Baptism in Canoe Cove

Emma and Ava celebrating their baptism
Canoe Cove, Prince Edward Island
August 2019

Hear the Roar!

The Bridgewater Baptist Church Crew 

heading out for the Big Ex and the "Pepsi Grand Street Parade"

Since 1891, the community of Bridgewater has hosted one of the oldest agricultural exhibitions in our region. The "Big Ex" continues to draw together people from Nova Scotia's South Shore, and each year it kicks off with a community parade.

This year the Bridgewater Baptist Church's entry brought a little African safari to Lunenburg County as we promoted next week's vacation Bible School program "Roar." The rainy parade day did not dampen our spirits as the Bridgewater Baptist crew danced and clapped to the worship songs of our upcoming children's ministry.

A big thank you to our children's coordinator, Maria Vanderwall, 

for organizing this year's parade crew. It was a great day!

Our lion resting on our safari ride!

A big shout out to the Lewis family for so graciously supplying our lead vehicle and the incredible sound system. The Roar was heard and felt!

Congratulations, Emma!

Celebrating Emma's highschool graduation with family and friends this past Friday evening on Prince Edward Island.

Emma has been enjoying a great summer working as the medic at Canoe Cove Christian Camp on the South Shore of Prince Edward Island. Along with new friends, she and Ava have had a lot of fun getting to know their cousins the rest of our Island family.

On Friday, Grampy and Grammie Kenny hosted a graduation party for Emma at their home in Brackley. We were grateful for the many relatives, friends, and camp staff that came out to celebrate Emma and enjoy the barbecue.

Emma and Ava will be working at the camp over the next two weeks, before returning to Nova Scotia in early August. We are excited that both of our girls will be serving with the children's program this August during the Oasis gathering of Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada in Moncton.

Thank you for continuing to keep our family in your prayers as we settle into life here in the maritimes.

Some snap shots from the camp!

Summer 2019 Sermon Series

Bridgewater Baptist: Summer Sermon Series

We are excited for our first Sunday as pastors of the Bridgewater Baptist Church. Throughout July and August, Aaron will be returning to the "God of Wonder" sermon series as we experience the joy of encountering God in creation.

We invite you to join us at 10:00 am at 564 Glen Allan Drive in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, or online at our www.bridgewaterbaptist.com

Settling into life in Nova Scotia

The Lahave River running through

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

It was a gift to celebrate with all three of our children the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (with over fifteen and a half hours of daylight in our latitude). Our summer began with the sweet smell of the balsam fir and soaring white pine trees that surround our new home here in the South Shore of Nova Scotia. 

Along with settling into our home and getting all of the basic bits of life together, we also brought Emma and Ava over to Prince Edward Island where they will be serving with the Canoe Cove Christian Camp. Tristan is also starting his summer job this week in Bridgewater. 

We want to thank you all for keeping our family in your prayers. As we begin our new ministry with the people of the Bridgewater Baptist Church, we are deeply grateful for the honour we have had to represent Baptist Churches from across Canada with CBM's African partners and team. We carry the experiences and relationships of these past thirteen years with us and praise God for the significant changes that we have witnessed in our lives and in the people whom we've been blessed to walk with.

Join us in the Maritimes!

Click Here to Register

The Canadian Adventure Begins!

We arrived safe and sound in Canada on Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed a wonderful reunion with our friends Don and Joy Hepburn, who graciously welcomed our dog Bree into their home. The Hepburns took great care of us as we shared an early night and a very early morning together.

On Wednesday, Erica and I traveled to the Canadian Baptist Ministries office in Mississauga to share at the weekly chapel and reconnect with our colleagues there. We felt very affirmed as Terry Smith led a time of farewell for us. We then spent the rest of the day debriefing and saying good-bye to many of our friends. 

Meanwhile, the Hepburns treated Ava to an adventure on the Go-Train. They put on their walking shoes and headed downtown to visit Ripley's Aquarium and explore the city. Ava had a great time. 

Bree is bonding well with Don and Joy's dog Bailey (aka Taco!). After the trauma on the international flight, Bree is sleeping very well and cuddling with us at night. 

Joy and Ava exploring Downtown Toronto

We will be traveling to Nova Scotia on Saturday, where we are looking forward to connecting with friends at the Bridgewater Baptist Church and settling into our new home.

We are looking forward to connecting with partners in mission from across Atlantic Canada later in June. On June 22nd we will be at the Hillside Baptist Church in Moncton, New Brunswick, where there will be a farewell supper from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. And on Sunday, June 23rd, we will be at the New Minas Baptist Church, Nova Scotia, for a farewell coffee and dessert gathering.

