Thrive_Autumn 2019 digital issue

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<strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2019</strong> THE EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY CHURCH Interview with James Bekkers, Executive Pastor, Donald Calder, Lead Pastor of Temple Baptist Church, Sarnia, and EHD Point Leaders Don and Nancy Dafoe, Temple Baptist Church in Sarnia, ON When did Temple Baptist adopt the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship model? What were the reasons that you as a church decided to pursue it? UP TO SPEED: REGIONAL UPDATES In 2017, God called Donald Calder to serve as our new lead pastor, arriving at a critical time when we were considering a new ministry plan to accompany what is now our mission statement: “Connecting people to jesus and to one another”. We had many programs but no clear strategy to move people from being seekers to practicing, mature followers “THROUGH THIS COURSE of Jesus. Don Dafoe had read Peter Scazzero’s book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and the honesty I REALIZED THROUGH and transparency of his testimony spoke to us. It HIM I CAN OVERCOME touched on areas where we wanted our discipleship to go beyond the acquisition of information MY WALLS, BREAK and move to life transformation. THROUGH BARRIERS, What do participants learn through the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship program? We get consumed by activity in the Christian life but don’t take the necessary time to sit at Jesus’ feet and develop a deeper relationship with Him. Emotionally Healthy Discipleship provides a new way of living in deeper relationship with Jesus. Many Christians still have baggage due to their upbringing, hurts, and broken relationships. They AND LISTEN IN SILENCE TO HEAR WHAT GOD IS SAYING TO ME; THAT I CAN HAVE FREEDOM BY LETTING GO OF MY PAIN AND LIVE AS GOD INTENDED ME TO LIVE.” —COURSE PARTICIPANT
thrive-magazine.ca thrive / 19 “I BEGAN TO REALIZE HOW MUCH I HAVE BEEN MISS- ING OUT OF MY WALK WITH CHRIST. I KNEW SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT IN MY SPIRI- TUAL LIFE BUT DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS OR HOW TO FIX IT. I GOT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MYSELF, WHICH HELPED ME EXPERIENCE A CLOSER INTIMATE RELATION- SHIP WITH GOD.” —COURSE PARTICIPANT need the tools to understand themselves and their baggage before they can truly develop a deep, loving relationship with God and deeper relationships with others. The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship program provides the means to accomplish this. How did you go about bringing this model into your church? What were the biggest changes you saw throughout the process? This model was introduced to our Elders by Don as then chair of Elders during the 18 months our church was without a pastor prior to Pastor Donald’s arrival. We participated in a webinar with Peter Scazzero walking us through some of the material, after which we agreed to host a trial run of the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality course for leaders and key ministry personnel. We soon realized this course had real wisdom and would be an opportunity to encourage deep personal and spiritual growth within our congregation. So with a green light to proceed, we opened it up to the rest of our church. Many participants saw immense spiritual growth from the process, and changed relationships with each other and with Jesus. Marriages were strengthened, prayer lives were deepened, and people were abiding in Christ like never before. “THIS IS THE MOST HELPFUL DISCIPLESHIP MATERIAL WE HAVE EXPLORED IN YEARS. IF YOUR CHURCH IS LOOKING FOR SOME- THING TO HELP YOUR PEOPLE GROW SPIRITUALLY, I WOULD DEFI- NITELY RECOMMEND YOU GIVE THIS A TRY.” —JAMES BEKKERS, EXECUTIVE PASTOR LEGACY OF HOPE: CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH, VICTORIA, BC by Hannah Temple In 1980, there was a global crisis not unlike the Syrian crisis today. Central Baptist Church in Victoria, BC responded by sponsoring two refugee-related families, the first of which was Tom and Jean Truong with their six children. The Truong family were part of the one million people who fled after the Vietnam War. They encountered countless obstacles on their journey, and were eventually separated by Malaysian officials. On May 11, 1980, Tom Truong was reunited with his wife Jean and six children in Victoria, BC after being separated for 10 months during their escape. Tom became the first custodian at Central Baptist, where he still serves today. In order to honor the legacy of Central Baptist and their sponsors, Hannah, Tom’s daughter, has created the New Canadian Bursary. Through numerous churches, friends, and family members, $50,000 has been secured to be used for an annual bursary at Ambrose University (Calgary, AB). In this way, the legacy of hope that the Truong family experienced through Central Baptist Church can live on.
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