Rigney Ministries

This year Benjy and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, so we decided to do something different … something really special … a two week vacation in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

We became intrigued with this area when we became friends with Vic and Julie, long time residents of BC. God brought Julie into my life through the Christian Women’s Blog Ring. We became easy friends, and we started doing Bible studies together online. Julie regularly sends us photos of their beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and moss covered trails, so when it came time to make our anniversary plans, we knew exactly where we wanted to go!

Our official anniversary is September 24, but May was the only month that would work with our schedule, so we reserved a condo, booked a flight, and eagerly waited for the day we would board our plane. When the time came, we found ourselves at the airport … still waiting! Bad weather and mechanical difficulties held us up on the first leg of our journey and stretched what should have been a 14 hour trip into 24 hours. We crossed the US/Canada border at 1:00 am, Sunday, May 4, and we had a very interesting conversation with the border guard, which Julie describes on her blog. I tell more about our visit and the beautiful landscape in British Columbia on my personal blog, Are-You-For-Real.com .

After our travel plans were made, God opened the doors for several ministry opportunities in BC. Broadway Mennonite Brethren, invited Benjy to sing the first Sunday we were there. After only three hours of sleep, we were up and getting dressed for church … that’s when we realized that Benjy’s soundtracks were in our luggage, which had been lost by the airlines! After some brainstorming, we connected to the internet, purchased a new soundtrack, downloaded, burned a CD, and off we went to church! Benjy sang Jerusalem beautifully, and it was well received by the congregation. The pastor invited him to come back and do a concert the next time we are in the area.

Mark and Amy, missionaries to India, were guest speakers the Sunday we visited Broadway. It was very interesting to hear about their work in India, and to see their children sing a song in the language of the people group they serve. Aren’t they the cutest things!

We enjoyed fellowshipping with many of the members of Broadway at a soup and bun dinner held in the fellowship hall after the morning services. We learned right away that the people of Canada are warm and gracious hosts.

The following Sunday was Mother’s Day, and Benjy was invited to lead the music and sing at Gateway Baptist Church, on the outskirts of Vancouver. We had been told that the area was multi-cultural because of the number of people who enter Canada through Vancouver’s international airport … in fact, Vancouver is called the “Gateway to the World.” But, we were surprised at how many different cultures were represented in that city in general, and in that church in particular. Four separate congregations share the Gateway Baptist Church facilities: an English congregation, a Sudanese congregation, a Burmese congregation, and a Spanish congregation.

	Benjy and Vic enjoyed visiting with Pastor William and another member of the Sudanese congregation. Pastor William invited Benjy to come back in June to preach a revival for his congregation, but we had a schedule conflict. We hope to be able to schedule a revival with them next year.
	Vic, Tammie, and Julie visiting with Christine, who told us a very interesting story about how children made fun of her Burmese name when she first moved to Canada. She decided to take an English name, and she chose Christine. She was not a believer at that time, and she did not know that the name Christine means ‘Follower of Christ’. She later became a believer, and she is the only Christian in her family. She now prays for their salvation, and she works with the Burmese congregation, longing to see her people know the Lord.
	Julie and I visited with this young lady from Sudan … she had only been in Canada for three or four weeks. Julie enjoyed holding this precious little fellow, he was the young lady’s cousin. Pastor William explained that many members of his congregation have fled Sudan due to the civil war, and they are looking for a better life in Canada. Pray that Pastor William and others can reach these people with the Word of Life … what life is better than that?

We SO enjoyed meeting and worshiping with these congregations, and we thank them for allowing us to join with them while we were away from our own home. We pray God’s blessings on their obedience, and we ask that He lead them in sound doctrine that they might raise up mighty men and women who will reach out into their community, preaching and teaching God’s Word.

We also met with a North American Missions Board partner, Vancouver Focus, to learn if there might be some way we can participate in ministering to the people of that area. I’ll tell about that meeting in our next newsletter.

On His Exciting Journey,