Thank you to all of you who have given your time and energy for us this year in praying for us, in some cases physically coming up here to join us in the work, and for the others of you who are also gifting your financial resources to enable us to live and serve here in Edmonton. We are grateful to the Lord for each of you!!
We are celebrating the birth of the Lord Jesus at home as a family, after a Christmas eve fellowship with some people from the church, and on Sunday we will have a special Christmas Sunday service.
We hope your celebrations are uplifting and draw you nearer in love to the LORD and to one another. He is the reason for it all!
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Harvest Prayers and Answers
Jesus gave us clear instructions on what to do when we need help in ministry. Primarily, we are to pray. Sometimes fast. But, always, the instruction includes prayer.
We have had many teams come to visit us this year, and each group has been a blessing.
1st Laborers
In late winter/early spring, a group from Calvary Chapel of the Flathead Valley came and blessed us with their fellowship, their willingness to pass out gospel tracts and to help in children's church. We even got to sneak in a nice visit with a couple of close family members who were on the team. :)
Edmonton hosted an event for an emerging sport known as ice cross; a sort of mix between roller derby (on ice), hockey, downhill slalom and ice skating. The international Crashed Ice competition drew around 70,000 spectators. This group went out that weekend to help spread the word with Dejan and another man from our fellowship. In church Sunday, Pastor David Mercer shared the message, the children's church got a puppet show on Zacchaeus, and Julie got some help from our oldest nephew during class time.
2nd Laborers
In early June, a team of 14 people from our home church of Calvary Chapel Pocatello drove up for 10 days. There were six children, in addition to the adults, our pastor and his wife. Our girls were so blessed and excited to have other (Christian) children around. It was an amazing gift for them. Our pastor did the baby dedication for our newest addition, which was a great blessing, as he shared in our other girls' dedications when they were infants.
This team was primed to evangelize (even the little ones!), and they hit the streets enthusiastically and often during their stay in Edmonton! Their outreach was timed to coincide with the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer event, of which Edmonton was a host city. The team also did alot of ministry around the University of Alberta and surrounding area. Truly they were able to do more work during their 10 days than we could do alone in 10 months or more. It was such a help! They also used their van to help pick up a horse trough we purchased to use for a baptismal, and led worship for our first church baptism.
3rd Laborers
Last fall, you may recall that we had a group of men from Calvary Chapel Meridian, Idaho visit us, as several of them were praying about coming to Alberta for ministry. They stayed at our place overnight, did a quick tour, and prayed over our adopted city before their next scheduled stop.
Among that group, God touched the heart of one man to come back to Edmonton with his entire family for a portion of the summer. We were both amazed and humbled when he shared this with Dejan. But then, it actually happened. For the entire month of July, this precious family of six camped out in a small hotel room and served our family and the church with joy and love. We had help in worship, children's church, men's and ladies' fellowship, evangelism, prayer; it was amazing.
Since their departure, we have clearly seen the benefits of having another couple or family join us full-time. However, we are thankful that the Lord was so gracious to grant us those weeks of ministry.
4th Laborers
In early September, a team from Calvary Chapel Whitefish came up for a weekend, and totally blessed us. They joined in our church prayer meeting, ran our children's church, and Pastor David Halan preached on Sunday. They came up to see the city, serve the church and to encourage our family. Mission accomplished! Their hope is to send "weekend" teams periodically to help out, and we are excited at this possibility.
So as you can see, though we didn't get any permanent team members yet, the Lord was faithful to send out laborers to Edmonton. We pray that more will come and have been so encouraged by every person who gave of their time, resources, gifts and energy to serve alongside us. And we are thankful also to all those who were involved in supporting those who came in all the many ways necessary to send them to us.
Thank-full,
Dejan and Julie <><
He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." ~Luke 10:2So what have we done for many, many months? We have prayed. And God has answered!
We have had many teams come to visit us this year, and each group has been a blessing.
1st Laborers
In late winter/early spring, a group from Calvary Chapel of the Flathead Valley came and blessed us with their fellowship, their willingness to pass out gospel tracts and to help in children's church. We even got to sneak in a nice visit with a couple of close family members who were on the team. :)
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| Team from CCFV |
2nd Laborers
In early June, a team of 14 people from our home church of Calvary Chapel Pocatello drove up for 10 days. There were six children, in addition to the adults, our pastor and his wife. Our girls were so blessed and excited to have other (Christian) children around. It was an amazing gift for them. Our pastor did the baby dedication for our newest addition, which was a great blessing, as he shared in our other girls' dedications when they were infants.
 |
| baby dedication |
 |
| let the little children come! |
This team was primed to evangelize (even the little ones!), and they hit the streets enthusiastically and often during their stay in Edmonton! Their outreach was timed to coincide with the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer event, of which Edmonton was a host city. The team also did alot of ministry around the University of Alberta and surrounding area. Truly they were able to do more work during their 10 days than we could do alone in 10 months or more. It was such a help! They also used their van to help pick up a horse trough we purchased to use for a baptismal, and led worship for our first church baptism.
 |
| baptism |
 |
| Gospel goes FIFA |
3rd Laborers
Last fall, you may recall that we had a group of men from Calvary Chapel Meridian, Idaho visit us, as several of them were praying about coming to Alberta for ministry. They stayed at our place overnight, did a quick tour, and prayed over our adopted city before their next scheduled stop.
