MAY 2010

MAY 2010
Mission teams!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Warming up in New Mexico!

3 of our family are currently warming up in sunny New Mexico. Melissa is warming up in the Philippines! Maybe I should start there this month...

If you have been following our daughter's journey through facebook or through her blog melissaannetrip.blogspot.com, you will know that she has on the adventure of a lifetime! It started with an amazing plane ride to Korea, then on to Manilla. She was able to work with some misisonaries and teams 2 weeks in Batangas city, and is currently near Naga City. This trip has been a time of growth and discovery for her. She ended up quite sick several times those first two weeks, and began to feel kind of useless. I think that is a trap that missionaries allow themselves to fall into all to easily. There is always a plan - even in sickness :) She had a number of amazing opportunities to work with students and made a lot of new Filipino friends. Now she is working with 3 MK's who obviously adore her, and has had opportunities to share her testimony and learn about other ministries in various villages. Make sure to check out her blog for a lot of photos!

Kelly, Matthew and I have had a great time this past month. We began our adventure in Idaho at my family's reunion. After a week with them, we took off to Yellowstone. How incredible! In three days we saw Moose, Bison, Bear, Deer, Elk....this list goes on. We love to camp and had a wonderful experience being in nature - away from electronics (except for those couple of hours waiting anxiously to hear that Melissa had arrived safely :) - just focusing on what an amazing place God had created!

We are currently in New Mexico, enjoying time with Kelly's family before heading to student week at Glorieta. We don't get to spend much time with Grandma, so this is a treasure. We have also been given opportunities to speak in churches and reconnect with several pastors in Arizona and New Mexico. I am so grateful for their encouragement and support. They are always so excited when we come in town, eager to hear what God is doing in Canada.

A FEW SPECIFIC PRAYER REQUESTS:
*My health - I have been feeling really well. There was some concern that with all of the travel I might have another flare up - but this just hasn't happened. I will have surgery in September or October to remove the mass from from between my small and large intestines. Praise Him that the biopsy came back clear!
*Pray for Melissa! She really is having an amazing adventure and when I asked her if she would be ready to come home in a few weeks, I was met with a sigh. I know that if it was up to her, she would probably stay a year! Pray as God works in her and through her. He is stretching her, showing her things about Himself and using her to minister to others. We are so proud of her!
*Pray for student week this year. We always meet with many students who are interested about our work in Canada, but more importantly feeling a tug from God to go and serve. It is an absolute joy for us to talk and pray with these young adults - be a part of their journey.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

May 2010

This was the month of mission teams!!! We are so grateful to have so many who are willing to give time and money to come and help us with different tasks. For the last several weeks we have had a team of 27 students from Hannibal LaGrange college. These dynamic students have helped us prayer walk and collect demographic information for nearly all of the University and College campuses in the Vancouver area. No small task! We are using the information to put together a website www.bccampusministry.org - you will have to check it out. It will give everyone a good idea of the need in our city for churches and campus ministry. We have so many campuses with no Christian witness - no church in the neighbourhood - and great need. It has been exciting sending the students out in teams and having them return with stories of the people they have met. They have met Christian faculty who have been waiting - praying for people who will be willing to come and start a work on campus. We are so grateful that these students have gone and found the people of peace who we can connect with.

These students are almost all from smaller towns....the city has been quite a stretching experience for many of them! We always pray that when a team like this comes up, there will be a few who are willing to return and invest their lives. This prayer has been answered already - one young woman who is seeking the Lord about moving here to help with ESL ministries. We have another young man, Tony, who has committed to staying here the next six months and helping with ministry on on of our major campuses. Praise God for the work He has in store for these!

On a more personal note, many of you have been praying for me and my health concerns. Unfortunately, I have had another episode of intestinal illness. Fortunately, I have a fantastic doctor who continues to work to figure out what the issue is. She has sent me to a specialist who has run a lot of tests, and has scheduled more. Some of these procedures have very long wait times - with appointments being made for next December. The doctor felt that things were serious enough that she is having all of the tests done within the next 6 weeks. I am so grateful for our good medical care here in Canada!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY HEALTH.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL RAISE UP LEADERS FOR STUDENT MINISTRY IN VANCOUVER.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY THAT EVERY DAY WE, AS A FAMILY, WILL WALK CLOSELY WITH OUR FATHER - ALLOWING HIM TO REVEAL THE PLANS HE HAS FOR US.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

March 2010

Wow...what a month. The Olympic and Paralympic games are over and we are grateful to catch our breath! What an amazing opportunity that was...so many people from around the world...and so many open and hungry to hear about Jesus.

This has also been a month of transition. We have seen God raise up amazing leadership at Re:Generation and have sensed that is time to move on. One of our last Sunday's to spend with this great group, was a baptism service. Two students, Thomas and Ashley, braved the frigid waters of the river. They both shared their testimonies of God's work in their lives. What an amazing witness!

Since moving on from Re:Generation, we have joined up with a new church planter and his family. Sean, Katie and their boys have become great friends and co-workers. We are so grateful that God has moved them to our city and that our mission is the same: to see many, many young adults come into relationship with Jesus. We will be working together to plant multiple churches on or around University campuses. It is exciting work! We look forward to this adventure and would appreciate your prayers! We will keep you posted on how things progress.

