By Pastor Ed Peters
BURNS LAKE, B.C.—Last year has brought significant changes to our youth outreach. Phil Bogora, who had served as IGF’s youth pastor since May of 2017, officially resigned in September 2020. In January 2020, Phil and his wife Christine gave birth to a son, David, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 18. Continue reading God’s Direction Sought for Outreach Efforts
by Ferlin Abrahamson
BIRCH RIVER, Man.—Many times it is a disadvantage to be a small and shrinking congregation in a dying town. Still, during a pandemic, there is no better place to be than a town so forsaken that even the virus can’t find it yet and in a church that is small enough to legally proceed with regular services with a few minor adjustments to meet pandemic protocol.
Birch River CFC continues to function without a pastor and with minimal programming. Church services include singing, sharing, scripture reading, a recorded sermon while the children have Sunday School and a discussion time following the sermon. Next August, we are planning for an anniversary homecoming and welcome everyone with connections to CFC in the past 60 years to come and join us for the celebration.
by Rebecca Roman
While Christians may be divided on the science of climate change, I think we can agree that the way we are living now is not sustainable in the long-term. In particular, industrialized countries are consuming more resources than we are producing.
According to the United Nations Statistics Division, in high-income countries in 2017 about 27 metric tons of natural resources were used to meet the needs of each person, 9.8 metric tons of which were extracted elsewhere in the world. Globally, consumption of natural resources increased by 50 percent from 1990 to 2017. Continue reading Firmly Planted on Earth and in Heaven
by Dan Cormie
WINNIPEG, Man.—I think the past year at Braeside might best be described by words like: revealing, unmasking, exposing, or even laying bare. Something about the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a paring-down to essentials, on both personal and corporate levels. Continue reading Braesiders Responding With Fresh Commitment
by Phil and Ellen Koop
2020 is the year of COVID, quarantines, working from home, financial struggles, health problems, loss of loved ones and all sorts of turmoil. As we come to the end of this year, many of us have stories of disappointments, missed opportunities, and intense grief from our losses, but we also have stories of God’s faithfulness and his abundant provision. Here is our story:
During this pandemic, God is still working, still sovereign and still owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Continue reading God’s Faithfulness in Trying Times
by Karla Hein
Vacuuming has been a test of my obedience lately. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure ‘children of God’” (Philippians 2:14–15). I sometimes wish my husband and I hadn’t given our kids a CD of scriptures set to music because this verse’s catchy rhythm keeps bouncing around in my head, driving me to conviction. Continue reading Vacuuming to Victory
by Gordon Dyck, Steinbach, Man.
Do I see people, including myself, as part of a group, or as an individual needing Christ as Saviour?
Do I take the sins of many as mine, or ask for my own forgiveness?
Do I blame the sins of others on one of their group, or do I look in the eyes of my neighbour? Continue reading Letters January-March 2021
Interview by Russell Doerksen
This week marks one year since Manitoba began its first lockdown to tackle the spread of Covid-19. The lockdowns have impacted all of us in different ways, some well and others poorly. Few have been hit as hard as customer-focused small business owners.
Rose Dondo, a member of MacGregor EMC and the owner and operator of Hampton Café in MacGregor, Manitoba, is one such small business owner. I sat down with Rose to talk about her business as well as how her faith has helped her weather the year. Continue reading Trusting God when her small business shut down
Gerald Reimer interviews pastor and taxi/Uber driver Molugeta who works in Edmonton and leads an EMC church plant there.
Gerald Reimer:
Hello, Molugeta, and thank you for talking to me today about how your family and church has been affected by COVID. What have you faced in your work as a taxi driver that has been tough for you during this time? Continue reading Trust and trust and trust again
by Layton Friesen
At the one-year mark of the pandemic lock down, and with the first glimmers of dawn beginning to appear, the church can begin to take stock of what just happened to us theologically and spiritually. What are we in the grip of here? Of course, the church can’t control its own destiny. Never has, never will. We don’t get to choose which theological questions are pressed to our attention, and we often don’t even get to choose how we respond to them, at least not in the manner of an individual answering a question. Continue reading The church exposed… theologically speaking
