A Bit of Heaven

This morning Vern headed out at the crack of dawn to bring his mom, Merrill, and Teresa to the airport.  It was such a cool gift from God to have them here especially Vern's mom.  It was so awesome for our kids & grandkids to be able to connect with their grandma/great grandma again.  And Merrill and Teresa haven't been out here for five years so that was also wonderful for us to have them here.  With the Dyck family so spread out we have to seize these special moments in time together.  Here is a snap shot of our days together.

Bringing in the Big Guns

Most of the classes Vern teaches are on cross cultural church planting.  For the past six days it has been a special joy for Vern to have his brother Merrill, who also was our coworker, take the class time to share with our students.  Merrill has over 40 years of experience in cross cultural church planting, has translated the New Testament, has discipled and mentored the people group we worked with.  He has a love for the Lord and for people.  It was so great to have him here passionately sharing with our students.  As I sat in class this morning I was in awe once again of how God changes lives. We listened to testimony after testimony of how God has changed people's thinking and  brought them from darkness to light, from living in fear to living with peace.  We serve the God of miracles. The job of cross cultural church planting is not easy, and almost impossible, BUT GOD! We are just ordinary people but we serve an extra ordinary God.  As I think of our students heading overseas the task of what is ahead is HUGE.  But God is just looking for ordinary people who will faithfully walk with him, rely on Him, an serve him to see the Impossible Possible! 

 

The Lord of the Harvest

Every Fall we hold a three day "Global Perspectives" conference for our Emanate students where we look at the different countries that Ethnos works in or desires to work in.  This year the theme was: "The Lord of the Harvest".    As we look at Matt 9:37-38 - "He said to his disciples, The Harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So PRAY to the Lord who is in charge of the workers of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields."   We rejoice as we see all that God is doing around the world.  Although it leaves us very challenged as to the great needs there still are.   There are people groups asking to hear "God's talk" and yet there is no one to go.   What part do we have in this?  Well, the Lord does tell us to pray.  Would you pray with us that God would bring more laborers.  Have you ever thought of going to serve overseas?  There are so many needs not only for church planters and Bible translators, but for pilots, accountants, nurses, teachers, IT support, maintenance workers, home school helpers and the list goes on.   Do you want to make a real difference in the world? One way to do that, is to consider doing it overseas and being part of the Ethnos Team.  

Capturing These Moments Spent Together

On Thursday Vern's mom, his brother Merrill and wife Teresa flew out here from Western Canada to spend some time with us.  Since Mom is 93, we are so very thankful everything worked out for this trip to happen.  It was also a special blessing that Zachary, Ruth, and Glenn were able to make it here for the weekend to spend time with us all and especially with their dear Grandma.  (Saddenly Elisha, Titus, and Alyssa were not able to make it.) Mom is an amazing woman of God who daily lives out her faith.  It has been such a treat for us to have her here investing in us, our children, and our grandchildren.  We have been making some amazing memories together.  Although she will still be here another week, today Zachary will be heading home and tomorrow Ruth and Glenn.  These few days together have been such a special treat for us.  Of course I wanted to get some pictures together.  

Trying to Find My Balance

I just thought I would give an update on my health and dizziness for those of you who have been praying for me. On Friday I headed down to Toronto for an appointment with a physical therapist who specializes with patients who have balance issues.  My appointment was 1 1/2 hours.  I was very thankful for such for a compassionate physical therapist who was such a great help to me.  She was very happy with how well I have been doing. I am showing signs of both Meniere's disease and positional vertigo. They are unsure which one I have or they think I could even have both. The therapist gave me some exercises to help me gain even more strength and balance. I was also encouraged to keep going for a nice brisk walk every day since it will also help me with my balance issues.  I will have another appointment in three weeks to see how I am doing. 

I am glad I had my cow bell with me as it was her last day of her internship. It was so fun to celebrate this big milestone with her.

Walk-It

This morning Vern, Camille, Kristina, and I participated in the Walk-It for Parkinson's.  As many of you know this is personal as my mother has been battling Parkinson's disease for over 24 years.  It has been hard to see how this disease has played out in the life of my mother.  It was very special that Vern, Camille, and Kristina stepped up to walk with me.  Before I left the house this morning I did shed a few tears thinking of my dear mother and how we were walking in honor of her.  We weren't a huge crowd of people walking but it was neat to see the families walking together, some with their loved ones who have Parkinson's.  At the end of the walk they were honoring some people who have done this walk and fund raised for over ten years.  One man has raised over $100,000 in the ten years he has been doing the Parkinson's Walk.  It was neat to be a part of this event and we made some fun memories together!

On to The Finish Line

Today we are excited to start our fall semester of classes here at Emanate.  We are thankful for the 12 young adults who are here wanting to learn all they can before heading overseas.  What a priveldge it is to be here and to invest in their lives. It will be a busy semester.  Please pray for our students as they soak in everything they are learning, juggle family life, and as they also start planning for the future and where God would have them serve.