at Romans 4, though, I find that I'm in danger of starting to repeat myself, so it's also a challenge to work in a series like this, but it's a good one.

So far I've preached on the following texts:

Romans 1:11,12
Romans 1:16,17
Romans 1:20
Romans 1:32
Romans 2:1-16
Romans 2:17-28
Romans 3:1-8
Romans 3:9-20
Romans 3:21-31

and now I'm working on Romans 4, focusing on verses 18-25.

On other fronts, I had the opportunity to give a presentation for a group of young people at a Trek Club gathering on Sunday night. I spoke about how all of the Old Testament points to Christ, focusing on the sacrifices and the tabernacle in particular. There were about fifteen kids there, ages 12 to 16, and I must say that they were the most attentive and polite group of young people that have had to sit and listen to an hour-long talk!

I also had a great session in the chaplain's office on Monday, and a wonderful conversation with a group of students. Many times my chaplaincy time has been rather quiet, but as more students get to know the new volunteer chaplain, things are getting busier, and that's very good!

Now back to the sermon preparation!

Yep, that's what the little thing in the bottom corner of my screen tells me.

I had a genuine Northern B.C. experience last Friday, as I traveled to Smithers for the funeral of my Tante Fimke, who passed away early last week. After about five hours and 400 kilometres of driving, I made it to the outskirts of Telkwa, which is about ten minutes from Smithers. It was snowing and slippery and just plain rotten driving all the way from Prince George, but I had managed to nearly make it to my destination... when I put the car in the ditch.

I was headed around a long curve on packed snow, going between 70 and 80 km/h, and I think I tapped on the brakes (it all happened so quickly it's hard to remember exactly what transpired). The back end of the car swung around, I did a perfect 180 degree spin-a-rama across both lanes, and wound up in the ditch on the opposite side of the road, facing the direction in which I had come.

As I sat in the car, wondering what had happened, I noted that in the high-speed ballet that had just occurred, I had not even spilled my coffee.

There were no cars coming from the opposite direction.

I missed a rather steep gully by about a hundred metres.

There was no damage to the car, nor to my person.

But I was solidly stuck, and needed a tow truck to get me out. A number of Good Smitherians stopped to see if I needed help, one of whom had a phone book and cell phone to call a tow truck.

And twenty minutes later, I was back on the road again, shaken, but not stirred.

God was very gracious, and when I think of what could have happened, I am very thankful that the only damage done was to my wallet.

Now that I've got that out of the way, I think hitting a moose is next on my list of things to do. I may stick to walking for the next few months.

After two exciting, exhausting, and eventful weeks at Camp Yak'isda Bi'kah on Tyee Lake in Smithers, we made it back to Prince George very early Saturday morning. We enjoyed our Sunday worship this morning, and it certainly is nice to be sleeping in our own bed again!

Camp was a great experience. We had 29 campers for the first week, ranging in age from eight to thirteen, and thirteen teen campers for the second week. There were ups and downs, as can be expected, but overall it was a great couple of weeks.

The most heartening experience? Seeing the youth campers from the pulpit in church on Sunday morning, singing enthusiastically and listening attentively (at least the ones I saw sitting in the front row!)

After giving the teen campers Bibles and devotionals on the last day of camp, I noticed one of the young men sitting on the bench outside reading his brand-new Bible with great interest. He told me this was the first book he had read all year, and he had opened it to Malachi. He was very interested, but he didn't understand what the passage was talking about, but I pray that he will find someone to encourage him and explain God's Word to him. I felt like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, only I was Philip with not enough time to explain what the passage meant, and he was the Ethiopian sent on his way, still wondering what it was that he was reading. It's not something I'll soon forget, and if ever an experience can be described as heartening and disheartening at the same time, this was it.

I've also posted a few pictures in the Photo Gallery, so check them out!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...