June Update

We are thankful for the health and strength God has provided us with as it seems we have been pulled in many directions this month.  God protected Adrianna on her trip to MI (June 11) where she began her summer missions internship with Bibles International, and then on to Chad, Africa (June 18) where she is helping with translating literacy workshops and helping the local B.I. team with instruction on the use of spreadsheets, etc. for financial reports. We are thankful for God’s care for the team, led by Cherith’s sister Hadessah, for the way He is using each one in their service for Him, and for all of the learning experiences they are having.

We are making progress in the French ministry despite losing F last month, and the absence of M and B, our two Bible Institute students.  M and B are both involved in pastoral internships this summer in other churches (Quebec and NB).  Dr. B, a retired French professor who is deeply burdened for the French community, is getting more involved.  He led the Bible study for us one Sunday for the first time and did an excellent job.  The A family from Ivory Coast invited our family for dinner before Adrianna left and we planned a picnic fellowship for the group in our backyard (which quickly moved indoors when a flash rainstorm blew in! See picture below!).  

D, the young lady Cherith is discipling, continues to show much progress in spiritual growth and integrating into the church.  We are moving forward for more of an online presence for our group, as we try to reach out to the French community around us.  

We chose a name for our group with input from the others, created a Logo and prepared a public Facebook page which was launched last week.  Please feel free to search for our group on Facebook (Espérance Vivante Moncton) and Follow and share posts, if you have French speaking contacts! I am working on a website and other material as time permits.  This is not my area of gifting, so I am thankful for how-to instructional videos which have been a big help. 

We pray God will use these tools to help us reach French speaking people in the area.

On June 3 we ministered in music at the funeral of one of the charter members of Emmanuel Baptist Church (she was 99).  Then on the 12th I preached the morning service while Pastor Eastwood was away with his family on vacation.  We had a surprise opportunity to connect with the seniors when they invited us to their fellowship on the 17th, and asked me to bring the devotional.  At the potluck that evening Cherith was able to connect with the ladies about starting up a ladies’ fellowship/Bible study.  They haven’t had a special ministry focused on the ladies in many years and were thrilled with the possibility of something starting up. This is one of the ministries that Pastor Eastwood had mentioned to Cherith one of the first times he talked to us. She is planning the first evening of fun and fellowship for July 15.  

Summer camp ministries are starting up this week. We are attending Family Camp for the first time ever — and wishing Adrianna could be with us! Caleb and Josiah are both panning to attend camp for their age group in July.  We are thankful for these opportunities, and pray God will use the messages and fellowship in each of our lives.  Caleb has also volunteered to help out at a camp in Nova Scotia for their week of Junior camp.  

Thank you for prayers for us and for the work God has given us here in New Brunswick.

 

May update

May has been a bit of a whirlwind but we have sensed God’s blessing and help.  Spring came! 

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

We welcomed Adrianna home from college for a few short weeks before she leaves June 11 on her summer missions internship with Bibles International in Chad.  Cherith was delighted to have Adrianna go with her as she spoke at a Mother Daughter brunch at a sister church on May 7.  The boys finished school (7th and 10th grades) and we had a number of guests for meals.  Cherith continued her Bible studies with D and the French work continued, though we said goodbye to M, our student from Quebec, for the summer, and even more difficult, we said goodbye to F, one of the faithful members for our group, as she moved to Nova Scotia. We did welcome MC’s husband P from the Ivory Coast, as he is here to visit his family through the end of June.  B, an EBBI student from Moncton, lead the singing for one of our French services for the first time.  He too will be leaving for several weeks for a summer internship at a church in Fredericton.

God blessed the Evangelistic Meetings with Mark Herbster last week  with good attendance and messages that had challenges for all of us.  There were a number of decisions made for which we praise the Lord.  We hosted one of the cottage prayer meetings the week before in preparation for the special meetings.

After the special meetings ended here on Wednesday, our family traveled to Nova Scotia to help with the Maritime GAMES (Games – Arts – Ministry – Excellence – Service), on Friday.  We took advantage of our first visit to Nova Scotia to see Peggy’s Cove (see photo) and a bit of Halifax on Thursday which was also our 21st anniversary.  Friday morning, we made our way to Forest Glen Bible Camp where Adrianna, Cherith and myself help with adjudicating solo, duet and group entries in piano, instrumental and vocal.  Our boys enjoyed interacting with the more than 40 teens that were gathered for the Maritime Games and even got to participate in some of the sports competition.  Mark Herbster was the special speaker for the event, which included four meetings, and did a great job challenging the teens to live lives of godliness and service to the Lord.

