Awards Night

Last night was AWANA Awards night at Northside Bible Chapel here in Barrie. Here Vera enjoys a moment with some special friends, two girls who she has also been bringing out to Sunday School.

Some of the Junior Varsity leaders and clubbers that I've had the joy of working with.

Jim Comte preaching the gospel to a full house: "Christ died for our sins" (I Corinthians 15:3)



So, another year of Awana comes to a close and we thank God for blessing leaders and clubbers - way to go all!

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Even birds and animals have much they could teach you; (Job 12:7)

Jeremy displays "Jamal", one of three squirls found in the park. Having fallen from thier tree and abandoned by thier mom, these long-tailed fuzzy creatures were quickly adopted by Jeremy and his friends.

Our Bible tells us that there are lessons to learn from our furry friends; He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7) is one for sure.

From beginning to end the Bible is full of animals that God made, cared for and used: think of Noah's friends, the donkey that spoke to Balaam, the whale that swollowed Jonah, the donkey that carried Jesus, the rooster that crowed to remind Peter of the Lord or even the scary beasts in Revelation used to symbolize things future.

Well, I don't know if "Jamal", "Sandy", and "Hecter" will survive summer, stray cats or our dog and cat. It will be a challenge for the guys to feed and care for their new friends as they try and reintroduce them into the neighbourhood. I for one will think of the variety and wonder of God's creatures and His perfect care over us.

Vaillancourt's View

"Phheww, I'm bushed!!!" Bob Vaillancourt and Leighton Hartley after pouring cement at 8 Mile Community Chapel in Belize.

Bob's home assembly, Grace Bible Chapel in Timmins, Ontario publishes a Missions Newsletter. He recently submitted an article regarding the value of short term missions. I blog it for your consideration:


Laborers for the
Harvest

Why Short Term? - Robert
Vaillancourt

Valid concerns have been
expressed about the value of short
term efforts. These include the
cost involved in traveling for only
a few weeks or months; the
limited contribution a person can
make without knowing the
language; the questionable
commitment of some who wish to
be involved for a short term.

On the other hand, there are
potential advantages which should
not be overlooked:

• we live in a smaller world in
which travel is so much easier;
• more Christians, whether
students or retired people, have
time available in which to serve;
• many of those who have gone for
a short term have become more
aware of the needs and of the
Lord's desire for them to be
involved in longer term service;
• just as John Mark was a servant
to Paul and Barnabas (Acts
13:5), thus facilitating the work
in which they were involved, so
today there are support
activities which can be done

• by those who are willing to
help for a short time as
handymen, builders,
mechanics, teachers etc.;
• many missionaries have
expressed an interest in short
term workers. (Taken from
MSC website)

Not all of us are called to full time
missionary work. We can all do
our part in the Lord’s work. There
are opportunities aplenty for short
time teams.

There is much need for
evangelism, construction,
encouragement and assistance to
full time missionaries. Not all are
capable or even able to go on
these teams but prayers are
needed for teams to come forth
and also for the success and safety
of the teams.

“The harvest in truly GREAT, but
the laborers are FEW, PRAY ye
therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that He would send forth laborers
into the harvest” Luke 10:2.

Behold I stand at the door and KNOCK!

Here are a couple of the volunteers who helped distribute about 1000 door hangers on Saturday. We hung these invitations on neighbourhood door handles inviting people to join us at Northside on Easter Sunday to consider again the best news the world has ever heard - "He is Risen!"

Bancroft Youth

It was about 11:00 by the time Jeremy and I pulled into Hemingway Crescent last night. We enjoyed an evening with the Bancroft Bible Chapel Youth Group. We were invited to share our missions report on Belize. After a scrumptious meal of Lasagna we gave the Pineapple Story and then showed the report. I was impressed by their interest and excellent questions. Afterward they broke into groups and prayed. A highlight for us was seeing old time friends Ben and Naomi. Not seeing them for about 9 years it was hard to recognize eachother.
Many thanks for the opportunity to be with you! May the Lord bless your group for His glory.

Sean & Jeremy

Belize Update

Hi,
Here are James and Chantal Edwards, good friends and short-term missionaries to Belize. Here is an update from thier blog....

Time to start packing up…
April 3rd, 2006
Hi Everyone,

Sorry for this long overdue update. We haven’t been able to find time to get on the internet the past couple of weeks.

