The Messenger Fall 2012

PO Box 34025, RPO Fort Richmond, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5

Covenant Kids Congoa Global Partnership

Also inside: CHIC,Adventures in Leadership,

and more...

Event Calendar

2012

December 1 ~ MidWinter Scholarship Applications due to ECCC office

December 9 ~ CBC Legacy Fund Bursary Applications due (see website for moreinformation and to apply

2013

February 4-8 ~ MidWinter Pastor’s Conference, San Diego, CA

May 2-5 ~ 109th AGM, Melfort, SK

May 8-19 ~ Israel/Palestine Study Tour

June 27-29 ~ ECC Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI

August 15-18 ~ Triennial, San Diego, CA

October 7-9 ~ Pastor/Spouse Retreat

The calendar has seasons – I’ve now driven in snow in Alberta and Mani-toba and I’ve read Facebook posts about snow in BC and Ontario; I thinkwe are well into the late fall season for sure.

Life has seasons – Our local congregation has many folks in the 20’s and30’s and there seems to be no end to the baby boom happening in Winni-peg.

Nations have seasons – Regardless of perspective on the outcome it seemslike the You-Tube video of “Abby” the little girl with red eyes and tears whowas “tired of both Obama and Mitt Romney”; or at least the endless electioneering of same, is held bymost people south of the border.

Congregations have seasons – I remember one of our congregations who many years ago wentthrough a season of deep marital distress. One ECCC church has been through a recent time of painresulting from significant illness and death. I can also think of multiple congregations that havesensed the Spirit of God bringing peace, growth and maturity.

As a family of local congregations I sense that we are in a season of putting down roots in preparationfor growth. Many of our pastors have now been in place for a significant length of time; long-termpastorates tend to yield faithful ministry and fruitful results. We are working with some of our inter-national partners to establish the kind of structure and stability that will ensure good results for theKingdom. Our staff, Gerald Frose, Julia Sandstrom and Glenn Peterson, has increasing focus to theirwork and we believe that congregational vitality, church planting and discipleship will be working to-gether in ways we have not seen in the past. Having just completed our fall ECCC Leadership Boardmeeting in Rosebud I am amazed at the group of leaders God has brought to us for this season.

I am excited to see both stability and vision in this season of the ECCC. Just like it is not possible togo to the white sands of Lake Winnipeg in February (although many dream of such) one must wait forthe change of season that summer brings. Many have prayed faithfully about more extensive churchplanting; Avenue (Toronto), Lake Ridge (Chestermere) and Holy Community (Winnipeg) are theGod-given seasonal fruit of past vision and desire.

Seasons do change; autumn does follow summer. For now will you join me in thanks for this seasonand will you lean into this season as we seek to further pursue our Kingdom priorities and purposes!

From Jeff’s deskJeff Anderson, Superintendent

An Unprecedented Need,

An Unprecedented PartnershipJulia Sandstrom

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is ranked last on the United Nations Index of Human

Development. That is 187 of 187 countries. The Equator Province is the poorest region of the

DRC. It is here that the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) has committed to making a differ-

ence. The ECC and World Vision have come together in partnership with the CEUM (DRC

Covenant denomination) to bring clean water, education, health, hygiene, and food/agriculture

to a community in great need. World Vision has never partnered with a denomination before;

this is unprecedented work. Child sponsorship make this work possible.

When it comes to the work south of our border, the Canada Conference (ECCC) usually cannot

participate due to Canada Revenue Agency regulations. However, World Vision US and World

Vision Canada have made it possible for the ECCC to sponsor children. ECCC congregations are

hosting “Hope Sundays” across Canada. These Sundays are opportunities to give information and

sponsor children.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the need. Sponsoring one child provides the funding needed to

help a whole community. The ECC has committed to 10,000 child sponsorships. Of that number the

ECCC would like to reach the goal of 200 sponsorships. We think that goal is not only attainable,

but we hope to surpass it. To that end the ECCC leadership board members committed to sponsor-

ing one child each. Together we can make a difference in the lives of those who seem so far beyond

our reach.

