Merry Christmas!!

Hello all!

It's been sometime since my last post! Our family has been very busy of late. We have sang at a few Christmas banquets and done various concerts the past couple months and such in southern Alberta. God has been so good!

I love this time of the year. It brings back so many great memories from my childhood. I just finished buying all my Christmas yesterday. And they are now under the tree.

Something quite special happened to our family this year. We had a phone call from a lady we knew that lived in Milk River saying that an anonymous person had dropped off 12 large packages at her home that the person wanted to have passed on to our family.

So, we picked up all the packages and found a note with them explaining the 12 gifts were for the 12 days of Christmas, and that we were to open on e a day starting on the 13th of December.

Since then we have opened up 9 of the gifts. They have been incredibly perfect and generous gifts!! There have been children's toys, decorations, very nice swiss gear luggage + so many other amazing gifts! One of the favorite days so far was day #7 when Emily opened up a huge package full of 7 expensive deluxe chocolates boxes! We all love chocolate and we are rationing it out over Christmas. :)

(pictured is the delectable chocolate!!!)

Today, I opened gift #9 and there was 9 packs of REALLY nice various socks for the whole family!

If the person that anonymously gave us these special gifts ever reads this blog, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the time, love and money you have put into these gifts for us! We are so blessed by all of them! May God richly bless you!!

Home Sweet Home...

We are home after another awesome tour. So many stories of God's goodness.

The concert in Spokane was very special. God really seemed to bless that evening. What is really neat is that before we left for this tour I had been praying that God would lead at least one person to Him through the ministry of His music. And there was a youth group that came to the concert that night and after the concert a young man left the building very emotional and the youth director later told us that he accepted Christ then. That was so amazing to hear!
The next day we had an evening concert in the small town of Fernwood, Idaho. It is pastored by Brian Primer. His family had us over for supper right before the concert and we slept in the church that night.

On Thursday we arrived in Kalispell, Montana where the Haymond family hosted us. They served us a delicious supper before the concert and helped us set-up. After the concert and tearing down we headed back to their home. They shared some beautiful music for us that night. It was a real treat. We stayed the night there and left in the morning after a great breakfast.

We got home around 9:00 PM Friday night. But, we had to leave Saturday morning for a concert in Strasbourg, Saskatchewan on Sunday. We arrived at the church there in the evening where they had a hot lasagna supper waiting. After supper we set up then were billeted out a few different ways. Me and Josh went to the Danielson home where we had popcorn, talked and watched a bit of Hockey Night in Canada.

Sunday morning we did the concert and it went really well. Afterwards there was a potluck. After tearing down, we headed for home. We got home a bit before midnight. It's been a crazy busy last three weeks! Now, we are trying to catch up with things here at home.

Thank you SOOO much to everyone who helped contribute to our tour! Thanks to all the young people that would help us tear down after concerts, and thanks to everyone who had our family over for a dinner or for staying the night! We met so many great families this tour!

God bless you all!

Until next time,

Josiah Jost

In Washington

Ahh… It’s been a while since my last post.

We had a great visit with the Neufeld family which included sharing music, going out for Chinese and visiting. Thanks again to the Neufeld family for all the hospitality! (Chinese dinner pictured below)

Jesse and Heidi and John-Michael left for home on Thursday morning. It was great having them along for this tour again! They add a lot!

We left the Neufeld family Friday morning. Our next stop was near Hoodsport, Washington. We had about a two hour wait at the US border which caused us to be right in the Seattle/Tacoma traffic rush. Crazy! It took us 2 ½ hrs. to make it from Seattle to Tacoma (31 miles). But, we made it to the Endicott family at about 8:00 PM where they had delicious tacos waiting.

They arranged for our family to stay in a very nice cabin near their place. It was such a beautiful place! That part of Washington is so green and amazing!

Saturday morning, Hank Bloomfield and the Endicotts gave us a tour of a oyster/clam shore harvest. That was very interesting. Afterwards, we found a meadow near the cabin where we played an awesome game of Ultimate Frisbee with the Endicotts! We played for a couple hours! (Ultimate Frisbee pictured below)…

Saturday evening we went with the Endicotts to the Bloomfields for supper. Mr. Bloomfield killed a large male bear (Approx. 300 lbs.) prior to our arrival and he BBQ’d some for supper. It was so good! We had never tried bear meat before. (Pictured below is Hank Bloomfield with a piece of bear steak! Mmmmm…)

Sunday morning we shared 40 minutes of music in the church in Hoodsport. It is a really refreshing church. Afterwards we had a potluck and then helped some of Endicotts friends move a raft that had come loose in the nearby harbor. Later in the afternoon, we had a great game of softball with the Endicotts and some other friends, the Hageman family. That was a blast! We played in a nearby MUDDY baseball field!

In the evening we did a concert in the same church, but with a different group (Family Bible Fellowship). It is always fun sharing the music. I really enjoy that. It’s always so amazing that God would chocse to use our family. Talking with folks afterwards, and hearing how the Lord spoke to them during different parts of the concert sure does make it all worthwhile. The people in that church are pretty neat. We enjoyed all the visiting.

Following the concert and tearing down, we headed over to Endicotts with the Hagemans and played some games with them. Totally great time

Monday morning, (today), we left the cabin and headed for Spokane. Thanks so much to the Endicotts, Bloomfields, and all those who helped tear down after the concert. It is always great to have help! J

We have three more concerts before coming home. We have one in Spokane tomorrow, then one in Fernwood, Idaho the next day and then the final one before going home will be in Kalispell, Montana on Thursday. On Friday we head home for one night, then on Sat. we drive to Strasbourg, SK (near Regina) for a Sunday concert.

It is so neat to see God working throughout this tour. We serve an awesome God!

Update From Surrey

Wow, been very busy the last while. We’ve had 7 concerts in 9 days. We are currently still staying with our dear great aunt Lorraine. She is such an amazing lady.

Well, on Friday the 12^th, we did an afternoon concert for the golden agers club in the Johnson Heights church. That was fun. It’s always fun sharing our music with seniors. Then on Saturday, we did a concert in Yarrow, BC at the Yarrow MB church in the evening. The Robertson family (old friends of mom and dads) served us supper before the concert and then served us delicious pies after the concert. During that concert it was really weird for me though. I had been feeling quite sick before the concert so I took a couple painkillers. But I think that was a bad idea because my brain wasn’t working right playing the bass. I was playing the right notes, but I couldn’t connect with the music… It was really strange. Thankfully, God helped me play everything right in spite of it.

