ON REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THE WAY... June 5, 2012

Estelle, Esther, Steve  1981
Campbellton, NB

It was 1980 and we were pastoring the Pentecostal Church in Wilson’s Beach, Campobello. I was 21 years old. It was a great place to live and work for the Lord with only ONE drawback!  I remember it like yesterday. It was the first year we were there and right after Labor Day I was driving down the Island and noticed something very strange.  All the local businesses seemed to be having a problem with windows being broken.  Every business we passed, we noticed that there was someone outside putting boards over the broken windows. Then I noticed one business and I could see that the windows weren’t broken yet there was someone boarding those ones up too. I thought, “That’s strange!” Then I realized, they’re not boarding up broken windows, they must be preparing for one of those hurricanes that I had heard the Islanders talk about.  But I was wrong yet again!  I remember stopping at a place and I asked, “What are you doing?” The man replied, “Boarding up windows!” Then he kinda looked at me with that, “that’s a dumb question to ask” look.  I said, “Yes, I can see that, but WHY are you boarding up the windows?” He explained that they were boarding the windows up for the winter months because tourist season was finished and many people only lived on the island during the summer months and would head south for the winter.  I said, “Oh! I see.”  Now this was something that I hadn’t even thought of.  But I soon learned how deserted the island could be in the winter.

Now folks, I have to tell you, "That was one quiet winter on that island!"

Anyway, I told you that to tell you this. The following year I received a phone call asking if I would be interested in going to Campbellton, New Brunswick to continue the work that Brother Harry Lewis had already started. I would be joining the Home Missions team and would be under the Mission 1000 program that had been created by my Dad, Brother Raymond Roach. Mission 1000 was a Home Missionary finance program designed to support several church planters full time on the field. Things came together quite quickly and we resigned the church in Campobello.  We loved the people and the church and the island villagers.  They were good to us!  

We were so excited about this new adventure! Mom and Dad were only an hour away in the city Bathurst, New Brunswick which was nice too.  Dad had already planted a new church there and had built a Mobile Chapel which I had helped him build a few years earlier.  It wasn’t long until I, too, wanted a Chapel just like Dads for the Work of the Lord in Campbellton.  I found a mobile home that had been stripped down to just a flatbed and after looking it over realized this would be a great start for a new Mobile Chapel.  It was 14’ X 70’.  My Dad checked it out with me and agreed that it would be ideal.  On his advice, I bought the flatbed for $1,400. and was able to buy enough material to frame the walls and close them in. It was during that time that some adverse things happened and the Mission 1000 program came to an abrupt end.  I remember the day that Dad called the Missions Team together in Edmundston to let us know that there would be no cheque this month.  I was devastated!  I wondered, What will we do?  How will I afford to live?  I recall that it wasn’t but a few days later that Dad called to tell me that he and mom were moving to Nova Scotia.  He asked me what I was going to do strongly suggesting that I should think about moving somewhere else.  I said, “Dad, I can’t leave here! I have an 11 month old baby. We have a nice home that we are renting. Plus, I’m right in the middle of building the Chapel!  And I can’t just up and leave!"  Once again my heart sunk because I couldn’t understand why all this was happening! Deep loneliness and discouragement began to set in. I found a job at a local bicycle shop building and maintaining bikes.  But it wasn’t enough money to sustain us. I needed some reinforcements and I needed them now! We ended up leaving the beautiful home we were renting on Dover Street because we simply didn’t have enough money. One of our neighbours offered us a pop-up tent trailor to live in so we moved into a camper for the summer.

