ABUNDANT GRACE OF GOD MATERNITY CENTRE & MACAD FAMILY UPDATE

Heading into 2024!

It has been a busy start so far to 2024 with lots of hellos and goodbyes. We had to say good bye to my (Georgia's) mom in January after she spent 6 weeks with us through Christmas and New Year. 

The photo above was taken on our adventure to visit our farm that Achao has been working on for the past months. It was an eventful day - but my mom is always up for an adventure!

Our next good bye was when we sent Emmaus back to school in Manila after a nice long Christmas break. He has been enjoying rugby this year and really likes all of his teachers and classes. It has still been hard for him being away from the family but he has matured so much this year - and also grown in height! 

Lucas and Zion are doing well and have a great group of neighborhood friends who they spend most of their time with outside of school.

Zion and his friends mastered the art of creating "noisemakers" over Christmas and New Years ... nothing crazy, just tin cans, paint thinner and lighters ... Yikes! 

Lucas is a part of the basketball program at the local highschool and although it sounds great because the school doesnt have it's own basketball court, their practice time is limited.

We are still thinking and praying about the choices needing to made for their education in the next few years. 

We then had some visitors from Samaritan's Purse Germany who spent a few days with us to learn more about the needs and impact of our maternity centers in the Philippines. We are thankful for the support they have provided for more than 12 years now! The picture above is of us at our Bugnay extension clinic with midwife, Jacky.

Financial Support

To support the Macad Family please click the image below (you will be redirected to our sending organization, MSC Canada. 100% of the funds sent are received by our family).

To support Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center, please click the image below (you will be redirected to the clinic's donation page with MSC Canada - 100% of the funds sent are received by the clinic).

PRAYER & PRAISE:

AGGMC:

• For continued healing emotionally and physically for our midwife Evelyn who lost her baby in February. 

• For Georgia as she speaks at a national midwifery conference in May - for good connections to be made to help support the training of Filipino midwives.

• For our patient, Jonirose, whose baby passed away in April from congenital heart disease which was diagnosed right after birth. 

• For improvement in the relationships between local birthing homes and the public referring hospital. 

Achao's mom, Hunog, came to spend a week with us last month. She usually doesn't like to leave the village so this was a special treat. This picture was taken on our way back to Bugnay - can you see "Sleeping Beauty" in the background? It is the mountain range in Tinglayan that looks like the profile of a sleeping woman.

We are so thankful for all the support which enables our family to be here in Kalinga, providing local families with competent and compassionate service - sharing God's love through midwifery-led care! 

We were so delighted to be able to host Pastor Emmanuel and his wife Dra. Leah along with their family for a trip to Buscalan in January. Emmanuel and Leah have been on the Board of Directors for Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center since we began in 2007. I was even one of the midwives for their eldest daughter Emalei (fourth from the right) back in 2005.

Personal:

• For a good end of the school year for Emmaus in Manila and Lucas and Zion locally.

• For safety for Achao in his project to renovate and improve our clinic’s office.

• For Georgia to be able to make it to England for her Master’s graduation ceremony in July.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS & FINANCIAL SUPPORT

INTERVARSITY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP VICTORIA

When Students Pray

When students start to pray, I start becoming curious to what God might be up to. 

InterVarsity Canada has a long history with seeing God work through prayer. The story goes that our founder, Howard Guinness, came to Canada because of a student prayer meeting. 

At Spring Camp this year, we saw students encounter God in prayer in a number of different ways. You'll hear more stories throughout this newsletter, but I want to highlight one very beautiful moment at this year's Stranger Gospel Scripture Camp.

Throughout the camp, our guest teacher and my good friend Sanjana Daniel, invited students to examine the gospel of Luke through the lens of these three questions: "Who is Jesus? What does that mean? How will you respond?" These questions are crucial to faith formation - almost all of discipleship is built around them. And I think God was building a lot of strong foundations in these students. 

On the final night, after teaching on the passion and resurrection of Christ, Sanjana invited students to respond in faith. She gave a few options including finding staff or other students to pray with.

In years past, we've seen student respond in really beautiful ways. And often students respond by asking staff to pray with them. This is often where we see students receive healing, hear God's voice for the first time and sometimes make adult decisions to follow Christ. But, what happened next as we entered into worship was something truly marvelous. 

As staff largely interceded from the back of the room, we watched as students began moving around the room during worship to go and pray with each other. Small groups would form, and then break off to form new groups. 

