Advent Conspiracy Project #1

For many years Felida has been participating in Operation Christmas Child - a program through Samaritan's Purse. This past weekend was our packing party at the church and it was so incredible!

In the early days we would do a couple hundred boxes and think we were doing alright. We would send out the challenge to families to pack boxes and bring them to the church ready to go. That had changed a few years back and we decided to be very intentional about making this program the best that we could make it.

Throughout the year items would be collected and stored until the big day. In recent years we have sent out messages on the church website that would alert members of sales of items that we would be collecting that particular day and by November we had just about everything that was needed - including shoe boxes. I don't know who all is buying shoes, because I know I may have contributed one or two boxes this year and with 200+ regular weekly attenders, it's hard to say just WHO is bring all those shoe boxes in...hmmmm....

SO - At our 2010 party we partnered with another small church and we exceeded the goal that we set for last year and packed over 600. Someone decided to dream big and said that we would pack 750 boxes this year.

November 19th was the day and volunteers and so many people from our church family showed up and we ended up with a grand total of 786 boxes!!!!

Seven Hundred Eighty Six...that many kids all around the world will be receiving one of those gifts that was so lovingly and enthusiastically packed by a member of our church...so amazing! Each box was prayed for and we continue to pray for the children who will receive a gift this year. God is so good!

What I love about this video the most....this VERY excited boy hasn't even OPENED the box yet. Can you imagine what THAT would look like?!

Go God Go!

Family of Nuts

I don’t know why I let what other people say affect me so much…I guess I just think too much. Just recently (at Christmas) I was asked if I have had contact with my brother and if I knew if he still lived in Vancouver. My answers were NO and YES.

Okay, so if you have known me for whatever length of time you might not know that I DO have a brother. It is true I have no contact with him, but I know where he lives and all that. In fact, I have a niece, aunt, uncle and cousin who all live here in Vancouver. I have regular contact with my cousin – not much contact with my aunt & uncle and no contact with my niece. Anti-social? Maybe…but I have endured many issues during my growing up years and my self-imposed no contact order keeps me sane.

Now, you might be thinking, “Well, what about Tom’s family?” Well, with all the issues that I have with my family – if you know us, you know that the Bennett family is not without issues – and a no contact order is not an option.

On the flip side…

We have been regular attendees/members of Felida Baptist Church for almost 20 years and we have been blessed to have such a great group of friends who we consider family because really, they are the ones who know us best - the good, the bad AND the ugly! Our friendships go back for almost as long as we have been at Felida. That’s a long time to get to know one another and to grow in faith with one another and to call these friendships GOOD. If I could choose a new “immediate” family I would choose each one of my close friends AND the cool part is that the other people that don’t make the first cut are our extended family. Simply stated, love my church family. We are definitely a family which includes a crazy “aunt” or two and the weird “cousins” that live under a rock or whatever – hahaha! The great thing is that I know their heart attitude and I know that with each member of my church family, Jesus is right there in the middle of it all.

God knew exactly what we needed when he guided us to Felida so many years ago so that we can be a part of a fabulous family of Jesus followers!

Felida Friends

Here are some photos of the people that are a part of our church family...some of them we have known for the 17 years that we have been fellowshiping at Felida and some are newer, still, these are good friends!

Fancy Pose by Tom and RobinEver Bashful Kay

Doug & Mary

Attentive listeners

Felida Family Whole Again

Pastor Scott has been on Sabbatical this summer - Today was his first Sunday back and his sabbatical is officially over. It was good that we as a congregation were agreeable to his need for a break, but I don't know if we would allow another sabbatical in the future...hmmm.

We had a rowdy time this morning during the worship service which was 2 hours long! Even then, Pastor Mark couldn't finish on time! Luke Hendrix spoke to us this morning and man he is an excellent speaker. We finished the service with communion and then all headed for the gym for a celebratory luncheon to welcome the Roberson's back.

I was amazed at the attendance for a holiday weekend - the auditorium was PACKED! Guess everyone wanted to be at church for the big celebration.

The church heard from many excellent speakers this summer, but it sure is good to have Scott back all refreshed and ready to teach us from God's word again.

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