https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com Serving God as a web programmer with Digital Strategies. Fri, 09 May 25 09:46:56 +0000 en-US https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/2016/07/25/safely-home Mon, 25 Jul 16 16:47:40 +0000 https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/?p=2509 The Life Project. Around half of our team works remotely, some in the eastern Canadian and US regions so it was really great to be able to reconnect with the team face-to-face instead of simply by phone/email. The conference presented us with a good mix of combined (all-staff) events and sessions, as well as time to get together as individual ministries. Our main conference speaker, Gary Thomas, was excellent. We had a number of sessions with him, as well as a few break-out sessions we could choose on specific topics that interested us. I also included above a couple shots of our activities on the travel day. While waiting for our plane to come in, I and a couple other staff members visited the HMCS Haida. It was fascinating to hear the stories from one of our group who previously served in the Canadian Air Force and was for a time stationed on board a similar ship. Thanks Wes!]]> https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/2016/07/06/staff-conference-2016 Wed, 06 Jul 16 12:33:55 +0000 https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/?p=2468 In just over a week, I (James) will be heading to Ontario for our national Power to Change staff conference. This conference is a great opportunity for the Canadian staff from across the country to come together for a week of renewed vision, training and celebration of what God has been doing through the various ministries in the organization. We meet together daily in worship and also attend various break-out sessions throughout the week. All Commissioned and Associate staff members are required to attend. This year we will be encouraged by the speaking of Gary Thomas, author of several books, including Sacred Marriage, Sacred Parenting, Sacred Pathways and Authentic Faith. His books and ministry focus on spiritual formation: how we can integrate Scripture, church history, and the time-tested wisdom of the Christian classics into our modern experience of faith. This event is something that we raise funds for in order to be able to attend. Would you prayerfully consider giving financially to help cover the cost of my attending this conference? If you would consider it, you may give online via the secure donation form on PowerToChange.com using this link: https://secure.powertochange.org/p-388-warkentin-james-ministry.aspx If you would prefer to give in another way, you can find more information on our blog at: /help-us-keep-ministering/ Please also pray for us that this event would be an uplifting time for us as an organization. Pray for our families, many of whom remain at home during this week. Carolanne and the kids will be remaining in Chilliwack while I am away. Thank you for considering this opportunity. Please don't feel any pressure in this either way. We truly appreciate having you as part of our ministry team. Wishing you all the best, James & Carolanne]]> https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/2012/07/22/off-to-staff-conference Sun, 22 Jul 12 21:37:37 +0000 https://ptc.jamesandcarolanne.com/?p=1675 As of tomorrow, we're off to our annual Power to Change Staff Conference!  For those who don't know, every year Power to Change holds a Canada-wide staff conference where all the Canadian PTC staff get together for a week of inspiration, networking, team building and spiritual renewal.  There are approximately 500 staff (and potentially their families) who will be attending.  (I'm not certain on the exact numbers) Staff Conference is always somewhat of a challenge for us as it is a mandatory work related event, that we are required to raise the funds in order to attend.  This year, we were originally planning for Carolanne and the kids not to come due to the high cost of attendance.  However, we have made the decision (and been accepted) to have Carolanne volunteer to help with the childcare during the week which allows for their room and board to be covered.  That's a big praise item for us as we really wanted to stay together as a family for that week. Another praise item is related to our dog.  We have a very friendly Cockalier (Cocker spaniel/Cavalier King Charles spaniel mix) that we had to find a "sitter" for.  We originally had someone lined up to help with caring for her, but due to complications it fell through a few days before we had to leave.  The past couple days we've been somewhat frantically trying to find someone who could care for her in our absence.  On Saturday one of the families in our church heard about our situation and has generously volunteered to care for her.  That's a HUGE blessing and answer to prayer. Please pray that this week would be a good time of renewal and refocusing as we meet together. Have a great week, James & Carolanne Warkentin]]>