Is there another word I can use other than concert? The word concert sounds too showy. We really just want to have a ministry through music.

On Sunday, we went to the Rose of Sharon church in Aldergrove. It is a really cool church with a lot of nice families. We did a half-hour concert and Dad shared a message in the morning.

After the morning service, we went to the Strauss family’s home for lunch. They prepared an awesome lasagna dinner! Afterwards we played volleyball in their front yard. Unfortunately, I only played a few minutes though as I was feeling quite sick.

Then, in the evening we did a concert. God really seemed to bless the evening concert. It was really moving to talk to people afterwards. There was a young man who was blind that came to the concert. It was so encouraging to talk to him afterwards. He has such a sweet spirit and was really blessed by the music.

We are leaving our aunt’s place shortly to visit some friends (the Neufelds) for a couple of days. Then we are off to Washington. God bless and thanks again to those who are praying!!

Pictured is a shot from the concert in the Rose of Sharon church in Aldergrove.

Divine Appointment In Sorrento

Well, we found out why God wanted us stranded in Sorrento.

Wednesday morning we prayed that God would show us why He wanted us to be in the small town of Sorrento and that God would use our family somehow while we were there. Jesse and Heidi and Jon and Sharla left for the family they were staying with in Surrey (since there was no need for them to stay with us in Sorrento).

Around noon, Dad went to a small thrift store behind our hotel and started talking to the owner and found out he was a Christian. After the owner found out our situation and that we sang as a family, out of the blue he asked if we would be interested in doing a concert at their church that evening for their bible study group! He said he would have to ask the pastor first though. Dad said we would be more than willing.

The fellow that owned the thrift store then called the pastor. The church has a husband and wife pastoring team and the wife does the bible studies. When he talked to the pastor's wife, she was amazed. Apparently, she had been trying to prepare a study for the bible study, but things weren’t coming together and on Tuesday (the day that our van broke down) God told her that there was no need to worry because someone else would take care of it. Another part of the story is that when he phoned, the pastor had been out for most of the day, but she was in there when he called as she had run into the church to get something and that is when the phone rang! There are a lot more details how God put it altogether as well. It is amazing how God works!!

Well, in the evening the thrift store owner and his wife took our family to the church in his truck and car (his truck pulling our trailer). Then at 7:00 PM we had a concert in their Pentecostal church for the bible study group as well as some others that were invited. There was such a sense of God’s blessing on the concert. There were about 30-40 people there. Several people shared afterwards how different events in their lives made the concert so meaningful. They also blessed us so much financially that the amount was well over twice as much as all the costs of van repairs. God is so good. It was such an encouragement to all of us

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

I love that verse a lot. I’m learning to trust God more and more everyday…

Thursday, the part came in for the van and the mechanic was able to install it quickly. We were back on the road around 2:00 PM. We arrived in Surrey, BC in time for a very nice supper with our Great Aunt Lorraine. She is such a sweet lady. We will be staying here for a few days. And she has wireless internet!! :)

Thank you all sooo much for your prayers! There is some sickness going through our family right now. I was totally rotten sick yesterday, but I am doing way better today. We have a concert today at about 1:00. Pray that God will bring healing to all those who are sick.

Thanks!

First Update…

Well, we had left at about 6:00 AM Friday morning in the cold dark morning. It was really raining before we made it to Lethbridge. In fact, the car directly in front of us hydro-planed and did a 360 right in front of us then went into the ditch near New Dayton. It was pretty scary to watch. But, by Calgary the roads were great. It was amazing to drive through the mountains. If I was driving my own vehicle I probably would have stopped a dozen times for photo shoots. We safely arrived at the Shonwise family on Friday evening in time for an awesome Greek style supper!

We had a concert in Kelowna at the Shonwise family’s church Saturday evening then tore down and came home for some super banana cream pies our hosts had prepared!

We left the Shonwises Sunday morning. Thanks to the Shonwise family for being such great hosts!

At about 1:00 PM we arrived at the DenHollander family’s home. They had a great soup and sandwich lunch waiting. In the evening, we did a concert at the Five Corners Pentacostal Church in Salmon Arm.

On Monday, we had the chance to play a ton of volleyball with the DenHollanders, and some friends. (Cassons, Harbages) Great time! Then, we came home and had an awesome full fledged thanksgiving dinner with the DenHollanders in the evening. So good!

Today, (Tuesday morning) we left the DenHollander family around 11:00 AM. It was great to re-connect with them!

Shortly after leaving the DenHollanders, we heard a belt start to scream in our van. We pulled over right away. By the looks of it, the pulley that carries the belt that powers the alternator broke. So, we had to be towed to the nearest town, (Sorrento, BC). After a mechanic looked at it, we got the news that we will need a part for the van that won’t arrive till Thursday. We are sooo grateful that don’t have a concert scheduled until this Friday. We are also very thankful that we have roadside insurance that will cover our expenses while we are stranded here. I’m not sure why God allowed this, but I’m sure He has a good reason. I am using our hotel’s wireless internet right now.

God bless and keep praying for us!

Pictured is a shot from our concert in Salmon Arm , BC. Photo courtesy of David DenHollander.

Upcoming Tour

Well, Lord willing, we are off on another tour. This time we will only be gone for about three weeks and are going west this time. We plan to go through BC and then a couple of places in Washington state. I absolutely love traveling and doing concerts with my family. We have a bunch of new songs for this tour as well. I love doing the new songs the most.

If you are in the BC or Washington state area, feel free to contact us about coming to sing as we still have a couple open slots. As concerts are confirmed we will post our schedule to: http://www.josties.com/Tour.html

Please pray for God's blessing on this trip and for us as we share the message we are bringing.

Without God we are nothing.

Contentment...

Something that I have been thinking a lot about lately is contentment. What brings contentment?
It obviously has nothing to do with what you own. Look at all the humble families in foreign countries that are full of contentment and happiness with nothing but each other and the basics to live. And then you can look at how miserable wealthy people that have 8 cars and a huge home can be.

