Cremona Country Fellowship

29 June 2023

3+ Weeks in Canada

Jim Ministry glimpses, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

It may not surprise most of you – but I’ll just say it – it’s been busy!

Someone asked me on Sunday if we were getting some time off, and I said, “Not yet”…. and in fact, the person who asked is a doctor, so I kind of hung my head in shame and decided that we’d better create some downtime, or we wouldn’t get any!

That confession out of the way, the good news is that it’s been busy but not all work – lots of variety, in fact. There’s always a lot of business packed in when we’re in Canada. Of course, there was Nathanael’s graduation and everything that went along with that. We’ve also had some good chances to visit with people, some time with family, and started our season of ministry here with a prayer meeting this past Thursday.

Before our official ministry time even began, we were driving down a well-maintained major highway. A semi-truck was heading toward us, and somehow flung up a rock – a large rock – about the size of a baseball – at our windshield. Having driven all over North America, I admit I’ve never seen anything like it. It pulverized the windshield (so we’ll be buying a new one), but thankfully didn’t go through, because it was heading right for me.

So – we’re thankful again for safety in travel! This trip could have been very different already. Thanks for your prayers!

If you’ve been checking our schedule, you know that we’ll be at West Zion Mennonite Church (between Carstairs and Disbury) this coming Sunday (2nd of July) and then Cremona Country Fellowship on the 9th. Come out to see us!

We’re still looking for churches who would be willing to have the Where did the Bible Come From? seminar. Feel free to contact us for details!

We would appreciate your prayers that we would get everything done that we need to get done – and that we would have rest as well.

And yes, we have carved out some time off, in case any doctors ask again in the near future…

11 September 2018

Quick Update with Real Live Prayer Requests

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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…

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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.

21 February 2013

A Line in the Sand (sermon)

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This is a sermon that I preached this past Sunday at Cremona Country Fellowship in Cremona, Alberta, Canada. I preached on Romans 4, based on the sermons I preached here in Mexico in December.

Actually, if you want to hear the sermons in Spanish, here’s part 1 and part 2 on my Spanish blog.

But here it is, in English, based mainly on Romans 4:1-8, perhaps one of the most important/least studied passages in the New Testament…

19 February 2013

Back in Mexico (early this morning)!

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At 2am this morning I got back home from Canada. It was a bit of a short night.

The trip went well overall, but – no offence to anyone – I’m really ready to NOT travel for a LONG time. But – no one knows what the future holds (except God, and He is wise and good)! 🙂

That being said, it was good to reconnect with a few people. I actually wasn’t able to see too many. I invited as many people as I could to the events I was at, but I understand that people are busy. But I was able to see at least a few people that we weren’t able to see last time we were in Calgary (in other words, we haven’t seen them for years!).

I enjoyed a time of worship and fellowship on Sunday with friends at Cremona Country Fellowship.

You’ll see in the picture that I saw some weird things – like this cold white stuff on the windshield of the car! But I only saw it a couple of times – it was actually pretty warm while I was there, getting up to 8 or 10 Celsius most days.

I was pretty much the last person in the airport as I went through customs in Mexico City. They handed out the forms late in the flight, so I filled them out after we landed. Unfortunately I filled out one box I wasn’t supposed to fill out, and so had to re-do a form (and the poor lady just wanted to go home!). But I got the forms and stamps that I needed on my documents, in order to go on to the next step in the great visa adventure.

Then they searched my luggage – but at least this time it all arrived at the same time! 😉

To be honest, I’m not feeling at all well – but hopefully I can get some sleep and recover over the next few days. It is a busy week, though – so sometimes getting rest takes some discipline! 🙂

Thanks for all your prayers, particularly regarding our visas, but also your prayers for my travels and also for our ministry in Mexico. We appreciate it more than you know!

14 February 2013

Visas: Another Step

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After three visits to the Mexican Consulate this week, I have finished what I came to Calgary to do! I have the document I need to bring back to Mexico so that I can ask for the visa that I want to get there!

And if you found that confusing, maybe I should leave it at that and not try to explain any more.

Anyway, the people at the consulate were very nice and I’m glad to finally have some good news to report. 🙂

I have a few more errands to do tomorrow, then I’m looking forward to a prayer meeting on Saturday and I’m very excited to be preaching on Sunday. If you’re in the Calgary area, I would love to see you on Sunday – I’ll be at Cremona Country Fellowship.

And thanks to so many who were praying that our visa-goal for the week would be reached! Another step in the right direction! Praise the Lord!

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