Emanate - Equipping for cross-cultural church planting

Last week we started our fall semester here at Emanate.  We began with a  week of orientation and today we started full swing into our classes.  We are thankful for each student who has entered the training desiring to be a career missionary.    Literacy, Curriculum Development,  Phonics, Bible Translation,  Relationship Principles, Team Work,  Cross Cultural Communication, are just a few of the courses our students will be taking.  Many of our students are young families with many demands on them.  Please pray for them as they head into some busy days, for strength and endurance for all that the semester ahead brings.  Praise the Lord with us for these dear lives willing to leave the comforts of North America to go to the regions beyond to spread the good news of the gospel. 

The City Of Oaks

After we left Titus, we made it down to Raleigh to spend a couple of days with Ruth and Glenn.  Since Ruth has a different job she is now off on weekends.  It had been awhile since we had been in Raleigh and since we have seen Ruth and Glenn.   Although Raleigh is still a long way from Venezuela we felt like we were walking down memory lane.  We went to a Latin American grocery store to pick up some ingredients for a Venezuelan meal that you can't get here in Ontario.  Just walking up and down the aisles in the store felt like we were "home".  Although, with the situation the way it is in Venezuela most of the shelves in the grocery stores there are empty right now.  We also went to a Venezuela restaurant.  It is always so enjoyable eating some of our favorite Venezuelan goods with family who can also appreciate the treat!  The two days went by very quickly but it was a lot of fun to just hang out together.

Back to the Book

We are adjusting back to being empty nesters again as last weekend we took Titus back to Liberty.  The campus is really big and there are several different dorming options.  This year he moved to a brand new building.  Half the building is still under construction.  Last year he was in an apartment with seven different guys, this year he is in a dorm room with one other guy.  It was kind of fun to move him into a brand new room that hasn't been used before.  Although the room is not big he will have more room then he did last year.   It was so neat that Ruth made the 2 1/2 hour drive up to help Titus get settled in.  Ruth makes move in day so much more fun.  It all went by too quickly and before we knew it we were hugging Titus good-bye. 

Best Surprise Party Ever

It is always fun planning a surprise party when the people you are surprising don't have any idea ahead of time.   Our last night together as a Dyck family we had a joint 60th Birthday Party for Susan and Murray.  Murray is going to be celebrating his birthday in Dec.  However since Australia is many miles away from all of us, none of us will be there to celebrate with him.  Therefore we took advantage of everyone being together one last time to celebrate this special milestone in Susan and Murray's life.  Since I had no idea that we would all be able to see Murray so close to his birthday I wanted to do something special that I could send him in Australia to let him know that the Dyck family was thinking of him.  Last year during the family reunion I had a special Dr. Suess book that everyone in the family wrote a special message in.  It was fun to be able to give him that in person.  We also had buckets for Susan and Murray with their own bucket list on it.   There is nothing like making some awesome family memories together.

Family Photo Fun

When we were out is BC, there were 2 1/2 days that Vern and all of his siblings were together.  Therefore the last night we were together we took the opportunity to take some family pictures.

Sisters Celebrating!

Since our family is so spread out we miss out on celebrating special occasions with each other.  My sister-in-law Susan turns 60 in a month and a half.   It was fun for us ladies in the family to get together and have a little surprise lunch celebrating her life and this big milestone.  I thank the Lord for the family I married into and all the very dear sisters I have.  Happy 60th Birthday Susan!

The Grind Begins

As you know, we enjoy smoking our own farmer sausage.  This is also a passion that Vern shares with his brothers.  So plans were being made before we even arrived in Salmon Arm for a farmer sausage making day.  It can be an all day process but that is just part of the fun.  The guys were able to borrow a high powered grinder from a cousin and so it make the grinding and stuffing go fairly quickly.  After all the sausage was stuffed they made a trip out to their sister's place for the smoking.  It was a successful day with many pounds of sausage smoked and many happy memories were made together.