Ottawa trip Highlights

So after a week of vacation following our ministry trip to the Ottawa area, we are back to routine, well some what.  It is still summer so routine doesn't quite happen yet.  We had reported on Facebook during our time in Ottawa,  a little about how it went but wanted to be sure to share  some of the highlights on here as well, for those not on Facebook.
We were so thankful to be able to spend the week at Sarah's Aunt and Uncles.  The girls loved playing with their kittens and helping with the chores.  Thanks for your hospitality.

( A quick picture before we departed with those who were home that morning.

Aunt Nancy, Elisabeth and Gabrielle standing with our girls)

 

This trip was a little different than our trip north, with fewer events planned.   We had planned the trip in this time frame because we wanted to do it during the summer when the girls were out of school and could enjoy it with us, but what we didn't think about, was how everyone else is also on vacation.  So as much as we would have liked to have had a full week of ministry events planned, we were blessed by the 2 that we did have.

The congregation at Russell Reformed Presbyterian was very welcoming and we had some great conversations about the work of MAF and our ministry with them.  We were blessed by their giving and encouraged by their stories, of God at work and His faithfulness in all situations.   Now a very neat thing about this church is that they were holding their VBS a week after our visit.  After hearing our presentation on the Sunday, they decided to have us as their mission project and share about MAF and our calling to serve with the kids at their VBS.  How cool is that.

Our second event was at our friends house with their small group and again because it was summer, they had taken a break from their regular weekly meetings but invited everyone to come over to hear our story and ministry.  It was a small group but a great one non the less.  We were blessed to meet a great couple and also hear about the mission work that is happening in their church. 

A week in Ottawa would not be complete with out a visit to some of the museums in our nations capitol.  So we made sure to take in the sights of the Museum of Civilization and the Museum of Science and Technology.  The girls loved the hands on displays and the great Children's Museum that is part of the Civilization museum.

(Lauren taking Hannah for a motorbike ride. Not sure Hannah thinks it's a good idea)

 

(From the Quebec side of the river with the Parliament Buildings in the background)

 

So as we look back at the week, we can see that even though it didn't come together like we had first planned out, with a full slate of ministry events, it was still just the way God intended it to be.  Meeting the people that He wanted us to meet and growing us personally as we trust Him in all things.  Thank you for your prayers as we travelled and shared about the ministry of MAF.  Maybe it will be your town that we visit next. :-)

ADVOCATE Concert Friday, August 15, 7 pm

August is here and our fundraiser concert is fast approaching.  We have handed out posters to a number of area churches and local business, passed the word along through Facebook and email, and now we wait with anticipation of a great evening of worship.  Wyoming Baptist Church has graciously allowed us to use their facilities and we are so thankful.
ADVOCATE is a gospel music group from Simcoe, Ontario with a young southern gospel sound.  You can check them out on their website.  www.advocatemusicgroup.com

 

Make plans to join us Friday, Aug 15 at 7pm.  If you are unable to come, you can still be a part by helping us spread the word and be in prayer for the evening.  That God would be glorified and that many would financially come along side of us in our ministry with MAF.

 

You don't believe in coincidences???

     A few weeks ago, we were given the opportunity to have a bbq at the Forest Friday Market / Craft Day. We thought it could be a good way to get our name out into the community so we jumped at the chance.  The catch?  There was only a few days to prepare.  We ran around pricing burgers and hot dogs, buying the pop, water, buns, it made for a busy week, which yes, was a good thing. We tried to recruit some help, but being a Friday morning on short notice, the few people that we managed to ask were unavailable. We decided that we would try to make it work with the three of us.... myself, Sarah, and my uncle.
     When Friday came, we were all set, we were prepared for just about anything.... except the lines. Since we were more concerned about our exposure and getting our name out than we were about raising as much money as we could, we kept our prices low.... this made our booth popular.... and busy.  So busy, that the three of us who came prepared to serve would have been overwhelmed.
     However, as we were setting up in the morning wouldn't you know it, a friend from Church was mulling around the market (he also happened to have a reputation for being a great bbq'er) who was more than willing to help us out. He barbecued for the entire time we were there and turned what could have been a frustrating day into a great success. Even when he offered his assistance in the morning, we couldn't have known how much we'd need him later on.  It's almost like it was planned   What a coincidence....
         
          What, you don't believe in coincidences???  
                Neither do I! 

Trip Planning

We are doing it again.  This time we are planning a trip to the Ottawa area at the end of July.

We will be sharing at Russell Reformed Presbryterian Church on Sunday, July 27th but have space in the rest of the week to come share at your church or small group.  We are hoping to be in the Ottawa area from July 27 to Wed, July 30th then closer to Peterborough for July 31 and Aug 1.  We are flexible and would love to work something out with you.  Plan a BBQ or dessert night and have us come and share for about 20 minutes about the work of MAF and our call to serve with them.  Spread the word and help us connect.  Enjoy your summer with a group of friends and be a part of the work that God is doing around the world through MAF.

The Great Canadian North

How did our trip North go?  Well let me fill you in.

