Navidad!

Feliz Navidad Todos y Dios los bendiga! Laura and I had an awesome opportunity to attend a traditional Dominican Christmas Celebration this past Dec 24.  We have become very close friends with our Dominican Lawyer and her husband (who is also our building contractor!) and we spent the day with them in preparation of the fiesta that night.  Yamilka and Francis always have a traditional Navidad with their closest family and some friends.  This year Francis and his brother Miguel organized the festivities by preparing the farm they own with a new structure.  The small casita was built out of local materials gathered from the farm, smaller trees make up the roof support and larger trees make up the columns.  The roof is put on using hammer and nail and has been built this way for generations; a "canas" roof or palm leaf is very easy to apply and keeps everyone dry for many years.

We are going to build a similar structure on our project, only it will be slightly larger than this one.
During the day the brothers had contracted a local friend to attend to the meal, a fire roasted pig.  The 100 lb pig is butchered in the morning and then hung on a green pole; held on with wire.  Then the pig is slowly roasted over an open pit fire all day.  The process takes about 8 hours to fully cook a pig, talking as a chef though, this one was definitely well-done!  Not surprising though as this is typical of roasted meat on the island, cooking it thoroughly is very important here as animals are not always raised with the same standards we may enjoy in North America.  After the pig was cooked we watched as the chef prepared our pig for transport, placing the pig on a clean piece of plastic sheet and then dividing it up into manageable pieces with a very sharp machete!  From my perspective this was just incredible as each blow with the machete went right through the animal cleanly.  Three of us then gathered up the ends of the plastic sheet and lifted the pig up and carried it into the back of our waiting jeep, onto clean cardboard, we closed the back of the jeep and headed back to the apartment to prep our dinner.  The pig was so hot the rear window of the jeep steamed up quickly and the heat radiated throughout the jeep, smells of sweet smoke and the roasted meat tempted everyone to try a little piece of loin right there on the spot, wow!

  Our Dominican friends insisted I gather my knives and use my culinary skills to separate the animal from his bones, I jumped right in and soon a bag of bones and about forty pounds of roasted pork was separated nicely.  The rest of the meal consisted of a typical array of Dominican Foods from "moro de guandules" (rice with spices and chick peas)  potato salad, coleslaw salad ( more like regular salad only no sauces and made from cabbage) Dominican bread (like pita) and desserts.  The family trickled in to the fiesta as the evening wore on and finally by 9:30 everyone had arrived; finally!  I was starving!

Yamilka gave a prayer and blessing for our gathering in Spanish, (I actually understood most of it!) then we all bellied up to the buffet line and filled our plates.  The food was amazing and the experience was one that we will never forget; even with cultural differences and significant alternatives to the way we might celebrate a traditional Christmas Dinner, we found the nature of the event was entirely centered on the relationships within the family.  How the families involved each other and their children and genuinely created an environment of love within the room.  Laura and I watched and listened (trying to understand as much as we could with our limited Spanish!) as we participated with this family's Christmas.  After the dinner was over, and yes, only 20 minutes of madness to consume food here as it is in Canada, we relaxed a bit with the conversation never even skipping a beat throughout the meal!  They began a gift opening soon after and the eight children at the fiesta enjoyed a couple of frenzied minutes of paper tearing and excited banter between them; the parents all watching intensely as their children received each gift.  Parents only gave to their children and nothing to themselves, although this might have been traditional, we did not know for sure.  After the gifts were opened it was near 11 pm and we excused ourselves and went home with everyone telling us it was very early and the fiesta was just starting!  I must be getting old.

Thoughts from Laura

Christmas day brought us to another Canadian missionary's home for the traditional turkey dinner and games day. First sharing tears for the family missed in Canada, we soon began working together to lift each other up and encourage each other throughout this day. It was hard for us, but thank the Lord that we weren't the only ones that needed the others. I believe that God kept them here in the country for us and vice versa. We celebrated the Lord's birth together with other friends and missionaries. That's what is important.
Watching the news this morning, there was a broadcast about young teen girls who video tape and air on the internet their "haul" they received this Christmas. My stomach started to turn as there is so much more to Christmas than what we get given to us. I felt so sad for those girls as they don't even realize the true meaning of this festive time. We are to celebrate The Only Gift that matters, not stuff. Sitting down to the beautiful 2 celebratory meals we received made us think of the people who were literally just down the road from our feast. Some with just the beans are rice that were given to them, some with nothing. Humility in this season has gone the way of the dodo. Yet Christ came to us with nothing but humility. Being born in a barn and with straw for warmth. This is the King of Kings showing us how we need to be. Come before Him and each other. Heirs in Christ yet humble servants with thankful hearts. God, help us never to commercialize this time of remembering in our hearts.

2 Cor 10:17-18
17 But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."   18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
NIV

How to Fiesta in 122 easy Steps!

Hola todos!  Y Feliz Navidad!  Laura and I would like to extend our Holy Days blessings to all of you at this special time of the year!  May God bless you richly as you spend this time with friends and family.  We are more mindful than ever at this time of year as we spend our Christmas away from our own friends and family, we miss you all; especially our own children.  We are encouraged with recent emails and Facebook posts from our support team and friends back home!  Progress has been slow however, as we are enduring a most wet December here in the D.R.  This is "normal" according to the locals, but we are hopeful that the sun will soon shine and dry up our land so we might begin the foundations of the guest house.
We are still planning on bringing the first mission team to assist with the construction in March, however the dates have yet to be confirmed; more details will be forwarded early in the new year.

We recently assisted Dominican Advance with the gift giving fiestas for over 300 children at the two schools they manage in the area.  We went with Kim and Josie to Santiago (about 2 hours over the mountains) to purchase the gifts for the kids; sponsors donate gift money for this purpose, many of the children receive only one gift each year.  I write about this experience because of the joy we witnessed on these little faces as each received either a doll, or a car, basketball or hula hoop!

The journey to the first village was uneventful for Laura and I except for the start; we stopped at the local pasteleria (cake baker) to pick up the two cakes for the two schools.  Simple enough task, except these two cakes were large enough to land planes on, built up two layers high and beautifully decorated; supported by two large trays but no boxes.  Now most of you would see this as absurd, transporting two large cakes, in the back of a car, through Dominican traffic, up windy gravel roads, muddy in many spots, to the first village of Paraiso; but we did it!  The journey to the second village of Nazareth was different though; even though it should have been a five minute drive not far from Paraiso it turns out trials must be endured.  Rounding the final corner to the entrance to the village of Nazareth we cam across a man who was digging several trenches across the road for water lines to the houses which surrounded the area.  The road was impassable as the trenches were numerous and deep running right across the road; good thing there was another way into Nazareth.  Our caravan turned around and headed back down to the main road (about 4 miles down and around a hill through several small villages and back up another muddy road which incidentally joins the road we had been on when we discovered the ditch digger.)  Confused?  Rounding a bend in the road we encountered yet another crew working on the other side of the entrance to Nazareth, digging a large trench right down the middle of the road, this time with a backhoe.  Now normally this would not seem to be a problem however, two construction digs on either side of the main entrance to Nazareth (the only entrance) blocked all passage into the village by car.  Hmmmm....we could see the village across the valley but could not get there.  I jumped on the phone to call Josie  and explain our predicament, she informed me that there was one more way to get up into Nazareth.  So Laura and I jumped into the car, turned around and headed back down and around the mountain yet again, continuing around through to another village which was located in another valley, directly below the village of Nazareth; only a few hundred feet below.  We jumped out of the car and unloaded our last cake which I managed to perch on my shoulder, now remember, this is a cake about three feet by two feet, about 25 lbs and beautifully decorated.  We followed a path through the village of Redemption, (below Nazareth) and came to a set of stairs, concrete (mostly) and winding up the hillside out of site; 122 steps to Nazareth.  Good thing I had been exercising, finally we made it to the top of the stairs and meandered our way to the top of the village where the school was. Yeah! I shared this with all of you to help put a smile on your faces!

