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Hello, friends and family of the Bergen bunch!
*nextWe have a lot to update you on so we'll be sending out two updates this month. One for Summer/start of Fall and the second for the Fall. At the bottom of the. update we have a sign-up for our yearly Christmas Cards as well as a financial update next time. Without further ado, here is what we were up to this summer.
It has been a bit since I've sat down and gotten a report ready for you, but that is only because we have had so much going on the last couple of months. This summer was busy with camp speaking for myself as well as for Cristyn. It's such an incredible opportunity to be able to still be involved with a Bible camp in my ministry as a Village Missionary. I grew up going to Rough Acres Bible Camp up near Houston BC and camp speaking is quickly something that I can see God placing near and dear to my heart.
This summer I spoke out at a backpacking/camping trip camp out of Ness Lake Bible Camp, which took us down some trails and out in the bush, and I also spoke out at a paintball camp alongside Cristyn and both of those experiences gave us up and close relationships with the campers and the staff. We shared the Gospel as clearly as we could from Genesis and the fall into the crucifixion and the resurrection. The campers came mostly from non-Christian homes, and many of them were also from single-parent, or divorced homes. It is my hope to continue to go back to Ness Lake Bible Camp and make it a large part of my ministry.
This summer I shared my tesimony at teen camp. I was visiting an end of week staff meeting to give out cookies. One of the new team members came up to me after the meeting. She had shared that she became a Christian that week. The young staff member wanted to thank me for sharing my story as it was a part of the reson she had decided to follow Jesus. - Cristyn
The rest of the summer was full of travel, and lots of visitation. I only managed to get out on a tractor once the whole summer, but next year I think we will try to schedule our holidays around haying season so I can make myself more available to farmers and other members of our community so that I can reach both Christians and unbelievers.
Our church has grown to about 50 people since the end of the Covid restrictions last spring, and by the Grace of God many of these people are new and have just recently joined our church, and just as encouraging many of them are continuing members that have come back to continue meeting with us after a hiatus during Covid.
This fall of course also needs mentioning. This last month I baptized one young lady in a cold lake at the start of September, and that was just the start of a opportunity filled fall. For the first time in two years, we have a Sunday School running as well as plans in place to start up our youth group again. Bible Studies are also starting up including our young adult's ministry that I am involved with as well men's prayer breakfast. We meet at 7:00 in the morning on Saturdays for the Men's group, and the study of scripture is immensely helped along by pancakes!
As I write these words out, I would say that this is just the beginning in a lot of ways. This is the start of the post covid era for our church,(God willing) and pastoring looks very different with new (to me) church programs restarting, hope for a Christmas eve service in our building instead of outside and online. It is my hope and prayer to continue to pastor this church and minister in this community for years to come. My main prayer request is that God would grant me the grace and mercy to see people changed by His Gospel through my time here at Lakes Community Church. Faithful preaching, loving the people, and consistent presence in this rural community are the three main pillars of what I want this ministry to be, and by the grace of God if He moves in the hearts of the believers and the unbelievers that I minister with then we will see new life spring up here. This idea is founded in me by Christ's parable of the sower and also these words from 1 Corinthians 3:5-9
“5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.”
It does not belong to us to begin the walk of faith in the people in our care, and yet as I lead Bible studies, preach sermons, work alongside men in the fields and in the bush, as Cristyn shares Bibles with first nations students (She gave out Bibles on campus and it was very cool!), and seeks to be a friend to the ladies in the church while working in a full-time ministry to college students, we have had to find our reliance and hope on what God will do through his Spirit and word and in doing so we are starting to see the fruit that God is bringing.
Recently a young man who has been attending our Young adults Bible study shared with his parents that he feels like he is starting to understand his faith through a new program that we are doing called Road Trip to Truth. This is very exciting because for the last 2 years it has been a hope and prayer of mine that he would get interested and excited about faith.
Our job is to faithfully proclaim the one who Was and Is and Is to come, and Him Crucified. Through your prayers and financial support, God continues to encourage us, and Lord willing, the seeds that we plant and water will grow and grow and grow.
VM Prayer Requests
For Rest as we enter into a very busy part of the year, both with the church and with InterVarsity
For ability and opportunity to reach out into the community such as making new relationships through getting involved in community events.
For our youth and young adults and our hope to reach the surrounding community's school and young adults.
Pray especially for Cristyn as she seeks to open up opportunities to reach foreign students and also those of Muslim and Sikh faiths.
Pray especially for Brad as he seeks to find those in the community who are in need of the most help.
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