New Life News
NEW LIFE PROFILES – JANET HITCHCOCK
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Janet Hitchcock, one of our New Life Missions team members. Since November is “Missions Month” here, I was interested to meet someone from the team that guides our missions process. I found Janet to be an extremely interesting person. What you will read in this blog is only part of our conversation – this lady carries so many amazing stories that it would take pages to write everything we discussed. She is also full of much wisdom and insight. In the end, I came away with a new appreciation for the diversity that God has brought to our community.
So give us a brief overview of your life.
I grew up in North London, England in a Christian home. When I was a young girl, we went to church a lot, sometimes three or four times on a Sunday. We attended a very missions minded Baptist church and so at an early age, I gained a perspective of missions and the world. My high school was located right in the middle of London, close to Westminster Abby. During my teen years, I developed a love for the outdoors and did a lot of hiking and backpacking with my family and friends. When I got a little older, my friends and I would do “hosteling” – hiking and travelling from one youth hostel to the other. Once I finished high school, I attended Royal Holloway College at Windsor which was part of London University. There I studied math and eventually became a teacher. I then taught math in London for a period of time.
How did you happen to come to Canada from England?
I recall studying “Canada” in high school and from that time on, the idea of Canada always held kind of a romantic notion for me. Years later, when a couple that I was friends with came to Canada, I decided to come and visit them. That was in 1975. They moved here to pastor a church on the Sumas Prairie. At it turned out, at the same time Abbotsford Christian School happened to be looking for a math teacher. They had been posting the job for quite a while with no applications so I applied, got the job, miraculously met all the immigration requirements, and stayed in Canada. I was the only non Dutch person working at the school back then.
How did you come to New Life – was it right after you moved?
When I first came to Canada, I attended Prairie Chapel where my friends were pastoring. Then, in 2006 I changed churches and found a church home at New Life.
Help us understand the heart behind what motivates you?
I am motivated by Jesus’ love as shown for me on the cross. Knowing that Christ has died for me makes me want to serve Him in whatever way I can.
What is the greatest joy in your personal life?
My relationship with Jesus is my greatest joy in life. It kind of overshadows every other part of life. Apart from that, joy is found is in other people, my friends, and my family.
What are your greatest struggles, the things that make you sad when you see them?
I am saddened when I see people who are isolated, lonely, and struggling with things such as mental health issues. As you might know, one of my passions is volunteering for Telecare. I do their books and some random office work, but the thing I love most is to be on their lines, listening and letting callers know that they are not alone.
Tell us about your relationship with God. What is it like?
I come to Him daily, every morning, and ask Him for help and strength. I also pray consistently for the needs of others.
From your personal experience, if you could suggest one thing to another person when it comes to the pursuit of God, what would it be?
Realize that at any time you can bring anything and everything to God. He will never reject you, only accept you.
Tell us about your connection to Esperanza.
I started going to Esperanza 8 or 9 years ago with New Life. Since that time, I don’t think I have missed a year. Most of the time, I take care of the cooking for the group but I have also spent more extended periods of time there. One time, I was there for 6 weeks working and teaching the First Nations children. I have also been there to cook for 2 family camps and have gotten to know certain members of the staff quite well. I am good friends with Tim and Cindy and their children – they run the programs there. I also have special connections with some of the First Nations people there like, for instance, the lady who runs the fuel docks. Once the First nations people accept you, they really take you into their hearts and you become a part of their family.
You are on our New Life Missions committee. Tell us about your heart for missions.
I have been part of the Missions committee for 4 years now. Because I grew up in a missions minded church, I have always had an awareness of missions. I love the triple pronged vision of New Life Missions – local, regional, and global. All three of these areas are important in order for a church to be well balanced. I also love the idea that our New Life missionaries are home grown. At one point in time, they all came from our own congregation.
How many missions trips have you taken?
I have been on many missions trips including trips to Mexico, Hungary, and Esperanza.
What is one stand-out memory from your time spent in missions work?
