We have a house!

We are delighted to say that we have purchased a 3 bedroom townhouse in Kitchener. We expect to get possession on May 22 and hope to do some painting before we move in at the end of May.

Our Covid-19 environment.

We both continue to be kept very busy in our leadership roles.
Andrea is connecting with her Middle East teammates as well as Personnel Coordinators around the world. There is much to work through to help teams thrive in this strange environment.
Phil is working with a ministry advancement task force to assist SIM's leaders around the world proactively lead ministries in the face of Covid-19.

How do we respond?

We are confident that despite leading through uncharted waters our God has not changed and the good news we have been entrusted with has not changed!

SIM’s purpose and mission remain the same and the communities we are called to engage are still there. Our prayer is that God will reveal to us the things we need to do and ways we may need to change (even if temporarily) to continue to engage those communities. May we also be aware of new opportunities God would have us seize.

How can we pray for you?

Each time we write we share items of praise and prayer. We know that in the current situation, many of you who read this are facing uncertainty. Can we pray for you? Please reply to this email and share with us how we can pray for you.

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Our Prayer Fuel!

Praise Items

• For God's provision of a house for us.

• That we are close by to the kids at this time.

• That Cara has secured housing for the summer and a job at a supermarket.

• That we have remained healthy.

• For the resilience of our many colleagues around the world.

Items for Prayer

• That we would be able buy furnishings for our house despite some stores being closed.

• For wisdom for Liam as he waits to find out if he will have any chance of getting his co-op job.

• That God will provide us wisdom as we lead in our different roles.

• That God will lead the ministry advancement task force to help SIM continue to accomplish our kingdom purposes.

• That God will spare countries with more vulnerable health systems from the full impact of this pandemic. 

Thank you for journeying with us,
Andrea and Phil

How God Answered...

Late in February I was driving to see some friends and I heard on the radio about the spread of COVID-19 to Italy and Iran. We had already cancelled one mission trip and I remember jokingly telling my friends, "who knows, maybe we won't be sending any mission trips this year." The next week as a global missions team we discussed, "how would God reveal to us that we aren’t to send mission trips?" We discussed this question never imagining that just over two weeks later we would in fact be cancelling all of our summer mission trips.

In my last update I had shared that our mission trip numbers were dramatically down for 2020 and my heart was asking the question, "Lord, what are you doing with mission trip numbers?" I now believe that part of the answer to that question lies in the reality that COVID-19 was coming and we weren't going to be able to send any mission trips. 

I don't want the reality of COVID-19 to overshadow the fact that we did run two mission trips during reading week in February. 11 students and staff went to Honduras for a week to partner with a small ministry called Adventure in Missions. Together with the local missionaries they did village outreach, helped at health clinics, planned a science fair at the mission run school and led an evangelism training at a church. 

In addition, another 11 students and staff participated in a music based mission trip in Montreal. These staff and students used music to connect with students on campus, they did Worship Busking at Metro stations, and they hosted a house worship event that 2 muslim friends attended. Praise God for the opportunity to send these students on mission.

Now What?

In May and June, our campus teams will be running a "digital semester" for students to stay connected to community and support during this time. Our global missions team is planning to give students the opportunity to participate in an online mission trip that will help them grow spiritually and give them opportunities to do digital outreach. Please pray for creativity and good team work as we plan this opportunity in a relatively short amount of time.

You're Still Invited!

to a time of stories and encouragement online, 
an adapted version of the P2C-Students annual fundraising and celebration event
 

Friday, April 17th 

Live broadcasts at 7pm Eastern Time and again at 7pm Pacific Time
(You can choose the time that works best for you)
Join @ p2c.com/students

As you know, all of our Annual Events across the country have been cancelled. BUT!! This adapted online event is meant to be short (45 minutes), encouraging, and hope filled. There is no obligation to give. Come be inspired!

Thanks for standing together with me and helping to make ministry possible during this time of uncertainty and change.

Compassion isn't Cancelled

A lot has changed since the first email was written. Due to the situation involving the coronavirus, Southwestern Ontario YFC/Youth Unlimited has deemed it necessary to immediately close all youth centres until April 13, 2020. SWO YFC will continue to monitor the situation and update their plan as necessary.

