September 2021

Welcome to a new month and a new Deacons Corner.

 It is so hard to believe that it’s September already!  The summer flew by and already it is time for the children to go back to school, for the fall church programs to start back up and for shorter days and (slightly) cooler temperatures. 

Despite the end of summer vacation, unfortunately, we are not yet at the end of this pandemic.  We pray that God will heal our land, safely bring us through this tumultuous time, and trust that he will do so in his timing.  For God is good - all the time!

My internet search for encouragement in tough times today, led me to this photo.  Though the acrostic is set to Back To School, perhaps we can all take comfort in these verses, pray these words, and live these truths as we enter this new month.

Stay tuned for our next Deacons Corner on October 3!

Refugee Family 

We continue to await the arrival of the Tooe family.  We have been informed by the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program, which is funded by the Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, that the Tooe family’s arrival will not be affected by any fourth wave concerns.  

That being said, we still do not have a firm date from World Renew as to when the family will arrive.  Once we receive that information, we will have approximately 10 days before their arrival.

We are so thankful for the congregation’s generosity in preparing a home for the Tooe family, to welcome them to Canada, and to show God’s love.  For those who have been holding donated items, we hope to make contact with you in the coming weeks to make arrangements to pick up the donations. Thank you again for your generosity!!

New Missionary 

In our July Deacons’ Corner we introduced our new missionary Gail Gorfe, who is serving through Resonate Global Mission; Ethiopia. On September 19, 2021 we will take up an offering in support of Gail’s work in Ethiopia.

For information on Bingham Academy, please feel free to click on the link and watch this Youtube video (filmed pre-covid) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS7F9SLO7oM

We also received this great information explaining more specifically the work that Gail is doing at Bingham Academy through Resonate:

“As Project Manager I oversee the development and review of school policies, the staff and parent handbooks and misc projects such as agreements with hospitals for staff medical care.  I also handled the school accreditation renewal in 2019 with the Association of Christian Schools International, and I follow up with the annual reporting.

As Government Relations Coordinator I handle all the paperwork and scheduling for work permits for our international staff.  This means talking them through the paperwork when they have accepted a position at Bingham so that they know what they need to do before they even leave home to come here.  Then I work with the staff in getting the necessary documents once they have arrived and then getting them renewed every year and handing them back in when staff leave for good.  It is quite a complex job, and most people cannot believe that I really enjoy it!

As Food Service Coordinator I oversee the school kitchen.  Currently we do not provide lunches for the students because of covid, though before covid it was possible for parents to order lunches for their kids.  We do still serve lunch for the staff, so I handle the menu (which is not difficult) and liaise with the kitchen staff.  This year we have also been working on modernizing the kitchen, adding in hot and cold counters.  This was a need before, but as we consider how to reintroduce lunches for the students (as currently they have to bring lunch), in a more staggered way, the food has to stay hot longer.

For the last two years I have also been the yearbook coordinator.  We had a student yearbook club the first year, but again due to covid that has stopped.  I am not sure if I will continue that task, though I have now gotten so familiar with the canva software that it goes easier then it did the first year!”

Gail has also expressed her appreciation for our financial support.  “Offerings have been down a lot since last March.  Our supporting churches all have various options for offerings listed on their bulletins now and so many of the offerings are around ¼ of what they were before.  Thankfully we have a fair number of monthly supporters but we are always looking for more.  If you have any congregation members interested in partnering with us in that way, please do not hesitate to let them know that we are always looking for such support. Anyone who is interested in that can go to this website to sign up. Gail and Yonas Gorfe | Resonate Global Mission.