Pastor Ricky & Stephanie Schwarz and family
We are so thankful to God for giving us these past eight years serving the Maritime Conference. We have learned so very much about ourselves, and the goodness, mercy and faithfulness of God! We have gone through difficult and trying times and yet Jesus, our Conference and our church family have been by our side loving and supporting us every step of the way. And for this we will ever be grateful. The love and support we have received here has been a great blessing and encouragement to our family. And because of this the Maritimes will always hold a special place in our hearts and minds.
We are excited about the future, but it is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye, at least for a season, to our church friends and family of the Maritime Conference. You all have come to mean so very much to us. Places are easy to leave, but people are not. I am so thankful that our hope is in Jesus and His soon return where we will be caught up together in the air to ever be with the Lord! Until then let us encourage each other to keep walking with Jesus!
We love you all,
Pastor Ricky, Stephanie and our girls.
Former Youth Director of Maritime Conference &
Pastor of the Saint John Seventh-day Adventist Church
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of my decision to step down as Children's Ministries Director. I have sincerely enjoyed my time in this role. Working closely with caring and committed volunteers to make Camp Meeting a wonderful experience for the children has been a highlight. The children, from our little toddlers to the Teens and everyone in between have been the reason for this special ministry.
Thank you to all that work tirelessly to provide programs in our churches. God will richly bless your efforts. It is time for a new person to continue the work and I know that God will provide a person with a passion and love for children, a sincere desire to lead them to Jesus and the energy and inspiration for the this very special ministry.
Sincerely,
Former Children's Ministry Director
In the Yarmouth church we are so grateful to ADRA for giving us the funds to help in our community. We have called our project “Acts of Kindness” named after a group in Yarmouth that we have been helping: Acts of Kindness/Humankind NS. This group is doing amazing things from feeding a lot of people every week to finding help for those who need a room, or clothes or even firewood. Many people in the community contribute to these needs.
On behalf of ADRA we have given $800 to Acts of Kindness for their weekly meal program. This money was given to be used to help buy the food needed to prepare the meals that they provide every Sabbath. We gave an additional $400 in gift cards to assist in purchasing other items of which their clients are in need. Leta Dukeshire and Bonnie Parsons visited their facility when they were serving meals one Sunday instead of their usual Saturday afternoon time. We were even greeted at the door by a man who we had never met before but said, “You must be from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.” Word gets around!
We made 25 meals of chili, rice and cornbread which were taken to Aidaen’s Place. This is an after-school program designed to give encouragement and support to youth in the area as part of a suicide prevention program. We also gave them gift certificates from Riverside Produce so that they could purchase healthy snacks for the young people. Pastor Dave was given a tour of the facility - a purple house on Main Street.
Winona Pierce used some of the money to purchase breakfast food items for Meadowfields Community School to assist with their Breakfast Program. Students need to have a full stomach if they are going to learn properly. We also purchased food items and toiletries for Drumlin Height’s Consolidated School’s Free Store where students are allowed to shop at no charge.
We made banana bread and cornbread for Acts of Kindness which they said were a real hit. They are not allowed to accept meals made in home kitchens, but they are still able to use baked goods that are made at home - breads, muffins, cakes, pies, etc. Additionally, we gave them a large bag of flour for use in their kitchen.
In November our pianist, Leo Maillet, told us about two men who needed help with food. Leo kindly did the shopping and delivered the food where it was needed.
At Christmas time we helped to sponsor a family in need with food and gas through the “14th Annual Christmas Dinner for the homeless and others” project. Susan Grant gives a lot of her time to organize this event and receives a lot of help from the community.
As you can see, the Yarmouth Seventh-day Adventist Church and ADRA are names that are becoming known in the county due to the generosity of ADRA and the Yarmouth church in providing the needed funds for this project. We still have some funds in reserve to continue to help people in need. Yarmouth is a very giving community where a lot of people are working together to help where needed. I encourage everyone to start an ADRA project to make a difference where you live.
Andrew Hamilton playing the bagpipes. (left) Sebastian, Jeremy and Jason Witzig waiting for the Christmas program to start. (right)
On December 23 the Yarmouth church presented their Christmas program. Those who came were greeted at the church entrance by Andrew Hamilton playing the bagpipes. He gave lovely renditions of “Silent Night”, “We Three Kings” and “What Child is This?”. His special guest was has neighbour, Richard Wallace, who taught him to play the bagpipes. Andrew also later played a delightful tune on the piano - “Greatest Night, Brightest Morn”.
We had many inspirational musical selections from the young people. Some of the selections by Ferris Cottreau were “In the Bleak Mid Winter”, “The Friendly Beasts” and “Mary Did You Know?” accompanied by Leo Maillet on the piano as well as the song “It Was a Starry, Starry Night” with others joining in. Jason and Jeremy Witzig played the piano and ukulele and Andrew and Rebekah Hamilton sang “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and “My Heart Will be Your Bethlehem” with wonderful harmony.
Their mother Cheryl told us about how it felt to be the earthly father of Jesus in “Joseph’s Song” and Pastor Dave Hamilton presented a short and thoughtful message on the same theme. Amelia Leonforde and Naya Janda sang “Away in a Manger” taking us back to the night Christ was born into this world. To end the program, Ferris gave an inspiring rendition of “The Holy City” accompanied by Leo. This is becoming a tradition at the Yarmouth church because we all love it so much when they present this selection together.
