Ministry – James & Carolanne

Global Daily - May 2025

Mon, 14 Apr 25 15:25:34 +0000

Thank you for your continued prayer for us these past months. In July we hope to attend the biennial Power to Change staff conference as a family. This conference is usually a great opportunity to meet the rest of the team and hear how God is working in the various ministries across the organization. We will be working to raise the funds to cover the cost of attending during the next few months. Please pray that God would provide the funds needed for this trip. Pray also for more people to join our team. Several of our staff are nearing retirement and we need people to join the team who are passionate about reaching the lost worldwide, working as missionaries online. Thank you for your prayer and support of us in this ministry. We truly appreciate having such a great team of people standing with us financially and prayerfully in this ministry.

Global Daily - Mar 2025

Thu, 13 Feb 25 22:34:39 +0000

Dear Friends, Thank you for your prayer and support of us. This year James has been working on creating software that allows our Digital Strategies ministry to expand into more of a community-based mentoring focus. The DS ministry is hoping to begin creating safe communities for evangelism and discipleship in addition to the one-to-one mentoring we already do. Please pray for wisdom as James continues building the software to support these strategies. On the family side, this year our kids are continuing with homeschool in grades 12 and 10. This has been a bit of a transition for us. These later grades are much more self-directed as they work with their online teachers on the various highschool courses. Please pray that they have the motivation and understanding to finish well. All the best, James & Carolanne

Global Daily - Nov 2024

Tue, 15 Oct 24 19:21:39 +0000

Praise the Lord with us for a young woman who has been in conversation with one of our mentors for over two years and just recently gave her life to Christ. She is now attending an evangelical church with friends and has been invited by the mentor to a follow-up series to help her and her friends grow in faith. Please continue to pray specifically for the mentors who serve with our ministry. Often it can be disheartening when they don't see much progress in a person for a long period of time. However, praise reports like this remind us that God continues to work in people's hearts, even over the long-haul.

From Darkness to Light: Ghazal's Testimony of Faith in Christ

Tue, 28 May 24 16:12:38 +0000

![From Darkness to Light](https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/storage/QHMQsRpwVfTVKAw3Zrjc86TfSPIAFZso30nMxjx6.jpg "From Darkness to Light") This story was shared recently by one of our staff who has a heart for the Iranian people and runs the [ba2am.com](https://ba2am.com) website, a Farsi/Persian version of [IssuesIFace.com](https://issuesiface.com). I love hearing about how our ministry is making a difference in people's lives all around the world. I hope you enjoy hearing this too. --- My name is Ghazal, and I want to share with you the incredible journey of faith that has transformed my life. For years, I wandered in darkness, burdened by the weight of past hurts and broken dreams. I had been separated twice before, and each time, the pain seemed to deepen. But it was the toxic relationship I found myself in for the third time that truly shattered me. I had a 10-year-old son who needed me, but amidst the chaos and toxicity of my life, I was unable to care for him well. Anger and bitterness consumed me, and I felt trapped in a cycle of hopelessness. But then, in the midst of my darkest moments, a ray of light broke through the clouds. Through an unexpected connection, I met Melina, a mentor from Canada, on ba2am.com. Despite the miles between us, Melina reached out to me with words of hope and comfort. She shared the Gospel with me, something totally new for me, speaking of Christ who offers rest to the weary and hope to the brokenhearted. As I poured out my heart to Melina, she prayed for me, asking for Christ's guidance and strength to lead me out of the darkness. And miraculously, doors began to open. I found a new job, and the seed of hope that Melina, planted in my heart began to take root. Through the ups and downs of life's challenges, Melina continued to share the teachings of Christ's love and grace with me. In the quiet moments of reflection, I found solace in the words of the Bible, finding comfort in the promise of a Christ who never leaves nor forsakes. And one day, surrounded by love and grace, I made the decision to open my heart to Christ. Today, I walk with a renewed sense of purpose and joy, knowing that I am loved beyond measure by Christ who has promised to never leave me. My journey of faith continues to unfold with each passing day, and I am grateful for the hope and healing that I have found in Christ.

