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For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up;
a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
These words from Ecc 3:1-8 have often gone through my head over the last 12 months. Our last major update was in April of this year, and the pictures of our son Luke taken that Christmas are now far outdated as you can see from these much more updated pics!
In that sense, there is indeed a time for everything, and these days it seems like the time for growing and changing and laughing and crying are most at the forefront. We know that God brings every season in its time and even sends the rain on the good and the bad (Matthew 5:45). So this year as each new event and experience has come upon us we have been thankful to be walked through it with our Lord and saviour! He is the one that we credit for our joy in the good and the bad!
As far as it goes what are the times that have been good and bad (or at least hard because we know that God turns evil to good right?)? Well among the good has been seeing Luke grow and mature a bit (as mature as you can be for an almost one year old) He now walks like a pro and can even talk a bit! He is a little small but he's growing well and at his current rate should be able to knock plates and cutlery off the table within the next calendar year. He is a little charmer and his smile is fantastic at wooing all the grandma's and grandpas in the church!
I can't say enough about how this little gift from God has enriched our lives and makes every day that much brighter. I looked back at our last update and noted that I mentioned that he had once upon thrown up all down my back, well he doesn't do that any more(at least without being sick), but he has managed to eat lots of solid food and smear it all over me instead so too there is there a time for everything!
Cristyn and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this summer and we were blessed to be able to drop our dear little kiddo off with Cris's parents so that we could go off and enjoy sushi from a place that we had always gone when we were dating. Even that seems like distant history now as we have entered into November but just as this year has been one of growth for Luke so too has our marriage been growing. Laughter and tears have been shared this year as we have worked together on our marriage, learning again and again about grace and forgiveness. The time that I feel like we are in is one for building up, as we face new challenges with being parents like our son being sick as a dog with a nasty fever and cold a couple of times, and our dog being as sick as a sick dog(requiring a vet visit or two). The amount of love and admiration that I feel towards this fine lady in my life has only grown as well. She really is someone who pushes me towards Christ and I pray I do the same!
Maternity leave has been kind to her as she has managed to expand her artistic abilities to include writing like a mad woman and making our home even more welcoming than it has ever been, let alone the giggles and cuddles with the little guy but I will say I did notice that she was chomping at the bit to get back to work when she volunteered to reorganize the church lobby and then did it in a day. God bless her! Cristyn is going to be resuming her ministry work with Inter-varsity this month and will be dipping her toes back in just to begin as we see what both of us working in ministry will look like while making sure Luke has all he needs from us and more.
Ministry wise I continue with Village missions as a full time missionary pastor in Nukko Lake. This year has seen growth in our little congregation, something that I cannot stop thanking God for. The other day I walked into the home of one of our congregation after checking on his cows and discovered that his wife had bought a brand new shiny coffee carafe for the church! We had apparently been running out of coffee but this one can hold 100 cups.
Thinking about where we had come from since the days of the lock downs and Covid where we had been either meeting with less than 30 people or not at all, I choked up a little bit thanking God that the church is right where it needs to be for now, there it is again, a time for building up. This summer I was able to baptize 7 people, some of them new believers, some of them
Of course growth isn't the sign of a healthy church alone. There also needs to be discipleship and evangelism, and at the base of it all, relationships with God growing, and love of one another growing. How does one measure any of that? In some sense you can't, not without knowing the hearts of the people who attend, but I'm encouraged by what I see in the efforts of the people in the church who independently of the programs of the church and any request from myself have planned opportunities to start Bible studies, to get involved in volunteering for youth group and to seek to become members when I put out the call. It's in the little things like the group of men who gather every Saturday morning to study the scriptures and enjoy pancakes. It's in the family love that people share at our monthly potluck lunch and in the prayer requests that are shared every Sunday.
Seeing the church grow in these areas makes me hopeful that as a whole we are growing in Godliness. I mentioned last update that I finally feel like I'm able to say that I'm integrating into the community, at least much more than when I started. As part of the reason that I'm a village missionary, I'm seeking to join the local community hall's board to grow in relationship with unbelievers in the community, and to gain opportunity to share the Gospel. So far it's going to be a bit of a longer process, likely only completely finishing in the new year but I'm hopeful that when I am able to hop onto the board I'll be able to engage in real community with the unbelievers in our community, and perhaps by God's grace see some or all come to faith. Perhaps in God's will the time to be reborn might be on the horizon for the local people of Nukko Lake.
Please pray for that outcome, pray that God would bless our church in our outreach efforts. One of those that is coming up very soon is our Christmas Banquet outreach that is happening on December 14. We are inviting the community to come join us for a free Christmas meal, we are also going to be doing Christmas hampers and collecting donations for that. In the last couple of years of doing it, we've had great community and church response in that but this year something even more special is happening! One of the local fire halls is offering to sponsor our Christmas hamper pick up by collecting donations and also by offering a draw for whoever gives more than ten bucks worth of non perishables. It's very encouraging to see!
Finally I'll be baptizing at least two men this winter likely in a water trough in the church basement. Please pray that I'll be able to prepare for these baptisms with joy. Both of them have been Christians for a long time but are now willing to be baptized in obedience! God is good.
God be with you dear supporter and reader, please pray that God would bless Cristyn's return to work, pray that Luke would grow big and strong and that we could lead him to know Jesus. Please pray that this Christmas season would be a joy to the world and our little world and pray that the Gospel would always go forward at the Village Missions church here in Nukko Lake!
God Be with you, Bradley Bergen
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