Ministry Update :: Sept 2020

Last week we were asked to create a short video update for a supporting church and thought we would pass it on to our other prayer partners. In it, we share about some of our summer activities, our kids’ schooling, and an update on some of the projects at GoodSeed.

Thanks for watching.

Troy

 

Ministry Update :: August 2020

It’s been a while! Here’s a little update on some of the things we’ve been up to.

Kids’ video for our church

Like many, church has been a bit different. For a long time, our church only did services online. During that time, we were asked to do one of the kids’ features for our church’s online service. We were provided with a rough script and we filmed it in our yard.

You can watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7F4xMNyU2s


A new audio drama?

Work on the No Ordinary Story audio drama is moving along, overseen by John Cross and James Janzen. This music and drama gospel presentation has been over a decade in the making, but we are nearing first publication. Last year John consulted with a Christian drama professor with extensive script writing experience. With his input, the team engaged in a script re-write, largely telling the true stories of three actual people.

The audio drama is now in the editing stage. We hope to have this available in audio format by Christmas and then the next goal is to create the resources for churches to perform this as an evangelistic outreach event by next year.

We wanted to have an international sound, so the voice actors include three mild accents: Scottish, Indian and Canadian. In a time of social distancing, this made for some interesting challenges to get their voices recorded, but we are thankful for how the process has gone.

Thank the Lord with us for his provision in many ways and for directing this huge project forward.

Other happenings

Naomi has been writing articles for GoodSeed to inform and encourage people to share the Gospel message. The confluence of crisis, isolation and technology has led to some exciting stories of people sharing their faith in new ways. We’ve heard of many studies taking place via Zoom; of increased openness to the Gospel all over the world; of an increased burden among some believers to reach out to those around them.
Troy continues to plug away at his responsibilities, which include everything from government paperwork, financial oversight, website maintenance, responding to many email inquiries each day, maintenance around our office, keeping our store going and getting new storefronts up and running (we’re almost ready to open one in Australia), among many others. He has much more to do than he has hours in his day.

Give a few of them a read at:
What is Truth? part 1, part 2, part 3

Summer

Despite all that is going on, we have had some good opportunities to get out and enjoy the short Alberta summer. We are stay a lot closer to home generally, but thankful to live in a beautiful part of the country. We have had lots of local walks and bike rides, and many camp fires in the back yard.

We had a few days at a Christian camp as a family and our eldest, Ellie, stayed on for 10 days as a volunteer in the horse program. We also have a camping trip planned for later this month before the whole back to school rush.

Thanks for joining us on the journey!

Troy & Naomi

Family Camp

Like many camps, Blue Bronna Wilderness Camp has had to do things differently this year. They ended up using their camp to host families amid the pandemic. Located southwest of Longview, and tucked away in the foothills, it is a beautiful facility with some great staff. Our family had a really wonderful time there.

Ministry Update :: May 20, 2020

Video update

Naomi and I were recently asked to provide a short video update for my home church and we thought we would send it along for you to watch or share with your church. In the video we share a little about life for our family during this pandemic, as well as some stories from GoodSeed.

You can watch the video at: https://youtu.be/bfx9CqaA_nI

 


Spring has finally come to Central Alberta! Better late than never. On April 8th I took a snow shovel out to our back garden to expose the soil and the snow was nearly to my knees. Now we are outside more and enjoying gardening, walks along country roads, and last weekend, a hike in surreal landscape in the river valley at Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park. Here are a few photos of our adventures.

Ministry Update :: Community Preparedness Kits

Community Preparedness Kits

I am thankful for ministry partnerships where we can join in on what the Lord is doing through the Body of Christ. I just got off the phone with a fellow at Samaritan’s Purse’s Canadian Response Centre in Calgary, where they are looking to get more supplies to First Nations people in remote communities of Canada. These Community Preparedness Kits are being distributed in partnership with ministries that work with First Nations groups.The kits contain items like hand sanitizer, masks, gloves and other supplies to help protect people against the pandemic.

An important aspect of these kits includes a resource that explains the Gospel message, and that is where GoodSeed comes into the picture.

Another 5 cases of The Story that Matters heading to remote northern communities.
Sending along the Gospel Message

Along with these medical and sanitation supplies, Samaritan’s Purse wanted to include a resource to explain the Gospel, so they approached us here at GoodSeed to see what we could supply. The Story that Matters is a short Creation-to-Christ explanation of God’s plan of salvation, and Samaritan’s Purse has already distributed 500 copies of this book in this outreach effort and will be sending another 500 out soon. They plan to send out more of these kits as they receive donations to help pay for the supplies.

Please pray with us that these evangelism booklets will have an impact on the lives of those who receive them.

Read more about this program at Samaritans Purse: COVID-19 Medical Supplies Sent to Northern Canada


Watching our church’s Sunday morning live stream has certainly made for a different Sunday routine. One of the nice changes is we have made time to have a big breakfast together on Sunday mornings. This past week that coincided with Mother’s Day, so it was the kids’ turn to make breakfast – french toast and sausage.