Last week we sat down as a leadership team and began to tease out what the fall will look like. Our focus this year will be flow. For us it has taken time to build a structure into the ministry that is stable. After three years of work and a little bit of trial and error we believe that we now have the foundation for a strong ministry. Now our focus will be redirected to the overall flow of how things are done. As well we believe that we have the trust and relationship with the students now that we can challenge them to take it to a whole new level.

As we look to the fall we see a ministry that will start with outreach flow into evangelism then to youth church and finally into a small group ministry. All of these components together will lend to the overall growth development of our students, meeting each of them where they are on their personal spiritual journey. Yet at the same time they are all linked in such a way that will create a constant flow to take them from one level to the next.

I believe that we are now at the doorstep of something big and as we partner together with other youth ministries in our city God is going to use us to make a significant impact on the community of Hamilton. To begin with we have launched what we are calling Soul Food Sundays, a once a month worship service where we join with several other youth ministries. From that we hope to partner on several opportunities, one being the Quest series. This is one of the best evangelical tools that have been designed for outreaching to students. It is a seven part video series that takes non-believers on a quest for truth. In the end challenging them to look at Christ as the Answer. Its design however uses their friends to interact with them and be a part of the process.

I want to thank you for your support and prayers and look forward to partnering with you as we look to make a kingdom bound impact on our city.

Many significant changes have come to the capital in the last decade. One ex-pat told me that there were only a handful of Kazak believers when he arrived in 1993, but since then more than 30,000 have professed faith; some 10,000 are worshipping regularly in small congregations around the country. The Gospel has a foothold in this nation of former nomadic horsemen.

The great need of the Kazak church now is biblical depth. They seem to take naturally to evangelism. [In fact, one of this year’s students led 52 people to faith while studying full-time!] In an environment so hostile to the Gospel, though, disciple making and depth in the Word is lacking.

The role of the Central Asia Leadership Training Centre includes providing skill in Bible study, message preparation, and a sound method of making disciples (the T-Net curriculum is provided as a guideline). National faculty teach courses in biblical theology, church history and ministry skills. Resident Western faculty provide mentoring for church planters. Non-resident faculty teach courses on preaching, Bible interpretation, and systematic theology. Over a nine-month course, the full-time students are required to be involved in local churches as volunteer staff and assistants.

This year, thirty-one students finished the coursework (nineteen working in Russian, twelve in Kazak). Six of the graduates are moving to plant churches. Others are assisting their congregations, returning to a pastoral role, etc. Next year, the goal is twenty-five Russian speakers and fifteen Kazak speakers.

Philpott Church has provided financial support for CALTC since its beginning in 1995. Our former Senior Pastor, Lew Worrad, launched the school as its first principal. Lew prepared a younger man from Park Bible, Tim Simpson, to follow him as principal. The school is well-managed and growing in profile as ‘the place to go’ in Central Asia for theological and biblical training.

Thanks for praying for me as I traveled and taught at CALTC. I believe that your investment in prayer, caring and giving has had an eternal impact on Central Asia.

I’m going to an East Asian country that is politically closed to the gospel. The trip starts on May 2 and I will return the last week of June. I will be learning the language in classes, and seeking opportunities to share the gospel with spiritually hungry students through relational / friendship evangelism. Once a student shows a true desire to become a Christian, we connect them with a local church, teach and disciple them in the basics of faith, and set them up with a long term missionary to help them grow. Our goal is to reach the nation for Jesus by reaching university students (the top 1% of the country) who will, in turn, reach people under their influence.

Allison Frew

I will be leaving for Madagascar on June 12th and returning on the 12th of August. I am going with Africa Inland Mission, with a team of other Canadian students. We will be teaching English in an orphanage there. This past year, God laid it on my heart that He could use me now, not just when I had finished school and had an actual profession. My desire is that we will show these kids God’s love and be able to share in their lives. Madagascar is a beautiful country, and I can’t wait to go!

Heather Foster and Hannah VanLeuwen

They will be going to southern Angola, Africa, for 6 months, beginning in August. There, they will be providing health care to a rural community of approximately 360 people. They both have backgrounds in nursing and during their time there, they will be the community’s primary health care providers. The plan is to run a clinic three times a week and to also provide health-teaching. This short-term role is needed due to the departure of full-time missionaries who are going on furlough, and in order to support the work (farming and church ministry) of the remaining missionaries in the area. They’re excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to being able to bless others with the talents and gifts the Lord has given them.

