H
earts and Crafts:
Hearts and Crafts meet on the second and fourth Saturdays from 10 am to 12ish in the Koinonia Chapel. For quite a few years we have done knitting, crocheting, and some stitchery and beading. We would like to invite anyone who enjoys doing crafts to join us. Or if you would like to stop by and share fellowship, please come. We often do more talking than crafting!
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian missions organization dedicated to serving our persecuted family worldwide through practical and spiritual assistance and leading other members of the body of Christ into fellowship with them. Voice of the Martyrs was founded in 1967 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand who was imprisoned for 14 years in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ; his wife, Sabina, was imprisoned for three years. In 1965 they were ransomed out of Romania; and soon thereafter, they established the global network of missions of which Voice of the Martyrs is a part. The Wurmbrands based these missions on Hebrews 13:3, which instructs us to “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” The Voice of the Martyrs continues this mission around the world today through the following purposes:
1) To encourage and empower Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2) To provide practical relief and spiritual support to the families
of Christian martyrs.
3) To equip persecuted Christians to love and win to Christ those who are opposed to the gospel in their part of the world.
4) To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries where they have formerly suffered oppression.
5) To promote the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of the faith and courage of persecuted Christians, thereby inspiring believers to a deeper level of commitment to Christ and involvement in His Great Commission.
VOM is an interdenominational organization working with Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ. They supply Bibles, literature, and Christian broadcasts, provide families with relief, help believers rebuild their lives and witness in countries that have suffered Communist oppression, and to inform the world about atrocities committed against courageous and faithful Christians.
Contact Information:
PO Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005-0443
www.persecution.com
From ministrywatch.com and www.persecution.com/about
Table Church in Victoria, BC
News from Andy Withrow
“Having moved to Victoria 10 years ago to plant The Table Church, I was scheduled for a Sabbatical to begin May 2020. Our planned road trip through the US National Parks took a backseat to Covid-19, Quarantine, Home Schooling, and a bit of the all too familiar stir-craziness and cabin fever that comes along with it.
Postponing our sabbatical for one year, we decided to take an extended camping trip in July up island. We had space to adventure, rest, read, and play. We returned home a couple weeks ago with some renewed energy and vigour both around home life (Savannah 11, Emmett 8, Ira 5) and Church vision for the new season.
In 2018-2019 ‘Table Season,’ we went through 1 Corinthians. We saw many people grow deeper in faith. We also saw people better able to name areas of biblical teaching they found difficult to grasp or agree with.
In our Sunday gatherings, we implemented a new series last fall called, “Jesus Christ, What About Modern Life?,” in which we preached on popular topics like elections, war and peace, cheap goods, and child labor, etc. We received such positive feedback from the series that we continued it into the new year.
After Covid hit, and we had to figure out the technology dance and online “virtual” worship, we decided to drill down deeper into the Gospels. It has been a challenging season of learning how to meet the needs of a community that cannot meet in person
In this season, the big agenda for the Fall is returning to in-person worship, reinvigorating our small groups, and continuing in developing leaders who love Jesus, handle His Word, and in making disciples. I greatly appreciate your prayers around these three major areas of work for this season.
We are praying and trusting the Holy Spirit will keep us focused and energized and go before us and behind us and actively move in the community of The Table and of Victoria more broadly.
Thank you for your partnership with us in this glorious Gospel. I am so grateful to God for the way in which you have supported us over the years.”