I hope you all see your journey as something similar, you may not be delivering a cake to a Christmas Fiesta for deserving kids, but something may distract your attainment of your goal on your journey that is beyond your control, that sometimes you might encounter a trench in your road, or even a backhoe digging it up right in front of you.  Know that there is always a way around your trial, another way that may prove arduous or even dangerous, causing you stress or physical strain.  You see we could have complained bitterly about our trial while it was happening or even worse, given up; but God wants us to keep our eyes on the goal, entrusting us with patience and wisdom that we must lean on when times arise.  Trials will always come and go, patience and wisdom give us the strength to endure; these gifts are from God.  Each of us has the ability to reason, trust in your gifts that God has entrusted in you, patience will allow you to endure, wisdom will allow you to find your way around your trial, have Faith that these gifts are yours to use wisely, trust that you are moving forward in the steps available to you at the time, as God has given.
Bless you all with all the Joy of the Holy Days!  May your Fiesta be as fulfilling as ours!
Michael and Laura Boisclair

Digger!

Hey everybody!  The time has arrived!  The rains have let up long enough for us to get some equipment onto the property and begin the construction process.  Of course this means only cleaning off the topsoil so they guys can properly lay out the foundations.  The foundation work will start right away as long as we have good weather and the security fence will also go up right away.  We first had to cut a road into the property, you can see the fence beside the road where we are working, that is my neighbor! (I do not know them yet)

 We have discovered that the land we have has about three feet of excellent topsoil on top of the bedrock.  We are only removing two feet of it so the crew has less to dig through to get to the bedrock for the foundations.  It took this guy about three hours to prep our land for the building to begin.  More pictures and video to follow!


 

Fundraising Brochure

Many people have indicated they want to be involved in supporting our work here in the Dominican Republic.  We have been working on a informational brochure that allows people to be involved in many ways.  Our experiences here have been fulfilling and our hope of building the Mission Guest House is close at hand.  We are completing plans for construction of the facility with local contractors and our only roadblock now is to find a suitable property to build on.  Relationships with other Mission Groups who bring teams to the area is most important and we have been working alongside many of these groups and the teams who come here over the past six months.  The support from the teams and Mission Groups alike for our mutual success in a Mission Guest House has been overwhelming...confirming for us at least that we are right in the middle of God's plan.
Please consider partnering with us so we can share the experience of the Dominican Republic and her people.
 

Time To Build!

Good morning all and bless you this day the Lord has made!  Laura and I want to thank all of you who have sent condolences to us with my fathers passing.  We are encouraged by many words of support and wish to convey thanks again to those who have continued to lift us up.
We continue to see God's will for us as we endure this time of mourning.  Before we left the D.R. for Canada to be with our family, we had found a property on which we can build the Mission House.  Dropped into our laps after months of searching a beautiful location and great value site; we made an offer.  Accepted!  We should close on the property soon after we return.  We have already secured a building contractor in the D.R. and we are tweaking details for construction to begin before Christmas!
Many of you who receive this blog have asked how you can support our Mission...now is the time.

Our budget for the construction of this project is explained in the attached brochure that we are launching immediately.  This fundraising campaign will help us in establishing the Mission House, continuing the work with other Ministries, and empowering Dominicans for success!

Mosquitoes have cloaking devices!

Slap! The sound was unmistakeable, yes another mosquito got away with trespassing.  I looked over at my wife only to see her again looking around her as she stood near the kitchen sink, twisting back and forth all the while looking at the floor near her feet.  Her hand was raised, open palm, ready to swing away at the malicious little creature that had offended her yet again.  "where the heck did it go!" she muttered under her breath.  I could barely make out the tirade of expletives that continued to pour out of my little wife, such a tragedy, that such a small creature could bring anyone to this level of discontent.  Of course this too got me to thinking, is there any useful good to a mosquito?  I mean, why did God make this obvious pest?  Was it made to keep us on our toes?  Maybe to harbor various parasites and viruses to keep certain populations of certain species in check.  Hmm mm....I wonder.  After a bit of research there appears to be no good reason why any mosquito should be allowed to exist!  I discovered (actually read) that most species of mosquitoes drink the blood of warm blooded creatures so that they can use proteins within the blood to create more eggs within a short life span.  It seems the blood they drink is full of life giving qualities mosquitoes need to create even more mosquitoes.  Some of us are more susceptible to bites from mosquitoes because they have an amazing ability to smell!  It seems that some of us perspire more amounts of CO2 than others which draw mosquitoes to us; they can smell our perspiration and are drawn to us!  Further to this, they carry a variety of Viral Diseases that can produce many problems to people and other animals alike; diseases like Malaria, or Dengue Fever or even West Nile Virus which can be deadly to both humans and birds.  However, recently mosquitoes have been studied because they possess within their tiny little bodies a chemical which they use to stop blood from clotting while they ingest blood from a victim.  The mosquito injects a saliva full of this chemical into the victim to stop blood from thickening; medical science is trying to harvest qualities of this saliva for medical reasons.  The ability to conduct surgeries better, blood thinning medication for heart disease, and a host of other illnesses that will benefit humanity once science can properly harvest the saliva of the mosquito!  So there you have it, most of us detest this small, determined, pesky little creature that has most likely pervaded our lives negatively for generations; millions of us have "slapped" at these devious little blood sucking demons!  But it seems painfully obvious to me that God has had a purpose for these little guys all along; discernment comes with understanding, Paul tells us this in Romans 1:20 " For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-His eternal powers and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  This scripture, given to us by the Apostle Paul, tells men that creation, all things in creation, contain within it the invisible qualities of God's power and His nature, and that when the discoveries of creation are revealed for what they contain, man cannot understand how, but in time will be given the reasons for those discoveries; these mysteries of creation have been revealed time and time again.  Each time creation reveals itself, like the mosquito has, man has to receive the revealed qualities of creation as proof for God's might and His divine nature.  The tiny mosquito, reviled by humanity as a useful, disease ridden pest, has been revealed as a production engine for medical progress and therefore improved humanity, because God created it this way!  Man cannot deny what has been revealed, as the scripture indicates "...so that men are without excuse."  There is no good reason for a mosquito other than that which has been revealed in its proper time.  In today's day and age when technology exists to impart the ability to understand what a mosquito is good for has been debated between science and creationists for some time; Creationists will take my position, God revealed the invisible nature of the mosquito when it was needed.  Science has stated that Man revealed the invisible nature of the mosquito because Man developed into a more intelligent being.  What a deceived bunch we are!  That we could possibly believe that Mankind had anything to do with anything in creation!  Next thing you'll hear will probably be this "Man discovers how to make Gold out of Lead!"  Oh wait...we tried that.  I went down this road today with the blog because I wanted to remind you all of the small things that can tend to distract us with what is going on in our lives; but that maybe, just maybe, those small things buzzing around your legs trying to get a piece of you are there for a bigger purpose.  A purpose waiting to show God's invisible nature, His divine Nature.

