Update Tuesday 27/09/11

A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

I could not help but think of this above phrase from Ecclesiastes 4:12 as I sat on my front porch with Mike Hampton and Jeremy Langley.  I was meeting with these two IMB (international mission board) personnel who have become good friends over these past number of years, to discuss the possibility of working together on the campus of McMaster University.   As Southern Ontario continues to become more and more ethnically diverse, the IMB has seen the importance of bringing people with oversees experience serving different people groups to this area in order to serve, and help churches better serve these communities.  I have benefited tremendously by having them working along side us here and have very much come to appreciate the relationships that I share with them both.  It was very exciting then, when we started to discern that God seemed to be working in all of our hearts regarding Mac, a university campus right in here in the city, that continues to grow more and more diverse with each passing year.  We gathered together last week, and spent time on my front porch discussing possibilities, sharing experiences and expertise, sharing our hearts and praying.  What became evident is that we share different but complimentary skills sets and experience and a common heart to be at work there.  We will be exploring a three pronged approach that could include a campus club, chaplaincy as well as the partnership of a local church, The Hamilton Fellowships (that us!).  I am excited to see what may develop.

As if that meeting were not enough be be excited about the possibilities of supporting some campus work, I had an impromptu visit from Paul Johnston the team leader for the Share (evangelism) team of the Canadian National Baptist Convention.  Not only was it just an encouraging visit, but he shared with me that a member of his church in Calgary had just recently moved to Hamilton to take a job as a math professor at McMaster.  We were able to visit the campus and meet this gentleman.  Knowing that I was having a meeting to discuss working on that campus that very afternoon with Mike and Jeremy, I was amazed at this opportunity.  I don't know what may happen in terms of a relationship with this math professor, but at the very least it was another encouragement to continue to explore some type of involvement on the campus.

I should also mention that tonight we are hosting the very first house church meeting in our home.  We would ask you to pray that God would bless this time together and give us encouragement and vision for the future.  It will be a small gathering and a small beginning, but our prayer is that from this small beginning we see something amazing begin for the sake of the kingdom and for the Glory of the Heavenly Father.

Lastly, let me thank you for the words of encouragement that we received in comments here, through facebook or e-mail over this past week.  Thank you also for the continued prayers.  We truly felt uplifted and saw God do some amazing things over this past week.  Thanks again for all the continued prayer and support. 

Free Art Friday 23/09/11

As I mentioned last week, I had my first painting lesson ever while working on the last sketch I posted.  It was an impromptu kind of thing while at the beach at my parent's cottage.  There happened to be an amazing artist visiting next door and so I got up enough courage to impose myself upon him by asking for some pointers.  He was kind enough to walk with me through the different stages, explaining some basic concepts, giving me some pointers and guiding all the steps.  I thought it might be an interesting opportunity this week to introduce you to some of his work.
Mark Fordham has had a pretty amazing career in the art world here in Canada (as well as New York and other places).   It has included the fine art world through painting and sculpture, while the past ten or so years has marked an interesting turn in his career as he has spent a lot of time in the visual effects world doing film and television work.  He has used his incredible knowledge of anatomy and sculpture in the creating of animals, creatures and monsters for film and TV.  His primary focus most recently has been matte painting creating incredible backdrops to transport viewers to times and places from Jerusalem at the birth of Christ, Nuremberg post WWII, Hockey arenas in the career of Don Cherry to England under King Henry the VIII and everywhere in between. 
Below are some links to some online galleries of his work.  The first has examples of paintings and sculptures while the second has examples of his matte painting.  Check out some of the fuller biographies as well.

fine art

matte painting


I should probably also mention that he is my uncle.  I am not nearly confident or brash enough to go up to someone I don't know and weasel an art lesson! 

Don't forget to check back next week when I should have the second installment in my "Inukshuk on Georgian Bay" series.  I have also been experimenting with some lyrics that incorporate some of the tings that I have been learning and working with about colour...so we will see what transpires on that front.  

