2000 Years of Missions

15 September 2018

Looking ahead – Canada and Mexico

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

That, my friends, is summer snow. You see that? That’s snow. In summer. People in Alberta aren’t impressed. The stores don’t have any winter stuff even for sale.

Hannah is trying to find a winter jacket – but it’s not so easy. There are only a few around, and they’re the pricey ones. ðŸ’²ðŸ’²ðŸ’² Must be a run on the stores to find something warm!

Just for the record, last Friday it was 28â„ƒ. WHAT is up.

Ok, enough ranting. We’ve had a busy week here. Lots of fun at the 2000 Years of Missions seminar on Tuesday. More appointments and errands this week. And tonight we’re celebrating Mexican Independence at Viva Mexico, which is actually a dinner to welcome the ABC Daycare burn survivors from Mexico. Who, by the way, are searching for donations of warm jackets. Sizes 4-16. Seriously, what is UP with this weather. Oops – how did I get back there?
Viva Mexico 2018

Actually, on the bright side, it is an unexpected delight for some of our guests from Mexico to experience snow for the first time (warm jackets needed).

Anyway, I wanted to give a look ahead, that was the original purpose of this post, right?

In the short term, we would appreciate your prayers as we go to Innisfail tomorrow to share at Innisfail Baptist Church. The service is at 10:30am, if you’re in the area.

We’re a little disappointed that we haven’t been able to see more people here, but everyone is pretty busy. But you’re welcome to join us tomorrow!

We will hit the ground running when we get back to Mexico. There’s a conference for missionaries in the country, just a few days after we get back. So we’ll be loading up the suitcases again.

There’s a church in California that is interested in partnering with the ministry in Ixtapaluca, and they’ve invited the church leaders to come join them for the Expositores 2018 conference (Expositors Conference, in Spanish). So Lord willing I’ll be up in the US for a weekend for some teaching and fellowship. It will be a good time to get to know the church, but also a good time to catch up with what’s been going on in Ixtapaluca while we’ve been gone.

A few weeks ago we found out that our coworkers will be in the US until the end of December, so we’ll be under an extra load when we get back. So we would certainly appreciate your prayers as we hear from everyone about how things are going and what new and old needs there are, and as we seek to shine the Lord’s light in Mexico again.

Tomorrow is Independence Day! So enjoy some Mexican food, and – if you want to be involved – pray for the people of Mexico – especially those we will be serving when we return.

11 September 2018

Quick Update with Real Live Prayer Requests

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise 1

I’m just about ready to pack the car with our gear for part 2 of 2000 Years of Missions, the seminar that we’re presenting tonight at First Evangelical Free Church in Calgary. If we haven’t been able to see you yet, and you’re in the area, I hope you’ll come! 7:00pm tonight. ðŸ˜Š

We would appreciate your prayers for the seminar tonight, as I have been somewhat sick the last couple of days, so I need energy.

We had a very active weekend – kind of ridiculous, actually – but we had some great visits with people, and got some details worked out for Nathanael’s school, and a good time of ministry in Cremona.

Actually, I had the neat opportunity to pray for the Reddekopp family as they prepare for future ministry in Mexico – praise the Lord!

And – Hannah was able to join us for the weekend! Yay! Now she’s back with her class – on a bike trip in Drumheller. ðŸš´â€â™€ï¸

Next weekend we’ll be together again, actually. We’ll be serving at Innisfail Baptist Church. Be sure to come and hear about what God is doing in Mexico! The service starts at 10:30am.

We do appreciate your prayer for our ministry over the next few days. Also, please continue to pray for our coworker who has been healing from cancer treatment, but is still greatly struggling with health issues. She ended up in the hospital again today – she’s doing all right, but please pray that she would be encouraged (her family too!), and that God would continue to bring her healing.

All right – gotta run! Maybe I’ll see you there?

7 September 2018

Keeping Busy in Canada…

Jim Family, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

In the past 48 hours or so, someone in the family has been out for lab tests or a doctor’s appointment four times. Two of those before 8am. Everyone is healthy, as far as we know so far! Just routine tests. Of course, that kind of routine can make you tired and sick! 😀

Sunrise in Calgary — Enjoying the sunrise on the way to a doctor’s appointment.

Don’t worry, it hasn’t been all bad, as we continue with ministry here in Canada. I enjoyed giving part 1 of 2000 Years of Missions this past Tuesday in Calgary. Quite a few people were kind enough to come, even though it was the day after Labour Day. Part 2 is on the 11th, so hopefully some people who missed part 1 will be out then.

