2 Tim. 2: 24,26 24) And a servant of the LORD must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25) in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if GOD perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26) and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Wednesday 07/07/10 – Well, the heat wave reaches Bridgewater this morning and it is Hot. Up early and I get dressed in my Sunday best and Terry drives me to where I speak today. This group of women are fantastic and, just like all the Maritimers, they are friendly and funny. I am at home immediately and the breakfast goes very well. Raya and I have been communicating via email since January and we finally get to meet each other and she is absolutely wonderful - an incredible lady. It seems like we have known each other for years because she is a sister in JESUS. These meetings always have another speaker before me who is promoting a product and today it is Pat who is helping people by educating them with a product that eliminates toxins through vitamins etc. She is amazing. Then we have Brandon (19 yrs old) who plays country music (he just came back from Nashville). But this young man is a beautiful Christian and he sang three wonderful songs. I always speak at the very end and I give my Testimony provoking many to rethink - reminding them that going to church doesn’t save us – rather it is the Perfect Blood of JESUS Christ that saves, and will HE know us when HE returns ? It is fantastic to chat with the ‘Born again’ Canadian Christians. They are on fire for the LORD. At the finish I urged Terry to come in and meet everyone, and Peter (Pat’s) husband prayed over us for the continuation of our journey with JESUS. He prays in such a way that every word is exactly what the LORD is doing – confirmation. We hear that Ninnette (the lady in the kitchen) has vertigo, so we all go over and pray over her and to hear everyone pray believing the Word of the LORD - that we are healed by JESUS’ stripes. Ninnette’s head became calm and we believe that she is healed. We bid our farewells and Terry and I venture out into the sunshine as we take a walk around ‘Mahone Bay’ (see photo). We stop for a cup of java and walk to a very, very large Anglican Church (see photo) which visitors frequent often and today it is no different. While Terry sits outside in the garden I venture in to take a look at the inside of this ornate church and Alexandre (from Quebec) is here to answer any questions. I ask Alexandre about the church and he tells me that the British built these churches to make sure that Protestant Christianity would stay alive in these parts. I told Alexandre about the pews in the churches I had seen in Virginia and Boston (Christ Church), and how the rich had the best pews and it went down in rank and then I asked Alexandre what he thinks JESUS would say about that. Alexandre laughed and said “Funny you say that because these pews are numbered from the highest in rank to the lowest. I asked Alexandre if he has received JESUS and he said, “ I believe in JESUS, but I’m young and I’m still seeking”. I told Alexandre that JESUS went to the cross to shed HIS perfect blood to pay for his and my sins and that heaven is a free gift from GOD and it is our job to receive that gift. When we walk in through heaven’s gates, we are sure that there is nothing we have done to get there, rather it is everything that JESUS has done for us and, we walk in under grace and covered with the blood of JESUS. A reminder - I want to put Alexandre on the right path - so please pray that Alexandre seeks the face of JESUS, I believe he will. We head back to the hotel to watch Germany get beaten by Spain in soccer. It’s getting late and we take a stroll around the bay not far from our hotel. People are out running, cycling, walking, walking their dogs and sitting listening to a Canadian band sing folk songs, we join the group and listen a while. The music is so innocent and sweet that it seems that Canada in comparison with America and Europe is in a time warp – in my vision I see this place as being as fresh and open and un-jaded as the fifties era in America and Europe- such happy friendly people and love their country - Canada. We eat back at the hotel and settle in for the night and we have had an incredibly wonderfully Blessed day once more thanking our LORD and Savior Who orchestrates it all so perfectly.