If you are interested in more information or in sponsoring a child online, please go to

www.canadacovenantchurch.org.

Child Sponsorship Facts:

$39/month provides access to:

Clean water

Better Nutrition and Agricultural Assistance

Basic Health Care and Nutrition

School Fees and Materials

Economic Development Opportunities

Church Hope Sunday

Erickson Covenant Church November 18

Green Timbers Covenant Church November 18

Hope Community Covenant Church December 9

Lake Ridge Community Church November 11

Rosebud Church November 18

Melfort ECC November 4

Nelson ECC November 25

Norquay ECC November 18

Valley ECC November 18

Interested in hosting aHope Sunday?

Step 1: Contact your pastor

Step 2: Contact the ECCC office

Step 3: A packet is sent to the churchwith all you need to host a Hope Sun-day event.

Going HomeLinea Lanoie

This spring I had the opportunity to make a re-turn visit to the Congo. In spite of living in thiscountry as a missionary over a span of 16 yearsfrom the mid-70’s to the first evacuation in 1991,on this trip in 2012, I had many first time experi-ences that I will never forget. On the other hand,this was like returning home. The moment wegot off the plane in Kinshasa the memories cameback as I encountered the sights, sounds andsmells of this city.

The heat and humidity washes over one as if en-tering a steam bath. Then come line ups for theimmigration and the return of familiar sounds oflanguage. The unexpected was the ease withwhich we passed through all these potentialtraps. God seemed to have gone ahead andsmoothed the way and I was reminded of theprayers of God’s faithful people which accompa-nied us on the journey. The two trunks of dentalsupplies I had carried and been so concernedabout were whisked through customs without aglance. The CEUM (Communauté Évangéliqueen Ubangi Mongala) has taken the entry protocolunder its wing and has done so admirably. Iknow the hassles one can have with luggage andall along this journey I knew the protection andcare that only God can give.

The stay in this huge city of sharp contrasts – ex-pensive homes behind walls topped with wire orglass next to open sewage drains. The streets areteeming with people.

The main street to the airport was under con-struction and although it was not built to accom-modate ten lanes of traffic, I am sure that therewere that many lanes of vehicles. Perhaps lanesis not quite the right word as there were onlyinches between them and no one seemed to payany attention to either direction signs or trafficlanes. All of the vehicles were well dented.

Kinshasa was only a transit point on the voyage.Gemena was where we would spend most of ourtime during the next ten days. Gemena is theseat of the CEUM in the Ubangi Mongala regionof the Congo way up in the northwest corner ofEquateur Province. This is a city of some 80,000

Welcome Group

Our Hosts and Home

The Shower

people with a poorly operating hospital, no major

stores, streets that are only negotiable with a fourwheel drive vehicle but where people abound andchurches are around every corner. One can catcha “taxi” motorbike but almost no one owns a pri-vate vehicle.

Staying in Gemena cité was one of my first timeexperiences – sleeping (sort of) in a village houseon a kollekpa, the bamboo beds found in the northwest corner of the Congo known as the Ubangi.Willadeen and I arrived at the home of our hostfamily and were ushered into what likely was theirfinest room in the three room half of a homewhich they rented while Gustave studied in theseminary at UPU.

Willadeen and I had met each other in one inten-sive class in Chicago and took another class to-gether on line. We were to become close. The bedwe were to share in this finest of rooms was asnarrow as a single bed can be was covered by arather thin foam. We had our own sheets – notthat we needed them for warmth. No air circu-lated in that small dark room. We settled in headto toe, tucked in our mosquito net and tried not tomove too much so as to disturb the other. It wasnot what one could call a restful night. In spite ofattempting not to move around too much, lying onmy side resulted in a numb hip. I moved to myback, it felt as if my neck was hyper extended. Theother hip soon became numb as well. Sleep camein fits and starts. Then before we knew it, therooster crowed. My watch said 3:30. I began towish for the death of the rooster!

