I am able to plan newsletters, on occasion, up to three months in advance. The advantage of that is you get to think through and research particular ideas. The disadvantage…and it is a wonderful disadvantage, on a regular basis, the Holy Spirit interrupts this nice, tidy, linear pattern with stories He wants us to hear. I want you to know that in any given time fifty percent of our stories for the newsletter get changed because we are prompted by a wonderful work of God. Today is one of them. Well over two dozen folk from First Baptist Olds, Alberta, descended upon the Lower Mainland over the Easter weekend to do wonderful and good things for the Body of Christ in the Vancouver and environs. The trip was organized by Nadia VanderKuip who coordinates our STMS and was led by Andy Moffat, the Associate Pastor at Olds. If you have any experience of these two individuals, you will know how gifted they are at leading and encouraging others and being imaginative in the hands of God. By all accounts, this was a great trip. I’ve asked for a recounting here for two simple reasons; one is reminder to us all that God is faithful as He builds relationships amongst our churches and communities of faith (camps etc) so that as He calls us to in John, “we can be one as He is one” (John 17:11). The second reason is found in our title, read about this, pray about this and reflect on the invitation: “You Can Too!” I asked Nadia to answer a few questions and also to include comments from Andy and Dave Anderson who was one of the leaders in the group.
Warmly
In Christ,
Jeremy
jbell@cbwc.ca
Nadia, help us revisit what STMS are and why you are doing that. Would you remind us of the excellent opportunities at CBM as well.
STMS in the West is a call to recapture the idea of loving and serving your neighbour. It is meant to encourage our churches to serve each other and the ministries we have partnerships with. We also hope to regain the culture where everyone can find a space to serve; single, married, families, youth, seniors and everyone in between; whether it be a day, once a week, a week or a year.
CBM is also involved in doing STMS overseas. You can find their information at: http://www.cbmin.org/cbm/who-we-are1
What are the kinds of experiences that have been available over the last couple of years?
There are quite a variety of ministries in our denomination. We’ve formed partnerships both with ministries, like Hope Farm and Mustard Seed, as well as with some of our own churches, such as Trinity Baptist, Sherwood Park, Alberta. We have opportunities to work with inner city kids, the homeless and marginalized, creation care and gardening…the list is pretty diverse!
When did you and Andy start talking about this? And what were they looking for?
Andy and I started chatting in the fall about this trip. I had designed the idea around the belief that groups need some teaching and reflection time as well as “hands on” work when participating in a mission trip. Andy was the first one to really “get it” and to be excited about it! It helped that Andy is a really good leader with lots of experience in leading trips and wasn’t fazed by all the logistics of this adventure.
What did this experience look like? And what happened at each site?
The goal of this trip was to expose the group to the diverse way Christians are affecting their communities. So at each site there was a teaching time around the mission and vision of the ministry, as well as a tour of the site and a chance for questions.
The group (consisting of 20 youth and 7 adults) started their trip at Keats Camps. The group brought a truck and trailer full of supplies and tools to rebuild one of the cluster cabins for the summer. What a gift! Half the group stayed the whole 9 days at the camp, but the other half came over to the mainland for the rest of the experience. They stayed at one of our churches, Burnaby North, hosted by Pastor Jim Walton. The group worked with Urban Promise Ministries’ after-school program for 3 afternoons (Tues-Thurs). They led Bible time, did crafts and even put on an Easter dinner for the families. Wednesday morning was spent at Kinbrace House, a ministry of Salsbury Community Society, dedicated to refugee housing and advocacy. Thursday morning was spent with Jodi Spargur, Pastor of the church, God’s House of Many Faces, which meets in a park in the Downtown Eastside. Friday morning saw the group visit Small Ritual Coffee Shop, a non- profit coffeehouse that was started by Southpoint Church in South Surrey. And lastly, the group spent the afternoon learning and working at the A Rocha Centre in South Surrey. It was a full week!
I find it remarkable that people were willing to “give up” their Easter weekend, but as I’ve reflected on it, I can think of nothing more appropriate at Easter.
How do you think this group was served and how does this build community amongst our churches?
My family and I joined up with Andy’s group at an ice cream shop Friday night to hear how the week had gone. There were laughter and tears when folks shared how they had seen God, there was righteous anger at some of the injustice and some new vision about how they could minister in their community of Olds.
I think it is in times like these, where we are willing to be taught and where we are willing to serve, that God can move so powerful in people’s spirits. This group had seen a spectrum of ministries, a tapestry of God’s work in Vancouver and was moved. Now when they see a need in their community, maybe they will remember what they saw here in Vancouver and know who they can go to for insight. That is what community is about; sharing our visions, knowledge and passions together for the Kingdom of God.
Here are some thoughts from Andy Moffat and Dave Anderson.
Andy’s words:
The Keats and Vancouver Experience were an eye opening, moving and worthwhile endeavour. We were well looked after by the different ministries we encountered and we were able to come away with the feeling that we had contributed well in the ways that we could to those we were there to help. There are many students who might rather see their youth leaders choose a more exotic place like Mexico for a mission trip, but our experience in Vancouver certainly showed us that God is moving everywhere, and that what He asks of us is faithfulness to the call He puts on our hearts. For us, this year, that call was the West coast. God moved in wonderful ways, and for that we’re thankful.
We are thankful too for the excellent leg work that Nadia VanderKuip (denominational short-term mission co-ordinator) did in putting this experience together. I readily recommend her involvement to any other groups looking to plan a trip of this sort.
Dave’s thoughts:
We would like to thank you for arranging our mission trip to Keats. We had a great time; we were able to remove water damaged plates and stud bottoms in pod 3, reframed shower stalls as needed, removed carpet and brick walls from behind woodstoves, filled in cedar boards that were missing, built and installed 6 bunks with ladders, and re-dry walled ceiling as needed. We were thankful to Mitch who kept some of the kids busy with outside work when there weren’t things to do inside. Unfortunately we were not able to close in the back wall we opened for the re-plumb job as the plumber was 3 days late. Once again, thank you and we look forward to hearing that the refit was completed and that many more kids will be able to hear about the love of Christ.