Generosity Lives On

By Nicola Bartel

Nicola Bartel remembers a faithful supporter

Sometimes individuals cross your path that not only have an impact on your life but they inspire you to go above and beyond! Ed Spence is one of those individuals whom I had the privilege of knowing.

Ed Spence was one of Mercy Ministries’ biggest cheerleaders. He first heard of Mercy through  a presentation at his church. Ed was generous and began donating funds  from his personal ministry, collecting bottles and cans and giving to a variety of charities and individuals who were in need. Ed received a copy of “Echos of Mercy” and was so moved, and inspired, we soon became one of the  greatest recipients of his generosity.

The biggest gift to Mercy was Ed’s choice to regularly buy multiple copies of Echos and pass them on to people in his world of influence.  On several occasions, he sent flowers to the girls and staff to cheer them on, and regularly showed up to our events along with his family!

Sadly, Ed passed away suddenly this past December. He has left an amazing legacy behind and a challenge to us all to do what we can to help others. If I can think of a verse to describe Ed it would be John 15:13, “Greater love has no one, than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Ed’s extended family has generously donated $10,000 so that we can renovate a small on-site building to be used as our Intake Department.

Ed Spence, with his wife Joanne and mom Connie at the 2010 Mercy Walk

We will have a plaque on the building in  memory of Ed Spence with a scripture chosen by his wife and daughter.  Any left over funds will go towards the building of a gazebo in the back yard for the beautiful residents to use as a shelter from the sun and rain.

Our residents love to read and do their assignments outside in our peaceful back yard. A gazebo would make it  possible for them to do that more often. The men’s group at Riverside Community Church, where Ed attended, has volunteered their time and expertise to build this and to help raise funds to complete a gazebo.

I invite each and every one of you to consider making a contribution on behalf of Ed to ensure we will be able to complete this project, doing our part to give life to John 15:3 by laying down our lives for our friends!

Click here to make a donation today. Request “Gazebo fund” or “on behalf of Ed Spence” to help finish the gazebo for our residents

A Year of Miracles

A Special extended edition of Speak Mercy
to mark a year since the opening of the Mercy Canada home.

It is exactly one year today since the doors of Mercy Ministries opened here in Canada and the first young woman was accepted into our program to find healing and freedom from issues that had controlled her for too long.  To God be the Glory!

A Celebration

An Anniversary Feast

To mark this important milestone, Last Sunday about 150  of Mercy Ministries’ supporters,  friends, graduates and staff  got together on the grounds of the Mercy Ministries home to remember what God has done and give thanks for everything that has happened over the last year.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day for a celebration.  The sun was out and many supporters already in good spirits from having been at church service.  A wonderful spread of light snacks and sweets put together with love by Alan Koller and a beautifully restful setting created by Clara Atagi made for the perfect atmosphere for a Mercy family reunion.

As Mercy family members arrived, the sound of Jazz Music played by Ed and Salve Dayao of Java Jazz Café kept the mood light as many of those who had been on the journey to see hope renewed in broken lives came together in unity and Thanksgiving.

Special Message

Missing in person were Pastors John and Helen Burns who first had the vision of having a Mercy home in Canada. Away on a well deserved sabbatical, they made sure all who came knew that they were standing with us through a message read out by Nicola Bartel:

Pastors John and Helen Burns

“We’re in Uganda today, but our hearts and thoughts are with all of you as your celebrate this date that marks the anniversary of the Opening of the Mercy Home and all the miracles it represents.

The days behind us have been outstanding…we’ve seen the home finished, a fantastic staff built, and faithful partners have gathered to the vision and we are beyond grateful for everything that has been done and today we stand in awe.

The greatest miracle is the transformed lives of beautiful young women who have come and graduated, who are here in the home right now and who are still coming – the future looks amazing! To God be the glory great things He has done.

Thank you to every one who has stood with them to see their hope and future rise in the purposes of God. They needed you and you said yes – thank you.

To all our beautiful Mercy Girls... We love you… We miss you and look forward to catching up really soon. Have the most incredible day as you celebrate His faithfulness and goodness.”

John and Helen Burns xoxox

Graduates and current residents receive applause from guests for their courage to seek change

Challenges and Cheers

What a year it has been!

With the home built debt free and opened to young women, have come challenges expected and unexpected.  Difficulty finding relief staff has often meant that the amazing and dedicated staff team has put in many long hours to ensure quality care is given to the young women who come through the doors.

Released balloons represent prayer for freedom of the 59 girls in the intake process

Raising the finances for the ongoing costs of running a high quality program has proven to be quite the challenge.  There have been a few moments when we have needed a miracle to meet bills, and each time God has been faithful to come through, sometimes at the very last minute! To God be the Glory!  We are so grateful for our Treasure Builders who continue to provide monthly income for continued ministry to hurting young women.

