Update May 2, 2024

Greetings from New Brunswick, Canada where we rejoice in all God is doing even while we seek His help.  As we learn more about the Acadian history of New Brunswick and the Acadian presence that remains here to this day, still speaking French after over 300 years, we wonder how it can be possible that this group would remain virtually unreached today. The need just keeps growing for Gospel ministry among the large French speaking population of New Brunswick and the francophone immigrants, yet where are the laborers?  Jesus’ words in Matt. 9:38-39 remind us to pray and how to pray.  “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

We asked for prayer for the missions team of 7 from Waterford, CT that came at the beginning of April. The Lord used the four high school seniors and three adults to prepare our new postcard bilingual outreach flyers. They placed a piece of hard candy on each flyer and went from door to door in mainly francophone Dieppe, distributing hundreds of them to mailboxes.  

They jumped right in alongside the youth group here for the church work day and ministered to the English church and French ministry through testimonies, special music and preaching.  They got to visit some of the local sites including the giant lobster in Shédiac, observe the tidal bore in Moncton and see the Bay of Fundy at high tide and ebbing tide.  They listened as our Acadian friend from church gave them an overview of the tumultuous history and spiritual needs among the French speakers here before visiting the Acadian Museum on the French university campus here in town.

God is helping our small group of believers through blessings and challenges.  M and O from Madagascar welcomed their new baby boy, JM has been coming to Bible study even while his parents have been gone to Ivory Coast dealing with immigration issues, P and MC were granted the visa they need and will be returning to NB after 2 plus months, and Ph from Niger has travelled to the north of the province for a required internship. We are encouraged to see J coming more regularly to the group Bible study Sunday morning, and now attending the 3:00 service as well as the Ladies’ Bible study with Cherith every other Tuesday evening.  We are finishing a series on John’s Epistles (1, 2 and 3) in our afternoon services and will be going through the attributes of God over the next few months. Mt, who covered for us while we were away last summer, has moved from Quebec to Nova Scotia temporarily and wants to be involved in French ministry here. He’ll be able to help with preaching and possibly leading worship too.  I’m thrilled to have had our son Caleb take my EBBI class on Music Ministry in the Church and am looking forward to gradually working him into the program this summer. 

Praise for

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  the privilege of serving God in a barren spiritual desert. Praise for the work God is doing in lives through this ministry.
• for the Canadian government finally renewing our medical cards making it much less difficult and expensive to see a doctor!  Praise for Jonathan’s education being approved and our file being now submitted to the government waiting to be drawn.  
• the help and encouragement hat God sent to us through a church school in CT that chose to bring their high school seniors to Moncton to see and help in missions here. Praise too for God bringing Mt back from Quebec and for his willingness to help in this ministry.
• God’s help for Jonathan with adding the EBBI class on Music Ministry in the Church to his responsibilities in March and April.  Praise for evidence that students are applying things learned as they lead others to worship our great God.
• an excellent anglophone Spring Bible Conference hosted at EBC in April for Maritime Churches and for the youth retreat last weekend in Nova Scotia with 85 Maritime youth in attendance.
• God helping our daughter Adrianna complete a heavy junior year at Bob Jones University this week and for all the opportunities He is giving her to serve Him and to grow.

Pray for

• health and strength for us as we fight head colds and the viruses going around. Pray for our people as they face various issues including medical, immigration and lack of commitment for some.
• Brother K who leads the summer evangelistic outreach at the Moncton Market as he is struggling with heart issues.  Pray for the completion of the new bi-lingual EBC flyer and for God to use it along with our postcard flyers and social media. Pray for others in the church to join this outreach.

• the EBBI students as they are now finished with another school year. Pray that God will use them in summer ministries and that they will apply the things they have learned.  Pray that God will bring new students for the next school year.
• Our support level (93%) to increase.
• Adrianna as she begins a very full summer on Monday with two jobs and three summer classes.  
• Caleb as he prepares for a two-week missions trip to Paris to help in evangelistic outreach during the summer Olympics. Pray that God will raise up the needed funds for this trip by the May 20 deadline and that He would prepare Caleb for this outreach.

