Well I finally have arrived and settled into my home for the summer in Nordegg. I arrived late on Friday night and have used the past few days to get unpacked and become acquanted with the grounds and surrounding area. The travel was not too bad. One and a half hours in the air to Chicago then three and a half into Calgary. Many of you were praying about my work visa. That was quite the experience. Upon arrival in Calgary I went to the immigration office. The lady there asked for my papers and I gave her my passport and my job offer. She in turn gave me a blank stare and asked, “Is this is?” I went on to tell her the story of how my application was never returned. She preceded to tell me that because I was working with minors I should have had a medical check done and with that she had me pretty worried I was not going to get it. About thirty minutes later she called me to the desk and told me that for camp staff they did away with the medical checkup just this last year and she stamped my visa and wished me a good journey. God really does have a way of making himself laugh at the faith tests he puts us through.
At the airport I met up with Rhonda and Andrew, staff from the camp. We had to run a few errands and then made the four hour drive to camp. On the way I experienced a Canadian Subway as well as the Canadian beloved Tim Horton’s coffee. We were to go camping this weekend, but due to some unpredictable snow in the mountains we had to cancel.
On Saturday I got to meet most of the other staff members as well as my roommate, Jonas. He is from southern Germany along with about three or four other staff. It has been interesting meeting everyone, none of which have ever been to Virginia. I have gotten quite the amount of questions about the state ranging from the weather to what we do for fun. However, I have returned many questions about Germany and Canada, since it seems I am in the Berlin of Alberta.
Today was church day. We go to Nordegg Community Church. It is a small one room church in the town and our staff makes up about tw-thirds of its population. The pastor spoke on holiness and the Spirit’s involvement in that process. Due to its small size, it is quite simple: congregational singing, prayer, and sermon. But it is nice to get back to the simplicity of worship. Not that I do not like the lights, music, or programs in the states, but there is something to be said about the simplicity of worshiping God and not getting caught up in a show. The community of Nordegg is small but neat. There is one subdivision, one gas station, one inn, one beer shop, one golf course, and a miner’s museum with a cafe owned and operated by the camp director’s wife. There are about eighty people that live here and most are employed by the forestry department or the inn. But Nordegg survives on people coming to the mountains. We are on a major highway to the main national parks and Nordegg is one of the biggest and last stops along the way so we do get a good amount of traffic.
Well, I hope that this finds everyone well who is staying in touch. It has been a long time coming and I am ready to start staff training for the next two days and start serving on Wednesday with my first campers. Please continue to pray for my time here that it is producing fruit and that I will stay well physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Also, continue to pray for my family and Megan as well as our relationship that it would remain strong through this time of absence. To all, have a great day.
To Christ within,
Craig