Breaking Ground!

This is good, the ground is so hard I can hardly push the shovel into it.  I lean in a little more and grip the shovel even tighter, driving my left foot down onto the top of the blade; the ground gives way to the sharp tool and the shovel drives deep into the rich red soil.  I worked the blade back and forth a bit all the while driving the blade of the shovel deeper, separating the packed soil from itself, finally reaching the depth of the blade I levered the shovel handle down and the blade forced the soil up and out.  It was only a small dusty pile that I had removed from the ground but definitely significant; one down a few thousand to go.  That was Tuesday November 1, 2011 at about 4 p.m. when we disturbed this peaceful earth with our toil.  I have spent the past few days musing over the significance over the breaking ground ceremony, and some may not see it as related to anything Biblical but I wondered?
This perspective I offer;  The earth is ready, prepared with time, and now its purpose revealed; at least in our case.  Just as each of us walks out our walk with God, looking for His will for our lives, each of us wondering,"Is this what I am supposed to do Lord?"  As the ground waits for its use to be revealed, so do we wait, watching for our inevitable use.  This has to make sense for you to see the correlation; like the patient earth waiting in time to be put to good use, to be turned over so a foundation can be laid, so each of us are with our own lives.  Time marches at the same rate for all of us, but we find ourselves in different stages of readiness.  Some of us are soft or not sure of our place, while some of us are too hard; unwilling to receive a shovel.  The Bible does not speak specifically about breaking ground, but does relate to the proper way to lay a foundation, of course by digging deep!
NIV Luke 6:46-49
46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
Now of course Jesus is not talking about building guest houses, rather He is using the analogy to teach us to do what He says.  Living our lives full of the Word gives us a solid foundation to weather any storm.  Food for thought.
By the way..how big is your shovel?  Are you ready to lay your foundations for the Lord?

 This is the video of the Ground Breaking Ceremony for Rio Vista Guest House!
Michael

http://vimeo.com/31599402

Thanksgiving!

Good morning all!  Bless you all on this day the Lord has made!  This is a special day for most of us especially for those of us who live in Canada.  Unlike our American friends who celebrate Thanksgiving in November, we Canucks have always embraced this tradition a month earlier, which got me to thinking; does anyone know why?  If we understand our history as taught to us in school then we would believe that the tradition of Thanksgiving was a celebration by the people of the land who praised God for a bountiful harvest.  Records dating back before the New World was fully colonized by immigrant pilgrims, that a celebration of thanks was often performed in the Netherlands, home of the Pilgrims, after several cities were rescued by the Dutch Monarch after Spain had tried to capture the Netherlands.  One city in particular had been under siege by Spain for three months, with many people dying of starvation during the siege.  Finally the Dutch navy broke the famous dykes that protected most of Holland so their ships could sail into the country and bring armies and food to save their people from the Spanish siege.  Spain was already out of money because she had spread herself too thin looking for more lands to conquer and wealth to plunder so the armies of Spain fled when they saw the Dutch Navy approaching the cities.  The people celebrated their rescue with the Navy as they were given fresh bread and herring.  Since then the practice of this celebration was conducted in October every year.  When the Pilgrims came to the Americas, they also continued the practice of the celebration at first to thank God for the bountiful harvest, but then in later years when drought had set it and the people were again starving, to thank God for their Native American friends  who had come to the aid of the starving immigrants providing them with seeds and teaching them to fish.  The practice of celebrating Thanksgiving was not regular until after 1660.  As the practice moved with the people year after year it was not long until the people who settled Canada also began to partake of their own celebrations of a bountiful harvest.  Typically the people of a given area had celebrations involving an entire community and although they may have celebrated on different days, it always coincided with the end of harvest crops.  The Canadian Government settled on the October date after the end of World War 1 because Armistice day was November 11, and two holidays in the same week was too much.  In America however, the Holiday was established around whatever day seemed appealing to the President at the time, with the first Thanksgiving on a fixed day in 1863, the last Sunday in November.  President Roosevelt established the American Holiday for the fourth Sunday in November, in order to give the economy a boost at the end on the month.
History in a nutshell I like to call it!  When Thanksgiving first began the people who initiated this tradition were all Christians, given to understanding the basis of why we must give thanks to God for what we have.  Whatever the end result has become the premise for establishing the holiday was given by the people, a celebration to thank God for His bountiful provision; whether from persecution of a conquering country, or for God's provision for a large harvest of food.  Even to the extent of thanking God for new found friends who provided new means of sustenance for people in a harsh New World.  Whatever the case was, or still is today for that matter, we should all be Thankful for God's provision, with everything that we have it is not ours by any means that we have done, for everything belongs to God.  Even after we have given thanks for all that we have gained, all that we have grown in our lands, for all that we have brought into our house, we are commanded to give back a portion of that gain to the Lord.  It is in this act of giving back that we are truly thanking God for all He has done for us, our tithes and offerings are blessed by God and will return to us when we honor His request of us in this;  "...Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed His people; and what is left is this great abundance."  2 Chron 31:10.
Laura and I are grateful for all that God has done for us, for His blessings upon us are truly great!  Today we celebrate with family and friends from afar, wishing we could be with you all as you celebrate why we have been blessed with all of you in our lives!  Over the past three years many of you have expressed your desire to be involved in our Mission Field here in the D.R.  God  has provided a means for His plans in the Dominican Republic to be known, the fulfillment of His Mission Guest House here on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic is close at hand.  Since our return to Sosua last week we have been busy working closely with our Ministry partners finalizing details for  the land deal upon which we will build the project, the project God is blessing with partners like all of you!  We are launching today our Capital Campaign in order to complete the funding necessary for the project; the goal of which we have been working on now for more than three years.  The attached campaign brochure explains in detail where we are at within the project.  Since we printed the brochure over a month ago even more details about the project have improved, giving promise to the completion of the Mission Guest House within a short time.  We are now moving forward at God's pace, as each door opens we walk through establishing the plans He gave us some time ago.  We want to invite all of you to look over the plans and join us as we continue to venture forward!

Bendiciones!


 

Going Home!