The next first time experience for me was themorning shower. I knew how it worked – in the-ory - but I had never had the pleasure of a coldmorning shower behind a bamboo enclosure out-side. I am not tall but standing on the small show-ering platform inside the enclosure, looking outover the cité crowded with homes, I felt a bit ex-posed. If I could see out so well, what did they seelooking my way? I also knew the rule of etiquetteand trusted that their sense of decency would pro-hibit any voyeurs. The shower was bracing. I didget clean and for a few seconds felt cooler.

I soon felt as if I would melt away completely.(This unfortunately did not happen – I weighedthe same on arriving home as I had when I left)

The heat did just not subside till the very last ofour days there when it began to rain more. Thehigh humidity was constant.

Our gracious host family took care of us well. Itseemed as if the quantities of food presented to usalways exceeded our capacity to eat. If we men-tioned an interest in something, it appeared onthe table at the next meal. When we were readyfor the day, we sat outside by the low table. Pas-caline was busy making coffee and tea or cookingus up some eggs. There was always bread andpeanuts and fruit. They even found some honeyand it was delicious! I know that their normalbreakfast would have been more typically nothing;perhaps some tea or coffee and peanuts but rarelyanything more.

Hospitality seems to be one of the gifts of the Con-golese people. I had experienced this before whenvisiting in villages. Guests are always presentedwith some gift; often fruit or a chicken if you aredeemed to be very important. Although we, inNorth America, have an abundance of resources, Idon’t think we are nearly as generous towards ourguests. During this visit, when we mentioned anyitem it was made clear that if we needed it, theywould hunt it down. So we were shown a place inthe village where cell phones could be charged orphotocopying done. If we needed laundry doneour hostess took care of that and the charcoal ironwas even fired up to get some wrinkles out. Dailyliving in a place where there is no electricity andno running water is time consuming and labourintensive. They spared no effort to make sure wehad what we needed even though I am sure wecaused more work.

Then we were off to class for the day. The walkfrom where we stayed to UPU was about 5 to 7kms. It took most of those walking 1 ½ hours.Willadeen and I knew we were not going to beable to walk that distance each day and then man-age to sit through a day of class. We were offeredrides till the vehicle broke down. Then we tookthe local taxis – riding behind on a motorcycle,the driver being given strict orders by our hose todrive slowly. Our poor drivers took such a ribbingon the way. I guess it is just not the thing to carrya foreigner – a mondele – even if the “mondele” isnot Caucasian. Willadeen said that she just closedher eyes and held on tight; only making the mis-take once of opening her eyes to look as she was

crossing a bridge.

In spite of the many “firsts” there were moreevents which could be termed “homecomings.”The language and food evoked good and powerfulmemories. Although the language I used previ-ously in the Congo was more oriented to house-hold tasks or to the medical field, I enjoyed an op-portunity this time to preach in Lingala at thehospital chapel service on our weekend trip downto Karawa. I knew enough Lingala to get thepoint across and when the pastor reiterated thesermon content in his closing remarks andprayer, he, at least, caught the core of the messageI gave. This too was in many ways a first for me aswell. When we lived at Karawa no one would everhave asked me to preach – and to tell the truth Imight have been far too reticent to attempt it inthose days.

The food, which I rarely have opportunity to tastehere in North America, included some of my fa-vorites; fuku, plaintains, pondu (greens) andstewed meat. We ate well and in abundance.

At the seminary each day we participated in aclass on 2 Corinthians taught by Dr. Brent Lay-tham. As Dr. Robert Kihani translated I was im-pressed at the depth of his spiritual knowledge aswell as his fantastic command of what for himwas certainly at least a fifth language. What anasset to this fledgling seminary.