If you would be interested in attending either of these events, you can learn more and register here.

Graduation Day!

Celebrating Emma!

On Wednesday, May 29th, our Emma graduated from Rosslyn Academy with highest honours. Moving to Nairobi in Emma's kindergarten year, our family has been blessed to enter into the Rosslyn community. In so many ways, the school campus has become a second home where we have watched Emma grow and mature into such an incredible young woman. We will deeply miss friends and families that have become such an important part of our lives.

Over the years, Emma has built strong relationships with her classmates and theatre friends. We will long treasure the memories of camping trips, treehouse getaways, backyard campfires, game nights, and sleepovers that have become such a wonderful part of life with Emma and her friends.

We are also thankful for the teachers and friends who have invested so much in our children. Here are just a few pictures from a great day!

Emma and Isaiah

Celebrating with our friends the Enns family!

Congratulations Class of 2019!

Our final CBM Update Video

CBM Africa Update Video May 2019.

We are happy to share this our last update video from Kenya. We want to thank you all for your faithful prayers and support for our family and the ministry of Canadian Baptists.

In this five-minute update, we share two things that encourage us about the future of CBM's work in Africa. And of course, like any classic missionary presentation, we include a stunning sunset!

Thank you all so much for partnering with us. If you would like to learn more about the work of Canadian Baptist Ministries in Africa and around the world, please visit our website at www.cbmin.org

Highpoints

As we near the end of May, we celebrate several highpoints for our family and the ministries of CBM in Africa. Early this month, we enjoyed a personal highpoint quite literally as we hiked the extinct volcanic crater of Mount Longonot with Tristan and our friends the Kroenings.

This past week, we enjoyed a wonderful time of good-bye with the leadership of our Kenyan partner, the Africa Christian Church and Schools. Together we shared stories of the nearly five decades of partnership that CBM and the ACC&S have built together in Kenya.

In addition to this time with the ACC&S, we have also appreciated speaking with our CBM team members and partner leadership, who continue to share their hopes for the future. It has been so encouraging to see the energy and vision for God's next steps among the work of CBM in Africa. 

As we prepare for our departure, we feel so blessed to have had a part in this great story.

Emma on Roscar Night!

As you know, this is an especially important time for our daughter Emma who is graduating from highschool. Earlier this month, Emma received several awards and honours. At the Roscars (Rosslyn Academy's Fine Arts Award Ceremony), Emma was recognized for being the outstanding "senior servant", outstanding "growth in acting", and for excellence in illuminating scripture. 

Then this past Friday, she received the ACSI award for excellence in leadership, servanthood, fine arts, and academic merit. Emma was also awarded for one of the best senior seminar presentations (for her work on the impact of false memory in the criminal justice system). Finally, she received the highest level of recognition for volunteerism and student participation in extracurricular programs through the Rosslyn Academy Gold Award.

Later today, we will be participating in the graduating class's Baccalaureate Sevice. Emma's graduation ceremony takes place on May 29th. We are so thankful for the incredible friends that have been apart of Emma's life. Saying good-bye will not be easy.

Reaching the Longonot Summit with Tristan

Climbing Mount Longonot with our friends the Kroenings

In Prayer

The Ebola Outbreak

In the past three weeks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ebola outbreak has continued to expand.  There are now more than 1,860 cases of Ebola reported in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri province and more than 1,240 deaths. International response to the outbreak has been hindered by more than 120 violent incidents already this year, including the killing of a Cameroonian doctor last month. Please join us in praying for our friends and partners working in Butembo and Beni as local churches respond to this health crisis.

Rwanda/Uganda Conflict

We continue to pray for the political strife between the leadership of neighbouring countries Rwanda and Uganda. Border and trade disputes are causing anxiety and strain for the thousands of merchants and workers that rely on friendly border crossing between these two countries. We remember our CBM partners serving in both of these countries.

Our Return to Canada

Please continue to pray for our family as we complete our last minute field responsibilities this week and celebrate Emma's graduation. We will be departing for Canada in the beginning of June.

Transforming Mission: Breakingdown Boundaries

"He who tells the truth is never wrong."

A Swahili Proverb

Over this past week, we have been hosting our colleague Rev. Andre Sibomana in orientation meetings with our Kenyan and South Sudanese partners. We are very thankful for this time of accompanying Andre has he begins his new responsibilities giving direction and leadership to Canadian Baptist Ministries' work in Africa.

