St Catharines

Mama Deane dropped us off at the Newport News airport on friday, but, we were running a wee bit late and missed our plane. We caught another one 2 hous later, but were delayed an hour and a half in Philadelphia, which meant we were gonna miss our shuttle from Buffalo --> St Kits. We booked another shuttle and finally got on our plane. Then, we were delayed on the runway for an hour, meaning we would miss our rescheduled shuttle. Finally we took off and a half hour into our flight, we smelt smoke in the cabin! The cabin told us not to worry about it and since we were ONLY an hour away from Buffalo we would go on. I see?! We made it, but, once again, missed our shuttle so we had to take a later one. T'was all good though. We made it back to St Catharines, where the Woodwards have graciously offered to provide accomodations for us and take us through premarital counseling.
So, we are back in St Kits. Saturday, we did some counseling, then some running around, and then we went to Hamilton to attend an under-the-tent meeting. Yesterday (my 31st birthday) we went o a couple services at NCC where Steve McVey was speaking. Wow, never mind. We broke up the services with visiting Peter & Julie Karanfilis, booking an appointment to get our get our wedding bands tattooed, and a supper at Sahla Thai. Last night we hung out with Sheri Smith. Today we do LOTS of premarital counseling, and at 6pm we should be getting tattoed!!

HCC, SSM, NCC, Cafe Amore,& a birthday and a BBQ

Lots since last post. Saturday we went to Hamilton Celebration Church; I drummed and Jenny had the kids do prophetic art. It was a good ole time.
Sunday, we went to NCC one last time. It was kinda disappointing that Randy was speaking instead of Peter Youngren but, oh well. Then Jenny and I spoke at Scott St Manor. Our text was Titus 1:16, which has been a recurring text as of late. It was likely to be our last service at the Manor :( In the evening I took Jenny to Cafe Amore (her favorite restaurant in St Catharines). It was some good.

Monday was Jenny and Jessica's 21st birthday and we celebrated by feeding 38 people at Scott St Manor. We had hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, cake, and orange juice. It was quite a treat for the residents. Lets just say that their dietary requirements aren't likely met on a daily basis. They all sang 'Happy Birthday' to Jenny and Jessica and had a great overall time. Check out the photos -->HERE<-- and the video -->HERE<--.

It is so great to be able to bless those who have no means of repaying you. Jesus says in Luke 14:12-14, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
I have been to endless "Church" functions where the sole objective was to feed and "bless" the congregation. Only in Africa, with Iris Ministries, was I ever part of a feast for the poor. It is so humbling to feed those who can give nothing back to you but gladness and thankfulness. It is so much more rewarding and God-like. I would love to see the "Church" start to feel compassion and walk in charity (active love). I really think Jesus would like that too. So, why don't we?

post-surg

Friday, Jenny's dad (John) and I took Jenny to Niagara Falls to have the cyst (demon) on her tailbone removed. John and I ate at Perkins, cruised the Falls, and sat at Tim Horton's while we killed off the time that Jenny was in surgery. We picked her up about 7pm and headed home for St Catharines. Jenny was in considerable pain, but relieved that her body was now in recovery mode instead of coping mode.

Yesterday was to be the Celebration Bible College (CBC) graduation feast at Niagara Celebration Church (NCC). We had out hearts set on going since early January, and Jenny's stubbornness in the end won out (and also the fact that we paid $50 for our tickets)! We went and partook of the buffet and Christianese conversation that ever-so-often dominates these kinds of events. But we made the best of it (seeing that Jenny was in obvious discomfort), raving it up with the Karanfilis' and Nita and others. The pleasantness(?) of the evening hardly made up for the night of pain Jenny endured as a result of going. I don't like to do it, but Jenny has now been officially grounded until her body heals. PEI and Double H Ranch are much too important to be rescheduled due to a relapse.

So, today we camped out at the Vine, watching Gremlins 2, missing church at Scott St Manor, and the actual CBC graduation service at NCC. Jenny really wanted to go seeing as her twin (class president Jessica) was to speak a presidential address. Thankfully, NCC streams its services so we were able to watch the proceedings live. It was doubly sweet seeing that Jenny had arranged the NCC bus to pick up residents of Scott St Manor and drive them to the service to watch Jessica and Colin graduate!

We are praying that Jenny would have a speedy and complete recovery. Tomorrow I take her back to Niagara Falls for a follow up to see how she's healing. Thanks for the car Heymans!!

Superbowl Sunday

I never went to church this morning but I watched a bit of it online. Peter Youngren was a bit choked at the idea of church members skipping church this eve to watch the Superbowl so he made someone change the sign out front and promised an AMAZING sermon in place of the football game. Well, I just got back from NCC and I've definitely heard him preach better messages. And it didnt seem to matter to much of the congregation since most of them did indeed skip out on church to watch the game (or pray, or fast, or intercede, or something, hopefully!). And I never watched the game but the New York Giants have won the Superbowl beating the New England Patriots 17 - 14.

And if you wanna see something incredibly disturbing click -->HERE<--.