Yes, it was a wonderful week on the Island (PEI). Valerie and I enjoyed a whole week of quiet relaxation. Thank You Lord! It was also good to see our friends at Charlottetown CRC. Thank You Lord, again! And above all, it was great to see our kids again when we came home. Thank You Lord!!!

Check out article in Hamilton Spectator here

On Monday May 3, 2010, the Lord took home His covenant children, Rachel Marie VanHartingsveldt, and her unborn infant daughter, Kaylee Elaine, as a result of a car accident.

Rachel, at the age of 21, beloved daughter of Pete and Elaine (nee Sikma). Loving sister of Ryan (Grace), Alicia (Ken) Boekee; Bradley and Kristin. Dear aunt of Amy, Carson and Justin. Beloved granddaughter of Philip & Rita VanHartingsveldt and Rose Rusticus (Sikma) and the late Pier Sikma & Ed Rusticus. Dear friend of Cohen Trolley. Cherished niece and cousin of Gerry & Dave deVries; Krista & Steve Driesman (Adriana, Janine); Valerie & Norm Sennema (Tim, Nathan, Janelle); Geoffery (Nicole, Jessica, Jonathon); John & Jen (Steven, Derek, Josh, Jacob & Ethan) and Christine & Steve (Alexe, Sam, & Taylor) and her Rusticus uncles and aunts Owen, Martin & Shayna, Sheila, Eric & Stacy. She will be sadly missed by her many friends. Psalm 8:2a “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise”.

Visitation will be held at MARANATHA CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH, Hwy # 2 & Haines Rd. . Bowmanville on Thursday May 6th, 2010 from 2-4 & 7-9 pm. A funeral Service will be held at MARANATHA CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH on Friday May 7th, 2010 at 11am. Memorial Donations may be made to Durham Christian High School for a Tuition Assistance Fund or the Eva Rothwell Resource Centre (Hamilton ON) through the NORTHCUTT ELLIOTT FUNERAL HOME, 53 Division St. Bowmanville, with whom the arrangements have been entrusted. www.northcuttelliott.com

Please pray for a great measure of strength and grace as the family mourns this unfathomable loss.

Today I chatted with an atheist.
Sitting here at Starbucks, working on my blog devotionals, I noticed he was reading Karen Armstrong’s The Case For God.
I appreciated his honesty: He was an ardent atheist, but was concerned that he was becoming close-minded, so he was exploring perspectives on God’s existence.
Most of the books he read by Christians were shrill (his word) and negative, but this book was connecting for him, opening the possibility of God for him. Continue reading chatting with an atheist

This is very disturbing, and breaks the heart, considering how much has been raised for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake. The original blog post is here.

Injustice

Let me explain to you the anger surging through me as I sat in the back of our pickup truck at 2:00 AM with the limp form of a child draped over my legs.

Travel back with me to 1:15AM.

Whimpering…sobbing….in the gentle, hesitant high pitch of a child. In the distant corner of the courtyard of our hospital, under a tarp. She is trying to be quiet. She knows it is dark in the hospital, and people around her are trying to sleep. Mewing like a small, injured kitten. Tears run down her cheeks. Her legs are pulled to her abdomen. Heat rises off her febrile form, burning. Her lower jaw trembles as a wave of rigors shakes her small body. Blistering fever. Continue reading very disturbing (Haiti relief)?

As you can tell, we have a special place in our heart for Haiti. Here is an update from Dorothy Pearce who runs Faith, Hope, Love Infant Rescue In Port au Prince. We visited there when we went to Haiti, and have been praying for this work for the last few years. Here is Dorothy’s account of what happened. Find out more about here work here: Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue

We survived the earthquake, all of us. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

Amanda, Natasha and I were just arriving at Sacred Heart Hospital (CDTI) near what we think was the strongest area of the quake. Jesula, our nanny who had been with Poutchino at the hospital, was collapsing on the ground outside, in shock. Natasha ran inside for Poutchino. We parked the car. A man carried Jesula to the car. She was frozen with fear.

Hospital patients were brought outside, injured people came in thru the gate. All hospital personnel worked thru the night and next day with barely a break. Amanda and I took turns holding a flashlight for a surgeon stitching wounds and gradually learned how to do more. Natasha had to stay in the car holding Poutchino.