The conversations were very rich, covered a sweeping variety of topics, but a few clear trends emerged. First and foremost was the importance of CBM helping our partners increase their capacity through education, practical training, and technical assistance. Effective evangelism, discipleship, church management, community outreach and transformation all come back to investing in people.

A second important issue surfaced in our partner talks, namely the need to overcome ethnic and tribal divisions. From the division of South Sudan to the conflicts in Kenya, ethnic differences have been politicized and used to alienate communities.

Rev. Saphano Riak Chol discussing the ministry of FEBAC 

with CBM deputy team leader, Rev. Andre Sibomana

Although the roots of the Faith Evangelical Baptist Churches are traced back to the traditional Dinka communities of South Sudan's Upper Nile, the church recognizes that the mission of God is inherently inclusive. They have been intentional to focus their efforts in bridging the divided ethnic groups of Dinka and Nuer. Although rural churches often reflect the segregated ethnic communities where they are found, in both urban centers and refugee camps FEBAC has been successful in modeling the love and acceptance of Christ across tribal boundaries. Today over 30% of their congregations in these ethnically mixed centres are Nuer.

"It requires pastors to be courageous and to be the first to go to other denominations, other groups, and other families." shared Rev. Saphano. "People warn me personally, 'Pastor, if you go there they will kill you.' But I must go, and if I die for going it will be for the purpose of peace." 

Rev. Samuel Majok

An important aspect of reconciliation among ethnic groups in South Sudan has been the churches example of inclusion during its relief efforts. According to FEBAC, since the insecurity broke out in 2013, Canadian Baptists have enabled them to bring food and non-food items to about 200,000 people.

"Through relief, we do not show any favourtism. Many people can't understand this. In our culture, if you have something to give you take care of your own first. It was very shocking for people to see that we organize and call the Nuer people first, and we make sure that their vulnerable households are cared for before [the Dinka households]. Many people ask us why we do this. It is a witness. Jesus did not show favourtism.

In Narus, I remember how bad it was before we received relief. In 2017, there were thousands of people who were dying. A soldier had come to be with his wife who was staying in the camp. He returned because she was having their first baby. He told me that they had no food and that he was prepared to bury the baby and maybe even his wife. That night as the boy baby was being birthed the CBM food relief arrived. I brought the food rations to the soldier and his family. They said, "My God where did this come from!" I told them it was from CBM. So they praised God and they named their baby "Cee-Bee-Emm!" 

The relief has been an important way to minister to people during the war. We pray that as the war ends and there is peace that we will be able to build farms and communities that show this love. That we will live in a united South Sudan."

Rev. Samuel Majok

Pastor Narus, South Sudan 

ACC&S Deputy General Secretary Rev. David Kimemia 

and Moderator Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Ngumo

As we sat down later this past week with leaders from the African Christian Church and Schools, Erica asked them what has the partnership meant for the ACC&S. The response was very encouraging to hear.

"We are nearing our golden jubilee! In 2020, CBM and the ACC&S will mark 50 years of partnership together and may I say that we have much to celebrate! These years of working in partnership with the CBM has allowed our two Christian communities to accomplish so much and it is our hope that as we mark this important milestone that 2020 will be the beginning of a new chapter for CBM and the ACC&S."

Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Ngumo

Moderator 

"Looking back," added David, "it is not hard to see how this partnership has strengthened our churches. Today between 60% to 70% of our ministers were trained and equipped through this partnership. The certificate of ministry, bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs facilitated by the CBM have built our capacity. The diploma and certificate programs in Integral Mission have expanded our mission. And through the support of our Bible school, CBM's scholarships open doors for future ministers."

Rev. David Kimemia

Deputy General Secretary 

"As the principal of the Bible School and a beneficiary of the MA program and CBM's investment in training programs like the ALE, I would add that the Canadians have made a great impact. I see the fruits of our partnership not only through the scholarships but the computer lab, the library and the many lecturers who have come to serve with us. On behalf of the Bible School I wish to thank the many lecturers who have come, people like the Pattersons, Ken & Diane Morgan, Andrew Desroches, David (Wayne) Morgan, Aaron & Erica (Kenny), and Pauline Kariuki. I know many others have come as well, but these missionaries have made a great investment in our students and ministers."

Rev. Beth Kimathia

Principal ACC&S Bible School 

"CBM has done a lot," agreed Henry Mwangi "We are moving out together to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to help people realize their God-given potential. Together we have grown and moved beyond charity work to making true and lasting change in peoples lives. This partnership has been a tremendous help to many!"