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• Our immigration status to move forward.  Pray that the government will draw our names soon (they do monthly drawings) before our language test results expire and we have to redo them (very costly and time consuming) 

Update February 29, 2024

This morning, most of our order of 4,000 bilingual outreach flyers was delivered.  They will be used, Lord willing, for canvassing the Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe Tri-city area.  Since Moncton is officially bilingual and nearly every piece of printed media we receive in our mailbox is bilingual, our desire is to let everyone who receives one of our flyers know that they are invited to our services at Espérance Vivante (French speakers) and Emmanuel Baptist Church.  We are looking forward to the visit of the missions team from Waterford, CT April 2-8 and the help and encouragement they will be to our ministry here. We praise the Lord that EBC is also redoing their brochure in a bilingual format for the first time, seeking to reach out to the French speaking residents and students.  It is an honor to be able to help with preparing the French text. The church is also working on plans for a desperately needed new sign (which would include Espérance Vivante) to clearly identify the church on the high traffic crossroad where it is located.  

Please pray for God’s continued provision of grace and guidance in the work here.  We consider it a privilege to serve Him and we pray that others would know His calling and give their lives for Him to use as He chooses.  May the Lord of the harvest send forth laborers into His fields all around the world, and may that include sending some to the long-neglected French speaking population of New Brunswick.

Praise for

• the spiritual growth in some of our people and for the way God has used several of them to minister to each other this month through encouragement, hospitality, generosity and fellowship. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• progress in our residency paperwork, as Jonathan was granted a work permit, an important document that should move our file forward. Praise that Jonathan’s high school transcript has reached the education assessment agency where they will determine Canadian equivalency.

• the arrival of the new bilingual outreach flyers for Espérance Vivante and EBC. Praise for the completion of the new apartment building beside the church and for the opportunity we were given to place invitations in English and French ministries inside apartments before the arrival of new residents.

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• The team of senior high school students and their leaders from Waterford, CT that are preparing to come to Moncton on a missions trip to help with our ministry and to see the Bible Institute (EBBI).

Pray for

• God to give spiritual growth to believers and to draw lost souls to Him. Pray that we would see visitors return. Pray that there would be more more consistent attendance for some. Pray for our faithful core, as many are facing challenges including health needs and immigration status.  Pray for M and O, the young couple from Madagascar, as they are expecting their first baby, due March 13.

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• grace and strength to fulfill our calling, including Jonathan teaching a class on Music ministry in the Church to the EBBI students each Monday morning from March 18 to April 8.
• God to continue to send laborers into His harvest field, and that He would use missions trips to burden hearts for His service.  Pray for God to bless and use the team from CT coming April 2-8 and that he will bless teams from two NB churches that are traveling to Malta and South Africa this week and next week. The team going to Malta includes two EBBI students.
• Jonathan’s education to be approved for Canadian equivalency so that our residency paperwork can continue to move forward.  Pray that our health cards would be granted soon.
• God’s provision for our support needs.  This week we completed a long overdue revision of our support estimate with the BMM administrator for missionary finance.  Due to inflation, taxes and a slight decrease of support, our current committed support level is at 92%. 

Update January 26, 2024

God blessed us with a wonderful holiday season and provided strength for extra ministries even as we dealt with some of the sickness going around and as I fought a sinus infection for nearly two months.  Our Canadian health cards were not renewed when we came back to Canada last August — we were told simply that our visitor records did not qualify us for the health cards.  This makes it difficult and costly for us to see a doctor or get medical help, though, thankfully, we are reimbursed by insurance in the US.  It was wonderful to have Adrianna home for two weeks and have her participation in our ministries.  We praise the Lord for His protection for her as she made the roundtrip from Greenville, SC by car and for His help and provision for her with a daunting school and work schedule.  It was hard for us to see her leave again, but God gives grace for the separation.

We are thankful for some progress with our paperwork for our residency status.  It is a complicated and very costly process without any guarantees but with the aid of a helpful immigration consultant we do see a path forward and are seeing things move now. 

It has been encouraging to see some growth in the French ministry, including a few visitors. On December 31 we hit 20 in attendance in our afternoon service for the first time since we began it in September.  We can see a strengthening of relationships within the group as we take time to fellowship.  God is giving spiritual growth too through the study of His Word both through our services and in the ladies’ Bible study.  We are sorry to see the retired couple from Madagascar return home this weekend but God has used them to encourage us and our group through their faithfulness and zeal.  We pray that God will bless them as they return and also continue to minister to hearts here and build this ministry. 