The North Carolina team has come and gone. We were able to have the foundation poured before they came. They were able to get the columns and the beams poured before they left. They also had gospel meetings from Thursday night to Sunday evening. Please continue to pray for this work as it continues.

As for us, it’s hard to believe that we are on our last week. We’ve started to pack up and we’ll be heading out on Thursday. It will definately be hard to leave so many new friends here. I’ll give you more of an update once we return home.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Romans 2 - The Guilt of the Hypocrite...

The Legend of the Indonesian Farmer
An Indonesian farmer was returning to his village when he suddenly stopped on the jungle trail and stared ahead with growing alarm. Lying across his path he could see a tiger’s tail and, looking carefully, he could see that the tail belonged to a very large and very fierce tiger. This tiger was waiting for him. Acting on impulse the farmer put down his scythe, ran forward and seized the tiger by the tail. With an angry snarl the tiger tried to free his tail, but the more he roared and plunged, the harder the farmer held on.
The struggle went on for a while, and then, just as the farmer felt he could hang on no longer, who should come along the path but an Indonesian holy man. The holy man stopped, surveyed the scene with interest and was about to pass on when the farmer called to him.
”Dear holy man,” he cried, ”please take my scythe and ki8ll this tiger. I can’t hold on to it much long.”
The holy man sighed. ”My friend,” he replied, ”that I cannot do. I am forbidden by the rites of my religion to kill any living thing.”
The farmer renewed his failing grip. “But holy man,” he said, “don’t you see that if you fail to kill this tiger then it will kill me. Surely the life of a man is of more value than the life of a beast!”
The holy man folded his arms in the depths of his flowing robe. “About that,” he said, “I cannot speak. All around me in the jungle I see things killing and being killed. I am not responsible for these things, neither can I help them. But for me to kill…as, this I cannot do.”
Just then the tiger gave a vicious snarl and a furious pull on its tail. Sweat poured from the farmer. The holy man prepared to leave. “Dear holy man, “sobbed the farmer in despair, “doesn’t go! If it is against the rules of your faith to kill this beast, at least come and hold it’s tail while I kill him.”
The holy man paused and considered. “I suppose I could do that,” he conceded at last. “There can be no harm in holding the animal’s tail.” Cautiously he approached the infuriated beast and joined the farmer in holding on to the tail. “Do you have him, holy man?” panted the farmer. “Do you have him fast?”
“Yes, yes,” said the holy man, “but hurry up before he gets loose.” Leisurely the farmer brushed off his clothes. Slowly he picked up his hat and put it on. With great deliberation he picked up his scythe. Then bowing to the holy man the farmer prepared to leave.
“Here, where are you going?” demanded the suddenly alarmed holy man. “I thought you were going to kill this tiger.”
The farmer paused, folded his arms in the sleeve of his coast and sighed. “Dear holy man,” he replied, “you are a most excellent teacher. You have completely converted me to your most noble religion. I can see now how wrong I have been all these years. I cannot kill this tiger, for it is against the rules of our holy religion. As you have taught me, all around us in the jungle we see things killing and being killed. We are not responsible for these things, but for us holy men to kill, as you say, this cannot be. I am now going into the village yonder, so you will just have to hang on to his tiger until some coarser soul comes along not so motivated by the high ideals o our holy faith. Perhaps you will be able to convert him too, as you have converted me.” And with this parting shot, the farmer left!

As Arrows (Psalm 127)

In the Bible we read that children are a heritage from the Lord and that they are like arrows (Psalm 127). Verse 4 states that if you have a quiver full you'll be happy. We only have two arrows in our quiver, and I can tell you: if you have two teenagers you'll have an empty fridge!!! I think the lesson for us, though, is as parents we need to POINT THEM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THEN LET THEM GO.

So, here is Rachel: 13 yrs!

With her friends in Northern Ontario roasting some wieners in the bush.
Also, with her Oma (Oma = "Grandma in German)

Happy Birthday Rachel! We love you!!!

