We had lunch with Fran Huebert! Fran is 90 years old and a delight to talk to. Her husband, Dave, was one of my mentors. On the Easter long weekend in 1987, Pastor Dave traveled 2,000 miles North from Chilliwack to the Yukon as the guest speaker. He brought the usher of his church along. The usher, Harold Hansen, eventually became my father-in-law. He is Deanna’s dad. In 1993, Pastor Dave and the leadership team of Glad Tidings Church, now City Life Church, sent us to Brazil as missionaries. Deanna’s family are among the significant participants in the early years of the church-planting movement in Xingu.

In the Spring of 1987, it was a sunny Sunday morning. The windy mountain road was extremely slippery, with the ice melting on the frozen base. I wanted to spend my day off working on my new computer. As I settled in with a cup of coffee, I clearly remember God saying, “Do you want to be part of My program or your program?” I knew He was referring to my going to church. I drove the 100 km to participate in the Sunday service with seven other believers.

Mule Creek Camp – 1987

Christmas at Mule Creek Camp, 1986.

The word that describes my memories of that season: Comeraderie.

I’m still in touch with Ron Wilson, my foreman, during that season.

A Mystery

One of the machine operators was a woman. She and one of the guys were sleeping together. They were a couple and had been for about five years. Throughout long winter evenings, we had time to discuss everything. I asked them why they didn’t get married. “No, we don’t want to get married. When our friends get married, it signals the end of their relationship. Soon, they are divorced.  We’d rather continue our relationship.” The conversation was ongoing, with me promoting commitment and marriage. When I visited acquaintances from there some time later, I learned my friends did get married. And were soon divorced.

Now, 40 years later, I continue to wonder about the complexity of people and combinations of people. And I still believe in commitment and marriage.

I operated graders, snow plows, and snow blowers, depending on what was needed to keep the mountain road open.

The road from the summit to the Alaska border wound includes a long stretch of moonscape and a 15-mile descent through giant evergreen trees. It’s like you enter another world. When I could lean into the fresh snow with the plow truck and work my way up through the 13 gears, balancing the truck power against the snow load, I remember that great feeling of power and the joy of being alive. I cannot describe it, because there is no experience like it. But it feels good.

In Spring, we unofficially planned a great snowmobile race. We groomed the highway for weeks so there would be no bare pavement. On race day, the Alaskans and Yukons lined up. Our road crew attended the route with radios. Traffic was stopped. We closed the highway. The snowmobiles were categorized by size and paired up. Two were released every minute until they were all on the route, 60 miles. An ambulance and “sweeper truck” went last to load up the machines that blew their motors on the wide-open road. At the far end, drivers were carefully recorded with their times and lined up again. When the sweeper truck arrived, stating the road was clear, they all flew back to the Alaska border. To say it was an exhilarating day is a vast understatement.

Note that the ambulance from Alaska, the snowplow from Mule Creek, and the sweeper truck are all signs of a fun day living on the edge. The closer you get to the edge, the more fun life is, as long as you don’t go over the edge.

In 1987, the pastor of a small church in Haines Junction owned this log cabin. He let me use it for a spiritual formation retreat. I took a week off work. I drove a hundred miles North of Haines Junction. I parked my pickup beside the Alaska Highway, hiked up a steep mountain, and walked around a lake to the cabin on the other side. It was remote. I read the whole New Testament that week by a wood fire. Writing about it makes me want to get in my car and head North to see if it is still there so I can do that again. But… I’m also glad to be returning to Brazil because God has things to show us and stuff for us to do. The secret is appreciating each day for all they are worth because seasons change.

Mt Baker, as seen from our townhouse in Abbotsford, is an active volcano in Washington State.

While going through my photos of the Yukon years, I remembered the time I picked up a hitchhiker along the Alaska Highway in 1985. It was -30 out. We stopped at Lliard Hotsprings. We were the only ones there. We walked over the long boardwalks to the naturally hot water. The hard part was getting undressed and dressed again. The water was perfect. We had to keep immersing our heads, though, as our hair would freeze in about 30 seconds. Sometimes, we would get out of the water, dive into the -30 snow, and back into the hot water. It’s worth the trip if you have some free days in winter.