Well the day has finally arrived and I must say with mixed feelings, Laura and I leave Canada today for the return to the D.R.  This trip although unexpected has brought us closer to many of our family and friends.  We have thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of family and close friends in each city where we stayed.  A big shout out of love to my family in B.C. who endured the hardship of family loss with us, God bless you all!  I know that you rest in the comfort of the Lord and He has our backs as we leave you again for a time.  Our extended family in Alberta is also huge in our hearts as we again are reminded of how strong is the bond that ties us together with John and Denise McNeil, may the Lord keep you and your household strong blessing you with good times and a calming presence.  (I know you need that because of those little angels who bless you daily!)  Thank you for putting up with us as we moved in and out of your house several times over the past three weeks!  We extend another prayer for our good friends who put us up in Lethbridge, feeding us and praying with us while we reconnected with supporters in L.A.  Be blessed James and Sylvia for the Lord knows your hearts and He is pleased.  We pray for a blessing over them as they support us from Lethbridge, they are our anchors while we are away and we ask that they be held up in prayer while they walk out the mission with us.  Pray for protection over them and God's provision, we love you guys!  Laura and I were blessed to be able to meet with so many supporters while we were in Lethbridge for the week.  I apologize if we could not meet with many others who support us as we simply ran out of time.  It has been an amazing time of rediscovery with many of you about the mission God has given us and what has been happening with us so far.  Many times I felt my voice straining to keep up with my mind as we shared our experiences with you.  I know my wife says I talk too much but I can't help it, I have to tell of the work He is doing with us in the D.R.  It is a glorious opportunity for us to be able to share with you all that we have seen and done so far.  Thank you all for your time, your hospitality and your love towards us.  Laura and I look forward to the day when we can return the blessing to each of you when you visit us on the mission field in the D.R.  We will soon begin to build our Mission House and then all of you are invited to journey with us more closely, sharing in the experience of seeing God at work with us in the D.R...with His people.
Finally we wish to thank our parents, each of them in turn have been absolutely inspirational to us, my B.C. mother Debbie, who now stands on the rock of the Lord, bless you as you continue on without my father, I know you will miss him as will I, but I know we are stronger today for how he enriched our lives...no more suffering.  To my mother and step-father in Huxley Ab. keep the faith, for I look to that faith in you as inspiration for myself.  The light of the Lord shines bright in Huxley, thank you for all you are in my life.  Lastly but certainly not least, our parents in Windsor, Laura's father and step-mother, from whom I can say I received good Godly counsel, amazing blessings and profound love.  The Spirit of the Lord is the center of Dearl and Annette's life, this we know.  Bless you all our
earthly parents, bless you all our families extended, bless you all our friends and supporters and a heartfelt thank you for all you do for us!

Dios los bendigal!

Mike and Laura Boisclair

Remember

Today I visited with an old friend from high school.  I called Chris after I arrived back in my home town of Oliver B.C. to see if he could meet up with me for breakfast.  Chris immediately said yes and then gave me his condolences for the loss of my Dad Charlie Boisclair who passed away suddenly on September 6.  While we had gone to school at SOSS Chris had not always been in Oliver, he arrived at the school at the beginning of the Grade 10 year for me.  Chris was big and tall and full of personality, played basketball and was labelled "a jock".  Certainly not the crowd I hung around with.  I guess you could say I was a "wanna be jock"  but was too small and slight to play that serious paced game.  Neither did we have a football team, like it mattered.  We ended up in several classes together and became friends as we often studied together.  What an unlikely pairing, but we became stronger friends and he offered me a summer job through his father.  I accepted because money was right up my alley as a teenager, I mean food was pricey!  What followed was several years of friendship that continued even as I moved away and began my adult life.  My father and Chris always had a great relationship and Dad even helped Chris start his first business when he was in grade 12.  It was great and I know Chris always had a great respect for my Dad throughout the following 30 years.  Even as I returned to my hometown for visits from time to time, Chris was always a welcome part of our family.  So solid was that bond.  When the news of my Dad's passing came to the family of course shock and sadness ran its course.  Each of us facing the news with different but similar circumstances.  When I had received the news about his passing I sat and stared at the email and read it again.   Slowly I began to realize that I would never again be able to talk to him, hug him or just sit with him.  Never again would I be able to jump in the truck and race up McKinney to see how quickly we could get to the power line and settle down for an afternoon hunt.  Oh how he loved that part of his life.  It seemed that throughout the years of growing up that was all he ever did.  All his brothers ever did, even some of my aunts embraced the overwhelming desire to provide for their families in this way.  It seemed that even when hunting season was not on we were always up the hill cutting firewood to ready ourselves for the winter.  Dad even turned firewood into a small business as he hauled truckload after truckload of wood down the mountain for us kids to split and chop for resale customers.  As I sat at the computer reading the news the flood of emotion came over me like a wave, welling up from inside and filling my depths first and then moving quickly into my head.  My thoughts raced to how everyone was reacting to this shocking news and the floodgates opened onto the desk.  I gasped and sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes and then suddenly, as if a tornado had suddenly ceased, calm washed over my body.  Peace came into my mind as I knew suddenly that God had taken him now for a reason.  His suffering was over, time to go home.  His family must stay behind and continue on without him but surely not in pain.  Some of us might continue to grieve that he is gone but the peace I felt of God's will was overwhelming.  God took him to ease all of our suffering.  Dad had endured over 10 years of progressive illness through Alzheimer/Dementia.  An extremely debilitating disease that traps people in their minds and traps the families that have to watch their loved ones suffer.  Enough God said.  Enough.  Chris said to me confirming words of what I knew God was doing.  "It is truly a blessing for Charlie and the family that God has released everyone from the burden of this time"  he said to me this morning.  Chris Jentsch is not a Christian.  But God uses people all instruments of His will, even when they don't even know Him!   Chris continued to comment about my Dad as we sat there and listened to his reminisce about all the times he had spent with my Dad.  "That man had the biggest brain in any man I know!"  he said, "I mean he was so quick with a comeback or a joke and he always had a smile on his face!"  "I wish I could come up with the quick retorts or have the witty little jokes that made people laugh!  Chris spoke for quite a while about the way my Dad was around people.  He was absolutely right, confirming for me that my Father raised me up to appreciate and respect those around me.  That he in turn respected my relationship with y friend so much that now my friend could edify all that my Dad was to all of us.  Charlie Boisclair was loved by all, not a fighter, not mean.  Level, strong and always sure of what he did and who he was.  I knew that, so did my brothers and sisters, all of his brothers and sisters, all of his friends, anyone who met Charlie knew he was alright.  Chris knew it and still does. Thank you Lord for the gift of friendship in a man who I have known for more than 30 years and can still call me brother at the same table.  Your confirming presence is gratifying to me that I am still to continue working for you the rest of my days.  Thank you Lord for your continuing presence in my family, for your peace and love to them as they seek solace in each other and in you.  "Blessed are those who mourn" Jesus said "for they shall be comforted" Matt 3:4. Thank you Lord for your Holy Spirit who comforts all of us when we rest in you as we mourn.  Charlie Boisclair lived his life and now he is gone, but his legacy lives in all of us who were touched by his spirit.  Pray Lord that we never forget him and help us celebrate his life.  Amen

Mission House!

