Mission to Mexico

Just so you know. My wife and I have taken a box full, sometimes more, from your Bibles to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, for approximately 15 years. We have distributed them mostly through the church we're part of when there, as well as privately. They've gone into mountain communities north and north west, into the hands of a local women's football team, and some into the hands of first time church visitors. We trust and pray that some will be responsible for additional folks in heaven with us. 

Keep up the good work. 

Ben & Marina Wiebe

MissionFest 2017

MissionFest

As always Canadian LifeLight Ministries will be attending MissionFests this winter. Vancouver MissionsFest is from January 27 to 29, 2017 at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Manitoba MissionFest is the following weekend (February 3-5, 2017) at Church of the Rock in Winnipeg. Please stop by to visit us!

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Living Bible Explorers

During the Christmas Season there were many events that help people through what can be a tough time for the less fortunate. On December 25, 2016, Living Bibles Explorers hosted their annual Christmas Day event. Ken McGhie was there and advised that fun was had by all. Gifts of the First Nations LifeLight were gratefully accepted along with gifts of socks and gloves. Praise the Lord and we pray that all who are in receipt of the Word come to God.

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Volunteer opportunity

The children have returned to school for the winter semester after their Christmas break but their next break is quickly approaching. If you have or know of a youth group that is looking to fill their time during Spring Break, please let us know as we have Bibles that can be prepared for distribution. Our volunteer opportunities are not restricted to youth groups, if you want to volunteer personally or know of others who are looking for ways to help spread God’s Word, please call our office at (204) 339-3770, or Bibles@BiblesforToday.com!

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Walk Ins at Winnipeg Office

Canadian LifeLight Ministries always welcomes walk ins. Recently a family stopped by to see how the Lord could help them through tough times. The family had suffered through many tragic events in recent years and had started to pull away from the Lord. But as always, God spoke to them and their faith was renewed and refreshed. A Bible was chosen for each child in the family and Mom chose a Bible for herself as well as other literature that will help her continue to find meaning even in the tough times. We invite all to call, mail or email us your prayer requests that we may pray with you .

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Thank you

We at Canadian LifeLight Ministries also say Thank You! We thank all who have supported us through prayer, through volunteering with us and through the donations that allow us to continue our work of spreading the Lord’s Word! Please continue to support us as many hands make our work easier and help us to do more! God Bless!

Disobedience?

As I write these lines I do not know what the outcome is. Up until this point, three days before Christmas I have been disobedient to the nudging of the Holy Spirit to give a former work colleague a Bible. Ask me why, and I have no answer. Who knows why the heart attuned to God, seeks its own way?

Before coming to Lifelight Ministries I worked for a period of months with man I will call “Larry.” Larry has no relatives in Canada, works at a job that has few if any prospects for advancement, for pay that is just above the minimum and keeps him in the clutches of poverty.

His best friend is a trusted and loyal canine acquaintance. Larry was my shipper, and I was the person sent out on deliveries. When I first went to work under him he wasn’t sure what to do with me because when I made a mistake, I admitted to them. He reprimanded me.

Then, whenever there was a problem or mistake he would come to me first: And I admitted to things I did (like storing a brake pad on end warping it) but then I also refused to take responsibility for things I didn’t do. In short, I was honest.

Larry wasn’t sure what to do with that. Me being honest about my work shortcomings, and not lying was not a unique experience for him, but it was unusual. After a time of adjustment, Larry figured out that I would take responsibility for my shortcomings at work, but would also ask how I could improve. And he advised me, so that little by little we won each other’s trust.

After a time, when Larry had pita (pain in the a**) customer, I got the opportunity to ‘smooth things over.’ After a time, whenever there was a pita customer, guess who had the privilege of bringing the right car part, or making the right change, or rectifying whatever was wrong. Yours truly. Once, when a customer had overheard staff talking about him over the phone when the phone was not put on hold properly, I was the one sent to make amends. I was the only one had had not joined in the profanity laced assessment of this customer.

Time passed and I moved on to lead Canadian Lifelight Ministries. Larry called upon me several times shortly after I took my new role, mostly because he knew that if he asked me to work on a long weekend and I said yes, I would be true to my word and show up for work.

This fall I went in to the store where we had worked to buy a cargo net, met Larry and I felt the nudge to pass a Scripture to him. And I resisted. I the national team leader of a Bible distribution ministry… and I am making excuses for not giving out a Scripture to someone who I do not believe has ever read the Bible. What!?