Rob Foster

Will be going back to Angola on May 4th under the banner of SIM (Serving in Missions) with two other university students, and returning in time to resume his studies at McMaster University. There, he will be part of a team teaching (English and guitar) in the Seminary there, as well as carrying out certain administrative functions. He will also serve as a translator for several medical students being trained by his father, Dr. Stephen Foster.

Vasilisa Bortsova

Will also be leaving for Missions-type work in September, but we’re still awaiting details.

There is a group of women who want to be in a Bible Study, but there’s no one to lead them?

We have a missionary in our church, who is already in this mission field and would be grateful for help?

The Lord said in Matthew 9:37 “The Harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few.” This is as relevant to Hamilton as it is for the rest of the world. Walter and Dorothy Dickson recently asked me to attend the Prison Ministries prayer meeting with them. There I met about a dozen people, men and women, who go to Hamilton’ s jail in teams and take God’s Word, comfort, assurances and above all, hope to prisoners there.

As I sat and listened to stories of inmates’ helplessness to cope with life, stories of those who found the Lord’s joy and are successfully back in society through the efforts of these people, and stories of the way these “missionaries” give so much of themselves to help prisoners find a chance for a better life, I was reminded of a news report about the recent tornadoes in the mid west. The scene was one of complete devastation all around a small church, which had part of its roof torn away, but the altar, and the Bible on it, had not been touched, nor a page turned! The prisons are filled with storm filled lives, but the people of the Prison Ministry take the word of God, the calm in the midst of fierce storms into the prisons.

The evening was also filled with much prayer. One of the fervent prayers at this meeting was that someone would be found to teach the Bible to a group of women prisoners who have asked several times for a study, but there is no one to head it. And there is a need for other volunteers in this ministry. This writer has a good friend who used to be involved in this kind of ministry in Kingston’s prison. She and her husband won special awards for their work, so I have always been aware of such ministry, but until I attended this particular prayer meeting, I did not understand the depth of work that is being done. So, I promised this team in Hamilton that I would bring their need for volunteers to our church’s attention, with the hope that someone would be interested in helping. For a lot more specific information, contact Walter or Dorothy Dickson. They would love to hear from you.

You can take Upper Sherman Cut to come down the mountain and go west to Carlton, right on Victoria Street, to King or Cannon Street.

You can also come on Hwy 403, take the Main Street exit ramp and turn left on Dundurn Street, and right on York Boulevard.

The City of Hamilton will provide additional shuttle buses inside the racecourse area to shuttle passengers to the nearest pedestrian crossing where they can transfer to a regular route.

The buses will run down the Jolley Cut and come to the Gore Park.

John Harvey outlined the intent to examine the Missions policy as part of our ministry plan. The current missions policy is twelve years old, and has caused some discontent. Three stages of review were anticipated: review of the vision statement (this meeting), followed by discussion regarding missions strategy or how to implement the vision, and finally adjustment of the missions funding policy to meet the vision and strategic goals. This first of a series of town hall meetings regarding missions was not designed to reach conclusions, but to inform about the issues.

THE DRAFT VISION STATEMENT

Dan Marshall introduced the draft “Vision” statement prepared by the Missions committee. The mission statement will continue to be tweaked so that it lines up with our ministry plan. The current statement reads as follows:

Missions Vision

In keeping with Philpott’s Ministry Plan…we desire to see all people worldwide invited to Come & See Jesus; to Follow Him; to Be With Him; and to Remain in Him.

Philpott Memorial Church is committed to aggressively carrying out the command of Christ’s Great Commission. Therefore, we view missions as an essential ministry of not just our church but also our individual members. We are committed to the mobilization of our own prayer-resources, human-resources, and monetary-resources to reach all people of the world for Christ.

MISSION Statement
We serve God in mission by leading our congregation to pray for the world, ensuring communication between the congregation, its missionaries and those who are leading the global mission effort, enabling short and long term workers to cross cultural walls and proclaim God’s love in Jesus Christ, and leading our congregation to support these efforts generously.

