Tag Archives: Travel

Montgomery AL, Birthplace of US Civil Rights

June 14, 2014 By in Blog, Churches, Places Tags: , , , 2 Comments

From the Elm City, New Haven Connecticut, we took two days to make our way down to Montgomery, Alabama, where we spent a few days with Pastor & Mrs Timothy Mitchell, founding pastor of New Testament Christian Center.

Birth of a Friendship

We got to know the Mitchells through a translation opportunity. Mutual friends, missionaries Eddy & Della-Mae Kennedy, let us know that Pastor Mitchell was looking for some help translating a Bible study course for new believers that he had authored, entitled The Way More Perfectly.

Liz accepted to do the translation and so, during the months that ensued, we were in contact at regular intervals and at one point, without even planning it, the Mitchells were on a cruise that stopped for the day in Saint John, allowing us to meet in person for the first time. Following that meeting, there were a couple of times, two in particular, where the Lord prompted Bro. Mitchell to call us “just to see how things were going.”  Those calls came at pivotal moments and were definitely God-moments.

The translation was completed last year, but the friendship lived on and as soon as we decided to drive to Florida, we made a point of connecting with them. map_AL

Unexpected Surprise

GoddardAt one point in our drive, we realized that the highway we were on would take us within 10 minutes of Anderson, South Carolina (we had no idea this would be so beforehand… we just followed the GPS – nicknamed Olive for our trip) where Rev. Edward Goddard pastors a wonderful church (Sanctuary of Praise). Bro. Goddard was the pastor of Mission Point (First United Pentecostal) when Liz and I first started attending and so was an important part of our walk and growth in God.

We were able to stop in for a short visit and see the miracle church that God provided for them. So glad for even a short visit and thankful for the great example of this pastor who has been part of shaping who we are today.

Montgomery

IMG_8229After surviving heavy rain as we came through Atlanta, we arrived in Montgomery. Not only did we have the chance to worship with the Mitchells, both in the morning and evening services, but they showed us around the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement and the First Capital of the Confederacy.

As you read in my earlier post, The Power of One, the Rosa Parks Museum moved me tremendously (surprisingly so). We also visited the First White House of the Confederacy and the Alabama State Capitol (pictured at right) where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy.

We got a chance to visit the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site where African American servicemen had to fight to win their place, both in World War II missions and in military ranks back home.

The Civil Rights Movement is intricately woven into the American national identity and narrative, but such is not so much the case in Canada. Although we are aware of it, at varying degrees, I daresay it is not as widely understood here in all of its complexity. These two days were a humbling time as we were somewhat immersed in it.

Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the Montgomery area, you will find a great church in the New Testament Christian Center. They are located at 10300 US 80, Montgomery, AL, 36117  and can be reached at (334) 215-7215 (see link to their website, below).

If you are in Anderson, SC or the surrounding area… visit Sanctuary of Praise, 518 Stone Drive, Anderson S.C., 29625. You can reach the church at (864) 224-6699.

Next stop

…the Sunshine State. We’ll go there on Saturday

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New Haven… Connecticut’s Elm City

June 11, 2014 By in Blog, Churches, Places Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The first stop on our road-trip, was New Haven, Connecticut… nicknamed The Elm City for the high canopy of mature trees which characterize the city, reputedly the result of America’s first public tree-planting program.

Probably most known as the home of Yale University, New Haven was on our mind and has been in our heart for another reason.

Haven of Hope

Back in 2008, Pastor Rick Perry came to Saint John to speak in our annual missions conference, as a representative of North American Missions, since he and his wife Stacey were church planters in The Elm City. Our church partnered with them and two years later, sent a team to help them refurbish a newly purchased building that would become their church’s home… Haven of Hope.

Our friendship with the Perrys has continued to grow over the years, making it impossible to drive by without stopping to say hello!