This week Dr. Larry Oats is here from Maranatha Baptist Seminary in Watertown, WI, to teach a Master’s level class on Systematic Theology, hosted by Emmanuel Baptist Church for pastors and others wishing to further their education or just sharpen their biblical knowledge for ministry.  That is my desire as I audit the class this week and it has already been very helpful as we study the doctrines of anthropology (man), harmartiology (sin) and soteriology (salvation).  Cherith is providing the coffee breaks and helping with meals.  Today, she prepared the noon meal with help from our kids.  

Our days with Adrianna here are dwindling quickly as she prepares for her summer ministry trip to Chad.  Tomorrow she’ll be getting the 3 vaccines (or boosters) that she needs for a visit to Chad.  

Thank you for your prayers!

April update

Thank you for your prayers for us through this very full month.  We are amazed by the way God has protected our family from sickness as Covid and various colds and the flu went through our circles.  Other than some mild symptoms, God has kept our family healthy and able to serve at each service.  Cherith continues to deal with much congestion which is a drain on her energy at times, but God has supplied strength according to the need.

The month began with Emmanuel Baptist Church hosting the Spring Bible Conference for the first time since Covid hit (normally an annual conference).  We had heard much about these conferences (there are others in the year hosted by other churches) and the great singing and fellowship as people gather for fellowship and spiritual refreshment, many from very small churches.  It was a great weekend with more than 240 in attendance from around the Maritimes, after which we were both refreshed and exhausted.

The Lord blessed our Easter Choir initiatives though with all of the sickness going around, I don’t thing there was one practice that everyone was present for!  We prepared three choral anthems, one with some members of a sister church for the special combined Good Friday service, and then for our Easter Sunday service.  We had 25 in the combined choir for Good Friday and 21 for Easter Sunday.  This was the first time the choir has been able to sing since Covid restrictions brought the choir to a halt 2 years ago. We invited the whole choir and their families to a special choir get-together.  We prepared lasagna for everyone and others brought sides and dessert.  How good it was to see the great turnout of 37 people of all ages, enjoying fellowship and fun together.  We were blessed too by a special gift of a bouquet and French cheeses as an expression of appreciation from Pastor Eastwood and the choir.

Cherith has continued her Bible studies with D who is beginning to get involved with helping in the nursery at church.  Cherith was invited to speak at a Baby shower last week here at Emmanuel, as well as to the ladies of a sister church here in Moncton at their Mother/Daughter Brunch next Saturday. She is so thankful for these opportunities to share life-changing truths from God’s Word with other ladies and young women.

On Friday night we had the Spring Music Recital and we were so pleased to see the way God has helped the students to grow musically over the past year for His glory.  There were 12 students taking part and more than 50 in attendance, including a public school teacher and several people who had traveled from Nova Scotia to support their EBBI student.  

This week the EBBI school year comes to a close with graduation today. Praise the Lord for two students graduating with a four-year diploma and one with a one-year certificate.  We will greatly miss B who has also been a part of the church family at Emmanuel during this time.  She has invested herself in various ministries and has faithfully shared her musical talent in the orchestra as well as through special music.  Cherith and I accompanied the graduation ceremony on the piano and organ, and joined the families of students and staff for a luncheon afterward.  Pray for God’s leading for the graduates and the underclassmen as they serve the Lord in various ways this summer.  

With the end of the school year, M will be returning to Quebec to work and serve in his home church.  He will be missed in our French service, as well as our outreach.  He has helped with leading services and preaching once a month, and has been eager (with restrictions finally being lifted) to start going door to door to share the Gospel and invite people to church.  I have been out with him twice and we have been able to invite many people out to either our English service, or our French service, depending on their main language.  It is pretty strange for me not to know what language we will be met with when we knock on a door!  M has a deep love for the Lord and for the lost.  We hope we will be able to continue to get out with others in our group through the summer.

Adrianna is finishing up her semester at BJU and is scheduled to fly home to Moncton next Friday.  We are eager to have her home again though her time with us will be short before she heads off on her summer missions internship with Bibles International on June 11 first to Grand Rapids, MI and then on to Chad.  We praise the Lord for the way He is providing both prayer and financial support for her.  We have been encouraged by the way the Lord has been working in Caleb and Josiah’s lives as well.  Both of them met with the pastor and deacons of our church here last Sunday to give their testimonies of salvation and baptism as candidates for membership. The church welcomed them as well as 7 others into membership on Sunday evening. 

Update March 29, 2022

We are grateful for your prayers as we come to the end of another month, very much aware of God’s help and blessings.  Our hearts are burdened for so many who have lost so much in the past few weeks, but we rejoice to hear reports of various ways that God is helping His children in Ukraine, in Russia, and in places to which many have fled.  It has been a blessing to see the eagerness of the church here, including some of the students in the Bible Institute, to send aid through BMM World Relief Ukraine to enable missionaries in eastern Europe to help to meet some incredible needs.

