Times-Advocate, 1999-03-24, Page 33Wednesday, March 24, 1999
Exeter Times -Advocate
33
Community
1 People from five Exeter area churches join 1500 Christians
in New Orleans to share the gospel at Mardi Gras.
Several people from the Exeter area travelled to Mardi Gras.
Shown above back left to right:Vernon Dean, BertVisscher,
Charlotte Webber,Tom Amsing, Mark Stahle and Jeane Lennips.
Front,1 to r:Warren Rood, Derek Quinn, Shawna Granger, Ken
Triebner, Mary Cassell, Sheila Rodger, Julaine Bisson and Jim
Granger.
.By Vernon Dean
NEW ORLEANS - "His name
was Charlie, and he didn't like
Christians telling him he should
consider the eternal destiny of
his soul. He screamed obsceni-
ties at us as we read the Bible
in Jackson Square, New
Orleans. He took one of the
free Bibles we offered, and
ripped out some pages and
symbolically wiped his backside
with them. Then, he set the
Bible on fire and flaunted it in
front of us. Charlie lived in the
street and all he owned in the
world was the tattered clothes
he wore. As the days pro-
gressed toward Mardi Gras, we
continued to reach out to
Charlie. We gave him some
warmer clothes for the cold
nights. We bought him some
food. We tried to be a friend to
Charlie. Five days later, the
story with Charlie was differ-
ent. Charlie had made a com-
mitment to follow Jesus. He
was sleeping next to me in a
sleeping bag on the floor of the
church where our team was
staying. The next day, he and
five others were enroute to a
Christian rehabilitation centre
in Alabama. The love of God
can break through to even the
hardest heart. Thank God." -
Vernon Dean
"Throughout the week of
Mardi Gras, God worked many
mitacles with His love.
Violence, screaming youth, and
bitter resentful drunks were
transformed when Christians
reacted to their tirades with
God's love. By doing so, we
showed them the difference
God could make in anybody's
life and some people turned to
Him. Glory to God!" - Tom
Amsing
• "My anticipation of being
fearful of the real danger of
those not receptive to the
gospel was replaced by a recog-
nition in the faces in the crowds
of people who are hurting and
looking for love in all the wrong
places. Those searching looks
reminded me of my own quests
in years gone by before I found
Jesus to_ fill that void." - Julaine
Bisson
"This year, the sin and degra-
-dation of men and women was-
n't as much of a shock as last
year. I think that what had the
biggest impact on me was the
unity between all the members
of the team of 1500 Christians.
Any possible barriers of race,
age, gender and church affilia-
tion were just not there when
we were doing the stuff of
Mardi Gras, out on the battle-
field, reaching souls for Christ."
Mary Cassell
"Being my second trip, the
Sodom and Gomorrah aspect
wasn't as important to me.
This _ year., I was really
impressed with. how God
orchestrated the work of His
Spiritin and through us. One
example of this was a man in a
wheel chair named Jerry.
During two different outreach -
Exeter will tender for road work
EXETER — Area contractors will be
asked to sharpen their pencils as
Exeter will soon tender for an estimat-
ed' $330,000 worth of road work for
'99.
Engineering reports will have to be
drawn up for some of the projects
before tenders are invited in the next
couple of weeks.
Projects include the estimated
$120,000 reconstruction of Simcoe St.
from Andrew to Edward St., the
$85,000 reconstruction of Churchill Dr.
from Pryde Blvd. to Eastern Ave. and
the $50,000 reconstruction of Riverside
Dr. from Hillcrest Dr. to work already
completed on Riverside in '98.
Three streets will also get new pave-
ment: Anne St. west from Malborough
St. ($7,000), Hill St. from Main St. to
park entrance ($16,000) and Riverside
Dr. from Hillcrest Dr. to turning circle
($13,000)
A project to repave James St. from
Edward St. To Albert St. was added to
the list. Service delivery manager Dave
Moyer was not prepared to. give an esti-
mated cost to that project but said it
might be similar to the Anne St. pro-
ject.
The Exeter Power Pucks won the Exeter Tyke Tounament 'A' championship at
South Huron Rec Centre March 13. They won all three of their games and out-
scored the competition 30-7. Front left: Scott Gregus, Andrew Pache, Sarah
Burtch, Avalon Kerslake, Tim Lightfoot, Steve Gregus; middle left: Jordan Skochin-
ski, Tyler Bryson, Matt Bilcke, Steve Morgan, Levi Northover; back Left: coaches
Ross Bryson, Randy Bilcke and Brad Lightfoot. Absent are Brett Thompson and
trainer Larry Northover. The Power Pucks finished the season with a 26-6-2
(wins, losses, ties) record, three of the losses coming against sr. tyke teams. The
Pucks were also'A' finalists at' the Dec. -31 Lucan tournament. (photo/contributed)
es, many on our team reached
out to Jerry and spoke with
him. The end result was that
Jerry turned his life over to
Jesus and invited Him to be his
Saviour. I praise God for His
faithfulness in working all
things out for Jerry's good."
Jim Granger
"Although Mardi Gras was not
what I expected, it changed my
life; It made me look at things
differently and count my bless-
ings for all that God has given
me: my family, friends, clothes,
food, church. There are many
who don't have anything.
There are so many hurting and
Jesus is the answer but many
don't want to hear about Him."
- Shawna Granger
"Showing God's love to those
who do not know the love of the
Father at Mardi Gras is . a life
changing experience. • It really
stretched my faith and chal-
lenged me to do more for Jesus
Christ." - Jeane Lennips
"It was a privilege for me to
be a part of a team of
Christians that stood in Jackson
Square in New Orleans and
took turns reading the Bible,
out loud. Many people were
drawn to us and we were able
to share the good news of Jesus
with them. Taking 15 minute
shifts, various teams worked
together to completely read the
Bible through in 72 hours. God
is good, all the 'time." - Sheila
Rodger
"It was a privilege for me to
talk to people from all walks of
life from all over the world at
Mardi Gras. While the people
were different, the problems
were similar. My prescription
for each one never changed -
Jesus. I received great joy in
seeing the power of God change
people's lives. 1 also was very
sorrowful for those who reject-
ed His wonderful love." -
Warren Rood
"I was very impressed with
the unity of the 1500 Christians
in presenting the gospel mes-
sage of Jesus. Everyone was
working together regardless of
denominationai affiliation.
There were so many people
there that were hiding behind
the masks of their hurts and
pain. This was a great trip for
me. God helped me when I
needed Him to. I wasn't even
afraid." - Mark Stable
"I learned that 'love conquers
all' and that it needs to be
unconditional because that is
how Jesus loves us. I personal-
ly saw Jesus i tervening in a
miraculous way' in my own life
and others as well. God is so
faithful." - Bert Visscher
"I enjoyed being among the
crowds with their many ques- ..r•
tions. Being able to give an
answer knowing that God's
Word is the truth to set them
free. The women are so
deceived by degrading them-
selves, feeding the lust of the
men, in order to get their atten-
tion but not their respect. I had
opportunities to share with
them that the guys didn't really
care about them. There were a
lot of hurting men and women
there playing with perversion to
fill the void that only Jesus
Christ can fill." - Charlotte
Webber
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