Arrival of Autumn

This is our family's favorite time of the year!  The leaves in Southern Ontario are ablaze with the brilliant and fiery colors of red, orange, and yellow.  The days are gradually getting colder and the skies are often overcast.  It makes you want to sip a Tim Horton's double-double in a local park or watch the rain fall outside while eating a warm bowl of Vietnamese pho (beef noodle soup).  Just outside the city pumpkin patches abound, and there are hiking trails along the Niagara Escarpment which take you through thick forests of colorful hardwoods and by huge, cascading waterfalls.  You will often come to a bend in the trail (or even the road) that causes you to pause and worship the Creator with abandon because the scene is so absolutely awesome.  This really is an amazing place to be during the fall season!

As the weather changes and the temps drop, I am also compelled by a sense of urgency to get moving.  Just like a squirrel in a hurry to store up acorns before the snow falls, I realize that time is running out to connect with people on the streets.  Floradale Park was bustling with activity only a few weeks ago, but now it is a bit more lonely and desolate.  South Asians, as you can imagine, do NOT like cold weather.  I sense they are already retreating into their homes in the high rise apartments and only walk the sidewalks when heading to or from the bus stop -- and they are usually hurried by the rain or a brisk, cold breeze.  Connecting with them in public is becoming very challenging.

I sat just last week in Floradale Park, asking the Lord to please open a door.  I've passed out literally hundreds of Bibles in the past few months and have had dozens of opportunities to share the Gospel with people along the sidewalks in the Floradale area, but I still hadn't connected like I had hoped and I didn't seem any closer to starting a new church.  I was discouraged and beginning to feel like I had failed once again.  But then the Lord tossed me an acorn.

The next day I was connected (via a Vietnamese friend) to a family living in one of the high rise apartments overlooking Floradale Park.  I called and they said they were very interested in seeing a new church planted in their area and even agreed to host a "community Bible study" in their home!  He even said he knew of several people in his apartment building that he thinks would be interested -- some are believers and some are not.  A door had literally been opened for us!

Our plan at this point is to continue to pass out Bibles and connect with people on the streets every day, but we will also focus on reaching people through the natural network of relationships in that high rise apartment.  We will be studying our way through the Gospel of John together, eating meals together, and developing new friendships.  Our prayer is that a genuine church will be birthed from this open door very soon!

Please pray for Steve and his household as his apartment serves as a launch pad for a new church.  Pray that the Gospel will spread quickly through his apartment building and that many people will receive the Gospel with open hearts.  Please take time daily to fuel this new development with your prayers!