Maniac driver mows down missionary Mike!

so apparently this is a better title for the blog that I posted before this one ....so here ya go! lol

Cheeseburger+timhortons=getting hit by a car LOL

So yes I know I haven't blogged in forever, but don't judge me! Gwen and I have been busy doing awesome things to prepare for the mission teams coming in July and we've been doing stuff for the bible studies and stuff. We had dinner last night at Jeremy and Amanda's house, which was awesome! I love meatloaf!!! We've had bible study on tuesday and wednesday which was good! Oh and on Wed. night Gwen and I got a chance to talk to and witness to a "Christian White Antisemitic Separatist" which was, least to say interesting but at the same time very said. It is said that he is worshiping and honoring a God whose love is only able to encompass one ethinicity. His name is Roy, so please pray for him. Yesterday, Friday, we went to Sierra's graduation ceremony which was awesome, especially the food. The only thing that was kinda akward was everyone singing the "O' Canada" song and I was just like "um...ok?!" lol. It was interesting but not as interesting as today lol. So Gwen spent her usual Saturday with Sheena and the kids and I spent my morning and afternoon working on finalizing worship stuff, devotional stuff, and just personal alone time in reading and just enjoying the day. This evening I decided to go grab a burger at Churchhill Square, little did I know that I would end up getting hit by a car on my way there lol. So I am walking across the road, in a crosswalk friendly area, when a Honda Civic runs a red light, slams on breaks and then slides into me. I was like "Really??" it didn't really hurt or anything it was just a huge SHOCK moment. I jumped up on the car the hopeing that it wouldnt drag under or anything so it just kinda gambled my emotions and roughed up my knee but I'm good. Soo after that life taking moment I walked over to A&W and grabbed me a burger which was AMAZING!!! If you ever go to an A&W in Canada you must get a number 3 with a side of gravy...it is just absolutely amazing....so now im here bloggin about my awesome time here in O' Canada lol...I suppose I will spend the rest of my evening reading and practicing for tomorrow. Well I'll blog more tomorrow...goodnight blogspot.com lol

Greetings and Salutations!!

So I officially apologize for the lack of "blog posts" recently. I have been super busy with the Ministry here and just running around doing stuff with the Pastor and Gwen. So in light of that, I am going to take this time to update you on how this week has unfolded and just some of the great things that have happened. :)


Well first, Tuesday we had the usual bible study at MUN, it was great! We are now studying chapter by chapter the book of Romans. Tuesday night we spent our time understanding and reading Romans 1. I am so encouraged and amazed at the same time by the eagerness that the Chinese Students here have for the Scriptures. I can say this with honesty that the majority of Bible Studies back home in the States are not this deep and the people do not, in a general sense, have the passion and desire to have a DEEP understanding of God, the Scriptures, Doctrine, and Theology. It is truly awesome to see that, and I am thankful that their spirits are in such hunger for it.

Wednesday Rolly, Yang, and I went to the field house to play basketball when I ended up having the awesome opportunity to meet one of Yang's co-workers Chris Ryan. This guy is a freshman here at MUN and thinks he is a Christian because of the family in which he grew up in. He and I got the chance to have some great and meaningful conversations about salvation and what that looks like according to the Gospel. Also he will be joining us Sunday for worship, which for me and Yang is super exciting and just awesome that he is curious and wants to know more about this 'Gospel" stuff. So I ask that who ever is reading this please pray for him and for his soul, that it would become broken by the Holy Spirit and that he would then cling to the Gospel message and embrace the gift of salvation. Also we then went to the MUNCF (Memorial University Christian Fellowship) international bible study which was awesome. They are doing manuscript studies on the book of Acts, this past night we studied Acts 2.

Thursday was an interesting day for me and Gwen. We, for the first, well at least for me, went downtown and did some public witnessing and some open air preaching. It was a different experience, but it was an amazing experience in which I began to understand what it might have felt like to be like Peter or Paul preaching the Gospel on the corner of streets in the "downtowns" of the cities that they were in. We got a lot of negative feedback but we also got a lot of awesome opportunities to witness to individuals and share with them the love of Christ and the Good News which is offered from Christ. Lately, since I have been here, I have started to get a whole other perspective on missionary work and the "sharing of the Gospel". Here in St. John's only 6.6% of the people are evangelical Christians...6.6%!!!!!! There are not even 5 Baptist Churches here on the entire island, and apparently this area could be considered an "evangelical christian" area of Newfoundland and Labrador. Steve mentioned to me the other day that there are parts of the province where someone could drive for hours with out seeing a church...any kind of church! While back in the states and especially in the South there is a church on every corner. It has just really made me realize the importance and the just burden for missions and the sharing and spreading of the Gospel to areas where it hasn't been spread.

Well, now that I am done preaching lol...Today we spent with Rolly traveling around town on the City Buses so that we can get to know them and be familiar with them, we took the bus to the Village Mall then to Dominion and then to Eric and Tina's house. Oh my goodness!!!!! Tonight Gwen and I had dinner with Rolly at Eric and Tina's house...IT WAS AMAZING! AND AMAZINGLY HOT!! Apparently Eric and Tina are from the province where food is the hottest in all of China. Well, despite the spiciness it was still amazing and it was fun to fellowship and to just talk about Scripture and Doctrine over an awesome authentic Chinese dinner.

Tomorrow, I am doing laundry, practicing music for worship on Sunday and then I believe eating with Rolly again.

I promise to be consecutive in my postings and to give detailed descriptions of our time here in beautiful Newfoundland! Please, continue to pray for the people here of Newfoundland, Steve and Sheena and their amazing kids..please pray for Jeremy and Amanda and their beautiful little girl and pray for Gwen and I as we venture out to areas of the unknown, sharing and proclaiming the Gospel and praying for those who are lost and dying here in St. John's. Thanks for all ya'll's support and know we are praying for you all too!

OOHH and P.S. Stephanie Richey, a student from GU in N.C. is flying out tomorrow for N.Y.C. She will be working for a church there in the city and doing similar to what Gwen and I are doing. So please pray for her and her traveling as she flies tomorrow. Thanks and God Bless!

- Solia Scriptura

SORRY GUYS!! :(

HEY GUYS, SO SORRY FOR NOT BLOGGING LAST NIGHT. I CRASHED AT STEVE'S AND JUST NEVER GOT AROUND TO IT AND IT WAS AN INTERESTING NIGHT SAY THE LEAST, BUT HEY IT HAPPENS WHEN THERE'S A BABY IN THE HOUSE. I STILL LOVE HER LOL. ANYWHO..TOMORROW IS CHURCH, AND I AM SOOO EXCITED!!! I'M PLAYING IN THE MORNING AND AM TOTALLY EXCITED BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER DONE IT ALSO I'M TOTALLY STOKED ABOUT HEARING STEVE PREACH, IT SHOULD BE AMAZING!! IT'S GOD'S WORD, WHY WOULDN'T IT! HAHA ANYWAYS...WELL IM OFF TO BED BUT I PROMISE YOU GUYS I'LL POST SOME PICTURES AND BLOG ABOUT GWEN AND I'S ADVENTURES FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS. GOD IS TRULY REVEALING HIMSELF THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS HERE IN NEWFOUNDLAND. OH AND WHEN YOU HEAR OF PLACES THAT DON'T "HAVE THE GOSPEL" YOU NEED TO REALLY LISTEN UP BECAUSE IT'S TRUE! I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A NEED FOR THE GOSPEL IN AN AREA LIKE THIS IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. IT SADDENS ME BUT EXCITES ME BECAUSE IT TELLS ME THAT THEIR ARE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL AND THE GREAT LOVE STORY OF THE CROSS AND GOD HAS BLESSED GWEN AND I BOTH WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE IT AND SHOW IT TO THEM. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEWFOUNDLAND, PRAY FOR THE GOSPEL AND IT'S RECEPTION HERE, AND ALSO PRAY FOR THE MISSIONARY FAMILY WE ARE HOSTED BY (STEVE AND SHEENA GRISSOM, OH YEA AND THEIR AMAZING KIDS) THEY ARE TRULY FOLLOWING WHAT CHRIST SET BEFORE US IN MATTHEW 28. WELL I'M OUTTA HERE, BUT I'LL SEE YOU GUYS SOON! GOOODNIGHT NEWFOUNDLAND!!!!

