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Hi everyone! I hope your week is going well.

It’s been a strange week, hasn’t it? This morning I drove through a fairly heavy snow-and-slush storm on the way to church. Pretty, but a little late in the season. Fortunately, I didn’t see any serious accidents on the way, though traffic was slow. Now it’s bright and wet, and the flowers are peeking out again. Who knows what will come tomorrow? I guess we just need to be ready for anything. I hope you’re all staying safe, warm, and dry.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I am excited about a special event that’s planned for Sunday.

In church, we often talk about the importance of connecting our faith to every aspect of life—of taking worship out beyond the walls of the sanctuary and into the marketplace. I alluded to it again last week while talking about “discipleship,” which needs to happen in all the places where we walk with the Lord, not just at church. It’s a common theme in the Bible and an important part of our faith. Not surprisingly, there are many groups and organizations that invest a lot of energy in “marketplace ministry,” helping Christians to discover fresh and effective ways of bringing their faith into everyday life and sharing it there with friends and colleagues. (Many of you will be familiar with the programs at Regent College that promote this theme. Did you know that there’s also a related Institute for Marketplace Transformation, dedicated to providing resources? See https://imtglobal.org.)

You might be interested to know that our denominational missions agency, Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM), also has programs designed to promote faith-in-the-marketplace in other parts of the world where they serve. It’s not just important for Canadians in Vancouver to bring their faith to work, to school, and to their neighborhoods. It’s crucial for Christians in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and everywhere to do the same! So CBM actually has staff members whose primary job is to promote marketplace ministry in our areas of mission around the globe.

This week, we get to hear from one of those team leaders. Beth Kamathi is CBM’s Marketplace Engagement Coordinator for East Africa, so it’s her job to work with our missionaries and partners to help our African brothers and sisters make Jesus more visible in their places of work, study, and daily life. What a fascinating job! What an amazing opportunity to make a difference!

Beth will be sharing God’s Word with us on Sunday. This will also be an opportunity for us to learn some more about the creative ways marketplace ministry is happening in Africa—which, I suspect, will be an inspiration for us as we seek to serve our Lord here in BC. I imagine that we’ll get an update on how things are progressing for the church in Rwanda, which is dear to the hearts of many in our congregation. And it will be another healthy reminder to us all that Jesus wants to walk with us all the time: at work, at school, in the car, in the gym, on the trail, and wherever we may find ourselves. That’s always a good and healthy thing.

Beth and her colleague Brenda will also be available for a time to chat, to ask questions and get some more personal insights, after the service. So if you have questions about marketplace ministry, about the status of the church in East Africa, about CBM and its global mission, or anything else that seems appropriate, by all means plan to hang around for a few minutes after the service to talk. Bring your coffee and enjoy the conversation.

I’m excited for Sunday. I look forward to learning, worshipping, and fellowshipping together, as always. Hopefully it won’t snow!

Meanwhile, have a wonderful week, and God bless you richly.

- Pastor Ken