The Unexpected

All of a sudden, Gary and I heard a huge, unexpected bang and immediately we were showered in darkness. We were just finishing our supper one night early in January.  We couldn’t even see the shock on each other’s faces. I scrambled around to find some flashlights and Gary managed to make it to the front door to look outside.  He realized that the blackout was just on our street.  About half an hour later, our next-door neighbor knocked on the door.  I don’t know how she does it, but she is usually the first to learn that another catastrophe has occurred in our village.  Apparently, a driver travelling along our Churchville Road decided to miss the sharp turn at the top of the hill and plowed into a hydro pole that collapsed. He landed in the nearby woods inside one demolished vehicle. I’m not sure if anyone was hurt. Thankfully, the hydro workers got our electricity running again at 11:30 p.m. that night. You never know how much you depend on something until you can’t have it anymore!

We are excited and hopeful for Hillside Church this month.  Just after Christmas Scott Lockhart, Gary and I took a previous attender, who has moved to Labrador City for work, out to lunch at Swiss Chalet in Milton.  It was confirmed in our minds once again that this restaurant would make a great location for our church services.   We even stood in the specified area for prayer together.  Later that day Scott connected with the new general manager and in a week, we unexpectedly received the owners’ approval for us to meet there weekly.  Since then after meeting four times, it is working out very well.  Thank you for your prayers!  It is now our serious responsibility to invite Milton people to attend.  We need to be approved for the Canada Sumer Jobs program to hire students for outreach this summer.  We are preparing for an official launch on Easter Sunday.  Scott is making interesting weekly connections with students while attending his course at Heritage College and Seminary.

We continue to be amazed by our friend, Thomas in Myanmar and the progress he is making on his orphanage building we have raised funds for.  It is looking so good!  He is almost finished.  Gary has set up a Go Fund Me campaign for him so that Thomas can complete the last of the construction and furnish the insides – https://MyanmarOrphans.ca.  Would you be willing to post it on your Facebook page?  Thomas is interested in bringing in 7 orphans off the streets for the first phase.

Also, Gary has been creating weekly videos on one theme for his Insiders’ list for the past two years.  You might have seen one he has done previously.  Now five short videos from the original are available each week at youtube.com/@churchvitality.  Click the subscribe button that you see on the screen.  These videos are easy for you to pass along to someone you might know who is interested in that particular subject.  Try it – you may never know what may happen in that person’s life.  That would be fulfilling to you and it would mean a lot to both of us.

One day in the New Testament of the Bible when Jesus was discussing with his disciples about His second coming to earth, he explained, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come … So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44.  We are not very fond of being hit with something unexpected particularly if it is a catastrophe.  May God help us all to react positively to whatever happens to us in the days ahead no matter what it is.

An early Valentine’s greeting to all!

Wendy   

Wendy.carter@kainos.org