I think contentment is about having a grateful attitude. There is so much for every Christian to be grateful for at any point in there life. The Bible says, "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God". There is much more joy in being content with what God has provided you. And everyone around you will appreciate your attitude too! Like the quote goes, "Nobody really cares if you are grouchy, so you might as well be happy!".

I personally believe that if we cannot be content wherever we are in life right at this moment, we cannot find contentment at anytime. If you are not content before you buy the sports car you still won't be content after, if you are not content with life before you get married you will not find contentment after.

So, right now, take a moment to thank God for all the blessings that He has given you and be content wherever you are in life right now. I am so grateful for all the blessings God has given me. Such as my godly parents, family, cousins, friends, good health, and for so many other blessings...

1 Timothy 6:6 "Now godliness with contentment is great gain."

New Tobias Bass Guitar!

Well, I have been praying about buying a new 5 string bass guitar for the last while, and this past week God provided one for me.

It was amazing how it all worked out. I had been looking for one for sometime and I really wanted a good one. I talked to a bassist friend about what the best bass would be. Well, after searching for a while I found a Tobias bass on eBay that was listed in Medicine Hat, AB. Tobias is a very good brand name for basses. I prayed about it a lot and I really felt at peace to bid on it. I placed my bid of $1525.00 US right before I went to bed. I was pretty sure I was going to outbid as that bass has a SRP of $4500.00 USD. But, I prayed if it was God's will for me to win it, it would happen. I woke up the next morn surprised to see that I had won the bass for $1525.00 US! I paid for the bass and made arrangements for my Grandparents from Med. Hat to bring it out the next day. It all worked perfect!

And the encouraging part is that the seller went to our www.josties.com web site and found out we were Christians. He then told me that when he listed his bass on eBay was kind of nervous about doing it since he hadn't listed anything on eBay before, so he prayed God would send just the right buyer for the bass. And that's what God did!

I am so happy with the bass. It has incredible tone and craftsmanship. I am still getting used to playing a bass with 5 strings instead of 4, but I am starting to get the hang of it.

It is made out of Bubinga solid wings with natural hand rubbed finish. It also has laminated in mahogany and swamp ash. It has a 5 piece laminated Asym contoured neck-through, dual truss rods, Pau Ferro fingerboard, with 24 frets. Bartolini curve top pickups and 18 volt electronics. Volume control with push/pull slap tone, pick up balance control, bass, mid and treble boost or cut, mid select toggle switch and Grover machine heads. Just incredible.

(Pictured is my bass guitar)

Two Tips to a Safer Internet

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God...." Jesus Christ - Matt. 5:8

A real desire I have it to protect myself from being exposed to inappropriate/immoral content found in spam and on the Internet. Better to be safe than sorry. I will share a couple of them with you.

#1: Browsing
One area of the Internet that is very hard to predict is the ads. They are often banners or they are on the side. You can be very careful what sites you go to, but sometimes there will be a bad ad at an otherwise safe site. Even some 'Christian' sites have inappropriate ads as their 'sponsors' choose what ads to post.

One safe way to avoid basically ALL ads and ALL pop-ups is to use the Mozilla Firefox browser with the 'Ad-Block Plus' add-on. The ad-blocker software actually PREVENTS ads from even loading up on the page. Both are completely FREE and SAFE to download. And even if you are already used to Internet Explorer, the switch is very easy and only takes a few minutes. It is very easy to import all your bookmarks/favorites, etc.

Instructions: If you do not already use Mozilla Firefox for browsing download it from this link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ Once downloaded add this 'extension' from this link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Once both are installed subscribe to the free Filter Subscription. The 'EasyList (USA)' subscription works the best. (It should automatically ask you which subscription you would like to use.)

#2. Email/Spam

Spam is another very unpredictable danger. If you receive a large amount of spam the odds are that some will have inappropriate content. Never click open a spam email and I HIGHLY recommend to turn the preview pane off on your email client. This way only those messages you deliberately open are displayed. The pictures in spam mails are usually made so spammers can see if you open them and that means a lot of spam. Also, be careful what sites you submit your email address to.

Instruction on how to turn the preview pane off: Outlook Express: Click View Menu > Layout and remove the check mark beside Show Preview Pane. Outlook Express 6.0 offers a "Read all messages as plain text" option. This is a good alternative to disabling the preview pane.

Another suggestion would be to install a spam filter. As with all spam filters, you need to watch it for a while at first to make sure the filter doesn't remove any good emails. If it does, just add the good email to the white-list. I use a software called SPAMfighter. The standard version is free to download and easy to use with Outlook. (download link here: http://www.spamfighter.com/)

Feel free to make a comment if you have any other good ideas or suggestions or questions! God bless as you all continue to honor and glorify Him in every area of your life!

Bales and Baby!

Well, first off, we heard some very exciting news over the weekend! I'm going to be an uncle again! My older brother, Jonathan and wife Sharla told us that they are expecting! Great news! The precious little Jost/s is due March 3rd. I know Jon and Sharla will make great parents.

On another point, at this time of the year we always have to deal with baling all the hay! Jonathan generally does all the swathing and baling and the rest of us pick them all up. This year there are about 1400-1700 bales to pick up. We like to start really early in the morning and get a couple loads of 100 in before breakfast. What makes it easier in the morning is the cool air AND looking forward to the breakfast that mom prepares! This morning she made french toast with homemade syrup, fruit salad with yogurt and fried ham. Mmmmm! (Pictured) Previous mornings she has made pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast, fruit, coffee, etc. Pretty sweet mom, eh?


We try to arrange our schedule so that we don't have to get any loads in the afternoon heat. The combination of sweat and alfalfa flakes going down your back does NOT bring a warm fuzzy feeling! We aren't exactly singing mom's song, "Country Sunshine" when that happens. :-)

This past Friday we got up early and picked up a couple loads before breakfast, but by 8:00 it was already close to 30 C above! And by the afternoon it hit 43 C above (about 108 F)! I just about sweat all day even in the house. Fortunately we didn't have to pick up any bales up after breakfast.

God bless!

-Josiah

Weekend in Great Falls

It's been awhile since I've posted anything to my blog. We have gotten back into routine here back at home.

Last weekend we went down to Great Falls, Montana to participate in a Gospel Grass jamboree. There were 5 groups altogether there including our cousins the Fehrs. It was really fun to hear and play with all the groups there.