As we lived in the camper, I continued to build the Chapel.  My wife’s brother, Vincent, came up to give me a hand. He was a great blessing! I remember the day he and I worked so hard building the first 70 foot wall.  We built it in two 35 foot sections and by the end of the day we were able, with the help of Esther, to stand the wall and get it braced! 70 feet is a long wall!! That night a strong thunder storm with heavy winds ripped through Campbellton and when we came back to the Chapel site in the morning, the wall that we had worked so hard to build had fallen outward onto the ground!  What a 70 foot mess! Much of the wall was destroyed and had to be completely rebuilt. That was the day I "lost it!"  My poor brother in law, Vincent, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I was so overwhelmed with grief I took my hammer and smashed it against one of the 2X4 braces. The 2X4 went flying across the floor and hit Vincent in the arm. There happened to be a 4”spike protruding out of the board and it left a 6”gash in Vincent’s arm! I was more devastated than ever!!  Now someone was paying the price for my own discouragement and anger!  I literally felt sick to my stomach as I saw the blood pour from his arm.  I would never intentionally hurt anyone!  I think he has forgiven me but I’m sure there is still a scar that reminds him of that day.  Sorry Vince!!

Once again I was so distraught but we were determined to tough it out! Money was very low but we were determined! There were a few faithful churches who sent money designated directly to us.  For that we are so thankful!

During that time I recall receiving word from Brother Harry Lewis that he was putting together a crew of men to give me a hand to finish closing in the Chapel.  I was so happy. I had the four walls standing and sheathed when they arrived.  He sent the crew of men over from Perth, New Brunswick to do the roof and that was such a great encouragement!  No one will ever know just how thankful Esther and I were to have the roof sheathed and shingled!  It was beautiful! Thank you Brother Lewis for the reinforcement!! 

The next hurdle was the electrical and we had no idea how we would be able to do it.  And didn’t we receive a call from Brother Colby Churchill in Hatfield Point and he said, "We are providing the money for the electrical and we are sending Brother Murray Urquhart up to do the work." Brother Urquhart and his wife came to Campbellton and did all the wiring.  Once again, we felt the relief of reinforcements! 

The fall came and we knew we couldn’t live in the camper for the winter so we divided the Mobile Chapel into two sections with a wall. In one end we built a small apartment for Esther and I and our daughter, Estelle.  It had one bedroom and the rest was an open concept with a tiny bathroom in the corner. It was November, and winter in Campbellton was extremely cold as I recall. We had no insulation in the walls or the ceiling. We had a wood stove and someone had donated some firewood for us. I can’t remember how much wood we went through but it was substantial as you can imagine.   I remember that our roof was the only ‘bare’ roof in the neighbourhood! The snow had come and we kept the fire burning full time to keep us warm.  The snow would melt as fast as it hit our roof!  

Again, a feeling of despair overwhelmed me as I knew the coldest months were yet to come.  We needed reinforcements and we needed them now! Sure enough! God sent a “Good Samaritan”!  I call him that because I know if it hadn’t been for this man, we would have never survived the winter!  His name was James Underwood from Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Brother Underwood worked for Canada Post and was in our area doing some work for a few days.  He called us and wanted to stop by for a visit.  When he arrived I think he was shocked to think we were endeavouring to live in an uninsulated home in Canada in the middle of winter with an eleven month old baby.  Before he left our home that day, he told us to make arrangements to go to the building supply store and get whatever we needed to get the Chapel insulated and gyprocked!  He went to the store and paid the bill before going back to Halifax.  Once again we felt the awesome blessing of reinforcements!  I remember the incredible difference it made in our heating once the walls and ceiling were insulated. Then my wife’s sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Donnie Kennedy, came to Campbellton to help install the gyprock.  Donnie also gave me a crash course on how to build kitchen cupboards. They turned out quite nice!

My heart is so full today that now 32 years later, I see the “big picture” and how God sustained us during that time and how He sent REINFORCEMENTS just in the nick of time...EVERY TIME!
It blesses us to see that the church in Campbellton is still going strong today!!

There may be someone today reading this, who may be walking a difficult road and you are wondering, “How will I ever make it through? I wish there were some reinforcements!”  I need to say to you, “Don’t lose hope!  Don’t EVER lose hope!!  Reinforcements are on the way!”  Not only will the Lord send reinforcements but He is faithful and He will RESTORE many times over for the sacrifices you make for Him!

Today Esther and I look back and realize how God has blessed us many times over for the sacrifices we made early in our ministry!  Just remember, when you think it’s too hard, REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THE WAY   SRR!    