Hello everybody and bless you this day the Lord has Made!  Laura and I are doing well even though it is hard to get through the hot afternoons this time of year...now I know why they have siestas!  (kidding)  We are continuing to move forward on development of the Guest House.  Recently I spoke to a fellow Missionary who had a team at a local resort. He asked me pointedly..."When are you going to have the Guest House ready to receive teams?"
"Why?  I asked.  He sighed and told me the story which caused the question.  While they were  in the hotel having dinner with the team, along with his young children and wife, a tourist staying at the hotel walked out around the pool area and walked towards the beach, wearing nothing but his sunglasses.  Everyone on the team was shocked to say the least, but the hotel people did nothing to discourage the man's behaviour as he strutted toward the beach.  When someone finally reacted to the complaints he had donned his shorts and gone into the sea for a swim...he must have been afraid of little fish, certainly not of the people he had offended.
I tell you this story not to get you to shake your head but rather to show you that this is the state that the world has gotten too.  This is just another example of how bad things are.  The world sells on sex, the display of it, the outward desensitization of it, and the blatant "in your face" attitude of some people.
This is one of the primary reasons why we are here to build this Mission House.  The protection of teams and children from the hedonistic attitude of the world is most important right now.
The necessity for God's people to remove themselves from the world and renew themselves in one mind is so obvious to me that the Mission House needs to go forward sooner than later.
I am sure you will all agree with me that this type activity while disgusting will most likely continue to occur again.  This is what sells to some people...so they tolerate it. 
We do not have to accept this lack of personal discipline in any situation.  Paul warns us when he says to us Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you."  2Cor 6:17
It is the same here within this cultural mandate that has now gripped the tourist industry here in the D.R.  We can no longer afford to submit ourselves to the uncleanness the world enjoys so much. 

Please join me as we push forward in God's will to establish a protected Mission House where the Lord's people do not have to be subjected to the distractions of the world.
Please view our brochure at the following link

http://www.bridgesofhope.ca/

Bless you all

Mike

Hurricane!

Well here we are in our little apartment looking out the window while I type this blog, the rain is coming down harder now after raining most of the day.  Some areas on the North Coast have reported localized flooding already.  Waves have been reported at over 12 feet in some coastal ports to our east.  The storm is intensifying but it has begun to move more to the north west now and projections are that it will skirt the coastal area of the D.R. and Haiti.  They are projecting major rainfall in the area of up to 10 inches of rain over the next 24 to 36 hours.  This storm will likely gain strength as it moves north and west on track to make landfall in Florida or somewhere up the Eastern seaboard.  Pray with us as we endure our first major storm in this Mission Field.  Laura and I are fine and will likely be very safe as we are on high ground and well protected in this new building.  Many of the people we help daily with suffer great hardship during this storm.  Please pray for their protection and quick end to this ordeal.  We have continued to pray for God's protective hand over us and all tha we reach with our Ministry. 

We still continued the work today as we went up to the Village Ascension today to help in the feeding program.  We assisted Bill and Donna Reimer as they served soup today which was donated from Campbells Canada.  Campbells has provided thousands of cans of ready to eat soup designed specifically for Humanitarian needs.  What a blessing!  Just two months ago this Ministry was in dire straits as they needed funding and product in order to continue feeding children in this Village.  God has answered many prayers for Dominican Ministry, Feed The Kids Program.  He has brought funding and free soup to the island!
I had a chance to sit down with a man from the Village this morning and through an interpreter I got most of his story.  Daniel "Pappo" Armontes was born in the D.R. in 1979, half a mile from where he still lives.  He is 34 now and suffered a stroke 10 years ago so now he drags his left foot and has a wing for a left arm.  Because of the stroke he speaks now with a stutter.  I am writing about Pappo so I can bring to light more of the inhumanity of humanity which is so prevalent here.  Pappo is a Haitian but he was born in the D.R. and therefore has no rights in either country.  He is not recognized by any authority here even though he was born here because it is assumed that his parents are also illegal in the country.  Before he had his stroke at 24 years of age he also worked in the cane fields and also did construction when he found work, but now he is considered "useless" by the construction companies even though I believe he could bench press me!  I visited his home last week and I was not shocked by the conditions I saw, tattered mattress on bricks, dirty blankets, a simple table and two chairs, a broken cookstove standing by the door.  They use the cookstove to make rice and soup on, a simply built tool which holds the cooking carbon and can be moved outside to allow for the smoke.  I asked Pappo how much a new one cost, 150 pesos he says, $4.00 Can.  I gave him the money.  The stench inside the house was unbearable as I stood there and I had to step outside for a few seconds to catch my breath before I continued back into the house to check out the backyard.  We exited the rear of the house and I stood in the garden, a 5 foot by 10 foot area of mostly rock and puddles.  Several pails filled the area, in them were plants I did not recognize...what are these I asked Him?  Yucca and peppers he said, but he had no peppers yet.  My heart leaped into my throat when he told me he lived there with his sister and young 2 year old son.  My interview continued with Pappa and I discovered he had gone to school up until grade 8, he could read and write a little but owned no books as he could not remember how to read Spanish.  He spoke Creole to the translator as his Spanish was okay but not as good as his Creole.  Last week Laura and I also bought him a new pair of shoes, Converse High Tops! $5.00...made in China, lol.  Today Pappa told me that things would be much better if the Government began to harvest the sugar cane again, that then he would have enough money each month to buy more food and clothes for his son.  Then he would have enough money to fix up his house, maybe even enough money so his daughter could come and live with him again.  His little girl Daniela, 6 years old, lives with his mother and father in another house.  They have more food and a bed for her because Pappo's father makes a little more money.
Pappo is only one man in this village out of 2000...there are dozens of villages like this one in the area.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that the Sugar Cane Harvest will not begin again for along time.  Pray for him, pray for his children, hope abounds.
Bless you all
Mike

In The Village

Good Morning everyone! Dios los bendigal!

