A New Leg of My Journey Begins

Hello everyone that may happen across my blog.

I know my blog isn't very popular and I haven't written much in it since I've started, but over this summer I plan to use it much more for a particular purpose. Sharing with everyone the ups and downs, wins and losses, successes and failures of my new project. Hitch-hiking ministry.

I plan to spend the next month hitch-hiking with a friend to Vancouver and back. Before any of you ask any of the questions that I very well know you are thinking right now, (Why are you hitch-hiking when you should be working to make money to pay for Bible College? Hitch-hiking is dangerous, why risk your life? That sounds dumb, hitchiking to Vancouver, why would you waste your time and money?), let me explain to you the vision that I believe God has given me:

I have been hitch-hiking before. Two years ago I travelled from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Charlottetown, PEI and back, a normally eight hour drive, with a friend named Micah Church. We slept on a picnic table one night and the majority of the trip's budget was spent on a hotel room in Charlottetown another night because I chickened out on the idea of spending the night in the street. A decision that I've regretted.

During my travels I've realized that the biggest reason that someone will pick up a hitch-hiker is to have someone to talk to on long drives. This is the biggest reason any truck driver will pick up a hitch-hiker and I believe the majority of people that actually do pick hitch-hikers up, pick hitch-hikers up for this reason. Even if this is not the case, most people are willing to strike up conversation on almost any subject with a hitch-hiker, long drives alone can become very boring.

Hitch-hiking is a relatively cheap method of travel. If you are willing to spend the occasional night sleeping outside, camping, or staying with a friend the only real expense is food, and even that can be done cheaply.

Putting these two things together, it makes for a relatively cheap ministry for two young college students to participate in. I believe that this is a particular ministry that God has put in my heart. I have always had a love for traveling and a love for traveling as cheaply as possible and I believe God has given me these passions for particular reasons. I also believe that this summer ministry is one of those reasons.

Of course, there really can be no formulaic method of discussing God when I will be picked up by such a wide variety of people. I also don't want to scare anyone off or offend anyone that is kind enough to offer me a ride, but as it is written in Matthew 10:7, "As you go, preach this message".

As I said, I plan to spend the first month of summer on this project but I also plan to spend the rest of the summer working at Christian Horizons Conference Centre. I'll be able to make some money during my time at CHCC but I will still be relying on student loans and more importantly, God, to provide the rest of my tuition.

I would not have decided to pursue this project if I didn't feel it would benefit God's kingdom. After plenty of prayer, I feel that this particular ministry is God's call on my life at this moment. I still would like to ask anyone that happens across my blog to pray for me and my friend and fellow journeyman, Jeremy McDougal. Jeremy was one of my roommates through my first year at Steinbach Bible College and he will be traveling with me. I would ask that you ask God to protect us and provide the things that we will need on this journey and after this journey.


We begin our journey with a ride from Winnipeg to Calgary from a friend early tomorrow morning.

God Bless
Matthew Peter Rempel

Damn Rich People

"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter." (James 5:1-5)

I've often read this passage and thought, “Those rich people, I loathe them, I hate them.” The other day when I sat down to read this passage when it hit me. I am rich. I am an oppressor. I am a slave driver. I buy clothing, food, and other things from places and I have not even thought about where they come from.

I don't think many people in Canada and the US realize this, but we are the rich. We are the ones that this piece of the Bible is talking about. We are the rich ones who should be weary. We are the ones who keep back the wages of the laborers and should be worried. We are the ones who live in luxury and self-indulgence.

Those living at the poverty line in Canada, which is somewhere around $10,000 a year are still within the top 15% of the richest people in the world.

We hold back the rightful wages of workers when we support or shop at stores or restaurants that treat their workers poorly. The laborers that make the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the computers we use, and the food we eat, they are working for us. They are workers under our employ. If we buy clothes made in factories that pay fair wages and create good work opportunities, we are their employers. If we buy clothes made in sweatshops by children who are paid very little, we are their employers. If we buy clothes that are made by slaves, we are the slave drivers.

In Canada and the United States, we live in luxury. Most of us have three guaranteed meals per day. Most of us have a bed to sleep in and a roof over our head. We have computers and free access to the Internet. Many of us have cars to drive and travel. Many of us even take regular vacations and trips. This is luxury.

No smart company would hire employees without an interview or without a resume. They won't just hire anyone, they want to know if they are good workers or if they will be reliable. In the same way we should investigate where our products are coming from. If we are hiring these workers by purchasing their products and employing them in a fairly direct way, we should think about the situations they are living and working in. Are we providing them with a job that pays fair wages? Do they have access to some sort of health care plan? (We in Canada don't worry about this one as much, but imagine the part time workers in the United States who can't afford health insurance when it isn't provided by their employers.) Is this really the best working environment for them? Is this their only choice in terms of employment? Can we make their living and working environments any better? Where is my money going? What percentage is actually getting to the workers?

This is something that God has really been speaking to me about lately. How can we say we love God and love people but treat them this way? I am putting people in compromising situations by buying products from places that don't treat their workers fairly. I am that unfair boss that I always complained about when I worked for that large department store chain. I am the manager that is refusing to give a raise to my single mother employee. I am a rich oppressor. I am a slave driver.

Guns and Love

How can guns and love go together? How can we kill people we are called to love?

Jesus calls us to love all people like he loves us. This includes, specifically, our enemies. How can killing someone be remotely close to loving them? I pray for the people of all nations; civilian and military, that they may see the light and love that is Jesus Christ.

What kind of image are Christians propagating when they are killing people? They are not only harming people that they are called to love in direct conflict, but other people see Christians killing and don't want to be a part of any Christianity that says killing is ok.

A lot more value needs to be put into the power of prayer rather than the power of man's killing machines. Trust in God that he will answer our prayers to save our enemies. We are not called to fight with earthly weapons to save souls, we are called to fight with spiritual weapons such as prayer.