Part of the story of the last year is told by the fact that Mercy Ministries was granted a 3 year accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitative Facilities (CARF) and is now in the process of certification with the  Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC). These accomplishments are a testimony to the care and excellence that has gone into every aspect of serving the young women that God has entrusted to this ministry.

Of course as we look back on the past year we remember the 59 young women still in the intake process. A reminder of the great and ongoing need for Mercy Ministries in Canada. The need remains to fill the remaining unfunded beds in our current home and open other homes across Canada. Intake Director Marina Sullivan said a prayer for those in the intake process and balloons were released as symbol of their desired freedom.

Changed lives

Graduate Rachel tells her story and experience at Mercy

The biggest cheers of course go up for the changes that God has brought to the lives of young women through Mercy:

• 8 first time commitments to Christ
• 10 lives rededicated to Him
• 6 Water Baptisms
• 11 graduations.

That is almost one graduation, representing a life freed from strongholds, for every month that Mercy Ministries has been open.

To God be the Glory!

Click here to see more pictures of the anniversary celebration

To join in supporting Mercy Ministries please click here.

Support of the Heart

“I just felt God pulling at me.”

This is how Laureen Upshaw describes her reaction to hearing Nancy Alcorn speak about Mercy Ministries at the 2003 Life Women’s Conference.  She got involved right away and has been an active advocate for Mercy Ministries ever since.

Mercy supporter, Laureen Upshaw with her husband Cavey

This month Laureen has been selected as Mercy Ministries Advocate on the Move for presenting Mercy Ministries at her life group, manning the Mercy table at conferences and actively providing ideas for promoting Mercy even more!

Laureen’s motivation for supporting and advocating for Mercy comes straight from the heart, she says:

Today I am a wife mother and grandmother, but at one time in my life I came from a massively dysfunctional home. I did a lot of the behaviours that these young women are doing.  I finally reached the bottom at 19 and I cried out to God, I said “show me you’re real or I want to die” and He did. I got into the Word of God and I felt loved!

I read the verse “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  I really believe that I have become completely new! So when these girls from Mercy give their testimonies I just relate so much.

There is a ton of heart involved with Mercy, a combination of gifts of people who have a heart of pouring into Mercy, that’s what makes the home run… God’s grace is using them to make help available to these girls and I’m just a small part. Its amazing to me that God allows advocates to be a part of what He’s doing.

The support of people like Laureen is at the heart of everything that Mercy Ministries does. It is how Mercy can continue to bring the healing Word of God to hurting young women completely free of charge, without any government funding. Laureen is passionate about seeing others get involved as supporters and advocates.  “When they see God’s sweet fruit of overcoming show up through the girls the reward is amazing, it  is very worthwhile getting involved.”

Laureen (far right) helps out at the 2010 Walk for Mercy

To find out more about how you can get involved  click here

Mercy’s connection to the community

As you know, Mercy Ministries of Canada is an independent, multi-denominational Christian ministry.  We are an extension of the Church, supported by many congregations, organizations, parachurch ministries and corporations as well as dedicated individuals.

Many churches and ministries have a heart for young women in their community or city.  But resources are tight, expertise is limited and all too often, young women fall through the cracks. 

Through Mercy Ministries, the local community is able to have a partner and a support for their young women.

Mercy Ministries is a big believer in the local church.  After all, we are all a part of the body of Christ! As Paul taught, we are one body with many functions and parts (Romans 12:4-8), many different ways of serving Jesus.  Mercy is just one part of the whole Christian church, all of us together on the mission of God, seeking to see young women saved, set free and restored, reconciled to relationship with their Father.  We all share the vision to see “his kingdom come and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-13).

Our residents attend a weekly worship service at a local church, in addition to daily devotions and special events or conferences as they come up. After a resident graduates, part of our transitional care plan calls for her to continue attending a local church.  Through the support of her church, our graduates each find a mature female mentor and accountability partner (Titus 2:3-5). For an entire year after her graduation, we work with each young woman, her church, her pastor and her mentor so that she becomes fully connected in the community to ensure she receives the support and help she needs.

The partnership between local churches and communities with Mercy Ministries is effective.  Our graduates return to their communities and make a difference by sharing their own stories of freedom and affecting others desperate for hope and healing.

-S-

A special treat for the Mercy girls – and a giveaway! (Contest now closed.)

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to everyone for entering. Winner has been announced here.

Mystique Hair Design in White Rock, B.C. recently blessed the Mercy girls with a special afternoon, dedicated just to them!

