Grace (Hanin) Community Church
– our LPD Church of the Week
Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!
Grace Hanin Community Church, located in Surrey, BC, is the largest church in the EFCC. This church, birthed to reach Korean-Canadians has now in turn, birthed seven other churches. We are thankful for the partnership of Pastor Shin Il Park (Hyojin), the pastoral team and the church family, and we celebrate what God is doing, both in and through them.
***
Sunday, July 7, Karen and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.
July 7, 1979
Honeymoon in our VW Westfalia
Still sailing through life
Forty years is a long time, but it
has gone very quickly. Apparently, this is a good thing!
Karen and I met at university, while both of us were involved in the campus
leadership of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. We were married between my
second and third year of seminary, and together, we have been blessed with four
children, three daughters-in-law, eight grandchildren (soon to be nine), and
have enjoyed many adventures camping, sailing and in ministry. We have served
with Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship in Victoria for five years, pastored
North Delta EFC for seventeen years, and served as superintendent of the LPD
for another seventeen years. God has been good, and He has been faithful.
As a couple is married and share vows, they have no idea what life will bring
and what living out the promise, “to have and to hold from this day
forward, for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in
health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part,” will mean. No two
stories are the same.
Forty is a significant number in Scripture. Bible study.org states, “Mentioning 146 times in
Scripture, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or
probation.” While Karen and I have certainly experienced both
times of joy and times of challenge in ministry, Karen has always been so
supportive and has been willing to accompany me in the many wild adventures of
life and ministry. I could not have remained in ministry without her love and
partnership in life and ministry.
Forty years gives God time to work in one’s heart and faith. God invested 40
years in preparing Moses to lead God’s people towards the Promised Land, and
another 40 years in readying a new generation of people to enter it.
Forty years can also represent a generation, and I am increasingly aware that
I, as a father, grandfather and district superintendent, need to invest in the
generations to come.
Over these forty years, God has worked in me, and in us as a couple. While I
still love adventure as much as ever, I have learned to trust and rely on God
more and more. While I am by nature a “fixer” of cars, of boats, of
houses and computers, I am humbled by acknowledging that only Christ can
“fix” people and His Church. As John the Baptist said, “He must
become greater, and I must become less.”
I also find more and more joy in servant-leadership. I have survived the
passing trends of “visionary leadership,” formulas for church growth
and the efforts to emulate the ministry and “success” of others.
Servant-leadership never gets old, and is to be the hallmark of all who would
follow Christ.
It is a joy to walk together with our Lord, to share life, family and ministry
with Karen, and to have the honour of being servants of the Lord and his
people. We love you in Christ and thank you for your prayers and partnership in
the Gospel.
***
Here is an interesting and reflective article on servant leadership. I trust that you will find this both encouraging and helpful as you lead your local church.
problem-with-church-submit-to-your-pastor.html
***
Who’s Who in the LPD?
Our district board is composed of
seven volunteers, as well as me and our LPD Office Administrator, Josephine
Papp. With thirty-four churches, two church plants and seven church planting
missionaries, our plate is full, and there is much more that I can see to as
district superintendent.
Today, I would like to introduce you to Tim
and Emily Stewart. Tim, as the name might imply, is the son of
Karen and me, and he and Emily pastor Parkdale
EFC in Victoria, where they have served for the past three
years.
Tim was born in Victoria, as Karen and I served with Inter-Varsity Christian
Fellowship. We attended Parkdale EFC for the first year of Tim’s life, and Tim
was dedicated to the Lord there. It is special for him, Emily and their
children, Miriam, Malcolm and Wesley to be a part of this church family, and God’s
work there.
Tim had the opportunity to begin
pastoral ministry as youth pastor at North Delta EFC, the church that I
pastored from 1985 to 2002, and the church that Tim grew up in. He first served
with Pastor Dick Wiedenheft, and later Pastor Mark Johnson, until Tim and Emily
left to pastor New West EFC.
As Tim began pastoral ministry, he was one of several young pastors that I
refer to as “young
keepers.” These are young pastors, serving faithfully as
youth pastors, assistant pastors and interns, but also those we also believe
will not be, “doing what they are doing, where they are doing it,”
five years into the future. We want to affirm and encourage these young
leaders, and to walk with them as they grow and as God leads them. Other
“keepers” have been Phil Yung, Allen Chang, Randy Lemke, Steve
Doerksen, John Thiessen, Will Burgess and Jason Lavergne, all of whom are
serving within the LPD as church planters and pastors. All began as “young keepers,”
and I am thankful for all those who have invested in them. As I reflect on
generations, this is an urgent ministry!
As a veteran “young(er) keeper,” Tim serves on our district board as
the “Director of Innovative Ministries,” and is glad to connect with,
encourage and mentor younger pastors. We celebrate each one, value their
current ministries, and we are committed to walk with them as they serve and
look to God for the future.
Please pray for Tim and Emily as they serve, both in their church and with us in the LPD! We are thankful for them, and I deeply appreciate Tim as our son and for his ministry alongside.
Please pray for:
Upcoming Events:
“Arise Ministers Conference”
We are thankful for Pastor Sammy Kabyemera (Eva),
who pastors Jesus
Grace International Church, a church in Vancouver. Sammy, Eva
and their six children came to Canada as refugees from Congo, via an Ugandan
Refugee Camp.
While their church ministers primarily to African Immigrants, they retain a heart for the people and church of Africa. Sammy is troubled by the spread of the “prosperity gospel” in Africa, and is burdened to see that pastors are grounded in the Word of God and equipped to teach and guide God’s people.
Sammy is trusting God to travel to Africa
for a mission trip to train and equip African Pastors through a conference that
he has been asked to speak at. Please
see the attached email, to learn more of this conference, and the need in
Africa, and how we can support this important ministry to brothers and sisters
in Africa.
Arise_Pastors_Conference_2019.pdf
Please prayerfully consider giving towards this mission
***
CAMP EVERGREEN
August 5-10
This local summer camp is affiliated with the Lower Pacific District, and provides a great opportunity to extend your church ministry through camp, and to follow up afterwards. Many district families, including ours have benefited through this ministry, both in the children’s camp and leadership development in the LTD program. This summer, there is a children’s camp (Aug. 5-10), a teen camp and the LTD Leadership Program. Check out their website for details:
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LPD/EFCC Pastor and Staff
Orientation
All pastors staff and interested
volunteers are welcome too this opportunity to learn about the history, ethos,
doctrine and ministries of the EFCC. Orientation is a requirement for all
persons seeking credentialing in the EFCC, and is valuable for everyone in EFCC
churches.
Here is the info.
Pastor_and_Staff_Orientation_2019_Invitation.pdf
You can register
online at:
https://www.efccm.ca/wordpress/pastors-orientation/
***
LPD Pastor and Spouse Retreat
Nov. 22-24, 2019
Hello LPD pastors, we’d like to
invite you to join us on Nov.
22-24, 2019 for a Pastors’ retreat! We’d like to
encourage you to take a breather in late November (before Advent begins) with
your fellow pastors at Camp
Charis in Chilliwack.Registration is open on our LPD Website. Please
see:
https://www.lpd-efcc.ca/event/lpd-pastor-and-spouse-retreat/
