Stories of Hope

  Before graduating from seminary, I told God I needed a spouse. I didn’t want to do ministry alone. The thought of moving somewhere away from my home community and living by myself – being a household of one – was overwhelming.

  Last week’s Hopeful Story , as written by Kim, and inspired by Dylan’s message on July 8 is indicative of what happens in the kingdom of God that we participate in. But let’s look a little closer and broader here at Hope Fellowship.   Most of you know the story of how I came to become the pastor here at Hope. Most of us know the back-story to Brian’s acceptance to become our second pastor.  Some of you know the behind the scenes promptings for Nicole to become our Worship Director. Lots of you know the Lord’s promptings for Dylan not only to become our Connections Director, but more so to pursue Seminary training to become a full fledged pastor. Deanna, our newest staff person as the Children’s Director, compliments well the ministry staff here at Hope.   And then there is the faithfulness of Chris, Ron & Linda, and the almost twenty years of dedicated service that Evelyn brings to the church.   Do you see where this is going? Yes, The Lord has his hand...

  I almost died. This is what I learned.    It was a beautiful day for a long drive home. I had been gifted with a special long weekend trip to attend the Pow Wow on Mount Mckay (Thunder Bay). I’ve always had a fear of driving, (Cobourg to Pickering were my boundaries) and I would have never made the long drive on my own, but I knew I would be ok.

  November 2016 we hosted our first young adults conference called Misfit Generation.  Many new faces attended to check out this new thing happening in Courtice, Ontario.   One of those new faces was a young man named Josh from Frankford, Ontario.  I had the privilege of spending my Saturday lunch break with him, hearing a bit of his story, his experience with church, and his desires - the why behind his decision to drive the hour to attend the conference.

Hello from Ecclesia Church!   As we head into the summer, we’re giving thanks for what God is doing in and through and around us in Oshawa. We’ve now been worshipping together every Sunday evening for nine months; and, since January, we’ve been focusing our energy together on connecting with our neighbours in meaningful ways throughout North Oshawa.