ON THE POWER OF NOISE..... June 4, 2012

Recently my daughter, Michelle, was standing at the kitchen sink in her apartment when she began to share with Esther and I a story that she had just heard at the church in Laval. I shall never forget it! It went kinda like this...

Even though there are those who deny that the “Holocaust” ever happened, history records the events that occurred when 6 million European Jews were annihilated at the hands of a ruthless, murdering dictator, Adolf Hitler. The Nazis' persecution and genocide of millions of precious people was carried out in stages. There were even laws that were written and enforced to totally remove the Jews from civil society.  The Nuremberg Laws were enacted in Nazi Germany years before the outbreak of World War II. Concentration Camps were set up and prisoners were subjected to slave labour until they died of exhaustion or disease.  There were units established called Einsatzgruppen that murdered Jews in mass shootings! Others were carried away on freight trains to extermination camps where, if they even survived the journey, most were systematically killed in gas chambers.  It was during this horrifying time that there was a little church that would hold it’s regular Sunday meetings.  It so happened that the church was situated near one of the railroads that carried these people to the concentration camps. As the congregation would gather and conduct their services, every so often there would be a train with freight cars full of Jews that would pass by. Inside the church, the congregation could hear the wailing and screams from the people in the train cars being taken away. This went on for quite some time until the leaders of the church spoke about it and how it was so disruptive to their meetings. In a specially called meeting to discuss the situation, they collectively came to a decision. And here’s is what they decided to do.  During the next service everyone would be prepared so that whenever a train would pass by, the people would simply play their music stronger and sing louder.... to drown out the screams! We’ll turn up the volume so we can’t hear those that are in torment!

As my wife and I listened to her story, all three of us began to sob there in the kitchen as we thought about that awful solution just so the ‘church people’ wouldn’t hear the horrific sounds of people heading to their demise.  We also began thinking of the church, the world, and this day that we live in.  It seems that it is so easy for us to be in our comfortable homes, cars and churches that we forget that we have a world of people passing by us in their proverbial ‘freight train’ headed for an eternity without God. Often it’s easier to simply turn up the NOISE so we cannot hear their cries of desperation.  The noise can be as simple as our own busyness and we become too busy to hear the cry of the lost. There are many ways to create 'noise'. 

May our hearts break inside of us today with compassion for lost souls. Please don’t turn up the volume this week!  But LISTEN..... listen to the cry of those you see at the mall, at work, or on the street and then do what’s right. PRAY..... pray for the lost and usher them right into the throne room of heaven before the very Throne of God. Ask the Lord to place people strategically in your pathway so that you can become an instrument in His hands to lead them to Calvary!  Remove the NOISE so you can hear the cry of someone’s heart!  There is a song that goes like this; Lord lay some soul upon my heart, And love that soul through me, And may I ever do my part to win that soul for Thee!   SRR

ON HOW GOD CONFIRMS HIS WORD... June 3, 2012

This morning we will be going to our little church in Brownsburg, Quebec. I love the people who attend. There will be about 22 adults that will gather together to sing and worship the Lord. God put a desire in our heart to start this church in this little country town not too long ago.  We are amazed at how God has led us here to work for Him. We recognize that there have been many faithful people in New Brunswick, Maine and Ontario and other parts of the country who have held us up in prayer and who continue to send finances to support our work. Esther and I thank you!

When we made the move to come to Quebec, Brother Louis Fontalvo, opened his arms to us and gave us the responsibility of pastoring the small English group in his church in Montreal. What a blessing that was! We are forever grateful to Brother Fontalvo for that kind gesture! I will share more about that English group a little later. 

Before our mini-home arrived from New Brunswick, we lived in Sister Fayetta Larsen's apartment for six months.  She had come to the place where it was too difficult for her to climb the three flights of stairs and it worked out that we could take over her rent releasing her from her obligation and providing a place for us to live temporarily. It was all a "God thing" the way it all worked out.

