The Little Flowers of Winnipeg

Chelsea and I just returned from a cross country tour to see my brother's family, especially our new niece, Keziah. We were very pleased. He has a beautiful family that really refreshed us as we drove through our vast country.

On our travels we decided to connect with another New Monastic community in Winnipeg called the Little Flowers. Again, another refreshing time. I was immediately impressed by the diversity of their neighbourhood. Everyone seemed to be either of Asian or First Nations descent. It had an inner city energy that we don't experience much out here in the little Loyalist town of Kingston.

This community had much in common with ours. They, like us, are still in the formative stages of the community. They, like us, have an early 30's couple living with a bunch of folk in their early 20's. They also arose out of another organisation (YWAM Winnipeg), where we have our roots in Camp IAWAH. We were able to share some mutual joys and frustrations and forged out a the beginnings of a friendship I hope will last. We'll likely need each other down the road.

Jamie, the pastor of our their community is looking for a couple to join their work in the inner city of Winnipeg. You can find them at www.littleflowers.ca

Freedom Sold!!!

Yet another successful freedom sale was had at the House Famous this weekend. Despite rain cutting our yard sale short, we were able to raise $505.05 for the new Joseph Street Supportive Housing Complex (final product envisioned above). This will help furnish One and a half units of the 24 unit building, which is great, but work still needs to be done.

NeXt Church will be collecting donations over the next few weeks to attempt to raise funds for a few more units. So... if you're interested in investing in a program that actually helps people get off the streets and stay housed, think about giving to this project!

Freedom Sale 2!!!!!!

It's that time of year again! Saturday June 20th we will be performing the sequel to last year's very successful FREEDOM SALE. Last year we were able to raise over $500 for the Crisis Pregnancy Centre.

This year we hope to raise funds for Home Base Housing's new Joseph Street Complex. They have built a 24 unit building for the purpose of providing supportive housing to previously homeless people in Kingston. Since we work a lot with homeless folk in this town, we want to be supportive of good ideas like this that make an honest attempt to bring an end to homelessness in our city. Check it out here.

All money raised by the sale will go toward this project!

This is a great chance to "Free" yourself from any unnecessary clutter around your home and donate useful stuff to our glorified yardsale!

We are looking for things like: housewares, kitchen gadgets and tools, clothing, books, DVDs, CDs, books, and anything else hanging around your house that might have some value to someone else. We would love to sell your stuff. Bring it by 49 or 51 York Street sometime before the 20th.

And come and buy stuff too!

summer skin.

House Famous wishes you a frank and productive summer.

My hometown is in Cornwall, Ontario. I used to hate this town, and couldn't wait to get away and find greener pastures. Recently, however, I've come to understand that it has a special place in my heart that can move me deeply in an instant. A story I read today on cbc.ca was one of those moments.

Today, at the border a blockade was set up by people from Akwesasne First Nation, shutting the border crossing at Cornwall. The blockade was set up to protest the arming of Customs Officers at the border with 9 mm handguns. As a Christian who has been thinking a lot about peacemaking, this situation appalls me.

First of all, I am always against arming people for the sake of "security". In the end guns will always make things less secure by adding tension to already tense situations.

Secondly, arming guards on land our country has designated as Mohawk Territory feels an awful lot like an armed occupation. If Canada has taken any steps forward in reversing colonialism, this is definitely a step backwards.

Christians need to speak up in situations like these. Below are some articles and a petition. Pray and consider whether you should take action.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NoGunsForCBSA/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/06/01/akwesasne-guards-border-guns001.html
http://www.akwesasne.ca/news/PR052909a.html

RETREAT!!!!

The House Famous got away for a bit this weekend...

We retreated to a safe place north of the city to relax, refocus and get to know each other better. It was a blessing and a tonne of fun. When the eight of us get together we have a blast. And Jesus teaches us stuff. Here is a video of some of our celebration.

How do I join this fascinating community?

Since we started, we've had a number of people ask how they could get involved or join our community. This winter (a year and a half later... we never said we were swift!) we finally nailed down how someone would go about it: INTERNSHIPS! There is a document link on the right of the blog that tells about our internships, so if you're interested check it out. Right now we have 3 interns going through the process and one member has already graduated, so you would be following in the footsteps of great men and women!