the dawn of a new year

Here we are, in 2012, the year of prophecy, controversy and conspiracy. A year in which we will undoubtedly endure the hand wringing and railing of many who believe the World to end.

But most importantly, this is God's year. A year in which, by God's Grace, we will serve and minister and seek to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who require it, whether they like it or not. A year in which, by God's Grace, we will welcome a new life into our family, to raise up and Love as Christ would have us to. A year in which, by God's Grace, we will endure trials and struggles for His great Glory. A year in which, by God's Grace, we will see Him work in ways we cannot even fathom, through His Holy Spirit.

Liz and I are excited and energized for the New Year, for new programs and a fresh start. Over the next few weeks we will be busy preparing the programs and material for this summers camps. There are some exciting changes happening with respect to our summer camps. We are excited that people will have new opportunities to serve in different ways.

We've already begun to fill some of our critical positions (lifeguard, nurse, speaker, cook, etc.) and are encouraged by the responses we've been receiving. It's very exciting to see who God is going to bring to ANBC this year both as volunteer staff and as campers.

Now is the time of year when we ask everyone to begin praying. Pray for this ministry, that it might be effective and submitted to the Glory of God. That through the various programs and events God would be glorified and His Gospel would go forth clearly and effectively.

Pray for the campers, that God would already be making the way clear for them to come to ANBC and have opportunity to hear the gospel clearly presented. Pray that God would be working in the lives of the campers in such a way that they will be prepared to hear the gospel and understand it, pray that the Lord, in His will, might protect them from the attacks of the devil and preserve them for Himself.

Pray for the incoming volunteer staff, that God would work in the hearts of those that He would have come. Pray that He would provide for the needs of those who must sacrifice to come and serve Him here. Pray that those who will be coming would be focused on their relationship with God, that they would be compelled to their daily time with Him in His Word.

I've become increasingly impressed with the importance of prayer, and my inadequacy in this area. We must hold it all before the Lord, every day!

Stay tuned here for updates and opportunities. Who knows, perhaps the Lord will call you to serve Him with us this summer!

Merry Christmas!

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." ~ Luke 2:7

Merry Christmas!

That's all, just Merry Christmas. However... may our Merry Christmas be rich and deep and filled with Truth. May we each be reminded of the great sacrifice of Christ at this time of year. The anguish of leaving heaven, the anguish of taking a human form and of suffering the indignities of humanity, the anguish of all that it is to be human, and yet remaining fully God.

As we revel this Christmas, as we spend time with family, and eat copious amounts of sweets, overindulging in bountiful feasts, as we succumb to the shiny trinkets under the tree and desperately seek after that warm and cozy Christmastime feeling; may we remember that although Christmas is a wonderful time of year for many reasons we also have great cause for a most sincere pause.

It is appropriate and wonderful for us to celebrate the Birth of Christ - He is our Savior, Redeemer, Sacrifice and Lord! Our salvation in Christ is the greatest reason for celebration. Celebration notwithstanding - we should also allow this time of year catch us up short in our sin; sin that saturates and defiles every aspect of our lives. It is for this very reason that Christ came to us, He was born and died on account of our sin. It would serve us well to remember this truth throughout the year, but certainly we should not forget it at Christmas for the sake of revelry. The birth of our Lord was the beginning of pain and sacrifice for Him.

So, Merry Christmas; and as the world celebrates "the Holidays" (we along with them), may we each be blessed in taking time to celebrate Christmas!

Announcing 2012

We've already been receiving questions about what the schedule for next years summer camps will look like. We've worked out a schedule and communicated with our leadership about it, and have it here for you today!

There are a few changes to this years schedule and we will be initiating some new staff training in accordance with NCEM's policies. If you have any questions about the schedule or would like to take part in any of the ministries this coming year, don't hesitate to get in touch. We will be contacting former staff and seeking to fill key roles in the New Year - the staff application forms will be available at that time as well. We're looking forward to a fantastic year of ministry at Arrowhead and can't wait to see many of you again, and some of you for the first time!

March 30 - April 1 - Mawiomi: the gathering, ANBC's 2nd annual Men's Retreat

April 22 - 28 - A.N.B.C. Work Week
If you would like to come out and join us for some Spring clean-up or renovations or construction, we have work projects that suit everyones skill level. It's a great week of fellowship and a great opportunity to serve in a very practical way.

June 29 - July 1 - Staff Training at A.N.B.C.
If you are coming to be staff with us this summer, you will need to take part in our more extensive staff training program this year. If you would like to arrange a summer ministry team and feel that you are too far away to come for the weekend, please communicate with me and we can perhaps arrange to come and offer the weekend locally. This staff training will be mandatory for everyone, including former staff.

July 9-13 • Teen Camp (ages 13-18)
July 16-20 • Junior Camp 1 (ages 8-12)
July 23-27 • Junior Camp 2 (ages 8-12)
July 30-August 3 • Junior Camp 3 (ages 8-12)
August 6-8 • Lil' Squirts Camp (ages 5-7)
August 13-16 • Discipleship Week
The communities that will be coming during each week has yet to be determined. I will announce it when I have further details, but please do not let this delay your application as staff, as you may find we have filled all of our staffing needs by the time we have this detail ironed out.

