An update from Pastor Stephanie and Mario Borsato about the new CityReach Port Hawkesbury church plant...
Hello there!
We hope that you are well and enjoying the summer.
Mario and I are settling into our new community and getting to know some really great people here. We have planted a garden and are watering and tending for a crop of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. An apt description of church planting and the harvest of souls that we are believing will come to pass here in Port Hawkesbury.
April, May, June and July have flown past and we have had some amazing opportunities to partner with the community, and simply to embrace and love the town of Port Hawkesbury.
We have held different events including game nights, movie nights, youth nights, games in the park and more, and we have had amazing opportunities to meet families and to begin to get to know them. This has been really awesome because we have had some really neat opportunities to pray for people and see God show up in spectacular ways.
As well, we have had a number of everyday conversations where we have been able to share God’s love with the people of Port Hawkesbury and talk about what church could look like in a community that desperately needs hope. We have had daycamp with the awesome MYMissions team who were the very first missions team to assist the church plant. What an absolutely amazing and fun time! We believe that the prayer, daycamp, and events held that week are pivotal in changing the future for kids and youth in this community. As well, we have held a couple of pre-launch services that are allowing us to work out wrinkles so that we are ready for an amazing celebration on Sunday, September 18th. In the process, we are growing a team. The Launch School of Ministry (LSM) students are preparing to come here in September, and we have also gained a few families who are excited to help us out as we do events and services along the way. We are loving the opportunity to get to know three or four families in particular, who are very excited about the church plant and different activities we are holding. In some cases, the people are eager to help and still not sure of who Jesus is to them. We are enjoying being able to do activities with them and have both everyday and eternity changing conversations!
It is exciting to consider how to serve in a place where there are so many opportunities for the message of the Gospel to be poured out in word, action, and caring. It is awesome to be able to see the community in a way that goes beyond what is directly in front of us. To see Port Hawkesbury from a kingdom perspective where the redeeming victory of the cross has the power to transform every situation, every family and every person. It would be impossible to not love, serve, act and pray when the Gospel that we preach and the Holy Spirit that we carry is the same One who resurrected Jesus and conquered sin, death, disease and evil.
We continue to foster our relationship with people at the town offices and are thankful for the favour that we receive there. As well, we have met with the people at the schools and brought end of year gifts to bless the staff at two of the schools in town. We have met with the social worker and palliative care lead nurse at the hospital; started a hope service at the longterm care facility that residents and staff really seem to enjoy; and have participated in a bi-annual hospital service which honours people who have died at the hospital. We have also been able to meet with people in local government, at the local womens’ centre, and at the local NSCC campus where we hope to be able to develop a relationship that allows us to be present in times of crisis, serve as needed, and simply be available for students.
For some people, the thought of a church having fun and being joyful is a completely new idea; for others it is different because it doesn’t fit their past church background; and for some it is exactly what they have been hoping for! It makes for interesting conversations at the civic centre, the music store, Walmart, the grocery store, restaurants, and in our yard – to name just a few places.
We are really excited about all of our upcoming events as they continue to ramp up to our actual launch date on September 18th. We have movie nights, barbecues, giveaways, and mail-outs that are ahead of us. We have two teams coming from PAOC churches in the Maritimes, and are hoping to find some other people who are interested in helping with the renovations needed to prepare the church and parsonage for re-designed space for offices, ministry, and our LSM students. We also have a construction missions team coming from Georgia at the end of August who will do some specific larger projects that we need done for these purposes.
As we continue along and are under 40 days until our actual launch date; we have a long ways to go in being ready for September 18th, but we are so much closer than we were back in March.
We still need to raise about $7,000 to reach the fundraising goal of $15,000, and we are in need of teams to help us with some work before the Georgia Assemblies of God construction team gets here. As well, we are always in need of people who are committed to praying for Mario and myself, for the work that God is doing in this region, and for individuals we encounter.
If you are interested in praying with us or being part of a regular email that is focused on praise and prayer needs with the church plant then please contact us by email or on facebook.
We are blessed and honoured to serve alongside of you, and think of you with affection. We look forward to all that the Lord has in store for our district and our nation.
The grace and peace of Christ to each of you,
Mario & Stephanie Borsato
Port Hawkesbury
902-955-1777
marioandstephb@gmail.com
