Merry Christmas to you and your church family!

Merry Christmas
to all LPD Churches 

– you are all Churches of the Week!

Thanks to Anna (Ben) Crumback at Sointula Community Church for producing the Church of the Week!

Merry Christmas to you and your church family! Karen and I are blessed to know you and to serve you in the Name of our Lord!

Christmas is the time of year I miss pastoring a local church most of all – and especially our “epic” Christmas Eve services. Our church would be filled with “guests” from the community, and our church did a wonderful job welcoming them in the Name of Jesus – from our young candle-lighters to greeters, readers and the worship team, we worked together, and I had the joy of sharing the Good News of Great Joy to all the people! Please seize the moment – thrive in and share the Good News as you gather this next week! 

It was a joy to be at Parkdale EFC last weekend, and to celebrate the Good News with Pastor Tim and Emily Stewart, grandchildren Miriam, Malcolm and Wesley – and their church family.
Please take a few moments to enjoy our Christmas letter with family news, photos and updates from our LPD!

Merry Christmas – and God’s blessings in 2020!

Merry_Christmas_from_Rob_at_the_LPD.pdf

Your Partnership Is Appreciated!

As we approach year end, both regular giving and special gifts are especially appreciated.  Might you consider a special gift to our ministry as we approach year end? As our district serves our Lord, and you and your church in His Name, and it would be a blessing to end the year with our budget met and our missionaries fully supported. We are serving 31 churches, church plants and 7 LPD Missionaries, and have committed nearly $50,000.00 in “seed money” to partner with churches and church planters as they step out in faith. Our current shortfall is approximately $25,000.00. 

Gifts to the LPD should be written to the LPD-EFCC, and mailed to our district office.   Please also explore giving online to our district or missionaries through our district website, at https://www.lpd-efcc.ca/, or contact our office for electronic and automatic withdrawal options. Thank you again for your partnership with us!
 

Please pray for:

• District churches, as they share the Good News through this Advent and Christmas Season. This time of year, people come to us if we will only seize the opportunity!
• Tom and Sandy Ford and family, as he awaits transplants, made necessary through the impact of his diabetes. He asks for special prayer for: 1. His blood count to rise. 2. Kidneys and diabetes to be stable. 3. Healing of the ulcer on his foot.
• New Westminster EFC. Pray as Jorge and Emily Lin, begin as the “new” New Westminster EFC on January 1, with Jorge as the “Church Planting Pastor.”
• Josh and Clara Lok, as they have successfully completed their church planter assessment, and we look forward to moving forward with them toward church planting.
• Pray for Matt and Mary Howard, who have been volunteering at Wildwood Community Church in Bowser, alongside Pastor Rick and Sandy McAllister.  Matt and Mary have accepted a call to serve as Pastor of Good Shepherd Community Church in Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, and will begin in January.
• Town + Field Church, in their time of pastoral transition. Pray for Matt (Val) Myers and team, as they provide interim leadership.
• Joshua and Nicole Fast, new Children’s Ministry Intern at Parkdale EFC, who is also now a LPD Missionary, as he begins “Priceless Youth Ministries,“ a ministry to families of special needs children/youth.
• The Steveston Project Team – Allen and Hannah Chang and Daniel and Joyce Wong. Pray for them, as they seek the Lord for this developing work of God.
• Christ Community Church is considering options for pastoral ministry for the future.
• LPD Board. Board members are Randy Lemke (Allana) – Chair, Patrick Chan (Sarah) – Property and Finance, Ben Crumback (Anna) – Island Liaison, Charles Labun (Carolyn) – Church Board Liaison, Rob Stewart (Karen) – D.S., Tim Stewart (Emily) – Innovative Ministries, Paul Yang (Jin) – Korean Church Liaison; Phil Yung (Grace) – Church Planting and Josephine Papp, LPD Office Administrator – Recording Secretary.

***

Upcoming Events:

LPD Conference
at
Grace Hanin Community Church

March 6,7 – 2020

with Dr. Randy Wollf of ACTS Seminaries.
“The Heart of Discipleship”

Dr. Randy Wollf, Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership Studies; Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary at ACTS. Randy (Lore) Wollf became our first LPD Missionaries in 2005. Randy is a practitioner when it comes to church, and believes that there are several practical essentials for effective discipleship in local churches.

Please plan to join us for this important time of sharing together, learning together and providing direction to the ministry of our Lower Pacific District. Our schedule will include the workshop with Randy on Friday (all are welcome),  informal dinners with ministry colleagues on Friday evening, and a Saturday morning time for teaching, ministry reporting and decisions. We will end off with lunch together, including an informal fellowship lunch and prayer time for ladies in ministry and ministry wives with Karen Stewart. We also anticipate one or more churches joining our LPD Family at conference.

Please watch for information and registration materials early in the New Year.