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If you would like to receive our quarterly prayer/newsletter by email, please contact us at canadianlabri@shaw.ca and provide us with your name, address, and current email. Dear Friends of Canadian L’Abri: It has been a while since we have communicated with you about the progress of our Bowen Island branch. Doug and Maggie Curry have directed the branch for the four years since we acquired the property in mid-2003. Mark and Terri Ryan have worked beside them for the past two years after serving in the L’Abri branch in Southborough, Massachusetts. There have been challenges along the way, but God has blessed this ministry to the many students who have come with their questions and issues. After four years of pioneering work in establishing this new L’Abri branch, the Currys have moved back to the Greatham branch in England where they served for a number of years before coming to Canada. Their service here has been much appreciated and our prayers are with them as they transition back to England. This is especially so given that this move involves separation from their older children as they continue their education and careers in Canada for the near future. While the move of the Currys leaves a big hole, we are delighted to announce the formation of a new team that will carry this branch forward under God. Our two new couples, Clarke and Julia Schiebe and Andre and Michelle Harden, are well known to many in Canada and they come to us with excellent backgrounds and a passion for working with searching students in a community setting. Mark and Terri Ryan who have already become quite involved both on Bowen and on the mainland know both couples and are looking forward to working alongside them. It seems we have been given a team who will bring rich gifts to the work of this branch. (In subsequent newsletters we will introduce our new couples to you more fully). An earlier letter outlined the need for a second home on the property to house additional staff and students. The urgency of the need led us to proceed with construction even though it meant taking on a mortgage of $250,000. These funds together with significant volunteer labour have brought the house to about 80% completion. To complete the house we will need donations of about $40,000. This is a pressing need, as we need to finish it by September so it will be ready for added staff and students. In addition to the funds needed to finish the house, there is always a need for donations to sustain the salaries and operating expenses not covered by fees received from the students who come. L’Abri has always been dependant on gifts from those who have been blessed by L’Abri or have observed the positive impact on others who have come to study with us. In a sense, we are about to begin a new phase of the work on Bowen Island and we covet your prayers for this. Without prayer, nothing of eternal value will be achieved. Specifically, please pray for the following needs: • For the Scheibes as they leave current employment, move onto the island and into the work of L’Abri. • For the Hardens who are already on island, but who will move onto the L’Abri property as soon as the new house is completed. Pray also for the Harden’s three children, Thane, Analeena and Matthias. • For the Ryans as they together with the Schiebes and Hardens plan ahead for the next chapter in the work of the branch and work toward a fall term and full calendar of dates for 2008. • For the finances for completion of the new house and for the ongoing monthly needs to operate the branch. • For the possibility of a mid-August work team from Ontario to assist us in various projects related to obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the new house. Thank you for your prayers, your monetary gifts and your continued interest in the work of L’Abri Canada. Yours in Christ, Keith McAlpine, Board Chair
P.S.: For those of you who receive this as a hardcopy but are able to receive our newsletters by email please do help us reduce our costs by supplying us with a current email address. Thank you so much.
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