The Copeland Ramblings/

Behind the Name

He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth-his livestock and all the people who had joined his household at Haran-and finally arrived in Canaan
Genesis 12:5

A lot of people ask how we came up with Canaan’s name. Many ask us if we got Canaan’s name from the Bible – one reason we like it is because it is a biblical name but we originally heard it a few years ago when we were in Bible school. In 2001 I went on a missions trip to Mongolia. When I arrived in LA for my trip orientation I was met by Mike Smith who, along with his wife Megan, were my team leaders for the trip. I had a great time getting to know the Smiths and we kept in touch after we returned home. In 2003 they had their first son who was named…. Canaan! From the moment we first heard it we really liked the name and wanted to use it some day. We met the original Canaan while in New Guinea, Mike and Megan led a work team that was in the same area I was working in. Our Canaan’s middle name is Joshua and we picked that for two reasons: Firstly it is a family name, my great great great grandfathers name and secondly because in the bible Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan.

Check out Mike and Megan’s blog here to meet the Smiths and the ‘other Canaan’ :o)

In 2001 after my Mongolia trip Mike put together a video of footage from the trip. If you’re interested you can check it out below, it’s long (27 mins) but a lot of fun!