Update Tuesday 20/09/11

There comes a time in every new endeavor, when what is new begins to become common place; when what is exciting becomes the everyday and when the golden hue begins to shine a bit less brightly.  When this happens it seems that some of the less desirable things become more clear, when the darkness is a bit more evident.  This past week seemed to be the beginning of the next phase for us.  As school begins, routines are set in place and we settle into everyday life in the city, we have also begun to see things a bit more clearly and realistically.   We see the need around us more obvioulsy, we feel the darkness a bit more acutely and there have been a number of experiences where we have been in the trenches and been reminded of just how far things have drifted from God's heart and how large the task really is.  Add the inevitable feelings of missing friends and family and it can be a bit overwhelming.  But just as these feelings began to appear, God again proved Himself so gracious, and we had the opportunity to visit the Oakville Sanctuary, where this really all began for us, for their tenth anniversary.  It really was an amazing time to celebrate and be reminded of God's goodness and faithfulness these past ten years.  For me, there was one moment (aside from being in the dunk tank...with the fish) that stands out most.  It was during the service that morning, towards the end of the sermon when Isaiah 61 was read.  This has been an integral verse to the Sanctuary, especially in Oakville, as it speaks of oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.  We have often read those verses, and the verses leading up to them (1-3) as we reminded ourselves of what we saw our mission to be.  These were verses that Jesus himself would quote as his mission announcing his ministry in Luke 4.  What was interesting on Sunday is that Pastor Peter Roebellin of Oakville chose to continue reading past verse 3, where we would often stop, and included verse four (and perhaps beyond...but I was struck by verse 4),

"Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastation; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolation of many generations.  

Of course, it mentions cities which caught my attention, but more so than that was the parallel between the setting to which Isiah was referring and Hamilton.   Speaking of a people and a city that had drifted from God into ruins he was prophesying a time when one day they would be renewed for the glory of God.  As we live in this city, see the need around us, feel the spiritual darkness and live in the shadows of church buildings that no longer honour God,  this passage seems so appropriate.  For me personally, it had the effect of drawing me back into that vision that we shared so often in the early days and tied our new work so clearly into the vision and history of God's faithfulness that was being celebrated.  It was a clear reminder of why we are where we are and doing what we are doing.  Yes, there is darkness, yes, the task is overwhelming and yes, it can be a bit lonely sometimes (especially for my wife) but that is precisely why we are here and we are not alone.  The same God who has been there these past ten years, is right here at work presently.

As we carry on here in Hamilton there are a few things that we are excited about and for which we would like to ask you to continue to pray.   Firstly, I mentioned an upcoming trip to McMaster University in my last update.  We had a chance to visit and get reacquainted with the campus, meet some students and meet a few students involved in campus ministry.  Since that visit I have heard from a number of different colleagues about individuals who have been thinking about Mac recently.  It seems that there is something stirring so we will continue to explore how we as a local church might come along side developing efforts.

We have also met with Diane our next door neighbour, and the first to express interest in being a part of our new work, and decided that we will begin our first home church meetings next week.  This will be a great chance for us to begin to explain the vision of what we hope to be doing in much more clarity, and to, as a group, begin to pray towards this vision.  

I also forgot to mention last week that we welcomed Betty, our Korean student (obviously not her given Korean name - her real name Soogyeong which is not too hard to pronounce so we will see how long this one sticks), who will be living with us for the next 3 months to learn English.  Things seem to be going very well.  I cannot imagine heading to another country all by myself, where I spoke little of the language yet and then being thrown into my family!  One of the cool things is that Betty is not a Christian and last Sunday in Oakville was the first church service she has ever been to.  Please join us in praying that the Lord would use this time with our family, our morning Bible studies etc. to reveal Jesus to her in a real and personal way. 

Once again thanks for all the continue prayer and support! 

