2020 IMMERSE GRADUATION

Graduation from the waist up!

Yup, that’s how we did it this year. Over 300 people gathered through Zoom to celebrate with our Fellowship Pacific graduates.

SOUTHRIDGE SPEEDWAY: LOVING A COMMUNITY IN NEED

On July 17, 2020, a fire tore through the Madison Place Apartment building, instantly changing the lives of 49 families. They lost their homes, their belongings, and their sense of security. The Langley community immediately rallied to offer donations of clothing and furniture in an effort to help the families rebuild. While this was very appreciated, they really needed so much more. That’s when Paul, the Executive Pastor at SouthRidge Fellowship Church stepped in. He arranged a sizeable donation of gift cards from the church’s Benevolence Fund for the families to help purchase food, clothing, household items, medications, etc. He also reached out to the church, asking them to pray about how they could help. Immediately more donations of gift cards and money came in as people felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit to help those in need.

SURVIVING THE COVID ICE AGE

You have probably all heard the frigid metaphor being used to define our experiences with Covid 19, whereby “we thought we were in a blizzard, then we thought we were in winter, but it turned out that we had entered a new ice age.” Not really encouraging. Unlike most of you, I was happily ignorant of that depressingly accurate description until one of our Fellowship staff brought it to my attention. If you are interested, we can probably work out a trade of staff member for staff member that will be to the benefit of your church.

KEEPING OUR FOCUS

A couple of weeks ago, I was blissfully standing in an off-leash dog park, totally focused on the raw joy of my Wheaton Terrier puppy as he zoomed wildly around the park. It seems highly probable that Winston Furchill is the Greatest of All Time. While there are plenty of dog owners who might think their canine is cuter, smarter, friendlier, or more athletic than Winston, they are quite simply—wrong.

GOD IS GOOD — THE MEETING PLACE, NANIMO

Back in August, we received an email from Camp Qwanoes asking if we would be willing to have three Kaleo students attend and serve in our church from September to April. We were really excited at the prospect of having them join us. The only hurdle we had to overcome was getting the students from camp in Crofton to Nanaimo—about a 45 minute drive. Conversations ensued about how we could make this happen and the only viable solution we could come up with was to supply the students a car.

STAFF CHANGES — THANK YOU LARA!

The Ministry Centre staff are joyfully sad to say goodbye to our co-worker and friend, Lara McAllister. Lara has decided it is time to move on to the next chapter in her life, effective the beginning of October. While not entirely certain of where this journey will end, Lara is looking forward to more time at home with the family, gardening, writing, and hopefully some new adventures.

2019 IMMERSE GRADUATION

September is a busy month in the Immerse program as we welcome new students and celebrate the completion of the program for others.

On a beautiful Friday evening, we gathered to watch as five students walked across the platform at Southridge Fellowship and received their Master of Divinity degrees from Northwest Baptist Seminary.

SERVING FAMILIES TOGETHER — CENTRAL FELLOWSHIP, PRINCE GEORGE

At Fellowship Pacific, our mission is “to leverage the collective strength of our churches in order to produce a God-honouring impact in BC and Yukon” because we know that to reach a mission field as large as this one, it’s going to take all of us working together. It’s not just about big goals, however, like reaching an entire region, we also need each other in the ongoing, day-to-day challenges as we minister to each person in our churches and communities. Take a minute to read and be encouraged by this beautiful story of how God has used and is using the collective strength of multiple Fellowship Pacific churches to love and provide for two special families.

RADIANT LIFE OUTREACH — CAMPBELL RIVER BAPTIST CHURCH

In October 2018, CRBC took over the ministry at Radiant Life Outreach, so I have been bringing leadership to the ministry for 6 months now. Time sure does fly by!!

For those six months, there have been many peaks and some hurdles as I have learned to lean on others for wisdom in the things that I don’t know anything about. God is faithful and has seen us through each and every trial.

REACHING OUR CITY — SAANICH BAPTIST CHURCH

These are a few examples of outreach initiatives that Saanich Baptist has been involved in in 2018. Many of these are possible for your church to do in your own communities.

SMITHERS BAPTIST CHURCH

As with many small towns, Smithers hosts an annual Fall Fair complete with a parade that runs through the centre of town, down Main Street. It had been many years since our church participated in the parade, so in 2018, we decided to get involved by entering a float.

SUPPORTING FELLOWSHIP PACIFIC

The Ministry Centre is excited to report that the church support level outlined in the annual budget for 2018 was exceeded for the first time in many years. The budget for church support was $575,000. In 2018 our churches provided funding of over $580,000. The Ministry Centre kept expenses below budget again in 2018 and we are happy to report that we finished 2018 in the black.