Bart Blair

An Alberta Landing

Wow! We made it! The last 72 hours has been remarkably...well...remarkable!

After our challenging travel night across Saskatchewan, we got up on Friday morning with the plan to rent a van, leave ours in Moose Jaw for repairs and make the trek to Medicine Hat early enough to meet the real estate lawyer to do the legal business. That plan didn't go as planned. Without getting into the lengthy details, let's just say this - Enterprise may want to change their motto from "We'll pick you up" to "We'll let you down."

We ended up driving our 6-cylinder van on 5 cylinders in a snow storm, -20 degrees and 80km winds across western SK into eastern AB. We prayed the whole way and, thank the Lord, we made it. By 3pm we were in the house on Sunrise Street.

You'll note a variety of expressions in the photo that Oliver took of us as we arrived at the house; cold, tired, relieved, exhausted, etc.

The moving truck arrived on Saturday morning and by about 4pm we were unpacking boxes and beginning the process of setting up our new home. The house is a fair bit smaller than the one we just left and we've already realized that even more purging will need to take place as we settle in.

The house is only 10 years old so there's not a lot of big work that needs to be done. We'll need to do lots of painting and we're finding little oddities here and there that will need modification, but for the most part, the house is quite livable as it is. Much to Elizabeth's relief, we will not need to labour over the house as we did our last one - being over 30 years old.

Elizabeth has met one neighbour so far; Chris who has a son the same age as Ephraim. And I've already connected with the Telus installation guy, Justin. It just so happens that Justin is a recent immigrant from Oakville, Ontario who loves baseball and fishing. We've already discussed getting together for sports and beverage.

This week we'll get the kids into school (probably Wednesday) and begin to map out the next few weeks as we begin to develop a plan for work and church planning. We're excited on all fronts, but realize there's big work ahead.

Today's Auto Adventures

Uh-oh. 150 kilometers, or so, south of Moose Jaw the van started to chug a bit. Something is just not right...

Stop for gas in Midland, SK. Back on the road. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHING. Van not really going. U-turn. Back to gas station.

After our one hour detour in Midland, SK the mechanic (Mr. Short of Shorty's Auto Service) could only replace a spark plug. No experience with Mazdas (Japanese cars ain't too popular around here). We drove on to Moose Jaw with a cylinder misfiring and the Check Engine light flashing. We wrote down the numbers of 6 towing companies as a safeguard.

We've rented a van for tomorrow am. We'll leave our van at Canadian Tire auto service and head to Alberta in the rental. Elizabeth and I will have to drive back some time next week.

Extra expense. Extra stress. No fun. But at least we weren't stranded in the middle of Nowhere, North Dakota. Praise God for that!

Westward Ho!

On Monday, I left Mississauga with Sarah, Silas, Ephraim and Scooter. It was about 6am as we pulled out of the driveway and we all sleepily waved goodbye to Mommy and Mississauga (along with Jen, Donna and Isaiah, who came to see us off). We drove about 10 hours to Joliet, IL where we crashed for the night.

On Tuesday we pulled out of Joliet and made the rest of our drive to Kansas City, KS (where my mother lives) to begin our two-week respite. We will leave here are around January 11 or 12 to make out final jaunt to Medicine Hat, AB.

Elizabeth has remained behind in Mississauga to oversee the moving company packing and loading of our possessions (what's left after our Kijiji fire sale). She will fly to Kansas City on December 30 after the the moving truck has been loaded.

Where the Wind (Spirit) Blows

Alberta Bound

I first met Oliver Shane Edwards in the summer of 2007 when I traveled to Surrey, B.C. as part of the Great Canadian Adventure mission supporting the launch of Community of Hope church. Oliver was a part of the team planting the new church.

Our paths crossed again in the summer of 2008 at the FGBC National Conference in Tampa. It was soon after that meeting that I heard Oliver and his wife Cheryl were hoping to plant a church in Alberta.

