Wow, does the summer ever seem to go so fast. Here it is the middle of September already with the leaves starting to change colour, the sun rising later and setting earlier, and the kids back into school routines. Though many of us hate to see summer go, we are looking forward to all that the fall has in store, including for me the upcoming hunting season:) We hope all of you had a restful summer and got the opportunity to slow down and hang with your family and friends.

After a summer of spontaneous gatherings, we are ready to be get back into the rhythm of some more structured gatherings. Last weekend some of us were able to participate at the Urban Sanctuary Retreat. What a sweet time we had together exploring ancient yet simple and practical forms of praying from various streams of the church. The FCJ Centre run by a branch of the Catholic Church in the heart of Calgary was the perfect place to learn together how to create sacred space in the middle of the chaos of city life. We hope to plan some day retreats sprinkled through out the year to help us be intentional about the disciplines of silence, solitude, and slowing down. If you would be interested in this let us know.

Here are some forms of Gathering over the next 3 weeks to put on your calendars:

This Sunday we'll be gathering at our place @ 10:30am for a time of worship, reading and applying the Scriptures, storytelling, sharing our joys and struggles, and praying for one another. If you would like to hang out over lunch feel free to bring it along. Remember to bring or make enough to share with others. Eating together will give us a chance to catch up and hear about each others summer adventures.

On Sept. 25th we want to gather some of our neighbours and friends to see Africa pix, and hear some of our stories. It will be a potluck/barbie. If you would like to come please RSVP and let us know as soon as possible for our planning.

On Sat. night Oct. the 1st we are thinking of gathering @ Mac and Jo's for a time of worship and encountering God by listening to His voice and responding through prophetic words, prayer for healing and such. We want to create a context for our kids and their friends "to do the stuff" with us grey heads cheering them on and coaching a little bit as needed. More details to come on this.

Well I think that's enough details for now. Look forward to seeing some of you who we haven't seen face to face for some time.

We love you all,

Tim and Esther

SUMMER HAPPENINGS

Hey Everyone,

We love this time of year with school winding down and the long aniticipated break from the more scheduled grind or routine of life. Looking forward to getting out into creation is my cathederal, and to having a little more white space on the calendar...I hope:)

Here are a very few planned events and opportunities to gather this July. We want to make sure that we don't overly crowd the schedule, but still connect.

1. This Sunday we'll gather @ our place @ 11am. We'll share a meal together and share, pray, and celebrate Jesus around the table...Shoko our Japanese friend who doesn't know Jesus is coming and bringing some food.

2. On the July long weekend, anyone who would like to join us down in the Crow for a camping and fishing trip are welcome. We will be leaving Friday and you can stay through Sunday, come for the day, or stay for just a night. Let us know if you'd like to come. My friend and our neighbour Darol is coming with his kids and bringing his small fishing boat which should be fun. We will be staying @ the Castle Campground.

3. Jon and I leave for Africa on July 9th for three weeks...coming up quickly. A big thank you to all who contributed to make this trip possible. It really has been a community effort. Infact, Mike's soccer team that I coach are chipping in to support us which is pretty exciting...people who aren't church folk wanting to be part of our Kingdom adventure!

4. The rest of July will be pretty organic and spontaneous as far as gathering goes...so go for it and initiate with some folks you haven't seen for a while.

Love,

Tim and Esther

Oh how sweet it is when spring finally comes with longer days, grass going from brown to green, and being able to sit on the porch and soak in the sun.

We will be meeting this Sunday at our house at 10:30am on Sunday. Come with a song/hymn you want to sing together or one you've written, a poem you've written a story or scripture to share with the rest of the group during our worship time. Kids are welcome to participate in this as well. We want to all bring a gift of worship to Jesus!

The focus this Sunday will be "Joining the Father on His Mission To Reconcile People From All Nations into relationship with Him." Doug will share his cool God stories from His trip to the Middle East and show us a video clip of him baptizing some friends in a shower! The Tweedie family will be with us and we will hear about how the Father has been leading them after coming back from Malaysia. Then Dave Henry will lead us in a prayer time for and Indian family that he supports in India, who are planting churches.

Of course we love to eat together as well, so please bring enough food to feed your clan and share with the rest of the crew. Bring along your favourite drinks as well.

If you have any pop bottles, milk jugs or cans that you would be willing to part with, Jon and I would gladly receive them as a contribution towards our Africa trip this July. So if you remember bring them as well on Sunday.

Love,

Tim and Esther

Spring is Here, I Think?

Wow what a spring so far! So far I've managed to squeeze in between the snow squalls two practices with my U-12 soccer team. When I want to start complaining about the weather, I'm reminded of the folk in the States who are getting hammered with tornadoes, the Japanese who are recovering from tsunamis and earthquakes. So in light of that a few snow storms ain't so bad!