Equally impressive was the devotion to study andto the Word of God on the part of the students.The presence of this institution has the potential

to raise up leaders for the church who will be ca-pable of leading the people of the Congo deeper intheir spiritual lives. The Spirit of God seems to beactively leading his people in ways that we rarelysee in North America. In this country, which hassuffered much hardship, God is given freedom towork. The people are not complacant. They areseeking God and God’s Spirit is moving amongthem. This was very evident in the one day semi-nar we attended on the topic of developmenthosted by the church and the educational institu-tions of Gemena. In a North American confer-ence God would not have been mentionned but inthis one the activity of God was understood to beimportant and evident in the actions of God’schurch. I believe that through people trans-formed by God this country can be changed. Onlythrough God’s activity will the rampant corrup-tion and misuse of resources be corrected. It wasgood to see signs of a maturing church with lead-ers wanting to make a difference.

Going home to the Congo was not only a trip backin the memories I experienced. It was also a newbeginning. Each time I go back, old relationshipsare reestablished. It is easier to let them slipaway again than to maintain those connections.Maintaining the connection with someone in theCongo is full of risk. Every day I am reminded ofthe disparity of wealth between there and here. Iwant to fix all the problems; spend all my avail-able cash to provide things that would help. But Iwould run out of resources long before the jobwas done. And what would I accomplish? Thelast thing I would want to do is to create a de-pendant group of people. My own feelings ofneeding to help are not really what needs to besatisfied. The people in the Ubangi will need helpfinancially but they also need a sense of being fullpartners with us in God’s work. Handouts do notdevelop good habits of stewardship and inde-pendence. So, I must seek ways to maintain therelationships without becoming a controllingbenefactor. This will take wisdom and caution onmy part, the kind of wisdom that comes from Godwho provides for all of our needs. My prayer isthat I will be ready to take some risks all the timelistening for the directing wisdom of God.

~Linea Lanoie is on the ECCC Leadership Boardand is an intern at Gateway Covenant Church inPrince Albert, SK.

How to stay informed about Church Planting in the ECCC:

Visit our new Facebook page and ‘like’ us to join the conversation: www.facebook.com/

CanadaCovenantChurchPlanting

Sign up for the ECCC weekly e-mail. You will get updates on existing churches and their prayer

needs, plus updates on church planting news! Go to www.canadacovenantchurch.com/prayer to sign

up.

E-mail Glenn Peterson, Director of Church Planting: glenn@sarnialighthouse.com

Church PlantingHighlights:

Lake Ridge Community Church (Chestermere, AB) celebrated herone year birthday in September.

Gavin Jensen (Winnipeg, MB) was approved by the EvangelicalCovenant Church as a church planter.

David McIntosh (Sarnia, ON) rode his bike across Manitoba andraised $2,060 for Lake Ridge Community Church. (pictured right)

Prayer Requests:

Holy Community (Winnipeg) is looking for space to meet for regularworship in the West End.

Avenue Community (Toronto) is also looking for affordable space tomeet for regular worship.

Lake Ridge (Chestermere) is working on the lengthy process of writ-ing its constitution.

25 years of ministry!If all goes well, church plants don’t stay seedlings for long, they grow into established churches. This fall,Emmanuel Evangelical Covenant Church celebrated 25 years of ministry in the Lower Mainland.

Albert Josephson (original churchplanter) and his wife, Anna, were on

hand to celebrate.

It was a weekend to be thankfulfor the work God has done!

And of course there was greatfood to enjoy.

