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Gateway’s Extreme Weather Shelter – Larry’s Story
Diaconal Ministries Canada invited guest blogger, Monica deRegt, to write a 3-part story on the Extreme Weather Shelter opened up by Gateway Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia. While writing the last article, Monica felt led to also share this personal story of her experience in meeting Larry, one of the Shelter’s patrons. You might remember seeing Larry’s picture in Part 1 HERE of this series. Also check out Part 2 by clicking HERE! Larry was sitting alone at a table in…
Read MoreServing a God of Change: Part 2 – Top 7 Reasons Change can be a Good Thing
In Part 1 of ‘Serving a God of Change’, we looked at why change can be so hard for us humans and why we tend to avoid it at all costs. But if we’re being honest, I think we can agree that sometimes we DO want change; new things can bring excitement and refreshment. Like…
Read MoreServing a God of Change – Part 1: Why Change is Hard
Happy New Year!!! Can I still say that?! How long are we supposed to say this to each other anyway? Can I say it to someone I am seeing for the first time in the new year? If so, this could go onto until June. Is this greeting only welcome the first couple weeks into…
Read More“How could we say ‘no?’” Gateway CRC responds to need for homeless shelter
(Pictured Above: Larry, one of the shelter’s guests who has also started to regularly attend Gateway, sitting in the church gym.) This month, guest blogger Monica deRegt will be writing a 3-part story on the Extreme Weather Shelter opened up by Gateway Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Our theme for December has been “Helping Without Harming”…
Read MoreMany People Float on the Periphery
Following our theme of “Loneliness” this month, Anita Hogeveen shared this blog post with us, which was originally published on December 18, 2017, on her blog. Anita is one of our fabulous Diaconal Ministry Developers from Eastern Canada and she writes with grace and compassion and authenticity. The church community did not let her be…
Read MoreAre You Lonesome Tonight?
I stumbled upon this quote the other day while I was doing some research on loneliness. “It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.” ~Albert Einstein While at first this may seem utterly impossible, and perhaps even absurd, I wondered how many people would agree with this statement. This quote…
Read MoreWhy Praying With Others Works
In September, we spent some time learning about prayer and devotions as part of your “regular” Agenda at a Deacons’ Meeting. In our post “A Diaconate that Prays Together, Stays Together,” we laid out why prayer is a vital part of the ministry deacons do and how praying together can actually make a diaconate more…
Read MoreInternational Day for the Eradication of Poverty – October 17, 2018
|Photo Credit: CPJ Facebook page, Sept. 2014, ChewOnThis! event photo One day before the annual International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Citizens for Public Justice released its Poverty Trends 2018, an annual report on poverty in Canada. In this report, we read that an astounding 5.8 million people in Canada (or 16.8%) live in poverty(!!)…
Read MorePrayer/Good Meetings: Praying with Expectation
Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” In September, we spent some time learning about prayer and devotions as part of your “regular” Agenda at a Deacons’ Meeting. In our post “A Diaconate that Prays Together, Stays Together,”…
Read MoreMeet our New Board Member for BC Northwest!
Diaconal Ministries Canada is pleased to introduce you to our newest board member for Classis British Columbia NorthWest, Mrs. Cindy Verbeek! Cindy was born and raised in Calgary and lived in Alberta until moving to Houston, BC, her husband’s “hometown” over 15 years ago. Together they are raising 3 beautiful souls, with the first heading…
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