Thursday 07/08/10 I speak literally across the street from our hotel in another hotel this morning so off I go at 9am to meet all the ladies. They are a wonderful bunch as usual and I meet some lovely ladies all associated with Stonecroft Ministries. We listened to two singers one is a young lady who is studying to become a music teacher and her voice is ‘light soprano’ just like an angel and sounds like some of the birds we hear in the campgrounds. The other lady sings Indian songs while banging her skin drum. The tribe that she is related to and are here in the Maritimes is the Mi’kmaq Indian tribe. Wonderful entertainment and lots of laughter and fun is had by all. I give the testimony the LORD has given me and HE is showing me something different here in Canada. I notice that HE is teaching these people. They are intently listening and the HOLY SPIRIT is teaching them how to have a personal intimate relationship with JESUS to know HIM and to be sure that HE knows us. Many ladies spoke with me at this meeting about things going on in their lives, it is the same the world over, people are people, and GOD is GOD. One lady I ask for prayer for - she came up to me and hugged me so tight and said “What would we do without JESUS”? As I looked in her eyes I saw pain and I learn that the same thing that happened in my family when I was younger also happened in hers and it has been a terrible tragedy that she cannot get over and although it was 29yrs ago it still hurts terribly. I consoled her giving her some comfort in telling her that my mum had a vision of my brother with JESUS and told her that JESUS knows the heart of everyone of us and that her son and my brother were trying to kill the pain that they felt. She seemed comforted just as if the Holy Spirit spoke to her. Her son was the same age as my brother and the reasons were identical – Isn’t it just like the LORD to impress on me to give more detail on this situation which I normally do not do - HE knew she needed it - her sons name was Don please keep her in prayer her name is Geraldine. There were many other people and it has been an amazing time in Canada I love to talk with these people. One of the couples I spoke of yesterday Pat and Pete call and ask us to their home in between me having to speak. So Terry meets me outside the hotel and we drive to spend some time with these wonderful people. They live in a gorgeous yellow (my color) house with a ‘brick red’ trim and door and a dark sloped roof. They have a farm with three horses and a barn and Pat grows veggies and it is heaven. She said that they are selling it all for $269k I would buy it in a minute if the LORD wanted us here. They are right on the river and it is incredible. We meet Gracie their gorgeous little Bishon Poodle and we have a wonderful visit not being able to leave without having some strawberry shortcake and cream that Pat whipped (no pun intended) up in no time. What incredible hospitality like nowhere we have ever seen. We will be keeping in contact with these guys. I have one more speaking engagement in Canada which is a hundred kilometers away so Terry and I say farewell to our friends and we are on our way to Middleton, Nova Scotia. We arrive in Middleton to find that the meeting is a bit further on so I change from my shorts into my Sunday best in the petrol station toilet (where there’s a will there is a way). We arrive on time and Terry drops me off with the ladies and goes to get us a hotel room in Middleton, washes the car and views a sunset (see photo). The meeting was Spirit filled I heard from the LORD as HE spoke through me and HE did all of the teaching. Teaching on HIS grace and receiving the free gift of eternal life and surrender and HE taught and taught and the ladies listened and listened and many are joining Bible studies and the SPIRIT moved and I know the LORD is doing something here in Canada. Raya my lovely sister in Christ came to this meeting also and she sat through the testimony one more time. Terry comes to pick me up and takes photos of all of us ladies. These people are totally amazing and I know that I know that the LORD is doing something more. It is obvious that the LORD is moving as since the first morning I had to speak I have been afflicted. I have had flu like symptoms and there is no logical reason why I should lose my voice and tonight it is leaving me, yet the LORD spoke through loud and clear and the enemy is under HIS feet. Thank YOU JESUS my LORD.
