Light of Togo

Since arriving in Quebec, Joshua has had somewhat of a difficult time being away from all his friends and family. Add to that the fact that none of the children here speak English and you can imagine that this would get a little frustrating for a young boy. What has been really neat to see, however, is how Joshua has become very good friends with two sisters, Kelly and Lydia, who speak no English at all. Joshua has picked up some French words here and there, but he’s not really able to communicate at all in French. It’s amazing to see them play together though; somehow they manage to communicate through body language and the very little English/French that they know. They can play for hours like this.

This picture was taken on Easter Sunday, so I also included the one we took of our family and Malerie. By the way, Malerie will be leaving in four weeks, and will definitely be missed. She has been such a help and a blessing to our family, and we’re sad to see her go, but happy for her as well as she begins the next stage of her life. Please pray for us when she leaves as we will need to make many adjustments to our schedules and daily routines once she’s gone. Pray that Joshua can quickly adjust to this.

Several times a year, people and churches ask for our family photo. Why, I’m not too sure, but I suppose it’s because of Tiffany and Joshua being in it. A black marker can easily fix the ugly third of the family! Anyways, on Easter Sunday we took a new family photo which was long overdo. There’s no copyright licensing, so feel free to download it, print it, make wanted posters with it, draw mustaches and fangs, use it for blackmail purposes, etc. To download it, just right click on the photo and select “Save Image As…”

Isn’t Joshua getting SO big!!??

Today I was looking forward to a nice Saturday around the house catching up on homework and some personal work. However, our washing machine had other plans in mind. We were surprised to hear an unexpected doorbell ring, and looking through the peephole I saw our downstairs neighbor. Now let me stop here and explain that on the previous three occasions when we have met him it has been because of our seemingly paper-thin floors. As I saw him, I thought, “We were barely making any noise! How could he be telling us we’re too loud?”

When I opened the door, he looked a bit frantic and began telling me (in French) something about water coming down his wall. I thought, “Hmm, that’s not good!.” Then he said it was coming from our “laveur.” I thought, “Laveur…laveur…laveur…OK, I know this word…’laver’ means ‘to wash,’ ah-ha! Laveur is the washing machine!” So quickly I told him thank you and ran over to our washing machine and looked behind it, surprised to see a large pool of water on the floor.

To make a very long and frustrating story a lot shorter, I spent a few hours looking at the thingamajigs and the doohickeys, and not to mention mopping up a very wet floor, trying to figure out where the leak was coming from. Finally, I found what you see in the second photo. After a repair diagnosis by my dad via online video, who was a washer repairman many years ago (back in ‘09, as he says). He said that there’s very likely a bigger problem than what I can see from the exterior. In order to find out for sure would require a major repair attempt with tools that I don’t have, and then once I did find the real problem, he said that the cost of the part, and my time, would likely be just as much as a new used washer.

So, after much contemplation (about 2.7 minutes), I decided that it’s time to get a washing machine! Probably on Monday we will head to a couple stores and check out some used ones, so please pray that we can find a cheap but reliable washer.

As Tiffany said, “Well, at least we got 11 months out of a free washer!”

Each Friday evening we all head over to our friends’ house for some fun and lots of French conversation with them. They have two girls, Kelly and Lydia, who are very close to Joshua’s age, so you can imagine how hard they play together while we’re over there. Normally we stay until at least 10:30, but usually later. Adding to this the fact that Joshua doesn’t get a nap on Fridays, by the time we get home we have a limp and unresponsive kid on our hands, or should I say in my arms. I carry him upstairs from the car and put him on the couch before transferring him to his bed. On the night that I took these pictures he was so tired that I took off his boots, jacket, and lifted him up into his bed without him moving a muscle!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Now that we know for sure when we will be leaving for Togo (Jan/Feb ‘09), we can begin planning some of the things that we will need to do in the next 11 months. Yesterday afternoon I had a couple free hours, so I began “mind mapping.” If you’re not familiar with this, it is a really great way to visually map out a large scale project, a meeting, brainstorming, etc. In just a couple hours time, I realized just how much needs to be accomplished between now and then! I have only scratched the surface with this mind map, so I’ll be adding more to it in the coming days. I hope that as you look at it, you will remember to pray for us that God will provide the wisdom and strength that we will need in the coming year.