One time when I was in Mexicali we had a terrible wind storm that blew down part of our camp. The following day we had a worship service that included us taking communion with our church group teens. We were standing in the middle of a dirt field. The communion juice was in a styrofoam cup and someone set it on the end of a broken 2×4 board. Then, someone mistakenly kicked the board and the juice spilled, running all the way down that old board and dripping onto the black dirt. I had been part of communion services all my life but this time it wasn’t clinical. The death of Christ was somehow so much more real. There we were face to face with the crimson stained wood, the dirt, the heat, and the dark drops of what looked like blood on the ground. It was a profound moment of realization and thankfulness for the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
If there were one thing you could say to New Life church if regards to missions – what would it be?
Being a part of what God is doing in our community, country, and world is very exciting. Although individually we are only a very small part, never underestimate the rewards of being obedient to what God might be asking you to do. I, personally, never want to miss out on the opportunity to be involved and the blessing that it brings!
MISSIONS MINISTRY
Hello everyone, since November is “Missions Month” here at New Life, I thought we would start things off with an overview of our missions history. The subject of missions is important to our church and right from the beginning, New Life has had the goal of being a gathering church locally, and a sending church globally.
For the first years of New Life, there was no official missions committee, only passionate people from our congregation who loved to reach out to their community and the world. When individuals or couples from the church would launch out into ministry, our church would support them. One such family was the Barnhoorns. They became our first missionaries when they joined up with Wycliffe. There were special offerings given for many causes during those early years and relationships were developed with two key ministries – Joshua House and Esperanza. Even today, these ministries continue to rely on New Life for leadership and support.
By 2005, New Life was a well-established church in the community and a formal missions committee became necessary to manage the ever-growing list of missional relationships. Along with the formation of this team came the need for more organization and so a list of objectives (detailed at the end of this blog), and a comprehensive missions policy was written. A second need was for funding – a challenge that was addressed in a unique way.
Around the same time, New Life had launched a capital building fund campaign. The church was busting at the seams and meetings were being held in portables, so expansion was a necessity. However, the leadership of that era felt that it was somewhat selfish to raise money for our own “house” but leave those in need without anything. For this reason, it was decided that 10% of all funding brought in by the capital campaign would go to missions support. Over the next few years of fundraising, this total came to $320,000 and so for a period of several years, New Life missions was supported by our capital fund.
In 2007, the committee decided that they would support three missions partnerships – one local, one regional, and one global. We already had a local partner in Joshua House and our regional partner became formalized as Esperanza, but there was no global partner. In order to solve this dilemma, New Life consulted with CRC world missions, who directed us to World Renew. World Renew then suggested that we partner with Laure Honduras and so a new global partnership was established.
With three mission’s partners in place, New Life began sending out teams of people each year to work alongside their partners – supporting, learning, building, and discipling. In return, those who participated in the teams would be changed, discipled, and touched by the needs of our world.
One thing I would like to briefly clarify is the difference between a “missions partner” and a “missionary.” In simple terms, a partner is an organization, where as a missionary is an individual or a couple.
As the capital campaign began to wind down, a new funding model was needed to keep our missions department in a positive balance. It was decided that a dedicated missions fund would be established and maintained by regular giving. For this reason, offerings given on the last Sunday of each month now go to our New Life missionaries. There are also special offerings given during the year for our missions partners. As well, campaigns like the Honduras coffee sales and the Christmas gift catalogue help supplement and maintain a positive balance.
Over the years, missions at New Life has become a highly valued and well-loved part of our church community. Our partnerships have expanded to include the following ministries:
- Joshua House (Mens Recovery Homes)
- Esperanza (First Nations Ministry)
- Youth For Christ Colombia (at risk children and youth)
- Vida Nueva Laure, Honduras (CRC church plant)
- Hope for Korah Ethiopia (social justice for the impoverished)
Our New Life Missionaries have also expanded and currently, we support the following missionaries:
- The Barnhoorn Family in Jos, Nigeria (Wycliffe Bible Translation)
- Eve Pohl in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Hope for Korah)
- The Trivino family in Bogota, Colombia (Youth For Christ)
- Fred F (Currently serving in the Middle East)
- Tyler Strating in Lynden, Washington (YWAM)
- Adam and Michelle VanEgmond in Chiang Mai (Freedom 418- sex trade ministry)
- Fred Sutherland and family in Abbotsford ( MB Mission- discipleship and reaching the unreached people of the world).
