Stories of Hope

  Who doesn’t love an ice cream sundae? What a great way to start off a meeting—deciding on what kind of fruit, what extra toppings, how much whipped cream to add and a chance to chat with others in the room. It was a great start to the meeting of Life Group Leaders, Life Group Team and Pastoral Care Elders.

  I didn’t grow up a Christian. I didn’t have the opportunity to know Jesus and live with a certain measure of hope in my life - knowing what waited for me at the end of my time on this earth. But since accepting Christ, that has all changed. I have been redeemed. I get to live a life filled with hope.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! – Psalm 133:1   We live in an increasingly polarized and divided world in which different voices clamour to be heard. Too often conversations cease to be productive, and I wonder whether in our desire to be heard we have forgotten how to listen.

  If you’ve ever stopped by the church on a Saturday in June (or a Friday evening or most Thursdays, too) over the last few years, you would have noticed quite a few cars in our parking lot and lots of activity in the sanctuary.

  As I get closer to reaching my one-year mark of leading the Children’s Ministry I want to pause and look back on God’s continued blessings. First, our kids. Sunday is a day of joy!

People of Hope:   There is no more agonizing experience than watching your child suffer and not being able to take that pain away.    Two and a half years ago we learned our oldest son Jesse, was in stage 5 kidney failure and dialysis would be required to keep this life threatening disease at bay.

  Did you know that there are 650 prayers in the entirety of the Bible, and that approximately 450 of them got answered?! That’s almost a 70% success rate for how faithful God’s promises are that when we knock, He answers!

  In our hurry-up-and-move-on-to-the-next-thing world, we often forget to stop and celebrate milestones along the way. Sometimes it’s good just to stop and remember and enjoy.

  It was a sold out crowd two weeks ago for the first annual family curling night in support of the Hope for the Dominican project. The evening started with a short learn to curl session led by our own pro skip Larry followed by a round robin tournament.

LIVING WITH CANCER AND THE FEAR OF CANCER RETURNING   Hello! My name is fear. I offer suffocation and physical pain. I will cripple your faith and you will be useless to yourself and others. These are the words of the devil, but Jesus says “I am the Truth and the Way. Your faith and strength come from me. Do not be afraid.”

Reflections on Prayer   “Read your Bible, pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow!” I remember singing those words as a kid. I even remember the actions that went with the song! From an early age I’ve known that prayer is powerful. However, if I’m honest, my prayer life has its ups and downs.

  Deacons. Everyone knows the deacons as the people who pass the collection bags on Sunday morning. While that is true , there is a lot more to being a deacon. At Hope, the deacons play a critical role in the church’s Bless strategy.

  Did you notice our new check-in system when you walked into church this morning? If you are signing a child in for JAM City, you probably saw it. We have switched from clipboards and sharpie name tags to tablets and printers!

So what is the deal with all these fundraisers?   To explain why we are holding so many fundraising events we need to start with the why question. Our “why” is that we feel that God has been calling the people of Hope to the Dominican Republic for a number of years. Despite the beautiful beaches and all inclusive resorts, the Dominican Republic remains one of the poorest countries in the northern hemisphere where its people suffer from overwhelming and oppressive poverty.

Valentines Dance   On February 9th we held our 3rd annual valentines dance at Club Carib in Oshawa in support of the Pregnancy Resource Centre in the Dominican Republic. This by far was the best attended event with 148 tickets sold and over $6,000.00 raised (after expenses).

  The call came one evening in February. “Would you let your name stand for Pastoral Care Elder?” I wasn't sure if they had the right person, but after prayer and consideration, I hesitantly said yes, feeling very unprepared.

“The Real Deal”   In Matt. 19:21 Jesus calls us to leave everything behind, sell what we possess, give to the poor and follow HIM. How many of us have the courage to do this? Last March Larry and I met a couple who have done this!

  As another Advent and Christmas season has concluded, our family has welcomed a long-anticipated child as Jonathan, our son through adoption, arrived home on January 8th.   In 2011, following a medical mission trip to Central America, we were prompted by God to open our home to a child from another country that was in need of one. We were aware that the process would take some time and by 2014 our adoption file had reached the stage of being submitted to Haiti. The next milestone was a call in August 2017 when we were introduced to Jonathan on paper and then quickly made plans to visit that October.   After Chris was able to make a quick visit in Nov 2018, we finally received word that all the paperwork was complete in Dec 2018 and that we could make plans to bring him home, about 7 ½ years after responding to that initial call on our hearts.   Now that Jonathan is home, the next phase of our lives has begun. Beyond us learning some Creole and him learning English, we are navigat

  The staff that prays together, eats together and plays together...stays together? Given the busy-ness of Christmas in a church office, we decided to postpone a staff celebration to January.

  When I was asked if I would be willing to be on the slate for elder, I said yes, thinking that I wouldn’t be chosen. I’d been asked to consider being a Deacon several times and never been chosen, and believed that things would continue on the same way. God, however, has a sense of humour, and I discovered to my surprise that I was indeed chosen to be an elder.