| April 2016 | Vol 10, Issue 2
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Jesus says in John 15:4-5 " Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
I continue to be amazed at how simple Jesus' words are and I marvel at why it is so hard to do.
Connect to the vine. Remain in Him. You will bear fruit! Apart from me you can do nothing.
Nothing can be done apart from Him. This great truth is one that we are focusing on here at CoH. We have big dreams that we believe are God inspired. But we will never see them realized if is not from Him.
Please pray with us to remain in Him. That we would learn better how to encourage and help the church family at CoH to remain in Him and that we will bear much fruit.
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| Prayer Request |
Campus Pastor
Sound & Lighting Gear
Interns
Grace College Team (May 9-17)
June GCA
Renew Church (Ontario Churches)
Grasslands Church, Medicine Hat
Neighbors, especially Brian
Philip's role at CoH & GFC
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CoH Has a New Home
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Thank you for praying for us here at Community of Hope.
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2016 Easter Egg Hunt
Click on the picture to see the album.
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We started moving into our new home at the end of February and we started services here in March. Wow!
Our last service at the theatre was more emotional for me than I realized as we have made that our home for over 8 years.
So many hands working hard to help us get ready. The Auburn church sent up a professional painter who helped us tremendously. We are sharing space with a Lutheran Church in the community and we are using their gym for our worship services and we have several offices that we use during the week and we share Sunday School space and adult class space as well. So neat to see the CoH family sacrifice time, money and hard work to get this up and ready. We are still in need of a digital snake for our sound board and several more lights for our stage. If you can help us with these expenses that would be greatly appreciated.
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New Home for CoH
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It has been really neat to see God using this space in so many ways. We have had the Easter Egg Hunt and several smaller events. We have now started up our Adult Classes - offering 5 different classes to help disciple and grow our people. Excited to see over 40 Ladies join in the fun at our Spring Tea event.
We have several new families that have started to make CoH their home. Be praying for us to grow in every way. We want to bear fruit and fruit that remains.
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| Lot's of Family Happenings |
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| | | Ana Turns 16 | |
Ana turned 16 on March 2nd and promptly got her "L" learners (driving permit). She is such a fun young lady. Now we have 4 drivers in the house. Now getting them out on the road...
Josiah turned 7 on March 17th and had a great time with his friends. He is growing up so fast and is going to be the tallest in our home for sure.
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| | Josiah_s Birthday |
We enjoyed celebrating Easter as a family together. The girls are busy with their band and choir concerts this spring. The boys are enjoying the sunnier weather to ride bikes and play outside.
We are gearing up for our annual block party and will have our first planning meeting on the 3rd of May. Be praying for this meeting that we may be able to bring along several of our new families that have recently moved in.
Lydia is getting ready to graduate and that is creating a lot of stir in our home, from the girls dreaming about having their own rooms (once Lydia moves out) to telling her she is not allowed to leave. We are excited for her. Be praying as she prepares to go to the Moody extension at Akron Grace. Please be in prayer for the things related to her leaving.
Along with this great excitement is that Uncle Caleb is bringing grandma out for a graduation visit. One of the realities of being missionaries more than 2,000 miles away from family is we don't get to see them very often. So excited to see family and delighted. Pray for my mom's health that she is going to be up for the this trip.
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| We are Needing More People to Join Us |
This summer you can be on the ground floor of us starting our 3rd church in the Toronto Area.
We will also be working with several inner city ministries in downtown Toronto, spending a day in the mix of the world's most cosmopolitan city with over 160 languages spoken and a great need for God's love.
We will take some time to visit a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple and a Mosque, experiencing firsthand the world religions that are taking hold of many in our community.
And much more - you can register online at www.canadianadventure.org
Please be sure to have your church place these in your bulletins. GCA 2016 Bulletin Insert or put up these posters at your church, ABF or youth group wall GCA GCA 2016 Poster.
Register Today!
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It amazes me to see God at work. We set out a vision this year to find a new space and God has fully met us. So delighted with this new space. We asked God for teammates and God has sent us several new families that are adding in right away. And we asked God for us to reproduce at every level. Making disciples and developing leaders in all areas of ministry in our church. He is meeting us there. Our community groups each have apprentice leaders, some are ready to lead their own groups next year. We have just begun our adult classes and they are being well received. We are on our way, but we are not there yet.
Our next large ask has been one that we have brought before you and before the Father for several years now. Yet, in God's grace and wisdom He has held back the answer. Looking for two years for a pastor to join our team here at CoH. God is so full of grace and mercy. As we journey here we have learned so much over the past two years. Our church family has deepened and our elder team has matured. And I have really grown as a leader. Grown to understand who I am better and what my gifts are and what they are not (still learning). God knew we were not ready and frankly we were about to make the wrong directional decision. We would have had me disconnect from CoH and had a new leader take a while to figure out what and where and the loss of my gifts would have counteracted the gain of his. Now we see that we are looking for a teammate and we looking for a Campus Pastor who can work with me and help develop our team at our current campus. Shepherding, coaching, teaching and making disciples as we look to develop the leaders for the next campus.
Would you pray with us that God would make it clear to this new leader and to us and that it may happen soon. I believe we are now ready for this new leader to join us, but we must discover who he is. We are searching in earnest. I have called many churches and we have been advertising. I have had many informal interviews and have been seeking the Lord on this issue. Our GFC team has asked me to reduce my attention on CoH come the end of June and we are ready to work with this new leader. Pray with us that God would bring him soon and that he would fit into the team, value what we value and bring the gifts and leadership needed to take us to the next level in reproducing campuses throughout the Lower Mainland.
Yours for the kingdom,
Philip, Beth, Lydia, Anastasia, Alissa, Elijah, and Josiah Bryant
You can support us by sending a gift to:
GBCanada USA, P.O. Box 836, Charlotte Hall, MD 20622
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