I asked two of my UVIC students about the night on our way home. One said, "I felt like something had been building throughout the week and I just need to praise God in worship and prayer. I needed to respond." The second student said, 'In worship I had felt free like I had never felt before. So it felt right to ask for others to pray for me."

When we pray God transforms us. When we pray we build muscles to see God at work in other places. When we pray God respond. Not always in the ways we expect. Not always in the time we want. Not always in the place we're looking. So with students being drawn to prayer at spring camp - well, you can understand why I'm excited. I'm anticipation that God is going to continue responding over this next year.

So let's join these students in praying for this upcoming school year. Let's pray for what the Creator wants to grow with the seeds of these praying students. Let's pray for God to make these experiences of prayer into daily, weekly and annual habits. 

UVIC Update

This May we hosted our second Amazing Race event on campus and we are so thankful for the great turn out we had. One of the gifts we are seeing with this annual event is how its providing places for volunteers and new students to serve and grow in leadership. We're looking forward to hosting a third Race in the Fall and we're excited to see how God continues to use future events to welcome new students to the Intervarsity fellowship and to the Kingdom of God on campus. 

Encounters With God

I cannot understand how it took me a whole year to recognize that this year's spring camp was the 12th InterVarsity Scripture camp that I've participated within. Wow. There was something special about this year's camp that brought back memories of my first Mark Central Camp at Ontario Pioneer Camp.

It was beautiful to watch students grow in delight in studying the Bible and I loved the number of students I heard who spoke about discovering new treasures in stories that they were so familiar with. I also loved watching staff come alive as they taught and facilitated track studies. 

Upon returning to Victoria, a UVIC student shared with me that after spring camp she met with an old housemate who began asking about where this student had been for a week. The student mentioned studying the Bible for a week and this gave birth to a longer spiritual conversation. There was something about this story that brought me back to my first scripture camp. I experience the same conversations popping up all over the place because of being a week studying the gospel of Mark. 

Will you join me in praying that more of the 45 students who attended BC's Scripture Camp will be drawn by the Holy Spirit into witnessing conversations like this? 

Prayer Requests

I invite you to pray for how God might be inviting you to respond through giving this year - whether through beginning or increasing a monthly donation or by advocating on behalf of myself and the ministry here in Victoria.

• Summer Slowpitch - Please pray for Terri as she hosts a summer slowpitch outreach here in Victoria. 

• Discovery Bible Study - Please pray as students study and pray through the book of 1 Peter this summer. 

• Vacation (May 12-25th):  Please pray for me as I take this time to rest and praywhile travling to Rome. I'm excited for the chance to live in monasteries and enjoy lots of great food, beautiful art and so much history. 

• Local Church Support - There are several churches in Victoria who are discerning supporting InterVarsity in Victoria. Will you pray for these communities as they make decisions about where to invest their resources?

Thank you Table Community!

This summer I'm excited to study the book of 1 Peter with students in Victoria.In past years, 1 Peter has been the place in scripture that God has spoken to me when I'm tired, scared or overwhelmed with the needs of students. This will be the first time I'm studying the epistle with students and I'm curious about how God might show up. Our six student leaders at UVIC have also committed to practicing Lectio Divina three times a week on the same passages students in Victoria will be studying. So there's potential for this short epistle to shape the UVIC community in a big way. The Stranger Calling Track from Spring Camp has also committed to joining these UVIC students in practicing Lectio Divina throughout this summer - either in Luke, Acts or 1 Peter. 

Let me know if you'd like to join our communal commitment - I think it would mean a lot for students to know that friends across the country are joining them in building greater habits of prayer and meditation on scripture. 

Camosun Update

As I come the end of a second year partnering with the Table Church at Camosun, I have lots of questions and lots to celebrate. Here are a few things I am excited for:

1.  We have a new student leader! Dani, an international student from Mexico, has agreed to help out with room bookings and grant funding in this next year. I'm so curious about the journey Dani is on. When she first joined the group she didn't look anyone in the eye and told us she was afraid of everyone. Now she boisterously welcomes new students in English and Spanish, and is always taking me aside to ask how she can help out - at Camosun and UVIC. As Dani is non-religious, I invite you to join me in praying that Dani would encounter Jesus.

2. Potential Camosun Volunteer - In March, I met with a Christian student from the Philippines who had been involved in IFES there. This student share that she was graduating this summer, but when I mentioned our workplace ministry and volunteers opportunities, she expressed a desire to potentially lead a bible study for Camosun students in the fall. Please pray as I continue to walk with this recent alumni and explore what it could look like for her to volunteer with InterVarsity in Victoria.. 

