Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bridge International Church of Calgary

Posted on by

Bridge International Church is an English speaking Filipino Southern Baptist Church in Calgary, AB.  They began years ago as a church plant and seeks to build bridges of faith to help people grow spiritually and strengthen families, offering friendship to people of all nations to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Bridge International Church meets in the building of another church and has their programs on Sunday afternoons, with Worship Service beginning at 4:30pm.

They are presently looking for a church pastor.  Tim was first asked to speak in November 2010 and has been invited back to preach many sermons as they are in their search for a pastor.  Tim and Andrea both feel close to the Filipino people as they have been welcomed, loved,  and we continue to pray for this church as they are seeking God’s will with a new leader.  It has truly been a joy serving this congregation.  A highlight of our time spent at Bridge International was Tim’s preaching on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011 and the special service celebrating Bridge International Church’s 18th Anniversary.

Tim will continue preaching at the Bridge on Sundays in May and in June.

The photo is from Children’s Sunday on May 15, 2011 at Bridge International Church.

Big Apple Adventure

Posted on by

Join us at Southwinds Church each Sunday beginning June 5, 2011 for our Big Apple Adventure Kickoff!

Big Apple Adventure is every Sunday this summer at Southwinds Church, 10:30am-11:30am.  Southwinds Church meets at Auburn Bay House, Calgary.

You do not have to register.  Age 2-10!

Join us for a fun and exciting summer at Southwinds Church with Big Apple Adventure!

Mother’s Day Visit to North Carolina

Posted on by
Reply

We are so excited to be visiting our family and friends in North Carolina.   We have not been able to visit our families together since September 2009, so it will be great to be back!

Tim and Andrea will be at Mountain View Baptist Church in Hickory on Sunday, May 1st, and Tim will preach both morning services, 9:00am and 10:30am.

Tim and Andrea will also be at First Baptist Church in Kings Mountain on Sunday, May 1st, and Tim will preach at the 7:00pm service.

Besides visiting with family and friends, Tim and Andrea will be celebrating the marriage of Andrea’s niece, Kristin Chapman, who marries HG Shelton on Saturday, May 7th at David Baptist Church in Kings Mountain.

It is also exciting to be with our families on Mother’s Day!

Thank you to Kinsey and Jamie for house sitting and “Harry” sitting while we are with our families in North Carolina.

Permanent Residency

Posted on by

So what is Permanent Residency?

Once a visitor has lived in Canada for one full year, they can apply for Permanent Residence Status.  Once approved, PRS allows the individual to continue to live in Canada, be given health care under the provincial health care system, and an open work permit.  The open work permit allows the person to seek work anywhere in Canada.  Without this, a person can not seek work or earn income from any source in Canada.

Andrea was given an open work permit six months after arriving in Canada, which allows her to work.  God provided her with a great job in the Lake Chaparral office as a part-time administrative assistant.  This has provided many relationship building opportunities for her and Southwinds Church.  Tim was given a closed permit which only allows him to work at Southwinds Church. However, Southwinds does not have the funding on its own to provide Tim with any income.

Permanent Residency Status does not make the person a citizen of Canada.  The limitations are that the person can not vote and must reside in Canada a minimum of 6 months of the year.  The PRS process will take about one year to complete and will cost over $2500.  With a current deadline of December 8, 2011 on our current visa status, work has already begun on this process to remain here in Canada and continue God’s work.  Pray for patience and thorough procedures on the paperwork process.

We have just sent off our fingerprinting and Tim will be taking an English exam in the upcoming weeks.  We are also busy securing all of the documents needed to complete our paperwork.

“Fireproof” DVD’s Wanted!

Posted on by

“Fireproof” DVD’s are on sale at Lifeway Stores USA for 3 days only (Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2011) for only $5.  We would love to have these to use as giveaways to families both now and in the future.  For only $5, we could impact families in a great way!

We don’t have Lifeway stores here, and this movie can be purchased in Canada at Best Buy for $26.95.  You can see why we are interested in taking advantage of this sale.