Sister Larsen would faithfully attend our Sunday afternoon services at Bro. Fontalvos church. We loved this dear lady so much! If ever there was a woman who knew how to pray, it was Sister Fayetta Larsen! She was indeed a blessing to Esther and I.

About a year ago, Dwight Larsen shared with me a little history of the Larsen's. Their story is remarkable! To my recollection, Bro. Aksel Verner Larsen was born in Denmark in 1904. Brother Larsen was a missionary in Columbia for 33 years. He was known as Columbia’s first missionary. While there he founded 3 churches and baptized many souls and trained many workers. He knew seven languages! During that time he met a well known travelling evangelist, Abigail Gertrude Staples, and they were married in 1932. It was while they were still in Columbia that a daughter was born and two days after her birth, Brother Larsen’s wife, Abigail, died because of the extremely hard childbirth.  Dwight shared with me that Brother Larsen had to dig his own wife's grave and have the funeral himself! Can you imagine!?  It was years later that he met Sister Fayetta Bernard and they got married in 1940 and had three children.  She was originally from Pennsylvania. It was Brother Burns who encouraged the Larsen's to move to Montreal. They came to Quebec in 1970 to minister among the French. Brother Larsen passed away while living here in Montreal, September 20, 1972.

Fayetta and Verner Larsen

Just before Sister Larsen left Montreal to move to Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1996, she called me aside at the end of our afternoon service. She took my hand and placed a folded sheet of paper into it.  She said this is a list of towns here in Quebec.  Then she explained.  These are towns that Brother Larsen and I would drive through and many times we would stop the car and he would get out beside the road, get down on his knees and pray this prayer, “Oh Lord, Please raise up a people in this town for the NAME of JESUS!” I remember unfolding the paper and briefly glancing at the names of towns.  I could see that there were quite a few.  As she finished talking, I folded the paper and placed it inside my Bible.  I didn’t see it again until many years later about three months after we had started the church in Brownsburg. I was surprised the day I opened my Bible and nestled there in the pages I saw the folded piece of paper. I unfolded it and to my amazement the fourth town listed was the town of Brownsburg! I thought, “WOW! Brother and Sister Larsen were right here in Brownsburg and prayed that God would raise up a people for the Name of Jesus!  

Immediately, I remembered the service in 1995 at Brother Joe Beesley’s church in Fredericton when he called my wife and I and our two daughters up onto the platform.  He said, “I don’t very often do this sort of thing, but today I have to.”  He began to speak over us the Word of the Lord.  In this Word, he said, “The Lord is sending you to Quebec as a direct result of the prayers of Brother Larsen!”  

Today as I look at the towns listed on this piece of paper, a feeling of humility sweeps over me.  I have stood at Bro. Larsens grave on Mount Royal on several occasions and have marveled at the thought that we are here in direct fulfillment of a prayer that was prayed by one of the greatest missionaries of the past century! My, how God has orchestrated this work!  Here’s what the Bible says in Acts 15:14, “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME.” God always confirms His Word!!  SRR

ON THE POWER OVER FEAR..... June 2, 2012

Fear has a way of crippling us.  Anyone who has experienced any type of anxiety or panic disorder will understand what I mean.  The strange thing is that God made us all with a built in system to protect ourselves from danger. As a baby we all had a fear of falling and of loud noises.  That was placed there by God so we wouldn’t be walking off the edge of a cliff without any sense of the consequences.  The problem is when fear is uncontrolled and misguided and many things you do causes an overload of caution to the point where unrealistic reasoning debilitates you. Someone explained fear with an acronym definition of F.E.A.R. that goes like this; False Evidence Appearing Real.  And the really sad part of that is that there are those who have never experienced anxiety or panic disorder and simply cannot comprehend how or why a person would have such a problem.  It therefore can become the brunt of jokes and often an opportunity to have a little fun at the expense of people who suffer. I have always tried to be sympathetic with people who suffer with anxiety or panic disorder. Here’s why...

From the time I was just a snotty nosed brat I have been afraid of needles. And I know there is someone out there right now that is saying.... “Steve is scared of everything!” But I know that you know that’s not true!!

