Spring 2020
The Compass est. 1999
A Newsletter to all friends of the BC Mission Boat Society
THE VISION EDITION
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S CORNER Rhonda Kelman I am so thankful to God for his faithfulness, blessings, wisdom and guidance as we begin to navigate this new pandemic that is upon our world. The ming of our scheduled Board mee ng was perfect. It gave us me to share perspec ves and decide on how we are going to proceed. Currently we have postponed all of my travels and all of our mission trips un l it is deemed safe to travel again and the threat of spreading or bringing COVID-19 into the communi es ceases. We are s ll planning for the summer, however our Board and staff will con nue to meet and make decisions as we navigate and pray in the days and weeks to come. There is so much that we can do through technology and this season that we are in allows us to focus on our training modules and look at crea ng some debriefing modules for teams to con nue to meet once they return home from the mission trip. We would like to create ways to keep connected with volunteers and communi es through technology and find ways we can encourage and support our friends at a distance beyond Facebook. We have been hoping to look at crea ng presenta ons/ videos that volunteers can use to do presenta ons and share what God is doing through our ministry, as well as u lizing key volunteers to help facilitate and travel with teams into the communi es. Please contact us if you would like to receive our monthly update and prayer emails as our next newsle.er won’t be un l the Fall. May the Lord our God fill you with all hope, peace, and joy as we all navigate this pandemic season together.
PRAYER WINDOW
Delia Girard
“God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 Praise God for the technology we have to be able to set up ways for ministry from afar. Pray for the safety and well being of the communi es and protec on from the virus. Praise God for the me we have to refine our processes and training programs, pray that He would give us His wisdom. Praise God for His love for all of us. (Romans 8:38-39) The Compass
VISIONS FOR THE FUTURE Kaitlyn Danielson, Board Chair
What a start to the year it has been! I’d like to share some encouragement with you in the form of reflec on on our recent BCMBS Board of Directors retreat, which took place in Langley, BC from January 30 to February 1, 2020. Our wonderful Board of Directors (currently 5 people, and looking to grow!) met together with several goals in place. First, we wanted to reflect on goals we set at the 2017 Board Retreat; second, establish goals for moving forward; and third, adjust bylaws to allow us to effec vely accomplish these new goals. As we reviewed our 2017 goals, we were genuinely amazed. Reviewing those goals and recognizing how far God has brought the BC Mission Boat Society over the last three years (in a more big-picture way than we’d been doing regularly) was a truly staggering exercise. Serving as the board secretary back in 2017, I remember well, upon the close of that retreat, thinking, “Well, God is going to have to do something remarkable here.” Despite significant hurdles and structural changes that loomed ahead of us at that me, to say that He did something remarkable is certainly an understatement. At the close of our 2020 retreat, the goals we established to move forward are beyond what we could have dreamed three years ago. Now with a couple of passionate, full- me staff, we are be.er equipped than ever before to con nue building rela onships within the First Na ons communi es, facilitate opportuni es for our staff and teams to share the love and message of Christ, encourage the communi es in their faith, and begin working to iden fy addi onal needs. We recognize with excitement the increased impact that connec ng with a 2nd genera on of adults in the communi es brings; those who were children when the BC Mission Boat began are now grown with children of their own. The long-term nature of our connec on with these communi es has gradually built increased trust and openness, not only toward our staff and teams, but also in the message of Jesus and His love that we seek to represent. There are exci ng days ahead. God has worked migh ly despite the hurdles and the uncertainty of the last three years. He has unmistakably provided beyond what we could have asked. I know that I speak for the board and staff of the BC Mission Boat when I express my hearFelt gra tude for your support, whether through prayer, the giving of your me, financial support, or otherwise. You are an integral part of God’s work through the BC Mission Boat, and we are so thankful for your partnership, and for your heart for God’s people on the BC coast. If you would like to learn more about ways to be involved in this ministry, in whatever capacity, you can check out www.bcmissionboat.org or reach out to our office by phone or email. Looking ahead, we ask for your prayer as we navigate the unique challenges that our current global situa on brings to the ministry of the BC Mission Boat Society. Please pray with us for wisdom as we seek to con nue suppor ng the communi es from afar for the me being. Finally, wherever you are, whatever unique struggles you are dealing with as you read this, I encourage you to take heart. As the world seems to be careening toward chaos at an alarming rate, I tell you, our God is bigger than this, friends. He has given us hope beyond our present situa ons. He is our shelter. He has given us the assurance of forgiveness and freedom through His Son. We have His Spirit, who counsels, encourages and leads us. We do not deserve it, but it is freely ours. Let’s hold onto Him now like never before; He knows the way ahead, and He does not ask us to walk alone.
