Under Sail

Sydney – New Roots, one of our church plants in Nova Scotia, is planning an exciting event for the middle of October.  They will be canvassing an entire neighbourhood promoting a free home renovation weekend.  Pastor Kevin Myers works as a carpenter and has been able to connect with several carpenters in the area.  One of them owns his own business.  In addition, a group of carpenters from Hartland has approached him about a Hartland Wesleyan “missions trip” to Sydney.  Pastor Kevin says, “The plan includes performing several renovation projects that weekend to promote who we are as a church and to help out the community in the name of Jesus.”  The goal is to have 5 to10 teams of 2 to 3 people each that will attack 25 to 30 jobs over a weekend period.  They are very excited about this outreach!
Dartmouth – Hillside (Jay Guptill, Senior Pastor) is planning to send a missions team to Sydney by November.  They have also committed $400 / month toward the rent on a facility.  New Roots is working out details on a place to meet, and is planning to launch mid-November if these things can be finalized in the near future.
St. John’s – Avalon Wesleyan Church sponsored a booth in the Royal St. John’s Regatta (the oldest continuing sporting event in North America) on August 5^th.  This rowing event brings 50,000+ people to Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John’s to watch the races.  Avalon’s booth was a painted mural where people could put their faces in the picture, and have their picture taken for free.  Over 200 people stopped at their booth to have their pictures taken!  This provided opportunity for some good conversations and allowed the church to make a very positive impact in the community.  Information about their church was made available to those who stopped by.  Pastors Darren and Janel Clark told me recently that eight new people attended their services in the month of August, and one lady recommitted her life to Christ after a morning service.  Two prayer requests for this young congregation are: Pray for their Home Groups which began again in the last couple of weeks, and for the Clarks as they talk with some people about being baptized.  One praise note is Janel recently received a promotion to Acting Assistant Manager at her workplace, in a job she has held only a few months.
The Wesleyan Churches on Grand Manan Island, along with other island churches, are sponsoring “Festival on the Island” with Steve Wingfield of the Steve Wingfield Evangelistic Association.  Many of you will remember Steve as he was one of the speakers at Beulah Camp this summer.  This event is an island-wide outreach that will be held in the Grand Manan Community School September 25-27.  The local Island churches have done a great job raising money for this evangelistic outreach but as of this writing, they have a short-fall in their budget.  The budget is $67,000 and they have raised just over $30,000 to date.  The three Wesleyan Churches, and one Baptist Church, have carried the larger end of the expenses.  Other churches are involved, but their congregations are small, and they are not able to contribute as much.  I know there are people in our district who would want to seize this opportunity to invest in Grand Manan.  Are you one of these people?  This is an opportunity for advertising for churches or businesses that give $500 or more.  All checks need to be made out to “North Head Wesleyan Church” with “Festival on the Island” in the memo.  (This has been done because the Steve Wingfield Association is awaiting their Canadian charitable organization status).  For more information please feel free to contact Pastor Kirk Perry, Festival Chair, at habhate@nbnet.nb.ca or by phone at (506) 662-8614.  Please pray that God will use this event to reach many people for Christ on Grand Manan.
Pastor Denn Guptill and the HRM Wesleyan Pastors are putting together a pastor’s conference   later in the fall.  The dates are November 3-4, and the theme is “Big Dreams for Small Places”. The first session will start at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, and the last session will conclude at 4:00 PM on Wednesday.  The aim is to provide practical sessions and give opportunity for pastors to be together so that “iron sharpens iron.”  The two keynote speakers will be Kevin Vincent of Apohaqui Community Church  and Lennett Anderson of Emmanuel Baptist Church.  Others will also be providing practical sessions.  The cost is $50.00 if you come alone, and $60.00 if you bring your spouse, This includes all sessions as well as lunch on Wednesday, and the breaks.  Accommodations are your own responsibility; the Planning Team will provide a list of possibilities.  Registration forms and more information will be made available shortly.
Andrew Maves is the Senior Pastor at Digby Wesleyan, and Jason McCutcheon is the Associate Pastor. They have had a summer worth celebrating!   They took part in the 5th annual “Blessing of the Bikes” at the Wharf Rat Rally in Digby on Labour Day weekend.  Twelve people gave their lives to Christ!  Pastor Andrew says, “It was a great addition to an already awesome summer.”    To backtrack:  He also had the chance to go to Bathurst, NB and Bible Hill, NS to share the gospel at biker events…four people were saved.  They also had three others commit their lives to Christ during their church’s Scallop Days Outreach.   A baptism is being planned within the next two weeks and six people have already asked to participate.  God is good!
Labour Day Weekend was the last of the summer camping season at Beulah.  There was a good crowd for the service Sunday morning in the Tabernacle, and then the wrap-up service Sunday evening which included churches from the area joining together – Saint John First, King’s Valley, River Valley, Sussex, Norton, and Brown’s Flat Fellowship.  The Beulah Hotel was full after the service as people came together for food and fellowship before heading home.
Yesterday, I was in Perth-Andover Wesleyan Church for the morning service.  Pastor Reg and Janice Thomas are the new senior pastoral couple.  Pastor Jordon & Jenn LeBlanc are in their second year in Perth-Andover where Jordon serves as the youth pastor.  I installed Pastor Reg, spoke in the morning service, and then had opportunity to greet a number of people as we shared a potluck dinner following the service. Pastor Jordon told me that they had two teens give their lives to Christ last week at youth group. Since January, they’ve had six teens come to Jesus and four more make recommitments.  It’s exciting to see God moving on the hearts of teens.
Beulah Cottage for Sale: New price – $40,000 or Best Offer – 6 Belyea Avenue; Fully Winterized.  For more information contact Lloyd Hayes at 506-693-8646.
Last Chance!  You can still get in on The Huddle. This is a children’s ministry training event sponsored by the Spiritual Formation Department of The Wesleyan Church – Children’s Ministry. The Presque Isle Wesleyan Church is hosting this event Saturday, September 19, 2009 from 9 am – 3pm.  The cost is $25/person or $99 for four or more from the same church, and lunch is included.  Discover practical ideas, see new resources, and connect with others involved in children’s ministry.  Atlantic District Children’s Ministry Director, Linda Lamos will be present.  For more information, go to www.wesleyankids.org or call (317) 774-3891
Catch men.  Bear fruit.