In between, we played tons of soccer and Ultimate Frisbee with other young people there. We stayed at the Balyeat family's home Friday night. I had a little bit of time to jam with James Balyeat. That was really fun. He is a very gifted 16 yr. old guitar player.

Saturday, our family sang two 40 minute packages. One at about 11:40 AM and one at about 5:00 PM.

It was a really great weekend.

We enjoyed Father's day yesterday. I am so grateful for the dad that God gave me. He has been a super example for his eight sons in loving his wife and children and taking the time to pray for us and spend time in God's word with us.

(pictured is our family singing at the jamboree.)

At Home! Thank You All!

We stayed in Regina on Saturday night and had another great time with the Durston family. And yesterday we arrived home at about 8:30 PM.

I just want to thanks and praise God for all the answered prayer, protection, chances to minister, guidance, grace, new friends, old friends, provision and answered prayer! This trip has really impacted my life.

It was awesome to see so much of our beautiful Country, but what made the trip so awesome was the people God brought into our lives. We stayed at and met SO many new people. God really blessed us with many new friends. It was so neat to connect with people after our concerts. If God leads us to do this more in the future I would be so open to it.

Here is a list of the people that either had our family overnight or in their home and served us or helped us out in a big way that we would like to thank. There are several not listed in this list who helped us in ways such as setting up and tearing down our sound systems and several other ways. Thank you to you, too!

Thank you ALL!!!!!

-Josiah for the Jost Family

Thank you to:
Ken and Myrna Priebe Family,
Don & Melody Poteaux Family,
Jerry & Sharon Durston Family,
Gareth and Patti Dillistone Family,
Thomas Lori Bobier Family,
Rod and Sue Peters Family,
Abe & Hazel Dyck,
Walter & Chris Martens,
Will & Carole Feldbusch,
The Olmsteads
Marty Dyck,
Steve & Sue Screpnek,
Gary & Claudette Morrisette Family,
Jim and Judy Minnett Family,
Ted and Marlene Barry Family,
Phil & Cynthia Hounsome Family,
Axel and Kristin Dittman Family,
The Heikoop Family,
Brian and Diana Strom,
Randy & Evelyn Jost,
Don & Esther Jost,
Amanda Van Hierden,
Bill & Krys McLean and Family,
Jerry and Evelyn Horton,
Charlie & Cathy Martin,
Mr. & Mrs. Thompson Family,
The Entire "Forget Me Nots" Group,
Harold & Martha Stewart,
Mr. & Mrs. Hodgekinson,
Bert and Joan
Judy Ford

And thank you to all others who helped, too!

Thank you all!! May God richly bless you!

In Winnipeg Again...

(Pictured is some of the little guys on Mr. Dycks boat on the lake)

On Tuesday evening we arrived near Kenora, Ontario at Abe and Hazel Dycks cottage. Wow! It is so beautiful there! We had the chance to go canoeing, hiking and fishing there. It was such a treat. We had a really refreshing time there with Mr. and Mrs. Dyck. Thank you again for inviting us there!

Thursday morning we left for Winnipeg where we arrived at Judy Ford's place. She has been a paraplegic for almost 20 years and she has such a good attitude about it . Mom and Dad knew her from college and we met her after our concert in Winnipeg earlier on our tour and she invited our family to stay with her. She is an incredible lady. We had a BBQ supper at her place Thursday night.

Friday, our whole family went to the Winnipeg Zoo with Judy. It was very interesting to see so many animals. Apparently Winnipeg's Zoo is the second best zoo in Canada. We saw monkeys, siberian tiger, cheetah, couger, etc. etc. Lots of fun.

On the way back to her home, she drove us by Steve Bell's home. Judy saw that his garage door was open, so she stopped there where she introduced us to Steve Bell. I thought it was awesome to meet Mr. Bell. He is a fabulous musician that has won at least a couple Juno awards (Canadian Musician's Award) and I've loved his music ever since I was little. He is such an terrific humble and friendly guy. He ran into his home to give us a few of his CDs.

(pictured is some of us with Steve Bell)

Tomorrow we head to Regina. And on Sunday we head home! That is really weird to think about right now.

Go Bless!

-Josiah

Officially On Our Way Back

(Pictured is a shot from our concert in Thessalon, Ontario. Mother's Day, May. 13th)

We have seen God work everyday of this tour. He has been so amazing. He has provided and protected us and we have seen God work in so many ways. This trip has really impacted my life. My blog hasn’t stated or done justice to everything that He has done for us.

We left the Hounsomes on Friday morning. It was a sad departure, but we had an awesome time with them!

We arrived at Thessalon, Ont. Friday afternoon where Charlie Martin was there to help us set-up at the church. They also had a nice chili supper ready for us there, too. We stayed at the church Friday night and Saturday night. Saturday morning we got up early to attend the church’s morning bible study at 7:30 AM. Afterwards, they had a fancy waffle breakfast. That afternoon I practiced the stand-up bass. Saturday evening we went to another couples home for a BBQ. They had very nice BEEFY burgers.

On Sunday, (Mother’s Day!) We shared a short concert in the morning service at the Thessalon Bible Chapel. Following the service we took down our sound system then had lunch. Once lunch was over I ate almost 2 whole liters of Nestle Parlour “Heavenly Hash” ice cream. It was on sale for a really good price at the local store, and I didn’t have a freezer to store it to take to our next destination. Thus, I ate it! Wow! I’ve never eaten so much ice cream at a time in my life! (Hey Zack, Pretty good, eh?) :-)

In the afternoon we traveled to Echo Bay, Ont. for an evening concert. We met up with Pastor Bill McLean and set-up. It was a relatively small church. But, it was packed.

It was the last scheduled concert for this tour. It appeared that God really blessed the concert. I was able to play the stand-up bass for some of the songs in our concerts on Sunday. It sounds really cool! I got a blister though due to the fact that I use a different part of my fingers to pluck the stand-up bass. It was worth it though. It is way more relaxing to do a concert now than it was when we first started the tour.

Following the concert, Joel, Jeremiah and I were billeted out to Pastor Bill’s home. We had some potato salad and sausage late in the evening at his place. They were very hospitable and fun people to stay with.

Monday morning, Jon and Sharla left for the Minnesota area to visit some of Sharla’s family. We so enjoyed having you guys on this tour! We’ll miss you for the rest of the trip!