REFLECTIONS David Hilder
“Teachers don’t work in the summer, right?” The ques on from my friend (and future team leader) Kathleen seemed to come out of nowhere. I was about eight months into my s nt as a subs tute high school teacher and I had go.en into a rhythm. It was the rhythm of living day to day, wondering which school I’d end up at tomorrow, or if I even had work tomorrow. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to summer plans. What did teachers do during the summer anyway? It turns out teachers do lots of different things, whether that’s taking a two-month vaca on to Maui or geMng a summer job in landscaping. But for me God had something else in mind. When I heard about the opportunity to go on the mission trip to a na ve village in Kingcome Inlet, it suddenly seemed like the perfect thing. ANer all, subs tute teaching can feel a bit like whiplash. Every day it’s a new school with new kids. You’re switching between different subjects, classroom setups, and teacher expecta ons. You see one group of kids for 80 minutes and then it’s me for the next group to shuffle on through. It’s hard to build connec ons that way. Kingcome was the chance to get away and spend a whole week bonding with one group of kids. Plus, I would be with a team of my friends. I could take a week out of my summer for that. But I had a problem. I had never gone on a mission trip before. I had heard about Kingcome for years at church and seen the presenta ons from teams that had gone before. I had listened to their stories about all the amazing people they had met in the village and how God had watched over them during their trip. Now I would get to be a part of it all. It was happening. I was finally going. And that’s when a couple of worries popped into my head. What if I wasn’t the right person for this? What if I wasn’t able to help build connec ons with the people in the village? What if I failed? This trip would be something completely new to me. We were headed to a remote na ve village of a hundred people with no road access. Kingcome is on the coast of the BC mainland, to the east of the northern p of Vancouver Island. It would take us a ferry, a water taxi and a smaller boat to get there. We were going to be living alongside people of a different culture and with different daily lives than our own. I wondered how the people there would respond to us. Would we be able to relate to them? I carried all of these worries with me to Kingcome. They were with me that first day as we walked down the dirt road towards the center of the village. But something happened as we came to the playground. The moment we got there we were instantly surrounded by kids. They wanted to play, so we did. For hours. We played grounders and freeze tag to their hearts’ content. On the swings we got those kids soaring way up high. It felt so easy playing with them, so natural. Sure, we were a bit red by the end of it. Giving piggyback rides while playing a game of tag at the same me will do that to you. But at the me we were having too much fun to no ce. From the playground we moved on to Kids’ Club where each day we acted out a Bible story and then did arts and craNs with the kids. Not to brag, but we had those kids hooked with the li.le skits we put on. Shout-out to Jeremy for playing the donkey that Jesus rode on. The kids gathered around to cheer and wave around their palm branches cut from construc on paper. That put great big smiles on their faces. We had a blast together teaching them the ac ons to the worship song “My Lighthouse” and playing games like telephone and Simon says. And then, of course, there was Lizzy. On our second or third day there I met Lizzy, a toddler who took me by the hand at the playground and made it her mission to show me everything there was to play on. We sailed through the monkey bars and down the slide over and over again. We sat down to dig a hole in the sand and then fill it in again with a toy dump truck. When it was me for the guys to get their nails painted, Lizzy was the one who did mine. Day aNer day Lizzy would always seek me out when it was me to play. She made me feel like I was in the right place, like I was welcome. When I think back now to all the worries I had before Kingcome, I’m reminded how good God is. He had everything about our trip figured out long before we arrived. I thought it was all on me to make the mission trip a success. But God made it happen. And he really did more than I could have imagined. He worked through the whole team and I think he gave us a heart for the people. Before we got there I thought of Kingcome in the abstract and about everything we planned on geMng done. Now when I think of Kingcome I remember the people and all the rela onships God drew us into. And I thank God for how He acts on our behalf, working things together for our good and for his glory. Spring 2020—The Vision Edition
ENVISIONING THE 2020 MISSION SEASON BY LOOKING BACK AT 2019!
DOES THIS LOOK FUN? JOIN US IN 2020! We are looking for amazing teams to go to Kyuquot, Klemtu, Eha.esaht and Kingcome in July! Call or email our office if you want to find out more informa on! (See below)
Box 3237 Station Main, Courtenay, BC V9N 5N4 • 250-871-8311 • info@bcmissionboat.org • www.bcmissionboat.org •