Community Garden puts People before Plants

When asked where the idea for a community garden came from, Pastor Marcel deRegt noted that the idea came to him as he was looking out over some of the church property, wondering how that “resource” could be better utilized to serve their broader community. He also shared about Gateway’s desire to be so involved and impactful in the community, that if they were to close their doors, the broader community would not just notice the vacant building, but would be grieved at the loss. He wondered if the community gardens could be another way the church could invest in and work with their local community.

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BC Youth Centre Provides a Safe Harbour with Help of NewGround Partnership

Mission Youth House, also known as MY House, in Mission, BC, is a collaborative initiative to provide a place for youth to eat, shower, do laundry, access medical care and other services and receive help from caring adults. Mission Hills Community CRC has been a key partner in providing counseling to staff, prayer support, financial donations and volunteer support. In order to grow the ministry and move more into the spiritual transformational work within the ministry, they knew they needed some help.
Enter NewGround…

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Covid Grant Helps Church Address Mental Health

Video Produced by; Victoria Veenstra We recently chatted with Jenn Burnett, the lead pastor from The Well in Kelowna, BC. Their church received one of our Covid-19 grants last fall to address mental health with their community.  In spite of changing lock down protocols, The Well has continued to be creative in the use of…

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CarePortal Equips Churches to Care for Vulnerable in their Community

The world of social justice and charity can feel overwhelming. There are so many options of where to get involved and how. Doing a fundraiser is great, but are you fostering relationships with the recipients? Doing a food or clothing drive is good, but how is the church learning to walk alongside the people who are in need of that support?

Often when we look closer at issues of justice and care for our communities, we recognize how interconnected many aspects of poverty are. These aspects create cycles that are very difficult to leave behind. One crucial characteristic of those who are able to step out of those cycles of poverty, is the presence of healthy and supportive relationships and community.

Enter Forever Families Canada- a ministry that aims to connect, equip and mobilize churches to effectively journey with vulnerable children and their families…

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Small Town Church with Big Heart for their Community

Bethany Christian Reformed Church in Fenwick, Ontario is learning a new way of reaching out through a Community Opportunity Scan. Bethany Christian Reformed Church is a small church among the greenhouses, farms and orchards of Fenwick, Ont. Like many churches in the small towns of Ontario, Bethany has a congregation that faithfully attends each Sunday.…

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Being Good Neighbours During Covid-19

How can a church show and share Christ’s love during a global pandemic, when communities are mandated to social distance and sometimes quarantine? Maranatha’s Neighbour-to-Neighbour Kits have been one way they reached out in love. Maranatha; ‘Come, Lord Jesus!’  To the members of Maranatha CRC in Lethbridge, this means that they are a community of…

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Learning to Pivot

The word “pivot” has come up many times over the last two months due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. How has your church ‘pivoted’ during these last few weeks in order to love and serve your community in these challenging times? This post is in response to our “Top 10 Ways Deacons Can Help During…

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If We Build It, They Will Come…(?)

By Karla Winham Sitting back and waiting for people to come asking for help might just leave the church out of the loop entirely. What if instead our churches joined the people who have been actively loving our neighbours for weeks now?  This post is in response to our “Top 10 Ways Deacons Can Help…

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Spread Love…Wherever and However You Can

This post is in response to our “Top 10 Ways Deacons Can Help During COVID-19”, posted April 20, 2020. “Coronavirus Searches Lead Millions to Hear about Jesus” (Christianitytoday.com). The tagline alone immediately peaked my interest! My inner-evangelist leapt for joy at the prospect of millions securing a place in the loving kingdom. Our family has…

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