January 2010

I think that everyone in Vancouver has now caught "Olympic Fever" - the excitement is definitely building! We are so excited about the hundreds of volunteers that will be coming to our city. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE VOLUNTEERS AS WELL AS THE MORE THAN GOLD CAMPAIGN - THAT MANY WILL HEAR ABOUT JESUS.

Over the Christmas holiday, we spent time with my parents in Washington. Melissa and Matthew enjoyed a week of playing with their cousins and getting completely spoiled by Grandparents. You can see from the photos on this blog that a good time was had by all!

We brought New Years in with a big party at our place. Many of the students were still away with family, so it was mostly close friends. We played games, the kids had a Nerf gun war - there were about 10 little boys who decided to attack Melissa. She is such a good sport! We ended the evening at midnight, with our good friend Victor leading us in prayer. One of the families we had over are here helping plant a new church aimed at reaching students at Douglas College. We are thrilled to again see our prayers answered with God bringing more workers with a passion for students. PLEASE PRAY FOR THE BENESH FAMILY AS THEY SETTLE IN, A NEW LIFE IN VANCOUVER FOR THEIR 3 BOYS, AND THE NEW WORK AT DOUGLAS COLLEGE.

The New Year has brought many things to be thankful for and prayers that have been answered. For several years now, we have been praying for church planters to work on our largest campus in Vancouver - the University of British Columbia. With over 50,000 students and about the same number of residents it is a city of it's own. PLEASE PRAY FOR CRAIG AND ELLEN O'BRIEN, OUR NEW CHURCH PLANTERS FOR UBC!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED THAT THIS WONDERFUL FAMILY WILL BE NOW WORKING ON THIS CAMPUS. PRAY THAT MANY STUDENTS WILL HEAR THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS THROUGH THEIR MINISTRY.

Another prayer that has been answered is the safe return of our friend "P". P became a believer after being involved in our Scouts group as a leader. He is from a Muslim family and lives in an area of turmoil. He went home for a 6 month break with the plan to return here for more schooling. WE PRAISE GOD FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF OUR FRIEND AND THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE HIS FAITH WITH MANY FROM A SIMILAR BACKGROUND.

With all of the good things that God is doing, it is hard to be to discouraged when things do not go the way we think they should. As many of you know, we were trying to buy a house in Phoenix that would be used as a mission house. After months of paperwork and phone calls, it has fallen through. We are trusting - knowing that God has a plan for this area of our lives. We are so content serving Him here in Vancouver, we know this is where we are supposed to be. He has our future in His hands, and that is the best place for it!