Sally Carlson, Dylan DeVries, Stephanie Kirk,Jonny Hamm, Jordie Barg, Chris Wiens

“The whole experience with Adventures inLeadership could be summed up in one word:Challenging. On every level I found myself be-

ing pushed beyond what I would have oncecalled ‘my limits’, which only led to more in-

sight and growth in my personal life.”Stephanie Kirk, Nelson, BC

“This is a solid formational experiencethat allows each student to flourish in

God given abilities to lead.”Josh Rude, Youth Pastor, Sarnia, ON

Boundary Waters of Minnesota, July 2012: Fivehigh school students and three pastors experi-enced Adventures in Leadership. The outdoorleadership training program is led by the North-west Conference (NWC)of the Evangelical Cove-nant Church (ECC). When the NWC put the wordout to other ECC conference that they were will-ing to share their 20 years of experience doingAdventures in Leadership, the Canada confer-ence jumped at the chance.

The trip took place in two parts. The first partconsisted of leadership and outdoor training. Thesecond part allowed each student to lead half aday out on the Boundary Waters. It was up tothat student to choose the route and plan thestops along the way. Our Canadian crew decidedthat as a group they would tackle the most chal-lenging of all the courses!

The trip was paid for by support from the ECCC,the students’ local churches, as well as their ownfinancial commitment. The greater ECCC andlocal church were able to partner in helping stu-dents realize their leadership potential.

Plans are in place for AIL to come to Canada in2013. We will stage the trip and do all the train-ing at Covenant Bay Bible Camp. The camp willalso provide guides. The outdoor portion willlikely be a combination of river and hiking trails.

For information on AIL 2013, please contactJulia Sandstrom at CanadaECC@gmail.com.

“I did not think I would make a good leader, Ialways saw myself as more of a follower, but Isurprised myself.” Jonny Hamm, Rosebud, AB

“I saw God really atwork on the trip.”Malcolm Avery,

Sarnia, ON

“AIL is a challenging, life changing experiencewhere you are pushed to experience God in

new ways and in new situations. It is a catalystfor transformation in the context of inten-

tional community in the midst of a challengingenvironment for students. It’s awesome!!”

Sally Carlson, Pastor, Norquay, SK

“Adventures in Leadershippushed me so hard that I wasforced to face things I would-n’t usually. It caused me to re-

alize that I am not in thisalone. There are always people

to encourage me and a Godthat is there to strengthen

me.” Jordie Barg, Breton, AB

“I learned that leading by exampleis very important and that it is the

way I lead.”Dylan DeVries, Nelson, BC

Jonny Hamm and Jordie Bargjournal while the sun sets.

CHIC 2012 …….by: Marc Lantz…….Youth Ministry Network Facilitator & CHIC Liaison

Well, July has come and gone. We Canadian Covenanters, totaling about 100 participants representing15 churches, were blessed to dawn the University of Tennessee campus for CHIC 2012. It was a greattime for high school youth from the ECC to rally together for worship, prayer, spiritual formation, anddeep relationship. CHIC happens every three years, meaning many students are only eligible to attendthis event once. The hundreds of youth workers who pitch in to make the event happen have a big chal-lenge to collaborate and pull off a "once in a lifetime" experience that has eternal spiritual implications.Thanks to thousands of answered prayers, CHIC 2012 will be forever remembered by the 5,000 pluswho were in attendance for the week!

I had the privilege of serving at CHIC 2012 by counseling my own students and serving as ECCC CHICLiaison. In addition to these roles, I am also serving the ECCC as a Youth Ministry Network Facilitator.This is a new position established by the ECC Department of Christian Formation. The Youth MinistryNetwork exists to promote healthy youth ministry in the Evangelical Covenant Church by helping youthworkers to be known, connected, and resourced. Respective ECC conferences have teams consisting of aNetwork Facilitator along with several Youth Ministry Network Leaders to accomplish this mission. InCanada, our team is still in the formative stages as Network leaders become available. Julia Sandstrom,Director of Ministry Support, plays a key role in accomplishing the mission of the Youth Ministry Net-work in our conference.

At CHIC 2012, Network Facilitators were asked to care for the adults attending the event as counselorsand staff. This involved formalities like overseeing dorm security and leading the morning counselormeetings, an conference leader celebration, as well as an ECCC Supper. It also involved informalitieslike praying with and encouraging struggling leaders, being a source of information to all CHIC atten-dees, and simply being approachable.