One blessing this month has been the removal of the mask mandate in the middle of the month.  Now, not only are we able to see most faces (some for the first time!) and communicate and understand much better, but there has been a wonderful change in the singing portion of the worship service as well.  We understand that more restrictions will be dropped the first of April.  French services continue before the English morning service each Sunday in which we lead worship through singing, praying and opening the Word in French.  The family from the Ivory Coast continues to come, a mom with two university student sons.  We are getting more accustomed to translating the English service for them, but are still challenged to keep up with the speed of the one speaking! Thank you for your prayers for us and that God will help us to connect with other French speakers in the area. Cherith continues weekly Bible studies to disciple D who is hungry to learn and asks good questions, and in turn passes on some of what she is learning to unsaved family members back home in Quebec as well as in Africa. She can see evidence of God working in the heart of one of her cousins who now recognizes the existence of God.

The Bible Institute (EBBI) missed Spring break due to the late start in January but the second half of the semester is lighter than the first. I finished up my class on Missiology and chapel preaching assignments mid-month so our involvement is now down to choir chapels and music lessons through the end of the school year.  The students will be singing a special number at the Spring Bible Conference this Friday and Saturday hosted by Emmanuel Baptist Church.  This conference is normally an annual event here, with churches around the Maritimes participating.  If the Lord allows the conference to take place this week, this would be the first time to have it in three years.  We are also working with the music students to prepare for a musical recital April 28, and graduation is scheduled for April 30.

Other than one choir practice last fall before everything shut down (again!), the church hasn’t had a choir for the past two years.  Now with restrictions lifting, we began practices again on March 13 to prepare several choir numbers for Good Friday and Easter this year.  Cherith and Caleb labored many hours to prepare recordings of each of the voice parts and accompaniment to share with the choir members to aid in learning parts.  They have proved very helpful and have been much appreciated, especially when people have been out with sickness, and several are new at reading notes.

We are so thankful for a wonderful gift from God as He sent us a very special visit from Adrianna and Cherith’s sister Hannah’s family last week.  It was a refreshing time with family (first time to see family since last summer!) and the Lord gave us three precious days together.  Despite all the sickness going around us, the Lord protected each of us (thus far!) and all of the travelers have returned to home and college safely. 

Adrianna was able to plan for her missions internship in Chad with Bibles International this summer.  She had the opportunity Wednesday evening to present the ministry to the church here which has already expressed interest in supporting her in prayer and with finances.  Please pray for her as she continues to move forward with this project, and for the Lord to guide her and provide for each need.

March 15 update

Our province lifted all of the C-id 19 restrictions yesterday for the second time since the pandemic began. We look forward to connecting with more people and hope there will be more interest in the French Ministry particularly. A week ago Sunday we had a third member of the family from Ivory Coast join us for the first time.  He and his brother are both students at the Université de Moncton.This week we will be launching a Facebook announcement for several days to try to target more of the French speakers in our area, and invite them to join us.

With the lifting of restrictions, we are working with a volunteer choir at church to prepare a few numbers to present in the special Good Friday and Easter Sunday services.  Cherith is recording tracks with voice parts and accompaniment to facilitate practice at home.  Our church is also preparing to host the Spring Bible Conference April 1-2, a conference normally held annually but which has not been held since the beginning of the pandemic.  

We enjoyed having the N family over for a Birthday celebration on Tuesday, and traveled out of town on Friday for a lovely evening in the home of one of the couples from church.  Cherith baked some special treats for these occasions as well as for the parents of a baby born last week.  She also prepared several small French cakes for the youth group’s “Baked Blessing” Giveaway to the church family on Sunday.  

I finished up my class on Missiology last Thursday and should be able to finish grading the course projects and calculating course grades by the end of this week.  B-weekly choir chapels and individual lessons will continue through the end of the school year.

Last week, we were a bit torn to have to miss getting to see and hear Adrianna participate in the Bob Jones Opera performance on three separate evenings.  We were thankful that some of our close family and friends were able to attend.  We were also consoled to know that Lord willing, Cherith’s sister Hannah and her family (minus one) will be meeting up with Adrianna in PA and bringing her here to Moncton for a brief visit next week during Spring Break.  Although it will be tiring for them, it would be a nice break from the busy college schedule and we look forward to having family visit. Please pray for their safety in travel and for smooth boarder crossings.

February 2022

“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” (Psalm 61:2) In times of uncertainty such as this, we are clearly reminded of our personal need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and to find our refuge in Him.  Then, with the strength that He gives, we can seek to take every opportunity He gives us to serve Him and share Him with others.

