Tim and Christine's Blog

We have just enjoyed a super summer, the weather was absolutely fantastic. Our daughter, Rebekah and her family came out from the UK fro a couple of weeks and our son, Ben and his fiancée visited from Prince George. It was wonderful to plan fun activities without having to watch the forecast! The fall is following suit too!
The Fall program kicked off well, we worked with the city and local community association to do a Fall Community Clean Up. We hired trucks and trailers and went around the neighbourhood picking up old furniture, appliances and garbage for free! This was a way to show the community that Jesus loved them. We had lots of contact with people who couldn’t believe we would do this for nothing. Even the local alderman came and was impressed that a church was getting involved in this way. We had over 40 volunteers turn out, a local restaurant provided lunch for them and everyone asked if we could do it all over again next year!! For a full look at the day log in to Bridgeland on Facebook and look at the photos! Some attached too.
We have also launched a Sunday School, there hasn’t been one for over six years! We have lots of willing volunteers to teach and each week it seems as if families are staring to attend, we feel so encouraged by this.
Last night, October 17th we launched the Marriage Course and had several couples commit to coming out for the eight weeks. We believe this will be an opportunity for them to take a little time to devote to their relationships, especially as all have been married four years or less and are very active in the church.
Our seniors who felt that their church was doomed to closure are so excited with all that is happening that they are fund raising and planning to put in a lift, the plans are before the city on Friday October 21st for approval. They now feel there is a future and want to be able to access all areas of the building!
Some family news, Ben had an accident whilst working on his truck, last month, and severed the end of his thumb off, after plastic surgery and nearly four weeks off work he is beginning to return to normal. In September he and Stacey got engaged and are planning to marry soon.
PRAYER FOR THE MINISTRY
That the Lord will continue to keep an air of excitement in the congregation as we move forward.
That the planned lift will be approved by the city and the funds will be there to put it in
That the Marriage Course will accomplish much in the lives of those participating
That the Sunday School will continue to grow
PRAYER FOR OUR FAMILY
For Rebekah, Peter and the four grandchildren as they continue to minister to the children and adults of Knowle Bristol
For Judith and Dan, living in Newquay Cornwall who are expecting their first baby at the end of December
For Ben and his fiancée Stacey, still living in Prince George, who are expecting their first baby in January
Praying that the Lord will richly bless everyone of you in Station Hill Baptist Church. For those who pray regularly for us our sincere thanks. We have many fond memories of our time with you and trust the Lord will make a way for us to visit when next we come to the UK.
Tim & Christine.

We have now successfully moved into Bridgeland, a beautiful inner city living area, walking distance to the city centre, we can see the Calgary Tower from our home! The church building we are serving in is just a short stroll down the road. Centre Street Church is a short drive away and they have asked us to help develop a regional centre with this older Bridgeland congregation.

There are a couple of links that can be viewed that will give everyone a feel for what we are doing; the first shows the Main Campus and the North West regional, the second link shows the Bridgeland centre and house church movement connected to Centre Street. (I have a part in the second link)

Together We Are Better Part 1 of 2

Together We Are Better Part 2 of 2

Calgary Stampede is currently taking place and is billed as “The Greatest Outdoor Show in the World”. There are over 1.2 Million people living in the city and it is our purpose to be the kind of church that is “In the Community for the Community” Last Sunday we cancelled the morning service in favour of a free Stampede Breakfast and over 1250 came!! This photo slide show captures the moment.

Photo Slide show Stampede Breakfast

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1856853/StampedeBreakfast_2011.mov

The Young Adults group is growing and has become a vibrant part of the church I attended one Thursday evening and was pleased to assist in leading a young man to Christ. Praise the Lord!

Greetings! We have now arrived in Calgary and all our furniture has been safely moved into our two bedroom condo which is something like a mid terraced house. This property has an unfinished basement where we have stored the contents from our larger home in Prince George. Ben will be living in our old house and drove a 26 foot U-haul truck down to Calgary towing our van behind it! The distance was approximately 600 miles or 1000kms and we did it over two days. Our younger daughter Judith will be coming out for a week over Easter as flying directly from London to Calgary is more affordable.

