Dear Selah Fire Family:
With Christmas approaching and the start of a new year about to dawn, I want to say thank you for your faithfulness to Jesus Christ, especially in these past two years and counting!
Faithfully Selah Fire, you have maintained your connection to one another, via one on one relationships, weekly zoom meetings, individual phone calls, regular life groups, our parking lot /Youtube gatherings and more recently by coming together at the Drayton Reformed Church for a Sunday afternoon! DRC provides us with a wonderfully ventilated indoor space to invite people to come and worship. You blessed us in response to this decision as we had more people attend than we would have been allowed to have at CCS. Thank you Jesus!
For the present, we will continue to meet weekly online via Youtube and then on the first of the month, indoors, in person and on Youtube and at the DRC. Our next Corporate Gathering is Sunday December 5th, 3:30pm at the Drayton Reformed Church
Ministry Updates: For so many these days the reality of Covid has impacted the way we do life…and church. Here’s a little snapshot into our world this year.
The Jefferson Christmas Turkey Dinner: Not only was this a success last year, with door to door deliveries, it’s coming up again! Details to Come!
Mission Team / Peru: Our international travel is still on pause. Praise God, many of you were key in supporting Venessa (translator) and Gilbert with the advent of their new child. I am also excited to report that we are just $3000 away from reaching our annual goal of $6000 to support iProjects work with Wendy and Auden in Pacasmayo, Peru!
Tech Team: Week after week, Gord, Kyle, Wendy and their youth members work together to provide both outdoor and on-line worship Gatherings that help our family stay connected in “spirit and truth”- together! Wendy’s weekly e mails have been a blessing and gift to our body as well, keeping folk up to date and resourced with Pastor updates, Prep notes, Children’s Ministry lessons, Lifeline Testimonies etc. and keeping our Web page up to date, alive and well.
Children’s Ministry & Worship: Similarly, week after week, Karen and family and Trish and her team have poured out their gifts of creative communication and praise. A SPECIAL THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL OUR TEAM MEMBERS FOR HOW THEY FILLED IN FOR ONE ANOTHER AND FOR OUR LEADERS THIS SUMMER! Your work allowed our leaders to get some much needed rest this season! And plan a wedding :) ! Yay God.
Moving forward there has been talk of either mid week or Saturdays to connect with our kids at the Selah Centre. We are also looking into the possibility of Children’s Ministry during our monthly Gathering at DRC.
Behind the scenes our Worship team has divided their Thursday evening time slots into a mix of times of worship for our praise team and next generation worship development.
Youth: Our youth continue to meet at the Selah Centre weekly on Tuesday nights. Tuesdays provide a fun mix of play, spiritual growth and of course snack. Mike, Denise, Dean, Jacob and Scott have the honour of sharing their lives and faith with our youth. I am so blessed to see the love, care and value these 8-12 young people have for their leaders as they connect with them regularly and grow in their relationship with Jesus.
Life Groups: We have expanded our life groups. Terri still leads a group in Guelph composed of folk from within and outside of our Selah Fire family. Similarly, Laurie and Edith have a life group on Monday nights that they host in their home. Bruce and Jill also provided Monday nights of Holy Spirit filled prayer over zoom.
Jan, Bettina and Laura lead a women’s life group on Wednesdays. The ladies use zoom when I have men’s group and they use the Selah Centre when I am on the road.
As mentioned above, I (Jeff) have started a men’s group Wednesday nights at the Selah Centre 2-3 times a month from 7-9pm. A Friday afternoon life group, 2-4pm at the Selah Centre was also started. I facilitate this group when I am home. Patty DeRose and Suzanne Schnarr lead the Friday group while I am away.
Laurie also saw the opportunity to start a men’s group up in the Harriston area. They meet Thursday nights. Another group is on the horizon, all because someone had a God nudge to bake cookies and share them with neighbours during Covid! Praise God He’s on the move!
Intercession: Donna, Trish and I continue to meet weekly for Holy Spirit lead intercession. God is good!!! And the fruit of these prayers, though hard to measure, are absolutely essential ….. Amen.
Our Family Preachers and Prayer Ministry Teams: What an amazing honour, opportunity and blessing it is to have our Selah Fire Family bring a Word from God to the body while I am away. The humility, honour and grace that these folk extend to me and to our entire Selah Fire Family is once again, another blessing, beyond measure. Thank you to all who have shared and who will share in the future. Our Selah Fire Family is truly blessed because of what you reveal to us from what God has revealed to you through your faith in Jesus.
More than a phone number on a YouTube screen, behind the scenes, Laura Schilbe co-ordinates and has prayer team folk available and ready to minister to folks every Sunday. Our prayer teams, over the phone, have prayed for our Selah Fire Family at home, in BC, Niagara, I want to say even Peru, though I might be stretching it here :) …. but praise God when folk pick up the phone and call to ask for prayer!
Financial: By God’s grace, again a testimony to God and to our Selah Fire Family, our givings are stronger than they were a year ago! For 2021we created a deficit budget trusting God to meet our needs. While it is true we have streamlined and limited our expenses we are enroute to meeting all our financial obligations, goals, and remain in the black! Praise God and thank you Selah Fire Family.
Blessings: Personally, I am humbled and so grateful for how all your work, gifts and offerings have blessed Selah Fire and the people touched by Christ in you, including me, your pastor. It is an honour and privilege to grow and walk with you in Jesus Christ. Let us continue to love God, follow Jesus, and partner with Holy Spirit to see every home become house of praise!!!
Thank You God and Thank You Selah Fire Family, for all you’ve done in 2021.
Yours in Christ,
jeff.
2022….. BRING IT ON!!!! AND LET IT ALL BE FOR HIS GLORY!!!