A Giant in our Backyard

A new visitor surprised us in our backyard recently.  She was hanging upside down and pecking away at the suet feeder attached to one of our tree branches.  At first Gary and I thought it was a black squirrel that likes to do that too, but this winged creature was sporting a red crest or hoodie – so not a squirrel.  We were gob-smacked to realize it was a giant woodpecker that we had never seen before.  She looked so unreal.  We mostly see downy woodpeckers that are about 7 inches long with the male wearing a red cap on the back of his head.  Apparently, this large bird is a pileated woodpecker (meaning capped) that can grow up to 19 inches long, similar to the size of a crow. I later learned that it was a female as a male has a red moustache along the top part of both sides of his beak. We never really know about all the birds God has hidden in the surrounding trees that are watching us.  When one suddenly appears, we are delighted.  Super Cat from my previous story had his eye on this big bird too because he is always in for a challenge. They are about the same size. When he stalked closer, she quickly flew away.  Too bad Super Cat!

Gary and I have learned a fair bit about the country of Myanmar over the last couple of decades, particularly when Gary and his friend, Steve travelled there in 2010 for a visit.  Our charity, Kainos International Ministries, has supported three families with their various ministries and orphanage work.  It is sad to watch what is happening on the news with the recent military coupe. We are definitely not learning the whole story.  These poor people have had a taste of a more democratic, freer society for quite a while.  They don’t want to go back.  Please pray for safety and good health for Richard, William, Thomas and their families along with all the many Christians in this suffering country.

As to our Hillside Church news, we can return to having Sunday services in our Milton restaurant March 7.  It will be good to reconnect with the staff who have become our friends.  We have also reapplied to the Canada Summer Jobs program.  Please pray for approval this spring and recruitment of students to work for our outreach ministry. It would be great if any of them could move to Milton.  I will send along more details next month if approved.  Let us know if you know of a student who is looking for summer work ($15/hour).  We will train them as our missionaries.  And the week before Easter we will be delivering 100 full Bibles to the contacts made last year.  Maybe we will get to do an official launch this fall.  There is so much to do in starting a new church!

No matter our age, isn’t it fun to learn something new?  It helps me understand how small and insignificant I am compared to the great God who has created all things.  Scientists over the past year have had to learn much about vaccines.  Thankfully, it looks like we will be receiving our shots in April or even sooner.

Hey, why not challenge ourselves to learn something new each week? I already learned something about a familiar animal just a couple of days ago.

Blessings!

Wendy

Wendy.carter@kainos.org