Ministry Update: December 2020

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Dear FamilyLife partners and friends, 

 

At the beginning of each year, we ask the Lord to give us a word or a scripture verse, that He would like us to focus on for the year. The verse that he gave us this year was Nehemiah 8:10 “And do not be worried, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and your stronghold” Little did I know that we would have to hold on to it for dear life.  I am sure you must be (like us) tired of hearing about Covid-19, but I must admit, it rocked my world and left both Russel and I paralyzed for a while. With our daughter Marielle and myself in the “at risk” category, the enormous task of constant sanitization, monitoring the ins and outs of my young adult son and supervising online classes with my 10 year old, got the better of us.  For a while we just struggled through, doing as best we could, not really talking about it.  But deep down inside, anxiety began to step in and manifested in chest pains, dizziness and shortness of breath (all of which are symptoms of Covid-19 by the way).  We quickly realized however, that we needed to regroup and begin to focus on the faith that we profess.  One of the things that really helped was a video series on RightNowmedia.com entitled “Fearless over Covid19”, It was so good at pointing us back to our true north, that I would like to summarize the key points.  

 

I am Fearless over Covid-19:

• ​Because of who I know -  God is sovereign, there’s nothing outside of his control

• Because of what I know - God never allows pain in my life without intending to use it for my good. God allows what He hates in order to accomplish what He loves

• Because of who I am becoming - I am becoming aware of what’s precious & lasting over what is comfortable & fleeting 

• Because of what I am learning - I am learning that my emotions can fluctuate, but God’s word stays the same

• It’s not by my strength, but by God’s goodness!

 

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Ministry During Covid-19

 

Digital Strategies: Despite the dread of Covid19, there are many positives for our ministry.  While we were already in the process of becoming more digital, we had no choice but to bring forward the timelines.  Thank God for Cru Digital strategies Ministry, which hit the ground running, providing many tools for us to continue leading people to Christ, especially during this time, when many are in search of answers.  We were also able to train persons in using the tools to share the gospel with friends and family.  

 

Marriage Mentorship: Marriage mentoring engages couples who love Jesus and love families.  They use their marriage stories to journey alongside other couples. Both couples grow as they spend dedicated time discussing common issues in their marriages. One of the results of the pandemic, is that couples are now on lockdown with each other.  This close proximity that many were not used to, brought some relationship issues to the surface, as a result, the demand for mentorship increased. We were able to meet with several couples one on one, (ensuring proper safety protocols of course) and we continue to share our lives with them regularly. 

 

Mentorship Training: We recently partnered with FamilyLife Canada and Dare to be Different organizations, to obtain Marriage Mentorship training programmes so that we can train more couples to become marriage mentors.  We are excited about this partnership and look forward to engaging many more couples to invest their time in helping other couples. 

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