We also send teams out each year, and support individuals from our church going on short-term missions such as YWAM. Two years ago, we were involved in an effort to bring a refugee family to Canada, an endeavour that resulted in a special God-relationship that has without doubt, touched the heart of every person at New Life.
Our yearly missions budget has grown to more than $36,000 per annum and each month we endeavour to raise $2900 to support our missionaries.
Our missions team is engaged in the process of reaching out beyond the walls of our church and at this point in time is made up of the following individuals: Yvonne Onderwater, Janet Hitchcok, John Fictorie, Eric Hoogenraad, Kevin DeWolde, and Justin Dudney.
Their objectives are to:
- Celebrate the Goodness of God – Through God‘s great Providence that members commissioned for mission work are given financial support that match up with their desire to touch lives with the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
- Connect with the Family of God – Be in partnership with other agencies in the development of local, regional and global Mission Program with God’s given resources for the development of His Kingdom.
- Grow in the Likeness of God – Pray for God‘s guiding Hand in sending long-term and short-term missionaries to the Harvest field.
- Serve with the Kindness of God – Create opportunities for all church members to participate in missions according to the Gifts that God has given them, particularly to those in need.
- Share the Story of God – That the Love and Grace of our Father may be evident to all we contact through missions, whether by word or by deed.
We are blessed to be part of an amazing missions minded church. Together, our vision is to be a catalyst for a “radical impact” in our community, and in our world.
WOMEN’S RETREAT NEWS
This past weekend, a group of women from our church headed out of town for a few days to our New Life women’s retreat. The retreat was a combination of two events – an overnight stay at Camp Alexander and also a Canada wide day conference called “Gather Rise” which was held in Surrey. Many amazing things happened. There were breakthroughs and healings (both emotional and physical). There were also words of destiny given and life long connections forged. Here are two brief testimonies from the time spent together:
– The women’s retreat and conference was beyond my expectations. The speakers were incredible but it was almost too much to take in. I think I was most blessed by living in community with 10 other ladies for two days, worshipping together, laughing, playing games, sharing, encouraging, crying, growing, learning, and seeking more of God together. Many of the ladies I only knew by name and brief encounters prior to the weekend. Others were close friends, but it didn’t matter. We were a community of women drawing closer to God and each other. Thank you God for women to do life with!
– What an overwhelmingly incredible day! This conference went way above and beyond what I was expecting. The speakers spoke straight to my heart, and there were so many major takeaways. All I have to say is WOW! God really showed up in major ways. When over 700 world changer women are gathered all in one room – it’s hard to even find words. My heart is so full and my soul is on fire. Back at the retreat center we spent time as a small group and the Lord did amazing things in our hearts. Love, grace and healing was found.
We are grateful for the work God did in the hearts of the ladies who attended the retreat. We pray that the seeds of faith that were planted will grow, and that the friendships that were made will strengthen and flourish.
Thank you Jesus. You are always faithful!
NEW LIFE PROFILES – CYNDI BROERSMA
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with our staff Women’s Ministry support and Faith Formation associate, Cyndi Broersma. Being that October is “Women’s Ministry” month here at New Life, I wanted to find out more detail on the inner workings and heart behind this ministry. I always knew Cyndi to be a person of depth, but as we sat and chatted, I was taken back by the amount of heart and passion she displayed for the ministry areas in which she is involved. I also learned a few other interesting things about who she is and where she has come from. A couple of days after our interview, I was still thinking about some of the answers she gave to my questions.
So give us a brief overview of your life.