Monday evening we arrived at Marathon, Ont. where we stayed at a hotel. Tuesday we leave for Kenora, Ont. where Abe and Hazel Dyck are having us out to there lake cottage. I’m sure it will be a treat to stay there for a day or two!

We probably won’t have an internet connection for a couple of days. So, until next time!! Bye!

Thank You Lord!

On Thursday God provided me one of the most awesome gifts I have ever received!

We were visiting a group of Christian musicians called the “Forget Me Nots” that were mostly related to each other that all live in the same beautiful home about ½ hr. north of Toronto. We had met some of them after our concert in Newmarket, ON. and connected with them then. The next week they invited our entire family over for a BBQ. We arrived there at about 3:30 in the afternoon. They have an awesome yard and home! With over 20,000 square feet, they have 13 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and what an incredible place. It is like a resort. They had over 100 instruments in their home! Several guitars (12-stringed, classical, acoustic), Mandolin, Banjo, Auto-harp, Upright Bass, Piano, Tambourine, Harmonicas, Violin, plus tons of others!

When everyone arrived for supper from their workplaces and such, I had the chance to talk to their bass player Manuel. He is a terrific older gentlemen who really has a heart for other people. He is a really great bass player as well. And it amazes me that he can sing tenor and play the bass at the same time. We had a very edifying conversation with each other.

After the BBQ they played us several songs. It was fabulous. They played “Man of Constant Sorrow”, “Apple Jack”, ”High on This Mountain”, “Wayfaring Stranger” and some other fantastic songs. It was a real treat to have them perform a concert on their patio. They had guitar, mandolin, violin, harmonica, banjo, auto-harp and of course the stand-up bass.

Afterwards, Manuel asked if I would like to try playing a stand-up bass. I was thrilled to have the chance to mess around on it. It is a different plucking technique from the electric but otherwise it is quite similar to play. The upright bass sounds so cool!

He then went back into the house and took out their family’s other stand-up bass and said it was mine! I couldn’t believe it!! The bass has a beautiful rich sound! I just about cried!

He said he felt God wanted him to give it to me. I was so blown away! It is worth thousands of dollars! I could have never afforded such an instrument! God has been SOOO good! It is so humbling to receive such a generous gift.

God bless you Manuel and the rest of the “Forget Me Nots” music group! I will never stop being grateful!

Praise the Lord!!!!!

(Pictured is Manuel and I with the bass)

Blue Jays Game!

(Pictured is us guys at the Blue Jays game)

Wow, life is incredible! God just blessed me with the most amazing and huge gift! But, I will make a special seperate post for that later. It has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened.

On Monday morning we left Brian and Diana Strom’s place after a fabulous visit there. They are such an amazing couple! On Monday evening we arrived back at the Hounsome’s home and had delicious supper there. And on Tuesday both of our entire families and Derek McDonald had the chance to see a Toronto Blue Jay’s game (at only $2 a ticket)!! It was awesome! We drove both families into Yorkdale (part of Toronto) at about 5:00 PM and then we went on a subway to the Roger’s Centre. It was so weird to have both families all on a subway. It was an incredible experience! We got to the Blue Jays game at about 6:15 to watch the warm-ups and get our seats. We sat up in the fifth deck. It was a pretty sweet view. Walking into the Roger’s Centre was amazing! The CN Tower is right next to the stadium as well as the CBC building and a ton of other really cool landmarks!

(Pictured is a shot from the the game)

We brought homemade sandwiches and cookies, etc. It was SOO fun to see the game with the Hounsomes. The Jays lost but it was so fun. At about the 6^th inning when the Blue Jays were losing the fans started making and throwing paper airplanes towards the field. Wow, that was fabulous! We started making them, too. And every time a fan made a good airplane it seemed like the whole crowd would cheer it on. Joel threw one that made it all the way to the field. The fans were really cheering it on!

After the game we got back on the subway to get back to our vehicles and then traveled aback to Hounsomes. We got back at about 1:00 in the morning. Mr Hounsome did a great job organizing everything. Thank you for that Mr. Hounsome!

(Pictured is our families walking in downtown Toronto)

On Wednesday I went with Zack and Shayne and Joel to help them spray a countertop. It was cool to see the countertop transformed. Zack is really good at it. It’s a phenomenal product.

Late Thursday evening we watched a special PowerPoint that Zoe had made of our visit with them. That was really cool.

Next post I will explain the amazing thing that also happened yesterday (Thursday)! But I need to dedicate a special post for that. So, for now I better go help pack up as our stuff as we are leaving the Hounsomes today. SO SAD :-( Thanks again Hounsomes for the GREAT time!

We have another concert this Sunday in Thessalon, ONT.

God bless! Thanks again for all those who are praying!!!!!!

In The Ottawa Area!

(Pictured is our family in the Parliament building)

Wow, lots has happened since the last update! On Sunday the 29^th of April we sang twice in Orillia. We did the morning service, with children's songs, Jesse speaking and several of our other songs; and a full concert in the evening. It was fun to meet all the people there. Some of them we had already met at the Hounsome’s fellowship. Also on that Sunday, Jesse, Joel and Shayne Hounsome went down to the Orillia waterfront to witness to people by doing interviews with them. Joel recorded their answers on his camera and Jesse asked the questions. They talked to 2 people and it went really well.

On Monday morning, we left the Hounsomes and went to Mt. Pleasant to meet and stay with the Henry and Jacoba Heikoop family. They are a really neat family that owns a 2 level home. They live on the top floor and the main floor is a store that has a deli, bakery and diner. It is a really cool country style store that has a huge windmill turning on the front. The parents were just leaving for Belgium we arrived. But their offspring did an awesome job of hosting us. They had 12 kids aged about aprox. 20-40 yrs old. The ones that are still home all work together to manage the store. We had the chance to play tennis and Ultimate Frisbee in the afternoon. Afterwards we had an amazing turkey dinner. In the evening we had a great baseball game with them and then came back and had pie (chocolate cheesecake and chocolate pudding) (They tasted great James!) followed by some singing and music. We then stayed at their place for the night. They have an amazing set-up. In the morning they served our whole family breakfast in their diner. They were incredibly hospitable.