We headed out only slightly behind our departure time goal with the van loaded with luggage for a week for 6 people, as well as our MAF display and promotional materials.  We were excited to see this trip come together and we headed out with great anticipation, knowing God was at work in bringing our partnership team together.
After a couple short delays along the way, mostly traffic and construction, we arrived in Callander shortly after supper.  We were meeting and staying with Nathan's friends parents, who are part of a wonderful fellowship of believers at South Shores Community Church.  Though the timing didn't work out to host an event at their church, we were thrilled to be able to chat with the pastor and his wife as well as the new intern pastor.  This body of believers is a great example of living by faith and we look forward to connecting with them again in the months ahead.
After a restful sleep and a fabulous pancake breakfast, we headed out on the next leg of our journey to Porcupine.  This community is just outside Timmins so we passed lots of rocks, lakes and trees, (and construction)

Our first event was a dessert night at Porcupine Bible Fellowship Assembly.  We had a great turn out and enjoyed meeting so many new people who were interested in hearing about the work of MAF and our ministry with them.  We left there very encouraged and thankful for the new friends we made with a shared heart for mission work.  Thank you to Wally and his team for bringing the evening together.

(Sharing some reasons why MAF is so important)

(The back row guests)

From Porcupine it was onto King Kirkland to stay with friends and share our ministry with the fabulous people of Swastika, at Riverside Community Church.  This body of believers had just recently bought a school and it was exciting for us to hear how God had brought this to happen and how they intend to use this building to reach out to their community. 

We enjoyed staying with our friends the Hardwicks and the girls especially liked hanging out with their kids.  Nathan even helped mow the grass at the church and then the school yard the next day.  Getting a true initiation to northern living and dealing with the black flies. It was great to relax with our friends and enjoy life at their house.  Thanks for having us.

We traveled south for our weekend stay at Marsh Bay Resort in Cobalt.  Among all the traveling and sharing about our ministry, we were so grateful to be able to stay at a cottage here and enjoy some family time. 

 

The weather was amazing and it felt like a little vacation.  Swimming and exploring were on the agenda for the weekend.  We found some cool playgrounds and swam in Lake Timiskaming in Haileybury. 

The spinner.

Checking out part of the mining heritage of Cobalt

A little rock climbing.

Sunday we worshiped at First Baptist New Liskeard and shared our passion and calling to serve with MAF with the congregation there.  Giving them a glimps of how God has been at work in our lives, but inviting them to come out to Marsh Bay Resort that evening to hear the full story.  And they came.  Along with a few from the resort we had a great evening.  Sharing our calling but also meeting some wonderful people who blessed and encouraged in this journey.  The rhubarb pies were also a delicious contribution to the evening  and many thanks to Mrs. Siemens for making them.

(A little Sunday afternoon fun)

(A little windy and cool to swim, but perfect for a water fight)

As we headed home on Monday and thought back over the week, we were so grateful for the many people that God saw fit to bring into our path.  Grateful for those that partnered with us in our MAF ministry, for those who were praying for us, and for who gave us an encouraging word and made us feel so welcomed, thank you. The details came together, not because of our efforts, but because God was at work and we give thanks to Him for giving us such an encouraging week.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples. - 1 Chronicles 16:8

Celebrating 100!!!!!

At school the girls celebrated the 100th day of school when they were in the primary grades, and we agree that 100 is definitely a number to be celebrated.  Can you guess why???

This week we are celebrating because we reached 100% in our outgoing one time fund.
That is amazing!!!   In just 6 months God has seen fit to provide our full outgoing amount.  We are so encouraged and know that He will continue to provide for our support needs.  These funds will be used to cover the cost of our visas, vaccines, plane tickets, language training and other things involved in just getting us overseas and launching us into ministry

So what does this mean?

It means that now we will strongly emphasize our monthly support, encouraging everyone to consider even a small monthly gift.  $20 or $30 a month is an incredible encouragement to us and helps us out greatly.

 Maybe monthly isn't do able, but an annual gift would better suit you.  That is wonderful too and will equally count towards our monthly fund, just be sure to mention with your gift that it is annual so it can be recorded accordingly.

And for those able to contribute once, we continue to invite you to do so.  We are grateful and your funds will top us up as we get closer to our full monthly support.

This week we reached 42% of our monthly goal, which is also amazing and we are so grateful to each one that God has brought into our path, that has chosen to partner with us monthly.  We are so close to being half way and that inspires us to keep pressing on.   Another celebration could be right around the corner!!!  We would be thrilled if we could reach 50% of our monthly MAF ministry goal in the next week and a half.  We know God is at work and we have seen Him do some amazing things,  we invite you to be a part of it. 

May is for Missions Results

I realize we have neglected to write any blog posts over the past month and I can only attribute it to the fact that we were busy writing posts on Facebook for our May is for Missions Challenge.  For those on our email list you hopefully received update emails through out the month alerting you to our challenge and goal of 30 new ministry partners in 30 days. 

We had a great start and met the half way point with 15 new partners.  The last half of the month took in our trip to northern Ontario (which I will fill you in on in once we return home) and allowed us to meet some amazing people, bringing our 30 day total to 29 new ministry partners.

We are so thankful for all those who have come along side of us this month in our ministry with MAF.  The right hand column of this blog shows our % increase.  Wow, 40.5% monthly and 99.5% of our one time out going amount.  It is so encouraging to be only 5% away from 100% of our out going.  Thank you so much. We have been blessed beyond measure and continue to praise God for His work in our lives and give Him all the glory for opening doors ahead of us to share about this work and our calling to serve.