We enjoyed driving through the hills of Kentucky today, even though it was harder driving for Dad!

“In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.”
Psalms 95:4

We have now safely arrived in Somerset, Kentucky and are looking forward to the conference tomorrow evening! This will be the busiest (and final) week of our trip, and, as always, we appreciate your prayer:

• Monday: Somerset, Kentucky
• Tuesday: Lowell, Indiana (near Chicago)
• Wednesday: Plain City, Ohio
• Thursday: Flint, Michigan
• Friday/Saturday: Straffordville Area, Ontario, Canada

Thursday, late morning at 11:30, we were driving down the interstate enjoying the Virginia scenery, but not enjoying the traffic. As the family chatted, there suddenly came a tense pause in the conversation. Just ahead we saw a little white Mazda convertible car that was smashed into the guardrail on the right shoulder. Dad rapidly started to slow down. We were concerned to see no emergency vehicles there, and only two cars stopped in the median with their hazard lights on. As we passed the wrecked car, which was still steaming, we saw a person slumped over the steering wheel, and nobody there to help. Dad stopped the bus on the shoulder, we guys grabbed the first aid kit and started running toward the car while Sarah called 911.

On the way by the rear compartment (in Uriah), I grabbed some cones and dropped them behind the bus to alert other drivers that we were also parked on the shoulder. Christopher and Joseph, reaching the car first, quickly ascertained that there wasn’t a fire, and that they couldn’t smell gas. Inside was a lady, in her late forties to early fifties, who was in shock. She was holding a napkin to her head, where her forehead had impacted the steering wheel. Christopher asked her if she was hurt anywhere else, and she said that maybe her shoulder was hurt. He was in the process of getting a bandage out of the first aid kit when the fire truck showed up, and they took over.

The accident scene

The two gentlemen, who had stopped in the median, by now had crossed the two lanes of traffic. We asked them what had happened, and they said that a truck had passed her and pulled in too early, striking her car which started her spinning. It appeared she had impacted the guard rail multiple times, coming to stop facing traffic, with her driver door against the rail. The car was a total loss, but her life was saved because she was wearing her seatbelt and there had been a guard rail to protect from the steep drop off.

As we started walking back to the bus, a state trooper pulled up. We told him that we just stopped to help, that the truck involved didn’t stop, and we didn’t see the accident, but the witnesses were still there. He thanked us, and we returned to the bus.

The Lord spared this woman’s life and gave her another chance. If there hadn’t been the guard rail, and if she hadn’t have had her seat belt on, she probably wouldn’t have survived. Our prayer is that if she doesn’t know Jesus, she would come to know Him through this. She was very blessed that her injuries appeared to be relatively minor.

I wonder if there is anyone who is reading this post that doesn’t know Jesus. We are not guaranteed another day. It could be a car wreck that instantly takes a life. It could be a multitude of possible health problems.

Life is so fragile. I would encourage you to decide where you will spend eternity. Some might say, “Well, I will decide later.” However, there might not be a “later.”  By not deciding now you are making a decision to stay in your sins and spend eternity in Hell. How many chances has Jesus given you, and what have you done with them?

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

John

(This is the sixth in a series of entries drawing analogies between experiences that Ambassador Joseph Grew shared about in his book Ten Years in Japan and practical aspects of being an ambassador for Jesus Christ and is continued from the previous posts regarding the Diplomatic League situation)

Ambassador Grew had cabled the US State Department to let them know about the situation that had developed between himself and the German Ambassador. Ambassador Grew had graciously taken a stand that he believed to be right, even though it had caused “an issue.”

To the “great surprise” of Ambassador Grew, the State Department responded that all relations of a social and ceremonial character that usually exist between members of the Diplomatic League were fine for Ambassador Grew to participate in, even with the German ambassador.

Ambassador Grew was now faced with an interesting dilemma: he had taken a stand for what he thought was right but had received guidance from his authorities that his stand was not necessary. To contact the German Ambassador and say he was now willing to sign the speech would be humbling.

What did Ambassador Grew do? He immediately contacted the German ambassador and asked to have the speech sent over because he had received direction from the State Department and was now happy to sign it.