Friday 07/09/10 Very HOT this morning and we are off to camp for two nights at Kejimikujik (don’t say that one too fast if you can say it at all). We take a walk along a pebble beach, the pebbles are large and smooth and all different colors, dusty pink, white, brown, tan, black, gray and speckled. A little dog sits with a couple a bit further up and I know this doggie is calling to us as we miss jag’s so much, all the dogs seem to know. I go up to meet the dog and the couple are English and have come to live here and are loving it. We talk about a lot of everything - they are church goers. George and Chris seem to believe that everything written in the Bible is true and coming to pass. We fellowship a while and meanwhile Terry is talking to another family and gives the man our information, this man spoke at the local National Day of Prayer this year. We say farewell and drive on to Behoker Wilderness Trail. A gorgeous green forest trail which parallels a stream where a small water fall trickles down the rocks reaching its destination at the bottom and the water continues on down the stream caressing the smaller rocks along the way. As we walk the trail opens up to a dark green bay that shines in the afternoon sun, a gorgeous sight to behold, we are Blessed beyond measure and I long to take it all in but how does one capture these moments? I want to keep them forever all the beauty is so amazing, GOD’s canvas, and I expect to see it and more in heaven. We then take a drive along the country roads where a river runs beside us - a gorgeous hot afternoon with blue, blue sky and white puffy clouds, the houses along the side of the road are always large two story normally white with black trim and the massive churches (two and three on one street) mirror the houses with their white paint and black trim. These churches are bigger than I have ever seen I thought the Southern States had big churches but these are massive. We stop at “Port Royal’ which was erected in the early 1600’s. It was a fur trading settlement where the French worked alongside the Mi’kmaq Indians. All was well until the English came from Virginia and burnt the fort down in the early 1700’s - there goes the Brits again to take over - which they did renaming the fort ‘Annapolis Royal’ and Queen Anne reigned over it. It’s almost 3pm and we haven’t had a cup of coffee yet so we look for a coffee shop and get blessed as we find a great little place across from another fort that we will check out later. Terry gets on the computer in the coffee shop and I go and get my Bible to look something up for Angela who needs a certain Scripture. As I work with my Bible a man comes by and talks to us. After a while he points to my Bible and says “look up Psalm 84:18 and read it to me”, I immediately found it and read it to him. He asked what version I had and I explained that it is the NKJV and that a Bible scholar recently explained that it is more thorough / complete than the KJV as when the KJV was written they never had as many Hebrew and Greek manuscripts. Well it turns out that he and his wife Dan and Lucy are Jehovah Witnesses and I know that they use the convoluted New World Translation. Well Lucy and I talk together for a long while and I must admit all the way through our conversation I asked the HOLY SPIRIT to speak through me. I know something about this group and they have a different Jesus - their Jesus is Michael the archangel. I talked about the 12 tribes of Judah (the 144,000) who Lucy believes are Jehovah Witnesses but it is very clear they are the 12 tribes of Judah from the Old Testament and these 12 tribes will know their true Messiah – JESUS / completed Jews. They will witness throughout the earth at the end of times. Going back to the NWT it has been dramatically from the Christian / Catholic Bible and the first chapter of John reads that Jesus is ‘a god’ and it is erroneous as the Greek does not say this. Our version reads “and the Word was GOD” JESUS is GOD HE is GOD in flesh HE is the personification of the FATHER. JESUS said to Philip in the Book of John “If you have seen ME you have seen the FATHER”, also “I and the FATHER are ONE”, also “I am the way the truth and the life and no-one comes to the FATHER but through ME”. Please pray for Dan and Lucy that Lucy begins to see that she has been mislead. I told her and was very clear on who JESUS is. We left on good terms Lucy wouldn’t take any of my information ( no surprise) so we told them that we would be praying for them. It is a wonderful LORD that we serve as I know Pete prayed over us yesterday for the witnessing of the rest of our journey and that it would be HIS words and that people would come up to us, hence it is coming to pass. We finish our wonderful cup of coffee and cross the road to go and see the ‘Queen Anne Fort’ where we end up talking to three lovely park rangers and we tell them, again, that they are the friendliest people in the earth, they are 50 yrs behind the rest of the world almost as if the LORD has them guarded from this harsh world it is like they are in an invisible bubble. Really we are constantly amazed at how friendly EVERYONE is and we love it. The fort is an English fort but over 3000 years ago the Mi’kmaq used this site as a stopping place in their voyages. In the 1600s and 1700s, the site was the center of early European colonization and settlement in the area called the Acadic by the French, and Nova Scotia by the British. We find our campground which is called Jeremy’s Bay and we pitch our fortress for the next couple of nights. A wonderful day filled with much of the LORDs Blessings and we are so very thankful for the rain as well.