Well for the past few weeks Laura and I have been working alongside another Ministry in a small Haitian village located near Puerto Plata, the main city on the North Coast of the D.R.  I call it a Haitian village as most of the inhabitants are migrant Haitian workers who came to the D.R.  years ago to work in the cane fields of the D.R.  Many of these people are here in the D.R. illegally but choose to stay here because even as poor as they are here things are much worse back in Haiti.  Many of you have heard the term, "Stuck between a rock and a hard place?"  This is the situation here...I will explain.  These migrant workers have been coming to this country to work in the cane fields as the land owners needed the cheap labour.  Economics:  The average Dominican earns about 8000 pesos per month minimum wage...about $200 Canadian Dollars.  There is no base rate for Haitians in the D.R. unless they have a working VISA to be here, then they qualify for the minimum wage.  The illegal Haitians can earn about 100 pesos per day of hard work or about $2.50 per day...more than double what they could earn if they had a job in Haiti.  See the problem yet?  About 20 years ago the world began to cultivate and produce another product that has virtually decimated the cane sugar production in most of the third world...anyone know?  Sugar beets.  In 2001 the Dominican Republic produced over 100,000 tons of sugar for use and export, which created thousands of dollars of revenue for the country and thousands of jobs.  Enter sugar beets...today there is virtually no production of cane, only one area in the country still harvests cane sugar...and they use it to produce a private label of Rum.  No sugar is exported today, no jobs are available for thousands of illegal migrant workers that have lived in this country at the will of the Dominican Landlords that cannot sell their crops.  Not our problem?  I beg to differ...the inhumanity of humanity is so prevalent on this island that it leaves a feeling of utter despair when you walk around one of these villages located within an overgrown and unproductive cane field...there are hundreds of these villages all over the island.  These people have little to no idea what has happened to their jobs and are left to fend for themselves, trying to scrape out a living doing anything.  Which ends up being less than what they deserve.  So who is to blame for all of this mess that now consumes the lives of thousands of people?  Including the already overburdened economy of the D.R.  Oh maybe there is no one to blame, maybe these people did this to themselves...maybe they should have stayed put in Haiti, even after generation after generation of people continued to suffer under gross persecution by their own government?  Maybe we should blame the Dominican Landlords, who brought many of these hopeful migrant workers to the country and offered them a better way of life through jobs harvesting cane for suger...who ultimately could not foresee the end of their own commodity because the world developed a better, cheaper product?   Maybe we should then blame our own country and other countries who produce massive stockpiles of sugar beets that drive the price of sugar so low that cane production becomes worthless...even with labour at less than $3.00 per day per person?  No I don't think you can blame any market economy that demands competition on a global scale, I do believe that this market product...namely sugar cane...can be valuable to a world economic climate.  This will likely involve a restructure of the production environment here and in many cane producing countries to evolve an industry into biofuel production.  A product in high demand and one that creates many jobs and huge revenue streams for the producing countries.  But these changes take time, time in research, time in investment, time in construction and then time in building a new commodity which the world must migrate to...over time.  In the meantime, thousands of hopeful people who have committed lives to one industry are now stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Make sense now?  There is an end in sight, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  How long must they continue to endure and require the assistance of Mission Groups like us and others to keep these people alive!  As long as it takes!  There is no choice for these people so while they wait we will continue to provide as much as they need to live, medical aid, clothing, food programs, life skills training, evangelizing and many other programs beneficial to survival.
This short "rant" that I have released upon you is designed to  make you aware of what we are seeing; this is the face of humanity right here in the Dominican Republic, in a small village, in the middle of a dead sugar cane field with nowhere to turn to and nowhere to go.  What most of you see is the face of InHumanity in your world, far away from humanity, the real humanity of this world.  God does not want us to hide from all of the other problems we might be aware of, rather He wants us to be involved in whatever capacity we can.  If you can then you must help.  Last week we counselled with another Missionary who assisted in the protecting of two brand new orphans whose young mother had just passed away from some illness.  They are 7 and 8 years old and the older is mentally handicapped...the 7 year old had been caring for mother and sister for many days alone while she watched her mother dying and never knew what was happening.  The family has been on a food bag sponsor program for some time now and the other villagers brought the death of the mother to the attention of the Missionaries.  Since then the girls were removed from the village for safety, as they might become victimized, and an uncle was located nearby.  Please pray for these two and others in this family as this tragedy is far from over, these children have yet to be raised.
Last month we also learned of another woman who was pregnant with quadruplets.  She gave birth on Saturday to two boys and two girls...at 7 months of term; all of the babies lived for a few hours...long enough to pray over them...none of the babies survived.  A challenge even in the first world...in the third world, almost impossible.
Again, I tell you these things not to express the tragedy of a cruel world, but rather to show you the inhumanity we all live in within the world man has created.  For it is undoubtedly tragic that humanity should watch or ignore the inhumanity of human suffering.  These tragedies will undoubtedly continue...Jesus told us that
"For you have the poor with you always..." Matt 26:11 and Paul encouraged us later "they desired only that we should remember the poor..." Gal 2:10
Give where you can, give where you find yourself, for there is where your ministry lies.  If you feel compelled to help in any way please contact us by email.  A fundraising newsletter is forthcoming.

I am the voice of a people who weep in the night.  Hear our prayers.

Bless you all
Thank you for your continued prayers
Mike

Although we believe that God has sent us here to operate a mission guest house, this is not the only task. The call is there and we are waiting patiently for His lead. It’s like a pie graph to me. 75% of the pie is all one color. The guest house is first, foremost, and what God has trained us to do. As easy as pie…so to speak. The talent has been given and waits to flourish. Mike and I are so ready to “get on with it”. But for some reason God has emphatically, in many words, over in abundance, LOUDLY and demanding almost said "REST".
"But we're not tired" we pray in protest.
"Rest and wait" are the orders. OK. Fine.
Month One: Many miles walking on the beach in prayer and worship. Some guilt arises for we feel the waste of time. The Proverbial Scriptures come to mind about laziness, non-prosper, sleeping, slumber, not eating, start plaguing us from the enemy. But our God knows us better than that. But still, "Be still."
Month Two: Lets try to move ahead on a purchase of "something" at least. Sure we found "something", of course, but is it His will? Not quite. "ARGH! What are we doing here when we are doing nothing?"
What we didn't see was the relationships we were building with the mission groups. Didn't see that the communion with His body was with love, grace. A shoulder here, an ear there, words of encouragment and advise...just "hangin" with them.
"OK, Lord you have a point. We need to get to know them as brother's and sister's in Christ and they need to know we will be there for them. How could we possibly think we are a "Missionary Service" if we didn't know what "service" to perform?"
Month Three: Spanish Lessons...getting to know our surroundings, couple of road trips exploring.
"See the People. Who are they? What makes them tick?" comes to us.
Our prayers changed from, "God show us what to do with getting this plan on the ground" to "What can we do to help others?" So we tagged along with some mission groups. A feeding program here, painting schools and clinics there...painting, painting. And you guessed it, more painting. Then the phone started to ring. "We could use your help." We consulted our filled up day timer...yeah right!
We're involved with church planting (Spanish and English). We've helped run 2 medical clinics in two villages for a few weeks while the Mission couple went back to the US to rest and take care of elderly family. We will be keeping a feeding program afloat while that other couple go home to Canada on furlough. We've been building a relationship with one young man who graduated from High School and we are currently helping him to qualify for a scholarship to go to University. The scholarships are available through another Mission group in the area. I guess just doing what God drops on your doorstep is all you really have to do to make a missions life matter. I'm reminded of some lyrics from an older Amy Grant song: "All I ever have to be is what You made me, any more or less would be a step out of Your Plan. As you daily recreate me help me always keep in mind, that I only have to do what I can find."
Do you remember the pie graph? We have 75% taken care of with His provision and the talent He gave us. But what about the extra 25% of the pie? What is this allotted too? How about learning the mission field itself. What the missionaries go through everyday. Who they pour out God's love to without restriction. Learning how to service these same missionaries according to what battlefield they were on as they eat their dinner and share their testamonies of the day. To know exactly what they went through and how to respond to them with dessert, love and actual true empathy after their hard day. 
We could've never began to learn this being on a building site all day watching the guest house evolve. We would've never gotten to know the heart of these devoted people or the ones whom they serve. We would've been caught up with a house, finances and business related issues to ever give a second thought to the actual humanity of it all. Utterly useless as we serve their coffee after dinner to really understand what they've just been through.
Yes, 75% is taken care of. But right now, God is more concerned with the 25%. In our seeing, learning and understanding completely the people we are here to serve. God knows we will have success when He releases the guest house. Understanding, empathy, compassion, love. This is not business, its humanity. Learning the new talents God is teaching us.
Be blessed and thanks for listening. Laura

Patience!