After leaving the Heikoops on Tuesday, we drove to see the Niagara Falls. They were incredible! It was a bit chilly so the huge mists from the falls were really cold. But it was a blast (pun intended)! We then stayed at a hotel Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we left for Ottawa. It was about a 5 hr. drive. The weather has been great and the scenery here is beautiful. We are all enjoying everything. This has been such a cool experience for us all.

We arrived at my Dad’s cousin Brian and Diana Strom near Ottawa where they had a hot roast beef and mashed potato dinner with gravy and hot buttered asparagus and a bean salad with hot buns. Delicious! For dessert they served angel food cake with fruit and whipped cream and French vanilla ice cream. Hmmm! They are a really fun couple.

On Thursday we sang at the Metropolitan Church in Ottawa for a large seniors group, with a luncheon afterwards. We met Dad's cousin Randy Jost with his wife Evelyn. It went really well.

Afterwards we all went to the Parliament buildings where we met up with Amanda Van Hierden who showed us around. Wow, it was such a fascinating experience to walk around and through the buildings. The newly renovated library is quite impressive. It was funny as our family was walking around Ottawa. Since it was right after a concert, we were all still wearing our matching brown outfits. We heard one guy say as we walked by, "Wow, there must have been a major sale on those shirts!". :-)

After visiting the parliament buildings, Brian and Diana Strom took us to the Canadian Museum of Civilization which is just across the Ottawa river in Hull, Quebec. That was an awesome experience as well! They had huge exhibits showing our Canadian history. They also have an IMAX theatre there, so for the first time our family watched an IMAX film. Wow, that was freaky cool! :-)


On Friday, Brian and Diana took us to Montreal! It was awesome! First, they took us to the Montreal BioDome. At the BioDome, they have 4 different simulated climates! First, we walked through the tropical jungle where it was REALLY humid and there were small monkeys in the trees overhead and colorful parrots in the trees! They also had an anoconda snake, piranha fish, bats, plus tons of other jungle animals. Then we went into the Laurentian forest which is more like this area. There was a porcupine, lynx and lots of other animals including tons of different birds flying around. Then we went to the marine area where there was a very large assortment of fish. That was really cool! And the final climate was Antarctica where they had puffin birds and tons of penguins. It was an awesome experience!

Afterwards, we had a picnic with Brian and Diana and played some frisbee at a local park. Once dinner was done we headed over to old Montreal. It was incredible to walk our family down the old cobblestone streets where there were so many cool old restaurants and shops. There were also several horse and buggy rides in the streets. And there was so many incredible buildings!

After that it was about 8:30 so we went to a hill over Montreal and looked at the city for the sunset. That was really cool too!

(Pictured is us kids overlooking Montreal)

We got back to Brian and Diana Strom's place at about 11:00. They have been SUCH a sweet, hospitable couple! They are really fun to be around.

We have a couple more concerts in this area tomorrow. And then we will start making our way back. We will be back with the Hounsomes on Monday.

God bless!

Josiah

Our Stay With The Hounsome Family

(pictured is our family with the Hounsome family on Wasaga Beach)

Hello again. We are in Niagara right now. There has been a lot of stuff going on. But for this post I want it to be about our stay with the Hounsomes. I’ll update the other stuff a bit later.

We had an awesome stay at the Hounsome Family from April. 21 – 31^st.. The combined total of Josts and Hounsomes was 30 people! We will stay with them again next week for a couple days on our way back and also to see a Blue Jays game.

We were able to spend a lot of time playing Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, talking, praying, eating, drinking Tim Horton’s coffee, staying up late, playing “Zip-Bong” (arrggh!), ping-pong, eating, hanging out, playing music, eating, devotions and other fun stuff.

-

Thank you Mr. Hounsome for doing a great job of organizing everything and having our family come!

Thank you Mrs. Hounsome for all the delicious meals, joyful attitude and ALL the work you did for us! You're an amazing lady!

Thanks Shayne and for doing a great job rounding up people and concerts for us. And also for sleeping on the couch! I know who to go to when I need to contact a lot of people.

Thanks Zack for all the ice cream (yummy!) and your gentle servant’s heart for your family! Thanks also for playing the banjo with our family for “How Long Will You Falter” in the concerts and for jamming with us in the living room. You’re one of my best friends.

Thanks Gabe for cookin’ pizzas, sharing chocolate and always having an upbeat attitude! (Mechanically Separated Chicken.) Hahahah! -inside joke-

Thanks Zoe for helping so much around the house and with preparing meals and keeping Emily out of trouble and for being such a great friend to her! Thanks also for getting ice cream for us!

Thanks Jonathan for being there and bringing fresh ideas to conversations. You've grown since Alberta.

Thanks ‘Koda for showing off your eye trick and for playing with my brothers. You've grown, too.

Thanks Ben for your sweet spirit and always being ready to help.

Thanks ‘Bassie playing with my brothers and sweet spirit.

Thanks Bronwyn and Nina for all the hugs and for being great friends with Amy and Hannah!

Thanks Adam for being such a super playmate with Judah!

And thank you PJ for being such a cutie! You’ve become some of our best friends!

Also, it was so cool to have the Hounsomes help us set-up and tear down our sound system! Thank you!

Thank you so much all Hounsomes for all the work you did and all the great times ! You have a really neat family. Stay true to Him!

A Long Update Post

First off, once again thank you to all those who are praying for us and those who hear the message we share. God is giving us lots of opportunity to talk to different people. We so want God to use us in whatever ways He would have us to be used on this trip. We have seen so many loving hospitable families on the way that have ministered to us. Thank you all so much!

Well, here is another run-down of what has happened since last update. Sorry it will be rather long since my last post.

On Friday morning, we packed up and left the Morrisette household after a very nice stay there.

We arrived at the Jim and Judy Minnett home Friday afternoon to some hot soup and buns, etc. The Minnett family have three kids living at home. They are a really pleasant family that has a genuine love for their community and are very hospitable.

We then left with the Minnetts to set-up the concert room at the Community center. After setting up, we came back to the Minnett home for a delicious lasagna supper. (We have been spoiled this trip!)

We then had our concert in Englehart at 7 PM. There were a lot of people and it appeared the God used the music we shared. We had the chance to meet and talk to a lot of people afterwards.

When we arrived back at the Minnett home, we chatted with the Minnetts as well as a guy named Joshua that stayed there the night, too (21 yrs old).