This past week I had lunch with a pastor friend of mine. I disclosed to him my sin, and asked him to be accountable with me to follow up. “I need to do this, I know it, and I don’t know why I keep hesitating?” As I told him this story of how I felt called to give a Scripture I wondered if putting a Tim Horton’s gift card in the Bible and offering to listen to his questions should he want to talk might be a ‘good way’ of offering a doorway to conversation.

My friend, listened carefully and I sensed a rising excitement in him. Why? He told me a member of his church was giving him gift cards to give out. Would I allow him to give me a gift card to include with the Bible? This day, at noon, he called. “I have the gift cards. Let’s do this!” We both sense that God is up to something… and we don’t know what.

Someone we both sense, He and I that this urging of the Holy spirit, and my delay is about something we don’t know the ending of. My confession to him has been, “I just know I need to be faithful… and somehow trust that what God is weaving is more than what I can comprehend.”

And in talking about this work experience, I spoke about an ethnic Armenian auto mechanic, and my pastor friend shared how he had buried the grandfather of one the students he coaches in football. At the service an Armenian man who worked as a realtor gave him some money and said, “do something good with this.”

I don’t often think of Advent as a time of waiting in sin. My confession to you is that I felt urged to give Larry a Bible, I have resisted. Today I am going to pick up a gift card from my friend, and will gift wrap a Scripture to be given tomorrow.

I do not know the outcome, I just know I don’t want this Christmas to come, and still be procrastinating about that which the Holy Spirit has been prompting me. And together with you, I want to live into the wonder that God may bestow in ways we do not yet know, the wonder of God’s presence among us.

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Is God's Word Colonial?

“Isn’t distributing Bibles to First Nations colonial?”

The question stunned me! Standing in the foyer of a downtown Winnipeg Church, having worshipped with a Mennonite Congregation recently while in Manitoba, the comment caught me off guard. I responded in a moment with a response I have thought about since. I said, “The Word of God is never colonial, it is always transformative.”

In the days after this encounter, I have thought often about the question, and the answer I gave.

The assumption that Euro-Christians (that is believers of European ethnic ancestry) are distributing Bibles needs to be addressed. At Canadian LifeLight Ministries the call to develop a Scripture focused on Aboriginal readers resulted in an extensive process of consultation with Aboriginal Believers. Believers within the Aboriginal community often find themselves misunderstood by Christians from outside the Aboriginal community, and suspected of being agents of a dominating society from within.

My own experience has been that Aboriginal believers and leaders are pioneers in seeking solutions in Aboriginal communities. At CLLM we have sought to provide Scriptures to those leaders who need them in the furtherance of the cause of Christ in their own community. CLLM does not distribute Scriptures as a rule, we provide them to brothers and sisters in Christ who labor under difficult circumstances, and seek to be obedient even as they are sometimes reviled by their own and misunderstood by some of us on the outside looking in. Their courage is inspiring.

Colonial? The word means to dominate and extract value. The term neo-colonial was first coined in western circles by John Paul Sartre, a French philosopher who sought to build off of Marxist philosophy as a professor in France. I personally find John Paul Sartre a flawed intellectual and philosopher.

When the unspeakable crimes of Soviet communism became known to the outside world through the work of Robert Conquest and others, Sartre continued to rationalize and justify these cruelties as historical necessities in the glorious cause of building a socialist utopia. When the facts became irrefutable, Sartre continued to challenge them as ‘propaganda’ of the West.

This is the world within which CLLM serves. We seek not to dominate or extract value from Aboriginal communities or leaders. It is the opposite, we seek to give strength to those who are called into service. I often begin a conversation with, “hi my name is _______, I am racist.” The response is often a chuckle… and then I go on to explain that I am not a racist in the sense that call persons of aboriginal ancestry names, but I am racist in the sense that I don’t know what is needed  or how to work in an aboriginal community: so help me be less uninformed tomorrow than I was yesterday by speaking with me today. Overwhelmingly, the response from Aboriginal believers has been a warm embrace and a commitment to walk together forward.

Is distributing God’s word to those who are lost within the aboriginal community colonial, No, not at all. It is the mission of many Aboriginal believers who see the results of human folly and seek to pierce that lostness with the light of Christ.

