2021 marked 10 years for me volunteering at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital as a Spiritual Care visitor. It has been a privilege for me to be able to visit and pray with members of our church family during their difficult times in the hospital.
ONLINE AND ON-SITE
As we continued with a lot of restrictions on gathering, Discovery Gang and Glow Girlz continued to be offered online for the first part of 2021. Pictured you see some of our kids participating in “Pajama Jam” - we provided breakfast in a bag as they watched the Discovery Gang and Wonder World lessons online!
FAMILY MINISTRY
Something I had the privilege of doing during the pandemic was helping a family from our church who has immigrated from a refugee camp in Kenya. They had a baby in November 2020 and I was able to assist with some doctor and nurse visits, helping them navigate our systems in Canada. This is William, Akoi, and some of their family! We are excited that William’s mother and five other relatives will be joining them in the next year.
EASTER EGG HUNT
We love to celebrate and have fun, so we had to find a way to have our Annual Easter Egg Hunt within Covid restrictions! Families or groups signed up together and explored our grounds finding eggs, and various animals, and even the empty tomb! It was a big hit for the 114 people who attended!
SPRINGTIME
As spring approached, we were able to have some small outdoor gatherings with grade groups of Glow Girlz. Professor Incredible came to visit, for a one-time only outdoor show!
We ended our season with a Family Scripture City Scavenger Hunt! Families found their clues in Bible verses, drove to the various locations, prayed for that part of the city, and took a photo. It was such a fun and faith-building time!
SABBATICAL
In June I began an 11-week sabbatical, a much-needed rest after 13 years of ministry (including 2 years of pandemic!). The church was able to hire two summer students to run amazing daycamps through July and August. I spent a weekend at Whispering Pines Camp, and lots of time with family. Both my daughter and son got engaged during my sabbatical time! Our family doubled!
BACK AT IT!
At the end of August I came back to work refreshed, but to the sad news that Kristen Morris, our other children’s pastor, was resigning. As the church was unable to hire to replace her, I was faced with taking responsibility for all of Children’s Ministries, from babies to Grade 6. I told God, “I can’t do this, so it’s going to have to be You!” And He has been so faithful to provide everything that is needed to do His work, especially through incredible volunteers who eagerly lead and serve and bring great ideas! I have really enjoyed working with Wonder World leaders as well as the boys groups since September.
REOPENING!
We were able to offer Glow Girlz and just boyz, and XP56 Friday nights starting in September, with some minor restrictions to reduce the spread of Covid. Discovery Gang and XP56 Sunday Edition were fully open on Sundays, and Wonder World was open for ages 3-5 only, with limits of 10 children per class. People were happy to be back in the building, even though it was a little different.
XP56 Friday Nights at Kin Coulee
Discovery Gang, learning the every part of the body of Christ is important!
THANKING OUR HOSPITAL STAFF:
Children’s Ministries groups made cards and Hillcrest Church provided baskets of goodies for several departments at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital in October. We gave gifts to ICU and overflow, Emergency, and the BioMedical department. They were all very grateful!
BAPTISMS AND DEDICATIONS!
November was Baptism month, and it was my privilege to baptize two young people that I have known for a few years. Skilor was 12 and was so ready for this day!
On December 12 we rejoiced with 10 families who chose to participate in Baby Dedication! While I had done several private dedications in the past two years, it was very exciting to share this moment as a church family!
CHRISTMAS!
The highlight of my year was still to come, Journey to Bethlehem! How could we bring to life the miracle of Christmas for people of all ages, with so many restrictions? God brought together 50 amazing people to write, design, prepare, and reenact the story of Mary and Joseph, from Nazareth to Bethlehem and even on to Egypt! Here’s a video to give you a taste of the event, if you missed it!
After that event on December 18, I was ready to celebrate the peace and joy of the first coming of our Saviour. 2021 was a challenging year, but it made us put our trust more in the Lord than in what we can do in our own strength. May we always remember that He is our strength and our salvation!
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