Where's Reg

If you look real hard, you will see Jon and Tony on the left with Strider and Lucious(dogs)
This last Sunday my bud Jon Griffioen asked if I would like to go for a hike? Well it didn't take much to convince me, being the weather was so nice, so we did. Tony, Jon, Jessica (one of my teammates) and I headed out and enjoyed an awesome drive up to Lindeman lake out by the Chilliwack river which is were the trail began. After hiking for a bit, we arrived at the lake. Once I stopped taking pictures, I looked over and saw some people sitting on a log, and then it struck me, hey wait a minute, I know these people, it's Ramona and Richard, small world. The day was so nice, it was a must and I am glad we siezed the day. One thing that came to my attention very early into the hike, was that I realy need to start running again,lol.

As many of you already know, there is some unrest in Thailand. A COUP took place and know one really knows whats going to happen...or do they. COUP D'ETAT IN THAILAND
By Bangkokpost.com
Latest update…………
The army commander Gen Sonthi Boonyarataglin staged a coup d'etat Tuesday evening (Thailand time) and ousted the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
A so-called "Democratic Reform Council" declared itself in control and declared martial law nationwide. Terse announcements said it included the commanders of all three armed forces and the police. It said the coup was necessary to correct "unprecedented division in the country."
The Council said there seemed to be widespread corruption, and independent agenies were subverted by politicians, apparently a reference to the Thaksin government. "The national government through the current administration has caused conflicts and undermined the harmony of the people as never before in history."
Public acceptance remained unknown. The coup occurred late Tuesday night, when Bangkok was under a major rainstorm, and few people were seen on the streets.
The opposition had scheduled a major anti-Thaksin rally for Wednesday. The last military coup, in 1991, was extremely unpopular and was overthrown by violent opposition in the streets.
Officers this time promised to hold power for as short a time as possible. An announcement over the name of Gen Sonthi, a Special Forces veteran long seen as apolitical, promised: "The council is steadfast in its objective, which is not to take over the government permanently and it will hand back the power to the people as soon as possible."
The Council repealed the 1997 "people's constitution" and dissolved both houses of parliament, the government and the constitution court. Announcements said the Council was under the King, and confirmed that the Privy Council and all courts except the Constitution Court remained in power.

God has been doing some amazing things in Thailand. It's hard to know where to begin! Our team feels that God has called us to the North of Thailand. Everything has been pointing us in that direction. We will be working with the Khmu people there. I will let you all know more details as I receive them.
Here is an email I recieved from Ricky (Team 2000) that got me pretty excited! Ricky has no problem measuring up for the task that God has given him (ORL,2005)

We visited the Khmu leaders while Ray Harms-Wiebe was here. I had the
privilege of telling them you guys had decided to come work amongst the Khmu
people. It was too cool and they celebrated with tears in their eyes and a
real joy in their hearts. Khun said they had been praying and fasting ever
since they met you guys that "they would be the ones!" God has answered
their prayers they all said and they can't wait to see you!

God is moving and the enemy is not happy. So please be praying.

I love it!!

-Ricky



God is at work!!!!!!!!

Almost two months ago I was accepted to come on board with MBMSI (Mennonite Brethren Missions and Services International). I am part of a team that will be going to the North of Thailand to work with the Kamu people for the next three years. We don't know exactly what we will be doing there, but I am excited to see what God is going to do. If you are interested in a prayer card and letter, just let me know. There will be more information in there for you.

Since I was accepted I thought it would be good to see some friends and relatives across Canada before I left. So Jon and myself planned to take this adventure and see where it would lead.



The first people on our list was Myron and Cyndi Sawatzky in Alberta. They were just finishing there time at Camp Evergreen in Alberta. So we had the opportunity to help them move back to Winnipeg. These cats in the picture where trying to sneak along for the ride, but thanks to Myron's good ears, we found them before we left.
For the trip to Winnipeg, Myron drove the big rig, Jon and myself switched between Myron's mini-van and Jon's car.


On the way to Manitoba, Jon and myself had the chance to stop in Roulou Saskatchewan to see where they film the Canadian tv show, Corner Gas.
We saw Brent from a distance, and Ema drove right by us in a truck. I also had the chance to see Oscar during some filming in their front yard.










Here is a picture of Brent heading off to the next site for filming. In this scene they will be revealing the new city limits sign.

































After we spent a while trying to meet someone from the set, we decided to continue on to Manitoba.


When we arrived in Winnipeg, Myron and Cyndi had not yet been able to find a house , so we ended up emptying the contents of the truck into two storage rooms where they would stay till Myron and Cyndi found a place for all their stuff. So we had a blast and got it all done.




The next leg of our journey brought us to Red Rock Bible Camp, still in Manitoba and close to the Ontario boarder where Steve Garrard is presently working as assistant program director. Jon and myself had not seen Steve for over a year, so it was great to see Steve again.


We got to do some biking along some of the trails and got to see some of the beauty that Steve gets to see every day.












To Be Continued...

After we left Steves little paradise, we headed of for Ontario. Wow, that is one big province! We stopped at Lake Superior at some tourist trap and I went for a swim. It was cool (literally) to have a swim in the largest lake in the world.
The next leg of our journey brought us to Ottawa. I had never seen this place, only a bunch of times in the news, so it was pretty neat.
That evening we went into Montreal,Quebec and camped for the night. I felt like I was in another part of the world, yet I was still in Canada.
Most of our nights we would find a place on the side of the road in the bush to camp. Being in Montreal, we didn't think it would be a good idea, so we put up with a KOANow was the time came to see the City that never sleeps, New York City!
Jon and myself saw so many sights and we were only in the city for a day and a bit. We got to see...The Bronx, a place you would not want to get lost in.
Times Square, wow, amazing, we were staying about a block away.
Central Park, some of you may recognize this place from Home Alone 2, "Lost in New York"
We got up early to see if we would see any celebrities, but all that we saw was a whole lot of Central Park. BIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Plaza, which was also in Home Alone 2, but it was covered in scaffolding and we could not go in. A lot of famous people have also stayed here.
Before we left, I tried to get tickets for the Late Show with David Lettermen, but that never happened, but we did get to see Rupert at the Hello Deli next door! He has been on the Late show a bunch of times and has become pretty famous through it.

To be continued...

I had the oportunity to see the Statue of Liberty. I had to go through two security checks just to get to the basement of the statue. Crazy!
Since post 911 no one is aloud into the crown, so I got to see it from the ledge you see just below liberty.
We got to see Macy's, the world's largest department store, also the home of the movie, Miracle on 34th street.
In the store, from the 7th to the 8th and from the 8th to the 9th shopping floor, these were the origional esclator that got you to them.

Then we saw the sight that changed America forever, Ground Zero, or the place where the World Trade Center once stood.




This was made from the wreckage, if you look from a different angle, it's a cross