Among that group, God touched the heart of one man to come back to Edmonton with his entire family for a portion of the summer. We were both amazed and humbled when he shared this with Dejan. But then, it actually happened. For the entire month of July, this precious family of six camped out in a small hotel room and served our family and the church with joy and love. We had help in worship, children's church, men's and ladies' fellowship, evangelism, prayer; it was amazing.
 |
| new friends |
 |
| with our month-long team members! |
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| worship & prayer for the city |
Since their departure, we have clearly seen the benefits of having another couple or family join us full-time. However, we are thankful that the Lord was so gracious to grant us those weeks of ministry.
4th Laborers
In early September, a team from Calvary Chapel Whitefish came up for a weekend, and totally blessed us. They joined in our church prayer meeting, ran our children's church, and Pastor David Halan preached on Sunday. They came up to see the city, serve the church and to encourage our family. Mission accomplished! Their hope is to send "weekend" teams periodically to help out, and we are excited at this possibility.
So as you can see, though we didn't get any permanent team members yet, the Lord was faithful to send out laborers to Edmonton. We pray that more will come and have been so encouraged by every person who gave of their time, resources, gifts and energy to serve alongside us. And we are thankful also to all those who were involved in supporting those who came in all the many ways necessary to send them to us.
Thank-full,
Dejan and Julie <><
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Pocatello Outreach Team and Events
Yesterday evening, after a longer than expected journey, a team of 14 people from our home church arrived here in Edmonton! We were so blessed to see these weary travellers and welcome them to our city and into our home for a time of food and fellowship.
It is SO GOOD to see people from back home! The body of Christ transcends location, and these brothers and sisters are so dear to us; we bless God for their willingness to come be with us and serve. "The team", as they are affectionately called, will be with us for the next 9 days.
Edmonton is one of the principal Canadian host cities for the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer event, and we are hoping to get the team to the stadium area for some evangelism before the games that are happening while they are here. The opening ceremony and match had 52,000 people in attendance, so the aim is to get the gospel into the hands and ears of many.
The team will also join in the life of the church during their stay. We are very excited to be holding our first baptism this coming Sunday, and three people are planning to get baptized! Two are new believers in the last 6 months or so and the third had just never been baptized. Since we're renting space in a building with only a standing baptismal font, we had to get creative. (Stay tuned for photos in another post!)
We're also planning a church potluck and baby dedication. Our sweet little baby is also going to be dedicated by our pastor, just like all her sisters before her. It is such a blessing to have Pastor Jeff and his wife Christina here with the team, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to involve them in this event in her life.
If you pray for us, please take some time to lift up this outreach team in your prayers. They have experienced some opposition just to get to us, and we trust that God has great plans for them or there wouldn't be such a stand against them. THANK YOU for keeping up with us and the ministry here.
By grace always,
Dejan and Julie
It is SO GOOD to see people from back home! The body of Christ transcends location, and these brothers and sisters are so dear to us; we bless God for their willingness to come be with us and serve. "The team", as they are affectionately called, will be with us for the next 9 days.
The team will also join in the life of the church during their stay. We are very excited to be holding our first baptism this coming Sunday, and three people are planning to get baptized! Two are new believers in the last 6 months or so and the third had just never been baptized. Since we're renting space in a building with only a standing baptismal font, we had to get creative. (Stay tuned for photos in another post!)
We're also planning a church potluck and baby dedication. Our sweet little baby is also going to be dedicated by our pastor, just like all her sisters before her. It is such a blessing to have Pastor Jeff and his wife Christina here with the team, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to involve them in this event in her life.
If you pray for us, please take some time to lift up this outreach team in your prayers. They have experienced some opposition just to get to us, and we trust that God has great plans for them or there wouldn't be such a stand against them. THANK YOU for keeping up with us and the ministry here.
By grace always,
Dejan and Julie
Thursday, April 16, 2015
A Message in the City, for the City, about the City
We truly enjoy living in Edmonton. It is a blessing to serve here and minister the Word of God and the gospel. Recently, we got another snapshot of how in need our adopted city is of solid, Biblical truth. The local atheist group is running ads on the sides of city buses that look like this:
We have seen these buses several times since the ads were put up a few weeks ago. Approximately 25% of Edmontonians consider themselves to be either atheist or non-religious (a couple of Julie's friends are just this sort). There is a significant presence of Christianity in the city as well, but it is not solidly grounded in the Word of God on the whole. As a result of weak understanding of the Bible and its application, many people reject Christianity in favor of non-religious moralism.
Please pray with us for the fruit of the Biblical gospel and for the clear teaching of the Word to increase, including of course, in the church-plant we are devoting ourselves to.
"O my soul, you have said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; my goodness is nothing apart from You.'" ~Psalm 16:2
We have seen these buses several times since the ads were put up a few weeks ago. Approximately 25% of Edmontonians consider themselves to be either atheist or non-religious (a couple of Julie's friends are just this sort). There is a significant presence of Christianity in the city as well, but it is not solidly grounded in the Word of God on the whole. As a result of weak understanding of the Bible and its application, many people reject Christianity in favor of non-religious moralism.
Please pray with us for the fruit of the Biblical gospel and for the clear teaching of the Word to increase, including of course, in the church-plant we are devoting ourselves to.
"O my soul, you have said to the LORD, 'You are my Lord; my goodness is nothing apart from You.'" ~Psalm 16:2
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