Building Families in Haiti - The Global Aid Network has been helping re-build after the 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti, but recently, some staff from FamilyLife went to equip Christian leaders in ministry to marriages and families.

Ministry Through Sport - At our Power to Change staff conference a few months ago, I got to sit in on a planning session with staff from our Athletes in Action ministry. I was inspired by their passion and creativity, and got some great ideas for how our Information Technology department could better support these front-line missionaries in our organization.

Family Update - The last few months have included a lot of fun activities and trips, but also a not-so-fun, unplanned home renovation!

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DRIME – Learn more about this amazing ministry within Power to Change that uses choreographed street drama to share the gospel with those on the city streets around the world in a creative, non-threatening, and engaging way.

Family update – updates on Shannon and I, our boys (Toby is 6 months old already!), our trip to Ontario, and more.

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• FamilyLife Weekend to Remember: I’ve been able to help work on some web sites for this ministry, and am encouraged by quotes from recent conference attendees
• Biblical Studies: We have the chance to take some biblical studies in Colorado for 4 weeks this summer
• On the Home Front: Our church, dreams, health, and son

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• New Resource Centre Website: My big project the last few months at Power to Change has been developing a new website for our Resource Centre (check it out at store.powertochange.org)
• Crave: The Documentary: Produced by pastor and author Erwin McManus in partnership with Power to Change, this film was shot in Vancouver and reveals some surprising things about people’s openness to spiritual things (watch it online at powertochange.com/itv/spirituality/crave-the-documentary/)
• Paid vs. Aid Campaign: The Campus Ministry had great success with this new strategy on universities across Canada this fall (read the article one campus newspaper wrote about it at thegatewayonline.ca/articles/opinion/2010/09/23/campus-christ-contest-stirs-conversations-campus)
• On the Home Front: We’re finding exciting new ways to get involved with our church, and are enjoying the changes we see in our son almost every day (get more updates from Shannon’s blog at inmeta4s.blogspot.com)

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We just love Silas’ laugh. And Shannon sure knows how to get him laughing!

We knew this year would be a little different, though, because it was our first year coming with a child! Fortunately, it worked out quite well. Silas slept in his stroller at the back of the room for some sessions, so Shannon and I could both participate. Other times, one of us would hang out with Silas in the lobby, watching the session on the live feed out there. Only a few times did one of us need to miss out entirely on something, and since we had expected that ahead of time, we were pretty relaxed about it. And, having Silas there allowed Shannon to win the photo contest for one day. The theme was “relaxation”, and here’s the winning picture Shannon submitted:

Here are a few thoughts that came out of the conference for me:

• I was reminded again how much I love the vision of Power to Change. The people here love God deeply, and are passionate about people in our communities and across our nation. They are dreaming big dreams of how God could use us to introduce people across our land to the one they were created for.
• People in Canada ARE interested in spiritual things, and want to talk about the deep issues of life. However, we have to stop approaching people around us as a “project”, but as someone we truly care about and are interested in. Erwin McManus was one of our speakers, and he especially challenged us in this area. He showed us a short documentary he had put together, where he interviewed a number of prominent, secular people from the Vancouver area, and it showed clearly how open people were to talking about spiritual things!
• Another important aspect of engaging our culture in spiritual conversation is being real about how Jesus has impacted our own lives. And, I’m not just talking about a conversion story from 20 years ago, but how has God been making a real difference in my life in the past week? To share naturally about Christ, we need to be walking closely with Him, making Him a part of every aspect of our lives, all the time.
• Shannon and I were really challenged to be taking greater faith steps in our own life. Sometimes it feels like we are just living a “maintenance” life – maintaining the house, maintaining the car, maintaining our friendships, etc. We both want to go beyond that, to be agents of God’s kingdom, following His leading to do things that are beyond our own ability and comfort level, that require complete dependance on Him.

May God give us strength and wisdom to put these thoughts into action.

Shannon handed these packages out to our fellow passengers.

The week and a half we spent in Ontario was a lot of fun. Rather than go camping or do any large, ambitious trips, we spent most of this time hanging around Jason’s parents’ house, enjoying the backyard pool, playing volleyball and soccer, walking around the neighbourhood, battling it out in board games like Settlers, reading, and playing music.

Silas didnt like the cold at first, but eventually got used to the water.

Jason’s parents and two youngest siblings had flown out to BC to visit after Silas was born, but some of his other siblings hadn’t met him yet. It was great fun to introduce him! All his aunts and uncles told us how cute he is, and having so many hands to hold him gave us a nice rest too. Although my niece and nephews are still fairly young, it was fun to begin to watch the cousins of the next generation interact.

All the cousins lined up for a photo shoot. Thats not an easy task!

The whole family together.