WM Project from EFCCM on Vimeo.

We are excited to announce that EFCC Women’s Ministries (WM) have chosen to support la Casa Mariposa for the coming year. La Casa Mariposa (the Butterfly House) is the EFCCM’s centre for healing and transformation to young women and mothers who suffer the burden of abuse within the remote Mennonite colonies of Bolivia.

Please join me in thanking the following:

• Lynn for not needing too much persuasion to be our on-camera spokesperson (she did a great job!)
• Danny in Bolivia who provided most of the stills for this piece
• Jeff who helped me imagine a lot of the concept for this video, and helped to develop its look, design, soundtrack, etc.

DVD copies of the above video are being sent to all of our churches. Be on the lookout for them!

You may download you own copy of this clip (right click, and select ‘save as…):
WM Project — Casa Mariposa in WMV format (for Windows) ~24MB
WM Project — Casa Mariposa in M4V format (for Mac) ~37MB

And finally, we’ve also created a sheet that outlines the specifics of what we’re raising money for. You can download it as a pdf and print it out for yourself:
WM Project bulletin insert pdf ~5MB

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This is a video of a team at work in Mexico. There isn’t any narration — it’s just ministry and relationships in action. And a rockin’ soundtrack.

Enjoy!

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This is pretty cool! Shaun and Sondi serving in Hungary recently hosted one short-term team. That’s not that unusual for them. What the team did is though. They kept an online journal (a blog) of their entire experience. You get a play-by-play of all the things that they saw and did, and they’ve also provided some great pictures of their group.

Visit it by clicking here (then scroll down and click ‘newer post’ to go through it day-by-day).

It would be great if every team did this, but of course that’s just one person’s opinion.

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This is to include the Chinese brothers and sisters in our congregations here and around the world in the news and celebrations of what God is doing in and through the EFCC. Please share it broadly with anyone you think would be interested (and who can read Chinese)!

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MEMO Cuba, a Compassion Ministry of the EFCCM, has landed on a new way to show and share love. D.O.L.L.S. (Dolls Offering Lots of Love) is about sewing groups in Canada getting together to offer their time and ability to create handmade dolls that are given to children who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, or who have some other serious disability.

Grace Church Fellowship Hall is hosting a sewing meet-up in Thunder Bay on September 25th, 2010. The day is planned this way:
Morning sewing begins at 9:30am
Lunch (soup and sandwiches) is served at 11:30am
Afternoon Sewing is from 1:30 to 3:30pm

You can be involved even if you can’t sew. You may want to sponsor a D.O.L.L. for $20 (the estimated cost of handling and shipping these bundles of love to Cuba).

The DOLLS project isn’t only about giving a tangible symbol of love to one child at a time. It’s also a connection point with families. From the relationships created, families catch a glimpse of the people in Canada that care, and pray for, those who are hurting many miles away.

To get involved, contact Grace EFC directly: gefc@tbaytel.net.

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While it may seem redundant to have a video about the website on the website, there is a good reason for it. There are a number of features that are built into this site, and we want you to know about them. As per usual, we’re offering the clips for downloading so that you can show them in your own churches, and get other people to follow the stories on their own. And hopefully make their own contributions to what’s developing here as well!

Downloadable video files (simply right-click and select ‘save as…’):

PulseTV_Episode006.mp4 (~21MB, 2m52s)

PulseTV_Episode006.wmv (~18MB, 2M52s)

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“In the small town of Monte Rico the local church has been working hard for the last few years on the construction of their sanctuary. Through Diego we made contact with them and received word that they have over forty children at the Sunday morning service. They desire to begin a Sunday school to minister to these children but have no facilities or training to do so. Through donors in Canada we have been able to find $3,000 which has been designated to make this dream a reality. The funds are being released to them in disbursements to buy materials. As they turn in the accounting for the materials and provide the labour for the construction, they receive the next disbursement. We have also committed to provide training for Sunday School teachers and a curriculum when the class rooms are finished.

“One week ago I sat with the leaders of the church as we prayed to commission the construction of the rooms. The head builder and elder of the church wept as he thanked God for the partnership and the impact it would allow them to have in their community.

“Two years ago the flooding of the Beni province of Bolivia displaced over 25,000 people. Many of them ended up in tent camps along the streets of Trinidad. I had the opportunity to be there and help with some of the relief efforts during that time. The local Baptist church also let an initiative to help and minister to these flood victims. Out of this ministry a church plant was developed amongst the people living in the tent community. I have visited the church plant a few times and have seen it growing. This last week while I was there I attended part of a soccer camp and tournament that the church was holding. They had drawn a huge number of youth out to this ministry and were building contacts and relationships through sports. Little did the youth from the community know they were playing soccer in the sanctuary since the church has met out doors in the soccer field rain or shine since it’s inception.

“I met with the church leaders and found that the government have opened up three areas for the people in the tent communities to settle. Many of them have been living in tents for more than twenty months and will now be moved onto small lots where they can built permanent homes. The church has put together enough money to buy a lot and are now looking for help to construct their building. Currently $1,000 has been pledged.

“Currently I am working with more that ten similar communities and situations and there are many more that I have not yet had the opportunity to do follow up with. Beyond that we are also working in the same way to develop strong ministries in the communities where we are working. There is incredible opportunity in this area for expansion and kingdom impact. I would be happy to share more detailed information or show financial records to anyone interested in partnering with this ministry.”

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We’ve started a new promotion campaign here at the EFCCM. This one needs your participation!

The EFCCM is Here. Wherever you go, you take the EFCCM with you.  It could be on a dusty road in a distant village. Or in the bustling core of a foreign metropolis. Or in a Canadian church as you pray on the EFCCM’s behalf. Your curiosity, your passion, your action are all elements of what God is doing with and through the EFCCM.

We are assembling a gallery of pictures with people wearing t-shirts, holding up signs in places all around the world. We will be using these in a variety of presentations to make it clear to our churches and the world:

The EFCCM is Here!

You can download a pdf, and print it out for your own bulletin board, bulletin, or even your own t-shirts:
theEFCCMisHere.pdf (approx. 10KB)

You can also download a copy of the above video clip (which is just over 1 minute) for use in your church, or small group or whatever (simply right click and select ‘save as…’):
EFCCMisHere.wmv (approx. 8MB)
EFCCMisHere.mp4 (approx. 10MB)

We are excited to get this concept to as broad a group of participants and supporters as possible. If you have ideas for how that could happen at your church, your missions committee, or perhaps even with your short-term team, please get in touch!

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I will be posting a online gallery of pictures soon.

If there are other places where you’re seeing reports and updates from Conference 2010, please pass along the sources. And if you’d like to add your own voice to the mix, feel free to add a comment below.

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MEMO has made the local news again. Check out the brief clip by clicking here.

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