Some people were beyond help: the doctors gave them medicines for pain and treated those they could help. I counted about 40 people who died during the 24 hours we were there, all ages. Security manned the gate, only letting in the injured people that the doctor felt they could help. Continue reading first hand account from Haiti

Dear family and friends, (For some of you some of this information may be ‘old’ but I am unable to send each one a new update separately.)

Praise the Lord, I was able to talk with Tony last evening for a few minutes before the phone line went dead. Tony called me about an hour ago (at 0710 ) and we were able to talk for about 20 minutes. He is in good spirits but is exhausted. Last night was the first time he slept in his own bed. The apartment building is not damaged either, all the things like the blender, coffee machine, water filter container all stayed in their place on the counter! The gas line to the stove has a leak, so Tony can not cook in the house. He still has enough food for several weeks in the house. Haitian friends are now coming to him for money and food. If he continues to give it away, like I know he will, it will soon run out. Now you can buy some rice and food on the streets if you have money. He has about $450  in the house.  I will be able to wire money to him via Western Union when it is up and running. They will waive the usual fees for now. Continue reading update from Haiti (Jan 15)

The following is an email from Mary DeKoter. They are not presently together, Mary was in the US when the earthquake struck. Mary shares some news from Tony and the school!

I finally had an email from someone at the school that had a message from Tony. Phones are not always working at the moment. He is busy setting up a command centre at the school for all the activity that is going on there. The entire school campus is intact! Praise the Lord!

Most buildings all around the school are either down or badly damaged. The following list include some of the activity that will go on at the school for the next few weeks.

• There will be temporary surgery rooms in the chapel
• The basketball court will be used as a trauma centre
• The snack shop will be able to cook for those who are on campus
• The soccer fields house many national workers from the school staff, most have lost or had their homes damaged
• The kingergarten playground has all the children camped there from Three Angels orphanage

Thank you for your continued prayers, God has blessed us so richly, We pray that you are blessed too, Mary

As you know, Tony and Mary DeKoter live and work in Haiti with Quisqueya Christian School (QCS) in Port au Prince. We have word that Tony is ok, Mary is in the States right now. The following comments were made by Els Vervloet who works at QCS. Please keep all of Haiti in your prayers.

After 5 hours outside we are now inside our house, it looks like the aftershocks are getting less. As we are getting more information about collapsed or badly damaged buildings, wounded people, trapped people and people being killed by this earthquake. my heart aches. Poor Haiti, poor poor Haiti. it seems that the Carrefour area and downtown are hit the hardest, although Petion Ville and Delmas area are in bad shape also. Walls, Small buildings, big and high buildings, What will we see when daylight comes in the morning? i was reminded by Eric Dolce about Psalm 46 God is our Refuge and Strength, an ever-present help in trouble. THOUGH THE EARTH GIVE WAY, AND THE MOUNTAINS FALL INTO THE HEART OF THE SEA. For those asking about QCS, I have talked to one of my co-workers who was still at school when the first big earthquake hit, no one was injured, no damage to the school. There were still several students at that time, waiting for their parents to pick them up. Fortunately there were several teachers there to comfort them and pray with them. Please continue to pray that the after shocks will stop, that looting will not happen, that people who are trapped under concrete will be rescued.

The story of Chuck, the homeless man who collects treasures in his shopping cart, continues. Here is the next part of the story. Each week I will add a new chapter to the story, with the hope that we can become treasure-seekers like him. Please note, this is told as if it is a true story, but it is not!

I saw the homeless man a few days later, and this time I had some time to chat with him.

‘Hey, remember me? We talked about your treasures a few days ago.’

‘I remember’, he said, smiling. Continue reading Chuck’s story (Part 2)

Last Sunday I began the story of Chuck, the homeless man who collects treasures in his shopping cart. Below is part 1 of this story. Each week I will add a new chapter to the story, with the hope that we can become treasure-seekers like him.

I saw him downtown pushing a grocery cart loaded with stuff, junk really. I wasn’t going to say anything to him, but as I passed by, he looked at me and asked, ‘Scuse me sir, do you have the time?’

I noticed then that he was adjusting the time on a clock in his hands. ‘Its 3:30′, I answered, seeing the time on the town hall clock tower down the street. That’s all I was going to say, but what he said next caught my attention.

‘Thanks sir. I want to remember the exact moment God gave me the time of day’, and he set the clock to 3:30.

Intrigued, though still hesitant to talk with him, I asked, ‘ah, how did He do that?’

And so began a conversation I’ll never forget. Continue reading Chuck’s story (Part 1)