French Connection

As we arrived on their doorstep, we noticed a car in the driveway bearing North Carolina license plates. The mystery was unveiled as soon as we knocked on the door, which was opened by missionary to France, Marcus Brainos!  How cool!!  We, of course, knew the Brainos’ from our time in France and had recently had them visit with us at Mission Point in Saint John (read about that visit here).

What a treat… we got to have a nice supper together with both the Perrys and the Brainos’ followed by a truly authentic cappuccino at Libby’s Italian Pastry Shop (VERY cool & VERY authentic! Also very old-school- don’t go unless you have cash as they don’t accept debit or credit cards).

map_CTForestThe Clear Call of God

I’ve always been amazed by the way God called the Perrys to New Haven. They were heading through, on their way someplace else, when, passing in front of the Forest Cinema, God spoke to Bro. Perry about establishing a church there. He didn’t immediately say anything but a short while later, when speaking with his wife about being called someplace, she responded… “It’s New Haven, isn’t it?  It was the Forest Cinema wasn’t it?”

God had spoken to her at the same time, and they both knew it, although neither immediately expressed it to the other.

God’s voice isn’t always that clear… sometimes you have to search it out a bit, but it was that clear to me when it came to our call to France, and I’m so glad it was. There will undoubtedly be days when “the going gets tough” but on those days, the clarity of God’s call will help us to continue forward.  I have long thought, and it’s been my experience, that you can make it through just about anything if you know, without doubt, that you are in God’s perfect will. I’m thankful that such certainty is available in Jesus.

Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the New Haven area, you will find a great church in Haven of Hope. They are located at 884 Grand Ave., New Haven, CT 06511  and can be reached at (203) 404-0339 (see link to their website, below).

Next stop… The land of rattlesnakes and water moccasins.

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Please pray today:

Two things that I’d ask you to pray about today…

  1. By the time this post is published, I’ll be on my way to Montreal for the UPC’s Canada Conference, where I’ll have the opportunity to present our project to pastors from across the country. Pray that some of these will partner with us.
  2. While in the area, I’ll also need to look after details that will facilitate living in Europe for two years. For this I have several appointments in both Montreal and Ottawa. Pray that these appointments go well and that “bureaucratic bog-down” doesn’t happen.

.Thank you!

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Roadtrip through the USA

June 7, 2014 By in Blog, Places, Process Tags: , , Leave a comment

IMG_8023May was an incredible month!

It began at the Atlantic District Conference, in Moncton, NB.  The day after its conclusion, however, we set off for a 3.5 week trek through the United States which would take us some 9,800 kilometres (over 5,000 miles).

As we prepared to cross the border, the sign said it all: “If you want to stay in Canada… turn left”, otherwise… “straight ahead for adventure.” We chose adventure!

The Where:

We had been planning this family trip to Florida for some time. In the past, we’d done a couple of parks… Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Legoland (in Winter Haven on the old Cypress Gardens location), but this time there would be no parks: relaxation and economical were to be the names of the game – no fighting the crowds and no bankrupting the wallet. The spot where we stayed had a number of activities for the kids / family and that would suffice. In fact, the only time we left the property was (a) to go to church on Sunday and (b) to visit the Canaveral National Seashore one day.

In total, the trip would take us to New Haven Connecticut, Montgomery Alabama, Orlando Florida, Dallas Texas and St. Louis Missouri… with a couple of wonderful (if unplanned) stops along the way.

The How:

In the days when my wife worked in the airline industry, we would’ve flown but since that was no long the case, 4 wheels replaced 2 wings and the idea of a grand road-trip was born.  Since we’d not be limited by rental car pick-up or drop-off locations, MapDrawwe decided to combine pleasure with more pleasure and connect with friends along the way. The posts over the next couple of weeks will detail some of the highlights of that trip.

What I can do for now is give you an overview of the trip using the map below (created using Map Draw, from iTunes’ App Store).

map

The Who:

Liz & I and our kids got to know each other in a whole new way over the past few weeks!  Sure we’re family… but this was the first time ever that we’d spent three and a half weeks living from car to hotel room to suitcase. It was DEF-initely a new experience.