Teen camp will be the first week of camp this year. As it tends to be a high impact week of camp, this will allow us to all come full of energy and ready to engage in the programs. We have added two new programs this year. The "Lil' Squirts" camp is a pilot this year to see how it works out. It will be for younger children, but will allow for those children to bring their older brother or sister as well to help keep them from becoming homesick. The discipleship week at the end of the summer is also a new addition to our programs at ANBC. It is a program that has been piloted by another NCEM camp in the west with success. This week will be for a limited number of staff and campers who have expressed a desire to know more about things of the Lord. With a small group setting, it will involve activities and time in the Word in a more focused environment.

September 21-23 • ANBC's annual Ladies Retreat

November 24 • Christmas Dinner
It is our hope to put on a Christmas Dinner for families in communities that NCEM has been working. It will be available free of charge with a suggested donation of non-perishable food items for the food bank.

If you have any questions about the programs or schedule, please don't hesitate to drop us a line - we'd love to hear from you.

180 Movie and evangelism

We live in a corrupt world. More specifically, we live in a corrupt culture. In North America the Christian Church is bombarded at every turn by some of the most insidious attacks imaginable. Some, so insidious that, in fact, the church at large often miss them for what they are, and adopt them. Even when these attacks are not missed, many who profess Christ refuse to stand openly and oppose them. We as the Body of Christ have a responsibility to stand in the Gap for the Land, to oppose evil and present the Truth of God's Word at every opportunity - for the sake of those who do not know.

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." ~ Ezekiel 22:30

Yet we waffle, at every turn. To live a Godly life, to live as Christ is to live presenting the truth verbally and holistically. In our actions, our lifestyle, and our convictions.

"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." ~ James 2:26

Yet we fail to live out our faith. We fear the world, we fear our peers, we fear... persecution. The real question is 'Are you being persecuted? Why not?

"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." ~ 2 Timothy 3:12-13

It's time to stand up in spite of ourselves and preach the gospel and uphold the Cross of Christ before a people who do not want to hear it!

Ray Comfort, evangelist, preacher, author and film maker has recently released a movie. It is a 33 minute long documentary, and it is very compelling. It draws an unsettling correlation between the horrors of Nazi Germany and the massively destructive (yet generally accepted) practice of abortion in America. It stands up in the face of "tolerance" and in the face of the ever humanistic call of "MY rights and freedoms" and preaches the gospel. It opposes, with the Truth, the veiled eyes of an entire culture.

It is free to watch and I highly recommend that you do so. It is a graphic film and does contain some graphic content, so if you are under sixteen I would suggest you have a parent watch it first. I've posted it here for your convenience. But the challenge to you is to watch it and then share it publicly - to spite the reaction you may receive from your peers. God's Word, the Gospel, is worth so much more than your "reputation" (whatever that is) or social comfort. Anything done for Christ is not done in vain.

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:58

Big News!

Liz and I are happy to announce that sometime near the middle of May we are expecting the arrival of a new little Fawcett. We're VERY excited and have been overwhelmed already by all of the kind words and excitement of our friends and family!

Parkside Baptist Church

Well folks, we've come to the end of our scheduled travel for the fall. It has been a fantastic month and we've had the opportunity to talk to hundreds of people about missions, about NCEM and about our work here at Arrowhead Native Bible Center.

Yesterday we had the pleasure of concluding our fall itinerary at Parkside Baptist Church in Moncton. Chancellor of NBBI, John Hoag, was the keynote speaker and we were blessed by his messages from the Word.

It has truly been a pleasure for the past couple of months to travel and be with many of you in your homes and churches. The opportunities for fellowship and sharing in ministry are a great encouragement to us and we are so very thankful for the opportunities.

As we've traveled we've often had questions about what we do for the 'rest of the year' when there is no camp. For the months following camp, we generally travel and attended conferences, updating people on the ministries and opportunities for prayer. We will spend the remainder of 2011 preparing for the coming years programs and schedule. We will, with the assistance of our senior missionaries and former missionaries, be building a new more comprehensive staff training program. We are excited about this opportunity, and although it will accompany some challenges, we feel it will be of great benefit to the ministry and will allow us to more effectively minister to those who come to our various programs.

The coming year is going to be exciting, and we covet your prayers and support as we seek to serve the Lord with NCEM at Arrowhead. Stay tuned to this blog for updates on the happenings here, on programs and plans, on opportunities to serve and any needs that may arise.

We are so humbled and thankful for your prayers and support for both Arrowhead and ourselves as we've stepped into our new roles with NCEM as the managers of Arrowhead.

Little Southwest Baptist Church

This past weekend, Liz and I were invited to be a part of the missions conference at Little Southwest Baptist Church in Sillikers, NB (near the Miramichi). LSWBC has been a great supporter of ANBC this past year and it was great to connect with the work team from this past April as well as Stephen & Selena Somers, our guest speakers for the last week of summer camp and all of the folk who have been prayerfully supporting us. Brad Somers, a church planter from the North end of Halifax, was our keynote speaker, his challenges were encouraging and thought provoking. We were so very encouraged to be among a church of people who have such a huge heart for missions. There is a genuine love and understanding for faith missions among the folks at Sillikers - to hear their hearts, and see them put it to action was humbling.

This week, we've enjoyed a couple of 'down days' to recuperate from a busy month of travel and work at the Center. It's been nice to be a part of so many missions conferences and services - but it certainly takes it's toll.

The missions display on the platform.

Stephen Somers was our camp speaker for the second week of teen camp this year. He ministered in music throughout the missions conference.

We'll be winterizing the lodge this week and preparing for the next few months. We are hopeful to hold winter programs next year, but this year we will use our time to build a new staff training program for our summer camps and plan our schedules.

We'll continue to keep you posted here on the blog as we embark on our first year as the managers of ANBC. Stay Tuned!