Update Tuesday - 31/05/11

Update Tuesday...a day late.  I don't have internet at home yet so I finally managed to sneak out to the local bakery to enjoy a coffee and free wi-fi.  There is a lot to share so read on below.

What an amazing week it has been!  There is so much to update.
First and foremost, this is my first post from Hamilton.  Although the house closing came down to the wire, everything got done by end of day Thursday.  Many times throughout the day we had people saying that a particular step would probably not get completed on time and that we would have to postpone by a day or so.   Soon after, however, we would get a message stating that the particular step of the process was complete.  That cycle would repeat all day long.  It continued that way until we finally signed all the papers in the lawyers office at 4:30 and we literally walked out of the building with him as he drove across town to hand deliver things to the other lawyer by 5:00pm. 
On Friday we were able to bring a few loads over by van before spending the rest of the day doing some final packing.  Saturday morning our moving truck arrived (arranged by our good friend Bev) along with a crew of about 25 people from our church family  (arranged by another good friend Cheri).  Not only were there a lot of people to help there was also a whole lot of food to feed the troops.  The crew was amazing and the move went smoother and faster than I could have ever expected.  By 2:30pm we were in Hamilton, the truck had been emptied and we took a break for lunch with an amazing spread provided by people from our church family.  The team, and the food were such an amazing witness to our new neighbours.  Richard, a new neighbour across the street, asked where all these people came from and my wife was able to share that they are our church family.  His response was “really,” delivered in a slow drawn out fashion highlighting his amazement.  Similarly, Mark the contractor who did our house, stopped by to pick up some tools he had left behind.  We were able to invite him in and offer him lunch.  He too remarked that he had never seen so many people and so much food.  All in all a very positive impression was made by the Body of Christ in action.

As if a stellar move was not enough for one week, I can also announce that I have now officially become a North American Mission Board church planting missionary.  This comes with some amazing opportunities, a lot of prayer support and another important piece of our financial puzzle.  We are one step closer to seeing the expenses for our new work covered and continue to pray for the remaining pieces!  God has been so faithful thus far, and we are truly excited and very grateful.

And last, but certainly not least, was an invitation to be a part of MacKids celebration this coming weekend.  MacKids called us last week to see if we would consider being interviewed by CHCH Television for their morning show as a part of a weekend of events highlighting McMaster Children’s Hospital.  They hope to highlight some of the new additions to the hospital over the past year.  One of the new additons is a new MRI.   Liam’s story not only helps to highlight the need for the MRI, but it was also used in the fund raising and so they asked if they could interview us.  We will be interviewed this Friday at about 8:30am.
That is probably enough for this week, but there is an amazing story that took place in our lawyers office while we were there to sign for our new house.  I will try to write about that tomorrow, so check back if you have the chance.