Blest to Be a Blessing! (April Diary)

Apr 24, 2016 @ 10pm, by Shanna Duke

A phrase from a song that comes to mind while doing the canvassing work is:

Blest to be a blessing privileged to care, challenged by the need apparent everywhere.

We live in a world and society so full of disbelief. It is true that pain and suffering exist everywhere; yet God has given us so much - life and breath, food and clothing. God has given us much more then mere physical strength and possessions, and that is His "only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

That's what we are blest with, and want to share with others.

Here is an overview of the many things we have been doing:

April 4 Canvassed in Ulverstone and Forth. Harry arrived.

April 5 Canvassed in Penguin. Weeded garden beds for an older lady.

April 6 Canvassed in Penguin.

April 7 Canvassed in Sulfer Creek and Penguin.

April 8 Sabbath prep. Canvassed in West Ulverstone and Leith.

April 9 (Sabbath) Went to Ulverstone Church and enjoyed hearing about the marvels of creation from several people during the service; we also shared some testimonies and music.

April 10 Climbed Mt Roland, then came back to the campground to finish laundry and other odd jobs.

April 11 Canvassed in Spreyton. Had lunch at the Greys—a church member's house :) And found some tree work for the rest of the week!

April 12 Andy and Harry cut down some trees that were too close to our friend's house. The rest of the team canvassed in Railton and had lunch at the Grey's again. In the afternoon we all worked outside at the Grey's.

April 13 Canvassed in Port Sorrel. (Andy & Harry climbed Cradle Mountain!)

April 14 Canvassed in Latrobe, while Andy and Harry finished off the tree job at the Grey's. We had lunch there and helped out again with clearing the yard of timber. Harry left for the mainland in the evening. We were all grateful for the time he could spend with us and were disappointed to see him need to go.

April 15 Sabbath prep (cleaning, cooking, ironing). Canvassed in Burnie. We were blessed to open Sabbath with the Grey's where we sung, shared testimonies, read, and prayed :)

April 16 (Sabbath) Went to Burnie church and had the opportunity to sing and play music, share testimonies of Gods goodness, and also witness two elders be ordained. We enjoyed talking with the people over lunch.

April 17 Wished we were climbing a mountain ;)... Just did random things—laundry, watching sermons, reading, gardening, talking, shopping, etc.

April 18 Canvassed in Sheffield!

April 19 Canvassed in Latrobe while Andy trimmed hedges for some church folk. We had lunch where he was working and got to pick tomatoes, then canvassed in Stoney Rise for the rest of the afternoon. On our way to territory after lunch we found an older man at a cemetery and sung him the hymn Does Jesus Care?

April 20 We did our first day of canvassing in Deloraine while Andy finished off trimming hedges.

April 21 Canvassed in Sheffield in the morning. For lunch a family from Devonport Church invited us over and we thoroughly enjoyed their company for the rest of the afternoon :) Blessed to have brothers and sisters in Christ!

April 22 Finished off canvassing Sheffield while Tim did a tree job for a couple he meet a few days before, then we spent the afternoon in Railton. We ended the day at the Grey's for opening Sabbath :)

April 23 (Sabbath) We attended Deloraine SDA Church. We had opportunity to share testimonies of how we've seen God working during the past week, and were blessed by others sharing and presenting as well. Had a fellowship lunch, then did community needs surveys with the church members in the afternoon.

April 24 Had a relaxing day at the campground doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, editing a video of what we've been up to (coming soon!), and making plans for the next couple of weeks.