The Book of Romans

Hi again,
I know I promised some shots of our daughter's B-day, but I'm just going to take this oppoprunity to post our current study outline for our series of messages at Northside Bible Chapel here in Barrie. We have just begun a series of talks on Paul's letter to the Romans. This is a suggested outline to follow along... (adapted from Weirsbe's Expository Outlines of the New Testament)

ROMANS – God’s Good News
Key verses: 1:16,17
Theme: The Righteousness of God

1) INTRODUCTION – (1:1-17)

a) Salutation (1:1-7)
b) Explanation (1:8-17)

2) SIN – (1:18-3:20) Righteousness Needed

a) Gentiles guilty before God (1:18-32)
b) Jews guilty before God (2:1-3:8)
c) Whole world before God (3:9-20)

3) SALVATION – (3:21-5:21) Righteousness Imputed

a) Justification stated (3:21-31)
b) Justification illustrated in Abraham (4:1-25)
c) Justification experienced (5:1-21)

4) SANCTIFICATION – (6-8) Righteousness Imparted

a) Victory – The Flesh (6)
b) Liberty – The Law (7)
c) Security – The Spirit (8)

5) SOVEREIGNTY – (9-11) Righteousness Rejected

a) Israel’s past election (9)
b) Israel’s present rejection (10)
c) Israel’s future restoration (11)

6) SERVICE – (12:1-15:13) Righteousness Practiced

a) In the church (12)
b) In Society (13)
c) Toward the weaker believer (14:1-15:13)

7) CONCLUSION – (15:14-16:27)

a) Paul’s faithfulness in the ministry (15:14-21)
b) Paul’s future in the ministry (15:22-33)
c) Paul’s friends in the ministry (16:1-23)
d) Final benediction (16:24-27)

Is that James Bond or does that thing have wings?

Hi,
March break is over and the kids are back in school. We thought we might post a shot or two of what Jeremy and Rachel were up to. The break took us back to Northern Ontario where we were hit with a blizzard! Sean was to speak at our home assembly but the meeting was cancelled! As you can see from the picture, Jeremy loved the snow leftover from the storm. The other news, of course, is that Rachel turned into a teanager yesterday! That's right, 13 years old! We will post some pics of her unique outdoor party next....

Nice to be back in blog land.....

Sean

Mrs. Barrow

Hi,
Meet Mrs. Barrow. Pictured here with me and the Timmins boys, she was the one who donated the property for the 8 Miles Community Bible Chapel when her husband died. It was very special to see her at the grand opening. You could see her joy as she stepped onto the sidewalk leading to the newly renovated building. Her joy overflowed as she stood and sang "to God be the glory, great things He has done" with the other believers at the dedications. We thank God for her vision to dedicate the property to the Lord's work.

Let's continue to pray for the workers there doing follow up, including James and Chantal Edwards and also for the plans for future teams.

Sean

Picture of the day...

Running low on air (again!) the team pulled into a Shell station in Belize City. In the picture you can see the station's official "air" supply! and thus our picture of the day!

Romans 10:13

Every mission leaves lasting impressions. The most memorable and joyous moment on our recent mission to Belize was witnessing a handful of people come forward to recieve Christ at the 8 Miles Community Bible Chapel. The man in the white shirt here was one of them.

Whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved (Romans 10:13)

8 Mile Update from Edwards in Belize

Hi,
Following James and Chantal's blog brings us an encouraging update from 8 Mile. Today they write...

"The work at 8 Mile is increasing rapidly. A number of us were able to be out on Saturday to hold the first Good News Club and we had over 20 kids come out. Then on Sunday, we had maybe half a dozen or so people from the community come out for the gospel meeting and almost 20 kids again. This has created the need to start a Sunday school during the Sunday gospel meetings! Praise the Lord!"

Follow up is so important. Our prayers are behind them as they nurture the fledgeling work. Below is a picture of some of the many children from the area taken during the grand opening of 8 Mile Community Bible Chapel.

Xunantunich

Say {Soo-nan-two-nich} (Not, "Soon have an itch"!)

Xunantunich is located across from San Jose Succotz, a few miles from the western border. The partially-excavated and largest pyramid, El Castillo, rises 130 feet above the main plaza and offers an impressive panoramic view of the Belize's Cayo District and nearby Guatemala.

The team in special rain gear ready to scale the ruins. Bob is upset and pointing at the place where my umbrella is getting him wet (like we were dry!!! Ha, Ha!)

A hand powered ferry is used to cross the river just before the ruins

The rain never let up but did not detract from the spectacular view, cuaght here by James and Chantal



It is a mystery what exactly happened to the Maya civilization. It is evident from their calendars and engineering that they were quite advanced. I wonder how much they knew of God, what light they had.

