Monday Again

Over 110 students and leaders left yesterday morning on three buses headed to FOLLOW in Indianapolis.  When those traveling by other means are added in, we will have circa 125 from our district present – an excellent turnout. We all pray for an event of high and lasting spiritual impact. Our own Brent Ingersoll is one of the keynote speakers. Peter is present at FOLLOW representing district leadership. 

• KV has been approved to sponsor a Syrian refugee family.
• Yarmouth recently paid off their mortgage.
• At least three of our churches – Crosspoint, Deep Water and KV – observed a Sabbath Sunday yesterday providing a break for their incredibly dedicated volunteers and offering an online service option. 
• River Valley had two baptized during their Christmas Eve service. 
• Amherst had an offering of $10,000 last Sunday – normally circa $3,000.
• Maple Ridge had 170+ present last Sunday including one of Nick’s Doctors and his family. 
• A few of many Christmas attendance highlights include:
  – Monticello – 48 – double their average.
  – Pathway saw double their AM average in their Christmas Eve service.
  – The three Grand Manan churches saw some 300 in a combined Christmas service held         at the high school.
  – Fredericton Corbett had 602 present and received an offering of $25,000 – half of which         will be given to others.
  – Cornerstone had 733 present at their Christmas Eve services.
  – Presque Isle had 920 present and received an offering of $22,000 on Christmas Sunday. 

The following note from GP missionary Rick West is a high praise note.  We have a real connection with Cuba through mission trips and support for the work there. Read and rejoice….

“On Sunday morning, December 13, the spirit of worship with over 100 believers under the shade of the almond trees beach side at an area know as “The Bay of Pigs,” was alive, real and powerful. Moments later, 20 people descended into the beautiful Caribbean Sea to be buried in baptism and raised to new life in Christ. The candidates for baptism were from the Wesleyan congregations of the West District.”

Maximizing Impact (MI) is, in fact, contributing to increasing the Great Commission impact of the  churches who have hosted an MI weekend – seven churches to date and 3 more scheduled during these next few months. We have also been invited to introduce MI in the Central Canada District and will be visiting one of their churches this winter as well.

We will be selecting MI churches for next church year soon. We already have a number of invitations from churches but if you would like your church to be considered, drop a brief note to me right away. MI can actually make a difference. 

THOT: “It was not the volume of sin that sent Christ to the cross; it was the fact of sin.” – Ravi Zacharias

ON SECOND THOT: “Truth that is not undergirded with love makes the truth obnoxious and the possessor of it repulsive.” – Ravi Zacharias