Farewell to the Bartletts

The Bridge said goodbye to the Bartlett Family this weekend as they prepared to move back to Kansas. They moved here seven years ago as missionaries to help launch the ministry of the Bridge. Rodney served as associate pastor and together with his wife Tiffany, worked to establish and sustain some of the key ministries of the Bridge - the Sports Camp, the worship team, Kids Bible Camp, children worship and nursery just to name a few.

We got to know their wonderful three children as well as Rodney's passion for volleyball as seen in this photo.

We will miss you Rodney, Tiffany, Caleb, Jesse and Emily! Wishing you all of God's blessings as you move on to new endeavors in Kansas!

Bridge Church helping out at the Vancouver Marathon

As Christians, we are grateful for the redemptive grace provided through Jesus Christ. Our faith hinges on this one tenant - that God, not us, provided the means to salvation by first loving us.

Telling the good news of Jesus Christ to our community involves more than just words. Jesus calls us to demonstrate the gospel - to exemplify and dispense grace.

One of the ways we can do this is to serve our community in a way that demonstrates God's love for us. Every year, the Bridge Church (of which we are members) moves Sunday worship service to Alma & Point Grey road where about 70 volunteers hand out water, gatorade and sponges to the runners of the Vancouver Marathon. Our worship band provided hours of music to encourage the runners to 'keep pressing on'. It was a great time of mixing worship to God and service to our community.

Easter 2009 Baptisms in the rain

This Easter, we had a string of baptisms at the Bridge. As a baptist church of course, we practice full immersion baptism. Had we observed the practice of "baptism by sprinkling" this would have been just a matter of marching each candidate outside in the pouring rain!

Congratulations to Paola, Jared, Giovanny, and Vickie.

See the full album here.

Whiter than snow: Congratulations Ron Larsen!

King David once asked God to cleanse him and make him "whiter than snow" (c.f. Psalm 51:7) after the prophet Nathan confronted him with his own sin namely adultery with Bathsheba, and subsequent cover-up by murder.

Followers of Jesus ask of God the same thing when we make personal confessions of faith. We believe that Jesus Christ (the reason for Christmas) came and shed his blood to atone for our sin so that we might be declared "whiter than snow" because of what He did on the cross.

Christians (particularly baptists and other evangelicals) around the world make public declarations of this faith in Jesus through adult, full immersion water baptism. Though not a requirement for salvation, baptism publically symbolizes our personal faith in Jesus Christ. Symbolically, as we enter the water, we identify with Christ's death; we identify with His resurrection when we arise, and most importantly we identify with what Christ's shed blood means to us - the water symbolizes the cleansing of our sin through His blood.

Ron Larsen, a friend and member of the Bridge Church recently decided to do this. As is custom in our church, baptism is done at the beach next to the Vancouver Museum. But what you cannot tell from this picture is that Vancouver had recently had a bout of winter weather. Not only was there snow, but it was about -3C outside! Nevertheless, our pastor (Jerry Conner), Jim, and Ron braved the ice cold waters to declare that indeed Jesus does make us whiter than snow.

Congratulations Ron, and welcome to the family!

A week with an incredible team!

Part of the joys of being part of a small church plant is that we are often heavily dependent on outside support. In our case, the Bridge Church is blessed to have much support from various churches in Canada and the United States. While others may consider this a weakness, I consider it a tremendous blessing. It is a golden opportunity to see God working in the lives of His children.

Specifically, these churches faithfully pray for us, support us financially and send teams of 10-15 every summer. We are grateful not only to them, and to the churches they represent, but we are ultimately grateful to the Holy Spirit. These teams provide both the beneficiary of mission work (in this case our church and our community) and the giver of the work a glimpse into the providence and the abundant love of God.

Many of you know that Karen and I have a heart for missions; those at Joy Fellowship or Reading, UK know firsthand the impact God can have when He motivates people for Christ. What a blessing it was to fellowship with like minded people - youth no less, who have a genuine heart for the kids in our community and for our city at large.

This particular team, led by John and Pam Peccararo and Floyd Romero of First Baptist Church, The Colony, Texas came to help us with our summer kids camp (Vacation Bible School). Though the number of kids that attended were not numerous, this team had hearts that were big, and the kids that did attend benefited greatly from their ministry.