At the time I heard that news, there was a strange resonance in my spirit; kind of like God ringing a bell to get my attention. I still remember the thought that crossed my mind was something like, "Maybe you should go do that, Bart."

As quickly as that thought entered my mind, I ushered it out. I have never had any plans, dreams or intentions of being a church planter. Not my cup of tea.

I have served as the worship pastor at Grace Community Church since February 2002. I began attending Grace in the early part of 1999 and began leading worship at the church in the summer of 2000. Grace has been my church home for a long time; the only church my sons, Silas and Ephraim, have ever known. And it's the only full-time ministry job that I've ever had. So over the past year or so, as I've had this odd internal struggle, a restlessness, about my future at Grace, I've been very challenged by how to handle it.

For the better part of the last year I have had a sense that my time at Grace was coming to an end, but I really had no clue as to how things were going to write themselves out. I seriously considered leaving full-time ministry and rejoining the secular work force. But after a short time of pondering that idea, I realized that was clearly not what God wanted from me. I mentally entertained the idea of finding another ministry job in another church somewhere else, but it just felt wrong - nothing about it seemed to be God-honoring. After all, I was so invested in the ministry at Grace. And I had been invested in so much by the leaders of Grace and GBCanada.

Then, early in the summer, seemingly out of nowhere the thought popped back into my mind, "Maybe I should go to Alberta and help with this church plant." 

Since the initial announcement of plans to plant in Alberta, the Edwards family had determined Medicine Hat to be the city. And subsequently our church, Grace, had sent a team of people out to assist them with some pre-launch activities.

With slight hesitation I mentioned to my wife, Elizabeth, the thought that was in my mind. I asked her what she thought about leaving everything behind here in Ontario and heading west - into the middle of nowhere - to start a new church.

Fully expecting her to balk at the idea, she surprised me by saying that she thought it was perhaps a good idea and worth exploring. So we did just that.

We've spent the last couple of months praying, talking, conferring with the Grace leadership and ultimately travelling to Medicine Hat to see the city and spend face-to-face time with Cheryl and Oliver. The overwhelming sense that we have walked away with is that this is to be the next step in our life mission. Soon - very soon - we are to move to the prairies and plant a new church. 

To be continued...

Valentine's Day in the Big Apple

Elizabeth and I spent Valentine's Day weekend in Manhattan with our dear friend Jeff Haley, for the second straight year.  We had a great time, in spite of being a bit "under the weather."

We made trips to The Cloisters at Ft. Tryon Park, which is an extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We also spent an afternoon at The Met, itself.

On Valentine's Day we treated ourselves to a showing of the Oscar Nominated Short Films at the IFC Centre.  Our two favorite films of the viewing were Auf Der Strecke  and Grisen.  Personally, I related to the tragic nature of Auf Der Strecke more than all the others, but Grisen had a wider dynamic range of emotions and had a happier ending, which will probably lead to getting more votes.  Of course, Manon on the Asphalt (the French Film) managed to squeeze in a 3 minute sex scene into its 15 minutes, so it'll likely win!

We rounded out our weekend with an afternoon worshiping at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.  In spite of their length (2+ hours), services at the BT are always an emotionally and spiritually stirring experience.

Below are a few photos from our trip:

            

Check out some more pics on my Facebook page:
More NYC Pics

Day 1 At the FGBC Conference

Silas and I arrived in Tampa in the late hours last night for a week at the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches International Conference.  This is an event held every two years and features guest speakers from both within and outside our fellowship.

This morning, I attended a session taught by Pastor Dan Gregory (Community of Hope, Columbia City, IN).  Pastor Dan gave a lesson based on Luke chapter 5.  In today's culture, many people refer to themselves as "Christians."  But Jesus never called us to be Christians; He called us to be followers.

As Dan expounded on this passage he made a statement that rings true with me:

"If we are Christians (Followers of Jesus) then we should be fishing (for men).  If we're not fishing, then we're probably not Christians (Followers)."

