Travelling All Over Northern Ontario

Hello blog world! It's been a week or two!


We just got back from an intense--but intensely awesome--road trip through Northern Ontario. What a great trip--full of visits with friends, presentations, maple syrup, and reliving some of our favourite memories!

Very serious business.

Woah! Look at all the syrup!

Our first stop was St. Joseph Island, just east of Sault Ste. Marie. If you've never been to "the Island" here's our tourism plug--you must go! And we recommend going during syrup season! We stayed with Pam and Joe Hawdon and were blessed by their amazing hospitality. We got the pleasure of seeing these two in action as they restart the Hawdon's Mountain Ridge Maples business. For the past few years, they've been making kettle maple syrup over the fire, but this year, they've taken over the Hawdon sugar shack and are going in to full-scale production of wood-fired AMAZING maple syrup. This was so much fun to see and we learned so much! If you're interested in some syrup, Pam and Joe will be visiting in June, and they can bring you some! YUM!

It was also cool to see Pam and her baby bump. We just praise God that
this amazing couple is having a baby--because we know this is something they have been waiting on and praying about for a LONG time!

Island Dessert Night--cupcakes,
cupcakes, everywhere!

 While it was fun to visit the Island, we were also there on "business". Marney and Jonathan Stewart opened up their home to us to have a dessert/information night and share about our ministry with MAF. This was great! Naturally, we went a bit overboard on the desserts but we were so very blessed by the crew that came out! One of the highlights of the night was meeting Eric and Hannah-Lee Lawrence, who not only provided worship for the night, but also shared their experience teaching in Papua New Guinea, where their school was only accessible by MAF plane! They had nothing but great things to say about MAF! We were so encouraged by them--and by everyone--that my heart is still glowing!

After the Island (oh--I forgot to mention, it SNOWED on the day of our dessert night! SNOWED!), we made our way to Massey to visit Marcel's relatives, Ben, Jodie, Avery, and Carter. All I can say is--what a fun family! We love visiting them and of course, playing with their large assortment of "toys". Marcel got a chance to ride on the snow mobile, and I built an extensive snow fort with Avery and Jodie.

Finally, Saturday night we pulled in to North Bay for our presentation Sunday morning at Greenwood Baptist Church! It's been a few years since we've been back to the Bay, so we had to drive around and see the sights. Somethings have changed--new residences and a gym on campus?!--and some things haven't (Burger World! The Moose!). My heart skipped a beat as we drove by Founder's House ... sometimes I completely forget I ever lived and worked there as a Residence Don. We were nostalgic for the good old days of life in the Bay--that's where Marcel and I first met and started dating!

Snow?! April 4, St. Joseph Island

Sunday morning, after breakfast at Burger World (who knew it was so empty at 7:30 am ... glad we weren't there at 10 am!), we drove over to the new Greenwood Baptist building. This was our first time there, and it looks great! We were so pumped to see Pastor Tim and many other familiar--and new--faces! It felt like time stood still--but it also made us feel old when we didn't know ANY of the university students.

The congregation was so welcoming, and many of them had heard of MAF before, so that made our job a little easier! Some of them even knew Chris & Karyn Ball--missionaries with MAF in east Africa! We felt so encouraged after our presentations, and many people showed a great interest in tracking along with us or financially supporting our ministry with MAF! We even had one boy sign up for our newsletter because he wants to be a missionary pilot one day! It was like meeting Marcel as a child ;)

After church, we had lunch at the student luncheon with our old friends Paul and Jenna! Mini NCCF reunion! We then went over to Twigg's to meet up with Alicia (my sister from another mister) and her fiance Dustin. Good ole' Twigg's--where memories are made. 'Twas a great chance to catch up on everyone's lives now that we live all over Ontario.

At Twigg's with Jenna, Alicia, Dustin, and Paul.

After coffee, we were back on the road for our "almost final" stop of the trip--Toronto to have dinner with Monique and Kristin! It was so good to see these ladies again and catch up on their lives--not to mention have an amazing dinner and share about our ministry with MAF!

Catching up with Monique and Kristin!

Well, after all that, I would like to say our trip was done, but we still managed to squeeze in a few more stops. First, Ancaster for the night. Then, breakfast with the amazing Josh and beautiful Natalie--where I discovered what Dutch pancakes were! Finally, finally, finally, we stopped by the MAF office in Guelph to deliver donations and catch up with Cliff, Ken, Karen, and Lauren--some of the amazing staff team at the MAF Canada office. This was the perfect way to end our trip and prepare us for the busy upcoming weeks!

Overall, we felt so blessed and encouraged on our trip. I feel like I'm on repeat saying that, but it's true! I'm still praising God for the friends and family we got to see, for the words of encouragement, for the excitement everyone had for us, and the financial support we received for our MAF ministry! So if you're reading this, and we got a chance to hang out or meet on the trip, THANK YOU and in the words of Paul to the Colossians,"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven." (Col. 1:3-5)

FINAL PLUG: We have a dessert night on Thursday, April 10 in Ancaster! 7:30 pm @ Heritage Fellowship Baptist Church! Please come out, invite friends, and join us! We'd love more excuses to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and share in a time of fellowship and food!