Throughout the week they were here, we were able to build relationships with many of them. We delighted in serving them, and were encouraged by their dedication to share the gospel, but most of all we were encouraged that they were willing to go beyond their comfort zone and experience God through contexts they might not have been accustomed to. As they toured around our city, they began to tune their hearts to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and in turn grasped the spiritual condition of our city.

Both Karen and I were particularly moved when this team (who normally are not accustomed to walking) covered our community in prayer. They walked and prayed from Broadway and Burrard through Kitsilano to the West End, and then on through Gastown and the Downtown Eastside.

God is at work in this city. After having spent a week with this wonderful team, I know this to be true. What a privilege it is to be a part of His work.

A very busy July!

Well indeed it has been a very busy summer for the Ng family this year - so busy that this blog has been kept rather out of date for quite some time. Rather than do individual entries, I'll attempt to summarise:

The Bridge Church hosted our annual sports camp with kids from the community. This event has always been fun to watch, and to be a part of. It is amazing to watch what happens as youth from our mission teams interact and encourage these kids. Shown here is the awards night. This is where each child from the sports camp is presented with an award -- a character attribute that someone at the camp noticed about them. I cannot begin to describe how much this encourages them. What is more is that relationships are built, and kids in our community have a chance to experience what it is like to be a Christ follower.


Erich, keen as always to sing began some rudimentary piano lessons with his aunt this summer. It's been a really cool time for aunt Joycelin to get together and interact with Erich.





Emily, the youngest of the Bartlett family had her birthday over the summer as well. Shown here is a picture of her admiring the cake her mom made for her.

Erich had lots of fun too. He made quite the deal out of being able to 'drive' to Emily's birthday party!










We visited with good friends from high school (Karen) and university (Jonathan) to see their one month old boy. He is so very cute and so very tiny! I think I have forgotten what it is like to hold a newborn compared to Erich! It was so much fun being able to catch up with old friends. I even managed to put their baby to sleep for them!







Eddie, our IT consultant turned pastry chef, now long-term missionary tentmaking as a baker friend came back from Liberia briefly and had a wonderful stay with us. Erich graciously gave up his room so that Eddie could stay. I had the formidable task of transforming Erich's crib into a makeshift bed... something I managed to do with a few step stools, the top of an old desk, a futon mattress and a whole bunch C clamps. (Now Eddie, no jumping on the bed!) On a more serious note though, it was inspiring hearing what God has done in Eddie's life over the past 6 months, and he certainly encouraged me in my walk with Jesus and my faith. If you get the chance, I would encourage you to check out his blog!






Richard, a friend and relatively new member to our small group was baptized on Sunday, July 27th. I always like to boast about our baptismal tank - always available, never needs refilling and ample space. :-) Shown here are two photos - one just as he is making a public confession of his faith in Jesus Christ, and the next of his baptism. Congratulations Richard!







Erich took swimming lessons again over the summer. Shown here is him about to take a jump from the platform. Move over Michael Phelps! He's coming to get ya!






Erich has also taken to other forms of exercise. In particular, I've noticed he's become REALLY good at climbing stuff. Here at a playground near Port Moody (Belcarra Park), Erich easily handles the faux-stone climbing wall set out before him... and he searches methodically for the next best step!






Goodbye Sarah! Sarah Conner moved back to Kansas this summer as well. She finished her last year of high school this year and has moved back to Kansas in hopes of beginning her freshman year in the new year. We wish you the very best Sarah!

A weekend with intercessors - the praying princesses

Four very special ladies - Trisha, June, Rubye and Barbara (right to left) - came to visit us from Garland, Texas this past weekend. They are an amazing bunch. Having been called to visit what was then a new church plant several years back, and having seen Vancouver, they were moved to pray inceasantly for our city and for our church. They do this literally: the four women gather together on Thursday evenings in Texas every other week and intercede for specific needs within our community and within our church. They also come visit Vancouver every year to regain a fresh vision of how best to pray for our city, and to put faces to people's names.

Imagine the surprise when these ladies, whom I hardly knew, greeted me and my family at our door by name, and asked specifically about how their prayers for my family had been answered. That is intercession indeed!

It was an incredible joy to spend a good part of my weekend with them. Here's why:

• Intercessors, by their gift, are people who long after God's heart. They long to hear God's Spirit and they yearn to do His will. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit are attractive: they are genuine and they are a joy to be around. In fact, their joy is contagious!
  
