Today was my first day that I could not get a vehicle shuttle. So I decided to take some time trying to find churches and get to know this new area. One of the first orders of business was to get my kayak up from the beach. The park staff told me that it would be possible to paddle up the creek to the highway on a high tide. So at 10:00 or so I made the surprisingly easy paddle up and then loaded the kayak on the car.
I stopped at a couple of provincial park beaches, handed out a few New Testaments, made a few calls, and then spent some time online in Pugwash. When I got into Pugwash, it was clear that I was no longer in New Brunswick: street signs were bilingual English and Gaelic. Besides having a funny name, the town is known as having played a role in peace negotiations after World War II and having a large salt mine. At one of my beach stops, I met a couple by the name of Haggerty who were from New Brunswick and were interested in the kayak. They said they would be willing to shuttle the car for me, but it was already getting late in the day and I felt that I had other things I needed to do. Unfortunately, they said they had given up on religion and were not the least bit interested in reconsidering.
I drove out to my campground for the night in Gulf Shore to get set up, then came back into town for grocery shopping and to make phone calls. The area seems to be more agricultural than most coastal areas in New Brunswick, although Mr. Haggerty said that most farms in the area are being worked by “new Canadians” who immigrated from Europe after World War II. Along the way to the campground there was a golf course with lots and lots of cars. How can people get so excited about chasing a little ball and care nothing about having a vital relationship with a holy God?
My phone call to an elder at the Port Howe Gospel Hall was unusually productive. Mr. Patterson was happy to suggest more people in the area that I should call. In particular, he reminded me about Camp Pagweak, the United (Atlantic) Baptist youth camp just outside town. So I decided to go pay a visit to the camp. I was enthusiastically received by the camp director, invited for supper, and offered a place to stay. After supper with the kids, we took some time to pray for the area and the camp, then made arrangements for them to move my car tomorrow.
Next I followed back up with Mr. Patterson, who invited me to visit with him at home. The “gospel halls” in this part of the country are associated with what is commonly referred to as the Plymouth Brethren. It turned out that Port Howe is the oldest gospel hall in the Maritimes, dating back to 1885. Mr. Patterson was a goldmine of information not only on the Brethren in the area, but the ministries of several other churches as well. He gave me samples of evangelistic calendars that he takes around door-to-door in the area, as well as a book on revival and a book on the early pioneer church planter of the Brethren in the region. He also helped me with more phone numbers of local pastors. Finally, the Pattersons also encouraged me to drop by the Brethrens’ children’s camp near Malagash tomorrow.
When I got back to the campground (well after 11:00), I found the tent already wet from a light rain. Since more rain was forecast, I threw the tarp over as well. Incidentally, it was probably a good thing that I didn’t paddle to the campground since it’s at the top of a high bluff with no easy way up or down. One other odd thing was that I kept hearing a sound in the trees that sounded an awful lot like a bullfrog. Surely they don’t make it all the way up to Nova Scotia, right?
Partner churches/ministries: Camp Pagweak, Port Howe Gospel Hall
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