MANUAL LABOR? SIGN US UP

By -
Brashear, MO

Brashear Community Bible Church

When Pastor Shannon Perry mentioned an opportunity for us to help with a service project for a woman in his church we were excited to roll up our sleeves and work. Each week we speak to congregations about the story of how God brought us together and the ministry He has for us in Bolivia, but I never want to lose sight of the ministry that God has for us in each step along the way.

We arrived in Kirksville, MO on Friday evening October 2nd. We were really excited to stay with our good friends Chad and Kendra Stearman. Molly and I had chance to connect with the Stearmans and their little boy Chase at Camp Zion. Chad and Kendra will be taking over as the young adult directors at Camp Zion 2011.  Chad and Kendra have great hearts devoted to God, devoted to youth, and devoted to missions. They are also avid board gamers and enjoy Settlers of Catan. We had a lot of fun with them.

Saturday morning (October 3) we arrived at the house in Brashear where the work had already begun. A large bonfire was sending smoke high into the clear blue sky. We looked for Pastor Shannon for direction. Molly, Chad and I each got a pair of gloves and went to our assignments. Molly was sent to help weed the flowerbed and garden. I took my place on the demo crew for an old storage building near the house. We stripped off old shingles and tore apart the falling walls to take the pieces to the fire. It seemed like no time had passed when all that was left of the old building was the concrete slab that it set upon. Then Pastor Shannon called for lunch break. As we sat down with our sack lunches we looked around the yard to see just how much progress had been made in such a short time. It was amazing to see how as we all worked together we transformed the entire look of this property. Beyond just changing the look of the property I knew we had touched the heart of the owner and her family.

Following lunch we got back to work. Molly was put on weed eating duty and it didn’t take long before the whole work crew knew that the patch of weeds Molly was cutting down was filled with some wild garlic. The aroma filled the air and filled our nostrils. We all had a pretty good laugh.


Sunday was a real blessing to make some new connections as well as see some familiar faces from Camp Zion. Pastor Shannon introduced us with a video from the Camp Zion 2010 talent show. (Click for: Camp Zion Video)

We had a wonderful time fellowshipping at the carry-in dinner after the morning service and had a lot of fun Sunday evening play ultimate Frisbee and pass the parcel with the youth group. The highlight of my day was when Shannon let me ring the church bell.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ON THE "FLIP" SIDE

By -
Image
This week I learned more about tortoises than I had anticipated. For instance, the plural of tortoise really is tortoises and not torti like I originally thought. There are some different answers floating around the web as to what the proper name is for a group of tortoises. A group of turtles is called a "bale" and some say this goes for tortoises as well. Other answers were a "herd" or "fleet". My personal favorite was, "a creep" or tortoises, named such for their slow movement. Listed below are some other interesting facts about these reptiles.  The key differences between Tortoises and Turtles Yellow Spotted South American Tortoise You may be wondering, "Why the sudden fascination with tortoises?", and I will tell you. This past week, Molly and I took a few days away from the city for our one year anniversary. It was a good time to get away and reflect on all of God's blessings over the past year. The place we stayed at ha...
Read more

BACK FOR GOOD

By -
This blog was started a little over a year ago as I (Bryan) sat on the couch in Gordon and Niki Elliott's living room in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and started to journal my experiences from my first trip out of the United States. We have certainly come full circle as I am writing this new post from the exact same cushion on the exact same couch in the exact same house in the exact same city. There is one key difference between then and now. I am no longer chronicling a tourist visit, but now posting updates as a career missionary with the plan to live here for a few years rather than just a few weeks.  TOP 5 Initial Adjustments to living in Bolivia 1. HEAT . As Gordon told one of the Bolivian pastors when he commented on how much I was sweating, "Iowa es muy frio" (Iowa is very cold). I am also the only red head I have seen here so far. Red head = fair skin. PTL for sunscreen. 2. LANGUAGE. We will be starting Spanish studies with a tutor in just a few weeks after Easte...
Read more

DONUT CHEESEBURGER?!?!?

By -
Image
I am sure many of you have realized that "The Canny Chronicles" have been few and far between. I apologize for this lack of updates and communication. Molly and I have been adjusting to married life as well as taking care of some medical issues for my mother (Brenda Canny). We would really appreciate your continued prayers in that situation.  Speaking of adjusting to married life...Molly and I are spending our first full day apart since being married 2 1/2 months ago. We did spend a full week living in separate dorms when we counseled at Red Rock Camp in Paynesville, Minnesota (3 weeks into our marriage), but at least then we saw each other throughout the whole day. I am currently typing this post from Oskaloosa at Rev. David and Donna Barner's house while my beautiful wife Molly is in Minneapolis at Duane and Jessie Erickson's house. We have been in my home town of Oskaloosa for a couple weeks and Molly returned to Minneapolis to gather some extra items before we sta...
Read more