Happy Birthday Christopher

Christopher turned 16 this week!!! That little 6 year old kid who came through our door years ago is a fine looking teenager today. He hit that milestone birthday earlier this week. It's great to see him involved with the youth group at the church. He was at the house last week helping with the co-op. He knows lots more about computers than I'll ever know and has a good heart to go along with it all.

We congratulate you Christopher and pray many years of fun and peace as you finish high school and move along the career path that God opens up for you.

On The Move

Well, these are the moments we work for and the moments we find difficult.

Jen and (no longer baby) Sierra have found a lovely apartment and will be moving there in the next few days. It's a perfect little suite for them in a good neighbourhood not far from here and the price is right!

I'm wondering who will share my yogurt with me -- if Sierra is around we always do the yogurt "spoon about" so we each get some. What will it be like to climb the stairs and not have to climb over the safety gate? What will we do when we watch TV and she's not rocking away on her little rocking horse or climbing here and there exploring? I don't know.

I do know that these are the moments we work for and so it's with that mixture of emotions that we help them make this move and to settle into their own home. I invite your prayers for both of them during this transition.

Sharing and Extending Mun Hee's Ministry in DTES

This afternoon, Mun Hee and I (Elsie) will travel to Langley to Gateway -- a training center for cross cultural missionary service operated by WEC International. We'll be sharing the work of Partners in Hope to a new group of students and inviting them to join us in the work for the next few months.

In past years a number of these students have come to help us with support group meetings and the food co-op. This year we are hoping to connect them to the work that Mun Hee is doing right downtown at and near Main and Hastings.

It's just a drive-by picture but you'll see Carnegie Centre in one of the pictures above. Mun Hee is in the area walking, praying, visiting with folks both on the street and in drop-in centres several afternoons each week. Various other people accompany her from time to time but she is the solid fixture there on a regular basis. It will be wonderful for her to have some others to do the same with her while they study at Gateway.

There are many drop-in centers where people stop for coffee and conversation where Mun Hee will take the students and introduce them to some of her friends. Many "points of interest" and accompanying stories will be part of what they do together, I'm sure. We'll keep you posted.

Immanuel Church in the RIO Theater

It's finally here! We're finally moving! The first Sunday at the Rio is about to happen this Sunday, February 8, 2009.

Lorna will be busy working the patrons at the nearby "McDonald's" seeing who she'll get to walk around the corner to church with her. Lots of invitations have gone out to folks each of us know. I'll be taking the van out to pick up folks in the Downtown Eastside. With it's convenient location, many others will simply be jumping on the bus or skytrain to get there ... with Starbucks just around the corner, I'm sure I'll find a way to grab an extra cup or two from time to time.

We know that this is just a "venue" but it's also a statement of how we want to be among the people who are in our city. Partners in Hope has always focused on being a presence and accompanying people as they seek to make meaning of their lives. It's a great opportunity for us to continue to find a presence in North Vancouver through St. Simon's Church and now also to do the "reverse missioning" of having those who were previously accompanied and drawn to God's love now be those who accompany others and with their kindness, draw other to that same love.

Broadway and Commercial is one of the busiest transit stations in the city. Commercial Drive has been "The Drive" for quite some time with it's many ethnic flavours and funky shops. It's a wonderful place for people to walk around, shop, have a coffee, and hang out. In the middle of that, the folks who attend Immanuel Church want to simply be real people whose lives demonstrate a real God who has made real changes in our lives.

Stay tuned for more information as things happen!

Superbowl Fun

We have a history around here .... important days come in various sports and here's how it happens ... I pick a team to support. Lorna picks the opposing team and we go around and "get support" from as many people as we can. I think the louder noises this year were with the team Lorna was supporting but you'll note from the shirt I am wearing that, even though it was close, I was on the side of the winning team! I certainly didn't think that was going to be the case with just a couple of minutes left in the game.

We had the usual schedule in the morning with church and dinner back at the house. We were back to our usual 50+ folks after more than 70 who came the previous week for dinner .... we're so grateful for the donations of food we'd received that week that fed all of them!

Then it was on to the fun activities of the afternoon with all sorts of people staying to watch the Superbowl game. We projected the pictures onto the wall and filled the den downstairs with folks. Those that didn't want to have to deal with the craziness watch more quietly upstairs in the living room .... can't imagine why they'd do that, can you??

Just another fun family day at Partners in Hope.

Cathie's 10 Year Celebration

Not that we need excuses to eat around this place but we had two special celebrations last week. One was a birthday of a resident in the house. The other was one of those special celebrations that needs to be noted. Saturday night we went to Mongolian BBQ with Cathie to celebrate 10 years of sobriety. It's been quite a journey as we walked with Cathie through treatment, through days when she didn't think she could keep sober for longer than a few days, then how she managed 30 days so she could come and live in the house. Now she's looking at 10 great years of sobriety. Included in that is several years of not smoking. That was another journey with a few stops and starts and stops until she turned the corner. These are the wonderful joys of walking with people "as they reclaim the gift of their life."

Cathie is active in life with her various ministries connected to the church and Partners in Hope. She's developed her talents in photography and other artwork and has had several art shows. In short, she has a life with herself, with God, with her family, and with lots of friends.

Congratulations Cathie!