• Intercessors have an inherent assurance that the Lord is God, and that He is faithful to answering prayers. (They wouldn't be intercessors otherwise!) For the rest of us, who sometimes may wonder whether our prayers are even heard or felt, their steadfast faith reassures us that God is indeed who He says He is. Intercessors motivate me to pray even more inceasantly.
  
• I was motivated tremendously by the level of committment these ladies had for our city and for its people. Having been on missions myself, I too have been moved to pray for others not within my community. But never have I seen such dedication. (Did I mention that the oldest of the group is in her 80s?)

Karen, Erich and I had a fun time getting to know them this past weekend - not only at dinner gatherings, but in their very element too. We particularly enjoyed prayer walking with them around Kitsilano, and it was a privilege and tremendously encouraging to be able to pray together with them for people I knew in the community (my coworkers) and for my community at large.

Little things matter: to encourage and to be encouraged

The Ng family had a very busy weekend. In addition to Ruth Chan's memorial service, we also celebrated our friend Renee's 40th birthday. Then on Sunday, our church was involved in helping out with the BMO Vancouver marathon. As if that weren't enough, we also went to the Vancouver Christ Church of China to hear Annie, one of Karen's relatives (and our friend) give her testimony.

Amidst the busyness though, one common theme stood out: little things matter. Some examples:

How could Ruth have known that a little known thing she said to me two decades ago would serve to encourage me and possibly many others at her memorial?

How could Karen and I have known that answering Annie's recommendation for a church years ago would lead to her coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ? (which in turn served as an unexpected encouragement to us when we heard her testimony!)

I also didn't realise that handing out gatorade and cheering on complete strangers by name at a community event I once despised and grumbled at (because of the inconvenience it caused me) would be so fulfilling and so encouraging to others in my community.

Even Erich soon got into it as he helped hand out water and gatorade to marathoners.

Little, seemingly insignificant moments in life matter. Encouragement, particularly when spurred on by the Holy Spirit, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant matter. We may not see or reap the results of what we we are called to do for years, but God does. Our job is just to obey his leading and his prompting.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"

Our family has recently begun a new routine during church worship services. We have discovered that Erich really enjoys the singing and worship portion of the adult service, so we keep him in the sanctuary during that portion before bringing him to the nursery. We've found
that this really helps him get settled and it allows him to participate in the worship service as well.

Today, he decided that he would REALLY participate and promptly conducted himself in the way many adults would. Instead of sitting on mommy´s lap, Erich found a seat in the row in front of us. He sat, grabbed a church bulletin, and began to browse through the bulletin. Then, when Rodney, the worship leader, asked everyone to stand, he took a stand himself and enjoyed as people sang. When the music was done, he sat himself back into the seat, and looked again at his bulletin.

It was all very cute to watch. It also got me thinking - many of us when we first become Christians begin by emulating and imitating the outward actions of Christ (WWJD). It isn't until later that we discover and we internalize our faith from which our attitudes are changed.

My prayer for Erich is that his faith would become genuine and that the habits and disciplines that he may begin by simply imitating would become a genuine article, attitude changing part of his walk with Christ.

Opportunities for application

In our quest to deepen our relationship with Christ, our small group at the Bridge has been tackling the various disciplines in which we commune and meet with God. Specifically, we've been looking at worship through prayer, and edification through the studying of His Word. One of the tools we have been using is homiletics: the process of breaking down then rebuilding a passage of Scripture. One thing I admire about this tool is that it allows the reader, through exposition of the passage, to extract application.

Laura, a person in our small group found that this tool really helped her. She put it succinctly when she wrote to me in an email that homiletics:

• allows the reader to really meditate on a piece of Scripture, and
  
• it provides the believer with an opportunity for application.

The word "opportunity" really stuck with me. I have never really thought of it quite this way - but in fact, she has nailed the aim of homiletics on its head. When we meditate on a passage of Scripture, in addition to its historical and theological significance, we are really given an opportunity to apply the passage in our lives. That is the beauty of reading the Bible to see how God may want to speak into our lives vs. reading the Bible to justify the way we have lived our lives. What we do with that opportunity is up to us.