It seems like a big job when I type it all out, and it certainly was a big job in addition to caring for myown church group. However, there was a strong sense of God's favor and blessing on the work that wasset out for me that week in July. I watched people from my church group take strides in leadership whenI wasn't available because of other duties. I felt a sense of empowerment to care for the adults who

worked hard all year fundraising and still gave their week to bring students to such a life-changing event. Ialso found joy in being a source of communication during the week. It might be a "power trip" to want tohave insider information at such a large event, but I know I had a responsibility to pass that informationalong to everyone who needs it. It was a blessing to lead morning meetings with adults to ensure each ofthem was prepared to minister well that day.

There was a strong sense of connection for those of us from ECCC churches, because our geography offersless opportunity for connection than other conferences. Adults were able to connect through our morningmeetings and other daily encounters, which promoted student interaction. Near the end of our week, wehosted an ECCC pizza supper, which was a simple solution to the complex problem of connecting Surreystudents with Sarnia ones and everyone in between. At the supper, students were challenged to meet some-one from each of the 5 provinces represented. The students seemed thrilled to realize how they knew simi-lar people and it helped to close that geographical gap that seems so intimidating at times!

Given the several perspectives I was able to participate from, I can celebrate the fact that CHIC 2012 wasmore than just another youth conference. It was a powerful time of worship, spiritual growth and testing,and a time to feel a sense of connection with the body of Christ within our denomination. The 100 or so ofus have many stories to share and I hope you've heard many of them already. I thank God for all of the loveand support we were given by our conference and our local churches. Please continue to provide support foradults and students to attend CHIC, because God will likely have work to be done in 2015!

Rich Drinovz Chair Emmanuel ECC, Surrey, BC

Ray Wall Vice-Chair Rosebud Church, Rosebud, AB

Norinne Sullivan Secretary Melfort ECC, Melfort, SK

Colin McClure Treasurer Nelson ECC, Nelson, BC

Sally Carlson ECC Liaison Norquay ECC, Norquay, SK

Linea Lanoie Personnel Committee Gateway ECC, Prince Albert, SK

Audra Reinhardt Finance Committee Hope Community, Strathmore, AB

Sam Williams Personnel Committee Avenue Community, Toronto, ON

ECCC Staff

Jeff Anderson Superintendent Faith ECC, Winnipeg, MB

Julia Sandstrom Dir. Ministry Support Holy Community, Winnipeg, MB

Margaret Aikenhead Bookkeeper Winnipeg, MB

ECCC Leadership Board

Gerald Froese Dir. Church Vitality Sanctuary Place, Edmonton, AB

Glenn Peterson Dir. Church Planting Lighthouse Community, Sarnia, ON

The ECCC Leadership Board is looking to add two new members as per the ECCC by-laws. Nominations are being accepted until December 1, 2012. These positions are opento non-clergy only.

The nominating committee is looking for one candidate to have some level of awareness/expertise in terms of finance and the other related to HR /Personnel. The two geographicareas we are presently looking for representation would be Manitoba/Northwest Ontarioand Northern Alberta (Edmonton area).

The board meets in person in March, June, and November with additional conferencecalls in between. Access to high speed internet is a necessity for the conference calls.