I was in the fourth grade in Black’s Harbour, New Brunswick sitting in Mr. Dillan’s geography class. As I sat at my desk, all of a sudden I saw this 'white figure' pass by the classroom door. I didn’t really see who or what it was. All I know is that it was white top to bottom and moved swiftly by the door. My heart skipped a beat as I began to reason in my mind, “That had to have been the SCHOOL NURSE!” As I sat there it was like time stood still but my mind went “full tilt” into panic mode! “That was a NURSE! A school NURSE! Nobody told us there would be a NURSE at school today! Today must be needle day! Why would anyone else wear all white? It had to be THE NURSE!” 

My hands and feet began to sweat! I could hear my heart beat like the sound of a bass drum beating in my head at 200 beats per minute. My vision blurred momentarity! My mouth became so dry that my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Then my ear’s popped like I was climbing up Mount Everest! All of a sudden my left arm went straight UP!  Mr. Dillan said, “Yes Steve, what is it?” I mumbled incoherent words, “f..f..funibia blenichi chupany!” and Mr. Dillan said, “HUH? What was that? I can’t understand you Steve!” So I tried again and this time it came out right, “I have to go to the washroom, may I be excused?” He said, “Yes, but hurry back!”  I stood to my feet, walked over to the door, stuck my head out and looked both ways and saw no one! As I turned to walk down the hall toward the glass doors I shifted into overdrive, hit the crash bar on the door and by the time my feet hit the bottom step I was running at full speed faster than a speeding bullet! I ran all the way home without looking back. My brain was saying, “There may be someone getting a needle at school today but it’s surely not gonna be ME!  As I reached the parsonage and walked through the door, there was mom standing at the kitchen sink.  She said, “Why are you back home?”  I said, “I don’t feel well.”  She said, “Well, go into your room and lay down for awhile and maybe it will pass.” Suddenly, as I lay down on my bed my heart came back to normal and I began to relax in the safety of my home.  It wasn’t but about four minutes later that I heard dad drive into the driveway. I heard the car door close and I heard his footsteps come into the house.  He said to mom, “Wasn’t that Steve I just saw running up the lane?” She said, “Yes, he’s in his room. He said he doesn’t feel well.” Then Dad said, “Well, get him into the bath tub and get him cleaned up and I’ll take him down to the Hospital Emergency and we’ll get a DOCTOR to find out what’s wrong with him!”  All of a sudden, my mind went “full tilt” into panic mode AGAIN! This time my hands and feet and behind my ears began to sweat! This time I could hear my heart beat and it was cruising at 400 beats per minute. And all of a sudden my body sat straight UP!  I walked swiftly and directly to the front door. I didn’t look to the left or the right.  And by the time my feet hit the bottom step I was floatin’!

I ran as fast as I could down the lane. I decided I was probably better off at school! At least there was no operating table there! Just before I reached the school yard a car pulled up beside me with the window down. I heard my dad say, “STEVE!....STEVE!....STOP!  WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING!” With that I turned to my dad and began to bawl like a baby!  I told him what was going on in my head. He said, “Get in son...It’s gonna be okay! You’re not getting a needle and I’m not taking you to emergency!”  Thank God I had a dad who understood!!    I found out later that there was no nurse at the school after all....so it must have been that cafeteria lady!

I said all that to say this, “You may be suffering from some kind of fear today. Maybe some bad news has rocked your little world and caused you to feel that awful anxiety. Perhaps your mind is racing and you are thinking only the worst.  Here’s what to do......STOP and GET IN! Your Daddy’s here!  He will help and protect you today if you just turn it all over to Him.  He really understands!”  SRR

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  2 Timothy 1:7

ON HOW GOD LISTENS.... June 1, 2012

I think we sometimes forget just how powerful our words can be especially if they are words that are consciously or subconsciously spoken by faith. Here’s what I mean.

It was January of 1995 and we were pastoring a great church in Back Bay, New Brunswick. Seaview Full Gospel. We had been there for five years.  My wife and I began having a restless feeling and we knew that our ministry was taking a turn. Soon, we would be making a giant step into the Province of Quebec to plant a new church. A huge transition in our lives. 