Priorities
We are committed to focusing our primary efforts on unreached peoples of the world, global implementation of our local focus on disciple-making, and training and sending our own people to fulfill our missions goals.

Goals
We will challenge members of every small group in the congregation to pray for the evangelization of the world, and mobilize our members and adherents to personal involvement in missions experiences by sending people.

“You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem - Judea - Samaria - even to the remotest part of the earth” Acts 1:8

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS

At the June 1st meeting, Nancy Laqua reviewed the topic of unreached people groups, which has been controversial since its introduction 12 years ago. The Vision statement indicates that we are committed to focusing our primary efforts on unreached people of the world. Her question? how did we reach this objective, and is it still a valid objective?

A people group is defined as a group of people with a perceived common affinity for one another - shared ethnicity, language, religion, socioeconomic status, and so on. There is no precise definition, so the number of such groups cannot be quantified. The verse in Revelations 5:9 - “you ransomed men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” highlights this theme.

The working definition of an unreached people group is one where there is no local indigenous church within the group with the strength and resources to evangelize the rest of the group; and there is no church within the group that invites others to “come and see” - so outside help is needed. We must note that unreached people could live anywhere.

Of the world population (6.12 billion), one-third are Christian, one-third are non-Christians who live in already reached people groups- but still need the Good News- and one-third are non-Christians who live in unreached people groups. This is the question we must ask: Is reaching unreached people a mission strategy or a biblical mandate? Matt 28:19; Matt 24:14; Luke 24:47 - refer to all nations (panta te ethne) meaning all people groups - this is the heart of the great commission.

A number of questions naturally arise. Is it appropriate for our church to focus our primary effort on unreached people, as opposed to supporting whomever and whatever the Lord raises up in our midst? If yes, who decides if a group is reached or unreached? Does this become exclusive to all other missions endeavours? What does primary effort look like, in terms of money, prayer, mobilization, education, and profile?

LOCAL MISSION

Dave Witt spoke on local missions. When we join God in his work, that is missions. This is true regardless of the culture we’re called to- we are called to be directly involved: to pray; to give; to be involved in what God is doing around us.

In the story of Cornelius and Peter (Acts 10-11) Peter was told to go and be involved in Joppa. God was preparing him for something new. Peter shared the message with these non-Jews, and they become Christians even before he finished his explanation! Cornelius, his household, Peter and the whole church benefited. Peter came to understand that God’s plans involved more than the Jews; theology changed!

In mission, God opens our minds to things around us. New opportunities will occur to us as we listen to God. To develop missionaries we must be involved in mission here. Some aspects of overseas missions are learned when you get there, but many must be learned here.

INVOLVING 10% OF THE CONGREGATION EACH YEAR

A visiting speaker addressed the missions committee’s desire to engage a new 10% of our congregation in a missions experience each year. This includes short term or long term experiences. She asked whether this desire is reasonable or realistic? What is the cost of such an involvement? Who benefits?

There are benefits for the local church in terms of feedback to the church. There is benefit to long-term mission, as short-term becomes long-term commitment. Most long-term missionaries have been on short-term experiences first- where they sense the call.

One risk might be that someone thinks “I’ve done missions”. We need to remain a mission-focused church, not to feel “I’ve done my thing”.

We should not be waiting for a potential missionary to come to us, but should be identifying potential and encouraging it- challenging people to consider long-term commitment to missions.

Following these presentations, four concepts or questions were discussed at each table, and reported back to the meeting. These questions and answers are available in another document.

John Harvey summarized the purpose of this meeting, as the first stage of a process. There will be more conversations. John asked that the congregation continue to give feedback to the missions committee and the board; to be in prayer, and to get involved.

Lane Fusilier spoke of 100 people who have been talking about missions with enthusiasm and passion! How will we build on the strengths of the past while moving into the future in a world that has changed? He noted that 250 years ago, missions meant to go anywhere in the world. Later, missions targeted continents but only the coastal borders. Still later, missions went inland: such as China Inland Mission, Sudan Interior Mission, or the Africa Inland Mission. Now missions has the challenge to reach all unreached people. It is not enough to learn a language- we need to love and understand the people, crossing barriers intentionally to reach them. We must be intentional in making disciples. We can be effective in making disciples here, cross-culturally, as excellent preparation for missions. Intentional local disciple-making leads to intentional missions disciple-making.