Please e-mail nominations to Sally Carlson, chair of the nominating committee.sallytcarlson@hotmail.com

Request for Nominations for ECCC Leadership Board

Make & Deepen Disciples…

The Great Commission records Jesus’ instruction to us to GO MAKE disciples and to GO TEACH them. We hold evangel-ism and discipleship closely together. In the area of evangelism the ECCC is working towards planting churches. We are alsolooking for ways to partner with the ECC in their new evangelism tool called “72”. In the area of discipleship we desire to seepeople deepen their walk with God. Our staff is committed to resourcing the local church to this end. ALIVE, AGM, teachingweekends, camps, Life Together, Summer Ministry Team and more are all ways we partner together to deepen disciples. Disci-pleship never comes down to one event or one program; rather it is about a closer walk with Jesus Christ. The ECCC has along history of making and deepening disciples. This is a history that continues today and we are committed to carrying it intothe future. For questions or conversation, please contact Julia Sandstrom: directoreccc@gmail.com

Start Churches…

Why start churches? Jesus commissioned his followers to go and make disciples: Mission and Spiritual Formation. Thesetwo values should drive us to start new churches in Canada. Jesus calls us to make disciples, and his chosen vehicle for doingso is the local church. Many studies document the fact that the single best way to reach new people with the gospel and growthem in their faith is to start new churches. Within the ECC, conversion rates are more than 3 times higher among churchplants. If we care about our friends, family, neighbours and co-workers... if we take seriously Jesus’ call to disciple men andwomen of all generations... we must start churches: that have a passion for Jesus, understand changing culture, and are inten-tional about reaching lost and hurting people. We are. How is God calling you to be a part of this work? Questions,comments, ideas? Contact Glenn Peterson, Director of Church Planting: glenn@sarnialighthouse.com.

Strengthen Churches…

As a conference we not only have a strong commitment to start churches, but our ministry priority is also to strengthenchurches. The congregational vitality pathway is a process designed to help our existing churches with an on-site healthy missional check up, but also provide the follow-up support and resources for each local church to take nextsteps in moving toward becoming a healthy missional church. Presently we have six churches in the ECCC gaining missionalmomentum as they journey this pathway. Gerald Froese, Director of Church Vitality, would love to have conversations withthe leadership teams of each of our churches regarding the timing, potential and implications of a healthy missional check upfor their church – contact Gerald Froese: geraldfroese@telus.net.

Develop Leaders…

The ECCC is committed to developing clergy and lay leaders. One avenue for this is through a grant the ECCC provides calledVantage Point 3 (VP3). Pastor Evan Dewald has this to say: “It's been a few years since we last had a chance do VP3. As a pas-tor, I'm excited to be moving forward with the VP3 approach to leadership development this fall because I believe the re-flective practices that are taught are some of the most important practices a follower of Jesus can have. I believe that we are adrawn deeper into the big story of God when we spend the time to understand ourselves, understand Jesus and understandthose around us; to me this it probably the greatest strength of VP3. VP3 is a challenge to be reflective personally and allowthe community of faith to encourage and challenge you to keep going. I hope many from Lake Ridge sense a deeper relation-ship with Jesus and our community during this next year because of VP3.” If you would like more information about VP3 feelfree to contact Pastor Evan Dewald: evandewald@gmail.com.

Love Mercy/Do Justice…

The Old Testament prophets spoke out and advocated for the needs of the poor and those who treated unjustly. Interestingly,most of these prophetic words were actually spoken in times of increasing prosperity. We are fortunate and blessed to live in aplace where most of those reading these words have no shortage of food, clothing or shelter. We also read and are aware thatdeep needs exist today just as they did in the time of the biblical prophets. The ECCC is committed to love mercy and dojustice as an ongoing priority. As such, we are committed to a Season of Hope during which we encourage every part ofthe ECCC to engage with one of our global networks (Kernels of Hope, The Ebenezer Clinic in Haiti, The World Vision ADP*in Jenin and the Bible Society in Nazareth, The ECC supported World Vision ADP in Congo and the community of Summacoin Ecuador. *ADP stands for Area Development Project). Watch for more information or contact Jeff Anderson, Superinten-dent, for more dialogue about these opportunities: ccc1@mts.net

PO Box 34025, RPO Fort Richmond, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5T5 | 204-269-3437

Our Ministry Priorities:

Make & Deepen Disciples | Start & Strengthen ChurchesDevelop Leaders | Love Mercy/Do Justice