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!