From the time I entered into the the process of establishing the Ministry of North Coast Missionary Services here in the D.R.  I knew that patience would be the word of the time!  Right after I was baptized on Feb 4 2007, God placed within me the word..."patience".  I knew then that somehow I must come to embrace this strange but important concept.  Many of us have no time for this...what?   Patience?  Reminds me of a joke I heard when I was young...two buzzards sitting in a tree...one looks at the other and says, "Patience?  Patience my tailfeathers...I'm gonna kill something!"

We understood before we left Canada that the journey was not over, rather, it was just beginning!  Along the way He has allowed us to venture forward, gingerly stepping onto new ground, into new culture, and into new areas of Faith that we have never seen before.  He has allowed us to see with brand new eyes, a world full of danger and pitfalls unlike the ones we were so aware of in Canada.  The comfortable traps of things like shopping in beautiful department stores, you know, like driving on beautifully paved roads with traffic lights, and signs warning of work crews, or even trusting that one gas station works the same as the other...not so in this country!  I get it...all the things we trusted to make us comfortable and "lull us into a false sense of security"  are all thrown out the window here...so far I have found the only things that work the same, (or relatively close) as they did in Canada, are the pens and pencils I brought with me!  I know this sounds like complaining to some of you but please understand...Laura and I see all of this as God's will, understanding this culture will give us tremendous insight on how we are to impact the people here.  We are seeing great progress with all the mission groups we associate with.  We have made ourselves available to all of them to be helpful hands, or minds, or talents as they see fit.  Through this we are making progress in establishing our place within the culture.  This time has given us the room to learn the language...lets go here for a minute...Spanish in the D.R. is like trying to understand a highland Scottie speaking English!  Or for that matter Newfoundlanders speaking to Albertans!  That is how "different"  the Spanish is here from true Spanish!  It is no wonder we need patience!  We are taking language classes weekly now and are trying to communicate with the people everyday.  We are both seeing progress here!  Estamos estudiando Espanol todo el tiempo...esto es muy importante!  God has surely allowed patience to bear fruit with us and the language!  Dios quiere! 
The rest of our days are spent working back and forth between different Mission Groups...either working on a food program with Dominican Ministry, or painting a school with Dominican Advance, to counselling with Servants Heart on business!  We are using our time most effectively and allowing our efforts to be a blessing to these people.  Through our involvement we are seeing God unfold His will for us here...as we adapt to the culture, to the people, to the environment, we will see the culmination of North Coast Missionary Services...in due time...according to His will.
Patience...
Praise God for Patience...and the ability to step forward with growing patience and a mountain of Canadian frustration at the pace of the world around us.  The gringos...(other white folks)  call it "the Manana Syndrome"  or in other words...why do it today when you can do it tomorrow!   Gringos call it this because most of North America and Europe are "task oriented Cultures"  we have to get things done, our pace is frenzied, often in too much of a hurry, bringing stress and worry to our lives.  Most Latin countries are opposite...they are "relationship cultures"...not so much interested in the job or the project but rather the people they are with.  Who they are is much more important than what they do.  Everybody knows everybody and everyone cares...genuinely...about others.  It is not uncommon to be driving along the road and the car infront of you stops right in the road...because he saw someone he knows and has to stop to say hi...right in front of you.  So you can imagine this happening 100 times over...again and again...day in...day out...every day...rain or shine.  Patience...
I hope this little bit of levity has given you pause to smile with us as we continue to plod along this beautiful trail God has laid our before us.  I say plod because to run along this path would be terribly wrong, and we would definitely miss all of the wonderful things He has planned for us on the trail!  I believe in the journey of patience and that God Himself has ordained the time and the order for this ministry to which we have been called.  I ask from each of you as you read this that you continue to enjoy the journey with us as it unfolds...I promise I will try to bring you all up to speed as often as I can.
I pray that all of you can be encouraged by our journey and look to your own lives with a little bit more patience...for truly we could all take a note from the Dominicans and install into our own lives a little less tasking and more relationship.

Dios los Bendiga a todos

Michael and Laura....Patience

"my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."  James 1:2-4

Continuing the Work!

Hi everyone and Bless you all at this time of year.  Following resurrection Day, I feel even more blessed to know that we are well within the Lord's will here in the D.R.  the past week we have been busy expanding another aspect of our Ministry here on the island.  NCMS has mandated that our purpose here is to assist mission groups with projects, needs and opportunities whatever they may be...as the Lord brings them to us.  I was praying that as we wait upon the Lord for His will in our guesthouse, that He will enlighten us as to our additional purposes here.  Through prayer and counsel we offered our helping hands and willing hearts to work side by side with mission groups already working on the island.  Last week we busied ourselves painting in two clinics which are operated by Willing Servants Ministries.  These medical clinics bring much needed medical support to two villages in the area.  Prior to these clinics existence, the people of these villages had to travel far for medical services that many of them could not afford...as a result...many did not have any services at all.  From our perspective in Canada the right to affordable medical service is taken for granted...here it is few and far between.  The least we can do is offer basic service for these souls.  It was a blessing for us that we could offer our help to these missionaries who give so tireslessly to help so many who cannot get even so much as a foothold on their own lives.  Whatever the Lord brings into our field of view is how we must approach our time here.  NCMS is dedicated to the support of missionaries in whatever capacity they require...

May is fast approaching and we will soon be involved in a Dominican Church plant...Dominican Advance, who ministers in education in two schools here on the island, is beginning the start up of a Dominican Church next month.   We have been asked to come alongside and offer our assistance as best we can.  We have a little insight as to our role here and we look to counsel and prayer for this venture.  Many of you who pray for us have valuable information that we could use as we walk out this next journey.  If you have it in on your heart please pray for us or even offer your advice . 

We have been delayed with our purchase of the project house we talked about five weeks ago...suffice to say that things do not always go as planned.
We look forward to the day when we can get started with the Mission House...for now...as we wait upon the Lord, we will busy ourselves with the work at hand.
Bless you all and please continue to pray for us in whatever way God leads you.
Michael and Laura Boisclair

Rio Vista has been Found!