My opportunity for application

We have been looking at Colossians 1 through 3 the past few weeks, and I must say that the opportunity for application for me is to keep on the "clothes" (or attitudes) of Christ. I need to remember to draw from Christ's strength rather than my own and that in all things, to all people, it is opportunity to demonstrate Christ's compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:12).

End of year reflection: the Heart of the Father, take 2

It's good to be given second chances. I had the chance to revise and give this message to the people at the Bridge toward the end of 2007. If you have been following my blog, you will know I gave an abridged version of the same message to some of the youth in Reading.

Having a second chance is neat. It has helped me to rethink some of the points and to better describe in words, what I believe God has been teaching me.

You can read it here, or listen to it here.

More on Eddie's trip

Karen and I have had the privilege of knowing Eddie over the past year. We met through the Bridge Church. In addition to being his small group leader, we have come to know him as a friend. We have seen him grow in his faith, and walk with Christ.

This year, he embarks on an incredible adventure to Liberia where he will be serving aboard one of the Mercy Ships - the African Mercy. This ship is a hospital ship and serves the people where she is docked by performing well needed surgeries. Eddie, who comes from an engineering / IT background, underwent a major career change at the beginning of last year to pursue what he has always loved. As a result of that change, he also saw opportunity where he can serve the Lord with his newfound skills.

Eddie -- we will miss you, but we are also incredibly encouraged by what God has been doing in your life. May your mission to Africa be fruitful, and may you remember that the Lord God is faithful all the time, even when the going gets tough. Since you will be baking lots and lots of bread, I thought it would appropriate to encourage you with this verse (okay okay, I just couldn't help it... :-)):

Deuteronomy 8:3 - He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

The context is that the Lord God led the Israelites out of Egypt and provided for them. Here, in Deuteronomy, the Israelites are being reminded of God's faithfulness. Jesus uses part of this verse to rebuke Satan in Matthew 4:4 while he is tempted.

The application here is that we are not to forget the Lord and particularly his promise that He will be faithful to His people. Therefore, when tough times come you may be tempted to be solely focused on doing your work (i.e. baking bread) - but do not forget that this trip is also about spiritual growth. Feed others (physically), but also let God feed you spiritually.

To the people of the African mercy -- you've got an incredibly dedicated baker coming your way. Fasten your seatbelts!

You can follow Eddie's adventure on his blog at http://tuborgx.blogspot.com/.

Santa Monica Boulevard

I could just hear that song in my head as we drove down the Santa Monica Boulevard not far from where we were staying in LA.

As the Ngs got ready for the Saturday evening wedding, we had a chance to stroll around a few places in town. For Erich, the highlight was visiting the Santa Monica Pier where he was able to explore the many sights and sounds of the bustling pier. His favourite of course was the arcade where a number of adventure vehicles awaited him out front. Most notable was a train named "Elias", and a safari car that matched his jacket. Erich enjoyed driving both!



The next day, we met up with some former neighbours of ours here in Kitsilano. Though they normally live in LA (they are in the movie/TV industry), during the summer months of 2006/2007, they all attended the Bridge Church while filming in Vancouver. I had taken a few photos of them during our recent child dedication ceremony that I wanted to give them. After trying to figure out how to navigate around Beverley Hills (one does pass by all those familiar street names you often hear on E.T.) we were able to meet briefly with them. Erich particularly enjoyed his reunion with Parker, their 3 year old daughter.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of our meeting was the realization that God, through his call for us to minister to our own community, has placed us within reach of people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. They had shared with me how they were encouraged by a recent sermon I had preached at the Bridge. To think that God would use the likes of us to encourage others even though we are so far from perfect, is indeed a humbling experience. It makes me in awe of what He is capable of doing, and in awe of the enormity of God's grace. To God be all the glory.

Guitar!

Twice a month, I serve our church by playing guitar in the worship band. It is loads of fun and Erich certainly enjoys seeing his dad up there strumming away. Some Sundays (when his mom isn't looking) he even manages to point at me and the guitar during service and yells "Daddy! Guitar!" much to the chagrin of Karen of course who usually ends up chasing him down the aisle and discreetly escorts him away.

Last Sunday was one of those weeks. Apparently I must have made quite an impression on him because when he came back, he decided he'd make his own guitar out of Lego! (well Duplo actually...)

