Life Prevails

I love life. Life is beautiful. I took a walk down to the lake this afternoon, and it was so beautifull. Actually the sky was grey with a low ceiling and continuous rain... But it was beautiful. As I stood by the waters edge, I looked out and I saw life, stuggling but overcoming. The lake grasses were mostly yellow and dead, but new fresh ones were coming out between them, ready to take on another year, and overcome the death around them. The bare branches on the the trees were full of buds, ready to break out and form leaves, to clean the air and try to restore life to this world we are destroying... And in the forest, were flowers. As I stood there by the edge of the water, I knew that God brought me there to show me something. That He can and will restore life, even where I can see only death. This gave me a hope which I really needed to feel. To know that those whom I love, who have as yet rejected Gods love, still have a chance... I have always seen those buds in their lives, and those buds, which are formed by God's own hand, contain life. Thank you God for life. Thank you God for hope. Thank you God for your love, which always reaches us, even when we don't see it. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." -John 1:1-5

BC Ferries...

Well I am excited to say I have a job interview tomorrow morning for a position with B.C. Ferries as a deckhand on one of their Saltspring Island based ferries. It's really neat to be here saying this, God has brought everything together in a very awesome way for this to happen. I just finished the basic safety courses last week which are now prerequisites for employment on any Canadian flagged (or international) passenger or cargo ships. The courses were very interesting and involved a lot of hands on training such as liferaft and lifeboat launching and operation, and marine firefighting as well. After the first course I went over to Saltspring Island to apply in person for the job, and then over to Victoria. I was called two days later for the interview. Well I just wanted to let everyone know some of the cool things that are happening here lately. I appreciate your prayers regarding all of this and pray that God blesses you each!

BCIT Marine Campus

Well it has been way too long since I updated this. I was laid off from the fish plant a week or so before Christmas, at which point I returned once again to 100 Mile House, B.C. When I left Friendships it was to come back to Canada to get a job which would help me to dig out of the debt load which has been bogging me down in a sense the last few years. My hope was to get a job in the marine industry and pay down those debts. While unloading fishing boats in Port Hardy was a step in the right direction, It was not paying the bills. I am now enrolled (praise God) in a couple marine safety courses at BCIT's marine campus in North Vancouver. The First one, the Basic Safety Training course, starts on Monday Jan. 19th and lasts one week. The second, Survival Craft, begins Feb. 2nd and lasts 5 days. These courses are both required by Transport Canada to work on any Canadian flagged passenger or cargo vessel. This is the next step for me towards getting a job, or I would rather say career in this industry. In past years I have gathered several years sea time working for Friendships, Marine Reach and Mercy Ships on their various vessels, but for me it will be a first to actually get paid to work on a ship. I am praying for the opportunity of being hired on with B.C. Ferries this spring, and working my way up to becoming a licenced deck officer. Those reading this, I would appreciate your prayers for God's Blessing and direction with this. Know too, though, that in pursueing this, I am not turning my back on the ministry work that has been my life, heart and passion for many years now. This is a bit of a new direction for me, but my main goals are unchanged. That is to know God, to Worship Him, and to bring His love to his children (people). I am pursueing those goals in a new way, but it is very like God to lead us in a new way from that which we have known. Thank you and God Bless you each!

Fish Plant.

Hi there! I am so sorry for this long overdue update. After working on the boat in L.A. for several weeks, I felt the Lord showing me it was time to come back to Canada. Friendships released me and even blessed me with a car they had and were not using, which I drove back to B.C. and am now using to get to work every day. At present I am staying with friends in Port McNiel, B.C. and working in a fish processing plant in Port Hardy, which is about 48km North of here, on the northern end of Vancouver Island. It has been a blessing to find a job so quickly where I am able to get a lot of hours and good wage to start getting myself out of debt. It all happened very quickly, and I am praising God for his provision, though at present I have not made a final decision as to weather to stay in B.C. or go back home to Manitoba in the near future. I am enjoying the opportunity I have been given and seeking the Lord for what is to come over the next weeks and months. I would appreciate everyones prayers and pray you would all be blessed! Thanks! Jacob

Wagons West!