I was reading the account today in Matthew 15 of Jesus going up to a mountain by the sea of Galilee where all kinds of sick, blind, and crippled people came to him. The Bible tells us that he healed all of them to the amazement of everyone. After they got over the initial shock of seeing crippled people walk, deaf people hearing, mute people speaking, sick people well again, it says that “they glorified the God of Israel.”

Sometimes I believe that we underestimate the reason why God did, or does, things. You may have heard, like I have, that the primary reason why Jesus healed people and performed miracles was because He had great compassion on people, because He loved them; or because He was trying to convince the skeptical Jews of His authenticity. While both of these were reasons, we must not loose sight of the fact that they were secondary reasons. The reason why God does anything is for one primary reason: for His glory! He desires self-glorification above all else. How arrogant! How egotistic! How conceited! And yes, He would be if He were anything less than absolutely perfect! Only one who is without fault can be deserving or worthy of glory and worship. So let us, as those people on the mountain that day, stand in awe of Jesus Christ and glorify God in Him! It is Jesus who performed the greatest miracle of all time in forgiving our sin and securing our salvation. Again, why did He do this? Because He loved us? Yes. Because He wants fellowship with us? Yes. Because He wants us in Heaven with Him some day? Yes. But above all else, because He receives glory when a blind and hopeless sinner is transformed, given a new nature, and begins a life of following Jesus Christ.

[side note] Jesus seemed to really like climbing mountains…I suggest you do it sometime!

Following the ancient Scottish traditions of our Shanks forefathers, Joshua and I constructed quite a handsome snowman a little over a week ago. We had been waiting all winter for the perfect snowman conditions, since they are very picky as to the type of snow that they like to be made of. Every time it snows here in Quebec, it is very dry and powdery snow that is impossible to make anything with. However, after a recent rain the top 3 inches of snow became optimal snowman material. Once he was finished, we enjoyed seeing his smiling face from our back window for a few days, but then disaster struck. Watch the video below to see how the saga unfolded.

Last night we had the worst storm of the winter, with 60 mph (100 kph) winds and LOTS of snow. This was the second big storm in five days. What is really cool (to me at least) is that we are only 20-30 centimeters (8-11 inches) away from breaking Quebec’s all-time record for snowfall in a single winter. As of Thursday we had 405 cm (13.25 feet), but after last night, it’s probably somewhere around 425-435 cm. The record was in 1966 with 457 cm. Let it snow!

First of all, if you’ve never read “My Utmost for His Highest,” by Oswald Chambers, you really should. It’s a daily reading kind of book, just one page per day. It is basically a collection of writings and sermon/lecture excerpts from Chambers’ life.

Thanks to pastor Bill Anker in Spokane, Washington, I have now not only read from Oswald Chambers but about him too. He gave me Chambers’ biography a couple years ago, but I just got around to reading it lately. In case you’re interested the title is “Oswald Chambers: Abandoned to God.” It’s not the most entertaining read, but it is very challenging to see Chambers’ approach to life, ministry, and Christianity in general. I’m astounded at his simple but deep faith in God. He was not a man that was striving for or worried about results, success, or popularity even among Christians. His sole desire was to abide in Christ and draw closer to Him, leaving all the results up to His plan. Wow, if we could just learn how to do that! Aren’t we so often guilty of manipulating circumstances and people so we can get our results, our success, or popularity?

It’s always encouraging to read about the men who followed Christ wholeheartedly in the past, but let’s not forget that God works the same way today! He can use anyone in any culture at any time. Some people talk as if God is done using people in great ways, but that is the farthest thing from the truth. God is still working in and through people who have abandoned to Him the directing of their own lives. This is really what it comes down to, isn’t it? Who’s going to be God? Is He, or are we going to pathetically attempt to rule our own life, setting ourself up as a little demigod of our ugly little kingdom? The issue here is worship. God deserves and desires worship, and He gets it when we acknowledge His divine right to BE GOD in our lives.

Click here to download a printable PDF copy of this letter: Feb ‘08

We had an extremely busy month of February in our French studies, but we were still able to have a couple great family activities like Quebec’s winter carnival and visiting a hotel made entirely out of ice!

