Author: revkevjr

This morning after breakfast and devotions we loaded up and headed to our ministry site for the week – a Baptist church in a mostly Haitian section of town. We sorted out our supplies and set up for VBS. When we started we had about 10 children there. By the time we ended we had 35 kids. We had songs, a Bible lesson, crafts, snacks, and games. After the kids left we had lunch then spent a couple of hours shoveling and wheelbarrowing fill into the church in preparation for the cement floor that we are planning to pour this week. The team worked hard and it was a great day. When we returned to camp, about half of our team headed to a canal for some swimming. The other half stayed at camp to shower. We have all now cleaned up and are heading in for dinner and chapel. Thanks for continuing to pray for us!

This morning we arrived at the airport and everything went smoothly with the exception of an hour delay as we waited for our plane to arrive. The flight was uneventful and we landed and made it through immigration and customs without incident. We arrived at the Adventure Learning Centre and Camp about 4pm. Got settled in, unpacked, had dinner and now having our evening chapel. Tomorrow we begin our work running a VBS and pouring a cement floor at a church. Thanks for praying for us.

On Tuesday night we had the fun of going to the Yankees game as a family. The Yanks lost, but being together for a shared experience was great.

A few weeks ago I announced that I was embarking on a week-long media fast. The purpose was to get away and have a time of soul refreshment. For a while I had been feeling rather depleted on a number of levels, and I was sensing the call of God to come away with Him. Several months ago a college buddy of mine, Heath Goodson, invited me on a Canadian wilderness trip along with some guys from his church and a few other guys we had gone to college with. I was very intrigued by the idea and really wanted to go, but a few things unfolded at home, and when the deadline approached, I had to make a call and told him that regrettably I wouldn’t be able to go. I was bummed, but I just moved on. Fast forward about a month, and I got a message that someone had dropped out of the trip, and they had an opening for a guy to go. I started receiving texts and calls from my college buddies asking me to reconsider and encouraging me to come. By this time the issues on the home front that were a concern to me had resolved themselves, and I re-mentioned the trip to my wife who gave me her blessing to go.

So, on June 5th I flew up to Rochester, NY and joined up with my buddies James Dodzweit and Jonathan Schwandt, and the next day we drove up to Toronto, Canada where we met up with Heath and the guys from their church in Chicago. After a late night dinner and a brief time of sharing and getting to know each other, we drove 3 hours north of Toronto to Algonquin Provincial Park. On Sunday morning we put our canoes into the water. Over the next 5 days we paddled 50 miles and portaged (carried the canoes) 5 miles. It was a fantastic week of conversations and camaraderie, physical exercise, personal reflection, and enjoying the sights, sounds, and serenity of nature, the all of which climaxed in (ironically after the lack of sleep and all of the physical exertion) feeling so rested and quieted in my spirit.

I will share in future posts some of the lessons I learned during the week.

This is incredible and it reminds me to pray for the people of North Korea today.

I MUST go here!