July 17, Friday at Shediac, NB
We have been away from the Internet for several days now. We stayed at the cabins in Rexton for 3 days and met with believers from the Victory Baptist Church. Raymond and his family really took great care of us, even when we didn't know it was them. We decided to eat at Pizza Delight for lunch on the 13th. The waitress was really nice and we commented on how she looks so much like Lindsay Huff at our church. When she brought our drinks to the table we offered her a Bible and she was very nice to receive it. We finished lunch and went back to the cabins for cleaning up and a bit of pre-packing for Tuesday.
We ate supper at Raymond's. Everybody loves him. I went to wash my hands and saw a Pizza Delight name tag with the same name as the young lady that had served us that afternoon. No way. She walked into the the room where everybody else was and well, it was her. Funny huh?
From the cabins on Tuesday morning, I took Loren to his put in at St. Anne Marie. That name, Anne Marie, will come back later.
We loaded the car and went back for some red ice cream John had been asking for. We hit the interstate and headed to Maury Farm Campground. After several MS U-turns, and passing it several times we finally found it. Whew!
It's a vineyard with a winery, free roaming chickens and several nice travelers from out west in Canada. We gave a Bible to the owner as she checked us in and set up camp. The private beach was nice enough so the boys and I played for a while. The windmills on Prince Edward Island can be seen from there. It reminded John of our train ride to see Sissy in Germany. Lots of the landscape, scenery and villages take us back to previous trips to Germany and Austria although much of this is French Acadia territory. We went to a Soapary, where they make soap and on to a lighthouse that's a store that sells jewelery made from pieces of glass found on the beach. She explained that this area used to be an ocean dump for all the glass.
Pieces that are red are the most valuable and they come from broken car and boat tail lights. The next are the broken whisky bottles. She can date them based on how dark they are; the darker they are, the older. Some she had dated back to the late 1800's. The boys had a blast going up and down the spiral staircases to the top of the lighthouse.
We at in a barn with the chickens. They are very curious and will eat anything you drop. The boys got a kick out of the chicks. After supper we met a couple from Alberta, Canada which is way out west and the Rockies run through there. It's the province above N. Dakota and Montana. Anyway, we met them to bid farewell the next morning and the gentleman was happy to receive a testament. The lady was a retired nurse and she said she still has her white nurses testament given to her years ago.
Remember the town of St. Anne Marie, well, Misty met a girl that Wednesday morning traveling alone across NB. Misty gave her a Bible and they struck up a conversation that went on for several hours. Her name is Ann Marie. Ann Marie is a youth worker in her Catholic church. She was taking a vacation to see NB and take time to think about a few things. After talking, Misty took time to pray with her. Ann Marie was very grateful. She was excited that the Lord had allowed her to met us and named several other believers she had met along the way. She said this was confirmation that what she was doing was the Lord's will for her.
We stopped by Woodchuck's place. He's a piratey kind of guy. He built a replica of a pirate ship for his workshop. He's an amazing woodcarver. We have posted pictures and video of his work on the picasa site. We spent some time with him. He asked if I wanted 2 million dollars but I told him no thanks. Well this caused him to pause a bit, but he went on with the story if I had wanted the 2 million. Later when I told him what we were doing and gave him a Bible he said, "Ahh, then we're in the same boat. I understand why you wouldn't want 2 million dollars." For me, he said, he'd just give it all away. I agreed.
From there we finally found Cogaine which is pronounced, Cocaine. Hummm???
It was difficult to get to and even more difficult to sleep there. We made a bit of a road trip out of there to see some more coast line. We landed on a neat little spot where the beach was well below a stone shore wall. We threw lots of rocks. Avalanche!!! We recouped with an ice cream cone and went back to the campground and awaited Loren's arrival.
We went to Shediac to see if the church were meeting and it wasn't. Often churches cancel services for the summer. Blahhh. We ate at Jack's pizza. We met two guys there named Allen and Stephen. Allen was in a wheelchair and Kobee was kind enough to give up his seat so Allen could sit at the end of a table. We gave them each a Bible and I showed them some things about it and encouraged them to start in John.
Thursday we drove on in to Shediac and set up camp. Across the road is an information station and some gift shops. I met Mark there. Mark works as a remote DJ for a local rock/country radio station. He and I visited for a while and he seemed interested in the mission trip. I gave him a French testament and we visited some more.
The boys climbed around on a very large lobster and then we came back to go grocery shopping and wait on Loren. We met Mr. Jean and his kitty cat, Caramel. He received his new French Testament. We met a husband and wife that had been to Tupelo, MS and we visited with them several times. They each received their new PWT.
Loren made the comment upon his arrival that there's way too many homes for only two evangelistic churches in Shediac. Pray for an awakening of the current church people to see what we see and for more church plants or better yet, house church plants, to reach the lost and to build up the current body of believers here. We haven't met many.
Here's my thoughts on coming here as we wind down in these last few days of the mission trip. No one has approached us and asked of our eternal destination, no one has asked us if we know Jesus, no one has offered us a Bible nor a tract about Jesus. So, if we had not been sent here to ask these that are listed on these blog posts, who would have? Who have you introduced to Jesus, lately? Yesterday? Today? Just think, they may not have a tomorrow. Let's hurry!!!