Hey I will keep this short right now, but it looks like Friendships is sending me to California again sometime within the next week or so. There are a bunch of us going to L.A. to work on the ministry yacht, Pearl, then to Seattle to work on the larger vessel Integrity. We will be driving out with a small convoy of equipment vehicles including our Kenworth and a lowbed trailer, and two other large trucks loaded with equipment for the vessels and the ministry base in Roatan, Honduras. I'm not sure what is beyond that, as there are several options out there including my coming back to Port Mercy, or continuing to work as crew on one of those vessels for the duration of the trip through the Panama canal and up here after stopping off in Honduras. There are other thoughts and prayers in my head as well and I am seeking the Lord as to what life choices would make sense and please him right now. Not that many of the things I do ever really make sense, I guess. But nonetheless I am seeking to make the best choices I can with what He has given me. It is definatly an adventure serving the Lord... You never really know what is next. I love this life God has given me. May the way I live it out be worship to Him.

Port Mercy

Hey just so everyone knows we arrived back at Port Mercy on Friday afternoon June 6th. We had a great sail, making very good time and excellent conditions out at sea. The outreach went very well though I was on the ship most of the time doing watches. I have posted a bunch of photos in 2 albums on my facebook site. Mostly photos during the sail and exploring the Island the 2 days I had off. Apparently I never took any photos at all at the ministry site, but there are some great ones at http://www.friendships.org Maybe I'll borrow some and post them, too. Anyways the trip was awesome, the doctors saw about 400 people per day, the children's ministry apparently was awesome as well. One of our crew, Murray Douglas, has written several puppet ministry plays, and makes his own puppets, too, from scratch. Very very well done. Apparently the kids loved it. Thank you so much to all of you who have prayed for me or helped me otherwise to be here serving this ministry, I know when I do thse things it's all built on a foundation laid by many people. Thank you, and God Bless. Love Jacob

Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies.

Well this has been a fast paced month. I have not had internet access from when we left the US almost a month ago until now, so I am sorry that I have been out of touch with everybody and not updated this blog. I think we arrived here on Nevis around the 14th of May, and unloaded the ship and started trucking things over to a school field where we set up the medical site. I have been on the ship most of the time, doing anchor watch or loading/unloading cargo. The medical outreach apparently went very well, with around 400 people seen each day. Besides that they had children's ministry throughout the day and evangelistic services in the evenings. I had the opportunity to sail on the ship as a cadet officer, which was great. My role here is as a support person, help get the ship here so the doctors dentists and their teams can do their work. They all were very encouraging as they shared about the work they did during evenings on the ship. Last Sunday I went with a few of our team and hiked part way up the volcano which forms this island. It was awesome. There were all kinds of local birds, some monkeys, and pigs and goats roaming around as they pleased. We found a coconut and managed to get it open for a drink and a snack. That was cool. I've seen kids in the Pacific Islands do it with one or two thwacks of a machette but it is harder with just a leatherman and rocks though. The island lifestyle here is pretty cool, calm laid back, but very clean and decent. They have virtually no crime at all, and apparently you can go to jail for swearing. Man! and people think us Canadians have it good! It is a beautiful Island and beautifull culture, It is cool we were able to bless them with the medical work that was a blessing to the people here, and challenge many to walk with God. I had a neat talk last night with a guy who indicated to me he was a drug dealer. He was trying to make a sale I think but when he found out I was a christian it opened up a neat discussion about various things. His mom and grandmother are christians he says, and he wants God to bless him, so I challenged him a bit about making choices and leading a life that would honor God. God does desire to bless his children. Anyways it's been great to be here. This is the first day I have gotten online since leaving the US, but it's also our last day here as we are to depart at 2300 tonight, and take the next ten days to get back to Port Mercy in Louisiana. Thank you to those who have left comments here and may God Bless you all. In Christ, Jacob