We are meeting this Sunday evening from 5-8pm for house church at our place. It will be a "Bring Your Gift" time so bring something to share with us all...a poem you've written, a song you would like to sing or one you've composed, a painting...if I may I would to boast in Shari P. and Linda Mae Hill who are turning out to be amazing artists...would love to see some of your art! Or if like me all you can do on the artistic side of things is draw stick figures and press the play button on the stereo, feel free to come with a story, Scripture that God has been speaking to you through.

We also want to eat together so bring enough food for yourself and to share with the rest of the community. As is our custom we will share some bread/rice and juice in celebrating King Jesus in our midst.

For anyone who wants to hang out after, you can join our family tradition of watching the Amazing Race...though our boys are bummed that the Cowboys are out!

Those of you who are planning to come would you just give us a shout to let us know so we can plan accordingly.

Keep praying for Doug R. who is still in the Middle East till Sunday. He's having a great time and being treated like family or royalty. Look forward to hearing the stories when he gets back.

Jon and I are doing a bottle/can drive for our Africa trip so if you have any cans or bottles that you would be willing to part with let us know or bring them on Sunday if you're coming. Every little bit helps:)

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther

House Warming For Doug

Hey Everyone, We will be gathering this Sunday from 4-7pm at Doug Rempel's new house! The address is 2405 Pinewood Drive, S.E. It will be a potluck so bring enough food to share around. As Doug will be leaving this next Weds. on a Kingdom adventure, we want to spend some time praying for him and waiting on the Lord for any Spirit-inspired words about the trip. It really is an exciting opportunity and we get to be a part of it! We also want to bless Doug's new place and pray about how God would want to connect Doug with what He is doing in the Forest Lawn area to extend His Kingdom. The Forest Lawn area is one of those places in our city where there are alot of ethnic folk especially from Asian countries like Vietnam as well as from India, Pakistan and other parts of the world. It has also had a reputation for being a crime 'hot spot' with lots of gang and drug activity. Yet these are the kinds of places where Jesus loves to show up! So we want to pray that His Kingdom would come, and that the Holy Spirit would guide Doug in his desire to partner with the Father in His Kingdom activity in the S.E. and possibly form a simple Jesus community there with people who don't know Jesus yet. Doug has sensed a call to this area, and we're excited about what is in store for him and his family in days to come. See you on Sunday, Tim and Esther

Rest and Replenishment

Hi All, We as a family are leaving today for a week in Canmore of rest and replenishment. Really looking forward to getting into nature, no meetings, less schedule, and having some fun with the fam. Being in the cathedral of creation is one of my primary ways of connecting with God and its been awhile. You can read my blog on the toxic nature of city life on the Mosaic website if you want to hear my rant and rave. Thus we will not be around for the next two weekends. If any of you would like to host or plan a gathering some type or sort over the next couple of wknds....Go for it! On the 16th or 17th it would be fun to gather at Doug Rempel's new place. Doug, let us know if these dates work for you, and why don't you plan what the time together would be like. It would be great to have the Behrang clan at this gathering and pray for your Iran trip coming up at the end of April. If you would like to support Doug on this trip which he will share more about when we gather. You can do that through Mosaic Ministries...just talk to Doug about it. Heaps of peace and joy on you all, Tim and Esther

The Power of Forgiveness

Hi Everyone,

Here's a cool story of how God is able to 're-cycle' and 'redeem' even the most horrific of situations. Good friends of ours, who are missionaries and pastors from Japan to the Japanese community in Calgary, shared this story with us. Last weekend, the youth group at the Japanese church our friends have planted decided to do a fund raiser to help out the over 500,000 Japanese who have become refugees in their own land because of the earthquake and tsunami. They held the fund raiser at a Chinese supermarket, which is ironic when you realize the deep seated bitterness and hatred the Chinese have for the Japanese due to all the pain caused by the Japanese during World War II. One elderly Chinese lady, who would have lived through World War II and been deeply affected by the atrocities committed by the Japanese, placed an envelope in the donation box with 10 $100 bills in it. Wow, that sure fleshes out Jesus teaching of what it means to love your enemies!

This Saturday we again will meet at our place at 5pm. Yes, it will be a potluck so bring enough food for your fam. and to share! We know that for some the mention of a potluck means another thing to prepare for in the midst of a busy schedule...yet food and hospitality and sharing are so much a part of Kingdom culture, we want to encourage you to keep it simple and plan in advance so that its not a huge deal. Our times together are not to be so much a meeting as a family gathering. We want to be a family on mission together!

We again want to give opportunity for everyone, including our kids, the chance to 'give and receive'....so come prepared to offer up a poem you've written or a peom you like that someone else has written, a song you've composed or a song you'd like to sing together, a story, a short devotional, a painting or a Scripture. We'll go around the room and have everyone share their gift. We'll also have opportunity to prayer for one another at the end and any of our friends, neighbours who don't know Jesus yet! Woven into our time will be a chance to give a hearty toast and thank you to King Jesus!

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther