We left Buffalo and drove to visit our good friends Gordon and Bev Bosje. I used to work with Brother Bosje in Oklahoma, and it was so good to see them again.
We had a great visit and laughed so much. It is fun to know people who love the Lord and have stayed faithful to serve Him. Their backyard is the Erie Canal. They live in a beautiful place, and it was a blessing to spend time with them.
After we left the Bosjes’ house, we drove across Niagara Falls and up into Ontario. We have good friends who live and serve the Lord in Barrie, Ontario: Brett and Janell Pennell. Brett is the senior pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Barrie, and he also serves as principal of Heritage Christian Academy, a K4 through 12 private school connected with the church.
Brett and Janell went to Oklahoma Baptist College with us, and Laura and Janell were good friends growing up.
Brett asked me to speak at Heritage Christian Academy, so I got to speak in the high school chapel, the elementary chapel, the first-grade class, the fourth-grade class, and the fifth-grade class.
It was a busy day.
One boy in the fourth-grade class asked me for my autograph. I signed some random scrap of paper he gave me, and then he asked Laura to sign it too.
Laura asked him what his opinion of our penmanship was.
He said hers was perfect, but mine was more realistic.
I got a good laugh out of that.
That day, Brett took us to eat lunch in downtown Barrie. We had poutine. That is a Canadian classic. This restaurant served regular poutine, but they would add almost any kind of meat you could ever wish to add to poutine.
It was amazing.
That evening we helped at the church. Heritage Baptist Church was getting ready for its youth conference, HBCYC2026, which was open to students from Grade 6 through one year out of high school.
I helped iron logos on T-shirts, and Laura helped make booklet programs. They had lots of people working and getting ready for the conference. It is a large church, and they have a first-class facility. The place was super clean, and the people were working hard to make everything look excellent for the conference.
They were expecting over 600 teens to be there.
The next day, we drove back to Buffalo. On the way back, the weather was very nice, and we got to stop on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
People always say the Canadian side is better. I think you have to visit both sides to get the full effect. The Canadian side really does have better views. The American side lets you feel the power. The sound is amazing.
Standing by those rapids and seeing the water rushing toward the edge is powerful. I went and stood at a point next to the rapids that is called the point of no return. I have heard Brother Bob Ross preach about that small ripple in the river many times.
We had supper in Buffalo with Fundy at the house where we were staying. We enjoyed a good time of fellowship with him.
The next morning, we got up early and drove in the snow to Webster, New York, to be with Pastor Jack and Julie Young at Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church. The church is in Webster, and Pastor Jack serves there with his wife, Julie.
It was a good group of people who love the Lord.
Tim Young, Jack’s father, was there. He taught us in Bible college, and it was nice to get to see him again. Julie and I were on the janitorial staff at the college at the same time, and we were good friends in Bible college.
We left Webster and drove to Horseheads, New York. We were with Brother Richard Hack at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Horseheads. Brother John Early is the assistant pastor and music director there, and he does an amazing job with the choir.
Horseheads is an interesting town name. The village history traces the name back to 1779, when worn-out pack horses from Major General John Sullivan’s army were left in the area. The sun-bleached skulls later gave the place the name “Horseheads.”
We had a very fun service with them.
The next morning, we went to breakfast with Brother John Early and his two daughters, Grace and Katie, and some other men from the church. Brother Jeremy was there too. He also goes to Man Camp with us every year in Dwight, Illinois. Man Camp is the Midwest Christian Boys’ Football Camp, a ministry connected with First Baptist Church of Dwight, and you can learn more about it here: https://mancamp1994.org/
We were at breakfast from 7:30 until almost 10:30. We were enjoying the fellowship too much.
As we were leaving, Brother Early had the quartet sing in the restaurant. The quartet was his two daughters and Brother Jeremy’s two sons.
It was a great-sounding quartet, and it almost made me cry right there in the restaurant.
We left Horseheads and drove to Ohio. We met Mack and Jackie Siekbert and their children for supper. They were missionaries with us in Ghana, and we have lots of good memories together.
From there, we drove to Columbus, Ohio.
Scott and Tricia Crabtree are missionaries to the Deaf, and they serve through LifeSigns Deaf Baptist Church in New Albany, Ohio. LifeSigns Deaf Baptist Church opened in 2018 under Pastor Scott Crabtree, and the church works to reach Deaf, DeafBlind, and hearing people with the gospel.
Tricia Crabtree is the lady who wrote the missions song “Bury My Heart.” Faith Music Missions lists “Bury My Heart” in a print songbook called Inspirational Songs That Bless the Heart, Volume 1, which includes 13 original songs by Tricia Crabtree.
We stayed in Scott and Tricia’s house for two nights and had a great time of fellowship with them. They taught us in Bible college, and Brother Scott even taught Laura in high school.
We left their house and drove to Marietta, Ohio, and Grace Baptist Church. We had a great time there, and they took us on for support.
The next morning we drove to St. Louis, Missouri, and met my sister Lori and her family for supper. We spent the night in a hotel south of St. Louis and then headed to Oklahoma City the next day.
We spent the night with Laura’s parents in Oklahoma City. Then on Saturday, we headed to Decatur, Texas, and Immanuel Baptist Church. Pastor Louis Horton is the pastor there, and the church is located at 106 South Lane Street in Decatur.
We stayed in a very nice missions apartment at the church. It was their missions conference, and we had a great time.
I made a video for the church called a five-minute missions trip. It is a collection of funny photos I took while we were missionaries in West Africa.
You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/0goxjaK5QCE?si=5AYaGYPX8ttXxhc3
People at the church loved the video.
We got to meet some new friends and some old friends at Immanuel Baptist Church, and we really enjoyed every night in the services.
We left on Thursday and headed home.
It is nice to be home.
Laura and Bonnie get to go to the mother-daughter banquet at our home church today. Tomorrow we are going to drop into two different churches in the area. Then on Monday, we head to Kentucky for some meetings out there.
After that, we come back home for Bonnie’s graduation.