Powerful Quote

I came across this following quote while reading the biography of William Carey by S Pearce Carey:

To disturb and to destroy the religious beliefs, rites, and ceremonies of any people is to make an attack on the sanctuary of the soul, which can only be excused if he who delivers it has the certainty that what he offers is indeed the pearl of great price, to obtain which the surrender of the most sacred possessions cannot be regarded as too high a sacrifice.

- A.E. Garvie

I think what struck me most was the deep sense of respect and the recognition of just how serious a thing it is that we undertake when we endeavor to engage in our missional calling.  But if it is truly the "pearl of great price," with nothing added or taken away, then oh how important it is that we do, albeit with a deep sense of humility and love. 

Free Art Friday 16/09/11

Here is a quick painting that I did the last time I was at the cottage.  I was fortunate to have an amazing artist named Mark Fordham there giving me some pointers.  We were working on colour mostly, challenging me to limit the palate to two colours (along with some white and black) and learning to mix other tones from there.  This one was done with just ultramarine blue and raw umber.  These are probably no brainers for anyone with some training... but I have no training so these ideas have been a lot of fun to begin to experiment with.
This is of an Inukshuk that I had built back in early spring.

Inukshuk 1

Update Tuesday 13/09/11

Locke Street Festival Crowd

It was a crazy day to be sure, the Locke Street festival right down the street from our house, the Super Crawl on James St North, and in the midst of it all our first Open House.  What an amazing opportunity to invite so many of our friends, especially those from our sending church in Milton, to come and experience our new neighbourhood.  I spent the day back and forth between greeting friends in our home and touring the festival on Locke Street.  To cap off the night our family, along with our good friend Mike Harvey, jumped on the shuttle to James St. N, where we checked out all the art and took in a few bands including Said the Whale and Broken Social Scene.  It was a pretty cool moment when we first arrived at the Super Crawl, got a program of the featured artists and bands and realized that one of Kim's former employees from the days when she owned a special events company, was a featured artist.  We got to connect briefly with Jason Frieburgur beside his installation in the middle of James Street.

This is the piece that appeared on the corner of James N. and Cannon

All in all it was a pretty amazing day!

I mentioned spending much of the day with Mike.  I think it would be appropriate to take a moment to recognize Mike and to thank him for all his contributions to the Sanctuary Milton over the past seven or so years.  Mike arrived at the Milton Sanctuary before even Jim Danielson or I.  He was a part of the congregation from very early on taking on roles as worship team member as well as Youth leader.  He also lead the worship team many times when I was absent, and has been helping to fill in since my departure in June.  When Mike was laid off from from his place of employment last year, he was blessed to find a new position in a town west of Milton and has relocated to be closer to work.  He has been commuting to church for the last number of months, but having spent the last number of years in community minded church plants with an emphasis on reaching neighbours and serving the community, he is recognizing the need to be part of a church that serves in the community in which he lives.  How can any of us disagree?  He will be missed, however, and we do want to thank him for his many contributions to our church family over the years.  I am just glad that I still have a close connection through a number of different musical endeavours in which we still collaborate.

As I have mentioned before, we have spent the summer trying to get to know the community, the people and the ongoings of our new neighbourhood.  One thing that I have been trying to recognize is some of the public spaces in which there is a sense of community and at which there seems to be a discernible schedule of regular attenders.  Based on those observations from the past few months I have come up with a schedule of times and places that I will try to be at weekly in the hopes of making connections and building relationships.  I would ask that you join me in praying that this will be a fruitful exercise over the coming months. 

Last week I mentioned that I would be visiting the McMaster campus, but that has been postponed until this coming Thursday, so I would appreciate your continued prayers for God's direction.

Thanks again for all the continued support and prayers.  

 

Free Art Friday 09/09/11

A bit of a change from the usual stuff and broadening my definition of art, this is a video I edited for Liam about out trip to Alabama with Liam.  I posted it on Wednesday but thought I would share it here today. 
Check back again next week for a new painting I did last weekend with some tips from an amazing artist (whose work I will share in an upcoming week).

