Warm spring greetings dear friends and welcome to the latest edition of the Pastoral Hello.

It has certainly been a lovely week with more and more signs of glorious renewal within nature appearing all around us. What a joy that as we witness the season of spring emerging from the cold and dark of the winter months, it is a beautiful reminder to us all that our Creator God loves to initiate new beginnings and bring forth growth and blossoming life.
And just as He does it in His creation all about us, He is constantly shaping new beginnings and nurturing life within our lives as well and all He desires is that we be available, open, teachable and thankful for His supervision in and over our lives for His glory and our good. Praise the Lord and may the springtime of God's blessings flourish and bear fruit in all of our lives. 

1. Our Condolences to Gary and Marlene Rohr
As a church, we extend our sincerest condolences to Gary and Marlene Rohr on the passing of Gary's dear mother this past week. We pray God's blessings upon the entire Rohr family as they make arrangements for her Celebration of Life Service and all matters pertaining to her passing into the presence of the Lord. God bless you all!

2. Congratulations to Pastor Intern Joshua Faminoff
This Saturday, after four years of hard work, our Pastor Intern Joshua will graduate from Vanguard College with a four year ministry degree. It has been amazing to have him a part of our church for the last three years, after I had the joy of having him in a class at Vanguard College three years ago. We instantly connected and I asked him if he may desire to come to our assembly and serve as a volunteer pastor in training - the rest is history. 
 Next Sunday, May 4, 2025, we as a church will be presenting Joshua with some beautiful graduation gifts as a token of our thanks to him and his ministry amongst us. If you would like to watch the service Livestream, please go to npyeg.online.church.

3. Thank You to Our Sunday Service Prayer, Greeting, Worship, Security and Tech Teams
Every Sunday morning, we have wonderful volunteers who honour Christ and others through the ministries of prayer, greeting, worship, technical/online, and security. In addition, we also are so blessed to have our eldership team able and ready to pray for others before, during and after our services. We thank each one of you, along with those who also provide and set up for the coffee fellowship times following our gatherings. God bless each one and if you desire to volunteer and serve in an area of ministry, please feel free to chat with myself, Colleen or Pastor Matthew. 

4. Sunday, April 27 Worship Gathering
This coming Sunday morning, we will continue to worship our Risen Lord, as we will be highly honoured to have Pastor John Klamm, a regular attendee of our assembly, ministering the Word. Pastor John will be sharing on the subject entitled, "When Empty Is A Positive Thing". We encourage you to join us as we also worship the Lord in song, prayer and in a coffee fellowship following the service. I also would ask if you might pray about inviting someone to come to church with you. If you are not able to join us, you may view the service online. 

5. Ministry Opportunities This Week
1.) Griefshare Ministry - Tuesday, April 29 at 6:30 PM at the church
2.) On-Line Prayer Session - Wednesday, April 30 at 7 PM
3.) Men's Coffee Fellowship - Wednesday, April 30 at 7 PM. We meet at Tim Horton's (Roper Rd/75 St). We have no agenda but to simply have a positive time sharing together over a refreshment and goodie.

6. Annual Church Business Meeting
We will be having the Annual Church Business Meeting (for 2024) after the morning service on Sunday, May 4, 2025. After a brief snack break, we will gather together in the sanctuary. This meeting will be informative and we encourage all to stay. Members, please make this a priority. If you have not picked up your ABM Packet, please do so this Sunday. Also a reminder that if you have taken a packet, please bring it with you to refer to for the actual meeting. 
Also, you should have received, via email, a digital copy of the Special Business Meeting held on Sunday, June 2, 2024. This was supposed to have been part of the ABM packet but was not. These Minutes will also be acknowledged and a motion for acceptance will be made. In addition, if you are not able to attend in person but would like to be a part of the meeting, please contact Janice at heritageva@gmail.com to acquire a Zoom Link to join in. Thank you. Thank you. 

7. Easter Lilies
Last Sunday, we as a church were pleased to supply Easter lilies to be utilized in our sanctuary. As well, following the gathering, as a church, we shared all the lilies as a gift to thanks to our dear brothers and sisters in The Multicultural Christian Church of Edmonton.

8. Easter Sunday Morning Sunrise Service
We are so appreciative to our host church for graciously inviting us to any and all of thier Easter Week Services which we advertised and promoted on our Church Facebook page and other social media platforms. As it turned out, various ones from our assembly attended their early Sunday Morning Sunrise Service held at 5:00 AM in their sanctuary. The ladies of their congregation led the service and switched to English to accomodate our church members. What an amazing act of Christian love. Then following the service, the men of their church cooked up a delicious breakfast for all in attendance. How wonderful it is to dwell together in Christ!

9. Footprints In The Sand
Recently, a dear member of our church shared with me how wonderful it had been for them to rediscover the lovely poem entitled, "Footprints In The Sand". I read it again for myself and thought how wonderful it would be for us to be blessed by it. It reads:

Footprints In The Sand
"One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.  For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.  When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.  He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints.  He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:

'LORD, you said that once I decided to follow, you'd walk with me all the way. 
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints.  I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.'

The LORD replied:
'My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."

- Mary Stevenson -

10. Pray for Pastor Matthew and Rebakah in Japan
Please let's continue to pray for Pastor Matthew and Rebekah as they continue to serve on a short-term ministry visit in Japan.

God bless you all and may the Lord be beautifully present with you throughout this coming week.

Pastor Larry & Colleen, Pastor Matthew & Rebekah, Pastor Intern Joshua