Missions Trip to Quebec - 2008

Today, we all continued to finish up work that needed to be done around the church. Jennifer, Stephanie, and Lauren worked on sorting Sunday School materials for Jennifer Teachout, so she could keep the items she wanted to use for Sunday School use.

Jennifer, Lauren, and Stephanie with the materials they worked on.

David, Laura, and Isaac Teachout

The guys continued to work on drywall downstairs, outdoor work, and woodpile cleanup, etc. The other ladies cleaned up inside.

Eric S., Eric H. and Mark P. work on the woodpile.

Kevin works on the drywall downstairs in the church basement.

Pastor V. and Mark H. work in the church basement.

Around noon, we left in our vans with the Teachouts for the Parliament Building near Old Quebec City. We ate lunch at the Parliament Building, and then took a tour of it. Our lunch was very nice, served on formal china, with white table cloths and crystal goblets. We would have dressed up a little more for the lunch, but we were going to be out late, and the weather was supposed to be cold and wet that evening, so we tried to dress as warmly as we could.

Our Team at the Parliament Bldg.

Inside one of the session rooms in the Parliament Bldg.

After the tour at the Parliament Building, we walked along the very thick brick and stone wall into Old Quebec City. This area is sooooo neat, with lots of little shops, LOTS of flowers, cafe’s, bistros, etc. The streets were brick and cobblestone, and it looked like a picture out of centuries-old France or England!

Street in Old Quebec.

Eric H., Eric S., and Pastor V. try to stay dry in their matching outfits!

It rained most of the day while we were there, but finally the rain stopped later in the evening. We divided up into groups and went our separate ways, as we were able to sight-see and shop for souvenirs, etc. Each group ate dinner at their leisure, at various cafe’s, and we enjoyed the sights, shops and Old World atmosphere.

At 8:00 pm, we met back at the statue of Samuel de Champlain, an explorer, who discovered Quebec in 1608, among other things. Quebec is celebrating its 400th birthday this year! Then we walked to the Ferry, and took a Ferry Boat ride on the St. Lawrence River. It was dark, so you could see Old Quebec all lit up at night, and the Chateau Frontenac, an architecturally-incredible hotel built between 1890 and 1920. It was a gorgeous sight!!

Our Team in Old Quebec, with the Chateau Frontenac hotel high in the background!

Pastor Teachout took us to a Park called the Plains of Abraham, the battlefields where the French and the British fought over Quebec (the British won), and later the USA failed to win the battle against the British for control of Quebec. After we saw the Plains of Abraham, at 10:30pm, we went up to a restaurant that was 22 floors high. At the top, we could see the whole city lit up, at night, and the restaurant slowly turned as we ate the most delicious French and Quebecan desserts of all various kinds! What a treat!!! We were all so tired on the way home, and our feet hurt from walking so much, but it was well worth the experience!

Following Pastor V's example, all our guys sporting their new French look

Posted under Fun & Ministry | 2 Comments »

On Thursday, we drove all three of our vans quite a distance north of town. We stopped at a few different places and Ray Teachout and several others delivered some Gospel of John/Romans booklets to some people there. One of the ladies they visited was a Catholic Nun. Pray that God will work in her heart and bring her to salvation.

Missionary Ray Teachout and Mark Pate making a visit with prospective visitor.

We then drove to Baie-St. Paul, a very quaint, picturesque town, with a lot of art and cultural atomosphere. There was a park in the center of town where we were planning to do an outdoor concert, so that we could pass out tracts and Gospel of John booklets. But, the spot that would have worked well for the concert, was also right next to the Catholic church, so Ray Teachout did not feel it would be a good idea to do the concert. So, we ended up not doing the concert.

Beautiful old barn w/ purple wildflowers.

Driving through a coastal town.

Shipped wreck boat at Baie-St. Paul.

Then, we continued on down the road, about another 1 1/2 hours or so, on a scenic route to our destination. Along the way, there were beautiful cottages, lots of flowers, and much of the scenery was like looking at mountains, driving up and down very high hills, with lakes, flowers, cottages, and chalets, etc. The lakes were glistening in the little bit of sun we got, and there were beautiful Catholic churches in every town, although, they looked more like protestant churches with tall steeples. We ended up in a coastal town, which would lead us to our excursion–Whale Watching on a Boat!

Lauren, Mark, Mark and Stephanie on the whale watching cruise.

Menke Whale near the side of the boat.

The whale watching trip was very neat, and we saw lots of whales out on the St. Lawrence River, where it opens up into a larger body of water. The weather was somewhat cloudy, with a little sun peaking out of the clouds, but it did not rain, thankfully. The air was cool, but not as cold as we thought it would be, which made it so much nicer for us all!

St. Lawrence River, with lighthouse in the background, and a whale feeding in the water.

On the way home, we stopped at a little restaurant, and ate dinner. Some of us ordered Poutine, which is what we also had earlier in the week, for one of our meals.

Team Devotions

It was a very nice, but long day, and we enjoyed the excursion of wonderful scenery and whale watching, quite an experience that may be once in a lifetime for some of the team!

Please continue to pray for the concert coming up on Sunday evening, for many visitors to come, and for them to be saved.

Team at Baie-St. Paul with David and Isaac Teachout.

Posted under Fun & Ministry | 1 Comment »