Marcellus, Michigan , (and new jersey)

so i stayed in Michigan for a few days for Grandpa's birthday but in the meantime, I fished for the first time and caught myself two mud bass - they weren't very big though, but it was still tonnes of fun for my first time.


Here was what grandpa's cake looked like: the colour theme for the party was green and yellow which of course is the colours of John Deere.


It was a huge party. there must have been like 300 people there for Grandpa's 75th birthday, the High's have a huge family and it seemed like almost all of the community was there to celebrate with him. I had a picture, but its not on me right now (I'm at the church office). so i'll send that along with pics of what my desk looks like soon.

Oh yea, I got into New Jersey today, and have been busy meeting new people and getting acquainted with my new surroundings. I hope i fit in ok here, cos for a few hours there, i started feeling extremely lonely, when I was alone in the house. But thats probably pretty natural

Chicago, IL

sorry, this is pretty disjointed but I just wanted to get caught up on all the stuff that I wasn't able to write about when i was in michigan.

Here are some pics from my short visit to chicago. I went to visit Navy Pier, which is a neat touristy shopping place, with museums and amusement parks all in one.

The road into Chicago


The View from the Sears tower- apparently the tallest building in the world, but I thought it was surpassed by the Petronas tower in Malaysia


One of the many stained glass windows in the museum of stained glass at navy pier


The ferris wheel at navy pier


Among other interesting sights, I had to pay about $15 an hour to park in the downtown Chicago area...it was just nuts.

Wednesday's Blog

I'm in the farming community of Marcellus, Mi. Which is even smaller than the last town I was in. Surprise! The whole family is here to celebrate Grandpa's birthday and to meet the in-laws of their youngest daughter who is getting married. We're spending a couple days here and then we'll head back to New Jersey early Saturday. Erm...these are hardcore farmers, apparently they own over 30,000 acres in corn in the family....thats a lot of corn. everyone in the family farms except for my pastor's family.

So late tuesday night before I went to bed, I stumbled across a TV program that featured the actress Ashley Judd and singer/songwriter India Arie.

In this documentary, they featured these two people's journey to make a difference in the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Ashley is the YouthAids global ambassador, and she visited Madagascar, where she visited, helped and worked with youth. India felt called to go to Kenya, where the epidemic is also widespread.

The attitude towards AIDS in these countries is similar to how it was in North America in the 80s. Nobody talks about it or is interested to find out more - ignorance on the issue is rampant. This is precisely what these ladies are fighting against, so a lot of their efforts are focussed towards educating the Africans. It was so clear though, that these big name stars were interested first and foremost in loving these people, before they even began any of their teaching sessions. They sat down with these folk in their environments (hospitals, slums, and brothels), heard their story, cried with them, and loved them.

This brings to mind two things for me. I think it is so crucial to love people before we say a single thing to them about changing their lives - for whatever reason. Some people say that could work for some, but if you are really passionate about your message, and it could solve the problem, then why waste the time in getting to know people, just give 'em the real deal. Let 'em deal with it. Somehow I think Ashley and India could have come in to these countries, teach some lessons and left, but the impact that they made in the lives of these people were really amazing. And every time they learnt to love a different person, you could see a part of themselves changing and becoming something beautiful.

On another note, I've been sensing a growing interest and God moving my heart slowly but surely towards being a part of this whole AIDS crisis. Maybe some time in the future, I'll be able to play a small part in fighting in the war against AIDS.

Osseo, WI

(the sign reads)
Osseo, Wisconsin: population of 1,669.

The grocery store is connected to the gas station, there is one craftstore, a MacDonalds and Hardees, about 3 tiny bars and one giant XXX "marketplace".

All of this, and they also have a visitor information kiosk...i wonder what these guys are paid to do, it takes about 60 seconds to figure out what to do in this town!

The Mall of America was highly overated. yes, it is phenomenally huge and at least twice as big as West Edmonton Mall, but what's stupid about it is that it has the same amount of stores as a regular mall. Why, you ask? After all a larger mall should mean more stores...well MOA certainly has more stores but of the SAME EXACT STORE. I counted like 3 or 4 of the same store in the same building but on different levels. Of course, this gets extremely frustrating after about 30 minutes because you get confused about whether or not you've seen that same store or not. Wow...it was frustrating, after a couple of hours, I walked out of the MOA to try to find food elsewhere. you could not buy anything to eat for less than about $6 USD. Junk food is never worth that much money. hmm...maybe i should get used to those kinds of prices if I'm moving into the Greater New York area. Although when i was in San Francisco, food wasn't cheap but it was really really good quality food. and I don't mind that at all.

MOA from the outside



The amusement park in the center of the mall, surrounded by 4 gigantic shopping areas on each side - basically 4 average sized malls adjoined to a theme park.


mmm...White Castle


I really can't tell what's in their burgers...its like some kind of mystery meat. but their slogan and commitment is to satisfy "the crave". I dunno after a couple of those puppies, I was digging them. I wouldn't expect this to be health food by any means, but for 49cents per burger, it works!

off to marcellus, michigan tomorrow where I will be driving thru Chicago, IL. I will be meeting my senior pastor for the first time and hanging out with his parents, and grandparents of Christopher.

Jamestown, ND

I got thru the border relatively harmlessly today, took about 45 mins and I was cleared to go. the lady that I had an appointment with didn't show...so I was pretty alarmed at first. So I guess their 3rd in charge was working and he, refreshingly, was a normal person who treated people like real human beings. He reviewed my case and gave me a visitor visa till January 2006. Wahoo! I was pretty psyched about that...cos i wasn't looking forward to the 2 day drive back to BC.

Wow, North Dakota is very scarily similar to the prairie provinces in Canada. Flat as anything. Apparently, Leah isn't the only person I've met that calls Walmart - WallyWorld; cos everyone else here does too. If you ever stop in Jamestown, have a meal at Grizzlies. Wow. for a simple steak dinner, it was pretty much the best beef stirfry, best mashed potatoes, best garlic bread and some weird cheese sauce soup that I've spent for $9. It was really good.

Also, the lady asked me if i wanted A1 or 57 sauce...and I was like...huh? I smiled cheekily and requested to try em both. Personally, the 57 sauce is more down my alley.

Thanks to anyone who prayed or sacrificed a small llama for me to get across today. Your friendship and support is really appreciated.

Tomorrow, we're heading thru Minneapolis into the Mall of America...and then I'll drive more and get into Osseo, WI.