Pallet Boys

Hi,
This photo of Leigh and I flaked out after a day at 8 Mile just dropped into my inbox. It means that Bob and John are back in Timmins. I dropped them off at the Toronto airport this am, so we thank God that they too are safely home.
Thanks Bob for that shot!

Sean

point your browser here now and then to see more post Belize blogging on our trip.

8 Mile Bible Chapel Grand Opening

With well over 100 in attendance, the opening of 8 Mile Community Bible Chapel exceeded our expectations. Several area assemblies were well represented and the new facilities were packed. It was so good to see local people we had invited. The greatest blessing was seeing a number of people came forward to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. I think a couple of them had done it before but we can only trust that there was a true harvest of previous sowing and pray for them. We believe God is working at 8 Mile and what we are witnessing is the birth of a new assembly. It will take a few more posts to tell the story of 8 Mile, but we'll display a few photos right away.


A tent was erected outside for the children and refreshments. Many of the neighborhood children came for the activities.

We were blessed by the Berea and Grace Chapel choir. Herbert Cain, a man who has inviested a lot of prayer and footwork in the community, shared a brief history of the 8 Mile outreach (for future posts). Bob shared a word of thanksgiving and dedication to God and Sean preached the gospel from Acts 16:30,31. Maybe you are reading these lines and have never answered the question from these verses: "What must I do to be saved?" The answer is "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

To God be the glory, great things He has done

"Where's the water?"

"Where's the water?" I don't know how many times I heard that, but during the pour it was so hot we had to drink gallons. Over 14 cubic yards completed the bridge and the sidewalk. Today we tore off the forms and backfilled.
This morning the team was joined by others from Grace Chapel and the whole community was visited with invitations to the grand opening tomorrow. After we handed out tracts we finished up the benches, cleaned up and stripped the forms. You just have to look at Bob and Leigh in the last picture to get an idea of how we feel. As I type Eric is at Young Peoples in Belize City sharing his testimony. Bob and I are preparing for a full day of speaking tomorrow. Now that the internet is up again we can try and post a few more pictures later.

For the team,
Sean

God's Amazing Creatures

Today we thought we would show you some of God's Amazing Creatures that we have seen in Belize. Some of them you might recognize, some of them you might not. All of them are in their natural habitat, except the Canadians. They are in a cage of wire mesh that the are getting ready to place in the forms for tomorrows pour.

Her is Curious George who jumped into our vehicle as we were driving in Belize City.

Can you recognize this funny looking creature? It is a known here as the Gibnut. We saw it at Mark's house where the team was invited for a Birthday dinner for his wife.

In this picture you can see a good size Nurse Shark trying to get away from Derry.

This Iguana wanted to bask in the sun and enjoy a quiet afternoon, but was disturbed by a bunch of noisy Canadian tourists.

We have seen so many of God's amazing creatures. These seagulls remind us of our Savior's words: "Look at the birds of the air, for they niether sow nor reep nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26) These words remind us of God's special care. As we said goodbye to Derry and Esther today we thanked God for His comfort and knowing that He is in control of all our circumstances.

Please continue to pray as we work to complete renoviations to the 8 Mile site. We hope to have everything done for the grand opening on Sunday.

signing off....

Sean and Eric

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care..."

Dear praying friends,

Today brought sad news: Esther, my sister-in-law, recieved news that her dad passed away. He had been suffering with a brain tomor for some time now. It is a comfort to know that he knew and loved the Lord. Arrangements have been made for Derry and Esther to return to Canada tomorrow. They will be sorely missed, especially as Derry was key in the construction part of the mission. We are thankful that most of the formwork is done and ready for the cement pour on Friday. Esther was able to paint the bathroom a nice cheery color.
Tonight the team joined the believers at Burrel Boom. Derry shared a message on the promises of God and Sean spoke on 1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."
We have so many good photos to share with you. Here you can see some of our new friends, including Justin & Dion, Derry's eager helpers who learned a few tricks of the trade. They want to join others on Sunday for the opening.
You can see we've had our challenges on the road as well. So, our thoughts and prayers go with Esther and her family. May the Lord, the God of all comfort, give them strength and grace.

Thank you for your prayers and support.
For the rest of the team,

Sean