Family & Ministry Update

Fri, 15 Dec 23 17:09:55 +0000

Hello friends! A few weeks ago we sent out our end-of-year update by paper mail. You may have received it! However, in case you didn't, I wanted to send out an email copy as well. Enjoy! James W. ---- ## Family & Ministry Update ### HELLO FROM QUESNEL! Last year at this time we had just gotten settled and were getting used to living here in Quesnel. There was fresh snow on the ground and we weren’t sure what to expect from the upcoming winter. Today there is again fresh snow, we have been living here a little over a year and have experienced all the seasons, including winter, summer, mosquito, and bear season. We really love living here. Both Carolanne and I feel that this has been a really good move for our family. It’s a quieter pace of life, more light and sunshine, and a friendly community. Carolanne loves being able to have a garden, and she was able to grow a number of veggies that we enjoyed over the summer and fall. Ben enjoys biking and spent many hours riding around the quieter streets of our neighbourhood and in town. Julia has grown to like attending the weekly youth events at our church and hanging out with a new friend. And I have appreciated having more room in the garage to work on odd jobs. The kids are continuing on with homeschool. Last year for grade 10 we switched Ben into a new program with a school called Heritage and this year we did the same for grade 9 with Julia. It has been a bit of a challenge since this school (and grade 10 in general) is more structured than their previous experiences. However, they are both catching on and we feel that this has been a good direction to go with their education. We have both been very grateful to attend a life-group for new people to in our church. We have been meeting weekly for over a year now, with a break during the summer. It’s been a really great opportunity to connect with other local couples and study the Bible together. ### MINISTRY STATUS This year I spent quite a bit of time developing a new “Live Chat” tool that our mentors can use to connect with people looking for help. When mentors activate the tool, it starts inviting website visitors to come and chat in real-time with someone who can help encourage and pray for them right then and there. At the time I write this we are working to train our English speaking mentors how to engage in this form of ministry. We are also translating and releasing the software and training in several other languages and countries. Another interesting project we’ve been exploring is how we might engage with the online video gaming demographic. There are large and vibrant communities of online gamers who might never set foot into a church, but meet regularly to play and stream video games together. Some of these include popular Christian influencers who aren’t sure how to transition to a discussion of Jesus. One of my team members is exploring how we might help build a safe space for gamers to come and talk about faith! These are just a couple of the many different projects, strategies and partnerships that the Digital Strategies ministry has been pursuing. Our ministry equips mentors to respond to more than 75,000 people each year who reach out to us via our websites. We also partner with 80+ churches and ministries in 128 countries who use our tools to increase their reach and impact. ***Thank you for helping us continue to serve with P2C :: Digital Strategies!*** Carolanne and I are incredibly thankful to have people like you standing with us in prayer and financial support as we continue in this ministry. We depend on the generosity of others like you to continue serving in these areas. If you can help with a special gift this year, it would be a huge blessing both to us and to the ministry. You can find ways to give at this link. [jamesandcarolanne.com/give](https://jamesandcarolanne.com/give/) Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers and your hearts. Wishing you all the best, James & Carolanne Ben, Julia & Hershey

Global Daily - July 2023

Fri, 14 Jul 23 19:07:59 +0000

Dear CHC Friends,

Thank you for your ongoing prayer for this ministry and for me and my family. In my last update I mentioned that I would be developing a live-chat system for our ministry. This has now been built and we are in the process of testing it and rolling it out to some select partners who are helping us with the testing. We have already had some amazing stories and conversations come out from it's use. Pray that God would continue to give us effectiveness in reaching more searching people with the gospel.

You can read more about how God is working or subscribe to our email newsletter by visiting: www.jamesandcarolanne.com

Thank you!
James W

Global Daily - April 2023

Tue, 14 Mar 23 08:59:21 +0000

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your continued prayer and support of us. We are very blessed to have friends and donors who continue to surround us and this ministry in prayer.

As you may know, much of my practical day-to-day activity is writing the back-end code that runs our various software platforms and outreach sites. Right now I'm exploring how we might build a live-chat system where our visitors would be able to talk directly to the mentors while maintaining security and anonymity on both sides. Please pray for wisdom in this process, both for the building of it as well as the development of the over-all strategy.

Please also pray for our continued funding both as a ministry as well as personally.

Finally, pray that God would continue to bring technically minded people to serve with our team.

Thank you! :)

A Muslim Finds Truth

Mon, 21 Nov 22 08:40:37 +0000

The following story was shared recently by our Arabic ministry director. He is an amazing man who loves the Lord dearly and is passionate to reach the Arabic world with the gospel. I love hearing him share stories from the ministry and I hope you will too. The names have been changed for the safety of these new believers.

Salima’s life of privilege and wealth came crashing down when her husband was sent to prison for fraud. It wasn’t until several years later that her life changed for the better.

Aisha happened to be a Christian and invited Salima to church. She quickly accepted the invitation, went to church and, caught up in the moment, she made a profession of faith in Christ. Within a few days, though, Salima felt conflicted, guilty and fearful of Allah’s wrath. She returned to Islam with more tenacity than before.

Like a seed that falls on the path and is pecked away and eaten by birds, her faith did not last more than a month (Matthew 13:18,19). But God was working all the while.

Earlier this year, something changed. There was something in Salima’s heart that she could no longer deny. She began to investigate Christianity further and found our Arabic website, where she connected with our mentors.

Salima had many questions. Her mentors spent hours with her, helping her understand the truth about Islam. Eventually, Salima decided to reject the religion. She wanted the same joy that she remembered Aisha and others at the church had.

Together with her mentors, she studied the Bible and learned what it meant to follow Jesus. Salima decided to make an informed, sincere decision to give her life to Jesus. She is now back at her previous church and in August, she led her daughter to faith in Christ and both of them got baptized!

Thank you for your part in allowing this Muslim lady to find truth and salvation. Your prayer and generous support help us continue in this ministry.

Sept. 2020 Update

Tue, 15 Sep 20 15:04:14 +0000

Dear Friends,

What a crazy summer it has been! I know I and my family are definitely ready for life to go back to some semblance of normal. I'm sure you are too. Seems like every month brings new calamities.

