September 11, 2008

It is Thursday. The time in Choujou is 8:55am. My location is the English Village office in the corner of Nan Jung Junior High school, at a computer in front of a window facing eastward towards America and towards home and towards New York City. Memory is a tremendous blessing from God: not completely tame; […]

Don’t Eat Honey?

We have been blessed with another successful beekeeping year so far. I was delighted to see our ten productive hives bring in a surplus of over 600 pounds more than they needed this spring. It was more than they had ever brought in before. Recently I read an opinion stating that people should not eat […]

2008 Staff Retreat

It’s just a little past 6:00PM on Thursday, August 28, and we are finally off on the long awaited Staff Retreat. Finally? Yes, finally because we were scheduled to leave at 3:55PM sharp. Instead of traveling to Northwoods Michigan, Mr. Gothard modified this year’s plans for the annual IBLP Staff Retreat to go down south, […]

To Him That Overcometh …

Praise the Lord. Tomorrow we will have been here one week. It seems much more like a month because of the many new people we have met here. We are near Ping Tung city and not far from Taiwan’s southern tip. Our team consists of Wes and Juliana; Joanna, Kara, Hannah and Sarah; Austin and […]

Niagara Falls-Canada Adventure Day 6

We could not believe it was already time to leave! The six days with the Van Essens had been full of fun and activity, and, as is the case any time you visit good friends of like faith, the time had flown by.We were so thankful for the encouragement, fellowship, and hospitality the Van Essen […]

Mission project – Canada Adventure Day 5

Mr. Van Essen works for MSC Canada. A school was closing down and donating its remaining desks, black boards and other equipment to this ministry. By 6:00 a.m. we were up and on the road and got a good days work in carrying the furniture and equipment from the 3 floors to the gym in […]

Rocks that Teach – Canada Adventure Day 4

On Tuesday of our trip, we took a morning outing to see the local Petroglyphs near Peterborough, Ontario. What I had expected to be only interesting turned out to be downright inspiring! The petroglyphs are ancient carvings in rock, estimated to be between 500 and 1100 years old. Their origin is debated, but generally accepted […]

An Uplifting Sunday – Canada Adventure Day 3

It was a pleasure to attend church with the Van Essen’s on Sunday. The openness and friendly atmosphere made it a special time! We enjoyed a walk and picnic lunch by a lock. Some of us had never seen one before this vacation. We were fascinated to watch the boats enter the lock from the […]

Do You Know the Artist? – Canada Adventure Day 2

On our second day visiting the Van Essen family in Ontario, Canada, our hospitable hosts took us to see the Gallery on the Lake and enjoy viewing a wide array of magnificent nature artwork. During our visit I had the opportunity to chat with one artist, Marc Gagnon, who for several years had been the […]

Canada, Eh? – Canada Adventure Day 1

It is not very often that our whole family is together in the same place at the same time. So, to make the most of this occasion, we decided to take a family vacation to visit the VanEssen family in Ontario, Canada. Waking at 4:30 in the morning on Friday, August 15, we drove all […]