Update Tueseday 06/09/11

It was four years ago that they sat in a prayer meeting on the campus of McMaster University.  As the prayers of the students were being lifted up, a distinctive theme began to emerge.  Students,  many of the Asian,  began to pray specifically that God would send missionaries with overseas experience in Muslin regions of the world to the campus and to the area to help reach Muslim background people.  Little did they know that Mike and Patty had such experience, serving almost 18 years in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world, and that as they sat in on this prayer time, they were considering coming to Ontario to help reach out to Muslim background residents.
This was the story that my good friend Mike shared with me this past week.  As it turns out, it has just not worked out for him to get back to the McMaster campus as of yet, but he was calling to see if we had thought about doing some work there and if I could show him around the campus.  Seeing as McMaster is my Alma matter I am very much open to showing him around, despite the fact that it has changed considerably since my days there!  When we first considered coming to Hamilton, there was someone working on campus and that general area.  He was, in fact, one of my first calls as we began to work through our call to Hamilton.  Since that time, however, he has moved on to other work in another part of the world which opens up the possibility to work in that area, and on campus.  Mike and I will be heading to the campus on Thursday for an initial walk around.  I am interested to see what God may do with this connection with Mike and with my connection to the campus.  As I have shared before, when we first started feeling the restlessness in our ministry that would lead to our work in Hamilton, it was Mike with whom I spent much time learning and thinking about missions and church planting as I tried to get some new perspectives and ideas from other parts of the world.  It seems a very natural connection now, as my new ministry is very much shaped by our time together, that we might consider working together on the campus.  I have no idea what God may have in store, if anything at all, for us on the campus but it is definitely worth exploring.
This past week really has been about making connections as we managed to also visit Ridgecrest Baptist Church, the only long established SBC work here in Hamilton.  They meet over on the East end of town where they still host an Sunday evening service.  This made it a perfect opportunity for us to visit.  Serving mostly recovering addicts and those with mental and physical special needs, to say that this congregation is made up of mostly outcasts and misfits would be quite fitting, and just the way that pastor Tim likes it.  He loves this community and does a great job serving them.  Worshipping with them was a beautiful experience that my family and I truly found enriching.  Although perhaps the polar opposite to slick and sophisticated, the singing was louder, more enthusiastic and heartfelt than some congregations of thousands with whom I have worshipped.  Spending some time getting to know Tim, his wife and his girls afterwards made a perfect ending to a great evening.
I also had the chance to meet Ken this past week who is pastoring another newer work here in the city.  His work is affiliated with Toronto Church Planting and NAMB and is a biker church.  He is reaching out primarily to bikers and their families.  I look forward to being able to join them in worship in the upcoming weeks.
 I was also able to host my uncle Brad and his wife Lisa as well, as they were visiting from Austin Texas.  While they were here we were able to walk over and visit one of his friends that he used to play in a band with about 20 years ago.  It was the last band that he played in before leaving Canada to head to Austin where he has continued his music career ever since.  We walked the two or three blocks to visit with Lori Yates, an established singer songwriter who has lived in Hamilton for the past ten years.  Not only was she amoung the first to make the transition from the Queen Street West scene to Hamilton, which is an ever increasing phenomena fueling the growing arts scene here in the city, she is the one through whom God worked to confirm our call to this particular neighbourhood.  It was exactly a week ago this weekend that I heard a familiar voice from my past singing out from a stage at the Locke Street Festival.  That voice was Lori's and it was that encounter that helped us narrow down the area in which we are now living.  It was great to see here again.  I hope that she might be able to help me get to know the music scene here a bit better.
Well, as I mentioned this weekend is the Locke Street Festival and we are piggy-backing on that fact and hosting an open house.  We would ask for your prayers as we plan and work to get the house ready.  We are hoping for an opportunity to introduce many of our friends from our sending church in Milton to our new neighbours and neighbourhood.   We are also hoping to solidify a number of the relationships that we have made here in the community before we start our fist house church meeting this month.
Thanks again for all the continued prayers and support!

