Saw something cool today by our house. The sun reflects off the ice crystals in the air creating a rainbow effect. They call this a sun-dog, we've seen a few but this is the first time I have got a decent picture of it.

Have fun!

This fella was outside our house yesterday with a couple of his mates, they seemed pretty chilled about me being around so I popped off a few shots with my camera. It was nice to have some visitors!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

I hope all of you in the UK are enjoying the snow despite the havoc it causes!?

Our northern weather experience still continues to grow, we experienced the coldest day so far at -37C yesterday. We also today are experiencing the day with the shortest daylight. From here on in the days grow longer now, woohoo!

I have included a couple of pictures above. One of us in the woods before my camera froze up and the other of a old car we found. It's outside someone's property and decorated with christmas lights, pretty cool.

I hope that you all are having a good season, we miss you lots and miss all the little things about the UK that we used to take for granted but life is full of new experiences at the moment and we hope to connect with many of you over the holidays.

Many blessings, grace and peace.

Simon

Merry Christmas to everyone!!

I hope all of you in the UK are enjoying the snow despite the havoc it causes!?

Our northern weather experience still continues to grow, we experienced the coldest day so far at -37C yesterday. We also today are experiencing the day with the shortest daylight. From here on in the days grow longer now, woohoo!

I have included a couple of pictures above. One of us in the woods before my camera froze up and the other of a old car we found. It's outside someone's property and decorated with christmas lights, pretty cool.

I hope that you all are having a good season, we miss you lots and miss all the little things about the UK that we used to take for granted but life is full of new experiences at the moment and we hope to connect with many of you over the holidays.

many blessings, grace and Peace

Simon

Wow it's been a long time since we posted. Sorry about that folks.

The winter has hit here a little. Last night it was around -30c and we have had a few big dumps of snow. Shoveling the stuff is something i'm getting used to!

So 'll put some pictures or video up soon. For those in the UK hope you are getting through your cold snap!

Si

This is us with Steve (left) and Rick on the border of Canada and Alaska on a two day trip last week.

A large part of ministry in the north is about connecting with people. There are many communities that are in some ways isolated and people can feel forgotten. We visited with a pastor of a foursquare church in Haines, Alaska about a four to five hour drive from here. Mark and his family really welcomed us and blessed us which was fantastic.

Last night I (Simon) travelled with four others to visit a first nations village 2 hours drive away. We had a fun time with some of the elders of the village who were believers, enjoyed singing some old hymns they loved and prayed with them.

Relationship is so important and we so appreciate everyone who has let us know how they are doing by email or facebook. Internet is still a little sporadic for us at the moment but we thank you for all you have sent through.

Things are still very much of an adjustment for us here, we'll get there though!

I hope and pray that you are doing well.

Simon

So we arrived!!! After several days of driving we finally made it safe and sound in Whitehorse. We have not had access to the internet over the last few days so this is the first chance I have had to post.

The drive was long, tiring, testing at times and an experience we won't forget in a hurry. We saw a load of wildlife on the road (not all alive) Cariboo, Bear, Deer, Moose, Buffalo and Elk. Thankfully they all stayed well clear of our vehicle and we had no problems.

Thanks you to all of you who have been praying for us and following our journey on the online map. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. It's pretty crazy but now is only the beginning! We have a new life to start here and there are so many things to sort out but we are going to take our time.

Rick and Nancy Turner, the pastors here have been amazingly gracious and helpful, we already feel connected to them.

This sunday is going to be significant for us, the first sunday here. Our pastor from Vancouver is flying up we are going to be installed officially in the church (sounds painful!) and ordained as licensed ministers.

We hope to connect with you soon

Simon

So we spent the day today with Trevor and Elizabeth Birak at Dawson Creek family church. We also were treated to a great service at church with Cheryl Bear, Randy and their three sons Paul, Randall and Justice. check out their website to find out more: www.cherylbear.com/

It's been great to enjoy the company of all these cool people and to take a break from traveling for the day.

Tomorrow we rise early and go for a big drive up to a place called the northern rockies lodge, it's going to be about 8-9hrs drive.

check out our journey on the link below, I have posted loads of pictures and stuff.

