GOODBYE IOWA. I've really grown attached to this state. Good folks. Hospital. Couldn't ask for a better week of traveling around telling folks about Haiti. We finished tonight at KEOKUK with a zone rally for the close-by churches. Last Night we were in Iowa City. Had a great time there as well. Tomorrow I get back home to Detroit for a few days and then off to Tennessee!!

CATCHING UP WITH A FRIEND, IN OSCALOOSA OF ALL PLACES. Had a great service this morning at Oskaloosa First Church of the Nazarene. It was especially nice to have Brian Logging there. Brian and I were in the same youth group at Columbia First Church so many years ago. He is new youth pastor here (and I do mean new: three weeks!). It was an interesting sight to have Rev. Doolittle introducing me with Brian right there. Doolittle was Brian and my pastor for so many years, and somehow all three of us were together in IOWA! Amazing!

Tonight I was at Marshalltown Church and had a great time. It was nice to meet the pastor from Waterloo, the home church of our fellow Haiti missionaries, Jim and Corey Koster!

FINALLY MADE IT TO DES MOINES. Great service tonight. All of the meetings this week are Zone Rallies, so it is nice to meet so many folks from so many different churches. I have to admit I'm liking Iowa!

TABOR AND THE OLDEST NAZARENE I'VE EVER MET. It was great to be at the Tabor Church this evening. These folks really know how to support missionaries. A long tradition of missionary support and involvement. I really enjoyed chatting with Mr. Ward, a man who has lived in three centuries, born in 1898 he is 105 years old and still came out on a frigid Friday night for missionary service!

...NO, THIS IS IOWA. Just a few days home after Canada and then back on the road! This time for a week in Iowa. Had a wonderful trip in and then a drive to the western side. Services tonight in Sioux City. It is a GREAT treat to be travelling with Ron and Rita Doolittle. Pastor Doolittle is the one who showed me the light of the Gospel when I was a pre-teen. We've only had a couple of hours to catch up on 25 years of goins-on!

VANCOUVER AND BACK. Had a great time at Vancouver First Church. Sunday evening I spoke at a missions dinner. Very nice. Especially nice to catch up with Les McAusland! We were friends back in Montreal! Back to Michigan for a few days!

NANAIMO FRIDAY NIGHT. Had a great time at Nanaimo Church. It was great to meet the LaFrance's (Bernie and Sharron). Bernie is the local missionary president and has been corresponding for two years. Once again the spiders were a big hit, but I still feel like I need a snake story in order to be a REAL missionary. Oh well...

THE SPIDERS WERE A HIT wit the children last night at Victoria Church as well as tonight with the kids at Port Alberni. Thursday night is AWANA night at Southside Community Church of Port Alberni.

CATCHING UP! I've had a great time visiting churches since last I updated! Had a great time in Pinticton and Kelowna on Sunday. Beautiful country with a nice long lakeside drive between the two towns. No more moose sightings, though. Then I rode the ferry over to Vancouver Island. No whale sighgtings, but still a spectacular view. I enjoyed spending time with the folks at Victoria Church this evening.


It was neat to see the sign out in front of the Kelowna Church. But what was especially nice was the fact that one couple saw the sign and decided to attend the service, even though they haven't been in a church in years.

DAWSON CREEK (AND A MOOSE SIGHTING). Enjoyed my trip up to Dawson Creek Church of the Nazarene (I'm still in British Columbia, by the way). Very nice congregation. Lots of snow and of course cold. The folks there reminded me so much of the congregation at Grace Church in Montreal that we pastored before going to Haiti. Plus! I had a chance to see Mooses (Mice? Meeces? Moose?) from the airplane as we landed. Very nice.

NEAT LINK. Don Johnson, NMI president for the Canada Pacific District, posted a few pictures from Sunday's services! You can jump there by clicking here

SNOWED IN. After two CHILLY days in the Yukon, I was scheduled to be in Prince George this evening, but the weather had other plans. Instead I'm holed up in a hotel room waiting for Vancouver to thaw! Hopefully I'll be able to make it for the service tomorrow in Dawson Creek!

THIRTY BELOW and CARIBOU RIBS. Had a GREAT time in Whitehorse. Had a cozy meeting with about 25 folks at the Whitehorse Church of the Nazarene. This was a good sized crowd and represents their average Sunday morning attendance. Yes, it was cold, and I'm ready to forget what 30 below feels like! But I loved our trip to Alaska (pictures to be posted soon.) Had great dinner with Caribou ribs! Loved it!.


Of course we had to stop at the border crossing. 30 Below and snow piled up, but now I can say I was in two places at once: Yukon and Alaska.

HAITI TO WHITEHORSE IN 32 DAYS. Hard to believe that last month I was starting to get a bit chilled in Haiti as the temperatures dropped into the 70s! Well I'm definitely chilled now with the temperature around -30 degees here in the Yukon. No service tonight, so I get to rest up a bit. Tomorrow Pastor Hajian plans on taking me over to Alaska (just to say I've been there, right?)! By the way, in case you were wondering, it is 4,650 miles from Haiti to Whitehorse.

BECCA'S PEN PAL SPOTTED. I wish Becca could be here, because I have found her TWIN! Well, they don't necessarily look alike, but Erica Johnson, her pen pal here in Vancouver, likes all the same things: Barbie and dress-up being on top of her list.


Erica (on the right) with friend Hannah modeling their princess outfits.

GUILDFORD ABBOTSFORD. Had a great time at these two churches in the Vancouver area! Met many interesting folks, including several who have been writing to us over the last two years! Linda's video went over very well in the evening service on the big screen. Tomorrow it is off to Whitehorse, way up in the arctic circle.

VANCOUVER! Well vacation is over. I start my first speaking tour tomorrow (Sunday) here in British Columbia. Quite a flight from Detroit to Seattle and then a drive up to Vancouver. Staying with the Johnsons for a couple of nights and then up to Yellow Knife for a service. I'll keep you posted as to my progress. Linda and kids are back in Michigan where school starts on Monday!