As we rapidly approach the 3 year mark of living in Victoria, we felt that it was time to post an update to our website.
As we skimmed through this site, we found that much was the same.
The surety of our calling and the need for the Gospel here has not changed!
Our perspective on WHY God called us here however has certainly be clarified over time.
THE NEED
We knew we were moving to a spiritually dark place when we accepted this call, but we didn't quite understand the depth of just how tangibly we would experience the darkness of this island.
Many in our city are actively fighting against Christianity and Biblical morality. It is a difficult place to unashamedly live out one's faith.
Additionally, Vancouver Island is home to both the 1st and 3rd least religious cities in all of Canada, Nanaimo and Victoria.
The mission of Canvas Church is not just to reach the people of Victoria, but to plant life-giving churches all across Vancouver Island.
MULTIPLY
This goal seems like a daunting one! However, God has shown and reminded us that he has equipped us to do His work- without Him we can do nothing, but through His power we can do much.
As Canvas Church grows in size, it is clear that the Christians who live here are truly the best missionaries. We feel that God has equipped us with gifts for this very purpose; Noah with Bible teaching and leadership and Emma with hospitality and discernment.
Our mission is to make every effort to train and equip people here to be apart of church planting efforts all over Vancouver Isalnd!
SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
Here is what that practically looks like through the lens of our "jobs"
Worship Ministry
Although Noah leads worship weekly, he does not only see a responsibility to lead the service but to trian those on the team. He spends time menoring and training young adults who have the potential to be worship leaders. He looks for oppurtunities to let others lead and grow in confidence in their calling!
Young Adult Ministry (yam)
This ministry is where we can most tangably see God at work for the purpose of sending Christians OUT. Young adults are some of the most open-ended, flexible people as they aren't tied down to many life commitments yet. Noah teaches from the Bible every Monday night, followed by gender specific small groups led by both Noah and Emma. This is a time where yam truly experiences the encouragemnt and accountability of Christian community. We have seen so much spiritual growth in this ministry!
NOT JUST A TRAINING GROUNDS, STILL A MISSION FIELD
Although God has shown us a specific purspose in training and equipping fellow beleivers, as mentioned above, Victoria is a very lost place. Much of our time here is still spent reaching the lost around us! Here are some ways that has practically looked like throughout 2024.
Yam Evangelism Ministry at Royal Roads
This year Noah led a a group of our Young Adults in an Evangelism effort at Royal Roads Universtity. There were 2 meetings of training followed by weekly prayerwalking as the team asked God to show them who to talk to. The team had several Gospel conversations as well as many positive relationships built.
This truly paved the way for our Yam Autumn Fest, where we encouraged our young adults to invite their lost friends that they have been praying for to come simply for a night of fun. A mission team from FBC Folsom traveled to help put on the event as well as prayer walk and invite students at 3 Universities near us.
This was a huge sucess as we now have a few Young Adults in regular attendance on Monday nights who came as a result of Autumn Fest. One of which is now very close to giving his life to the Lord.
Moms Group
What started as a fellowship for Moms with little kids at our church, was intentionally turned into an evangelism effort. Emma started a weekly meetup for moms almost 2 years ago. Since then, the group has read a book and gone through a Bible study together and now meet once a month without the kids for accountability and encouragement.
As the group grew spiritually, Emma casted a vison to the group for the weekly meetup to be missional. Now, moms invite their lost friends looking for good mom community to our Thursday morning meetups.
Its truly the "long game" but Emma uses this oppurtunity to connect relationally with moms in the community for the purpose of pointing them to Jesus.
We still feel called to be in Victoria, but there are several factors weighing on our ability to stay.
OUR LEGAL STATUS
As many of you know, when we first moved to Victoria we did so be means of a 3 year temporary work permit. In August, our work permits will expire and we will need to leave the country if we do not have new permits.
Canada is now highly restricting foreign workers so the process does not feel as easy as it did for the move. In addition, there is no longer an option to extend an expiring work permit- we will be starting over with a new application.
We need your prayers
as we meet with our immigration lawyer over the coming months to put together our application. Pray our new permits will be accepted early!
Permanent Residency
is still very much on our radar. Although it is expensive, daunting, and time-consuming, we are stepping out in faith to begin the process. For the same reasons mentioned above, permanent residency is harder now to obtain that is has been in the past. Your profile is only considered if your family achieves a certain level of points- God is already showing us he will provide by our estimated points being higher than we expented specifically because of something He led us to do 2 years ago. We are trusting in God that if this is His will, we will eventually become permanant residents!
OUR FINANCIAL UPDATE
Firstly, we want to say thank you to everyone who has sacrifically given to us for the past 2.5 years. We couldn't do what we do without those who financially parter with us in the States.
Canvas Church is Growing
and as a result is able to cover more of Noah's salary!
When we first moved to Canada, we were asked to fundraise 33% of Noahs salary, then when Emma came on staff we needed to raise 100% of hers.
This was a scary thing for us as we don't feel that fundraising is in our giftings and felt nervous about the process. We are thankful to report that God has been faithful to meet all of our needs through the means of Christians giving faithfully towards our ministry in Victoria.
As the church grows, they truly desire to be more financially independent and take on our full salaries. At this time, they are able to reduce the amount we need to fundraise to 20% of Noahs salary and "as much as we can" of Emma's salary. They are commited to helping with our funraising when needed as well as decreasing our amount to fundraise each year.
This being said, if you feel led to continue to give to our ministry in Victoria we are still in need of financial partners.
LASTLY, WE ASK AGAIN FOR PRAYER!
Your prayers for protection over our family, both physically and relationally are most meaningful to us.
Here are a few specific ways to pray:
Our kids are now 2.5 and 1.5 years old. Pray for their health! Pray that God would provide good friends for them here.
Pray over Noah's health as we are facing some unknown issues regarding his liver.
Pray over Emma's health as she is still recovering physically from having 2 babies so close together.
Pray for a spirit of unity, love, and peace in our home.
THANK YOU
for your prayers and support! We are so thankful.
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