I was absolutely amazed at Ambassador Grew’s humility. He was willing to appear to others as if he had done the “wrong thing” in a situation where his goal was genuinely to do the “right thing.” And, yes, perhaps he should have contacted the State Department for direction even sooner than he did!

Ambassador Grew knew and understood that it is more important for an Ambassador to follow the guidance/direction of the country he represents than to be concerned about his own reputation in appearing right or wrong.

What about us as ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ? How concerned are we about our reputation? If we are more concerned about our reputation than following what He has for us, we will be ineffective ambassadors.

John 12:43 talks about religious men who refused to follow Jesus because they were more concerned about their reputation: “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

The Apostle Paul was the one who, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encouraged us to be “ambassadors” for Christ. Because of Paul’s obedience to Christ, he was called “insane” when giving a defense before very learned men of the world (Acts 26:24), and he wrote to the Corinthian church, “We are fools for Christ’s sake…” (1 Corinthians 4:10).

Paul, as an ambassador for Christ, was willing to obey even when it made him appear foolish to others – are we?

Yesterday as we were driving, we were thinking about all the fantastic food we’ve been blessed with; it’s not been only on this trip, but other trips as well. We realized another way we might be able to share our experience with you is by posting the recipes we find exceptional and/or unique.

We wanted to come up with a creative title for the posts, so our family brainstormed some ideas. Here’s what we would like from our readers: to vote on your favorite title from our list (which is below) OR, post one that you would recommend. Some of the suggested titles we tried to keep along the lines of highway or construction signs. The title we like the best (which will be quite the chore between all nine of us) will be the title we use from now on when we post the recipes.

Road Recipes
Traveling Tastes
A Taste Away from Home
Yield to Taste
Warning: Great Recipe Ahead
Recipeinfo, Tune in to Titus2Blog
Recipe Advisory
A Taste on the Road

The Maxwells

We had pulled into a gas station to get diesel, and Jesse made that comment to Christopher. Jesse and Christopher are the windshield washing buddies, and Jesse saw they had an opportunity and utensils to clean it .

Jesse and Christopher washing the windshield this morning.

Sarah

Magog, Quebec. When a person thinks of the word Magog, it may bring to mind the mention of it in Revelation. Magog, Quebec is a quaint little town nestled among the rolling hills and small mountains in the southern edge of Quebec.

We were going to spend Monday and Tuesday nights at a camp outside of town, and the hosts had graciously arranged for us to stay in a small home there. When we drove in Monday afternoon, it became apparent that Uriah couldn’t turn around, plus trying to get in at night in the dark would be practically impossible with the trees. So, we backed out of the camp (with John directing Dad and several of the family had windows open and were cautiously watching out the sides), and we went to the church. Dad and another father drove around town to find a hotel for us to stay at, while the rest of us unloaded for the conference.

The first night we did our normal Encouragement for the Homeschool Family conference, but then the next evening, we gave our Gospel Bluegrass Concert with an evangelistic emphasis. We weren’t sure what the “Quebecians” would think of bluegrass, but it was obvious they enjoyed it. Dad also preached from God’s Word warnings about the danger of being lukewarm. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot“ (Revelations 3:15).

Practicing Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon we attended an outdoor baptismal service for two young people, who were the children of the conference coordinator. It was a blessing to see their obedience to the Lord: they braved the cold temperatures to proclaim their faith in the Lord Jesus.

Two families there in Quebec graciously provided us with lots of food: from homemade crescent rolls, to breakfast foods, to ice cream, to lunch for today, and much more! Thank you for blessing us.

A basket of donuts with maple syrup that was given to us.

Joseph doing another tune up beforehand.

A group of us girls Tuesday night.

Helping carry out boxes last night.

The fall scenery has been so pretty the last week. There was a pretty maple tree outside of the church in Magog, and Mary and I took some pictures there.

It’s not been uncommon to hear these sorts of phrases the last few days we’ve spent here in Quebec. We are now headed back to the States today. We’ve had quite the experience in Quebec, and we’ve been blessed by it. We’ve almost become used to seeing signs in French and trying to figure out what they mean. We’ll write more later, but we’re looking forward to being back in our home country .

Thank you for your prayers. We are truly grateful.

Sarah

Uriah is fixed, and we’re on our way to Magog! Praise the Lord.

