This past weekend I flew back into Winnipeg with plans to drive about an hour to the small town of Steinbach. But first, a pleasant surprise was waiting for me: an extra meeting had been arranged for that evening.
A portion of the youth group from Victory Baptist Church of Winnipeg was getting together that night and I was invited to give a devotional. We had a great time of fellowship as we looked at Scripture and I shared with them some principles for living that were a help to me when I was their age.
Saturday
That night, Pastor Dyck (The pastor I worked with a couple of weeks ago) drove me half way to Steinbach. We stopped at this restaurant where, for the first time, I met Pastor David Millar. After some dessert, Pastor Millar and I continued the trip. It was a great chance to fellowship with men who have many years of experience in the ministry.
Sunday
(Left) This is not a picture in front of his church office. Dr. David Millar D.V.M is standing in front of his veterinarian office. (DVM stands for Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine). He is an accomplished small animal doctor of many years.
The operating table
Steinbach is a small Mennonite farming community. Using his skills as a veterinarian allows Pastor Millar to supplement his income for his family as he shepherds the church. His job also opens the door for him to get to know pet owners who might never come to church, and potentially share the Gospel message.
Sunday evening this lady (below) gave her testimony of how God did not give up on her. She is a former Catholic nun.
She had been a nun for 35 years. In search of truth, she even visited the Pope at the Vatican, but went away with unanswered questions. Finally, after leaving Catholicism, she visited a Protestant church where she heard the message of salvation and was gloriously saved! She was passionate about her love for Jesus and spoke encouraging words to me after I preached Sunday morning and evening.
Sunday evening, I spoke on "Intimacy in Marriage." Before I preached, she said she was particularly interested in that, because she had always wanted to be married. In fact, for twenty years, her heart ached because she had fallen in love with a young man who had proposed to her, but she was not allowed to marry since she was a nun. Today, Christ is her "True Love." This lady is very happy to have found the Truth!
This is a family of seven kids. John, the husband, told me of how God has provided for his family. His wife is committed to being a homemaker. So, that means that they depend only on John's income, humanly speaking. There was a time when he was working a lot of extra over-time to make ends meet, but was not having the proper time with his family. Even with the extra work he was doing, things still were not working out financially.
So, he decided to spend more time with his family and only work the normal eight hours a day with weekends off. He said that since he started doing that, God has provided for them in a greater way, than when he was working extra. Their needs are more than met!
I had the pleasure of speaking three times at this church and several people spoke to me about how God used the messages to encourage them. Once again, I found that people are very interested in learning how to have a better marriage. On Sunday morning I mentioned that the evening's topic would be on "Intimacy in Marriage."
I invited people to come back, even if they normally do not attend on Sunday night. I was amazed at how many actually did came back. I was told later by a man how his parents typically never come on Sunday night, but they did this time. It was another reminder to me that people, just about everywhere, want to learn more about how to relate with their marriage partner. While there may be a lot of divorces in the world, it seems that most people do want to find out how to "stay in love."
Searching For Truth
Trusting God To Provide
Thank you for doing your important part of praying as I went to the First Baptist Church of Steinbach.