In the future, we will get past these previous divisions, and move forward in faith as a church family. We will make disciples, and we will send missionaries out, for God’s glory. We are on the edge of a new chapter, built on our past heritage and now passing the vision on to the next generation.

The meeting was concluded with prayer.

The Harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

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When Mother’s illness was diagnosed, my sister had a new baby and my brother had recently married his childhood sweetheart, so it fell on me, the 27-year-old middle child without entanglements, to take care of her. I counted it an honor.

“What now, Lord?” I asked sitting in church. My life stretched out before me as an empty abyss. My brother sat stoically with his face toward the cross while clutching his wife’s hand. My sister sat slumped against her husband’s shoulder, his arms around her as she cradled their child. All so deeply grieving, no one noticed I sat alone. My place had been with our mother, preparing her meals, helping her walk, taking her to the doctor, seeing to her medication, reading the Bible together. Now she was with the Lord. My work was finished, and I was alone.

I heard a door open and slam shut at the back of the church. Quick footsteps hurried along the carpeted floor. An exasperated young man looked around briefly and then sat next to me. He folded his hands and placed them on his lap. His eyes were brimming with tears. He began to sniffle. “I’m late,” he explained, though no explanation was necessary. After several eulogies, he leaned over and commented, “Why do they keep calling Mary by the name of ‘Margaret’?”

“Because that was her name, Margaret. Never Mary. No one called her ‘Mary,’” I whispered. I wondered why this person couldn’t have sat on the other side of the church. He interrupted my grieving with his tears and fidgeting. Who was this stranger anyway?

“No, that isn’t correct,” he insisted, as several people glanced over at us whispering, “Her name is Mary, Mary Peters.”
“That isn’t who this is.”
“Isn’t this the Lutheran church?”
“No, the Lutheran church is across the street.”
“Oh.”
“I believe you’re at the wrong funeral, Sir.”

The solemness of the occasion mixed with the realization of the man’s mistake bubbled up inside me and came out as laughter. I cupped my hands over my face, hoping it would be interpreted as sobs. The creaking pew gave me away. Sharp looks from other mourners only made the situation seem more hilarious. I peeked at the bewildered, misguided man seated beside me. He was laughing, too, as he glanced around, deciding it was too late for an uneventful exit. I imagined Mother laughing.

At the final “Amen,” we darted out a door and into the parking lot.

“I do believe we’ll be the talk of the town,” he smiled.

He said his name was Rick and since he had missed his aunt’s funeral, asked me out for a cup of coffee. That afternoon began a lifelong journey for me with this man who attended the wrong funeral, but was in the right place. A year after our meeting, we were married at a country church where he was the assistant pastor. This time we both arrived at the same church, right on time.

In my time of sorrow, God gave me laughter. In place of loneliness, God gave me love. This past June we celebrated our twenty-second wedding anniversary. Whenever anyone asks us how we met, Rick tells them, “Her mother and my Aunt Mary introduced us, and it’s truly a match made in heaven.”

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child come pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in “Mom, let’s run through the rain,” she said.

“What?” Mom asked.

“Let ‘s run through the rain!” She repeated.

“No, honey. We’ll wait until it slows down a bit,” Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: “Mom, let’s run through the rain,”

“We’ll get soaked if we do,” Mom said.

“No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom’s arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything!”

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn’t hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child’s’ life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

“Honey, you are absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain. If GOD lets us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,” Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories…So, don’t forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

The seven year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the Pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly,

“Good morning, Alex.”

“Good morning, Pastor,” replied the boy, still focused on the plaque. “Pastor, what is this? “Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.” Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque.

Little Alex’s voice was barely audible, trembling with fear, when he asked, “Which service, the 9:45 or the 11:15?”

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for our exciting HOMECOMING weekend. This has been a sellout event every year so be sure to reserve your place early.

Philpott Open Golf Tournament
When: Saturday, September 6th
Breakfast at 7:00 a.m.
Tee off time at 7:30 a.m.
Where: Brant Valley Golf Course
How Much: $45.00
Includes: cart, round of golf and Breakfast Buffet
What: format is Texas Scramble.

