ST Highlight

9 March 2018

Camp Bighorn Team

Jim Ministry glimpses, Missions, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

Thanks to everyone who prayed for our time with the team from Camp Bighorn! As far as I could tell the team had a good time of ministry here. They are spending about a month in Mexico altogether, but their time in Ixtapaluca is done.

Thanks to the machinations of our friend Samuel, they had the opportunity to eat many delicacies that even many Mexicans haven’t dared to eat. After all, this is a group focused on “adventure”!

Camp Bighorn at school — The team with some high school faculty and students.

We went to a high school in a small town, where we had a chance to talk to and play games with the students. Some of the team members exchanged dance steps, though our class was too nervous to try (until later, when they thought they might get out of more classes!). Marcos, Rod and Bri

We also had an event where we provided hearing aids and reading glasses to many in need. One of the girls on the team shared her testimony and the Gospel with the group.

We were able to talk with some people afterward, and help them with their new hearing aids. Please continue to pray for those who heard the Gospel at this event.

Shari helping with a hearing aid — Shari helps a local woman with her new hearing aid.

The next team will be coming from within Mexico at the end of April. It will be another team from the Word of Life campus north of Mexico City.

Hopefully we’ll see Camp Bighorn here again!

7 March 2018

Cancer, and When Cancer Comes Back

Jim Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

A young man, with his mother, recently started to attend our church in the community of Las Palmas. He was officially diagnosed with cancer less than a week ago, and it’s likely that he is struggling with one or more other diseases.

detour sign It’s been encouraging to see people of the church bringing encouragement to this young man and his mother, and they have encouraged us as well. We’re praying that God will do a great work in their lives.

God uses things like cancer. It’s certain that Satan wants to use cancer as well, for his own purpose. And so we pray for people in our church who have great and small struggles, that God’s light will shine in their hearts.

Around the same time we found out about this young man’s cancer, we received some other news. Our missionary team member, who was struggling with cancer last year, just found out that the cancer has returned.

We were thankful last year to see how God worked in her life, how God used the situation to spread His love and truth, and how God eventually brought her back to health. And we know God is still in control.

But as humans, it’s hard for us not to be beaten down. We need to lean on our Lord, because our strength doesn’t last.

So please pray for our co-worker, that she and her family will find strength as they lean on the Lord.

And pray for this young man as well, that God will reveal Himself to him and work His miracles.

2 March 2018

Camp Bighorn Team Arrives

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

Last night Rod, David and I went to pick up the team from Camp Bighorn, which will be in Mexico for a month but in Ixtapaluca area for about a week.

Camp Bighorn Team enjoying tacos It’s been good to start to learn a little more about Camp Bighorn. Their Journey program actually reminds me quite a bit of what we did with Friends & Followers at VTI. Of course at VTI the focus was the arts, and at Camp Bighorn the focus is more outdoor adventure.

That being said, at least two people on the team have some interest in drama, and so we enjoyed talking about Shakespearean English and improv over tacos. 🙂

The team is from the US, but there are a couple of Canadians on the team. However, they kept us well separated, lest we talk about how many medals Canada got in the Olympics as compared to the US. Then again, the embarrassing topic of Olympic hockey could come up.

Anyway, we gave them a good introduction to Mexico City traffic last night, and they’re back downtown today checking out the sites. I’ll meet up with them again tomorrow.

For the rest of their visit Rod has organized lots for them to do. They will be helping with community centre classes, youth ministry, English classes at a local high school, a special event or two… and of course they will experience the adventurous side of Mexican cuisine.

26 February 2018

MKs Transitioning to Life in Canada

Jim Family, Missions, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 1

As many of you know, Hannah is hoping to go to school this coming fall in Canada. But how does that work, when you’ve lived two thirds of your life in another country?

After all, you don’t have the many shared experiences of your peers, or their vocabulary, and you don’t know what they know and they don’t know what you know.

Well, that’s where ReBoot fits in, of course!

Reboot is a retreat put on by the Canadian MK Network (under the MORE Network), whose vision is: To provide a safe place for Canadian MKs to review their life stories, be refreshed through worship and peer relationships in order to re-enter and navigate the transition to Canadian life and culture with God’s grace.