Saturday morning we had delectable pizza omelet thingy for breakfast. (Mmmm!) Then we packed up and left mid-morning for the Hounsome home. On the way we took the time to visit Ted and Marlene Barry. They had a beautiful home. They served us pizza buns and other great snacks.

We arrived at the Hounsome home at about 7:30. It was so cool to see the Hounsome family again. Shortly after our arrival we started playing Ultimate Frisbee. :-) Lots of fun! They have a really nice place. They served us a really good ham and salad supper. (Yummy!)

Sunday afternoon we had fellowship with the Hounsome’s church group. Afterwards we had a pot-luck. At 7:00 we had our concert in a quaint little country hall.

Monday morning Emily and Zoe made pancakes for everyone. In the afternoon our family went to Barrie to do some grocery shopping.

We got back to the Hounsomes in time for a rice and chili supper. … I love food… :-)

On Tuesday night we had a concert in New Market. For some reason, we had so many problems at the start; including a mic cable that went bad right at the start. But, the encouraging thing about our music is that it is not a show for entertainment but rather a message through songs and God still used the music to encourage several people. We met some amazing musician's at this concert who were a real encouragement to us. When we got back Gabe cooked a bunch of pizzas for us. Pretty sweet, eh?

We had another concert Wednesday night in Orillia. That went much better as far as the music goes.

On Thursday the Hounsome family took us to Wasaga Beach - the longest fresh water sand beach in the world. It was really cool to see. We have been having a great time with all the Hounsomes.

Please be praying for our concerts this Sunday.

-Josiah

(pictured is a shot from our concert in New Market, Ontario.)

At The Hounsomes! (Gabriel Edition)

Hello all, We are now at the Hounsome household and are having a blast. I had their 5th born of 14 kids Gabriel do a write up for me since I didn't have time today. I plan to do a full update soon. But until then, read Gabe Hounsome's perspective

-Josiah J.

(Pictured is Myself, Joel, & Emily Jost and Shayne, Zack, Gabe & Zoe Hounsome)

Hi,

Gabriel Hounsome here. I'm writing this on behalf of Josiah Jost for his blog.

On Saturday the Josts arrived at our place (The Hounsomes), we had a blast!!! After all the greetings, we played "Ultimate Frisbee" Joel ran into the clothes line trying to catch the Frisbee and snapped it, he didn't get hurt... At least that is what he says.

For supper we had two huge sliced up pork’s that were and put on buns, and then we could dress them up. (I'm not as good at describing food as Josiah is )

But the food was really good. After supper we talked a lot!!!

The following day Shayne, Joel and I (Gabriel that is) went to the Home show as "Ecostreet Countertops" representatives. Joel did some filming for a promotional video he is making for us. Someone walked up to him and saw his nice camera and asked "Are you from cable TV?" HAHAHA.

When we got back from the Show we went to the concert hall to setup, that was a blast in itself. We then had fellowship; it was on the first 11 verses of John 8. After fellowship we did a bit of sports "500 Up" with a Frisbee. I didn't participate very much. I caught it once, mind you. Joel scraped up his hand a bit, but again he is alright.

At 7:00 PM the concert started, The singing was amazing, it was such a blessing hearing them sing. All there songs were perfect, I don't mean to brag but we get to hear them sing 3 more times. All the Josts are really happy to have people help people setup and take down the sound equipment.

When we got home we turned on the Flames game, unfortunately the Flames lost thus being kicked out of the playoffs, and we then again talked late into the night…. Only to 1:30AM.

Today (for it is today that I’m writing this) we played a game of “Soccer” then a game of “Ultimate”, in soccer it was Jonathan and Sharla, Emily, Joshua, Zachary, and I (still me) against everyone else which numbered 9, thus being 9 against 6. We won the “Soccer” game it was a really good game, and then they won the game of “Ultimate” An now they are gone out for a bit and will be back soon, I can’t wait till they are back!!!

Sincerely,

Gabriel Josiah David Hounsome

P.S. It is quite a challenge using this laptop, I hardly ever use one.

P.P.S. If you want, post a comment.

In Timmins, Ontario...

God has been so good this trip. He has provided for all our needs, kept us safe and we really feel His Blessing on this trip.

Well, Monday morning Dad took Mom to a local clinic to check out her sore throat. They were able to get her some anti-biotics and she is doing much better.

For the rest of Monday we had the chance to just hang out in Winnipeg. It was a really cool experience. Marty Dyck spent most of the day with us, too. Jon, Sharla, Marty and I played some tennis at a local tennis club. Afterwards, we met up with the family at a park and played some Ultimate Frisbee. We also got to see the Winnipeg Conservatory. Wow, there were some unique plants in there. It felt like the tropics in there and was very humid.

Marty showed us downtown Winnipeg. I enjoyed the cultural and historical experience.
Marty also showed us Wellington Crescent. Wow, that had some beautiful homes. There was so much variety and uniqueness. Some of the houses reminded me of colonial homes.

Our family went out for supper in the evening with Jon, Sharla and Marty Dyck. Afterwards, Jon, Sharla, Marty and I went to the Winnipeg MTS Center to check it out there. It was a huge building and lots of stuff going on. They also had an IMAX theatre, but unfortunately we weren’t interested in what was playing. Upstairs we heard a huge opera going on. That sounded electric.

When we got back to the church Walter and Chris Martens were there and we had a really good visit with them.

Tuesday morning we left early for Thunder Bay and arrived there at about 8:15. We passed the Manitoba/Ontario border in the morning. I've never seen so many Ontario licensce plates before! :-) I am noticing how much more humid it is this far east. We are also trying to get used to the time changes. We had to stay at a motel for the first time Tuesday night. But, it gave us the chance to watch the Calgary Flames play-off game. It was a great game Calgary beat Detroit 3-2.

Wednesday we traveled all day to Timmins, Ontario to the Gary and Claudette Morrisette home. We arrived here at about 9:30 PM. They served us 3 different kinds of lasagna for supper. It was delicious. Today, we had a super breakfast of fruit salad, yogourt and a tasty dish called strata (spelling?). They have been very hospitable. They have 2 kids aged 15 and 13. We've been having fun with them.

This morning Mom started working on a new song called, "Daddys Love Your Little Girls". It is a neat song.