Sarah

We were calmly driving down the road this afternoon through New Brunswick, enjoying the rolling red hills dotted with yellow, and the streams that trickled through the trees.

Beautiful scenery

When Dad urgently exclaimed, “We’re in trouble!!” and started hitting the brakes. I glanced into the rear view mirrors to see what the problem was and saw smoke poring out back of the bus. Dad told the boys to grab the fire extinguisher as he pulled to the side of the road. I had meanwhile hurried to the back, because Christopher was asleep and I was picturing the whole bus to be in flames in a matter of minutes. As soon as the bus door was open, the boys jumped out with the fire extinguisher and ran to the engine. After ensuring that Christopher was awake, I followed the rest. They had found that there was a big coolant leak, and we lost all of it. The “smoke” was actually steam from the coolant coming in contact with the hot exhaust pipe.

Dad surveyed the damage and soon started to work on repairing the leak. From our collection of tools and supplies he used the following: hose clamps, black tape, and a scrap piece of radiator hose that wasn’t the right size. After Dad taped the hole, he split the hose and used hose clamps to clamp it over the black tape and the hole. Since we didn’t have enough water to put back in the system, Dad sent Christopher to see if he could find some water nearby. Christopher headed across the highway, which wasn’t busy, to the wooded median. He found a large puddle which looked as if it had been apart of a stream at one point. The water looked relatively clear so we filled up as many used anti-freeze bottles as we had. We filled the system and were thankful that Dad’s fix was successful.

Joseph

John--pouring in the water and antifreeze.

John, picking up the cones. See the coolant on the pavement?

Even though the coolant issue wasn’t on our agenda we were grateful for how the Lord blessed.

1.    We had the supplies to patch the hole.
2.    That the highway wasn’t busy.
3.    Beautiful scenery
4.    Water nearby
5.    Cool temperatures

Tomorrow morning as soon as the businesses are open we will start looking for the proper hose to replace the make shift repair.

“But my God shall supply all hour need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phillipians 4:19).

Serving Jesus,
Anna

Another weekend conference is complete, and our hearts are rejoicing in our Lord Jesus. As we drove through downtown Moncton, it was so pretty: old, large stone buildings graced with brilliant red, yellow, and orange colored-maple trees, people briskly walking along the streets, with a mission in mind, stately churches, and quaint restaurants. As we were driving through the city, we think we made a few people a bit nervous as they backed up to allow us room to turn on some narrow streets . It took us a little time to figure out where the best place would be to park Uriah: he requires at least three or four parking spots! Highfield Baptist Church graciously allowed us to have the conference in their facility, which was a blessing. They were in the midst of a remodeling project, but they spent several hours cleaning up an area for our book tables.

The boys are a wonderful help to setting Dad and Mom each conference.

Friday night dinner was provided, and each meal has been such a blessing. We know it isn’t an easy or quick task to prepare dinner for 9 people, and we’re grateful. Our music concert went well, with the addition of Anna’s new demonstration of what a violin sounds like compared to a fiddle.

Saturday goes by very quickly, as we move from session to session. Two moms had lunch ready for us, which was again a blessing. Several families drove from a distance to attend. Christopher talked to a father after the conference who is a street preacher, and they enjoyed discussing evangelism. Packing out seemed to go very smoothly as many people helped us (which was even more of a blessing since there were stairs involved to getting our things out to the bus). Then, our conference coordinator brought pizza to us at the hotel—and we enjoyed hot, fresh pizza for dinner.

Joseph Setting up Sound

Book tables, from a level above.

A family who attended the conference this weekend.

The street preacher and Christopher.

Our conference coordinator was not from Moncton but rather from a city several hours away. She did an incredible job with having all the details in order, welcoming our family, and making sure everything was ready, and we are grateful for the work each coordinator does.

Only for Jesus,
Sarah for the rest

We spent Monday night until Friday morning with a homeschool family on Prince Edward Island, who have a bed and breakfast and graciously gifted us back in early August with an invitation to stay with them. It was only an hour and a half drive from our Moncton conference to PEI. We had a delightful stay despite cool, windy, rainy weather, and we enjoyed our fellowship with our host family, who also fed us breakfast and dinner.

