Canadian Evangelism

An Alpha Lab - aren't they having fun! I'm sitting in a room at the Travelodge in Calgary. Tonight at 1 AM I'm picking up Steve Mulder, my BC counterpart at the airport. What airline in their right mind flies in to Calgary from Vancouver at one o'clock in the morning, I don't know. But they do, so who am I to question. Market research must have told them it was a good time to fly. Tomorrow, Saturday, at Foothills Alliance , from 9AM to 3PM, we will present my first Alpha Lab, a new concept in Alpha training. An Alpha Lab features interactive, multi-media, board training games, and video components. We expect about 50 guests. If it turns out to be a success, I will let you know. If it is/was a flop I probably won't. (I probably shouldn't have made that last statement, because we fully expect God to show up, and when He does, great things happen, guaranteed.) Early next week I travel to Grande Prairie, to Christian Fellowship Assembly (CFA), where they are ho...

Yesterday and this morning I attended a retreat with a group of Youth Pastors and others involved in presenting the Alpha Youth Film series in various contexts. One of these was a teacher in a First Nations school on a reserve in Central Alberta. Conditions on the reserve are horrendous for children to be growing up in. She has been running Alpha there for about two and a half years, with some amazing success stories. Here are some of the points she made: Often, more kids will come to Alpha than come to school. In other words they will stay home from school and come after school for Alpha. On Alpha they hear a message of acceptance and grace. School is sometimes the only safe place for some of these kids. They go home to addiction and violence. Junior high school students often have to go home to cook and look after their siblings. Alpha is a chance to be served food they don't have to cook themselves. A number of children who have been on suicide watch have been taken of...

I must admit I have not taken the opportunity to post much in recent days, and I apologize for it. My time has been spent more in preparation mode than anything else. Preparation for what? Well, I'm glad you asked. As I have posted, Bear Grylls is lending his name and brand to Alpha internationally for a year and a half beginning September 2016. This campaign will involve forming a number of Regional Teams across the country to take local initiative in reaching their communities with the Jesus story through Alpha. So... the first step is to form and develop these regional teams. Part of this process is to hold regional, "Invite Canada" meetings. We have already held three, in Edmonton and Sherwood Park, Alberta. I'm holding another in Grande Prairie on April 12. Here is the invitation I sent out for that one to churches in the Peace Region of Alberta: Come and find out how your church can be a part of it. April 12 at Christian Fellowship Assembly Grande Prairie We ha...