OUR BURDEN

The province of Alberta, Canada has grown over 10% (300,000+ souls) over the last five (5) years. Some areas have grown less than 10% but one area has boomed from an already explosive growth of 30,000 souls to about 90,000 souls. This area is the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo where the world's largest known deposit of Oil Sands is located and the town of Ft. McMurray has become its seat and central support town for resources. Although the Oil Sands were discovered many years ago, it has only been recent that the extraction of oil has been a profitable process. Today over 1,000,000 barrels of heavy crude oil are extracted daily and the projected production is to be producing over 4,000,000 barrels per day by the year 2012. With the mighty demand to extract the oil along with the incredible profits being made by the oil companies, the average blue collar worker is able to go to Ft. McMurray and earn salaries in the range of $250,000 per year. But these men and women are being blindly led to work their fingers to the bone, chasing a dream of becoming wealthy and filling a void that is deep inside of them with the false hope of money. Many who have turned to alcohol or drugs in the past to numb the affects of loneliness and sadness only intensify there escape efforts due to the added pressure of long work hours and extreme weather conditions. Others try to spend there newly earned wealth on expensive toys in order to distract them from that emptiness that yearns inside.

The Lord has shown me how much I too was in this same predicament before He saved me. How the money could only temporarily fill the hole in my sole that craved to be satisfied. He showed me that this vain attempt at happiness not only further degraded my morals and values; it also decayed my marriage and family. My wife Cindy and I saw first hand how God can answer prayers, how he can convict a sinner of his wickedness and how He can save that sinner once he is willing to repent from his sins and turn to a loving savior. We also saw first hand how God can take a family that has been torn and broken by the ways of this world and by His mercy and grace, heal the wounds, strengthen the weak and save that family unto Himself for His pleasure.

Our burden is to take the word of God to an area that is thriving by the world's standards but is starving spiritually by God's standards. When we see these people trying to make it work, we see ourselves how the Lord intervened in my life and my family's lives. They don't need money, they don't need expensive toys and they definitely don't need alcohol and drugs to be happy. They need Jesus Christ and we have been called to take His words to them.

You can help us on one or more ways:

First , you can pray for us while we are on deputation. The deputation trail is nothing less than a time where God is able to deal with us as a family and purge us in preparation for the field.

Second , you can pray that we raise our support in a timely manor. We are going to an area where the world is undertaking a monumental task in making as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time. This has created a very high cost of living for a modest level of living. I have set a very optimistic goal of getting to the field by the fall of 2010. We are praying to this end and I believe the Lord can make this happen. Please help us in prayer.

Third , you can pray for laborers to go to the field of Canada, and more specifically the Ft. McMurray Area. With the exception of a few churches preaching the Truth with the goal of seeing souls saved, the country of Canada is a spiritual wasteland. This field is truly ripe for the harvest but the fruit is rotting on the vine.

Fourth , if you cannot go to the field but realize the need in the field that the Lord has called us, you can do what you can to support us while we go. Financial support can be sent directly to our mission board in their name with a note to have it directed to us on the comments of the check.