Trusting in Jesus,
Teri

From our drive on Sunday: the new windows do leak (at least until we get them sealed!), but we can slide a part of the window open and take pictures without having to shoot through any window glass! I believe this river island was in the state of Pennsylvania.

Be still, and know that I am God:
I will be exalted among the heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth.
(Psalms 46:10)

Yesterday’s experience: Dad wanted us to be able to try a lobster. Most of the places that would serve lobsters would be too expensive, so we opted for the “wharf” experience. Dad carefully cut the two small lobsters up, while we all watched, a bit wary of the coming “trial”.

Christopher--his lobster experience!

Mary--trying her bite.

One by one, we ate a bite or two of the lobster meat, and there were varying reactions. Anna’s??? “Palatable—but WOW!” as she shook her head and took several gulps of water. Most of us could do without a regular occurrence of eating those red scavengers that crawl across the ocean floor. We’ll stick with sandwiches .

I was glad for water .

“O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. 25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts” (Psalms 98:24-25).

The Lord is blessing the Moncton, New Brunswick, conference!

Sarah for the rest

From last week: precious sisters wearing matching outfits at the Charlottesville, Virginia, conference.

We’ve now arrived in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada) and are looking forward to the conference this evening and tomorrow…

We greatly appreciate your prayers.

In Christ,
Christopher

Driving up through Maine (Monday) we marveled at the beauty and color of God's creation.

“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
who hast set thy glory above the heavens.” (Psalms 8:1)

Yesterday (Wednesday) had a little unusual twist. We were going to set out for an afternoon of sightseeing, but one of the tires was low on air, so we needed to find some place to get the air put in the tire. The Lord provided a truck tire center (in the small town we’re at!), and not only were they able to look at the tire, they spent two hours fixing the problem (there was a hole in the tire). On top of that, Dad couldn’t believe how little they charged. We decided to change our plans for the afternoon, and instead went back to the Confederation Bridge, which is a 13 km bridge that connects New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. We enjoyed our time there, and we’ll be headed out today for the original sight-seeing goal: North Cape.

There is often a camera around .

Joseph and John climbed down a pile of rocks.

Confederation Bridge

Walking back to Uriah after looking at the bridge.

Only for Jesus,
Sarah for the rest

Yesterday we were able to visit a lighthouse, and we enjoyed our time there. Over the last month or two, “Let the Lower Lights be Burning,” hymn has been a favorite of the family. The lighthouse was also a museum, and on the lower level, there was an older family room, which included an organ, and there was the hymn history of that song.

Let the Lower Lights Be Burning

View from the top

A picture from the top of the lighthouse.

Mom and Dad

Mary and Anna

A family picture in front of the lighthouse.

Sarah for the rest

Driving early in the morning (Sunday) through the mountains of Virginia.

“the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.”
(Psalms 33:5)

We thought you would enjoy “traveling” with us today state sign by state sign. We were able to get a picture of each state “welcome” sign.

West Virginia

Maryland

Pennsylvania

New York

Connecticut

Massachusetts

New Hampshire (being dark made it hard to get the last 2 photos)

Maine

We’re less than an hour out from Freeport.

Sarah for the rest

We were about to exit for a quick rest stop, and one of my sisters asked me if she needed her hair fixed (after resting this afternoon). I said that no, it was okay, and anyway, we weren’t going to see anyone we know. Upon coming out of the very busy rest stop, a family hurried after us. Come to find out, this was a family who had e-mailed us a few weeks ago and had invited us to stop by their home in Maine as we passed through. We didn’t have time, so we had had to decline the kind offer. About an hour before our stop, a fifteen-passenger van had passed us, and the parents waved at us, and seemed like they knew us. They took the next rest area, but we didn’t. We were shocked when we both ended up at the same stop about an hour later, and to find this was the family who had invited us to stay at their home! What a blessing to spend a few minutes chatting with the family.

The family who had invited us to stay at their home, and we met at a rest stop!

Sarah for the rest of the family

We are driving through heavy traffic this evening. We are now in Massachusetts, and we just came through a slow down.

It was interesting to watch the "sea" of vehicles part to allow the ambulance to go through.

Thank you for your prayers for our safety. We have had a couple of close calls today, but the Lord has protected, and it’s not even raining right now!

Serving Jesus,
Sarah