Safe in Canada

Greetings from Abbotsford, B.C. in Canada .

Crossing the border

On May 29th our family flew into the Bellingham, Washington airport and took a taxi to the border to cross by land. Walking up the side of the road with all our luggage, we arrived at an empty border. There were no people or cars in sight. Only one of several lanes was open and a single guard sat behind the glass. I bet we looked pretty funny walking down a car lane with luggage in tow, stopping at a stop sign.

The border guard was kind and processed our entry into Canada. We then went into the main building to process customs and Cy’s permanent residency paperwork. Crossing the border with an expired Venezuelan passport did cause confusion, but in the end it was relatively smooth. We’re now waiting for her Permanent Resident (PR) card.

Still serving…

While locked away in quarantine, both of us were working towards some upcoming key events.

Cy was preparing to teach the book of John in a School of Biblical Studies (SBS) in Brazil. In 2006, Yon Santana from Uruguay was one of her students in Pichilemu, Chile . Years later he moved his family to Brazil and started an SBS in Caxias do Sul, Brazil . They invited Cy to teach through Zoom.

When Cy was leading the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) that she pioneered in Thailand , a group of Vietnamese came to do the school, some as students and one as staff. That group then started the SBS in Vietnam . Cy is currently preparing to teach in that Bible school this coming July.

Rob was at work on the Share Bibles project. He hosted an internship for a few students from Cal Baptist University. Together they built a new feature for the Share Bibles app that will facilitate recording testimonies (using video, audio, images and text) from those distributing the Bibles around the world. He just launched the new feature for beta testing and hopes to publish it publicly this summer.

Summer plans

We got out of quarantine a week ago and have been able to spend some time with a few family members, which has been a delight.

From June 20th – July 3rd Rob will be participating in the Master’s degree intensive training in Orlando, Florida. We are hoping that Canada’s government will change its policy regarding vaccinated citizens needing to quarantine for 14 days by the time he returns.

Most of July we would like to connect with friends, family and churches in the area. It’s been almost 4 years since Cy has been able to see so many in person and we’d like to make the effort to connect. Send us a message if you’re in town this summer and let’s connect.

On Sunday, July 25th, both of us will be sharing at South Abbotsford Church. You can follow online at their website.

July 26th – August 7th we will be making a couple special family trips and will be out of town.

August 7th – ??? We will be connecting with friends, family and churches as we wait for all the Canadian and U.S. paperwork to be finalized so that we can return to Kona. We’d like to be back in Kona by August 29th at the latest.

Prayer Requests

• Deepening relationships with family, friends and supporters.
• Finances: We originally invited you (those who read this far ) to partner with us to see God’s provision for our time in Canada. We have seen God’s provision come through to cover half of our financial needs, all accommodation and the use of vehicle. We’re trusting God and inviting you to consider giving towards the rest of the budget (approx. $4,000 CAD / $3,250 USD):

^{(* Tax deductible receipts available *)}

• Paperwork: Please pray that the Canadian immigration division will process Cy’s permanent residency card quickly so that we can return to Kona in time for Elias to start school. We also need to see grace in the U.S. consulate to adjust Cy’s visa interview appointment to a sooner date for the same purpose.
• God at work in and through us: We want to continue listening to our God’s voice and actively follow his leading while here. Who knows what God might do in this special time?