June 2011: Busy Summer Begins

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There is so much happening here in Calgary this summer.

In May, we had two teams staying in our home on different weeks, helping with Pastor Bo’s basement construction so we can house additional Southwinds Church mission teams.

Denise Shirley arrived on June 14th to stay for 8 weeks as our student missionary again.  We are thrilled to have her with us again, as she brings many talents and she has a heart for Calgarians.  Denise is a hard worker, and more importantly, loves serving Jesus here in Calgary.

Denise is pictured helping with her friends at Southwinds in Sunday School.

June 18th.  A first year team from Rocky Knoll Baptist Church of Walhalla, SC arrives.  This week, they will be walking and delivering door hangers to 7900 homes in South Calgary to promote our summer camps, block parties, and kids fun day activities.  They will be conducting a few kids fun day activities and helping to get our cotton candy machine warmed up for the other summer teams!

June 24th.  A team of four arrives from David Baptist Church, Kings Mountain, NC.  Andrea’s niece, Rachel Chapman, will be on this team!  On Saturday, June 25th, they will assist Andrea and Tim with a mega event “Stampede Breakfast” at Lake Chaparral where there is an expected attendance of over 4000 people.  Wow!

June 25th.  Mountain Creek Baptist of Greenville, SC will be joining David Baptist for another week of service.  This will be Mountain Creek’s fifth summer serving with us.  These two teams will be conducting a few Kids Fun Days community events, prayer-walking, and a huge Canada Day Block Party in Chaparral on July 1st.

Bridge International Church of Calgary

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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.

Wyoming Mission Trip

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Tim will be leading a team of four to Casper, Wyoming in June 2011.  The team will be working alongside Boyd Avenue Baptist Church of Casper, Wyoming and will be assisting with Vacation Bible School at a church plant.  Their theme is “Big Apple Adventure.”

This will be the first mission trip for three of the four team members.  Please pray for safe travels, good health, their families back in Calgary that are apart from them, and for the families and children that they will minister to while they are in Wyoming.

Boyd Avenue Baptist Church will be sending a mission team to work with us at Southwinds again this summer.  This will be their third year with us.  Ed Tharp and his team do an outstanding job every year.  Thank you, Ed, for allowing us to reciprocate by allowing us to serve with you.

Big Apple Adventure

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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!

Are You Climatized?

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Listen to Tim’s Sermon from May 1, 2011 at First Baptist Church, Kings Mountain, NC.

First Baptist Church is our home church where we have served in many areas for numerous years.  We love our First Baptist Church family and are so thankful for their prayers and support.

Mother’s Day Visit to North Carolina

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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

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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!

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“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

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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

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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!