I’ve got to say, though, that everyone survived very well. Liz had prepared school material for the kids and they spent a great deal of our driving time doing school work: the older two with their ABeka DVD curriculum and Timo with diligent help from mom. Not only did it keep them from getting bored (and getting on each other’s nerves) but it also kept them on track to finish their school year within the same time frame as their friends.

Drive Down Memory Lane

I can’t say that I was conscious of this at the time, but perhaps part of the impetus of this grand adventure had something to do with such an adventure in my own childhood.

I was just a little younger than my daughter when my mom, my dad, my brother and I made a similar road trip, except that we drove across Canada and returned through the norther USA, tenting when there were no family members or friends to stay with.  It was on that trip that I rode horseback for the first time, climbed Banff’s Sulfur Mountain, saw Victoria and Mt. Rushmore… reading 99-cent comic books in the back seat and trying to ensure my brother stayed on “his side of the line” (that separated us in the back seat).

I daresay that we have just completed building a significant memory lane for our own kids… You’ll hear more about it in coming posts.

Paris in July

April 26, 2014 By in People, Places Tags: , , , , 3 Comments

More than just Paris

Unless you’re in our local church, you probably don’t know that in addition to preparing to move to France in January, we’re also leading a team of young people to France, in July, for a 10-day missions trip. Although I’ve entitled today’s post “Paris in July” it’s really Châtellerault and Paris in July… with a few more awesome stops along the way.

#MPTeamFrance

14_04_26 FX1 picWe’ll be known as #MPTeamFrance
(where MP = Mission Point, our home church)

Strange name?

Perhaps… but it’s “hashtag-able” and isn’t it all about hashtags nowadays?  After all the twitter invention is now key to huge social media players like Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and even Facebook, which integrated them in June 2013 since users were using them anyway.

Hashtags are powerful because they allow users to follow public conversations outside of their own network of friends. Whichever of the above-mentioned platforms you use, come July there will likely be a steady flow of the #MPTeamFrance hashtag as team-members share their experiences and photos with family & friends back home.

The team is made up of 12 people from Mission Point and a lone courageous member from Capital Community Church in Fredericton (three were absent when the photo above was taken).

Preparation

Because we will be involved in ministry on various levels this summer, it was important to plan some prep-times… when we could focus on:

  • 14_04_26 FX1bsharing information on travel arrangements, timetable & activities
  • planning roles, responsibilities & involvement
  • gaining interaction experience… a.k.a. team-building (just because we all attend the same church, we don’t take for granted that we automatically know how to work together).
  • praying together
  • Preparing testimonies & music, to be shared in service settings

We call these prep-times FX-Nights.
(France X-travaganza).

Last night was our second one and among other things,we had to breathe life into those that were still hyperventilating from FX#1, when we told the team that they could only bring a carry-on sized suitcase each as well as a personal item (Stopping to think though… it can’t be about how much an individual is able to carry… but how much we can fit into the cars once in France, and 26 pieces is already a lot!). So one of the things we did last night was show them just how much you can put in a small suitcase, when done efficiently.

The Plan

One of the main ways that we expect to be able to lend support to the Châtellerault church, once on site, is by helping prepare for and distribute several thousand invitations to a gospel music concert that they are currently organizing.  This will be the first time that outreach on this scale will be attempted in Châtellerault and we expect it to accomplish the following:

  • Build awareness of the church among thousands of local and regional residents
  • Provide an opportunity for those same residents to experience anointed worship in a Holy Ghost-filled atmosphere
  • Build a foundation for contact with those in attendance
  • Obtain Home Bible Study opportunities with hungry individuals that would desire.

Overall… our goal is to put the local church in touch with a much larger number of contacts than  would normally be possible, from which they may obtain followup opportunities for later in the summer / year.

