Happy New Year! From your Canada West Mission Team
Setting your New Year’s Resolutions
Choose Carefully
A long list of resolutions will set you up for failure. Think carefully about what you’d like to change. Choose only one or two goals as your resolutions. Be honest with yourself. Your goals should be achievable and realistic.
Use writing as a tool to help you identify and decide upon your goals. First, review your year. What were the high points and low points? What were your successes? What made you proud? Now think about where you can improve. Are any of these areas ripe for a resolution?
As you consider possible changes, think carefully about each one. Is it realistic? Is it achievable? Why do you want to make the change? Will it improve your life? What are your reasons for making this change?
Make a Plan
You've got a goal. Now how do you get there? Break your goal into sub goals or small steps. Think about how to make each small step. Rather than emphasize the long term goal, consider daily goals. What daily changes must you make to achieve your long term goal? What action steps must you take?
Again, write to clarify your thoughts and help yourself identify the steps needed to achieve your goals. Are these steps small? Achievable?
Keep track of your progress and reward your achievements. We tend to assume that success is its own reward, but change is difficult and often uncomfortable. Additional rewards will help you to make change effective and last over the long haul. Rewards can include treats like a massage, facial, or afternoon at the movies. Or they can include less tangible rewards, such as simply taking time to yourself to do whatever pleases you.
Change for Life
Once you have achieved your goal, maintain your success by continuing the small daily changes that helped you to achieve your goal. For long term success, make those small changes part of your lifestyle.
"At Mission Conference 2010, the invitation was extended to our membership to help celebrate World Accord's 30th anniversary of ministry by initiating the opportunity for CWM to help build 3 school in Honduras for elementary children. Education is the best way of breaking the barriers of poverty and celebrating the gift of life for young children.
As of Dec. 22nd CWM has pledged $19,433 of the $30,000 goal, enough to build just shy of 2 schools. As outgoing Mission Centre President I would personally encourage each of you who haven't responded to this opportunity to participate, to consider making this invitation a special priority to not only celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in a very tangible way to some of the world's poorest of poor but knowing that you will be giving the gift of hope to a group of children that may some day be part of the World's decision makers responding to peace initiatives affecting our global communities.
May you be blessed in your evaluation to make a contribution to World Accord earmarked, "CWM School Project". A simple phone call to (800) 525-3545 or email to dbarth@worldaccord.org will make a huge impact on our children.
With Appreciation for your consideration,
Darrell Belrose"
Year End Donations
If you’re planning to make a donation to your Congregation, World Church, or the Mission Centre before the end of 2010, this is a reminder to get it in soon. Contact Greg Goheen at greg@communityofchrist.ca and mail your cheque to:
Canada West Mission CentreAttn: Greg Goheen
PO Box 10248, Airdrie, AB, T4A 0H5
Click here to read the December Youth Newsletter
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| December 2010 Canada West Mission | |
| Work as a family to conquer materialism and greed ’Tis the season to be bombarded by advertising and make wish lists of “must have” items. For many teenagers, providing relatives with Christmas ideas can be a challenge because they already own so much stuff. In a culture glutted with images of the “good life,” many kids have a collective case of luxury gout. According to the Pew Research Center, 81% of young adults say getting rich is their first or second most-important life goal.
The good news, Mueller says, is that when emptiness grows, kids’ hunger longs to be fed even more. The Christmas season is the ideal time to show teenagers that God’s gift of Jesus, not material things, gives them purpose, meaning, and hope. Read on for ways you can share this important message with your kids this holiday season. | ||
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Has Christmas become too commercial in your family? If so, try celebrating an old-fashioned holiday. These ideas, adapted from A Simple Christmas by Lori Salkin and Rob Sperry (Andrews McMeel Publishing), can help your family keep Jesus’ birth festive, fun, and meaningful.
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Many of today’s young people have dollar signs in their eyes:
· When senior highs were asked what makes them happy, 74% said money. (Harris Interactive)
· 61% of all teenagers say they love to shop at pricey stores. That’s up 10 percentage points in just four years. (Harrison Group/VNU Teen Trend Report)
· (physorg.com)
· Some research suggests that the negative effects of rampant materialism can be tempered by teaching kids to appreciate what they have. Teens who are both highly materialistic and highly thankful tend to say they like to spend their time helping other people. (Harris Interactive) | |
| Great Questions to Ask Your Kids Begin a conversation about materialism by asking these questions: 1. What’s on your wish list this Christmas, and why? Which items are “needs,” and which are “wants”? Explain. 2. What do your possessions say about you? How would you life—or status—change if you suddenly lost them all? 3. How does materialism affect your relationship with God? How does it affect your celebration of Christmas? 4. How can our family have a meaningful “non-materialistic” Christmas this year? |
PRAY THAT: 1. Your teenagers will realize that their spiritual blessings from God are more valuable than any earthly possessions they could acquire. 2. Your teenagers are protected from the influence of advertisements and peer pressure to relentlessly buy and consume. 3. Your family can stay focused on God’s precious gift of his Son, Jesus, this Christmas. Verse of the Month “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” (Luke 12:15)
Almost half of Jesus’ parables are about money and wealth. In Luke 12, Jesus describes a rich fool who planned to build bigger barns for all he owned. But the man died that night, and everything he’d worked for went to other people. Verse 21 says, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” |
| Going Deeper On SimplyYouthMinistry.com, Walt Mueller, founder of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, offers these insights to help parents evaluate their attitudes about materialism: The fact that we often define ourselves by our work and worldly possessions hasn’t been lost on our kids. Our job as parents is to help our teenagers redefine their idea of success by equipping them to understand and live out God’s definition of success. Of course, this requires that we understand and live out his definition ourselves. Here are some questions to ponder as you examine your life and lifestyle. Take the time to answer them seriously. You might even want to ask your children for their impression of what you’re teaching. • What do you want to pass on to your children? • How much does your lifestyle reflect and conform to the values prevalent in our consumer society? • If your kids were to write out a definition of success based on how you define it through your lifestyle, what would they write? • How competitive are you, financially? Are you jealous when someone acquires something you don’t have? • Do you mope about what you don’t have rather than express joy about those things you do have? • When will you know you’ve “made it”? • Do you possess your possessions, or do they possess you? • Are you a cheerful, generous, and joyful giver? • Do your faith and security rest in God or in your things?
