Our last Canadian road trip

We have just been up to Nipawin, Saskatchewan to visit with some relatives. We were invited to speak in their church. We have actually spoke in this church twice before. Now here's the challenge for me, we want to be obedient to what God is asking of us, and we love to share about what he is doing, and even to invite people to join us and to challenge them. The frustrating thing is that, after speaking there on three occasions, we feel like we have simply been entertainment for that church, and that is something we don't enjoy. I guess I struggle with the concept of big churches and their flashy programs, in the midst of it all I wonder how much gets lost. But, hey it's not place to judge, there may have been many that were challenged. I'm just not sure if we will accept the invitation next time.

On Tuesday we spoke at the Bible school there and this was received much better. We got the sense that the students were genuinely listening and a number wanted to speak with us afterwards. So, I'm not being completely negative, just trying to put things into perspective. It would be really great if some of these students were inspired to consider the needs of Siberian indigenous peoples in the future.

On our way up to Nipawin we noticed a very large cross by Wakaw. It was the vision of a local Catholic farmer to have a cross on his land. He placed the wooden cross as a step of faith, and then through the help of the Knights of Columbus and many other donations, the tall millennium cross was erected in 2006. The cross has been erected as a memorial for all aborted babies. Perhaps we need one of these somewhere in central Melbourne to prick at the conscience of our murdering Victorian politicians. I have been very impressed with the Catholic church in Victoria speaking up on the issue.



While staying with our relatives one of the highlights was a ride in this 1947 Mercury. It's a very spacious and comfortable old car. It turned a number of heads where ever we drove, which was just around town at a leisurely pace; a Sunday afternoon drive.



Nipawin is a little after the joining of the north and south Saskatchewan rivers to form the Saskatchewan river. It's still not as impressive as the Yenisey or Ob in Siberia, but way more impressive than the Yarra or Murray in Australia!


One of the reasons why it is hard to get a good shot of geese without a good zoom lense.....