High Power Hockey Camp

From July 9-13, I ran my first hockey camp and it was a blast. It was a perfect match lining up my love for hockey with a heart for God and the campers were so responsive as we talked about things that connected both parts together such as the 'Ultimate Comeback,' 'Overcoming Obstacles' and 'Defining Moments'. I got great support from Ryan Dawson from Athletes In Action and Mark Osborne who sent me video of professional hockey players and their faith journeys. To top it off, my son Jordan and Rylan participated in the camp. The guys warmed up to Rylan calling him mini-me! It was a great first year for us with road trips for roller hockey, swimming at Lake Gord and hitting The Deck!

Remembering My Dad - Rene Constant

Well, I come to Father's Day and remember a dad who was a rock in my life. I had more of a dad in 21 years than I know some have in a lifetime. His middle name is Constant and that is what he was, always a constant for me, someone I could depend upon always. We didn't have lengthy conversations, but when we did, I listened to everything he said. What do I remember? I remember seeing him kneel by his bedside at night praying, waking up each morning before six, making breakfast and lunch for us, dropping off my papers en route for me, turning my light on to get me out of bed, watching my hockey practices and games and always ready with a coke and a chocolate bar for me. I reflect on these everyday things and he was just there for me. I want to be like him with my children in that same way, faithful and one who can be counted on. He would turn off the TV after the second period and tell me don't worry son, the Leafs are going to lose anyways and send me upstairs to do my homework. He would then bring me tea and rub my back.

He certainly didn't have it easy, he almost died of malaria in a Japanese concentration camp as a boy for 4 years while growing up in the Dutch East Indies which is now Sumatra, Indonesia. My mom and dad left Holland for the dream 0f starting a new life in Canada and while he never fully realized his personal dreams of having a farm, he lived sacrificially and gave to us as his children. Even as he was dying, he never blamed God, but he continued to think of others. I thank God for my dad and the inspiration he was and is to me. Rene Constant Ninaber July 15th 1934 - August 22nd 1989

A Man Who Lived By Example

James Conrad Miller

August 31st 1928- May 1st 2007

A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher
Matthew 10:24,25

James dedicated his life to children. He was a principal and classroom teacher at Floradale Public School and Riverside Public School in Elmira. His hobbies included chair caning, gardening and tree planting. Together Jim and my mom have had over 6000 trees planted on their 10 acre property in Belwood! I would be amiss if I didn’t tell you about his love for classic sports cars. He owned a 1961 green MGA fixed head coupe, a red convertible ’81 Triumph Spitfire roadster and a ‘58 blue Austin Healy Sprite ‘bug eye’ Roadster with right-hand drive, right from the Great of Britain. Every spring, he told me that he will put the battery back in, warm up the engine, check the necessary lubrication, cross his fingers and hope it was ready for a drive on the lazy roads of Belwood! Those cars sure suited him because James Miller was a classy man with a gentle spirit and a true humanitarian.

In more recent years, he served as the treasurer for the Centre Wellington Men For Missions and the Mission Store in Fergus. James had the opportunity to travel to Haiti and became very passionate for the needs of children there. It is here that he has supported Pastor Jack Joazile for a number of years in his ministry to his church as well as a school. James most recent project was a fundraiser dinner that he was involved in towards the medical supplies for the Bethesda Medical Center on the missionary compound in Vaundreuil, Haiti. It always came full circle for him back to the children he loved as he was passionate about child sponsorship through OMS International in Haiti through the Starfish program.

Jim passed away after working the earth in preparation for another planting season, a task he had done every year since his boyhood.

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I'll probably never fully understand. We're not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it's over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we'll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who's afraid of you now?It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 The Message

He's got the Power!

Yesterday I took Rylan to the rink for hockey and in the dressing room he started talking to me about when I get to be a grandpa, get grey hair and all that good stuff. Then the subject moved to dying and he was concerned about when I would die and so the conversation moved to heaven and how you get there. He then asked me, "So, when I go to the doctor, will he see Jesus in my heart?" He expressed last night that he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. So, we prayed together and he continued praying thanking Jesus for dying for his sins. After I told him that he is not only my son, but God's son as well. He wanted me to know that he was Jesus' son too! He then yelled out "I am a Christian" from his loft bed so Jord, Bryn and Addi could hear what happened.

loving the camera!

Brittany definitely brings out the crazies in my girls. They love to dance, perform and since gymnastics, Addi can't do the splits enough!! So, as much as my kids love the camera, being in front of the mirror, it reminds me to be in God's presence. It is there that I need to look intently, to gaze long and hard, to listen to His still small voice.

So, what has my trip to India/ Nepal done in me you may ask? Well, it was there that I learned that God uses the weak things in the world's eyes to display His strength. It was there that I will never forget the resilience and joy of evangelist Pratul Das, a man who lost his arm in a bus accident and Biswanath Mondal, who has polio and hobbles on one foot. They take God's persence to the most remote places and do it well! It was there that God was faithful as I completely relied on him for a fresh Word. I learned the special place that God has in His heart for widows and orphans. I learned to never underestimate the power of God to display manifestations in the most remote, forgotten places. I also discovered that if the gospel was coca cola, the job would be done! Finally, after my luggage didn't show up in Toronto, I realized that we need to be prepared to leave all our possessions behind and the only things that really last are the ones that we pay forward to heaven!

side note - thankfully my luggage was finally found two days later, but needless to say, lesson learned.

I have seen an elephant in INDIA, my trip is complete!

So, you have to go for a drive in India as we saw it all today on the highway we travelled from cows to camels and the icing on the cake, the elephants! Phil and I kept saying, where are the elephants?? Well, we weren't disappointed today.... So, we fly out in the morning and what can I say, it has been a whilwind of two weeks on a Partners inspired journey into the work and ministry going on in India and Nepal. I feel truly blessed and transformed yet again...God keeps morphing us! Thanks for your prayers.

The Place of The King!

Today, we drove to the Rajasthan Bible College. Rajasthan (meaning place of the King) and it was there we caught the tail end of the chapel. We met with Anand Chaudhari who has certainly been the visionary here. He shared how there is a real stronghold with evil spirits in Jaipur, but God is doing the miraculous. Here, they pray to their Hindu gods and nothing happens, but they are seeing through answered prayer as God is delivering people from tormenting spirits, people are receiving their hearing and minds back! Anand himself has experienced God's hand on his life as he has kidney disease and diabetes, but he is doing better thanks to the power of prayer as well. He is a man of wisdom and the College is now receiving funds from the government to do literacy training and so they are...using the Bible as the key textbook! He has a radio ministry and a great following. He shared how 21 people in the south of India are ready for baptism because they came to know Christ through the broadcast. He also testifies to the great persecution that has brought great openness. The pictures posted here are of the school which continues to go through renovations and our brother, Anand!