Small acts of kindness
The little girl in a tattered, red dress looked up at me with puppy dog eyes; her hand held out with fingers extended. She might have been 5-years old but barely 3 feet tall. We were in the Philippines, downtown Dumaguete, where many indigenous people find themselves homeless. It was very late at night.
“Wow, you’ve got that look down pat,” I thought, coldly suspecting that any money given would go directly into the purse of her handlers. I was shocked by my own heartlessness.
“What do you want?”
Beat the Doldrums: 7 lessons from the Ancient Mariner
Come now as we face these isolate days, let us tackle things grand, with intention and gusto. Let’s lay hold of scarce things that we wished there was time for, when life was consumed by a twelve-hour labour.
Two-Step Jesus and the talking Parrotfish
All work and no play makes Jack a dull missionary, so that weekend, Lib and I leave YWAM Ships’ base and drive to Two-Step; a famous snorkel and dive spot, just 40-minutes south of Kailua-Kona along Route 11 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Two-Step is called that because of a narrow set of naturally […]
The Elven Forest Epiphany
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not,” Dr. Seuss, The Lorax This call to Christian mission work began 20-years ago after I’d been fired from my dream job as a Forest Resource Engineer using science to do good through crop management. Unfortunately, the resource sector […]
A Prayer in Nindawari
YWAM Ships exists to reach the isolated with medical aid and the gospel of Jesus. This year, Katie, a 23 year-old registered EMT from Idaho, USA, led a small team from YWAM Ships Kona up the Gira River of Papua New Guinea to remote tribal villages of the Binandari. Yes, they were able to soothe […]
The Chieftains of Jingada
Six hours over open ocean by banana boat and then 90-minutes more up a flooded, croc-infested river called the Gira, lay the village of Jingada. In late January, we joined a 12-person Discipleship Training School (DTS) team from YWAM Ships Kona to visit Jingada and deliver aid and ministry programs to the isolated. We […]
Where others have walked
Have you ever found yourself in a place and felt as though you were not alone? I don’t mean like there’s someone stalking you or that the place is haunted; not that. More like you are standing on ground where important people have walked before and even though centuries have passed, they are somehow still […]
YWAM Ships: our next chapter
BREAKING NEWS:Lib and I have accepted an invitation to join the communications team of YWAM Ships. The Call: To encourage and motivate those wanting to know Jesus and make Him known – with documented victory stories from the frontline of people who are living life by faith. The Mission: To train small teams of Field Reporters […]
Up the Yellowknife
Jack Stefanyk leaned on his paddle and chewed his lip looking off a rock outcrop down at the river raging below. I looked down at the river, too; and then over at Jack. I looked back at the river and again back at Jack. He was still biting his lip. “Well, what do think?” I asked. There was […]
Building Omega
For the past 10 years, a branch office of Omega Engineering in the BC Interior has celebrated steady growth and nominal turnover in an otherwise volatile industry by treating staff to an annual field trip, followed by an evening of fine dining. The firm’s success can be traced back to partner, Tim Dunne, P.Eng., who […]
Zen and the Art of Grape Harvest
We called only looking for a space heater, all part of a decision to downsize. The voice on the other end of the line sounded slurred but confident, female but ageless. She was selling an oil space heater and it seemed like a good deal. My wife, Lib, got the address and together we drove to a crumbling […]
Peaking in Peru
“The Knot!” barks the instructor. “If you leave here knowing nothing else, remember that! It will save your life.” We all stop smiling and study the double Figure Eight tied through the belay loops of our harnesses. Strange how thin a 10.2 millimetre nylon rope looks when you have to hang from it. Guess this […]
