Stories of Hope

  As many of you know, my brother Harry has terminal cancer. After this was discovered some weeks ago, I had an idea that I hoped would encourage my brother.

Hemorrhaging Faith - Part 2   The previous issue of The Sun introduced an extensive study on the reasons for the significant exodus from the church by young people and young adults. While this problem isn't new, what has changed is that the primary age of “dropping out” has moved into the high school years, with the university and college years coming a close second.

  “But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God” Psalm 146:5. These words, written in Creole, were the first words I saw entering the Mission of Hope compound, my home for the next seven days. Reading this, I assumed it was appropriate for the mission, but quickly realized how abundantly the nation of Haiti lives this passage to its fullest.

  How many Hope Fellowship folks own a green shirt because they have volunteered with World Renew’s Disaster Response Services? I put this question to Marie, the regional DRS rep, and Heidi, our Service and Outreach Zone Co-ordinator, and was wowed by the answer.

Hemorrhaging Faith - Part 1   At Hope Fellowship we are blessed to have many teens and young adults as active and regular participants in church life. I’m excited about and grateful for that! I love hearing young people say “we’ve got a great church!” That being said, it is likely that you are aware of the fact that within Christian churches throughout Canada teens and young adults are dropping out of church life at a very significant rate.

  Last year, Friendship Ministries , a ministry designed to make people with intellectual disabilities feel included in church, became an associate member of the Canadian Council of Churches. I attended the May meeting in Ottawa where this decision was made and had the opportunity to meet and chat with Nella Uitvlugt from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who was the Executive Director of this wonderful organization.

  Often at Christmas time we talk about Easter. We celebrate the birth of Jesus with the shadow of the cross in the background. And then when we get to Easter, we look back at Christmas. So the manger has the shadow of the cross, and we remember Jesus’ birth at the same time we commemorate his death and celebrate his victory over death. Look for that in our services today and again on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.