There are retreats in Alberta and Ontario. The retreat that Hannah hopes to go to is in Calgary this August, hosted by Ambrose University. It’s for MKs age 17-20.

However, there’s a catch – the organizers want to see if there are enough students before they commit to running the program. By March 31st they want to have around 15 students registered, or they might *gasp* cancel!

So would you help us spread the word? If you know any MKs who may be transitioning to life in Canada, or even who have returned to Canada over the past year or two, tell them to consider ReBoot. There’s lots of information in that link, including videos and testimonials.

If you would like to help Hannah attend ReBoot, you can give to her school fund here.

16 February 2018

Copying the Cottrills?

Jim Practical matters, Prayer and Praise, ST Highlight 0

So, we love my parents, and we certainly want to emulate them, most of the time.

But, perhaps this is not the way to do it.

As usual, we haven’t reached their high standards, but – well, when my Dad completely lost his voice (while preparing to preach on Sunday), I decided that some voice problems, and a cough, would be the closest I could get. And yes, I’m preaching on Sunday as well. Hopefully!

Aarrrrrggghhhh So I’m sure the Cottrill men would appreciate your prayers! Actually, I think I’m starting to finally get over this sickness I’ve had for almost two weeks. But the bug is attacking my voice as its last stand.

And since my Mom has been struggling greatly with back pain, Shari decided to join the club, and sadly has been suffering a lot. She’s actually planning to go to a conference tonight, I’m not sure how she’s going to do it, but I’m sure that both the Cottrill women would appreciate your prayers as they try to serve in spite of the back pain.

(In case you somehow actually think we decided to copy my parents on purpose, I’m adding this addendum to clarify things for the most literalistic readers. The point is, the health hasn’t been great lately, and we would appreciate your prayers as we try to serve through this weekend!)

13 February 2018

Where did the Bible Come From? (seminar)

Jim Practical matters, ST Highlight 1

When we travel in Canada, we usually offer several seminars to churches, schools, small groups, etc. – you can see the current list here.

The “Where did the Bible Come From?” seminar may be a little harder to picture than most, so I want to share a bit of an outline of some of the things we cover. This was originally put together in Spanish as 8 studies, but last time we were in Canada I translated and “Canadianized” it, and condensed it into “part 1” and “part 2”, which could be a Friday evening/Saturday morning, or a morning/afternoon.

So here is a bit of an overview, with some of the things we do and cover in the seminar. If you’re in Alberta or Saskatchewan, and are interested, we can talk!

Where did the Bible Come From?

Day 1 (or morning)

The Four Witnesses

What is “evidence”? (Laura Secord and the Bible)
The surprising new religion of the first century
The Resurrection
Video: Can you respond to Deepak Chopra?
The claims of the Da Vinci Code
Group Activity: Compare a Gospel with a “Lost Gospel”

The Hebrew Scriptures

Wait – do we have too many books? Or too few? (Canon part 1)
Who wrote the “Books of Moses”?
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the copying of the OT

Day 2 (or afternoon)

Copy, Copy, Copy
Can we possibly know what was originally written?

Group Activity: Examine the ancient texts of Javier the Louse (and experience for yourself the brilliant way that God preserved His Word)
Common copying errors
Which books? (Canon part 2)
Answering the Da Vinci Code

Field Trip: The Bible Translation Museum

Today’s Bibles

Today’s Bible Versions (and where they came from)
The Bible: Key Words to know
Group Activity: Can you respond to these actual comments from Canadians about the Bible?
The Bible Origins Contest
(hand out prizes)

Final Review

So – where did the Bible come from?
9 Key Points to Remember
Key Passages
Final words from Ignatius of Antioch and the Apostle John

This seminar is for teens to seniors, suitable for a minimum of 5 people. Some set up time, tables and chairs, and the ability to show PowerPoint/video are needed.

As you can see, I mean to make this very practical, to help you in your own study of Scripture, and to help you answer what you see in the media, hear from a friend, or learn in high school/university.

Again, if you’re interested, contact us and we’ll see what we can do!

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