OH WOW..I'VE BEEN IN "CAPS" THIS ENTIRE TIME..OOPS! LOL :P




- Solia Scriptura

Venture downtown St. John's and historic Signal Hill

Well.....today was a good day to be a Newfy..I woke up this morning to hear the sounds of city buses and students littering the streets as I try to find the coffee lol..I woke up and went venturing through town to Church Hill Square where I met Jeremy who then graciously took me to the airport to pick up a lost piece of luggage, thanks to the craziness at customs in Toronto LOL.

Today Gwen and I got showed around downtown by Steve, our awesome summer pastor. He showed us all the HOT places of St. John's which was interesting. We went to Signal Hill which is known for making the first transatlantic transmission back in like 1901. Also we learned that the Titanic is only like 300 hundred miles away from us, which is kinda cool to think about. What was interesting was the change in people. Here in the heart of St. John's near the University people are very European and just "Canadian" but as soon as you head downtown and toward's the fishing villages it feels as if we go back in time a hundred years. The people are very Scottish and Irish, lots of local folk music and drinking...it was interesting to see these old fishermen on their decks drinking and just talking about their days at sea or doing whatever they did that morning, it was truly something to behold. Afterwards we came back to MUN and enjoy a "ghetto" style dinner composed of nachos, cereal, and easy mac as we talked about our day and what we planned for the rest of this week and as we enjoyed a few episodes of the office on my laptop....Good times! :) That all may seem fun and sound great, but there are alot of problems here.....only 6.6% of the entire population are evangelical...almost 5,000 out of the 15,000 students here at MUN don't even believe in a sense of a "God". Today I think I started to get a grip on the idea that the Gospel is LACKING here and God has definitely put Gwen and I along with Steve, Adam and their families here for that reason.

I am excited to see how God works through us and the relationships we build with the students and the locals of the island and how the Gospel will affect the lives of these individuals. Tomorrow we are meeting up with a guy named Mark Puckett, I have no idea who he is lol, but it should be great! Constantly pray for the people here of St. John and pray for their salvation mostly. Pray that God would divinely set up appointments for us to get the chance to share the Gospel and the beauty and majesty of it. God is truly good and sovereign and His Word is the same, for God's Word will never return void. ................OH YEA...interesting fact, the motto of Newfoundland is "Quaerite prime regnum Dei" which means "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" I think this is ironic and alittle sad when looking at the staggering numbers of evangelicals here on the island.

Goodnight, and God Bless!!!! (there will be more to come)

-Solia Scriptura

My first Blog....

So its my first official day in Newfoundland, and let me just say that it is amazing...cold but amazing! Today Gwen, the girl I am up here with from App., and I toured the campus with one of the chinese students from the Tuesday night Bible study. The campus here, Memorial University, is beautiful and just stunning. We went into the library and I almost died, it was something to be in "ah" over. Their Biblical Studies section was just beautiful, I actually might have cried LOL.

Afterwards we, Gwen and I, went and had lunch in the University Center's food court, it was really good. We ate at "Extreme Pita", I recommend it for anyone who comes here..haha. Then we went back to our rooms and read and just enjoyed some good ol' fashion quiet time until the St. John's Fire and Rescue came because someone decided to burn something in a toaster on my floor. Gwen wasn't to happy about that since she was asleep when the alarm went off. (lol) Tonight we had dinner at Rolly's house, he cooked up some great authentic Chinese food and it was just amazing!

But tonight we are relaxing, enjoying the amazing evening God has bestowed upon us here in the beautiful providence of Canada. I plan on reading some..showering...and just hanging out, maybe make some small talk down in the lobby. Oh and did I mention the people here are ridiculously nice! It's great! Well I'm off here, this is just something quick and easy for me to write up to figure out how to do this whole "blogging" stuff. Stayed tuned for more great stories of our days, and how God is working in my life and the lives of those that God are putting in our lives.

- Solia Scriptura