Blessings

Simon

So I have posted lots of images on the map of our journey, go see it...... check the address below

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=112160475063864745634.000490a6e201cd715c62a

The drive North

So first day over and we are safe and sound in our B&B but a big day tomorrow, around 9hrs driving! For Canadians that's like a day trip but for us Brits that's a big deal!

We will be heading up through the Fraser canyon ending up in Prince George at our second B&B.

The car is jammed with stuff but is doing pretty good on the hills so far! We are well stocked with snacks and drink (surprise!)

The hugeness of the journey has just hit me today, we've never even attempted anything like this before, excited and a little nervous at the same time!

Thanks for all the kind emails of those wishing us a good journey.

More from us tomorrow hopefully

Simon

The trip North!!

So we embark to day on our long journey up to the Yukon!

It's all a bit last minute at the moment and we are leaving today!

I have constructed a google map of our route and landmarks on the way. We will be uploading photo's and video to this as we go hopefully.

Just click on the link below and have a look around

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=112160475063864745634.000490a6e201cd715c62a

Hi everyone, apologies for those following the blog. We just have not been able to update the page for some time now.

Things got a little crazy a few weeks back! We had several near crisis and problems happen all at once! Things are a little easier now, hence I am finding the time to post.

So this is our last week in Vancouver before heading North. Our journey starts on the 30th of September and we will be traveling for around 6-7 days before we arrive in whitehorse.

So thank you to all who have taken the time to send us encouraging emails and have been praying for us or helping us out. We couldn't do this without you and it certainly has not been easy.

Grace and Peace

Simon

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Some Sabbath thoughts...

Once in a while we may share some more spiritual stuff that we want to pass on to you, things that we have been impacted by. so... here goes!

Our retreat last week was all about sabbath. It was a very thought provoking time and challenging.

The pastors (Charley and Bev) that took us through the week are a couple who have spent in excess of thirty years ministering in churches and have seen many Pastors and leaders "burn out". Their passion is to bring leaders and pastors back to the biblical principle of balance and rest.



Charley told us that he had heard according to a recent study, the average time for leaders to stay in youth or associate ministry in the US before burnout was around 1 1/2 to 2 years at the moment. I don't know about statistics for the rest of the western world but it may well be similar.

It's obvious that we all get out of balance at some time or other, changes in life such as getting married, moving house, a new job, exciting new opportunities or additions to our family all take time to adjust to.

Once out of balance it can almost seem like an impossibility to get back. In reality we have to be brave enough to say no to some things, sacrifice some opportunities and maybe disappoint some people in order to prioritize who or what is the most important to us. For those of us who are christians that means time with God being our first priority before anything or anyone else.

Just to let you know.... We are still working this out! ..... yeah, err, probably going to be working it out for a long while yet!!

Being in a new country and a new job we are conscious that this is a crucial time to be careful about over stretching ourselves. We trust God though that if we "seek him first" all the things we need will be "given to us" so we are trying to hold true to sabbath.


Bit of a long post, hope you made it through! I pray that this week you will find some true rest and restoration.

Grace and peace

Si



Exodus 20 v8-10 "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God"

Matt 6 v33-34 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

update

Hey everyone, just got back from our week away on retreat. It was an amazing time, learnt loads about the principle of sabbath from the Pastors who were there and had some solid time praying and reading.

Will post more soon about it but here's a picture anyway

Grace and Peace

Si

It has taken us a long time to get settled in and we have been working hard to get stuff organised every day. So we took a day off and headed off to somewhere we visited last time we were here....

A recent little trip we took from Simon Ayrton on Vimeo.

Retreat...

We have an excellent opportunity next week for some time away. We are going to spend some time at a place set aside for people to go "on retreat".

Life is busy for all of us and whatever your beliefs about God, faith or religion it's wise at times to take a step back, to take stock and to make sure you are living according to what is important to you.

For those who follow Jesus teaching and example, the idea of a retreat is a principle rooted in scripture. Jesus, before he started his ministry, spent time away from everything in the wilderness and often during his ministry withdrew to "lonely places" to pray.

This opportunity has reminded me that it has been too long since I purposely took myself out of everyday life to do this. I am already thinking that this will be something I do more often.