If you can help us out, please let us know.

Ship items to us as a “Gift” and mail to:

Tim Whitesides

133 Chapala Grove SE

Calgary, AB  T2X 3V6

Canada

Be the Change – Save a Life

Posted on by

Tim’s Sermon at Southwinds Church, Calgary, AB on December 26, 2010.  Tim began by explaining the history of Boxing Day.

Be the Change, Save a Life

To hear the audio sermon, click on the link above which will take you to the iTunes page for Southwinds Church, and then select ”Be the Change – Save a Life” from December 26, 2010. Below are some of the high lights and scriptures used:

For 2011, ABC News will be providing a segment called, “Be the Change – Save a Life.”  This is a global health initiative to bring attention to today’s most pressing health challenges and to inspire people to act.

How many of us used the washroom this morning?

  • Worldwide, 2.6 BILLION people lack access to basic sanitation services.
  • A child dies every 10 seconds due to the lack of proper hygiene brought about by the lack of these services.
  • Worldwide, 1.6 MILLION children die annually due to the lack of fresh/clean drinking water.

According to the www.habitat.ca, over 1 MILLION Canadians can’t afford to pay for basic necessities such as electricity, rent, food, or shelter and must choose what is most important.

  • 9.4 % of Canadians or nearly 3.4 MILLION Canadians live below the LICO or Low Income Cut Off level ( Family of 4 is $32,000 annual)

After hearing these harsh and disturbing statistics, do you feel like doing something to help out?  Would you:

  • Give more food or water to the food bank collection?
  • Volunteer at a shelter or other service that helps those in need?
  • Maybe travel on an international mission others in a foreign land?

Do you feel like Being the Change to Save a Life?  Will you act?

How can you “Be the Change to Save Life” for Eternity?

John 3:17. The term “SAVED” means that the person has accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and have been saved from eternal hell because they Believe in Him, Jesus Christ.

Romans 10: 9-13.

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, along with the Ipsos-Reid polling firm, co-sponsored surveys in 1996, 2003 and 2007 to determine the percentage of Evangelical Christians in Canada.

  • 19% of Canadians classified themselves as Evangelical Christians according to the answers to the survey. Based on 32 million people, slightly over 6 million people.  OR 26 MILLION people that aren’t SAVED.

Of the 19% who claim to be evangelical Christians:

  • Only 8 % attended Evangelical churches on a regular basis.
  • 7% attended Roman Catholic churches on a regular basis.
  • 4% attend other mainstream churches with Evangelical doctrines.

Definition of Evangelical:       Being in agreement with the Christian gospel especially as it is presented in the four Gospels:  Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

John 4: 9-10.      GIFT from God.

Matthew 28:19-20.      GO and share this gift with others.

Be the Change:   Save a Life for all eternity.

Cookies and Candy Canes with Santa

Posted on by
YouTube Preview Image

Christmas Cookie Decorating Party at Tim & Andrea’s House

On Saturday, December 18th, we hosted a children’s Christmas cookie decorating party.  With over 200 sugar cookies baked and ready to go, along with sprinkles, icing and toppings, the kids and parents began to arrive.  While parents gathered in the kitchen for some coffee and tasty treats, the children’s imaginations ran wild as they sprinkled and decorated their cookies.  A total of 50 attended.  Most exciting was that half of those were not from Southwinds Church, but from the neighbourhood.

A visitor in a bright red suit came knocking on the door. We were all excited to see Santa Clause.  Santa came in and greeted the children.  He then sat down and told the Christmas story of the candy cane and the true meaning of Christmas, giving each child a candy cane.  Afterwards, some of the children sat on Santa’s lap and shared what they wanted for Christmas.

This was a great way to bring the Southwinds’ Church family together with some of our unchurched Chaparral neighbours in a non threatening event.

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

50 attendees

Listen to Santa speak to the children as he tells them the story of the Candy Cane & the true meaning of Christmas!