Their staff and owner had heard about Mercy Ministries and were so moved that they shut down their trendy hair studio for the afternoon, just to concentrate solely on our beautiful residents. The ways that our supporters find to support and bless the residents here at Mercy just takes our breath away – you are all so creative, using the gifts that you have been given to love and support these precious women.

The residents enjoyed the special afternoon out and, gracious, does their hair look amazing! Mystique really captured their true beauty. Can you imagine how thrilled and overwhelmed the girls were to have an afternoon of pampering?

And the fun doesn’t stop there….

Mystique wanted to bless a supporter of Mercy Ministries of Canada with a special gift!

You have a chance to win this beautiful package – it includes a gift certificate that is good for any of their specialty services (these packages include hair and makeup application and range from $80 – $85 in value), a body/face soap and a couple of high end shampoo and lotion samples.

To enter, leave a comment on this post if you have done any one of the following (multiple entries are allowed but you’ll have to leave a comment for each separate entry so that each entry is counted) – so that means you have 7 opportunities to enter!

1 entry – leave a comment on this post, any old comment is fine.

1 entry – “Like” Mercy Ministries of Canada on Facebook then come back and leave a comment here telling us you’ve done so.

1 entry – “Like” Mystique Hair Design on Facebook then come back and leave a comment here telling us you’ve done so.

1 entry – Subscribe to the Speak Mercy blog, either through email or a blog reader,  and then leave a comment here telling us you’ve done so.

1 entry – Follow Mercy Ministries of Canada on Twitter and then come back and leave a comment here telling us you’ve done so.

1 entry – Treasure Builder Extra – if you are a Treasure Builder with Mercy (monthly partner) or if you sign up to become one, just comment on this post to let us know and you’ll get another entry as well.

1 entry – Tweet about the giveaway (make sure you include @MercyCanada and the link to this post in your tweet) to your followers, then come back and leave a comment here telling us you’ve done so.

We’ll draw the winner using Random.org on Friday 22 October at 12:00 PM (Pacific time). Open to Canadian addresses only and void where prohibited. For full disclosure, this giveaway is NOT part of a paid partnership with Mystique; they simply wanted to bless our residents and one of our supporters.

A huge thank you to Mystique Hair design! You ladies are such a blessing!

Thanks to the women of PAOC!

We spent last Wednesday having lunch with some of God’s girls over at the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada BC and Yukon district. They had their pastoral leadership conference last week and we were thrilled to get together with their women in ministry, a group called Women 2 Women (W2W). In fact, our own Fitness Manager here at Mercy, Megan, contributes to the group as their Health and Fitness Coach!

Over sandwiches and delicious desserts, their leader, Andrea Critchley,  previewed their upcoming women’s conference for the ministry leaders. We have been invited to be a part of the conference at the end of the month and couldn’t be more honoured. This was a nice preview for us – we got to meet all of the ladies that are in ministry in the BC/Yukon district for the PAOC and they got to know us a bit as well.  We prayed for the conference and for all of the churches and ministries in the district as well as across Canada.

The women’s ministry for the district is led by Andrea Critchley.  Talk about a powerhouse woman of God! She is passionate, funny, authentic and a force to be reckoned with! It is so exciting to see God raising up leadership from among our Canadian women, women of character and passion that are committed to loving God and loving people in real, tangible ways right here in our nation, from the big cities to the small towns to the rural areas. Every woman we spoke to at that lunch had a story to tell. It was plain to see that this was a room full of committed believers, living out the Gospel in their daily lives all across BC and the Yukon. They are hard workers and women of prayer. There was a tremendous sense of unity and honour among them. I know there are a lot of women that struggle with relationships with other women but let me say, the more time we spend out in the community, the more churches we visit, the more we are  encouraged by the sisterhood that we see being expressed all across Canada. God is bringing his girls together – no more pettiness, no more gossip, no more small dreams. We are women on a mission and at Mercy, we’re thrilled to be supported by women all across Canada.

We were able to show our powerful video about Mercy Ministries. And yet, again, I cried through the whole thing. Honestly, you would think that after seeing 17,000 times (give or take a few…), I would have built up some immunity but no, I cry like a baby through it every time. It’s so powerful. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, here it is:

If you are involved at the PAOC or just want to check out their conference, we would love to see you there. It’s being held in the Vancouver area this year on October 22 and 23. The ladies at the PAOC have decided to sponsor the Mercy girls to attend the conference! What a blessing. We’ll be sharing a bit on the Friday night during the talk show as well as hosting a table in the lobby. So stop by to say hello!

Hopefully, we’ll see you there. In the meantime, if you believe your church or district or ministry or organization would be interested in supporting Mercy, let us know. We love to come out into the community to share what God is up to here at the house, the miracles that take place every day and how the church in Canada is leading the charge of LIVES TRANSFORMED, HOPE RESTORED.

Blessings,

Sarah