Day 1: Tide Head, NB to Dalhousie, NB

After getting up very early, I made the drive up from Bathurst to my starting point in Tide Head. I arrived about 10 minutes after my planned start time and actually began paddling about an hour later. In the first few miles, I ran into trouble as I grounded in shallow water before getting out of the river, bumped into multiple submerged logs, and then popped off one of the foot pegs. Not wanting to paddle a long time with no foot peg or rudder capability, I was relieved at my first stop to be able to get the foot peg back on the rudder assembly. In theory, it was a great day for paddling, with warm temperatures and a light wind at my back. In reality, much of the time it was downright hot. Some rain showers later in the day helped, though the pain of the miles really wore on as I got up around 20 miles. The most aggravating part was that the coastline is straight enough that for well over 10 miles I could only guess at how much progress I’d actually made. Views of the surrounding mountains and beaches were great, but harder to appreciate over time.

The first stop was at Listuguj First Nation in Quebec. Besides my late start, we had some confusion because Quebec is on Eastern time. We had a group of three pastors and a couple of lay people, including one man from Listuguj. Although the work there is struggling, it was where the most recent translation of the New Testament was done several years ago and the area is full of cues to the Gospel: 1) I landed at Mission Point (Pointe de la Mission); 2) the adjoining town is Pointe de la Croix (Cross Point); 3) it looks out to the large bridge from Campbellton across the Restigouche “River”; 4) from a certain angle on the water the gaps between trees formed a cross that I can’t imagine being humanly engineered; etc. Across the river, I met a little later with some of the same men to pray for Campbellton. Then I set out on the long long 18 mile paddle to Dalhousie. And the men took care of arrangements for getting my car down to the campground.

As tired as I was, I ended up reaching Inch Arran Park in Dalhousie about 40 minutes early. After moving my things to a campsite and changing to more presentable clothing, the people from Victory Lighthouse Church took me out to eat, to fellowship, and to pray at their church. To get some idea of the ministry challenges, the churches partnering with me in the area are averaging somewhere on the order of only ten members. Now it’s time to get some sleep. I’m guessing that over 200 households were prayed for specifically today, as well as most of the local churches. In some ways, the extended intercession seems almost as exhausting as the paddling. But it must be done, in some form or fashion.

Partner churches: Eglise Baptiste Chaleur, Campbellton Victory Outreach, and Victory Lighthouse Church