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"WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2000 - 7 Choosing a less-traveled path Couple leaving their home to pursue missionary life By Heather McCrae Weekend Star Can you picture yourself in this sce- nario? You are young and healthy, happily mar- ried, have three wonderful young children and are gainfully employed. Yet you feel compelled to leave home, say goodbye to family and .friends, and pursue life as a missionary, spreading Christianity in coun- tries that have never heard of the Gospel. While most of us cannot comprehend such an idea, the concept is real and excit- ing for Martin Lamb and his wife Tammy. Soon the Port Perry couple will be selling their home, packing up their belongings and moving to Dallas, where they will be working at the headquarters for Gospel For Asia. Missionary work is not foreign to Martin. He grew up in Papua New Guinea where his parents served as missionaries with the New Tribes Mission, and his two brothers are missionaries in Third World countries, too. Tammy grew up in Epsom, where she was the eldest of six siblings. The couple met in 1992 in Jackson, Michigan where they attended New Tribes Bible College. Marrying a year later, they moved to Port Perry where Martin began working at Raglan Welding, and Tammy was employed with Dr. A. Hackner. In 1996 they took a two months leave from their jobs and experienced first hand what it was to work with a mission team in New Guinea. Now the couple is ready to pursue a life _in missions with Gospel For Asia. Their introduction to GFA came in May +1999 at Port Perry Baptist Church where K. P. Yohannan, founder and director of GFA, Martin and Tammy Lamb are leaving their comfortable Port Perry home to work with a missionary organization. spoke about his organization's work in Asia. "I then realized the need of helping the people in Asia, and felt | was called for that mission," said Mr. Lamb. "As a Christian, | believe the word of God should be the foundation of all parts of our lives. | want- ed to lay a stronger foundation." The couple flew to Dallas last September to meet the GFA staff. Since they will not be paid a wage, the money they raise from sponsorships is what they will live on. The Lambs must raise approx- imately $3,500 in monthly support before they can leave. Through appeals to churches, friends and family, they have raised 40 per cent of this amount. One of their latest sponsor- ships came from a United Church in Barrie. They won't be living a lavish lifestyle in Dallas. Leaving a good job behind and selling their home with its big yard, they will be sharing an apartment with their daughters, three-month-old Carley and Cassandra, 5, and two-and-a-half-year old son Cody. "That was hard for me," said Mrs. Lamb of leaving her home and family behind. "But we feel God wants us to serve Him there." Now that they have made the commit- ment, it's exciting getting sponsorships. Nearly every weekend they are visiting churches where they can raise awareness of GFA, and request monetary and prayer support from congregations. "If people cannot donate, they can pray for us," said Mr. Lamb. "There's power in prayer." Once settled in Texas, Mr. Lamb will begin travelling throughout North America to spread the word about GFA, and will be training native missionaries. He will also travel to the impoverished countries in which GFA works. GFA sup- ports thousands of native missionaries working in 13 Asian countries. Of these countries, nine are closed to North American missionaries. In North America there is a pastor for every 200 people, but in Asia there might be one Christian for every 40,000 people. The Lambs are looking forward to this challenge in their lives. "It's not us who will make the difference, it's the message we will convey," said Mr. Lamb. "While we expect to be in Dallas for at least two years, we will serve GFA indefi- nitely." Please take two minutes at 11 a.m. on Remembrance Day to honour the many sacrifices made for us. Remembrance Day is about being grateful for the freedom and privileges that we enjoy. We are so fortunate to live in this wonderful country and we owe a lot of this to the Canadians who fought in the wars of the past century. This Nov. 11 marks the first Remembrance Day of the 21st Century. It is sad that at this time, war and the rumours of war are still with us in part of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. People do not seem to be capable of settling differences without the threat of force. Over the past 100 years, more than 1.5 million Canadians have served our country in war and on peacekeeping mis- sions, with more than 100,000 Canadians making the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could know freedom. On Sunday, Nov. 5, | participated in the annual Orono Cenotaph parade. Comrade Sterling Mather, members of the Royal Canadian Legion, the Legion Pipe Band, veterans, Cubs, Scouts, Guides and Brownies all participated in the ceremony with the Salvation Army Band and Lt. Staying in Touch JOHN R. O'TOOLE MPP DURHAM EAST Doug Stevens providing a time for reflec- tion. In my view, each of us owes a big thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion. All across the country, local branches have provided a structure and focus that we often take for granted. Legion mem- bers make us think about the importance of observing two minutes of silence for our fallen heroes. Standing in the bright sunshine at the Orono Cenotaph and see- ing the bright-eyed members of our local Sea Cadet Corps, reminded me of the continuing commitment to protecting and defending our freedom. We have to teach our children that the rights we enjoy come with many different responsibilities. Premier Harris has made a commit- ment to our young people on behalf of all Please take time to observe Remembrance Day Ontarians. On Nov. 3, the premier along with other dignitaries that included American General Colin Powell, unveiled a five-point commitment called Ontario's Promise. This is a partnership involving corporations, not-for-profit organizations and the Ontario government. Ontario's Promise will help to secure a brighter future for our children. The five .commit- ments made in Ontario's Promise are: I. A healthy start for every child, 2. An on-going positive relationship with a caring adult, 3. A safe place that offers positive, meaningful activities outside of the home, 4. Marketable skills through effective education, 5. An opportunity to give back to your community. : Over the next few weeks, | will be talk- ing about commitments like the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's, "Healthy Babies, Healthy Futures," Already organi- zations like McDonald's Canada, Royal Bank, TD Bank Financial Services, Scotia Bank, Howard Johnson and Bell Canada have committed $22 million. Randy Williamson, president of Big Brothers and Sisters of Canada, agrees and explained Durham Region. | must thank and com- how this commitment compliments the Big Brothers and Sisters' plan to increase youth mentoring by 60 per cent by 2002. If you want to find out more, call my con- stituency office at (905) 697-1501 or 1-800- 661-2433 or visit the website at www.ontariospromise.com. . Last week, Transportation Minister David Turnbull launched construction on the first of three interchange projects in Durham Region. The transportation and land use improvements are part of a joint project agreement between the province and mend the various Chambers of Commerce and business communities for working with the region and the province to allow these projects to move forward. We all know that we lag behind areas to the west of Toronto in highway infrastruc- ture. Since 1995, we have made the com- mitment on Highway 407 east, widening Highway 401 and its safety media in addi- tion to doing resurfacing. There have also been improvements on Highways 12, 7 and 7A. These commit- ments amount to close to $100 million toward future infrastructure. } i | 4