Henry Mwangi

Development Director

In response to our colleague Andre's question about emerging priorities, the ACC&S leaders had several exciting things to share as the denomination is expanding into more ethnically diverse areas and seeking ways to breakdown gender divisions, and to promote the ministry of all people.

"There is a great desire within the communities where we are working together to see the work continue to build people up. Our shared work with orphans and vulnerable children is transforming lives, but there is more and more need. I am so glad to see how the new direction in the Guardians of Hope under the leadership of John Njihia is building resiliency and sustainability. The self-help group approach that he received from Erica is empowering the group members and making them so devouted to the groups that I know that they will continue on beyond the end of this project.  

     It is evident that our projects with CBM have been designed for lasting change. It has been five years since we completed the Food security project with CBM and CFGB in Maia Maiu, and when I went back I admit I didn't know what we would find. I tell you I was amazed. The people we worked with then are still on the land, producing their own food. I met farmers who from their own profits had already replaced the irrigation dam liners because they were so valuable to their farms. 

     Although the current CFGB project in Embu will be concluding a year from now, we are already seeing a major change in the beneficiaries. This approach is truly integral mission as the hope of Christ is being witnessed in word and in deed."

Henry Mwangi

Development Director

"There is certainly a desire to see Kamp Tumaini continue as well -- Everyone needs hope! In the coming years, we will also look to our partners to help us in improving the infrastructure of the Bible School as we move from the chalkboard to the screen, and work together to build the capacity of our people... one other exciting development in capacity building has been the expansion of church planting into new areas. We have been blessed by the experience of Kenyan speakers with expertise in ministry among Muslims. Our ministers recognize the importance of growing in this area as we reach into urban areas and share the Gospel in effective ways."

Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Ngumo

Moderator 

In Prayer

Please join us in praying for the leaders of the ACC&S and FEBAC as they seek to equip their congregations to breakdown walls of prejudice and ignorance in their communities. 

We also pray for Andre Sibomana as he gives leadership and support to CBM's Africa partners. We pray for his wife Mary Terese and their five children as he travels and works with churches throughout Africa. 

We give thanks for the transformation that is taking place in our partner churches and praise God for his grace and presence.

Meet Ambo Kenny!

We never intended to adopt again, but as we prepare to leave Kenya, we are so thankful for the newest member of our family!

Baby Ambo

Earlier this spring our African partner churches and colleagues (Jonathan Mills, Carla Nelson, and Darrell & Laura Lee Bustin) gave us the unbelievable gift of a baby elephant.

Baby Ambo was found abandoned in the sticky mud

 of Kenya's Amboseli National Park in 2016.

Park rangers and members of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

rescued the malnourished elephant and brought him to be 

cared for at their rescue centre in Nairobi. 

With our partner's gift, the adoption will provide our little Ambo support and help as he grows up in the safety of the Nairobi National Park and cared for by the team at David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. We have visited Ambo several times over the past year, but the highlight was an opportunity we had over Easter to tuck him into bed and spend one-on-one time with our Ambo. 

As we leave, we are grateful to know that he is well cared for and that in a small way we are a part of the conservation efforts that will continue in Kenya.

Celebrations

Emma and Caroline at their graduation party

This past weekend, we hosted a graduation party with our friends John and Kim Gilmer for our daughter's Emma and Caroline. We are so thankful for the joy of watching these two young women growing up together at Rosslyn Academy. Both Emma and Caroline have shared a love for music, and theatre and over the years they have shared the stage in choir, musicals, and plays.

Earlier today, they went to school as Heinz Ketchup and Mustard for "Twin Day". We, unfortunately, don't have any pictures from their twin costumes, but we do have lots of pictures to share from their party!

Emma and Caroline cutting their cake

Caroline and Emma in Cake!

Ava about to eat Emma's fondant eye!

Mr. Garner photobombing

Celebration time!

Emma and Isaiah

Ava and Julia Enns

Nicole and Emma

Erica, Suzanne, and Rosemarie

Isaiah, Emma, Tristan, and Ava

Aaron sharing the "Dad's blessing" for Emma

Our friend, auntie Mel, praying a blessing over Caroline and Emma

It was very special to have our dear friend, Melanie McKee, pray a blessing over our girls. Auntie Mel has been a part of our family since we met in Emma's kindergarten year in 2006-2007. Not only was she a teacher for Emma and Caroline, but she has also been an extended member of our family.

Erica and Melanie

Congratulations, Emma!