Missions Update: February 2023
We are so thankful that we can begin this year with the ongoing support of the three local, national, and international missions we are committed to walking with. The enthusiastic engagement of the Table community in various initiatives that we have done over the past year has been so encouraging. Some of these initiatives included the missions panel, Easter treat bags for the Street Hope community, supplying Abundant Grace of God maternity clinic with a doppler, assisting Liz Snell with her textbook expenses or providing the Street Hope community with gift boxes. This was on top of your continued prayerful support and the annual financial commitment to each mission.
Updated information on the missions we support is HERE! Or, read on below.
Abundant Grace of God Maternity Clinic, Philippines
The Macad Family Serving in Kalinga, Philippines
Just wanted to send a quick note to say Happy New Year to all of you who have been praying for and supporting our family and the clinic this past 2022.
We ended the year here with a fun clinic Christmas party and it was good to be all together again. If you want to see what a typical Filipino Christmas feast looks like (minus the cookies) have a look!!
Filipino Party Games
For a look at some Filipino Christmas party games look below here!
You have to get the Oreo cookie from your forehead to your mouth without touching it!
Below is a small sample of the many staff kids, and don’t think the staff didn’t stand up to the challenge, especially when prizes were involved!
Thank God with us for a new Abundant staff baby born late in November!!
Prayer and Praises
Prayer:
So, on the day of our clinic Xmas party Achao got in a car accident. It wasn't serious although the guy on the motorcycle broke his leg. Any kind of accident here is very complicated so please pray for peace and healing for all involved.
Please pray for Emmaus as he has the opportunity to attend an Outdoor Ed camp with an International school in February.
Praise:
Thank God with us for 3 new staff midwives currently in training, and 1 new social worker.
Thank God with us for a good Board of Trustees meeting in November!
To support the Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center please click here, and thank you!
To support the Macad Family please click here, and thank you!
Alan Thorimbert
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship:
Victoria | BC
Merry Christmas, Friends!
This Advent I have found myself increasingly drawn to the imagery of light found in dark places. The narratives surrounding our Creator's incarnation. in the gospels are full of this imagery. The magi following a great star. The angelic light encountered by the Shepherds. The opening chapter of John's gospel reminds us that Jesus was present as the Trinity before creation. The imagery is everywhere.
As I reflect on this past semester, I see so much of the Creator's light being made manifest in our world. Mundane and often ordinary, the light can often go unnoticed, but it is there. Vibrant and full of life. Persistent and hope-inspiring.
It is there being birthed in our UVIC Discovery Cohort as UVIC students are taking up the mantle of hospitality and are learning to hear our Creator's voice through group spiritual direction.
It is there at Camosun, just underneath the surface of the non-religious students' despair around the state of the world and deep within their yearnings for something more, something greater.
It is there in my meetings over coffee with the male students I am mentoring as they journey through the dark days of wrestling with issues of mental health and loneliness.
And most definitely, the Creator's light was present at our Christmas party in December.
I hope you'll delight in this photographic journey through the highlights of the great feast of which we ended our school year together. It was an incredible celebration, and according to our one non-religious friend from Dhaka, it was the "highlight of his semester."
I hope the pictures and stories can encourage you all as well!
Prayer Requests
January is coming to an end and we are excited to enter into February. God has been faithful in walking with us and students here in Victoria.
Here's how you can be praying for us:
Engineering students -Two UViC students have begun reaching out to students in their program. Pray for God to go with them and to grow their boldness in invitation.
Discovery Cohort-We have begun journeying through the Sanctuary Mental Health Course with students. We are thankful for thr first years and Camosun students who have joined us. Pray for God to grow our heart for those struggling with mental health on college and university campuses here in Victoria.
Reading Week Retreat-Please pray for our upcoming reading week retreat in late February. Pray that students will experience rich Kingdom community and a heart for for cultivating fellowship and hospitality on campus through practical life choices like intentional community homes
Camosun College-We are thankful for new Christian and non religious students who have joined us this semester and fro two students who have begun getting connected to local churches. Pray for students to encounter God as we gathered together for our weekly meal and discussion times.
Open House-Please pray tonight as one UVIC students hosts an open houses for his non-religious friends to come and have dinnner and meaningful conversations around life and faith. Pray for students to experiment belonging and love as we create space for them to ask questions.
Pray that God would use our students to help foster curiosity towards himself and the Bible in the hearts of the non-religious students at UVIC and Camosun College.
We are so encouraged knowing you are joining us in prayer for all the God is doing and yet to do!