Who knows… when Liz & I get onsite in January, we may get to be involved with someone whose first contact with the church was during this summer’s outreach!

If that’s the case, it may be part of God establishing the “Crown” around Châtellerault, like he said he would.

We will also spend a bit of time in the Paris region, with the church in Melun, but plans are still being formulated for that leg of the journey…. more to follow!

Exposure

One of the other great things about this summer’s trip is that it gives more people from home a first-hand experience with the field in which we’ll be working.

  • When they pray for us… they’ll do so with personal experience.
  • When victories are won spiritually…. they can know that they were part of it.
  • When others wonder about us, the work, the field… they can help educate others.

More to come

You’ll likely hear more about this trip as we get closer, and certainly when we’re there, but for now know that it’s one more way that the Lord is working out his calling in our life. I’m so jazzed for the team that we have preparing to go… Great things are in store #MPTeamFrance.

As always… thanks for stopping by!

What about you?

  • Do you think YOU could do 10-days abroad with only a carry-on sized suitcase?
  • Have you done it already?
  • Tell me about it in the comments section below.  (Your comments could encourage & inspire the team… of course your horror stories would be fun to read too.)

 

Raclette… a taste of the Alps

March 15, 2014 By in Blog, Bring it Home Tags: , , 1 Comment

So it’s time for another Bring it Home post, and I’m taking you back to the kitchen for today… or should I say… la salle à manger (the kitchen or the dining room).  

Traditional Raclette:

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Getting down to the end of a pair of rounds

Raclette is something that I first encountered in Switzerland (which shares the Alps with France, along the eastern border) but which is also readily found in the French Alps as well. It is primarily a cheese and potato dish, but the modern version has gotten more creative, as you’ll see in a bit.

Remember first, that many cheeses were originally made in large rounds… like thick discs or wheels. A common way of eating it in the mountains, on cold winter nights, was to heat up the cut edge and scrape the melted cheese over boiled potatoes, giving a hot and rich dish to warm the insides. The “raclette” was essentially, the tool used to scrape the melted cheese off the top of the round; eventually it lent its name to the dish and even to the cheese used.

It would be a lot of work to (a) get a round of cheese with which to have a raclette these days (not to mention very expensive) and (b) find a machine that would melt the top of the round. Modern versions of appliances do exist but are not readily found in North America.

Today’s Raclette

racEnter the modern raclette appliance. They are quite commonly found (as indicated by the fact that you can even find them in Atlantic Canada!). There are numerous brands available but they all pretty much work on the same principle:

  • Have some small new potatoes cooked and set aside in a bowl. They can be boiled or broiled, but boiled is the most common. Also, it’s up to you whether you want to peel the potatoes or not. 
  • Slices of cheese are placed in teflon-coated trays (supplied with the appliance) which slide under an element.
  • The element is also covered, on the top, with a teflon-coated grill upon which to cook vegetables, crudités or sliced meats. 
  • Once the items are cooked to satisfaction you pull out your tray of bubbly-melted cheese and scrape it (using a supplied “raclette” – or scraper) over your potatoes.

What’s more!

IMG_6441Besides the great taste and hearty meal that a raclette provides, there are at least four other benefits to having a raclette for supper. Because the raclette machine sits in the center of the table:

  1. …each guest cooks their own supper, meaning that everyone serves themselves the exact portion size and number of servings that they desire.
  2. …the host or hostess spend the vast majority of their time at the table with their guests as opposed to running back and forth to the kitchen to re-serve helpings of this or that.
  3. …the meal tends to happen at a very leisurely pace (given that small food items are cooking on the grill and the cheese is melting beneath) so you won’t get the “I ate too much, too fast” syndrome.
  4. …because of the leisurely pace, a great deal of conversation and interaction tends to happen in between bites or while waiting for things to cook.

French – Fellowship

I suppose you could say that in one way, the French have this whole fellowship thing down to a “T”. They like to eat and they like to eat long! The idea of spending a prolonged amount of time at the table, discussing and interacting with one another is much more common in Europe than it is in North America (generally speaking).