Can I encourage you to join with us as we intend to do this. Plan to get away for a time, it doesn't even have to be a long time, get someone to look after the kids for a morning, leave your mobile phone/laptop/ipod at home, get away to a peaceful place to pray about life's direction and reflect on the season of life that we find ourselves in. I'll be taking my Bible and a notebook to journal in but that's about it. I am confident that we will hear God directing us and shaping us.

We will be away for a week at a place in the sierra nevada mountains, no cell phone access or internet so you won't be able to get hold of us, sorry! It's not a holiday, but we are really looking forward to being refreshed and excited about what God is going to do.

Grace and peace

Si

Canada Day

So it's Canada day today, people have the day off there's loads of stuff going on, fireworks later. We have spent some time with people from church and it's been nice. It's pretty rainy here today so it's not that inviting to go outside but there ya go!

Other news is that we have managed to get ourselves a car! woohoo! It's going to make life so much easier. North america is not set up for people without cars. Where we are there is only really one or two bus routes and everything is a fair distance away.

So i hope this post finds you well and having better weather than us!

Si

A great weekend

Hey everyone, hope you had a great weekend?

We had a good one, saw lots of folks at church on sunday we had not seen for a while. great to spend time with people. We also had the chance to pop down to crescent beach for a couple of hours. It was a nice sunset and you can see the city in the background with the mountains.

Thanks for all the emails and facebook messages, it's great that so many people are caring and thinking of us. We are thinking of you all and praying God's good purposes for you.

Si

In 3 days...

It's our 3rd day here and wanted to share with you just how much God has done!

We have a temporary car to drive around in
We've set up bank accounts
We've been fed multiple times by the Borch & Brook's families
We've been given lifts when we were without our car
Our air freight has come in and we've been given somewhere to put it
We have somewhere to stay which is lovely

We wanted to encourage you and thank you for your prayers - THIS is what God has done with them!

A little video for y'all

O Canada here we come! from Simon Ayrton on Vimeo.

we have arrived

We have arrived in Vancouver safe and sound, a great welcome. I'll post some more sometime soon. very tired right now!!!!

First Step!

Well, we've arrived at the B&B in Reigate, Gatwick. What a day it has been. God has blessed us so much through so many of you coming around to say goodbye, sending texts and turning up 'at just the right time' to help us with things. We are blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. Whilst we've had many sad goodbyes we're so looking forward to the next email, or Skype to you. off to get a cuppa!

P.S. We fly 9am tomorrow morning. x

Surprise birthday meal!!!

Thanks to all of you who came out last night. It was great to see you. It was an awesome surprise, I didn't have a clue! Probably the last Balti we will have here in the Uk! sniff, sniff.

Perhaps in the Yukon they have bear bhuna or even Moose Masala? who knows!

Grace and Peace to you all

Si

A week to go!

We're knee deep in boxes and tape!

The last week has been such a blessing, thank you to all of you who have wished us well. We had an emotional last day at our church, Riverside in Birmingham on Sunday. We will miss you all.

We have a few days now of packing the house up until the UK road trip begins. We are visiting family from thursday onwards before we travel down to Gatwick next monday.

Thank you to all of you who have visited here, keep coming back to look as we will be updating frequently.

Grace and Peace

Si

Sunday evening (cakes and presentation etc from us)

A big thanks to everyone who came out for the evening last sunday! I hope you had a good time & you learned a little more about Canada? You now know what a moose sounds like!

We very much appreciated you for coming and hearing more about what's next for us, I'm sure the free cake had nothing to do with it!

Special thanks must go to the guys from our community group for helping out. You were all wonderful and we couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to everyone who baked or bought cakes, there was one massive chocolate one that was awesome beyond words.

This week holds more of the same for us, manic packing and sorting. We will be around this coming sunday at Riverside. After that we will be away visiting with family before we go.

Grace and Peace to you all

Si

Welcome!!!

We really want to keep connected with you and involve you in the journey!

If you are reading this now, thanks for coming over to have a look.

We have created this to let you know how things are going for us. From time to time we will post some photo's and some video to give you a more visual idea of things that have been happening. We may even share some of the things that are impacting us; verses from the bible, thoughts on life and God, experiences with wiser people etc

So... Bookmark this in your browser and keep checking back every now and then, we'll do our best to keep things updated and fresh.

Many blessings

Grace and Peace

Simon