What we hold in common, is the conviction that the Word of God transforms. At CLLM and the aboriginal communities we seek to serve, the belief that the Word of God transforms the one who is convicted of sin and convinced of God’s grace. And that is the confession we uphold to all.

To supporters of CLLM, please don’t be dissuaded by news reports that rarely represent Christians in aboriginal communities accurately. Our brothers and sisters in communities across Canada are honorable, integral servants of Christ. Uphold them as you would any other brother and sister. For our Aboriginal brothers and sisters, are just that brothers and sisters to us all.

To partners of CLLM, we seek to walk with you. Learning, serving, seeking solutions. Where solutions are not readily discerned, we want to muddle through with you. We see the deep wounds the residential school system and the Indian Act have visited upon many. We seek to not repeat the mistakes of the past, and we seek to not allow apathy to govern our actions today.

Brothers and sisters in Aboriginal communities are the brave among us, serving amidst the debris of sin and fallen-ness. Sin of past injustices, and fallen-ness common to all humankind. We may not know how to solve all these problems, but it is my conviction that we begin by seeking communion with God through Jesus Christ, and that communion, that being present with God, that being allowed to be in the presence of God changes everyone who enters the Heavenly realm, the seat of grace. That is the beginning for all other transformations necessary. That human fallen-ness, common to us all, is the first chain that must be broken for us all to walk as men and women before God.

And we lead people to that place of transformation by offering the Word of Life; Scripture. Through the hands of brave believers in many and diverse places the Word of God is being seeded, and the preparation for a bountiful, exuberant healthful renaissance within the Aboriginal community is being seeded.

So the answer I gave cryptically a few weeks ago stands. The Word of God is never colonial, it is always transformative. Join with me in celebrating the coming, the Advent of the Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ.

Summer has seen many areas of Canada go from one extreme to another.  Fort McMurray and areas of the Whiteshell in Manitoba saw evacuations due to fires aided by dry conditions, then a few months later both areas were evacuated a second time due to flooding as a result of rain.  But both areas have rallied and will be stronger than ever as a result.  We continue to pray that the Lord will see everyone through these times of troubles.

Here at Canadian LifeLight we carried on, providing Bibles to all who were in need.  This summer we provided Bibles to First Nations communities, first responders and Bible Camps.  We have continue to minister to those we meet by providing Bibles and hearing the testimonies of those that we meet.

As you can see from these pictures, there are those who are happy to receive the Lord's Word.  Many times we have been told that the gift of these Bibles comes at a time when it is most needed.  God Bless!
 

We have also been at work making sure our First Nations New Testament is ready to go when needed to First Nations all over Canada.  A group of young men helped a young lady and Carolyn, our office manager, make sure each Bible had a book mark and then repackage for shipping.  It was a great time getting to know these men who put the Lord first in their lives and are following God's calling in their lives.

More Bibles need to be prepared and we know that the Lord will provide us with the assistance needed to finish preparing these boxes of First Nations New Testaments for distribution.

Summer is almost over now.  Families are getting ready for the school year and children are hoping for new friends and exciting experiences in the year ahead.  But we ask that you enjoy the good weather while it lasts.  This fall Canadian LifeLight Ministries will be joining Ride 4 Refuge in raising money to assist us in serving  displaced, vulnerable and exploited people.  Check it out at https://canada.rideforrefuge.org/charity/canadianlifelightministries.  You can simply donate, join our team or set up a team of your own to raise money.

Blessings to all and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Dynamic New Leadership

Carolyn Dueck is the new Office Coordinator. Please call her at 204-339-3770.

Blessings!

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Canadian LifeLight Ministries Inc
330-1695 Henderson Hwy Winnipeg MB R2G 1P1 
Bibles@BiblesForToday.com www.BiblesForToday.com
Our purpose is to serve Christ by enabling His followers to provide God's Word for today.

We are Hiring!

We are hiring! We are looking for an Interim Office Coordinator for our Henderson Highway location. Please see the link below for more information. Feel free to pass this on to anyone you may know who would be interested.

A Bible Falling Apart Belongs to Someone Who Isn't

This week Ken McGhie, our First Nations Bible coordinator, told us the story of how he went to visit a fellow in the hospital. The fellow in the hospital bed had received one of our Bibles and it was so well read that it was tattered and falling apart. He wouldn't go anywhere without it. Do you value the Word of God in such a manner that your Bible is falling apart? It is so true that a Bible that is falling apart belongs to someone who isn't. Something to think on this weekend.