So if you’re looking to Bring it Home a little bit… try picking up a raclette machine, or borrow one from a friend. Then… send the invite out to a few people that you truly love spending time with. Boil some potatoes and prepare your cheese, sliced meats and vegetables and voilà… you are in for a Wonderful evening!

Bon Appétit!
(Enjoy your meal)

 

 

 

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Goose ‘n’ Cheese on Water

March 5, 2014 By in Blog, Bring it Home Tags: , , Leave a comment

This is the second of my Bring it Home series for the month of March… c’mon along for the ride!

Date night in Paris

This was an experience that I had back in April 2008, long before there was any thought of our AIM appointment and even a couple of months before I’d even met Bro. & Sis. Nowacki for the first time (which would happen in July of 2008).

We were in Europe visiting my wife’s family in Belgium (although she is of Italian descent, she was born and raised in Belgium) and I persuaded my inlaws to babysit the kids for two days, while I whisked Liz away to Paris as a surprise. She knew nothing of the plan except that she needed to pack an overnight bag and would need one nice outfit.  Amongst other visits I’d planned, we were going to have an evening dinner cruise aboard one of the Bateaux Parisiens vessels which dock near the foot of the Eiffel Tower..

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Bateaux Parisiens, Paris, Eiffel Tower.

foie gras, cheese, Bateaux ParisiensOn the Menu

On the menu that night was, among other things, foie-gras (pronounced “fwah-grah”, top-right) served with greens and sauteed mushrooms in a dark sauce, topped with sea-salt and pepper.

If you’ve never had foie-gras before it’s essentially a pâté. The most colourful description I ever heard however, is from Steve Shobert, and bears repeating: “Foie-gras is basically the poached liver of force-fed goose” (doesn’t that just get your mouth watering!).  For many north americans it’s an acquired taste, but for the French, it’s an art!

For the main course we had salmon, which was likely delicious, but one thing about the French, they like their cheese as much as they like their foie-gras! Consequently, between the main course and dessert, the plat de fromage (or, cheese plate, above) is a must. This is a particularly joyous part of the meal for my wife as well. When she married me and moved to North America, she went from hundreds and hundreds of different cheeses to white cheddar, orange cheddar and marble cheddar, whose variety extended to mild, medium and old – what variety!

Bringing it home

Want to experience a little bit of France at home?  One way is to put a bit of foie-gras on the menu and be sure to incorporate some French cheeses in between the main course and dessert.

Foie-gras can be pricey so be aware of that. A little goes a long way… even the French don’t eat huge portions of it, so don’t feel cheap about only serving small portions. As is typical of the French, it’s all about taking something simple and accessorizing it… dressing it up. As for cheeses, find yourself the staples: Brie, Camembert, Roquefort (sharp), Boursin and chèvre (goat), and be sure to serve with a bit of baguette (French Bread).

Water

Well… you’ve got the Goose liver and the cheese. As for the water… if you can’t fit a trip to Paris in the budget just yet, put all of the above in a pic-nic basket and load the canoe onto the car or hitch up the boat-trailer. It won’t be exactly the same, but you’ll feel that certain “Je ne sais quoi” that is typically French as well… I think we also call it, Romance…

One last thing

BM_unknownJust for the record, there were a couple other things on the menu as well, one of which is pictured here. Honestly, I haven’t got a clue what it was although it looks like spinach run through a blender with a white sauce burying something…..

What do you think? Would you try it?

Floating Islands…

March 1, 2014 By in Blog, Bring it Home Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey! Thanks for checking back, I’m glad to see you (in that virtual sense).

Something different

I’m going to dedicate a number of posts, during the month of March, to heading in a bit of a different direction: I’ll spend some time helping you experience things, at home, that are typically French, and giving you hints on how to get the best out of your experience if you are planning a trip there. Continue reading →