Stories of Hope

  Last Thursday and Friday, more than twenty leaders from Hope Fellowship joined hundreds of other church leaders at Liberty Pentecostal Church in Bowmanville. They worshipped together and watched video presentations of the talks that were first given in August as part of the annual Global Leadership Summit held in Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago

  It is with some sadness that I leave the book of Jonah behind. On so many levels, this Old Testament story challenged me personally as I researched it and prepared my sermons. It left me wondering about my own obedience when God tells me to Go, and my own repentance when God says No.

  In our Thanksgiving services, people were given the opportunity to fill out and bring forward a note that said, “I especially appreciate 1. this object, 2. this person, 3. this activity and 4. this quality of God.

  At this time of Thanksgiving, we as a family, have so much to be hopeful and incredibly thankful for.   Five years ago, Josiah was diagnosed with an incredibly rare form of cancer (1/100 million). At the time we had no idea how serious a state his body was in.

  Many years ago the moms and tots program at Zion CRC and Hope Fellowship was Coffee Break. It then became BLAST. A dozen years later, there’s a new kid in town.

  Last Sunday I caught up with Andrew, one of our teenagers, who broke his leg badly this summer when skateboarding at the Courtice Community Centre. He will be out of commission for awhile, but I re-assured him that you can recover from a severe break to run marathons. Perhaps, one day, he will do just that!

  On September 11, 2015, Ryan sent this e-mail: “Happy to introduce Micah Garrett, born Wednesday, September 9 and weighing 8 lbs 10 oz. Amazed and blessed to share my birthday with my son!