I remember the Sunday that I was planning to resign. As I sat on the platform that Sunday morning I was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness that I cannot explain.  I wept all through the service knowing that I was about to resign from a wonderful church that had been so very kind to my family and I.  I remember one lady came up onto the platform, laid her hand on my shoulder and began to pray for me.  She obviously recognized that I was heavily burdened.  As the service continued I wrestled in my heart.  There was a feeling like, “Don’t be so foolish...you’ve got it made right here in Back Bay.  The people love you, and look how good they have been to you! You’re making a big mistake!”  Another feeling was, “You know the voice of God and He has already lifted the burden to lead these people.  God is opening a new door and you must walk through it BY FAITH.  I was so torn!  I got up to preach and for awhile I struggled until I made a decision. My decision was, “It’s not happening!”  As we dismissed the service I went to the Parsonage and I cannot tell you how disappointed I was in myself! Then my wife walked into the living room and asked me, “So what was that all about?  Why didn’t you do it!”  I simply replied, “It was too hard. I’ll do next week!” 


The following week I did resign.  I felt so sad as the Board Members came straight to the front asking me what was wrong and why I had resigned. I assured them that there was nothing wrong and that I was not leaving because of anything that had happened. I shared with them that everything will be okay and that I really felt that God was moving us on. 


During the next few weeks we packed and continued to fulfil our final thirty days. I remember being asked the question, “When you move to Quebec where will you live? At the time I really didn’t have an answer to that question and many others.  Sometimes when we take a step in a certain direction that God is leading, we have to trust that He is going before us and that He is preparing the way.  That’s called, “walking by faith”.  You may ask, “Isn’t that kinda scary?  You’re happy right!  It is scary, but at the same time you feel very confident!  Confident in knowing that God is in control of your future and what He has said will always come to pass.  


On our last Sunday in Back Bay, I remember standing in the pulpit ready to preach my farewell sermon and I recall saying these exact words, “Many of you have been asking us where we will live when we get to Montreal.”  I continued, “Oh, I don’t know! Perhaps we’ll just buy a mini-home for $30,000. and just move it up there.” And then I chuckled!!  Faith lesson #1: Never underestimate the power of your own words! Faith lesson #2: Chuckle if you want to, but remember, God can chuckle too! 


It was the very next day that I received a phone call from my sister, Rene, who lived in McAdam, New Brunswick. She said, “Well guess what?” I said, “What?” She proceeded to tell me that her husband Donnie had just been hired on a new job. I said, “Great, doing what?” She said, “Building airplanes in Oklahoma!”  I said, “WHAT?”  She said, Yeah, we’re moving to good ole Oklahoma!”  Immediately there was a flood of thoughts that bombarded my head.  I said, “What are you doing with your mini-home?” She said, “Selling it, I guess...wanna buy it?” Now this mini-home wasn’t very old and had been very well maintained.  I said, “Put Donnie on the phone!”  When he said hello, I said, “How much do you want for your mini-home?” He replied, “If you want it, Steve, I’ll sell it to YOU for what I owe on it at the bank!”  “And how much is that?” I said.  He replied, “$26,000.” I immediately knew that that was much less than its actual value.  I said, “Consider it sold!”  We paid off the mini-home and then moved it to Montreal. The moving cost was $3,997. including taxes.  Now people, LISTEN!  $26,000. plus $3,997. plus $3. for two coffees at Tim’s is exactly $30,000. The very same amount I had chuckled about from the pulpit!  Do you think God listens?  And oh, did I mention that we didn’t have $30,000 when I told Donnie, “Consider it sold!”? God supplied every penny within 10 months, then we moved the mini-home to Montreal!  Choose your words carefully, and even chuckle if you want to....God listens!  SRR