In May, we will be hosting about 30 students from Louisiana and Missouri for nearly one month. We are asking these students to help us serve in several university community church plants, and more specifically, we are asking them to help us create a website that will detail the 20+ University communities across British Columbia that we targeting for new churches and campus ministries. By the time these mission teams leae, we hope to have the beginnings of this siteup and running. That way you can follow what is happening here in BC!

As for our family...we are doing well. It is always hard to leave one church family behind, and start with new work. Our kids are doing well with the adjustment and both are excited about our new work. Most of you know that Melissa is planning on spending the summer in the Philippines. The plans are coming together and the families have been set up for her to work with. She will be away for about 6 weeks. Her first couple of weeks will be spent with a family who works with students - very similar work to our own. Then she will travel to another IMB family, to assist with their ministry and help in their home. It is exciting and a little nerve wracking for Mom and Dad!

Well, we really appreciate you stopping by and your prayers for our ministry and family. More posts to come!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

OLYMPICS!!!!

It has been such an adventure! The Opening Ceremonies were on the 12th...it is now only a few days until Closing. The time has gone so fast. It has been a whirlwind of mission teams, local volunteers, incredible excitement in the city. I have never seen a city show so much pride - everywhere you go is a sea of red and white. I have also never seen this city so open. So many conversations where people were open to hearing the gospel. So many accepted! We have heard story after story from our volunteers. Last Sunday night, Kelly went with a group of students and our friend Mel to all you can eat Sushi. A favourite of students here in Vancouver! That night Mel was able to lead a student, Tim to the Lord! With tears Tim told everyone I AM A CHRISTIAN NOW! How amazing is our Lord!

One of my favourite memories from the Olympics has got to be the party we threw for our local community at SFU. Our Scouts group worked hard to put on a fantastic event. We had a live broadcast of the ceremony. Our group is so multi-cultural. We had families from Korea, China, New Zealand, Equador, Peru, South Africa, Vietnam, Belgium, Iran, India, Nepal, Khazikstan, the US and Canada. It was the coolest thing to hear everyone cheer for their country as the athletes walked out carrying their flags! We had over 100 people attend and everyone left with a bag containing a New Testament, More Than Gold Pin and a clear presentation of the gospel. You can pray with us that these seed that were planted that night will bear fruit.

I've posted a slide show of some of our favourite memories. Hope you enjoy them!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

January 2010

I think that everyone in Vancouver has now caught "Olympic Fever" - the excitement is definitely building! We are so excited about the hundreds of volunteers that will be coming to our city. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE VOLUNTEERS AS WELL AS THE MORE THAN GOLD CAMPAIGN - THAT MANY WILL HEAR ABOUT JESUS.

Over the Christmas holiday, we spent time with my parents in Washington. Melissa and Matthew enjoyed a week of playing with their cousins and getting completely spoiled by Grandparents. You can see from the photos on this blog that a good time was had by all!

We brought New Years in with a big party at our place. Many of the students were still away with family, so it was mostly close friends. We played games, the kids had a Nerf gun war - there were about 10 little boys who decided to attack Melissa. She is such a good sport! We ended the evening at midnight, with our good friend Victor leading us in prayer. One of the families we had over are here helping plant a new church aimed at reaching students at Douglas College. We are thrilled to again see our prayers answered with God bringing more workers with a passion for students.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BENESH FAMILY AS THEY SETTLE IN, A NEW LIFE IN VANCOUVER FOR THEIR 3 BOYS, AND THE NEW WORK AT DOUGLAS COLLEGE.

The New Year has brought many things to be thankful for and prayers that have been answered. For several years now, we have been praying for church planters to work on our largest campus in Vancouver - the University of British Columbia. With over 50,000 students and about the same number of residents it is a city of it's own. PLEASE PRAY FOR CRAIG AND ELLEN O'BRIEN, OUR NEW CHURCH PLANTERS FOR UBC!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED THAT THIS WONDERFUL FAMILY WILL BE NOW WORKING ON THIS CAMPUS. PRAY THAT MANY STUDENTS WILL HEAR THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS THROUGH THEIR MINISTRY.

Another prayer that has been answered is the safe return of our friend "P". P became a believer after being involved in our Scouts group as a leader. He is from a Muslim family and lives in an area of turmoil. He went home for a 6 month break with the plan to return here for more schooling. WE PRAISE GOD FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF OUR FRIEND AND THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE HIS FAITH WITH MANY FROM A SIMILAR BACKGROUND.

With all of the good things that God is doing, it is hard to be to discouraged when things do not go the way we think they should. As many of you know, we were trying to buy a house in Phoenix that would be used as a mission house. After months of paperwork and phone calls, it has fallen through. We are trusting - knowing that God has a plan for this area of our lives. We are so content serving Him here in Vancouver, we know this is where we are supposed to be. He has our future in His hands, and that is the best place for it!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Thursday, December 31, 2009