-Josiah

Our next concert will be in Englehart, Ontario Friday night.

(Pictured are my younger siblings (Joel down) by the Ontario sign.)

In Winnipeg...

Wow, Sunday was a busy day. Most of the family stayed at the Feldbusch home in Carberry for Saturday night while Joel, Jon, Sharla and I stayed at a really nice brand new home where the owners were gone for the night.

Sunday morning Jesse led the Sunday school for the adults at the Carberry EFC church and then we did our concert at 11:00. Afterwards we quickly loaded up and then had a nice lunch in the church basement. We then took off for the Winnipeg to go to the Maranatha Free Church for our evening concert. We got there at about 4:30 and quickly unloaded and set-up. Walter and Chris Martens (old college friends of Mom and Dad’s) were there with a hot supper ready as well.

We had the concert at 7:00 and it went really well. Afterwards we were able to meet several of Mom and Dad’s college friends. It was cool to meet people that I had heard a lot about over the years. There was also a lot of time to talk to other people that came to the concert.

We stayed Sunday night at the church and will be a here for the day.

Yesterday Mom started getting a sore throat and by this morning she has it really bad. She thinks it might be strept-throat so Dad took her in to a local clinic this morning to see if they can get her anti-biotics. Please pray for quick healing. We are grateful we don’t have any concerts for a few days.

-Josiah

(Pictured is John-Michael enjoying the sunshine on his daddy’s van on our way from Carberry to Winnipeg.)

Another Update

It has been awhile since I have had access to an internet connection. But, now we are in Carberry, MB at the Feldbusch home and they have wireless internet! It has been really busy for us.

Well, we left the Durston household on Wednesday after a very edifying visit. They were a lot of fun.

We then traveled to Rod and Sue Peters (old college friends of Mom and Dad’s) for Wednesday night. They served us a fancy spaghetti dinner for supper. Afterwards, I had the chance to jam a little bit with their 16 year old son Jonas who is a very talented electric guitarist.

We left Thursday morning after a pancake breakfast and arrived at Abe and Hazel Dyck’s in Roseisle, MB and stayed there Thursday night. On Friday morning we had the chance to visit Providence College (formerly Winnipeg Bible College) where Mom and Dad went to college. That was cool.

We had a concert Friday night at the P.W. Enns Concert Hall in Winkler, MB. It was an awesome concert hall. There were very nice dressing rooms and fancy stage and balcony. There were between 300-400 people there. It was a really neat experience. We then stayed Friday night at the Dycks again. They were SO hospitable. They had such nice meals and are such a sweet couple.

It is so neat to meet people that have received our Heart’s At Home newsletter for years. One of our goals of our trip was to minister to everyone we stayed with, but it seems the people we are staying with are ministering to us just as much.

It is really cool to have Jesse, Heidi and John-Michael and Jon and Sharla traveling with us. We had the chance to walk across the longest footbridge in Canada. Wow, that thing swayed a bit when you were in the middle. It was sweet.

Thank you to all those who are praying for us and those who receive the music and message we share. Hi to everyone back in Alberta who is reading this.

(Pictured is a shot from our concert at the P.W. Enns Winkler Concert Hall)

In Regina...

We are now in Regina. We arrived at the Durston household yesterday. It has been great getting to know the family. They are really fun people to get to know. They have 5 kids at home aged 20-5 yrs. They are really cool guys to hang out with. (Shea, Tyler and Levi). We were able to play some floor hockey and baseball with them. Fun!

Last night and tonight myself and Joel were billeted out to another family(Dillistone family). The father is a reporter for CTV. It was neat to talk to him about some of his stories.

We had the concert tonight at the Heritage Alliance Church. It is always really neat to talk to people afterwards.

We have already met some really cool people. I love meeting people.

Tomorrow we start our way towards Winkler. MB. P.S. My voice is back!

Pictured is myself and Shea Durston doing clean-up.

The Start of Our Trip

Well, we are on our way. We left our place at about 11:15 AM Saturday morning and said our goodbyes to Grandpa and Grandma Jost and the Fehrs.

Our first stop was a rural church in a place called Kelstern in Saskatchewan (actually, the only building in Kelstern is the church) We arrived at about 5:30 PM where they had a hot meal ready for us. We were able to visit with some ‘long lost cousins’ (actually third cousins on my dad’s side) and some other great people Saturday evening. We also set up the sound system in the evening.

On Sunday morning we led the church in some Sunday school songs from 10:00-11:00 and from 11:15-12:15 we did our concert. The church was pretty full.

On Sunday evening the Pouteaux family invited us for supper (they live about 2 miles from the church). They served one of the most incredible meals I have ever seen prepared by one lady! I think there were 16+ DIFFERENT dishes on the table! Including baked turkey, ham, 3 kinds of potato dishes, salads, buns, etc! Plus 3 DIFFERENT kinds of pie for dessert. They were such a great family to visit with. They had 5 kids aged 15-2 yrs.

This first stop was such a blessing. Everyone in the church was so friendly and encouraging.

The only drawback right now is that ever since Friday I lost my voice. It has been so frustrating the last two days trying to talk to people and answer their questions when I have hardly any voice! I think it is starting to come back now though. Fortunately I am only the bass player in concert.

Well, next stop Regina…

(pictured is the Kelstern Church)

Long Trip Coming Up

Our family is scheduled to leave for a 6-7 week music tour. We plan to make it all the way out to Ottawa and maybe even farther east. It will be a really cool experience. It will probably get tiring to do all the concerts, but we are praying God will give us grace and I'm sure He will. We will get to meet a lot of people and see a lot of places. We'll also get a chance to visit the Hounsome family and some other friends in Ontario.

I have done so little traveling ever since we moved out to the farm in 1998 so it will be a real treat to take this trip. I'll probably miss some friends back here in Alberta though. Oh well...

Here is a link to our family's music website: www.josties.com

I just recently finished building the site and I haven't listed all the concert schedules yet, but most of them are up now.

This past summer I started learning the bass guitar and I really enjoy playing with the family in concert.

iPods!

I have to admit that I am a big fan of iPods. I first bought a iPod video (30 gig) about 6 months ago and immediately I loved it. Since then I have collected the whole latest iPod set: Video, Nano and Shuffle. They will be great for our trip across Canada. They are all so cool. (Pictured are my iPods)