ON GOD FILLING THE VACANCIES.... May 31, 2012

On December 6^th, 2005, my Dad, Pastor Raymond Joseph Roach passed away at the age of 64 in Brockville, Ontario. He had faithfully served God as a Pastor of 46 years. He was a wonderful father to me. He was my mentor, my encourager, my very close friend.  He knew how to make me laugh any time of the day. Just two weeks after he passed away, Esther’s mom, Muriel Janet Robertson (nee Vail), also passed away at the age of 86 in Belleisle, New Brunswick. One of the sweetest ladies I have ever met.  She was a stable, faithful, praying woman and always believed in the work Esther and I endeavored to do. It was a very sad time in both of our lives when we had to say goodbye. However, just before our parents died, God gave us a grand-daughter and a grandson! Murielle, namesake for Esther’s mom, was born to Estelle and Mark Vanderheide August 2^nd. Titus was born to Michelle and Len Vanderwier September 5^th. They were born just one month apart. From time to time both Esther and I would have our moments of deep sorrow and still do.  When one loses a parent it is a most unsettling time as many of you know.  One day Esther was having one of those moments of grieving and God directed her to 2 Corinthians 7:6 where it says, “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;  And not by his coming only....”   She understood the Words of the Lord speaking to her that not only is Titus a comfort to us but also the coming of Murielle. Since then there have been four other grandchildren who have been given to us that we will cherish as long as we live! The comfort they give us is beyond words. God has a very special way of filling the vacancies and if will you take a moment and look around you, you too will see that God has done the same for you! SRR

PS: A LITTLE WORD ABOUT TITUS:  Titus is now 2,460 days old. That’s 6.7 years old.  As Titus was praying before going to bed just the other night his ‘un-coached’ prayer went like this. “Dear God, I know you can do anything for me, but You're not my servant. I'm your servant. So God, whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it!”  Now does that bring comfort or what?  

ON ACROSS THE MILES PART TWO

In order to fully understand this chapter you should read the previous post first entitled ACROSS THE MILES.  It will help connect the dots. J

In the summer of 1978, after coming home from my first year at ABI, I met the love of my life, Esther May Robertson. We met at Harvey Camp that summer! I was working at the Daily Gleaner in "Display Advertising" and she had just returned from doing a Daily Vacation Bible School tour in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. I remember our first date very well. It was August the 3^rd! That night after the camp meeting service I went to the canteen to get a hot dog and fries. This beautiful dark haired girl was standing right in front of me. Just as she got to the doorway of the canteen they shut the lights out and said, “We are closed.”  

As Esther turned to leave I said to her, “Have you eaten yet?” She replied, “No.” I said, “Would you like to go somewhere to get something to eat.”  She agreed!  So she offered that we go in her brothers Toyota Celica and away we went. She even let me drive! We got to Harvey and there wasn’t anything open so we continued on to Fredericton. We went to the Voyager Restaurant. 

It was a nice first date!  While we were there we talked about many things and in the conversation I shared the whole story with Esther about my trip to Fargo, North Dakota.  She was so sympathetic because of what I had been through. We enjoyed the rest of the month getting to know one another and then on the 1^st  of September I was on my way back to St. Paul for my second year at ABI.  But first, I made a special trip to Hatfield Point to say my goodbyes to this amazing woman that I had found and then I took off! 

I think I called that girl and wrote nearly every day and it wasn’t long until we realized that we were both very much in love! I made plans to come home for Christmas and on December 24^th, after my Dad’s Christmas Eve service in Hoyt, we were alone and sitting on the sofa in the parsonage and I asked Esther if she would marry me! She emphatically said, “YES”. I remember placing a diamond ring on her finger and I think I remember hearing our hearts actually started “beating in sync” with each other! 

As we sat there she asked me, “Do you remember our first date and the story you told me about going to Fargo, North Dakota.” I said, “Yes.”  She said, “I have something to tell you about that very same night.  While I was in Bible School in Marysville, the Lord spoke to me and told me to go and pray for my husband....it’s urgent!”  She said, “I had no idea at that time who my husband would be but I prayed into the night until I felt the burden lift. I’ve known from our very first date that I would be marrying you!”  This is how our relationship began, built on prayer and faith, EVEN ACROSS THE MILES! SRR