What next after Asbury?

By John Grady

The Asbury Revival that started on Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, at the Asbury University Chapel in Wilmore, Kentucky, was officially closed down by University and City officials on Feb. 23, after tens of thousands of visitors flooded the campus and small town, overwhelming locals and blocking traffic for miles.

A month later, a range of discussions have been taking place about whether it was a revival, some discrediting the event as all hype and emotion, others stating it was a planned university event. Others said “who cares,” and some claimed it was just a social media manipulation.

What I enjoyed and appreciated about Asbury was that it didn’t revolve around spiritual celebrities. It experienced the sweet pres- ence of the Holy Spirit with the anointing of peace and holiness, a deep conviction of personal sin with a renewed hunger of love for their Messiah and others. From scripture, we ask the Lord to search our hearts; this is not a checklist, but this can be a deep supernatural work that reveals areas of our lives that we never knew existed and this clearly took place.

What added credibility was how they kept order during these three weeks as actors sought attention by loud, unnecessary aggressive prayer, efforts of exorcism, and blowing the shofar when not appropriate. That was not the purpose of this Holy Spirit visitation. There was one microphone and the hosts screened those that claimed they had a word and wisely held onto the mic to avoid any grandstanding.

The real heroes were those behind the scenes, namely the 100-plus volunteers who did a host of mundane yet critically important parts of serving. The real keys to so many successful churches are those that quietly but efficiently serve, and that was the case at Asbury. In fact, citizens of Asbury provided cooked meals, opened up their homes for visitors, and received guests with class and distinction. The common area outside the Chapel Auditorium facilitated more than 20,000 people at a time. It’s special that Generation Z (ages 16 to 25) were the ones that initiated this revival by being faithful to the work of the Holy Spirit and there are reports of over 200 Colleges and Universities being represented during this three week period.

Will there be efforts to create another revival? Yes. Will

Ruby McBeth lives and writes in Fort St. John

there be copycat efforts? Of course. Is this event understood by everybody? No.

The Apostle Paul helps us understand when he states that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him; and, in contrast, the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

There is no doubt that lives were touched by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and it is to be our prayer that the same visitation of revival comes to the Peace River area and beyond.

John

Grady

lives and writes in Fort St. John

The meeting was focused primarily on various kinds of addiction, such as hardcore drugs, alcohol, and pornography; the demographics of clients who are addicts and the ones who are not (Mr. Siggelkow said about 10-plus% of the Canadian population is highly addicted); and the approximate opening date of the former “It’s A New Day” women’s shelter (late summerearly fall 2023). Mr. Siggelkow went into further details such as the number of total beds in this “mixed” shelter. He further explained that the main chemical, dopamine, closely interacts with both sides of the brain, no matter which addictions are involved. Furthermore, the number of cases of family neglect, abuse, etc. increase exponentially with both the number of traumas and the intensity of them through childhood.

The largely Fort St. John crowd was very appreciative of this potentially successful rehab centre. As the writer of this letter, I also highly support it.

Claude Dionne Fort St. John

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Horses — friends or foe?

Last in a six-part series

By Evan Saugstad

It’s the second week of October, and I’m on a guided sheep hunt with Scoop Lake Outfitters in the Kechika Mountains of northern B.C. with guide Nick Fabish, wrangler Richard Craig, and eight horses. We are back at Wiser’s Lake camp after chasing sheep for a week at a distant spike camp.

Weather is still good, cooled off a bit, much windier now but still no snow. The ground is bare and dry, so dry that one dares not light campfires for fear they will run with the wind. Forest fires are still burning nearby, smoke is in the air, but not enough to hamper long distance glassing. Five days left of my two-week hunt.

After another unsuccessful day finding a qualified ram, we close down Wiser’s camp, pack the horses, and head for Alberta Springs meadow and, with the move, ever closer to Scoop Lake and home for the horses. After a long and windy day in the saddle, looking at mountains and past a still smoking wildfire, we reach our cabin in the woods.

This time we’re all in the same room and, with that, instructions on how to deal with Evan and his snoring. Just call my name; I’m well trained at rolling over and giving a brief respite before I start again.

Horses are hobbled and turned out so, if they so choose, they must pass by the cabin if they decide to head for home. Their GPS collars are now dead. Tomorrow is to be the last day of hunting as, after that, it’s another long day of riding with few areas of sheep potential. It rains hard most of the night. Being in a cabin with a tin roof and no insulation, might as well have been inside a drum. At least that drowned out my snoring.

Morning comes and no horses, no bells. They snuck past and started towards home on the trail. Off Richard goes, catching up to them, two miles distance. After a slow process of trying to chase hobbled horses in the opposite direction they wish to go, he decides to take their hobbles off to make better time, but, without halters or hobbles, the horses have other ideas. They all bolt for home and off they go, Richard chasing behind. A satellite message goes out to Nick that the horses are headed for home, on the run, and off Nick goes with all the halters.

Five miles later, Nick catches up and passes Richard, and catches the

Ask Miss Patti: Dealing with preschool tears

Dear Miss Patti,

When I first brought my child to preschool, they went without a tear and barely said goodbye. Now we have been attending for months and suddenly they have started crying at drop off. What is happening? —Suddenly Sad

Dear Suddenly Sad, horses on a rocky gravel bar, their feet now too sore to run anymore. It’s a bareback ride back to camp by 1 p.m., Richard an hour behind. Today’s bright spot: they didn’t have to walk all the 20-plus miles to Scoop, then come back tomorrow for me.