Partnership Updates
Hey friends! I have been overwhelmed with the ways that God has shown his provision for myself and the campus fellowships in Victoria. There are so many stories to celebrate. Thank you for partnering with us this year and for being a part of his story of provision
As the year comes to the end, I would like to invite you to consider supporting the long-term work of InterVarsity in Victoria. We would love to be able to plant high school ministries here in town as well as plan for future staff for all the university and college campuses here in Victoria. Below are all the ways that you can continue to partner with us - including BC's Provincial Fundraiser and UVIC's Campus Fund.
Thank you for your constant support, prayers, and encouragement.
Ways to Give
To donate click: BC Gathering Momentum Fundraiser
To support Alan Thorimbert click: Online to Personal Fund
To support the Uvic Fund click: Online to Uvic Fund: Go to the 'Select Designation' box choose the University of Victoria
Cheque mailed to InterVarsity:
InterVarsity Canada
1 International Boulevard
Toronto, ON M9W 6H3
Please include in the memo: Alan Thorimbert - Undergraduate Campus Minister.
If you are already a monthly donor, would like to increase your regular giving, or would like to transfer your donation to another staff or campus ministry – you may also contact Donor Services at donorservices@ivcf.ca or at 1-800-668-9766
New outreach director!
After 12 years of being primarily volunteer led, Street Hope has a new outreach director! Deborah (Debs) Moyo moved to Canada in September 2022 to take on this role from the UK. She and her husband Mandla lived in Nottingham before this, where Debs was serving in her curacy (she is ordained in the Church of England). Both Debs and her husband love hiking, live go to content? music and being by the sea, so they are excited to live in Victoria. In a recent Street Hope newsletter, Debs writes “I am really excited to be here to join the ministry of Street Hope Victoria (SHV) and share the love of Jesus in such a practical way. I am really impressed and encouraged by the team’s heart for the people in their city who find themselves without the basic necessities of food or homes for whatever reason. It is amazing how they have found new ways to adapt and carry on through COVID and they are using carts and going up and down Pandora instead of using the RV.”
Street Hope Outreach Director’s First ImpressioN
Debs recently shared some of her first impressions about being out with the Street Hope community in a recent Street Hope newsletter.
She writes –
It is clear SHV has built a sense of community over the years, welcoming and being welcomed in return by the people who live on Pandora. As we take the carts up and down the street, there is a real sense of mutual hospitality. We are welcomed into their space, as they share conversation with us, maybe they share something of their life with us, as we share something of ours and then also food for with them. This is something that has really struck me!
Norm is a poet and has a God-given gift for creative writi ng. I shared with Norm that every time I have to write a sermon it is only by the grace of God I have anything to say on a Sunday morning! The words just do not naturally flow for me.
Norm straight away asked if he could pray for me. Something I hadn’t expected. He placed his hand on my shoulder and asked God to give me the words I needed and that they would flow from my mouth.
This is something I’ve been told Norm wouldn’t have done a couple of years ago. I felt so blessed by Norm’s prayer, and that he would even offer to pray for me after only meeting me two times. Something many long-term Christians wouldn’t even offer to someone they’d known for a long time!
Debs with her husband Mandla!
Picture: Norm
Christmas 2022 Gift Boxes
A big thank you for your generosity towards the Street Hope community at Christmas. Close to 200 shoeboxes packed full of useful items such as toiletries, warm clothing, snacks and cards were given out over two evenings (other churches and individuals also contributed boxes).
The recipients really appreciated the gifts that showed them that they are cared for, loved and accepted. Many people commented that this was the only gift they were receiving, and someone even said it's the only gift he's received in years. One young man was speechless. He said to me that he couldn't express how much this meant to him.
Ways to Get Involved
Pray. The people on the street need healing, nurturing relationships, stable shelter, protection from the hazards of life on the street, and the transformation that comes through knowing God’s love and power in their lives. Please pray for Debs, as she transitions into the role as Outreach Director, that she will develop meaningful relationships with the Street Hope community, make good connections with other agencies in town, and for wisdom in running Street Hope Victoria. Contact Tim Hardy if you want to be on an email list of prayer requests.
Make some soup. Street Hope’s amazing soup lady (Barbara from COOL) always appreciates buckets of frozen home-made soup and can provide recipes for Street Hope favourites. Contact Debs if you would like to make some soup. deborah@thresholdministries.ca
Join the outreach team. Contact Debs if you would be interested in helping out on Tuesday evenings, on a regular or fill-in basis.
Easter Treats. Bring Easter treats or homemade cookies to COOL before March 25th, and they will be given out on Easter to our Street Hope friends.
Financial donations can be made through the Table Church or through this link. Select “Street Hope Victoria” from the list of funds.