"Alan, last year you shared that sometimes you recognize your limits as an introvert and sometimes when you're leading you ask God to give your more social energy so you can care for students. And sometimes he responds by helping you to be present even when you're tired and don't think you can be around people any more. This year as I was serving at spring camp, I was beginning to feel so tired and like I couldn't give any more. But one afternoon, as I laid on the grass, I asked God to help me and give me what I need to lead the evening game activity. And he did."

Paraphrased Quotation from an UVIC Alumnus serving at Spring Camp.

I loved hearing this from one of our volunteers at spring camp. It was such an encouragement. Sometimes it just takes time for the seeds you plant to bear fruit. 

Partnership Updates

Hey Team! God has been so very kind to provide this winter. At the end of February, I made a decision to spend 32 of my weekly hours focusing on ministry partner development to raise new support. Thank you so much to everyone who responded through prayerful emails, increased monthly gifts and special one-time donations. Because of your responses, I was able to return to campus for four days a week at the beginning of April, which allowed me to debrief the year with students. 

For this current year, my funding needs are currently at $700/month. However, to see a growth my long term funding, I would like to see an increase of monthly giving by $1400/month.

Sometimes it can be hard to connect financial support with what we do on campus. Here are a few ways that your gifts help grow the ministry:

1. $37/weekly covers a student 1-1 mentorship meeting with Alan

2. $60-100/weekly covers the cost of an Open House

3.  $400 - Cost of 1 student to attend our annual scripture camp

Ways to Give & Sponsor

1. Online to Personal Fund: https://ivcf.ca/donate/athorimbert

2. Online to Uvic Fund: Go to https://ivcf.ca/donate/ and in the 'Select Designation' box choose the University of Victoria 

3. Cheque mailed to InterVarsity. Please include in the memo: Alan Thorimbert - Undergraduate Campus Minister

If you are already a monthly donor,  would like to increase your regular giving, or would like to transfer your donation to another staff or campus ministry – you may also contact Donor Services at donorservices@ivcf.ca or at 1-800-668-9766

STREET HOPE VICTORIA

Dear Table Church friends,

The evenings are finally getting longer and slightly warmer! It’s wonderful to
be able to meet together as a team on Tuesday evening, to chat and catch up
with people living on and around Pandora with the sun still up.

Easter Appeal

We had a brilliant Easter at SHV, thank you to everyone who gave goodies for our Easter Appeal. We were able to give out 96 bags filled with sweet and savoury treats as well as poem recommended by Noami, ‘Tea Cakes with Jesus’ by Kate Gaston. It speaks so beautifully of Jesus' compassion and love for us, no matter how messy our lives and hearts might be and how he changes and
transforms us.

Prayer

Please continue to pray for our Tuesday night team as we build relationships with people on Pandora. Please pray that our conversations would deepen and that we would be able to share more of our faith with people. That Jesus doesn’t hesitate to walk into the mess of our lives, his heart is full of compassion for us, and longs to redeem us and change our lives like “Some gold-veined Kintsugi spell of reconciled redemption has been injected through the whole thing.”

Giving out the Easter bags gave us the opportunity to have some wonderful conversations with friends our on Pandora about the real meaning of Easter, from how Jesus took our rubbish on the cross so we could have a relationship with God, to how he is big enough to hold all our pain, anger, and despair and
that we can have hope because Jesus is risen.

Soup Making

Our wonderful volunteer Laurence who has taken the lead with our soup making is moving back East, so we are looking for someone to take the lead with soup making.

Soup making happens once a month with a team of ladies (although men would be welcome!), on a Saturday morning at Church of Our Lord from 9am- 12:30pm. Laurence took responsibility for planning the flavour of soup we would make that month, deciding on two meat soups and one veggie. We use
12L of meat soup a week and 6L of veggie soup a week. Laurence and I would go shopping together during the week to buy the ingredients. If you enjoy cooking - in large quantities and would be willing to take a lead on our soup making please do get in touch with me!

Mobile: 250-880-7077

Street Hope Contact Info:

Website: victoria.streethope.org 

Email: deborah@thresholdministries.ca

Financial donations can be made through the Table Church or through this link. Select “Street Hope Victoria” from the list of funds. 

Table contact: Eleanor Protheroe - eleanor.protheroe@aimint.org

Thank you Table Friends & Family for your continued prayer and financial support of our three outstanding Missions Outreaches.