Prayer:

· Please pray for me as I start my new job officially on May 1st I will spend half of my time at Center Street Church main campus and the other half leading the regional campus located near the city centre. My thoughts are moving towards the church at the heart of the city which links with your mission to be the church at the heart of the town.

· The emotional adjustment for us as we will be living away from all of our family now. Ben starts a new job with Subaru on May 2nd in Prince George and hopes to complete his apprenticeship.

· Please pray that we will be able to find a house to rent closer to work. Currently we are living in Airdrie which is north of the city and necessitates a 25km drive each way.

We have finally arrived in Calgary and look forward to settling in properly for the 1st of May. It has been quite the journey and some of it is posted on our blog. Interestingly a contact of mine here in Calgary found details about our move on the blog!

Ben will be staying in Prince George and things are beginning to settle down for him, it even looks like he may be able to finish his apprenticeship which will be great. He has also joined a local Baptist Church and is part of the worship team and the Associate Pastor is taking an active role in helping him move forward with God.

Please continue to pray for our travels as we journey back to Prince George next Wednesday 14th – Thursday 15th after which we will pack up the rest of our house before we head back down to Calgary on the 20th / 21st with a 26 foot U-haul full of our belongings towing our car and also driving a cargo van! We arrive on the Thursday before Easter then Judith our daughter is coming out on Saturday for a week to help us get settled in. One additional benefit of living in Calgary is that there are more economic flight deals!

God has not failed us and His leading and timing are perfect. Praise the Lord!

Love and blessings,

Tim & Christine

Moving on…

Calgary is a great city and just to the right of the picture is an older area of the city known as Bridgeland.  I have been invited to join the staff of Centre Street Church as a regional campus lead pastor working in this area of the city and at the central campus.  This church was a great supporter of our work in Prince George.  I feel the Lord has spoken to us from the scripture found in Rev 3: 7-8 regarding doors that God closes and opens.  Understanding that the door for us to minister in Prince George has closed enabled us to investigate a new door of opportunity that has swung wide open in Calgary Alberta.

This is just a short update and we would really value your prayers as we prepare to relocate and the terms of my employment are finalised.  Ben has no plans to move with us at the moment and many of our new friends in the Salvation Army would like us to stay in Prince George.  Ben has become active in a local Baptist Church and joins the worship group this Sunday 20^th March. Praise the Lord!

Dual citizenship

This certainly has great potential - thanks to everyone for the work involved with making this means of communication possible! 

Prayer Requests:

1. For our travels around the city where ice and snow abound!
2. For the weekend of February 25th to 28th when we will be traveling to Calgary for the second stage of interviews with regard to our possible move away from Prince George in northern British Columbia to southern Alberta. 

Update

We are keeping busy, Christine with her work with autistic children is seeing some amazing results, she has been able to draw on many years experience from her previous work in the UK.  I have been leading our small group Bible Study with the Salvation Army and they are all fired up now and missionally minded, planning a city wide outreach event on Saturday 26^th of February with a turkey dinner followed by a big screen movie – Facing the Giants.  

 I have had a telephone interview for a ministry position away from Prince George and am awaiting the results (see prayer request above).  We would value your prayers that we will not be stuck here if God wants us to move on, but we are also hoping our son Ben will settle down after facing some pretty significant trials and tests.  My work in construction is physically demanding but really quite fun as I am working with a Christian business man who is considered to be one of the best in town.  I guess even the Apostle Paul made tents from time to time but as we are just coming out of another spell of really cold weather where temperatures have consistently been below -27C  I couldn’t make tents as they simply wouldn’t be warm enough!!

Ben went to Edmonton last weekend (700km west) with a friend and during the visit his friend crashed her car off the road whilst avoiding another vehicle which had already gone into the ditch. The icy raod conditions at this time of the year are particularly challenging as the snow is starting to melt and any rain falling on top of the compacted snow forms a complete sheet of ice. Everyone continues to travel on this ice sheet at speed and everything is fine until one has to stop or turn!!  Short story is that after 5 days in the garage and $2000 worth of repairs they arrived back in Prince George yesterday. Praise the Lord!