James & Carolanne

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all very much for your ongoing prayer and support of us over these past few months.  It's hard to believe we're already a good way through summer.  (probably because we've had so little sunshine)  :)  I wanted to say an especially big thank you to all of you who have responded recently to our fund raising requests by joining our team, increasing your giving and giving additional special gifts.  Thank you VERY much.  It is SO meaningful to us to know that people are standing behind us in this.  Thank you also to those of you who have remained faithful in your giving and prayer for us for so many years.  You have all been a HUGE blessing and we feel so honoured to have you standing with us.

You may be wondering what has been going on with my health recently.  As many of you know I struggled with some health problems over the last few years and have had to undergo repeat surgeries attempting to correct things.  I'm happy to say that I'm "cautiously optimistic" about it all.  It seems that the most recent surgery has been successful and things are starting to go back to normal.  I'm very thankful that the Lord has allowed things to finally heal properly.  It's been a long journey and I feel that I've learned a lot about God's grace and will during this time, but I'm also glad that it seems to be over.  Thank you very much for your ongoing prayers for us in this.

On the ministry side of things, the past few months have been super busy with preparation for our annual conference.  Our film team has been hard at work putting together over 1000 video clips of the staff across Canada, along with creating two documentaries.  This in addition to their regular video work for the site.

One of the documentaries is actually now available on the Power to Change site.  The story is only 19 minutes long but it will change the way you see the people around you.  We showed it at our staff conference this past week and had incredible feedback.

http://powertochange.com/experience/spiritual-growth/as-they-pass-by/

This video is a great tool that you could use with a small group. We have created discussion questions to engage your group in a conversation about how it is that we know the Gospel, but it so hard to share our faith.

We've also had some really cool connections happening in some of our online communities.  This excerpt was sent to our team from our director and I thought you would also find it encouraging.

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Jess, who has attended one of our online small groups for quite some time, had been causing a fair bit of trouble.   She had a fair bit of attitude and had been disrupting her group regularly. More than one leader had considered asking this person to no longer be part of the group.   One of our moderators reached out to this visitor and built into her life, sharing the love of Christ even when the lady was responding out of her own pain. Others on our team have regularly prayed for Jess for months.

Then one day early this month, Jess was in a conversation in open chat and led one of our newer visitors to the Lord!   After sharing for quite some time, she came into the online small group (moderated chat) to share this good news with the ladies present that evening. The ladies rejoiced and prayed for this new life.  Would you join us in praying for her growth and that of others who have accepted Christ this month?

It’s incredible that every single day, thousands of people come to the site looking for information, conversation and often answers to some of life’s tough situations.  Many people are looking for information on tough relational issues.  When they find our videos and articles, they often join the community.

One of our articles reached over 1,000 comments this past week.   As people comment, we have mentors who are responding and coming alongside these people.  The goal is to connect current realities to God.   In the context of relationship, hearts are open to hearing the message of Jesus.

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Thank you for your ongoing prayers for us in reaching these people with the love of Christ.  Please continue to pray that God would make us even more effective and show us how best to reach the next generations.

Please continue to pray also for our support.  It has been really encouraging to see that it has been increasing lately, however we also still have a long way to go.  As it stands right now, we have raised approximately 46% of our total need.

Thank you again to all of you who have been standing with us so faithfully.  We wish you God's blessing this summer in all you do.

All the best from James, Carolanne, Benjamin & Julia.