Ministry Expo

Combined Service
Sunday September 7th - One combined Sunday morning service is at 10:30 a.m. Plus enjoy our Ministry Expo and church family BBQ after the service.

Welcome Home BBQ
Sunday September 7th - after the combined service we’ll enjoy a BBQ in the parking lot!

As we moved “through the gallery”, the vast range of activity in the groups became immediately apparent:

we did things outside the regular small group meeting time, such as hiking, walking, chatting with them on Sundays in the gym our half day of prayer we split up the men and women into 2 groups for separate prayer time. The results were surprising

we had a PMC missionary in to share what is happening in the missionary field

we had “long time members of Philpott” come to share stories from the past

we made sandwiches for City Mission during a pot-luck dinner. The “post-sandwich-making” fellowship proved to be awesome!

we sang Christmas carols of love, joy and hope around a piano

we shared the Lord’s Supper in our small group

All of us prepared a Greek meal together and then we watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. We got to know one another well, had fun together, and made some good memories

our small group met in the prayer room one Sunday

Among the “best memory” moments shared, the following list gives a clear indication of the kind of impact the small groups ministry is having at the church:

a new member told us he had received Christ

we got the men in our group to pray

one of the group shared for the first time a very personal opportunity she had to share her faith

my small group not only knew of but celebrated my 40th birthday with cards and a cake

it was encouraging to hear one couple in our group draw very close together after attempting to resolve a conflict involving another group member

the wide-eyed response when we took our “Project Angel Tree” young mom shopping at Price Club and out for lunch before Christmas

after 2 years in a small group, one member strongly affirmed, “The whole church should know how great it is to be involved in a small group”

the prayer time with the women in the group where a new member shared very openly about a personal struggle…”the walls came down”

A small group member and I discussed the need for deeper intimacy between our group members. The discussion was challenging, but it ultimately brought the two of us closer

During a visit to our winter BBQ by the missionary whom we champion, we learned that a new member of our group became a believer through his wife

being able to freely admit our needs for each other and for the Lord through weekly “accountability” times, I got to know a group member better. These weekly early morning times became a highlight of my week, and subsequently of my life this past year My best memory is the support I was able to give someone who was deeply troubled. The times of prayer we had were so amazing and many of the requests we had were answered the prayer time that we shared with our small group, the week of prayer, our time in the prayer room, and the weekly prayer that we shared how we bonded as we packed the Christmas hampers in the church hall of Hughson St. Baptist

seeing prayers answered in the lives and health of several of the members’ children who were going through difficult times

The weekend nobody came!…except 1 other couple, whom we didn’t know very well. It gave us the opportunity to get to know them better

She knocked on the door of the church. ‘Is this a church or a museum?’, she asked in broken English. We assured her it was a church, and she attended, first the worship service and later on our small group.

Several weeks later, she accepted Christ as her Lord and Saviour in our small group meeting.

Do any of the above activities sound like events you wish you had attended? Are you growing spiritually? Have you considered setting yourself a spiritual goal and teaming up with someone who will help you reach that goal? Would you like to be part of a group that prays regularly for each other? Has Christianity become little more than a comfortable routine? Have you seriously considered joining a small group?

Find out more at the special June Preview of the Small Groups Ministry at PMC between services on June 22, 2003.

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Under His control, all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

Some Christian groups exert pressure on their members to talk, act or look alike. This must frustrate the people who are judged for not conforming. In trying to make them “fit”, the group may be stifling their strongest and best gifts.

Here’s a parable that illustrates the point. A rural village was located in an area inhabited by parrots. One day a falcon landed on a window sill. The owner of the house caught it. The villagers had never seen such a bird. They decided to trim back its feathers, cut its talons, and file down its beak so it would be like the birds they were familiar with.

As followers of Christ, we are to imitate Him (1 Cor. 11:1 and 1 John 2:6). If we become more like Him, does that mean we all will begin to act alike? Yes and No. YES, in that our behaviour towards others and reactions to circumstances will increasingly become like those of Jesus. NO, in that we are each given unique gifts and interests and abilities to develop and use for His glory (Ephesians 4:7).

Let’s not be guilty of stifling our fellow Christians. Instead, let’s allow for differences. God has made them unique, and gifted them to fulfill HIS purposes. It is a shame to turn a falcon into a parrot.