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.