A Letter in the Mail

Today we got a letter in the mail from a lady who was SO thankful we had given her a Bible! I believe this was her first time reading a Bible. She said it was very interesting and she was excited to read more! In our society where the average Christian home owns multiple Bibles, it's easy to forget that not everyone has access to Bibles in Canada. Let's be intentional about reaching out with the Good News of Jesus! Who can you bless with a Bible today who may have never read it before?

Did You Know?

Did you know that according to a Barna Group study, 84% of people still prefer to read a paper copy of the Bible as opposed to a digital or audio version? There is such a huge need for people to have a physical copy of God's word in their hands! Here at Canadian LifeLight Ministries we are committed to getting the Word of God into the hands of everyone who wants one. Particularly, our most recent efforts have been focused on getting our new First Nations Bible into the 619 First Nations communities across Canada. Did you know that according to the Canadian government there are 901,053 First Nations people in Canada? About 47.4% of those people live on reserves. What a huge mission field! 

Will you help us get the good news of Jesus out to these First Nations communities? We need people to sponsor Bibles, as well as people willing to travel to these communities to hand out Bibles. Call us at 1-866-447-9673 or email us at johanna@lifelightministries.org to find out how you can help today!

MissionFest tour

On a recent Mission Fest tour, our project facilitator, Ken McGhie, came back and had these things to report:

•   A Native woman at a church in Edmonton clutched him by the hand and with tears in her eyes said, "Please do what you can to get this Bible out to my people."

•        A young native man named Aaron from that same church had tears in his eyes when he said he was a foster child who was so glad to receive this First Nations New Testament Ken had given to him earlier in the service.

•        The Chaplain, Charles, at Prince Albert Penitentiary said the First Nations New Testament was well received and some of the fellows just rejoiced upon receiving it!

•        Gordon Hausteader, an evangelist to First Nations communities, reported that the Bible was well received in Saddle Lake, AB and they are looking for more to come, hoping to start a First Nations Bible school!

•        A Metis lady from Winnipeg said she really appreciated and approved of the First Nations New Testament and said, "Praise the Lord!" She wanted one to share with someone she knew and knew it was going to be an open door for Salvation.

Sharing God's Light in Cuba

A man walked in today looking for Spanish New Testaments & booklets, but he felt compelled to share a story from one of his previous trips to Cuba.

One time he was in Cuba, handing out stuff at a convention, and a man approached him asking to see what he had. He was a little nervous wondering if this man was a spy, but he gave him one of his Spanish New Testaments to look at. The man looked at him like he was crazy, then went on his way.

Twenty minutes later, the man came back and said, "Where did you get these?" The man told him how he brought it from Canada, and the man said, "Thank you, Senor! I have been looking for one of these my whole life!" Praise God! You are so Good!

This is just encouragement to share God's Word with others regardless of how you think they may react; you are either planting a seed, or reaping a harvest as a worker in God's field! Be Blessed!

Blessings,

Roxy F.

Evangelism Encouragement

Recently, I was speaking to one lady who takes our Bibles to the malls, churches, and downtown streets and she shared some great stories of evangelism! Here are a few:

 ☺She gave a Bible to a security guy at a Pub once, and she was surprised that he was thankful to receive one; he was thinking of going back to church as his mom used to take him as a boy. What a great way God uses us to lead someone back!

☺One time she dropped off Bibles at a jewellery counter and ended up making friends with the ladies there after becoming a familiar face. She came back one day and noticed one of the small Bibles she gave lying in a jar, so concerned she asked if they had read it. They told her that they leave it there so they can read it on their breaks! Amazing!

☺This is just a friendly reminder not to judge in advance who will accept a Bible or not, as it is God who knows and who is preparing the hearts of those who will receive Him as Savior. God Bless her and all who share their faith!

​Blessings,

Roxy F.​

A Phone Call Away

Today, I received a letter from one of our supporters- the wife of a man who used to walk in to our Winnipeg office all the time, picking up Bibles for giving away. He passed away recently, and I offered my condolences. I knew him for  a short time since I've worked here and was wondering when I would see him next - now I knew why I had not seen him for a while. 