Even though it is sad our centre is closed, it has not stopped me from intentionally connecting with youth and sharing Jesus with them. I am currently working with the drop-in team to create an alternative online drop-in time by using Houseparty and Zoom (both are video chat apps) on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I continue to mentor students, pray with them and share resources to encourage them during this uncertain time.  I am continually praying and seeking God on the best way to connect with the youth of our community.

Please pray for YFC/Youth Unlimited North Perth as we adapt to do things differently in these unprecedented times. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out using the information provided above. If you have specific ways I can be praying for you and your family, please reach out!

We're in this together! Praise God for His goodness, provision and care in this time and in all times.

All For His Glory,
Jenn

Connecting with Leaders from 124 Countries

We hosted 5 webinars on 5 continents this week.

Because of your prayer and financial support we were able to help believers in 124 countries this week figure out at a deeper level what doing ministry from a distance looks like in the new realities that COVID-19 has brought.

You prayed for our crazy week and God answered!
- 2,714 people from 124 countries attended our 5 webinars
- 2,000+ others registered and have received the links to watch at a later time
- God sustained us through early mornings and late nights working with speakers and participants in timezones all around the world
- We got 'virtual classroom' figured out with our kids (and they even enjoyed it!)

All the webinar videos are here: ndgt.us/mfadvideo (Our favs are Natchi, Edric, Dave, Amy)
Our team has also curated a number of other resources for ministering from a distance.

"Praise God for this work and for making available so many resources." - Kristin, NYC

"I am a pastor of a small rural church. We are looking for more resources to help with discipleship through social media. Thanks for this presentation. I will have to watch it a few times." - Mark

"This app is rocket fuel." - John, Ireland

"I am cut to heart. There's anointing in what he says." Jairus, Asia

^ These are just a few of the comments we received from participants who were inspired and equipped with new tools and perspectives to minister from a distance.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us in leading the next generation of digital missions.

Martin Ministry - Ministering amid COVID-19

I'm very glad that we serve and reflect a creative God during these times where we have all been forced into a 'new normal'. We have had to find ways to be creative both in ministry and family life. 

Since the universities closed 2 weeks ago, we have moved all our meetings online - discipleship small groups, prayer meetings, staff meetings, 1-on-1 discipleship, even large group meetings.  We are amazed at the ingenuity of student leaders as they find ways to connect to each other and encourage each other online.  Students are finding ways to watch movies, playing games, singing worship songs, and even dance parties online together (but apart). 

Part of Trevor's new role was to help with many events that were supposed to happen in the next few weeks. Now he and his team are working on shifting these events online or for the future.

We would love to be praying for you too. Please send us any prayer requests you have.

As for family life, we are doing the best that we can here, by the grace of God.  Hannah has dug back into the science side of her brain and has done different science experiments with Amelia. We have made musical instruments, sprouted pea plants, made water 'walk' from one jar to another, and blown up a balloon using baking soda and vinegar. We even got to play in the snow this week! We try to go for walks daily as a family and try to keep to a routine for all our sanity. We have decided to keep Amelia home from all her usual childcare, and balancing work and taking care of her is sometimes difficult. But it has been a joyous time of discovery and spending time together. 

PRAYER REQUESTS
 

1) Mental Health for students who have been uprooted and need to finish their courses online during the most stressful time of the year (final exams)

2) Opportunities for students (and us) to build relationship with others and share the love of Christ during this time of anxiety, fear and uncertainty

3) Wisdom for Hannah and her team to know how to have a campus ministry remotely as University of Waterloo has moved all classes online until August. 

4) Grace, patience and wisdom as we balance our ministry to students and within our family

Links you might be interested in: 
  1) Official P2C-Students press release about COVID-19
2) P2C blog post about rhythms to help during this season
3) Walking water jar experiment
4) Reflection and prayer guides during times of fear and anxiety
5) Fight On, Fighter (a "For King and Country" song. We had the privilege to see them live in concert the day before large gatherings were banned in Ontario.)