I grew up in a small town in southern Saskatchewan. When I was 14, I relocated to BC. My home was right here in the Fraser Valley area until I graduated from High School. After that, I moved a short distance to attended Western Pentecostal Bible College.
After Bible College, where did your path take you?
Well, I went to China for a year where I taught English in Macau; however, I was there during the handover of Macau back to China and was forced to leave. I then began teaching in Hoi Ping (mainland China) where it was illegal to be a Christian. I joined a missions team and cycled to many villages to spread the gospel. During my time in China I developed a love for missions and saw the need for medical care. When I came home I went to UCFV for nursing.
What kinds of places have you worked, where have you served and in what capacity?
The reason I went into nursing was to join the Red Cross and then go serve in war torn countries. However, I got married and started a family before I was able to serve out of the country. I have always wanted to be part of the healing journey for people both in a practical and also a spiritual way. I have compassion for those who are hurting, wounded, and sick. I’ve had many jobs where I served in both missions and health care locally.
Help us understand the heart behind what motivates you?
I love community. I believe that church is essentially the first form of government. We should be the hospital, the educators, those who provide financial aid for those in need, and those who care for those needing care. As for the role of women – in the Jewish tradition women had a powerful role in their families. They would actually sing proverbs over their children and grandchildren. I am passionate about seeing this same nurturing and loving spirit released in our community.
What is the greatest joy in the work that you do?
I live to see the “ah ha moment,” in a child. It is the freedom of identity that happens when all the loving and nurturing comes together, and in one moment, a child finally realizes who they are and who Jesus is to them. It is such a beautiful birth. But apart from that, I love to be part of redemption stories wherever they might happen. The greatest joy in my work is to celebrate the moments of breakthrough with those in my community.
What is the greatest joy in your personal life?
My relationship with Jesus is # 1, and then, without doubt, my family. I love spending time with my husband. I also learn so much from my kids. Kids teach you so much about compassion, patience, and kindness. When I see those qualities in them and I know that they really get what life is all about, it gives me a great deal of joy.
What are your greatest struggles, things that make you sad when you see them?
I am saddened when I see people not connected, all alone, and with no support. It breaks my heart to hear the phrase, “I had no one to cry with me.”
Tell us about your relationship with God, what is it like?
My relationship with God is beautiful and messy – sometimes I use the phrase, “perfectly-imperfect.” There have been a lot of struggles in my life, sometimes one right after the other, but there have also been a lot of open doors. I have come to realize that along with every open door is a mess so I always try to see the bigger picture. I believe that pain gives us a glimpse of eternity. My time with God looks like: silence, listening, dreaming, reading, and praying continually. There is never a time that my head is not in a conversation with God.
From your personal experience, if you could suggest one thing to another person when it comes to the pursuit of God, what would it be?
It’s not complicated …
What are your hobbies?
I love hiking, hunting, paddle boarding, reading, and a very little known fact – crocheting! I am also very competitive and I love fitness.
What are the practicalities of Women’s Connection at New Life?
For the Tuesday morning Women’s Connections, there are three semesters each year. The first semester is 12 weeks long and runs September through December. The second one runs from January through March. Then we also have a shorter spring session in April and May running for about 5 weeks. In each semester, there are a variety of sessions or groups. When the semester changes, most of the groups switch over to a new topic. There is also a Wednesday night Women’s Connection group that meets. The topics for the Wednesday night gathering are consistent throughout the year. For the most part, whichever event you attend, you can expect a time of worship, caring, small groups, and prayer, and there is always child care available on Tuesday mornings.
What is your heart for New Life women’s ministries?
My heart is that the women of our church would be able to find their identity in Christ and feel connected – part of a unit. Our goal is that each woman would have support, someone to rejoice with, and, if needed, someone to mourn with. I never want anyone to feel like they have to struggle alone, and if someone is excited, there should always be someone to share the joy with. I also pray that they feel empowered to lead at home and to serve in their community.
If you could say one thing to the ladies of New Life, what would it be?
You are valued and treasured more than you could ever imagine. You can never fully know how much God loves you and He created you perfectly – imperfect.