The last few days has been a whirlwind of activity for NCMS...we finalized details of the incorporation process for our Non-Profit Dominican Corporation and entered into working agreements with missionaries here on the island.  We have been negotiating with a Dominican who owns a large property with two large buildings which have 20 bedrooms/20 bathrooms, large gathering areas, a pool, a gazebo for outdoor meals and a large empty lot for development as well.  Today the owner accepted our final offer and we will close on the property in June.  We must complete several renovations and upgrades to make the property work for NCMS but we should be ready to receive our first guests by August or September of 2011!  We have a conditional agreement on this property and we could close earlier on the deal (if we get all our funding in place).  We have only been on the island for three weeks and God has truly showed His hand.  All of the mission groups have rallied around us committing resources of time and support for the successful launch of Rio Vista GuestHouse!  Laura and I want to thank all who have been committed to prayer and financial support for God's mission for us here in the Dominican Republic.  Much work is still to be done and continued prayer and additional finances still have to be raised.
We will require set-up donations for the first mission team to bring once we have established a final close date for the property.  We are past the first step...and the second will continue to test our faith as we walk this journey out with God.
I will forward a list of required donated items which we need for the Guest House to the Mission Team leaders and Directors within the company.  If you have any questions or require more information please reply directly to this email or comment on the blog.  Financial contributions can be made through Bridges of Hope in Lethbridge with complete Canadian Tax receipts.
The Lord is Great and Greatly to be praised!!!!

Today I feel good, having endured the first cold in years and of course, as I'm sure you will all agree, summer colds tend to be worse!  Both Laura and I are adjusting to the climate and the colds we have both suffered are just another bump in the road.  We have been actively searching a variety of properties and several options have been presented through our contacts here in the D.R.  While we have not made a decision as yet, we both feel the Lord guiding us along a patient path...the calming presence of His spirit.  It is obvious to us that His will for us to continue to seek Him and trust He will provide the place and situation through His people is profound.  God has surrounded us with good, caring people who wish, above anything else, to serve the Lord.  Several Mission groups who operate here and bring teams of people here to work, have committed support for our operation once we are established.  Truly a blessing and more confirmation of our calling to be here.  This week we are asking for prayer support in particular with the location confirmation.  We are near a decision and trust that God has directed us to the right place and time.

Laura and I appreciate all of your prayers, please write us back as the Lord directs you if you have any questions or words for us as we continue our journey.  Once we have chosen our base we will put together a mission team to come to the island and help us get set up.  The options we have on our short list (we have four options right now) will all require substantial upgrading and in some cases complete rebuilding!

We miss you all very much especially our home group bunch!

Dios te bendigas!
Mike

Arrival!

Well everyone, the day has finally arrived...Feb 22 we flew from Toronto, but not without enduring one last trial in Canada!  It seems the Lord has a continued sense of humor as He unleashed a record snow dump on Windsor the day before we leave.  So I spent most of the day shoveling snow, digging out the folks...digging out neighbors...and of course 4 X 4 ing through the streets of Windsor!  What fun!   O to leave or not to leave...see ya!  We will pray for a swift end to the winter Canada enjoys so well!  Kidding aside...our flight was uneventful and quick, even Raven our dog did very well on her first flight!  She was a bit excited when we arrived and was very glad to see us.  We cleared customs easily with the dog and saw our taxi was waiting for us.  Laura and I were discussing our mission with our cab driver and explaining who we knew in country as missionaries and we discovered Jose also knew many of the people we had met of previous trips.  While driving down the road Jose suddenly pulled over and waved over a man standing on the roadside...Michel Drouin from Quebec was evangelizing again in the country.  We had stayed with Michel and got to know his heart for the Haitians who he ministered to.  Michel jumped into our taxi and we caught up quickly on the past two years.  What a blessing to see him again!  Michel immediately invited us to stay with him as he would be alone soon when his team returned to Canada in March.  Another blessing!  We will certainly explore this option the Lord has presented!  After settling in at our Hotel Casa Blanca in Cabarete, we enjoyed our first day venturing out to the community and seeing what was where.  We have met the owners of the Hotel, former pastor and wife from London Ontario, William and Dorothy have lived here for several years and now minister to locals and tourists alike as they use their hotel.  William is also a successful realtor on the North Coast and has several options for us to view!  Last night we met another pair of Missionaries who run a local orphanage and children's hospital here in Cabarete.  Martin and Cindy  work with street kids and abandoned babies.  We also met a family from Whitehorse who are here working with Martin on his Hospital.
The Lord continues to open doors and we are prayerfully vigilant of His guiding will...continue to pray for us and His direction as we go forward with these people and others who will surely come into our path.

Bless you all
Michael and Laura

One week to go in Canada!

Hey everyone, bless you all this day the Lord has made!  The last few weeks we have journeyed across Canada...U-haul in tow and now we find ourselves in Windsor Ontario visiting with the last few family members on Laura's side.  For those of you who didn't know it, it takes days to get across this province!  Ontario is huge!
And cold!  The Lord is giving us a good appreciation of winter before we leave,  I told you He has a great sense of humor!  I'm not complaining, we have enjoyed our time with family and are almost ready now to moake the final move to the island.  February 22 is our fly date and when we arrive we have several options to consider.  We will be staying at a Christian Hotel in Cabarete...Casa Blanca Hotel!  We look forward to getting there and activating our business plan.  North Coast Missionary Services is fully incorporated now in the D.R.  and we are praying the Lord will show his hand when we arrive.  Pray with us as we make this final step that God will bless and cover us as we go.  Pray with us for His blessing and covering for our children and family we leave behind.  We look forward to seeing many of you in the D.R. in the time to come! 

Bless you well
Michael and Laura Boisclair

A Celebration of God's Promise

Good morning to all who read and blessings to each of you in this New Year 2011!  I am compelled to write again as we enter the new year with all the blessing of God. We are excited at the pending launch of our Mission and at the same time pensive of our time here coming to an end.  Over the holiday we enjoyed a good deal of time with our children who, at various points on their own journeys, took time to respectfully be with us at our last Christmas together in Canada for a while.  What a blessing indeed!  As I muse over our children's paths that they are upon I can only wonder how God will direct their lives...how He will influence them with people, situations, and events in order to guide their steps and help them to reach their individual dreams.  We continue to pray for them most fervently and invite others to pray for our children as we step out on the path God has laid before us.  This path takes us away from our country, our church and friends within the body, and far apart from our children and family.  We have Faith that we have done the right things for our children and raised them in a way that they should go.  While life and distraction fills each of their lives I am hopeful that God will continue to work in them and direct them on their individual paths.  Our children never stop looking at us, as parents, mentors and role models, I pray that we can be humble enough to forgive them for the mistakes they will make, and courageous enough to continue on our paths so that we may be salt and light to them and others who look to God for direction.

The time is ticking down to our inevitable move date...and before we go we wish to invite all who have been a part of our journey, both within the church and outside the community of God.  On Sunday January 9, 2011 at 10:30 am at the River of Life Community Church in Lethbridge, please join us for our sending by our church into the Mission Field.  Join us after the service for a lunch to Celebrate God's Promise...He has given each one of us a promise and dream....we take this time to remember, thank, honor and strive towards our individual promises and dreams that He has shown us and the ones He has yet to come for us.  Join us to celebrate the Promise of God.

Michael and Laura