I thought he was taller.

            I remember the times that my family would go on a vacation to see my mom’s relatives. A couple of years would have gone by. My cousin would be taller and older looking, but somehow we would just pick up from where we last saw each other as if it was only last week.

Our first in-person staff and board meeting since 2019 was like this. When I walked into the main office in Edmonton, it felt very familiar – the paintings, the smells, and the old binder still being used as a door prop. But the offices had different arrangements. There was one change I hadn’t seen in person, our new executive director, Steve Schave. I thought he was a lot taller. 

Even though we have all seen each other online for the past few years, this was our first in-person staff meeting. After some fun and laughter catching up with everyone, we got down to business. We look forward to a summer with more Vacation Bible Schools in more of the villages LAMP serves.

 There wasn’t much time to rest. The next day was our first in-person board meeting since the fall of 2019! Both the US and the Canadian board gathered in Edmonton with only three directors missing who joined us online. The purpose of this meeting was to put a strategic plan together for the immediate future, three years from now and five-plus years. It was a very productive meeting with great ideas coming from both boards, which included two former LAMP missionaries. The time went by too quickly.

And yet my time in Edmonton wasn’t done. Tyler Steele joined me to meet up with two different teams that serve in B.C. Tyler works as a sales rep for Eaton Electrical,  he was able to talk at length on both visits because

there were people who had extensive knowledge of electrical.  On Saturday evening, we visited with the team from Barrhead, AB that serves in New Hazelton. The team plans to serve but not until the summer of 2024 as their church is presently trying to grow its own Vacation Bible School program.

On Sunday, we attended worship with New Life Community Church in Stony Plain. It was their Sunday to report on last summer’s mission trip in Witset. What timing! I opened the message part of the service with Luke 10:2, “And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

 

There were six different presenters including the missionary pastor serving in Witset. The Holy Spirit was at work as each shared parts of one another’s message. It sounded like we all had worked together on writing our message when in fact no one had. To God be the glory!

Afterward, Tyler and I flew back home to Oregon. There were only a few quick days to prepare before I drove up to Canada for another in-person visit with a vehicle full of quilts…it did not go as planned.