Saturday 07/10/10 As the rain hits our fortress (all night) it sounds like bongo drums are being played over our heads as the tent is taut just like a drum - Terry sleeps through it but I can’t. We go to bed in the rain and get up in the rain not forgetting to put on our rain gear (although it is clearing) and decide to try a hike from the campground but before taking off we go to the canteen for a cup of java. Little did we know that we would spend the next two hours here talking to a lovely family from Prince Edward Island and waiting for the rain to cease. We chat to Heather and her two lovely children Ashley 13 and Riley 10 Ashley looks just like a young version of our Jamie. These guys live on a farm in P.E.I. and they talked all about their lives with on the farm and with all the lovely animals. Heather is an R.N. and has seen many things in her life and say’s that she has to know that there is a GOD that is in control of all this. We talked about JESUS and what HE did for the human race just because HE loves us. Heather talked about faith and we reminded her that ‘All things come together for good for those that love GOD and are called according to HIS purpose. That no matter how difficult it may be if we do things GODs way it will all fit and work out for the good and that it isn’t always easy doing it GODs way but when we do things HIS way it always works out for the good of all involved. The rain began to subside and some blue sky appeared so we left this lovely family with our information and went on a hike to the Mersey River ( and for those in England , yes, there is a Liverpool here) (see photo). While walking over the bridge we stop to watch people in their canoes gliding down the river, Riley had told us to look out for turtles in the river so we did – none yet. We track through the green moist forest which is alive with rays of sun beginning to warm the leaves on the trees and plants and as we walk along the river’s edge we spot something that looks like a dragonfly but as beautiful as a butterfly in fact there are many of them and they are jet black with turquoise heads and body and tails. They have four wings but smaller than a butterfly wing and the jet black wings in contrast with the lime green leaves look amazing and I can imagine at night maybe one could see their luminous turquoise bodies shining like lightening bugs - this is a place where fairy’s live. We walk on and cross over a board walk where the grass is high – up to our waist and a young deer is eating from the lush greenery – it is time for lunch. The sun is out and it is hot and then the sun is gone and it is still hot but the rain comes down and then the sun is out and then the rain comes down and then the sun is out and then… A turtle sits on a log and he looks different to all the others that we have seen, this is a Canadian turtle and maybe he has to brace himself for the winters here which are 9 months out of the year, he has a sliver look to him almost like he is wearing armour – to live in this climate I would also need armour. As we stroll along the river beds it seems to me that if we were in a book this would be a fairytale about fairies living along the river’s edge there is something magical here. The day is growing late and the sun is not very strong so we eat and take another walk along the river and say goodbye to another beautiful day filled with GODS amazing Grace.
