Pastor's Message - Chris Kibble
Luis Pulau wrote: ‘My family and team have gone to over sixty countries declaring the glory of God. When I first went to the Muslim-, Hindu-, and Buddhist-majority nations, I trembled to do the right thing for the glory of God. I talked to a Hindu guru years ago, and he said, "Luis, don't ever use the Western style of arguing, trying to show your religion is better than my religion or your Savior is superior. Just simply tell who Jesus is. Tell of his character. Tell what he's like. Let people do the comparing for themselves." That was great advice.’
Plans Pastor Chris will be on vacation from June 23 to July 15. Pastor Bob Bahr has kindly agreed to step in. He’ll be available at the church on Tuesday afternoons and Thursdays, and he will be speaking at WVBC on June 26, and July 3 and 10. Gerry Teichrob will be speaking on July 17.
Bob has recommended two books as background for his Revelation sermons:
- Discipleship on the Edge: Darrell Johnson
- Reversed Thunder: Eugene Peterson
New members: The Council would like to warmly recommend Amber Zhao, Lina Wu, and Hao Wei Shen for church membership. Please advise Hilary Blair if there are any concerns about their membership at hilarykblair@telus.net
Recruitment update for Senior Pastor: Our closing date for applications had been set as June 15 to allow us to get past the Identity Statement issue and vote. We have received 18 applications that we have recently pared down to a short list of 2 prime candidates. We are all doing a review of recorded sermons and resumes to gain an in-depth understanding of these two candidates. We have a scheduled meeting in the next few weeks to compare notes. We do strongly urge everyone to bathe us in prayer as we are very conscious of potentially selecting based on our human evaluations as opposed to listening, hearing, and acting based on what God wants us to do not what we want. Thank you for your continued support.
Pastor of Mandarin Ministries: our initial search failed to provide a suitable candidate. The search has therefore been widened and the closing date extended in order to find a candidate of suitable calibre. We covet your prayer for this position also and much appreciate the efforts of our faithful search team.
Resources for Seniors: On the table in the Foyer are brochures given to us by the speakers from the North Shore Community Resources ("Seniors One-Stop”). They cover many areas of interest to Seniors. i.e. Legal, medical, transportation, housing, etc. You will find them to be valuable information for yourself or others of your acquaintance. Please help yourself.
The Bible Project: on July 6, we’ll be starting up “The Bible Project” following the end of Youth Alpha. Anybody in the age range of 11-15 is welcome to come at 7pm in the Fireside Room. For further information, please contact Mary Findlay at mary.findlay@westvanbaptist.com
Wedding News: Bob Bahr had the privilege of officiating at the Emily Karlstrom wedding at the church on June 25.
Serving opportunities: we’re always pleased if you’re able to help at WVBC. Some current needs are:
- Greeting and ushering
- Technical work in support of the Sunday Service
- Pew materials maintenance
If you can help, please contact Toni Pankratz in the church office.