From Jon Imbeau, Director of Awana Canada:
Every two years the staff from Awana Canada meets somewhere
in Canada, in order to enjoy some good teaching and fellowship together. This
year our staff met in Montréal. Our goal was to spend time getting to know the
new members of our team. We have five new couples on the team since our staff
met two years ago in Vancouver! We are excited about this growth and the work God is doing through us. In Montréal our team learned more about
developing partners in the ministry from an expert by the name of George
Loring. George taught us about why it is so important to communicate the good
things that are happening to those who are invested in our ministry.
As we toured Montréal we experienced the culture and learned
about the significant need for Awana in this province. Less than 1% of 6.2 million French
speaking Canadians believe in Jesus. The need to reach the young generation is
so evident. All of us feel that the work being done in Québec is exciting. We
are praying for Lise Lalonde as she reaches this people group.
Our team enjoyed wonderful meals and fellowship together. We
had a tour of an authentic sugar shack where we heard live Francophone music and
some of us even played the spoons.
Jeremy Petty came from Chicago to teach us
more about youth ministry. This was a powerful workshop and very informative.
Jeremy has devised a new strategy for training youth workers. We are praying
for a greater development of youth work here in Canada.
Dave Kinsey and Art Quest taught us about the new training
method called hitting the mark. Both men experienced this training firsthand in
the US this year. Our team learned a lot and will incorporate some of these
methods in our basic training. Finally, we heard more about the Truth Seekers Ministry from Stephen Somers, Len Friesen, and Victor Somers.
Dave Kinsey (Missionary in Northern and Eastern Ontario) writes:
As the former Awana missionary in Quebec (before Lise), it was good to be back in Montreal and environs. My French hasn't improved any, but I think I heard more English in the hotel than French!
Joyce and I will certainly remember many of the events of the week. We felt so sorry for Lynne Heron when her wallet was stolen Thursday morning while she was having breakfast at Tim Hortons, and then her elation on getting a call that it had been found in the garbage at a second Tim Hortons. We made sure she was able to pick it up after the hockey game that night. It made for a rather late night!
All in all, it was a good week - one of the best, if not THE best missionary conference of my thirty-one years an an Awana Missionary.
To learn more about the missionaries serving Awana Canada around the country visit our
missionary page!