Sunday 07/11/10 I awake around 2am to the sound of another round of bongo drums only this time it is louder and the rain is much heavier, boy, do these guy’s have to pay for their sunshine a few days of hot sun and the rain comes in to make sure they don’t get too used to it. They all tell us they would love to live in sunny Southern California, but it doesn’t stop them smiling. I finally fall asleep about 6am when one bird had just started his chorus, I love to hear them singing. Today we are leaving for Halifax and are trying to get to meet Pat and Pete at their church but it isn’t happening. We get up late in the rain – let me rephrase that – in the monsoon and take down our wet, soggy, muddy (poor baby) fortress, we pack and head out of here looking for some blue skies. However, we are in Canada and you cannot just find blue skies you have to wait for days and days until the sun can manage to peek through these heavy clouds. It is beautiful though and we do have our rain suits so we don them and take a hike at a beautiful coastal trail. We walked in the heavy rain enjoying watching the grass drink it in as it grows taller – it is up to my nose now. We walk to the end of the trail and see the beautiful coast with its dark rugged rocks jutting out and some sitting in the Atlantic Ocean deep. It is not clear enough for photo’s but we are glad that we came. The monsoon continued through the day and as we drove a few hours to Halifax it got so bad we were considering pulling over. We meet our friends Pete and Pat who are chatting with Darrell while waiting for us at a coffee shop. We all get together and discuss JESUS. Please keep Darrell in your prayers. He is a believer but said he has been reading many other things of late and it hasn’t been GODS Word. His interest is in the end days and what is behind the political parties .This is a very interesting subject when you look at what is happening but from GODS Word so we instilled that he get back to basics and get the wisdom from the BOOK first. It is late and eventually we say bye to our friends and hope to see them again in California or wherever the LORD wants. Terry and I are up late at the hotel doing all of our cleaning, our fortress, our chariot and our clothes, and us – or just leave the cleaning of us to JESUS.
Monday 07/12/10 Terry was up before me and woke me up oh! I could have slept but got up anyway. It had rained last night and we thanked the LORD for the warmth of a hotel room. We eat breakfast and it is crowded and we talk to a lot of people in passing. Before I leave I make use of the treadmill in the fitness room. Just as I was getting ready to end my walking a young lady came in just to weigh herself and we chat a little. She tells me that she and her husband (Chris) and two young children (Sophia 4yrs) (Hunter almost 2yrs) are from Ontario, Canada on vacation. Rebecca made mention of how hard it can be when you take young ones on vacation and that it may have been better just to stay home. I told Rebecca that I remember feeling frazzled at times, as we took the kids everywhere with us, and that it can be hard work yet it passes so very quickly and to enjoy as much as you can. I asked Rebecca what young couples their age in Ontario thought about going to church. She said a lot don’t but she is bringing her children up in a Christian church. I gave Rebecca my information after going over the Gospel and hope that she checks out our newsletter. By the time we left the hotel it was clearing and we drove up towards Cape Breton. About an hour into the drive I asked Terry if he took the clothes out of the dryer – NO – we turn the car around and drive back to the hotel where we find everything is folded and waiting for us and we lose an hour of our day but the LORD is telling us to be a little more watchful. After a lengthy drive we stop at Sheet Harbor a very small quaint little town named by Lockwood a famous writer who thought that the landscape looked as though it had a sheet covering, hence, the name. We looked through the tiny museum where upstairs they had a stuffed woman sitting in a rocker Mr. McAfee’s wife ‘quite eerie’ felt like she was really there. Mr. McAfee settled in this town in the late 1700’s and lived here with his wife until they died. There were utensils and Bibles and all sorts of things that they had left that they show in this tiny museum/house. We walk outside and around the back of the house and along a boardwalk. There stands a rusty looking bridge with the river running under it and a gorgeous waterfall which is wider than the ones typically seen and broad large steps accommodate the water as it rolls over them. The sun is weak but trying to show its face but at least there is no rain. We continue on and stop in Sherbrooke for a cup of coffee the tiniest town you can imagine and as we walk into the coffee shop we hear our friend John Denver singing ‘Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy’ and I thought to myself they sure need that around here – sunshine. No one is left in the coffee shop so we talk to Kurt who is serving us. His wife is a District Attorney and they moved from British Columbia to this tiny little town so that their children would have a good place to grow up in. I would think that all of the Maritime Provinces would be a great place to raise children. We talk about the Bible and the last days and we say farewell to Kurt and drive onwards and upwards. The scenery coming into Cape Breton is beginning to look a lot like parts of the Southern States with its large rolling hills ( Maritime Mountains) and farm land look. We take some short walks along country roads that always have a stream or river running by. We drive through a college town ‘Antigonish’ red brick buildings adorn the town along with a few churches with steeples. We finally arrive at our destination which is ‘Port Hastings’ and we stay the night in a hotel. We talk to Alex (girl) at the front desk and then go to the store to buy dinner and retire for the night. All in all we are totally Blessed and the LORD has been teaching Terry and I a new way of life, we realize that the way we are living is an incredible new way of life and both would love for it to last forever.