Oh, by the way – if you’re in the Calgary area and you’re interested in coming on Tuesday, please do! If you would like, you can also join us for a prayer meeting before the seminar – at 6pm. If you can’t, no worries, just come at 7pm for the seminar itself.

We’re also getting ready for ministry at Cremona Country Fellowship on Sunday, and then at Innisfail Baptist Church on the 16th. For more details on upcoming events, go here.

But of course what everyone really wants to know is – how is Hannah doing? 🙂

Well, you can ask her for the real story, but she seems to be doing well. Today is day #4 of classes in grade 11 at Prairie Christian Academy, and she’s gradually getting her schedule figured out and getting used to where to go when. Lord willing we’ll be seeing her on the weekend.

So what’s coming up besides all this? Well, more errands and general work to do, yes – more doctors’ appointments. And getting Nathanael ready for school – another priority. So yes – as disjointed as all this sounds, we are indeed keeping busy in Canada.

4 August 2018

A Quick Update About What We’re Up To In Canada

Jim Family, Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

Thanks so much for your prayers for us during our time of ministry in Prince Albert! Yes, my voice did hold out – a little painful by the end, but I think everyone could hear me. 🙂

2000 Years of Missions (just a glimpse!) We very much enjoyed our time at Community Bible Church – and it was great to see those of you who came even from other churches to visit!

Thanks also for your prayers for the VBS in Las Palmas. We have gotten lots of good reports – many children who attended were from outside the church, and there have been some new people coming to worship on Sunday mornings.
ReBoot Alberta 2018
Today, Hannah will be heading to ReBoot Alberta, a week-long camp for MKs who are transitioning to life in Canada! I’m sure Hannah would appreciate your prayers as she goes. It looks like it will be a fun time!

On top of that, we have lots of work to do. We’ve been dealing with various medical appointments, getting errands done, getting other work done, preparing for upcoming ministry, and so on.

On the 12th we’ll be at Penhold Church of Hope, just south of Red Deer. If you’re in the area, it would be great to see you! The service starts at 10:30am.

For more on our upcoming schedule, just check our summery itinerary here.

Thanks again for your prayers! I hope we can see many of you soon.

26 July 2018

Prayer Opportunity: Big Weekend Ahead!

Jim Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

We’re approaching the half-way mark of our tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan! Right now we’re in SK, and looking forward to being in Prince Albert this weekend. If you’re in the area, check out our weekend activities here (just look for the date), and consider joining us!

Preparing for "2000 Years of Missions"! — Preparing for “2000 Years of Missions”!

If you’re able to come Sunday morning, great! But if you have other commitments, you can join us for one or both parts of the 2000 Years of Missions seminar.

We would appreciate your prayers for the weekend. This is one of those seminars that may look simple, but it does require many hours of prep and setup. And I’ll be going from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon between the seminars and preaching and sharing and so on.

So pray that my voice will hold out! 🙂

But more than that, just pray that God would give us all strength and endurance – and that God’s Spirit would speak through us as we share. May we all grow in Him this weekend!

You could also pray for the vacation Bible school that’s going on in Las Palmas now! The group there needs lots of endurance as well, as they share God’s Word with those kids. Pray that the children would come out, and that God would speak to them through His Word.

Thanks so much! I hope we can see lots of you in Prince Albert on Saturday and Sunday!

5 July 2018

Family, Friends, and Missions History

Jim Ministry glimpses, ST Highlight 0

We’re keeping busy here in Canada, and enjoying Canada Day Month (I just made that up, but that’s ok)!

We’ve been enjoying some time with family and friends along with continuing ministry. We enjoyed some time with friends in Caronport, doing such very patriotic things as visiting the Canadian Forces base in Moose Jaw, a key base for the Royal Canadian Air Force. We had an excellent tour. (You know you’re in Canada when the military personnel passing you in the hallway apologize.)

On the 1st I taught a Sunday School class in Caronport on the modern era of missions history, which was fun. It’s been a while since I taught it, and I learned a few more things about history and the current state of world missions this time around. I look forward to learning more as I repeat the seminar again later this month.

Now we’re celebrating my in-laws 50th anniversary by spending some time together as a family in BC.

During this time the Mexico election happened, which many of you have been hearing about on the news. As you have probably noticed, there’s a lot of speculation – news that isn’t really news – and so we will wait to see what happens. But we are thankful that the Lord is the sovereign King of all nations.

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