SADDLED UP AND READY TO RIDE

Howdy Folks

It’s hard to believe, but the tour has begun. We left Cochrane on Friday morning and arrived in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan later that evening. After getting set up at the back of the church, we met with Pastor Bob Butt and his wife Laura. Both are graduates of the Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane. We had a good time sharing events that have happened and updating them on people they knew. It didn’t take us long to shut it down for the night and get some sleep.

On Saturday, I was able to get the sound system set up and tested for the Sunday services. Calvary Baptist Church is an older building and I had a little trouble finding power sources for the equipment. Pastor Bob explained the “secret” to getting the outlets to work and then I was able to get everything turned on. Pat and Nadine Armstrong arrived in the afternoon and I helped them set up. Now that the team is together, it seems like we’re actually making progress.

The attendance at the Sunday morning worship service was lower than usual as quite a few the regulars were traveling. The pastor encouraged the folks to invite others out to the evening concert. They did and the evening attendance was much greater than they had expected and included a number of visitors. For the most part, Calvary Baptist is a traditional church and, needless to say, they enjoyed the old hymns, gospel songs and cowboy poetry. After the concert there was a time of fellowship and most of the people stayed and visited.

We left Moose Jaw on Monday morning after having breakfast with the pastor and a few of the congregation. The trip across Saskatchewan was uneventful, except for the wind which made us use a lot gas pulling the trailers. Hamiota is a small prairie town and we will be parked in the campgrounds for a few days before heading to Kenora, Ontario. Pat’s mother and sister live in Hamiota and he is taking the opportunity to visit them. Since this is our first major stop since leaving Cochrane, it will give us an opportunity to do some maintenance on the trailer. After being stored for the winter, there are some screws to be tightened, hoses to be checked, etc., etc.

Keep praying for us as we start the church planting meetings in Kenora. We have no idea what the Lord has in mind, but we are confident that He is leading and the results will be according to His will.

On the trail for Him

Mike and Suzann