Praise for

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  the number of people that have been faithfully attending our French ministries: Sunday Bible study, afternoon service and the bimonthly ladies Bible study. Praise for the time that R and Y from Madagascar were with us and for their participation in Espérance Vivante. Praise for some growth in number and for a couple of visitors.
• Caleb and the full-time students at EBBI and for this time of being equipped to serve the Lord.  Praise for the Lord’s help for Adrianna in her studies and work, along with service responsibilities at BJU.
• some progress with our paperwork for Canadian residency, for helping us to find a path forward that seems hopeful.
• improved health for Jonathan after several weeks of struggling with sinus infection, and for Cherith and the boys from some harsh colds.
• a church school in CT that is preparing to send a high school group on a missions trip to help us here in Moncton.

Pray for

• God to continue to work in hearts to give spiritual growth to believers and to continue to draw souls to Him.  Pray that we will see more involvement in ministering to others.
• our boys as they homeschool, and that God will continue to work in their lives to mold them into His image.  Pray for Adrianna and the EBBI students that the Lord will help them to grow and prepare to serve Him.
• God to continue to move our paperwork forward and that we won’t run into big delays. Pray that we will soon be able to get health cards in Canada, without which medical care is even more difficult and costly than it is for those with them.
• God’s provision of wisdom to move the French ministry forward and for health and strength to keep up with each responsibility.
• God to send laborers to help us to reach the French speaking people of New Brunswick.

Update November 29, 2023

October and November have scurried by with many opportunities to serve the Lord, and while much sickness has gone around, the Lord has protected our family from being hit too hard. I am grateful for God’s provision of strength while I continue to recover from a painful sinus infection. My state Sunday reminded us of how desperately we need to keep praying that God will send laborers to partner with us in this ministry.  The disparity in the number of workers involved in the English and French ministries was underscored as both of us pastors were not well.  There were English speaking Sunday school teachers, worship leaders and substitute preachers available for both English services, but not a single replacement available for the French Bible study and worship service. In His omniscience, the Lord had guided in our French program so that D., the retired professor in our group, was scheduled to preach in the afternoon French service.  He had been out with illness the past two Sundays, but had recovered by Sunday and was able to preach, leaving me with the Bible study and leading worship. We were thrilled to see a first time visitor, a Parisian woman who is agnostic that has lived in NB for many years. We were also encouraged to have 19 present, the largest attendance since we began services in September.

Praise for

• the faithful attendance of some in our 3 p.m. French service and 9:45 a.m. Bible study and for a few first-time visitors. 
• the opportunity to speak on missions three times at the youth retreat that our church hosted November 3-4 to a group of 70+ youth from around the Maritimes.

• the Lord’s provision of health and strength to minister despite all the sickness. 
• growth in the Ladies’ Bible study and for God’s work in hearts.
• great opportunities for Gospel outreach at the memorial service for Remembrance Day (November 11) and at the well-attended Christmas Parade Outreach with 1000+ tracts handed out.

• the safe travels and mutually encouraging fellowship with the R family visiting from France and for the opportunity they had to see and get involved in our ministry here. Mr. R shared their testimony of how God brought them to faith in Christ after years of searching and life with no meaning.

• The new Christian school with 68 students that is now functioning in our former home and place of ministry in Bambari, CAR.  Praise God for His provision of a special gift so we can help with the cost of building much-needed benches.

Pray for

• greater commitment and increased faithful attendance for certain individuals in our French Bible study and worship services.
• complete restoration for our health and strength, and for God’s enabling and help in the challenges we face daily. 
• God to send laborers to partner with us in this French ministry. 
• for guidance and blessing of all the special services, fellowship, and outreach opportunities during the Christmas season, including the Winter Music Recital and Christmas Cantata.  Pray for Cherith as she incorporates the hours of piano practice for the cantata into her busy schedule.
• the new Christian school in Bambari, CAR, and for the finances needed to complete doors and windows and add sufficient benches. 
• God to continue to move our paperwork along for Canadian residency without long delays and without much greater cost.

Update October 4, 2023

We are grateful for your prayers and for the Lord’s help through the month of September.  At the beginning of the month, we sensed resistance from the enemy as we were given tough news on various fronts, one after another early in the month.  But we have found God’s grace sufficient as He strengthens and helps us move forward in our weakness. 

The afternoon services in French began September 10 and at the same time we began a discipleship Bible study in the 9:45 hour when we had been having our service previously.  We have been encouraged by the response to both initiatives and by a slight numerical increase each week at both meetings. The work load and the need is great so please continue to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into this harvest field in French New Brunswick.  We are thankful for God’s clear direction for our family to serve Him here and for the full support of our sending church and mission board. 

