Phil first joined the CIAM family as a volunteer, bringing in music and content. Now as a full-time missionary, he is responsible for technical development of significant future media developments.
Joy and happiness we have in abundance in our lives this season God has given to us. Every Sunday we host our busy family members for lunch after the various church services that all of our children participate in. This is an answer to much prayer, and in the Lord’s sovereign grace that they have chosen to worship Him. At one of these gatherings in our home in March Judah was away at Capernwray Bible School, but Bethany with her husband Carson and son Frederick, Silas with his wife Zoe and their son Jack as well as Levi and his girlfriend were at the table. We were enjoying conversation while the two of us had some anticipation of a possible engagement announcement from Levi, but that thought got interrupted. Carson carried Fred into the dining area holding a helium balloon. We have balloons at our place for all kinds of celebrations and didn’t immediately notice, but it read “It’s a Baby!”. Excitement for another grandchild and congratulations erupted in the room. Only moments later Silas is carrying Jack into the dining room and sits him in the high chair, only now he wasn’t wearing the same outfit. Rather, his new shirt had the words “Big Brother” on it. The room filled with a joyous roar and ruckus of congratulations and tears of happiness. The dinner plates were eventually cleared and dessert was served, but that wasn’t the sweetest course yet. While Levi is a planner and deliberate speaker, any plans he had for an announcement were more than a bit thrown off by the double good news. Nevertheless, the engagement to Dezerae Martens was announced. Our excitement couldn’t have been contained. We were overcome with tears of gratitude to our God.
On a sunny afternoon in July in LaCrete we celebrated a beautiful outdoor wedding officiated by our friend and pastor from Brightview Church, and that night danced in the rain until the morning hours. Within a few days of Phil’s 50th birthday in October, not one, but two healthy granddaughters were delivered into our family.
Ministry at Peace by Piece
God has opened the door for Peace by Piece to share the gospel in various centres. Most recently with women in the shelter in Maskwacis and also with adult women incarcerated in a wing of the Edmonton Young Offenders Centre. On one of the outreaches, a prisoner asked if our team could come do chapel services at the prison so that other prisoners could hear the story of Jesus. In the middle of the process of getting security clearance we heard that all the adult prisoners had been transferred to other prisons. We are currently in the process of trying to get security clearance at the Edmonton Remand Centre where many of those women had been transferred to. Please pray for the Lord to guide and open doors as He sees fit.
This summer a friend and myself teamed up and shared an interactive Peace by Piece story called “The Red Thread” with the kids at a local Bible camp. The kids’ names were drawn out of a bowl and then(if they wanted) they could come on stage to be a Bible character. They loved all the props and a highlight was when they could peek into the Holy of Holies, but only once the black sin blob on their hand was covered by the blood of the lamb(aka: red craft paint). Also throughout the last school year, on Tuesday’s at a Youth for Christ drop in centre I had the privilege of doing a craft and an interactive Bible story with the children of the community. The kids came up and played the different Bible characters. Some days I wondered if the kids thought it was too silly but when I was away sick they had asked if there would be a story. One boy living in foster care asked on multiple occasions to hear the story of the Bible. God is definitely in the business of changing hearts and drawing worshippers unto Himself.
We thank the Lord every day for His faithfulness and we thank you for your love for Him expressed in your giving and frequent prayers. We are encouraged by you to serve in the ministries we do.
–Phil & Rhonda Peters with family