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| This page is designed to inform and educate parents and isn’t meant to endorse any music or movie. | |
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MUSICSPOTLIGHT | |
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Mainstream Artist
Background: Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., or Lil Wayne, has been writing songs and singing since grade school. He was an honor student until dropping out of school at age 14 to pursue a music career. Lil Wayne, 28, has been very prolific, and his albums consistently reach the top of the charts.
Albums: I Am Not a Human Being (2010), Rebirth (2010), Tha Carter III (2008) What Parents Should Know: Lil Wayne’s albums contain parental advisories for vulgar lyrics. The rapper has been arrested for possessing drugs, including cocaine. He recently served a prison sentence for weapons charges. Lil Wayne, who’s fathered children with four different women, was just hit with a new paternity suit. What Lil Wayne Says: “I’m not an example for how people should live their lives. Never in my life would I ever set out to be an example for people.” Discussion Questions: Are celebrities obligated to live a certain way? If so, explain. Read aloud Titus 2:1-8. As a Christian, do you feel like people are watching how you live extra closely? Why or why not? Do you ever get the feeling they hope you’ll mess up? Explain. How can we encourage one another to live Christ-like lives? |
Christian Artist
Background: The hip-hop band GRITS, which stands for Grammatical Revolution in the Spirit, consists of Stacy “Coffee” Jones and Teron “Bonafide” Carter. Both were dancers for Christian hip-hop pioneers dcTalk. During the past 15 years, GRITS’ songs have been used in movies, TV shows, and video games. Albums: Quarantine (2010), Redemption (2006), The Art of Translation (2002) What Parents Should Know: These talented singers go out of their way to stay true to their Christian faith. They also reach out to people they disagree with. GRITS is involved in community-building programs, including efforts to raise awareness about racism. What GRITS Says: “Our goal was to be ‘special ops’ to go into the world of hip-hop and seek and save. It was a push to tell our genre to step it up… never for money but to really be beacons of light.” Discussion Questions: What types of people have influenced you, and what made them so influential? Read aloud Matthew 16:5-12. Why did Jesus describe dangerous teachings as yeast? How can you guard against worldly influences? In what ways can you positively influence others for God? |
| Movie: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (releases Dec. 10) Genre: Adventure, fantasy Rating: PG (for some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action) Synopsis: Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, as well as their annoying cousin Eustace, are sucked into a painting and back to Narnia. They embark on a voyage across the seas to save Narnia and the magical beasts.
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| Visit Meadowridge congregation | Visit in B.C | |||||
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| Speak in Chilliwack | ||||||
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| Speak in Regina | Regina Christmas Program | |||||
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| Christmas Eve Service Regina | ||||||
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The End of a Year.
As one year draws to a close I pause to reflect on the changes that have occurred in our mission centre and on a World level and the changes yet to come.
The need to focus our energies on “What matters most” comes to us in a time in our mission when we are becoming more focused on discerning the will of God for our denomination, congregations and individual spiritual lives. My personal spiritual discernment is leading me to focus on the building of the beloved community. This is a theme that crosses all of the three areas of which we are called to determine “what matters most”. Certainly this can be broadly interpreted but it does tie in nicely with the direction that our Apostle Susan Skoor has worked with the Canadian staff to focus on. In our Canadian Field meetings Apostle Skoor shared with us the three themes that she has felt drawn in for her field. She identified Building of the Kingdom, Resurrection and Hope. With Darrell’s position transitioning to that of MCMC we look forward to the positive blessings this will bring to the Mission Centre. We have recognized a downturn in the number of kids coming out to camps and retreats and have looked to determine the best way to stimulate growth in this area and enable the different geographic areas to increase their ministry in this area. One way has been to seek out youth reps to provide programming in SK, AB and B.C. Resources are available to offset these programming costs from the Mission and provide to offset expenses incurred to the provincial reps. My role will be transitory in light of this initiative to focus more on outreach ministry and ministry to Young Adults. Ultimately a goal of building the pool of people that we can draw on to work with our youth can be achieved by focusing our efforts in the area of missionary ministry.
We are encouraging congregations to engage in a visioning process such as the ones that Victoria, Saskatoon and Edmonton have begun. This is a process intended to provide focus and build on the strengths of the congregation. I would encourage your congregations to speak to Greg Goheen, Mission President, to determine the best course of action for your congregation.
Please continue to seek out ways to minister to our youth, think outside of the box and provide the youth of your communities with the example of the beloved community, of Zion, to the best of your abilities. Consider volunteering at our many youth camps at Hills of Peace and the camps in the GPNW at Samish. The youth of today need to feel the peace of Jesus Christ amongst the competing voice of our culture these days.
Thank you for your efforts in the name of Jesus Christ.
Your brother in Christ,
Dan Woynarski
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