His wife told me how they've been ministering to people in Osborne for 22 years, every 2 weeks as volunteers at a food bank. They would pick up some of our large print Bibles and hand them out to those who used the service. It was so encouraging to hear, and though it is never easy to lose someone close to us, she was at peace knowing he is with Jesus now. Praise God!

As an extra blessing, she mentioned how she was feeling down this morning, but one of two good things happened this morning, and one of them was me calling her! I was so happy to hear that, and thank God for leading me to call her. There is always a gentle nudge in our spirit when God wants us to do something, so its important that we listen. Comfort may be just a phone call away!

​God Bless!

-Roxy F.​

LifeLight Ministries & Mission to Mexico

I'm jotting down some great memories of when we started our ministry walk with Jesus, and you guys have been with us every step of our journey.


We started about 15 years ago working with the children of the dump in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, so of course we required Bible tracts and Bibles to bring the Word to these poor souls, so lo and behold Lifelight Ministries came to life on my computer and they were more than happy to help us out on our quest.   
The pocket Bibles that you guys provided have certainly been very valuable; the people in Mexico that have received your Bibles certainly feel that they have been totally blessed.  
This year we have been given some time off, by God of course, but we still do local outreach, in parking lots, malls and the best is the local casino.  
When the people come out of the casino, and they are broke most of them, my tracts called Help From Above certainly fits in so well, and if their need is great then I give them one of your very valuable Bibles, 
Hope For The Highway.  I cannot possibly express our gratitude and thanks for everything that LifeLight Ministries have done in supplying the Bibles that we need to bring the Word of Jesus to the masses, we try hard to be good farmers and get the most seeds out there, it is amazing at the number of poor souls that are wanting to learn and are willing to listen to us, but the best part is having your Bibles available to help them to understand their new walk with Jesus.  
Gail and I will continue to pray for your great ministry. 
May you continue to be able to manufacture the Bibles, and be given the availability to help with all of the many ministries that are out here, with all of the trials and tribulations going on in our great world, the need is great and will continues to get worse, at least until Jesus comes to sort out this sad world that we live in.  
So just remember that every Bible that you print it will certainly bring His Words to them that are in need! God Bless and keep you all,

                 Gary and Gail S.

                  Mission to Mexico

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Bibles for the North End

Here's an encouraging story from one of our advocates:

"God is good. He's placed me in one of the roughest parts of the city, and I've been led by the Holy Spirit to do the Lord's work. All around the North End I've been handing out Bibles and encouraging people with my testimony. I've found that the response has been fairly good. Some people are very warm and welcoming and some aren't, but all in all I handed out 100 Bibles in just 2 days. I give all glory to God and I thank LifeLight Ministries for helping me do the Lord's work. Without them none of this would be possible, so they're definitely playing a major role in my mission work and what the Lord is doing in my life in getting these Bibles to people who don't know Christ. I hope to continue with LifeLight Ministries for the near future, and I pray that God will bless them in all that they're doing."

-Eyob

Movie Night

​A letter from Paul Janz:

"​Yes, t​

he movie night went well. Even an unsaved neighbour came with his daughter.  We showed "Thirst" on a large 16' wide X 9' high screen, so it had a theatre type feel. The crowd got into the movie and really enjoyed it.

Two people came forward at the invitation to accept Christ. I gave out 5 or 6 NLT New Testaments afterwards.​"

We are so happy to be able to be able to give Bibles for events such as this one where people can learn more about Jesus and choose to take a Bible if they are ready. What a blessing!

- R.Fuchs​

Note of Encouragement

Today I received a mailed insert from one of our LifeLight New Testaments.  This is what the lady had to say, "I have been reading my Bible since 1971 and I think the LifeLight is a very easy read & (has) great pictures, too. God Bless all those involved with the printing of this book."

We put these inserts in our LifeLight New Testaments as a return card people can use to comment or request a free Bible correspondence course. Whether from a seasoned Christian or a new believer, these are always appreciated as they bring encouragement to our ministry and help us to know what God is doing through our ministry of His Word. God Bless you all!

Scripture for Hindi

On the way from Toronto to Winnipeg I met a couple of Indians who have been living in Toronto for 25 years.  I offered them a LifeLight Find God New Testament.  They said they could not read English but their children could and they gladly accepted my gift.

Your support makes an eternity of difference.

Scripture at hotel

Canadian LifeLight scriptures on display at Four Points Hotel at Toronto Airport during a modern day mystics conference