Miscellaneous Events during the last part of the Calvin Year

Since September, there have been many things that have gone on at Calvin in the area of ministry. 

I was not able to get pictures of every event, but we have many ministries that go on here like:

Coffee Break

GEMS

Cadets

Men's Group

Quilting Group

A small women's group

Friendship Group

A genealogy Group

and many more.....

below are just a couple of groups I was able to get pictures for.  

25 - 35 ish gathering

We held an evening with several of our younger couples/singles to help them meet each other and find people within Calvin that they may have common interests with.  Any way we can find people to meet people we will try.  : ) I think this went over well for those who came, and we hope to offer this again in 2016. 

Soup and Buns and Games time with our 55+r's.

We also invited our 55+'rs out to mingle with our youth group and College/University group. 

We do that with Soup and buns and then a time of games and fellowship.  

Went over well...in fact I had to wait and wait for one group to finish their game.  

Visits with our "Mature" Folk @ Calvin  

Back in November we travelled to the homes of some of our more mature folk at Calvin.  We divided our group up and went to 5 different homes.  

There we shared stories of faith and life together and prayed together too.  It was a great time of mixing the generations again here at Calvin.  

Calvin's Relationship with Gamaliel church in Peru

We have been on a journey with a church in Pachecutec, Peru, near Lima, since 2004.  This will be our 7th time going to see Pastor Sergio.  It's a fitting time to re-evaluate this relationship to ensure that it is still achieving the goals intended and being mutually beneficial for both churches.  

After our Peru Management team met with our Missions Advocate and Deacons, we decided that we would like to continue offering Cross cultural "Learning Opportunities" and since we have much invested with Gamaliel church, we'd like to continue that relationship.  

We acknowledge that Peru is not the only place that we could go, and other smaller options are being considered for future years, but at this time Peru will be our more consistent option (more information coming in the new year about all this).  

One thing that came out of our meeting was that we wished to enhance the times in-between our travels to Peru,  and are working on ways to make that happen. 

One way is/was to ask Pastor Sergio what he thought of the relationship as it has been progressing over the years. We don't want to assume things we should not be assuming. 

So we asked Erin and Pepe (who run Living Missions Peru and who assist us when we are in Peru) to ask Pastor Sergio for his opinion on the worthwhileness of continuing this relationship. 

He responds below.....and I am, at least, humbled by it.  

Pastor Ron,

My greetings to you and the great family of Calvin Church.

We remember all of you with fond affection, praying for all of you and asking the all-powerful God to give you spiritual strength; that your lives may be deeply rooted and founded in the love of Christ, that you may have the ability to plainly understand all spiritual things.

It was pleasing to God to make it part of His plan to link our two churches in a natural and sincere relationship, back in 2006. Since then this brotherly bond has grown and been strengthened. Peruvians and Canadians sharing the same faith in Christ, sharing common feelings, sharing of the coming hope. Peruvians and Canadians together as one body.

Gamaliel Church has been blessed by the Lord through Calvin Church over all of these years. We remember with fondness the many blessings and benefits we have received, including being part of the growth and development of Gamaliel’s ministry in all of its areas. You have been a living example of missionary work, and we have learned from you how to do missions. You have been part of the personal development of the youth at our church, and we have seen many benefits over all of these long years. You all have love for your neighbor in your hearts.

As Pastor of Gamaliel Church, I live every day with a heart that is thankful to God. I am thankful to God for all of you and for everything that has happened, recognizing and valuing that the author and creator of this relationship and of all of these blessings is God, and you have become instruments in His plan.

Today I write this small letter to you with the feelings that I have in my heart; I am very happy for everything we have lived through and experienced, and I hope that God will continue sustaining this relationship between our churches over the long-term, that it may be a blessing for generations to come.

Even though our church has not grown very much in numbers, we have experienced spiritual growth. I can see lives being planted firmly in Christ, there is a strong brotherly love among our members, and people are firm in their commitment to serve Christ. God is molding a strong nucleus of adults and youth. We will go on a mission trip soon.

The school has brought us pleasant experiences, and it is an open platform from which we we can share about Christ. Our short chapel services with the students, parents, and teachers are a blessing. In summary, it is a light for the community. They know us as a Christian school. We are already finishing the 2015 school year, and our closing ceremonies for the end of the year will be December 10. Then we will look forward to next year.

By the grace of God, my family is doing well. Génesis is growing, Felicitas is always working hard and sharing responsibilities. I am doing well, serving God with humility and conviction. We are a family who is grateful to God.

We thank God that you will be coming again in March of 2016. It will be a good time of mutual blessing.

My warm greetings to all of the brothers and sisters at Calvin Church and Cornwall Church.

His Servant,  Sergio