Dan used the example that our lives represent the "net" that we cast for the sake of engaging those that don't know Jesus into a place where they can encounter Him.  I like that imagery.

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While I was attending the "big people" conference, Silas was attending the Kids' Conference.  They went to the beach.  Here's a photo of the booty he returned with!

A List For The Day

Here's a list of golf courses I'd love to play:

10. Pinehurst

9. Congressional Country Club

8. Bay Hill Club

7. Bethpage Black

6. Riviera Country Club

5. Winged Foot

4. TPC Sawgrass

3. St. Andrews (Old)

2. Doral Blue Monster

1. Pebble Beach

A List For The Day

Here's a list of places that I want to visit before I expire:

10. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

9. Vienna, Austria

8. Fiji

7. Hong Kong

6. Churchill, Manitoba

5. Jerusalem, Israel

4. Alaska

3. New Zealand

2. Ireland

1. Italy

Back From Algonquin

We've just returned from a short (3-day) camping excursion to Algonquin Park; the most beautiful and scenic part of Ontario I've seen yet.  We camped for three nights at Mew Lake.  The weather wasn't the greatest, but we had a fun time nonetheless.

Out first night the temperature dropped to "see-your-breath" lows.  We were all sleeping in winter clothing, including our toques.  I still froze and slept little.  The next day was gorgeous and sunny.  Silas, Sarah and I spent a fair bit of the day on the beach at Mew Lake while Elizabeth and Ephraim drove back to Huntsville, Ontario to buy underwear.  One of them forgot to pack any.  Let's just say it wasn't the one sitting in the car seat.

The second night sleeping was much better.  It was warmer AND we were all thoroughly exhausted from the first night's sleep loss.

We spent part of day two back at Mew Lake's beach, although the weather was cold and gray.  Silas and Ephraim romped in the sand and waded in the water, completely immune to the crummy weather conditions. 

That afternoon we drove to Lake Opeongo, Algonquin's largest lake.  There, we rented a canoe and went for a trip on the water.  Elizabeth and the boys didn't last long, so Sarah and I dumped them on shore and we explored a bit of the lake ourselves.  I could have gone all day!  It was fun.  The lake is beautiful.

Our third night of sleep was disrupted by an incredible thunder storm.  It rained nearly and inch in less than an hour.  We got up this morning to a soggy mess.  We packed up and headed home to be back for Sarah's work shift which started at 5pm.

Algonquin Park was fantastic.  I look forward to many, many more excursions and wilderness exploring.

Vancouver - Days 2, 3 & 4

Other than my body being totally messed up regarding the time zone, having a good time here in B.C.  I'm finally sleeping like a west coaster, but I'm still hungry like an Ontarian.  Weird.

DAY 2
On Tuesday I co-led the worship with Jason at the morning session, playing guitar and leading some vocals.  We were supposed to have a carwash in the evening but the weather was not conducive (cold and rainy) so we attached postcards to bags of microwave popcorn (unpopped, of course).  Phil suggested that Bartley, Darin and I skip out early and hang out at his house.  Which we gladly did. We stayed at Phil's late playing Settlers of Catan.  Bartley won the first game.  Phil won the second.  I sucked during both.

DAY 3
Wednesday was a day off for us so Bartley and I took the SkyTrain into Vancouver (we're actually staying in Surrey) and visited a former member of Grace, Beverly.  Bev moved out here 2 years ago to be closer to her family.  We ate lunch at a pub downtown and the wandered around the historic Gastown district where I bought some stuff for my kids.

During the evening we went back to Phil and Beth's for a bbq.  There were about 35 or so people at the dinner and Phil shared the story of how they came to choose the Surrey area for the church plant.

DAY 4
Well, I'm writing this on day 4.  Today will involve more flier delivery and a car wash.  Again,however, the weather is not looking too promising for the car wash.