Cam's November 2024 Prayer Update

I hope you are all well and encouraged! Since we are sharpening our national initiatives to be shaped and led by prayer, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you how I see God at work and the prayer opportunities arising. I will not make these prayer updates comprehensive, or they will become a large document that we all don’t have time to read! (I would also beg that you be patient with me if I miss something glaring that we should be praying into! Please pray anyways!

We have all been encouraged by ONMB's mantra to “Pray First!” I would like to expand on this phrase for our national body: “Pray First. Pray Always”. 

Pray Always, is embedded in John 15, of Jesus' invitation to “abide in me...you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in him. If we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit; apart from him we can do nothing.”

In my role as National Director, I can literally feel this reality. If I am not abiding in Jesus, staying close to him, I can feel my soul starting to shrivel. If we think we can work for him and not stay close to him, we essentially are abandoning our life source to build a ministry on our own strength. He literally is our lifeline for life and ministry. So, let’s “Pray First. Pray Always”.

The following are a few items among our CCMBC family that I would invite you take into your prayer times, pin them on your fridge, and post them to your prayer groups so we can cultivate a healthy prayer base.

Praise:

• Again, praise God for our excellent set of meetings at CBC. I thought our EB meetings went very well. I am grateful to you all for your leadership, engagement, your giftings, and passion for the vision God has entrusted to us. It is a privilege to serve you and to serve with you.
• The Saskatchewan/Alberta pastor and spouses retreat last week in Banff, Alberta was fantastic. Phil and Paul did a great job organizing, leading, and facilitating an encouraging and relaxing space for all who attended. I think those who attended were encouraged by one another and by the Spirit.

CCMBC family:

• The Executive Committee meets this week to plan our upcoming EB meeting on Nov. 21.
• The Seminary has their Board meetings on Nov. 7-8 in Langley.
• There are the annual CanAm meetings in Denver on Nov. 4-6. These meetings pull together the moderators (Tim and Dave Thiesen), EDs (Cam and Aaron Box) and NFLT directors (Ken and Jesse Sweirs) from Canada and the US. We jointly own Multiply (Wendi and Bruce) and the Historical Commission (Richard Thiessen) who will also be joining us. These meetings are full of relational building, prayer, and providing updates on what we are doing and how God is working in our various areas of responsibility.
• Pray for Carson as he is in his final week before his sabbatical. He starts his sabbatical on Nov. 8. Also pray for him while he is on sabbatical from November-January that he would be renewed, refreshed as he enjoys a more relaxed pace.
• Jon Isaak retires at the end of December. Pray for Jon as he enters this new season.  Also Jon was able to hire Carina, his replacement, earlier this month. Jon is diligently training Carina in the fine art of managing our archives. I’m sure he and Carina would very much value you praying for them in this important handoff of a vital part of our MB community.

  I leave you with I Thess. 5:16-18: “Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

  Enjoying the journey,

  Cam