God has guided us in making a decision as to when we will finish language school and head back to Oregon for our final preparations before moving to Togo. We will be leaving here at the end of October, and reaching Togo around January or February of next year. It is so exciting for us to finally have a specific time set for when we will get to Togo!

Yet again, God gave me a great opportunity to talk with Dmitry about Jesus Christ, the existence of God, and the truth of the Bible. Please continue to pray for him.

Please pray for all of my family on my mother’s side, as my grandfather has just passed away recently. I only knew him well as a young child, but it was still sad to receive this news. We have several family members who are extremely hardened and opposed to biblical Christianity, so pray that God will use this to cause them to begin thinking about their own inevitable end of life on earth and what will happen to them afterwards.

Here are some other recent blog entries:
I’m a celebrity
Tiger in the house
Complete inadequacy, parts 1&2
Russian chocolates and the existence of God
(don’t forget to subscribe to the blog through email or RSS feeds)

Thank you for your prayer and support!

When I showed up to class yesterday morning, I was surprised to find a man waiting there to talk to me. He told me that a reporter from Radio Canada wanted to interview me for a news story that he is preparing for the radio. The story has to do with the recent grossly inflated tuition prices in Quebec for foreign students, and the reporter wanted to interview somebody who could have been affected by this.

Now at this point in my very brief French experience, I do not feel like I’m ready to do a radio interview answering complex questions! So, I told the guy that I’d love to do it, but that my French is not great. He said that this wouldn’t be a problem and that I could answer in English if I wanted and that they could just translate it when it’s broadcasted. This sounded like a much better arrangement, so I agreed and he said that he would put me in touch with the reporter. Now keep in mind that this man with whom I was talking works for the university, not the radio station.

After school I called the reporter without really knowing what to expect. My assumption was that he would set up a time when we could meet or something. So after a few “preliminaries,” all in French, he said that he would transfer the phone to another line for the interview. “OK, no problem,” I thought, “I would have preferred to have some preparation first, but that’s a problem. After all, I can respond in English, right?”

When the reporter picked up the other line and asked the first question I started to answer in English when he stopped me and said, “No, in French please.” Doh! This is exactly what I feared.

Now, I think it’s necessary for me to explain something about myself to you at this point. I am NOT good at just coming up with things off the top of my head without any preparation. I just don’t do well at all in those situations. I’m the type of person who likes to know what I’m getting into so I can plan and prepare accordingly, and that’s even when speaking English! Throw in the French factor and now I’m sure to make a fool of myself. Well I thought, “OK, I’m just going to do the best I can and hope that he doesn’t ask anything too difficult.”

The first two questions were relatively easy and I felt like I didn’t butcher the responses too bad, but then came the third. He asked something about if I had known what was going to happen with the tuition prices before I came, would I have still come and if the tuition is higher this summer will I be able to continue. Without getting into all the complexities of French grammar, I’ll just say this: Have you ever posed a question to a young child, then realized that they might have understood you, but they had no earthly idea how to correctly answer the question? Got the mental picture now? OK, well that was me! As I hacked my way through the response, I can just imagine what the reporter was thinking, “Man, is THIS the best student they could find for me?” “Maybe they accidentally got me somebody from the Antarctican language program.” or “This guy has been studying French for HOW long?” Well, whatever it was he was thinking, he evidently came to the conclusion that he wasn’t getting much helpful information because after this question he said, in English, “OK, well thank you for the interview, have a nice day.” And that was that.

So, as I think back on my 15 minutes of fame (more like 3), I have decided two things: first, I don’t want to be a celebrity anymore so I’m officially retiring and telling all news agencies, tabloids, and the paparazzi that I “have no further comments.” (don’t you just love it when they say that? I wonder if that would have worked with my parents when I was growing up: “Jesse, did you tell your little brother to do a back flip off of the trampoline into the rose bushes?” “Dad, Mom…I have no further comments.” haha!) Second, I have decided that I really hope that they don’t air this story, or at least my interview. I have also learned that, when necessary, it’s better just to ask for some time to prepare rather than slaughtering a very beautiful language!

Just a minute ago, as Joshua was getting ready to head out the door to a friend’s birthday party, he told Tiffany, “I’m going to wash my teeth so they are nice and clean for when we sing the birthday song!”  HAHA!!  Where does he come up with this?