Fern's Footpath 

Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." Micah 4:2

How Are Things Going?
"I am blessed”, is my response to that question. Today marks the end of the administrative clean-up for SOAR Heartland 2008—all the finances are in and even better, everything balanced!, all the data has been entered, and now I can plan for the months ahead. It’s a good place to be. I am blessed in other, larger ways too. I am blessed by my role with MBMS International—for the opportunities it gives me to meet amazing people who desire to serve God with all of their lives. I am blessed by my friends and family who have stood beside me and prayed for me and been cheerleaders as I have worked on losing a lot of unhealthy habits and weight over the past few months. I am blessed to have a stronger, closer relationship with Jesus who shows me daily that things don’t have to be the way they were in the past—He can change things that seem unchangeable. I am blessed by my supporters—all of you, who have continued to pray and give financially even though I have not sent out a prayer letter since the Fall! Thank you for your faithfulness.

SOAR Heartland 2008
This year I had my best SOAR Heartland experience out of the 6 years that the program has been running. This was also my first year in the role of “Home Base Coordinator” which involved overseeing the kitchen, facility, VBS ministry and volunteers as well as my usual duties of registration, finances, and the list goes on. I had many concerns about my ability to handle the pressure and extent of the workload during the months leading up to SOAR but also during the intense 10 days on the program. Back in November during our planning retreat, one of the women on our team gave us a word from God for the program —the word was that God wanted us to work out of a place of rest and not live in panic and fear. I took these words to heart and set boundaries for myself during the program—I stayed at my home instead of sleeping on the floor at the church and I went home before 10:00 pm every night. These two things helped me to remain clear-headed, cheerful and able to do my job well. Praise the Lord!
We had 225 participants this year and Fort Garry MB Church was a wonderful facility. The staff and congregation welcomed us with open arms. We had lower numbers of children in our eight Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs this spring. This was due in part to the violence that occurred in the North End prior to the start of our ministry week. However God is bigger then any fear and many children did attend and were loved, and some also began relationships with Jesus that we pray will continue to grow. Thank you Lord!

Winter 2008 - Short Term Teams to Brazil
Going to Brazil when it’s winter in the prairies—doesn’t that sound like a great idea? This winter I helped to organize two short term mission teams to Brazil to serve with Jim & Marilou Nightingale—MBMSI missionaries in Sao Paulo. In January—February two farming couples, from Manitoba and Minnesota joined together to minister in Brazil. A few months later a young family (see photo below) from southern Manitoba set off on 5 weeks of children’s ministry and relationship building with the Nightingale’s and the pastors of the MB churches in Sao Paulo.
Although my role consisted of administrative things like tracking fundraising, purchasing tickets, visas, etc. I have been blessed by these two teams. Reading their email/blog updates and hearing in their words the testimony of how God has shaped their hearts inspires me in my work— short term teams do make a difference. The Nightingales have been encouraged and blessed by these teams and there is now a thriving children’s ministry program at one of the churches because of the prayers, partnership and love shared by the young  family.
Our Central Canada office here in Winnipeg hopes to continue to send out teams each winter to partner with our long term missionaries around the world. If you are interested in participating in an opportunity like this please feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or call (204) 478-2693.