Operation Christmas Child – Canadian Style

Posted on by

For the past several weeks, both Southwinds Church and our sister church, Trinity Baptist have been collecting filled shoe boxes for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child.  By our celebration weekend, both campuses had collected a combined total of 321. This is our highest total ever.

Since the Samaritan’s Purse Canadian National office is located here in Calgary, Trinity & Southwinds arranged a team of volunteers to go to the warehouse and prepare these boxes destined for Latin America, South America and Africa ready for their flight.  A combined group of 18 braved the -15F temperature and icy snow packed roads and headed out to the warehouse.

Our group along with many other volunteers, sorted, repackaged, taped and crated up 3,200 boxes during our 2 hour shift.  The excitement and energy was flowing all around the warehouse as we knew the blessing not only the children were going to receive, but the blessing given to those who provided these boxes of Christmas joy.  We had many new first time volunteers who said the experience was uplifting and they are ready to sign up to volunteer again next year.

Pray for the safety of the staff and volunteers that will transport these boxes to their destination.  Pray for the precious little hands that will receive these boxes.  Pray that they will receive the most wonderful gift of all – Jesus Christ.

Do You Believe?

Posted on by

On Sunday November 7th, Tim was asked to preach to the Southwinds’ congregation since Pastor Bo was away. Tim’s message of  “Do You Believe?” focused on the word believe. Tim referenced John 3:16-18, God’s gift and promise to all the world; John 20:24-31 & 1 Peter 1:8-9, blessed are those who believe in the unseen; Jude 1:5-7, examples of what happens to those who do not believe or rebel against God; Romans 10:8-13, the GOOD NEWS is here to save you. Tim was thrilled to be able to share the good news with Southwinds members and a few visitors.

Later that same evening, Tim & Andrea traveled to northeast Calgary where Tim preached to the Filipino congregation of Bridge International Church.  This Southern Baptist church is currently searching for a new pastor and has been using seminary students and others in the interim.  This congregation uses the building facilities of another Canadian Baptist Church.  Of the 25 Canadian National Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist) churches in Calgary, only 5 own their own building. All other churches rent their space, just like Southwinds Church.

Tim and Andrea were greeted by many smiling faces. Tim took this opportunity to share God’s word using the message presented to Southwinds earlier that day. Although Tim had this message placed on him back in late July, he had no idea he would get to share it twice the same day, especially to a Filipino congregation.

Also, during this service, Tim was asked to lead the church family in the Lord’s Supper. Although Tim had participated many times, he had never facilitated this special event. But God was present and the remembrance of the Last Supper proceeded without a hitch. Tim was also able to pray for a woman who was flying to the Philippines due to the death of her sister.

This was a special night for them both. New relationships were made as some members of Bridge International Church  knew of Southwinds Church because they had even attended Southwinds’ community block parties held in Cranston. God is awesome!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus in Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him form the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9 NIV

Do You Believe?

To hear the audio sermon, click on the link above which will take you to the iTunes page for Southwinds Church, and then select “Do You Believe?” from November 7, 2010.

Fall Life Groups with Tim

Posted on by

Tim is leading two Life Groups this fall.  What is a Life Group?  A Life Group is a small group Bible study that meets in someone’s home, much like a traditional Sunday School class, just without a church building.

Life Groups are for anyone.  You do not have to be a member or attendee of Southwinds Church or any church to get involved in a Life Group.  The purpose of a Life Group is to create fellowship and encourage dialogue for spiritual growth.

Tuesday nights, Tim leads a life group in the Whitesides’ home.  The present study is “Purpose Driven Life DVD Series.”  Participants are asked to read the book, one chapter per day, and attend the weekly session for the video and discussion.

Wednesday nights, Tim leads a life group at the home of another family, where the discussion is on “How We Got the Bible.”  It is similar to a Bible 101 type class, with historical and factual information about where the Bible came from, who wrote it, why was it written, and how can I apply the Bible to my everyday life.

Anyone can join and participate.  Contact Tim for more details.