Lucy was having a rough go of it, so Paul put his arm around her as I comforted them and showed them cool stuff like the view of the freeway from our backyard.

Which one of the three do you identify with today?

May God give you the best week ever!

Rick and Deanna.

I used to dislike conflict strongly. I preferred to avoid it at almost all costs or do what I could to make it disappear. To my surprise, I am now attracted to conflict and dysfunction because those are places where God wants to use us to dispel darkness. Peace at any price is not always helpful. Sometimes, we must have awkward conversations as we cultivate servant leaders, an engaging challenge even for God, as indicated in the stories of the Bible. But God is not giving up and wants to train people to be trustworthy servant leaders through whom He can push back the darkness, and when this works as designed, it is so much fun. It is so satisfying.

Unlock your true spiritual potential by embracing and conquering the challenges in your life. Each test you face is a gateway to greater authority and enlightenment—let this explainer video guide you to the next level.

This week, we received an unexpected prophetic word from an Uber driver in Edmonton.

In Edmonton, we met Daniel, our Uber driver, who shared a story that felt like God was talking to us. When Daniel learned we were missionaries in Brazil, he passionately encouraged us, “Don’t stop being missionaries. It is SO important.” He then recounted a tale from 80 years ago when Canadian missionaries journeyed to Ethiopia. They arrived in Addis Ababa and then ventured 500 km into the bush on horseback. Daniel’s father was the first to embrace their message, becoming a convert, then a pastor, and eventually a church planter. Today, Daniel, his wife, and their six children faithfully worship with about 300 people of Ethiopian backgrounds in a church in Edmonton. His words echo in our minds, “Don’t stop being missionaries. It is so important to many people.”

Charles (Chuck) and Rachel Keim (Dan Thiessen’s son-in-law and daughter)
My friend Chuck passed to the other side, and we attended his celebration service in Edmonton.

1989. Chuck, Henry, and I are on an epic road trip, checking out the Joshua trees with Henry’s propane-fueled Cadillac in the background.

1989. Rick and Chuck at an orange stand “in a West Texas border town” or somewhere like that.

I knew Chuck when we were all still single. Once, my brother Henry invited Chuck and me to a long, meandering road trip clear across the United States the long way, from sea to sea and from Canada to Mexico. We took the long way there and back again, even driving hours out of our way to eat at a Mexican restaurant in El Paso. Henry had converted his Cadillac to propane as a less expensive fuel alternative, a new idea then. We traveled secondary highways and backroads, fueling up at trailer parks and anywhere we could find propane. We laughed all the way there and back again.

My cousins Dan and Rebekah are missionary kids. They grew up in remote regions in Borneo, and the church-planting work their parents initiated continues to grow.

Dan was the chairman of the Xtreme Mercy Canada board for fourteen years. Chuck married my cousin Dan’s daughter, Rachel.

2025. I am showing Uncle Henry photos of his missionary life in Borneo back in the 1960s or so. His body is strong, but his mind cannot always remember his exploits and relationships.

Last week, I had coffee with Uncle Henry in Abbotsford. He came twice to Brazil with Dan 20 years ago, and I asked him to tell Borneo missionary stories to the young churches in Brazil. The idea is that while the new churches start as receivers of the gospel, they pass on their blessing to others by planting more churches, maybe even internationally. Brazilians are loved worldwide and may have easier access to some groups.

Lucy and Paul’s people showed up in force at the Anglican Church last Sunday for their baptism.

While we dedicate our babies to God, and they get baptized when they are old enough to understand, the Anglicans baptize the babies of willing parents, and then the children, when they can understand, confirm that they want to be believers. That’s how I understand it. It felt like what we call baby dedications, and we are cheering them on along their journey to heaven.

Ellis Ritchard is growing up, and he has the biggest, whole-body smiles.

I am always amazed at how babies look deeply into the eyes of their caretakers to take their cues about how to think about things. They are programming their brains and emotions to survive or thrive on this incredible planet. The idea is that one day, we transfer our programmers from parents or caretakers to our spouses and God Himself. It’s right there, at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 2:24).

Edmonton is a beautiful city!