As I write this today, our skies here in Chilliwack are grey with wildfire smoke, and at times the air has an acrid taste. Just this week a train derailed nearby, and a large pier went up in flames an hour away in Vancouver. That's even apart from the whole Covid situation where some of our neighbors are quarantined awaiting test results, and any time I cough in public I look around guiltily wondering how people will react.

And yet, in all of this, God is still at work in the hearts and lives of people around the world. Our internet ministry has continued to grow dramatically over the past year. Spanish is becoming big right now with a group in Latin America starting to really use our software tools to reach Spanish speakers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Another group pushing forward these days is Turkey. Several different Turkish strategies are being used to reach that area of the world by a group using our online mentoring system.

Yet another is Slovakia. A group there has used our IssuesIFace strategy as a template and developed https://mamproblem.sk to reach Slovak speakers. I'm glad we can partner with these folks, because my Slovak and Turkish is a bit rusty. :D

It's so cool to see God using the tools we create to reach people in countries I've never been and languages I can't even pronounce. Thank you for helping to support us in this ministry and allowing this to take place.

Prayer Requests

Please pray wisdom for us as we are in process of figuring out how to allow people to be mentored via more Instant Message style systems such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Text Messaging.
Please pray for more funding for both our personal support and that of the ministry. This is a tough time for everyone and fundraising is especially complicated.
Please pray for our family as we work through some health concerns.
Please pray for wisdom as we are homeschooling our kids again this year.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you also for your generosity with us through gifts and donations to our ministry.

* image credit Brent Hayden OLY
https://twitter.com/thebrenthayden/status/1305362285280387072

2019 Wrap Up

Mon, 30 Dec 19 10:46:08 +0000

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We feel very blessed to have you on our team! Thank you for your prayer and support of us in this ministry over the years. We are so glad to have you standing with us in this ministry. We would like to share our End of Year Letter with you. In it we share some of the adventures we've had as a family this year, along with some updates, stories and prayer requests from the ministry. Click Here to get the letter as a PDF.

Texting for Christ - Sept 2019 Ministry Update

Fri, 27 Sep 19 16:13:26 +0000

Dear Friends and Supporters, I thought I would try something a little different with today's ministry update. I've recorded it as a video. I've love to have you watch it and hear your feedback. Thanks for watching! All the best, James W

Some Statistics

Fri, 10 Oct 14 09:52:56 +0000

Normally, raw statistics are not all that inspiring. I thought these were worth sharing though. This is a glimpse into why I do what I do. These are from our website www.powertochange.com So far today on just this site, there are 24 people who have indicated that they've decided to accept Jesus as their forever-friend. And the day isn't over yet.

Share Our Facebook Posts

Mon, 17 Mar 14 15:18:01 +0000

Hey all! I know I have mentioned this in past newsletters, but I thought I would mention it again. If you would like to help us raise more support, one way that you can do that is by linking and/or re-sharing our facebook posts. There is one in particular that I just posted that would be a great place to start. This is a picture of what it will look like. Click here or on the picture to see the real thing. When you share, you will have an opportunity to write something about us. Feel free to copy the text from this post, or even just write your own. Thank you so much for helping us build our team. James W.

A glimpse into Internet ministry

Fri, 26 Oct 12 13:43:00 +0000

It may seem strange or foreign to some that we get people with such personal and heartbreaking stories writing in to us from the websites. You may think that most of our work is with nameless, faceless "website visitors" who we never really have a chance to interact with. In some situations, that is true. However in many cases, we have people writing to us with very personal and painful questions that our team must try and respond to. This was written recently on facebook by one of our staff members and is a heart breaking glimpse of the types of situations our team has to respond to on a daily basis.

It's been a crazy week for comments on the site. So far I've had to refer 4 people to the National Domestic Violence hotline and I've tried to help a woman who's husband has stage IV cancer, one who's marriage of 8 weeks is probably over, another who's husband is cheating on her with men and two pregnant 15 year olds. And it's only Wednesday :( My heart is tired.

Please continue to pray for our team as we respond to these difficult situations with God's grace and love. Pray also for the people we meet and try to help. Thank you for your partnership with us in this ministry.

Video About My Job

Fri, 11 May 12 11:28:34 +0000

I've often tried to explain exactly what I do to groups of people and usually end up getting somewhat of a blank stare in response. Either I tend to make it too simple: "I work as a missionary on the Internet" OR I make it too complicated: "I help to build, code and maintain the back-end PHP/MySQL based systems and API's that enable our ministry to engage with website visitors who find us on the Internet." [caption id="attachment_1662" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="My Job Description: Web Developer"][/caption] I found this video recently and thought it did a really great job of explaining some of the technical aspect of my work. AND it's entertaining! The video is designed for new developers, but the first 3-4 minutes do an excellent job explaining a bit of what I do on a day-to-day basis. I think you'll enjoy it. http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want-to-be-a-developer-part-1 Don't forget, you can always read up on our latest updates by checking out our facebook page at: facebook.com/jcptc