It’s Monday Again
Meet our Tour Guide at the Valley of the Kings this week. Actually, he used to be a tour guide until a few years ago when God called him into ministry. Now he is Pastor of our Wesleyan Standard Church in Luxor – one of four new congregations in the past two years in our growing Egyptian Conference. For a full review of our district team in Egypt over the past couple of weeks, CLICK HERE for Justin McGuigan’s Facebook updates.
- Pastor Jimmy is leading a thriving new congregation that has acquired property in an excellent location. They obtained possession in early October and have made tremendous progress getting ready for a New Year launch in this new permanent facility. Pastor Jimmy makes me proud to be a Wesleyan leader. And meeting him this week refuelled my passion for the future of our global opportunities for interdependency with our International Wesleyan Church family.
The Pharaoh’s tomb (Merenptah) he is explaining above is one of two possible ancient Kings who may have been ruling when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt. An Egyptian fridge magnet will be mailed to the first IMA reader who can tell me the name of the other Pharaoh (extra credit for citing sources).
The highlight celebration of our time in Egypt took place on December 6th in the new church facility of the first church planted in 1920 in Nekheila (Asyut Governate in Upper Egypt). The keynote speaker for this Centennial Celebration was Rev. Dr. Andrea Zaki (pictured in the purple shirt) – official representative of all 18 Protestant denominations in Egypt including ours. CLICK HERE to enjoy the live satellite TV broadcast of this 2-hour event.
Later that evening, the Governor of Asyut (approximately 4.5M people) invited our delegation to a private audience. This was covered in a wide variety of media outlets and publications and National Superintendent Atef is to be commended for the favour God is granting to our now 28 churches in Egypt. There is a spirit of encouragement in the general church community for the increased religious liberties experienced under the leadership of President Sisi. These are good days for expansion and growth in the Church.
- The Wesleyan Church of Canada has a long and celebrated history with the beginnings of this work through the Standard Church. It is a high honour to continue these global connections as we build on the generations of influence invested over the past 100 years.
CLICK HERE for an inspiring reminder of the ten reasons every church should send their pastor on a missions trip. As 2022 reopens doors for international travel, perhaps this coming year may provide opportunity to reignite our hearts for the International Wesleyan Church.
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, December 15th – all hotel reservations in the Atlantic District blocks will be released after this date which will increase pricing and may impact availability. I can’t wait for us to join together again in just a few weeks!
Aaron Reimer (Island) has developed a new resource for discipleship. Aaron shared, “As a small, rural congregation, it’s been difficult to find good resources that scale down well to a smaller church context. Sprouting from last year’s Discipleship Pathway discussions, I was inspired to create a home-grown, Bible-centric discipleship system for Island Wesleyan. Since then, I’ve been working to develop a holistic, zero-prep discipleship strategy for small churches that can scale infinitely. Take a look inside at http://www.iwcpei.ca/getrooted.”
Our National Superintendent, Dr. Steve Elliott, has issued a 65-day challenge to all Wesleyans to read and journal through a significant portion of the New Testament, beginning Jan. 17, through to Good Friday. For those who want to accept the challenge, the reading schedule and journals are available at our cost of $6.50 (incl. shipping) directly from our national office (Stephen@wesleyan.ca).
CLICK HERE to enjoy the latest National Church Newsletter.
Speaking of newsletters, I enjoy reading so many of our e-publications from around the district. Recently, Evan Oxner (Amherst) posted this challenging and inspiring word for all of us in Kingdom leadership during this pandemic context. Thank you, Evan!
“I am a Pastor and we are a Church. I am not a politician, public health official, biologist, or an entity of the government. My job and our mission are to help people follow Jesus, that’s it. Everything we do is about that.
We help people be more and more like Jesus.
We reach those who are vaccinated.
We reach those who are unvaccinated.
We minister to the rich, poor, happy, sad, healthy, sick, strong, weak, young, old, single, married, divorced, etc.
We do all that as Jesus would in our situation.
All to help people follow Jesus.
We cannot become gossips, judgemental, proud, consumed by fear, or so rigidly committed to non-essentials that we become divided and distracted from the mission. Jesus said that the world would know we are His followers by how we love each other. Don’t get lost in the noise of the media, the agendas of our culture, or the fear of our world. We are the people of God, we are people of hope, faith and love. Don’t let anything compromise that.”
We help people be more and more like Jesus.
We reach those who are vaccinated.
We reach those who are unvaccinated.
We minister to the rich, poor, happy, sad, healthy, sick, strong, weak, young, old, single, married, divorced, etc.
We do all that as Jesus would in our situation.
All to help people follow Jesus.
We cannot become gossips, judgemental, proud, consumed by fear, or so rigidly committed to non-essentials that we become divided and distracted from the mission. Jesus said that the world would know we are His followers by how we love each other. Don’t get lost in the noise of the media, the agendas of our culture, or the fear of our world. We are the people of God, we are people of hope, faith and love. Don’t let anything compromise that.”
Points to Ponder
- Should we sacrifice evangelism for coexistence, or coexistence for evangelism? This debate will concern us for the next several years. (Andrea Zaki)
- At the most basic level, success is getting up one more time than you were knocked down. (Carey Nieuwhof)
- The fact that the Christian church was able to endure centuries of persecution and survived centuries of neglect and opposition is difficult to explain apart from the system of theology stemming from belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who actually died, rose, and ascended into heaven. (John Walvoord)
It’s been two years since we have gathered. Two years! Our January 2020 Ministerial at the Saint John Delta seems like a lifetime ago. We are a people who gather to strengthen in multiple ways both big and small each year and we could have never imagined a world that would not allow us to be together. This 24-hour Ministerial experience has been prayerfully designed to invite the Spirit’s renewal in our hearts as we lean into the beginnings of a post-pandemic ministry context.
- Hotel rooms have been reserved for in blocks for both nights and you will have until December 15th to book your selection directly. Keep in mind that the final session with our General Superintendent concludes before supper on Thursday so staying the second night will be at your discretion.
Note to Maine Pastors: A December email will provide more details for those coming across the border. A great deal of pressure is being applied to change on the current Canadian requirement for a molecular COVID test to enter Canada by land and we are hoping this ends by the New Year. If not, registration will be complimentary upon request for our Maine pastors if the pricing for COVID tests remains a necessity.
- All pastors who attend will receive a personal copy of Pete Scazzero’s work on emotional health for leaders which has been game-changing for so many Kingdom undershepherds. If you want an introduction to Pete’s work, here is Carey Nieuwhof’s latest conversation with him.
This Christmas, why not give a gift that keeps on giving? Caton’s Island is focused on providing a fun, safe, amazing experience that has one purpose, to show the love of Christ to everyone who attends. When you give to Caton’s, as a one-time gift or a monthly recurring gift, you are supporting projects like the Choate Dining Hall Expansion, facility upgrades, maintenance, and overall camp operations. Your gift provides a life-changing experience to campers and staff that attend each year, making your donation a greater impact than you will ever know! All donations go to general operations unless otherwise designated. If you wish to give to a specific project just let us know when making a donation.
https://www.catonsisland.com/donate/
Thank you for your generosity – Merry Christmas!
Thank you for your generosity – Merry Christmas!