It has been an incredibly busy time of the year, and with the busyness, I have been wrestling with a level of frustration in not being able to accomplish things as I would like to, as I am sure you yourself have experienced from time to time.

Here are some of the things that I have been working on:

I have been posting Journey Through the Bible daily readings and scripture readings on our Face book page – Nick & Vivian Helliwell’s Ministry page

You can also follow the same reading plan on a Google calendar that gives a daily reading of Journey Through the Bible These contain a link to the ESV audio bible set up for the daily readings.  This week we are going through the book of Judges.

I will be stepping away from the Gentle Road High School Youth Ministry at the end of May.  This was to be a temporary posting only and in answer to many prayers, Gentle Road has found a person far better suited for this ministry.

I am still facilitating the Brothers In the Hood Men’s Discipleship group each week, and the fellowship continues to be very satisfying to me personally.

On Friday evening of this week, I will be leading a small group study on Fasting at Gentle Road and I would like prayer covering for that.

I would be remiss if I did not here give a special thanks to the Quilting Guild of our home church Westhill Park Baptist Church.  This group has generously donated 30 quilts and other hand made items this year to our outreach ministry!  While some of these will be handed out through the summer, we will keep the bulk of them for the fall and hand them out to people who really need them.

Mentioned in the attached newsletter is the upcoming prayer, outreach and discipleship events planned between June 21st and July 10th.  Starting with tent outreaches on June 21st and July 1st, we will be imploring God to pour out his heart for reconciliation upon the people of North Central June 27-30th, and I hope that you will also add this event to your prayers as well.

As you know the main emphasis of our ministry is in Discipleship, and so in conjunction with all of our prayer and outreach efforts there will be 3 two-day Discipleship training seminars.  All of this is in conjunction with Carriers of Hope Ministry led by Nico Borissov of Germany.

I mentioned a level of frustration I have been feeling of late.  I have been irritable at home as well. A dear mentor of mine, Steve Masterson, often spoke about the propensity of people in ministry to expend themselves in work, leaving their families begging for scraps. I really don’t mean or want to do this and am praying that this season will pass, or at very least, that Vivian and my family would not be last on my list.

With these major initiatives set to carry us into the opening days of summer, I want to be able to look beyond as well, having plans to give my family a great summer as well. So far, I have re-seeded the lawn, cleaned up the back yard, cleaned the BBQ, strung up the patio lights. I want to stain the deck, build a privacy screen, do some planting…  I doubt that we will be able to go anywhere but to the lake this summer (a backyard pool would be great). But the point is that I want my grandchildren to remember a summer with their ‘papa’.  After all, I think that is the most important ‘kingdom building’ I can do.

Regina Discipleship Project

This past year I have served as an Intern High School Youth Pastor at Gentle Road Church, a position that will end this month. I am way too old to be trying to keep up to very active group of high school youth! Besides, what group of high school youth want to hang around an old man over three times their age!

Early One Spring Morning

It was almost 6:20 Saturday morning and U was enjoying my Tim Hortons coffee. I revelled in the sound of birds singing while the sun was rising It is not often that I get to enjoy that – I am not a morning person! I always feel a sense of promise in the air when I get up early enough to enjoy the sunrise.

2023 so far is looking full of promise. These past four months have been developing like a splendid spring morning. They have been bust, of course, full of bustle as we prepare for the things ahead.

Prayer, prayer, prayer… the first thing is prayer, and we have been spending probably more time in prayer than ever this year, and are planning more prayer and fasting days in the days and weeks ahead.

Notably, on June 27th to 30th, in conjunction with Gentle Road Church, Morning Star Ministries and Carriers of Hope, we are planning 4 days of fasting and prayer for North Central Regina and Indigenous Communities.

Upcoming Events

June 21st, National Indigenous People’s Day, outreach and evangelism booth

June 23rd and 24th, Discipleship Training at Gentle Road Church

June 27th to 30th, Prayer and Fasting for North Central Regina and Indigenous Communities

July 1st, Canada Day, outreach and evangelism booth

July 2nd to 10th, Discipleship Training in North Central, Celebration Church and Indigenous Communities

Multicultural, Cross-Cultural, or Intercultural?

Multicultural refers to a society that contains several cultural or ethnic groups. People live alongside one another, but each cultural group does not necessarily have engaging interactions with each other. For example, in a multicultural neighbourhood people may frequent ethnic grocery stores and restaurants without really interacting with their neighbours from other countries.

Cross-cultural deals with the comparison of different cultures. In cross-cultural communications, differences are understood and acknowledged, and can bring about individual change, but not collective transformations. In cross-cultural societies, one culture is often considered “the norm” and all other cultures are compared or contrasted to the dominant culture.

Intercultural describes communities in which there is a deep understanding and respect for all cultures. Intercultural communication focuses on the mutual exchange of ideas and cultural norms and the development of deep relationships. In an intercultural society, no one is left unchanged because everyone learns from one another and grows together.

Please Jon us in prayer this month:

Praying for the needs of North Central Regina and the urban indigenous community.