Shown in the photo is his first prototype. As you can see, it has many colours and he did a little "code-reuse" from his previous Lego masterpieces - namely the "skyscraper". There were some problems though, it was all neck and no body and he soon discovered that it broke all too easily when he was trying to play it.

So with a little help from his dad, we came up with this, and of course a resulting world premiere music video. (Sorry about the crappy resolution and white balance - it was the best I could do under the circumstances. Little toddlers do not wait before the concert starts!) Enjoy!

Happy Grad Justin and Grad photo shoot

Congratulations to Justin Conner on his high school graduation and on his award for being an encouragement to his classmates (see photo). For those who do not know Justin, he plays bass on the Bridge worship band, and is always a pleasure to be around.

Karen, Erich and I had the privilege of attending his graduation ceremony today at Fraserview MB Church. It was held for the graduating class of Richmond Christian Secondary School. We hadn't been to a high school graduation in quite a while (the last one being Sam, Ming-Yan, Clara, Deborah from CCCC). We were secretly thankful that this graduating class only had 36 people in it, so the ceremony length was bearable. (In contrast, my graduation class had over 900 people...so the poor graduate whose last name began with Z....)

I also had the opportunity to take some graduation photos of Justin a few weeks back along some abandoned railroad tracks in Kitsilano. Here are some shots from that shoot.

Congratulations Danielle and Josh!

After Healthy Kids' Day, we dropped off Erich at Grandma and Grandpa's place before heading off to our first wedding without Erich! It was situated on top of Grouse Mountain, with the beautiful scenery of Vancouver as the backdrop.

The ceremony was very moving, particularly when Danielle and Josh said their vows to each other (as shown in photo). It is great to see these two married. We wish them the very best and look forward to encouraging them in their marriage. They are currently in Greece for their honeymoon. You can follow their adventures here.

Child Dedication @ the Bridge

Erich and Elias were dedicated to the Lord today along with their friends Caleb, Jesse and Emily Bartlett, and Parker Whitfield.

Dead Sea Scrolls

This past long weekend, a few of us from the Bridge went down to the Pacific Science Centre in Seattle to "discover" the Dead Sea Scrolls. It was an eye-opening experience. Having recently studied the some of the biblical texts of the Pentateuch, this visit seemed to have that much more meaning. To be able to witness actual manuscripts reported to be about 2000 years old added a certain validity to the words I already knew to be true.

The serendipity and the metaphors of the entire experience took me by surprise. I went to the box office early to pick up tickets. When the office finally opened, I was greeted by Jesus -- yes, that was really his name! -- who promptly sold me the tickets. Upon entering the exhibit, I learned that the scrolls were actually discovered by a shepherd looking for his lost goat in a cave. He discovered the scrolls in jars of clay, one of which were on display. It sheds new light to Paul's letter to the Corinthians:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. " -- 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 NIV

In addition to visiting the dead sea scrolls, we also met up with Karen's cousin Keane and his roommate. Shown here is a photo we took at Pallino Pastaria in University Village near where they live.

Honouring one another

Tonight for L.I.F.E. group, we went out to the Ninth Avenue grill for dinner. Pastor Jerry had reserved the entire restaurant. The purpose of the night was to honour one another (Romans 12:9-10) - thanking God for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Guidelines were given beforehand, and people were invited to give toasts to one another honouring them for their part in the body of Christ. Specifically, the toast-er was to specify how they have been encouraged personally by the toastee. The guideline was that whatever you said must be honouring and sincere - flattery was not allowed! It was a very touching and moving evening and I believe that it had a tremendous impact on our fellowship.

Photo shown: Mark Graham proposes a toast.

Congratulations Fouad and Isabella!

We attended our first wedding celebration as part of the Bridge family today. It was a joyous occassion and one representing the true ethnic diversity of our church - bringing together a Moroccan, and a Chinese from Hong Kong who met in Turkey officiated by an American and MC'ed by a French Canadian! Pretty cool huh? And yet, we all one in the body of Christ.

The funny thing was that we had thought that the days of us attending a translated wedding were over! Were we proved wrong! (God has a real sense of humour sometimes...) Once again, we were delighted to hear the sounds of alternating English and Cantonese at their wedding.

Fouad and Isabella, thank you for letting us share in your very special day. May God continue to use you two to bless others.