It has been good to be able to resume most of the regular church and Bible Institute activities.  One of the blessings this month was participating in two funerals at Emmanuel Baptist Church for two long-standing members, one week apart.  Both of the men had left behind a legacy of love for the Lord and for others.  The most exciting news was that there were three family members that trusted Christ as Savior after the first funeral. 

The French service started up again this month, and some people that had not been venturing out with the pandemic and regulations have been back in church.  The family (mother and one son) from Ivory Coast that we mentioned hearing from last month showed up for the French service the Sunday before last.  They seemed glad to connect and participate in the service, but with little English vocabulary didn’t last very long in the English service that day.  We proposed the use of the transmitter/receiver equipment the church had purchased for this purpose, so we could interpret the English service the next week (yesterday). They returned and stayed through the English service.  M helped with translating the first half of worship service (his first time translating!) as I was singing as part of a quartet for the special music, then I took my turn to interpret for the message.  Caleb was a big help in looking up various Scripture passages so they could be read directly.    As we anticipate the removal of restrictions, we are seeking wisdom in connecting with the francophone population here, including a new flyer, logo, website, etc.

Classes are going well with the Bible Institute and I am especially enjoying having all of the students in my class on Missiology.  It is encouraging to see some of the students showing personal interest in missions, especially in regards to showing an openness to God’s call and a willingness to be directed and used by Him as He chooses. At least one is seeking God’s guidance concerning a missions trip even for this summer. 

The student from Quebec that is studying at the French Université de Moncton also returned this month and began weekly discipleship Bible studies with Cherith in French.  D’s family is originally from Congo (DRC).  She came to church last semester after having gotten saved through personal Bible study and search. She was baptized the end of November before the Christmas break and hasn’t been back for very long.  Her lack of biblical grounding is beautifully compensated by a deep hunger for spiritual things.

Another blessing has been the opportunity to open our home again and begin to have families and small groups over.  Though our dining area is a little tight, it is a joy to share and fellowship and encourage one another.

We are anticipating the increased removal of restrictions during the month of March.  Lord willing, Cherith’s sister Hannah and her family will be travelling up to visit us all the way from Indiana.  Adrianna plans to meet up with them on their trip so she can come too.  We are very much looking forward to having them with us, even though it would only be for a few days.  

January 2022

New Brunswick is getting a new blast of snow this weekend, adding to the several feet already piled up along the roads and sidewalks.  From my office window I can see the growing mountains of snow lining the church parking lot where the plows have piled it.  There is a winter storm warning out for tomorrow throughout the day and ending Sunday morning which might disrupt our plans for services.  They are very prepared for the snow here, however, and it doesn’t take long for the plows and salt trucks to come through (at least on the main city roads) and for the giant snowblower tractors to be out blowing the driveways of those with contracts (even at 3 a.m.).  We are grateful for God’s protection and His provision of a warm house and a vehicle with winter tires that runs well and handles well in the snow.

The Lord kept Adrianna healthy through her time with us for Christmas, but all too soon it was time for her to head back to BJU. With negative C-id test results in hand, she was able to return to South Carolina on schedule on Jan. 8.  She has a full class schedule this semester with some particularly challenging classes and extra choir practices for the Spring concerts.

Here, the year began with a number of ministry adjustments at both church and the Bible Institute.  There were a couple of C-id cases in our church here, so the schedule was pared down to only Sunday morning and evening services and prayer meeting Wednesday evening.  Then on January 14 our province was moved to level 3 winter plan for at least two weeks, to try to stem the advance of the O variant.  The new restrictions greatly limited physical contact outside the “home bubble”.  The services have all continued with livestream, but the Bible Institute delayed in-person classes and began with online classes and the homeschool Co-op was delayed completely.  As we have been on the program for helping with song leading and accompanying services, we have continued to get to the services, though our boys have stayed home.  

My Missiology 2 classes began on January 20 and will run every Thursday morning through March 10.  The lockdown which drove our classes online has been extended for two more weeks in other Maritime provinces, but thankfully, NB announced yesterday that it will end the lockdown tonight and return the province to level 2.  That means we will be able to go back to in-person services, classes and co-op, and we should be able to resume other activities.  For EBBI that also means we’ll have chapel again, as well as group music practice and piano lessons. 

One of the effects of the pandemic has been that the French outreach has been on hold this month, with plans to start up again in February, Lord willing.  We have been praying that God will help us to connect with people and that He will grow this ministry despite the pandemic and fears.  This week, I spoke on the phone with a woman from Ivory Coast who moved to Moncton with two sons a month ago.  She was eager to find an evangelical church with a French work and connect with believers.  We are looking forward to meeting Mar—Chan— and her sons and seeing how God can use us in their lives, as well as how God might use this connection to bring us in contact with others.