 

Free Art Friday 01/09/11

It has been a few weeks since I have been able to post something on a Friday.  Lots of travel and business around the home is not particularly conducive to the creation of art!  This week I got some help from Liam.  He has been writting a short story over the summer for a contest that the Library is running.  On the day that he went to submit it he realized he is not quite old enough for this particular contest.  I tole him not to worry as I could use some material to be posted here.  Here it is below...Liam's Journey:

There was a boy who was perfectly healthy. no injures, no sicknesses, nothing; but then the unbelievable happened.
It was a bright, sunny, spring, day in Milton when all of a sudden,
“Tag your it!” yelled a voice.
“Come on, I just got you,” said Liam. Liam, a tall eight year old boy with shaggy long
hair and brown eyes, who had just tagged his brother was now IT again!
“Too bad Liam, guess you’re just not fast enough for me,” answered Daniel. Daniel,
one of Liam’s three siblings, and the oldest, was very proud.
“Hey Liam, come and get me, I haven't been it yet.” It was Caroline his older sister. “I want to be it,” announced T.J. T.J. is Liam’s little sister.
“Oh fine, but then you can’t get me.” said Liam.
One minute passed, then five, then ten, then...
“Liam, can you come here please!”
It was Liam’s mom and by the tone of her voice he knew he was in trouble.
“O.K, I’ll be there in a minute.” Off he ran to his house across the street.
Inside the house it was bright and a little chilly because of the air conditioning. Liam sat on the couch to listen to his mother and found out that he was not in trou-
ble.
“Liam, you know how we went to the hospital after your migraine yesterday? Well,
the doctor would like you to have a C.A.T. scan to make sure everything is alright. “Will I have to get a needle?” Liam asked
“ I don’t know,” his mom answered. “I guess we will find out tomorrow when we go to the hospital again. Go tell your brother and sisters to come in for lunch.” So Liam went and told Daniel, Caroline, and T.J. to come in. 

****
Days past, months past, the summer had almost past after the visit to the hospital and the results of the C.A.T. scan (the tube that Liam’s dad described to him as the tube in Star Wars that Han Solo got frozen in) hadn't come in... until that one day when it all started. The family doctor called to say that the scan revealed a mass in the middle of Liam’s brain, but what could the mass be?
It was the end of summer when Liam’s parents told him what was going on. Liam knew that what ever was going on, it was not good. His parents told him that something had been found on the scans and that they had been referred to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton to visit a neurosurgeon named Dr. Singh. After their talk Liam went back to Daniel’s room to finish an epic star wars lego battle they had started and ,of course, Liam won.

****
 
It had been some time since Liam first met Dr. Singh. Liam thought she was the nic- est Doctor he had ever meet. Today he was so happy because he got to see her.
“Mom, are we almost there yet?” Liam blurted out. He was so exited he could barely speak.

“Almost, only fifteen more minutes,” answered his mother who was very exhausted. “ Listen to the radio ‘till we get there,O.K.?”
“ Okay ” Liam replied.
When they were finally in the room waiting for Dr. Singh, Liam could not sit still. “When is she going to get here?” Liam asked
“We don’t know” replied his dad. At that moment Dr. Singh walked in.
“Hello Sunshine” she said as soon as she saw him.
“Hello” was Liam’s reply.
“ Now Liam, your parents might have told you that you have something in your brain.
Some other doctors and I are going to try and get it out.”
“Okay!?” said Liam, who was happy, but confused.
“We are going to send you to have an M.R.I, because we are going to make a map
of your brain with the pictures we get from the scan.” She told him.
“Why do you want a map of my brain?” Liam asked
“So we know where and how to get to the mass.” Dr. Singh told him.
“Oh!” said Liam. After Liam’s checkup, Liam went home and played at the park with
his brother and sisters. 