Both are beat, so there’s no hunting today, as it’s too late to head up the mountain. And with that, my sheep hunting is limited to hoping for one along the trail back to Scoop.

Another camp to break, to put the bear deterrents in place, and saddle up for the long ride home. A few goats, lots of wolf tracks, lots of creek crossings and just before supper we arrive back at Scoop. The horses are happy to be there, and stand quietly as the few remaining shoes are removed, happy to be back where there is still some green grass, and to be turned loose for the winter on their home range.

Me, I’m also happy to be back unscathed, a bit sad on not finding my ram, but truly appreciative of a great time spent in the solitude and magnificence of these remote northern landscapes. It was a great adventure, one that most will never experience, and that’s a good thing. These places do not deserve to become another Banff or Jasper, and be changed by the sheer number of visitors.

The Northern Rockies, Muskwa, and Kechika areas are one of B.C.’s true gems, preserved for the wilderness they are, and available to those with the time, money, and desire to visit, to experience something that has always been and, hopefully, always will be.

Thinking back, would I do anything different? Not really. I didn’t need to shoot something just to say I was successful. I didn’t need to kill myself either in trying, but I do feel for the guides. Being the last hunter looking for a scarce commodity usually results in staying to the very end, at a time when everyone wants to go south and go home.

Would I do it again? At the time, I thought no. I’m getting to the end of my body’s willingness to take on these mountains and the physic- ality. But, in reality, maybe; might think about one more time, or maybe just look for a mountain goat, something a bit easier to find, yet just as hard to get to. And for those out there wishing to experience this, you can, if it’s high enough on your bucket list. Not cheap, but what great adventures are?

For those who don’t hunt, there are ways to do this. Some outfitters offer up wilderness trips prior to the start of hunting season on Aug. 1, or with wilderness packers like Wayne Sawchuk at Muskwa-Kechika Adventures, who take visitors on summer horse back trips through some of these same areas. Or, if physically and mentally prepared, to do it by oneself with everything on your back.

Finally, thanks to Denim,

Liard, Crazy Eye, Moose, Red, Bud, Zeke, and Horace, the horses who made this possible. 2022 was a tough year on them, not helped by the provincial government’s shortening of the moose season, so all previously booked hunters arrived in a compressed timeframe, requiring these horses to pack more hunters and more meat than they normally do, and then still have someone like me show up, who rides all over the country in hopes of finding a grand ram. I know you were tired, that your feet hurt, and that you just wanted to go home.

Never know, as memories of the sore body fade, maybe I will be back one more time.

Evan Saugstad lives and writes in Fort St. John

We see this a lot in preschool! This especially happens as a child is about to turn 5. There is a lot of growth that takes place in a child’s brain and sometimes this growth spurt can trigger behaviours we haven’t seen since they were little. This is normal and we just have to give these big emotions validation, patience, and space. This is not the time to tell them, “You are a big kid now, no more tears,” nor, “Crying is for babies.” Sometimes we just need a good cry, no matter the age. We don’t want to ever make them feel shame about their emotions. All emotions are needed to grow. Sometimes it’s as simple as older family members talking about death, or watching a lovely Disney movie that has a parent pass away in it. Suddenly your child does not see you as immortal and this might scare them. They might not want to leave your side for fear you will not return or that something might happen to you. These are big topics that they might not understand enough to share with you. For me, it was a cousin who told me that my mom will not live forever. What!? Suddenly I didn’t want to leave my mom’s side. We can’t be with our child all the time and we don’t always know what they have overheard, have been told or what they have watched on TV. Again, validate their feelings and remind them you always come back to pick them up. Give them something of yours (please, not something valuable) that they can carry with them to feel close to you even when you’re not there.

This is the time too when we start talking about Kindergarten and we might go to Get Ready for Kindergarten events. This is a big change for children, and it might scare them. “If I act a little maybe I don’t need to go... Maybe if I start having accidents I don’t have to go.” My son told me he was not going to ever turn 5 so that he wouldn’t have to go. Maybe dial back all the Kindergarten talk for a bit to see if that helps.

This is also a time when we might be adding to our family and a new baby comes into the house. We feel this is a great time for them to go to preschool so that they get some time for them as well as you get some time with baby. But some children might interpret this as, “The new baby gets to stay home with mom/dad and I get kicked out!” Again, validate these feelings and make sure to find some quality time with your older child as well.

Finally, I always say the magic number is two weeks. Share the concerns and changes in behaviour with the educators and hang in there for two weeks. Don’t give up yet and give in. If you let these big feelings steer the decisions it will only get harder. Now they know that tears will let us go home. Remember, these small transitions get us ready for bigger transitions. It’s easier to work this out now with educators who are very used to separation tears and more than willing to work with you. (So are Kindergarten teachers, but remember their ratio might be one teacher to 20 children, whereas preschool is one educator to 10 children). If after persisting for two weeks and it’s still a nightmare drop off, then maybe your child really isn’t ready yet. Give it a few months and try again. Sometimes that little break and a bit of growth makes all the difference.

—Miss Patti

Send your questions to Miss Patti at motherofdragonflies2021@ outlook.com