Tuesday 07/13/10 Yes! We have sunshine today and it is gorgeous. Upon leaving the hotel we drive towards Cape Breton Highlands National Park’ where we will camp for the next three days (GOD Willing). Talk about Scottish, all the towns and streets are Scottish names and spellings and I bet if I wanted some haggis I’d find it here oh! and there are thistles which, for you who don’t know, is the flower of Scotland. We drive up the Cape Breton coastline where we see the picturesque Gulf of St. Lawrence which is clear blue, the sky also very blue, and as we drive along quiet country roads on this Tuesday morning we see amazing bright colors in all of creation with the Gulf to our left and rolling green hills lined with Evergreen trees and of course our ‘forever here’ beautiful yellow fields of buttercups. After getting information on hikes in the area we take a walk along a country lane where we see tiny white stars on tiny green stems, purple Iris, white lace and to add to the beauty is the sound of the birds singing while gorgeous black butterflies with a white trim on their tails fly in and out of the flowers - I later find out that these butterflies are endemic to Cape Breton only and come in the months of June and July they are called ‘Short Tailed Swallowtails – beautiful. We stop to take a hike at ‘Mabou’ a short walk through the forest brings us to the top of a hill where we look down on the Gulf of St Lawrence (see photo) and it is spectacular and reminds both Terry and I of a hike we took not too long ago in ‘Big Sur’ California only this is a little less steep. As we go back down and stand on a boardwalk to look at the view of rugged rocks sitting in the Gulf we notice that the reeds/bull-rushes are now passes my head, they have grown past my waist to the top of my head – it’s the rain. The Gulf is calm and the white daisies display their beauty along with the pink roses and purple wild flowers and thistles all standing in the morning. We drive on to Margaree Forks and stop at the visitor center before taking a walk along a country lane which takes us alongside the Margaree River with its rushing water hurling over the rocks. Earlier on while talking to a lady she had mentioned a church and immediately I noticed that I had left my gold cross back at the hotel. We called the hotel and Kathy said ‘Yes, the housekeeper Elaine had handed it in today. I am very thankful and will give Elaine something in an envelope and will write to her about JESUS, I know that the LORD allowed this for a reason, we will go back that way in ten days and Kathy says that she will put it away until I get there…Wonderful people. Eventually we arrive at our campground at ‘Cape Breton Highlands National Park’ and pitch our fortress in the warm sun and she begins to dry out thoroughly. By now it’s 4pm and we ‘make haste while the sun shines’ because you never know here it supposed to rain tomorrow. We take a 6 mile hike ‘Skyline’ and it is amazingly beautiful. We walk along the trail which takes us gradually up the mountain the trail seems so easy as it is level. As we walk we see the usual gorgeous flora and fauna and in awe of the way this trail ends up at the top of the mountain looking down onto the Gulf of St Lawrence again much like Big Sur (see photo). The trail takes us to a point where there are stairs that go down in increments so that you can go as far as you want to view the amazing scenery (see photo). Rugged rocks jut out into the Gulf and birds are camped on the rocks diving every so often for supper. We stay a while (chatting with a few people) and Terry taking photo’s. The sun is warm and the day bright as we begin to take the loop trail back and while walking back a family is stopped ahead of us watching a young moose eating supper. He was a young male (Antlers) not as big as we have seen before in Canada but he will be by fall. By the time we get back to the car it’s almost 7pm so we eat at an overlook watching the sun slowly descend beneath the horizon. Such a beautiful day in this beautiful country and we are thankful to the LORD for making it all possible.