Last evening, Cherith hosted the first French Bible study for the ladies in our group.  Five women, from four different countries, came out for it.  The need for it is significant and Cherith is glad for the opportunity to invest in the lives of these women hungry for both Christian fellowship and biblical instruction.  

Praise for

• God’s blessing of the new 3:00 p.m. French service as well as the 9:45 Bible study time.  Praise for the good participation, the positive response and the gradual growth each week. Praise for a new couple from Madagascar and a man recently arrived from Haiti that have been attending.
• God’s direction in M’s life regarding future ministry in Quebec.  Praise too for God’s clear leading in our lives to bring us to NB to pioneer in this ministry, and for the support of our sending church and mission board.
• Opportunities to share the Gospel through door to door outreach and Saturday market outreach.
• The students God has brought to EBBI this year, including Caleb who is taking several dual credit classes and our nephew Gage who is staying with us this semester. 

• A good start to the Home school co-op and for the growth in the younger group (more than double last year!).
• The starting up of the French Bible study for the ladies, and for God’s help for Cherith.

Pray for

• God to send laborers to help us to reach the French speaking people of New Brunswick.
• Opportunities to share the Gospel with our French speaking neighbors, and for God to use the various outreach efforts. 

• Our family as we navigate ministry through this challenging period, with God’s help.
• The Home school co-op French classes as we work to help the kids learn the language of many of their neighbors. Pray too for Cherith as she teaches 5 piano students this year and as she leads the French Bible study for the ladies in our group.
• our friends, the R family, as they visit us from France for two weeks at the end of this month.  Pray that we will be a blessing to their family and that God will bless their time with us as well as their contact with Espérance Vivante.
• God to move our paperwork along for Canadian residency without long delays and without much greater cost.

Update September 1, 2023

The Lord brought us safely back to Moncton, NB on August 8 nearly 11,000 miles after leaving on June 1.  We are thankful for the new two year visitor records we were given at the border as we continue to pursue longer term residency. 

God had helped M as he ministered to the French group in our absence, and in his involvement in the English ministries as well.  We are grateful for progress over the summer, including a new couple from Madagascar who began attending a few weeks ago.  M has returned to Québec continuing to seek God’s direction regarding future ministry.  Door to door outreach and Saturday outreach at the downtown market have given some great contacts for the Gospel throughout the summer.  We are continually reminded of the serious spiritual need in this area among French speakers who make up 40% of the population of Moncton.  Our hearts cry out “Where are the laborers?!”

As we diminish our involvement in English ministries and focus more of our time and energy on French ministry, we are gearing up to move our French service on Sunday mornings to Sunday afternoon at 3:00 starting September 10 while continuing a French Bible study during the Sunday school hour.  This coincides with entering our third year of regular French outreach and ministry at Emmanuel Baptist Church and we praise the Lord for what He has done so far.  The Lord has raised up others to take over some of our English ministries but there are some areas where workers are still needed.  

Praise for

• God’s protection and blessings throughout all our travels and visits this summer and for His opening the doors for us at the border. 
• God’s help for M as he ministered in our absence and for the addition of the new couple attending Espérance Vivante. Praise for God’s blessings over two years of regular French ministry.
• Opportunities to share the Gospel through door to door outreach and Saturday market outreach.
• Those who God has raised up to take on some of our English ministries.
• The arrival of our nephew Gage Sherd to spend a semester with us and attend classes at the Bible Institute (EBBI), and for the other new students and the returning students that began the new semester this week.

Pray for

• God’s direction for M regarding future ministry and for God to send laborers to work among the French speaking people of New Brunswick.
• Opportunities to share the Gospel with our French speaking neighbors, and for God to use the various outreach efforts. 
• The French ministry, Espérance Vivante, as we enter our third year.  Pray for the new Sunday afternoon services beginning September 10.
• EBBI as it kicks off a new school year, and for the new and returning students. 
• Our nephew Gage as he takes classes and serves in various ways this semester.  
• The Lord’s help for our children with their schoolwork this year.  Adrianna, in her third year at BJU, is responsible for several girls in her discipleship group and has a full load of classes along with helping lead several student organizations. Caleb is now a senior and is taking several dual credit classes at EBBI.  Josiah is now a freshman in high school.
• God to move our paperwork along for Canadian residency without long delays and without much greater cost.