To end the old year, we had a social gathering the afternoon of December 31. There were board games to play such as Scrabble and a form of dominoes and Crokinole, which was new to some. Marina Saulnier had the children hitting a spinner which stopped at a plate with an apple or tangerine on the top and had a Bible question to answer on the bottom. Answering the question allowed them to keep the fruit. One of our guests, Howie, was full of laughter just hitting a balloon back and forth to whoever would play with him. His mother, another guest, delighted in what a good time he was having. His joy was infectious and kept everyone smiling.
He and others tried their hand at rolling a ping pong ball down the table and into waiting cups. Some of the men found ingenious ways to remove the maximum number of clothes pins off a hanger using only one hand. While Pastor Dave, Jesiah Sutter and Tewe Janda made valiant efforts, Sebastian Witzig took the prize with his creation. We enjoyed plenty of good snack foods supplied by all and served buffet style. It is good for the saints to fellowship together with fun and laughter.
Submitted by
Hey Maritime Youth! The Ontario Conference is hosting their annual ACF (Adventist Christian Fellowship) Spiritual Retreat in February. I (Adrian Jones) have reached out to the coordinators to see if they were willing to extend the retreat invite to youth from the Maritime Conference. They were delighted to welcome us to the retreat. With that being said, I want to extend the invitation to the young adults in the Maritime who would be willing to travel to this retreat.
The theme for this retreat is tilted; God with Us. I hope that through this retreat you may deepen your relationship with God, and find strength in community amongst many other young adults. (And I really mean 'many other young adults' *hint hint J)
Transportation: Each youth group will be responsible to find their way there. There won't be general transportation provided.
For reference, my church youth (Perth-Andover) are driving 13 hours to the retreat. It is a 16 hour drive from Moncton. If you would like to stay overnight at my place and then travel with us, you are welcome to do so. I live in Grand Falls, NB.
If you have any further questions or comments, please contact me as soon as possible. Registration is filling up.
Submitted by
Pastor of Edmundston Adventist Group &
Maritime Conference Summer Camp Director
http://www.acfontario.ca
Retreat Dates:
February 16-19
18-30 This is an ACF
Retreat, so it is catered towards university
students/young adults.
Muskoka Woods Camp
For Maritime youth only, use discount code
EASTCOAST (all caps) to get the biggest discount you have ever seen!!!! http://www.acfontario.ca
Adrian Jones
adrian.jones979@gmail.com
905-903-3340
Bouctouche church building survives a terrible fire next door...
On Monday night January 22, 2024, forty-five firefighters responded to the call to fight a blazing fire that was engulfing the building that was right next to our Bouctouche church. This fire raged for approximately 10 hours consuming a Dixee Lee restaurant, a smoothie shop, a flower shop as well as five apartment dwellings that were over the building. Firefighters were finally able to put out the fire by the next morning.
Reporters declare that so far, no injuries have been reported. We just want to take the time to thank the Lord that our church building, which shares an alley with the building that was burnt, was spared by the blaze. We just wish to ask you to lift up in prayer the owners who have lost their businesses as well as the eight tenants who are now in a state of shock after losing their housing. We also ask you to pray for the Bouctouche Company as they minister to those who are in need in their community.
Submitted by
Executive Secretary of the Maritime Conference
Dear Church Member,
As we move into 2024, I am pleased to announce that the Maritime Conference, in partnership with ADRA, is again accepting applications for the 2024-2025 fiscal project cycle. If your church has the capacity and willingness to be Christ’s hands and feet in tangible ways this year, please complete the attached application form and return it to me, Cheryl Hamilton, by the end of business day on Thursday, February 29, 2024.
As you complete the document, please note the following points:
1. Before completing the form, please take some time to identify the most pressing need in your community and create your project to address it based on your church's capacity.
2. Please review your application with your church leadership and treasurer.
3. In the application, there are three categories where your project can be under. If your project activities fall within multiple categories, please select all that apply.
4. Project activities must be completed by February 1, 2025.
5. Project leaders will be responsible for keeping financial records, get ting photos of the project and consents signed, and to write at least one impact article on the projects.
6. Talk to others and see how you can work together to have a greater impact on the community. For example, get your youth involved.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me to sound out ideas for a proposal. I can review your ideas and guide you in writing your proposals.
Sincerely,
Compassion Ministries Director /ADRA Liaison
Cell: 902-740-6362
MARITIME CONFERENCE
cheryl.hamilton@maritimesda.com
The Winifred Stevens Foundation (WSF) is opening up its 2024 Grant Cycle for Indigenous Ministries in the North American Division. At least 7 projects were funded in Canada in 2023 with over $230,000 CAD given out. Please take note of the instructions below to submit the initial letter of intent (LOI) which is a basic overview of the project:
You must inform the conference VP and treasurer of the application. If possible (not all Canadians are in favour of this work) your local pastor and church as well. Get it in before the February 5 Deadline. ***
All monies will come through the SDACC and be directed to your conference which will then help you access those funds. The details from the WSF for applying are both attached as a letter and written below. If you need assistance specifically about the online system email rebekah@intentionalphilanthropy.com first.
General inquiries can be made to my assistant Lisa Mercer mercer.lisa@adventist.ca.
If these two amazing people can't answer your question they will direct you to me and I will hopefully be able to assist with these more difficult questions. Please pass on this message to anyone who may be in your sphere looking to make a difference for Indigenous Peoples according to the guidelines in the letter.
Submitted by
Director, Indigenous Relations
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada
We at the Maritimes Communication Department want to know what is going on in your church communities. If there are any events that are happening in your churches or any wonderful testimonies that you would like to share with the rest of the conference...please email your information to ron.marshall@maritimesda.com before the 15th day of every month. For example...October 15, 2024, December 15, 2024. We look forward to hearing from you!