 ****

“I’m so scared” Liam thought as he walk into the room with the M.R.I. He slipped his shoes off, made sure that there was no metal in his pockets, climbed on the table and laid down.

“What movie did you pick?” the lady that worked the M.R.I asked
“George of the jungle” Liam answered.
“O.K, lets get you set up” she said.
After about thirty minutes the movie paused and Liam heard the lady’s voice, “I’m
going to give you the needle now.”
“Okay” Liam said.
A minute had past when the IV needle was done and the coldness of the contrast
that was injected was over, and Liam was thankful! They got Liam out of the M.R.I. Liam went out to see his parents. 

****

Months of scans and tests had past and finally the day of the surgery arrived. It had been a very scary time for Liam and his family, but they all new that the surgery had to be done. They had got their whole church family to pray for them. Liam had had a rough time but he still went on strong.
“I want to go!” T.J. had no idea why she could not go with her parents to go see Liam when he went in for surgery.
“You can’t, Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon” her mom said.
“Why?” T.J. asked.
“They are looking after you while I’m at the hospital” said Liam.
After they escaped the house they went to the hospital and went to the pre-op where
Liam got some scrubs from the doctors “Thank- you for the scrubs” Liam said.

“You don’t have to say thank- you, you are supposed to wear them” the man said. “Anyway, I’m going to put these devices around your head, we call them Cheerio’s.”
“Cool” Liam said.
The Cheerio’s were special devices that when hooked up for the surgery, let the doc- tors navigate with an image guided system to reach the middle of his brain. They took him to have an M.R.I. and then headed for the surgery floor. Liam and his mother had their picture taken just outside the surgery suite.
“Good luck” his mom said.
“Thank’s” Liam answered.
“Now Liam,” said Dr. Singh, ‘Don’t worry about anything, remember I went to school
for seventeen years to learn to do this.” “Ok” said Liam.
Then they wen’t into the surgery room. Liam’s mom, dressed in scrubs, was allowed to come into the suite and be with him until he went under. Liam saw what he thought was some old school recording stuff. He got onto the table put on the nock-out gas mask, closed his eyes, and that was the last thing that Liam remembered.


****

The day after the surgery Liam woke and was already asking for food and water. Then Dr.Singh came into the room.
“Good morning Sunshine, how are you?”
“Weak and tired, but worst of all I can’t walk or sit up!” said Liam tiredly.
“That is because you have to re-train your body to do those things.” said Dr Singh. !

“Now can I speak to your parents out side for a minute?”
“Okay” replied Liam.
Dr. Singh took his parents to a small room across the hall. Visibly upset, she ex-
plained to them that they had not removed all of the tumor.
“We want to do this right. The whole team has cleared their schedules so we can go
back in next week after Liam has got some rest.”
So Liam would have to go and do it all again in one week’s time...


****

It was a bright, sunny day, when all of a sudden...
“Tag your it!” yelled a voice.
“Come on I was just it,” said Liam. Liam, now a tall eleven year old boy with shaggy
long hair and brown eyes, had tagged his brother Daniel, who had tagged their new friend Gavin who tagged Liam again.
“To bad Liam, guess I’m just to fast for you” answered Gavin.
“Liam can you get Meg or Naomi they haven’t been it yet.” Meg and Naomi are Liam’s new friends that live across the street, Naomi is also Gavin’s sister.
“Don’t get us!” they yelled.
“McGibbons time for lunch” Liam’s mom yelled.
“Ok” said Liam.
“We’ll call on you right after we finish” Caroline told Naomi and Meg. “Yeah, right after we finish” T.J. repeated.
“O.K.” they said
Off the kids ran to there houses for lunch.

Who would have thought that after three years Liam would go back to Hamilton but not for surgeries, tests, or M.R.I.’s but to move there to live. Now only five minutes down the road from the hospital, he lives on a street full of kids to play with. Liam, now eleven, is as heathy as ever.