Farewell Watson's

Anna, Ian, Sheri and Julia.
The Watson family packs up and leave towards the end of July, after the Wendo and Gemma's wedding. They will move to Calgary, they miss the Stampede too much. Sheri will go back to teaching and Ian is transferring back with the same company.

Thiessen Family

Bridger, Barton, Nikolai, CJ and Reilly from left to right. CJ and kids leave for BC for 5 weeks starting June 19, while Barton stays working and joins the family for that last 2 weeks in Vancouver.

Kyle & Sonia

Kyle and Sonia join us from time to time - they are expecting a baby in about 10 weeks.

Morton Ninomiya's

Scott, Maya, Mel and Aidan. Bertha was still in ICU when this was taken.

Wendo & Gemma - Getting Married July 15th!

That's CJ's hand off in the background.

Farewell Gift to Watson's

A large plate with everyone's artistic representation on it presented to the Watson's.
This is Ian checknig it out with Nikolai's hand pointing out his block.

Last House Church before the Summer!

BBQ and other food - lots of desserts out at the Thiessens. Frisbee was popular. This is half the crowd hanging out on the front yard.

Palm Sunday Play in Action

Palm Sunday Cast

The kids put on the Palm Sunday re-enactment with costumes and all, directed by Scott.

L-R: Bridger as Jesus, Nicholai as Jesus' friend, Julia as donkey owner, Maya as an enthusiastic crowd member, Rielly as narrator, Aidan as donkey, and the youngest person Anna was a bi-stander.

April Month

April's theme is HIV/AIDS in Africa facilitated by Ian Watson. Ian encouraged people to listen to the Massey Lectures that were broadcasted on CBC Radio last week - which can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey2005.html.

April is also when we celebrate Maya, Kati and Scott's birthdays - in fact, Kati and Scott share the same birthday.

We also welcome a new person to house church -

Some suggested reading..

Here is the link to an article/speech by Peggy & Tony Campolo on their differing opinions on the topic of homosexuality (their words): http://www.bridges-across.org/ba/campolo.htm

And if people haven't read the paper written by Walter Wink picking apart the Bible on the topic of sam sex relations, it is a good read, I think. It can be found at http://www.bridges-across.org/ba/wink.htm#bible.

March has a new theme!

In keeping with our monthly topics/causes, March is going to be same sex marriage and related topic awareness month. I think Gemma, Wendolyn and Scott agreed to put their heads together on this. So, some introduction will happen this Sunday at the Watson's and then on the final Sunday of this month, we will have a presentation or something that will help provide greater awareness to everyone.

Refugee Month is Over

This past Sunday, we had potluck and presentations on Refugees in Canada. Scott spoke from his knowledge and work with the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support in Kitchener as a staff person working with refugee claimants. Wendolyn shared information from her time at Association for New Canadians. As a house church, it was agreed that financial offerings would go towards a specific family

~ Wedding Bells ~

A big announcement for Wendolyn and Gemma - they have decided to get married!! And this summer. Congratulations and no doubt our house church will find a way to celebrate that!?!

Social Event for this month!

The social event for this month is sledding. Here are the details:
Saturday, February 18th
Meet at the great hill by the Fluvarium at 11am.
Bring anything you want to sled on.
Bring cameras in the event that everyone forgets or assumes someone else will bring one.
Bring any food items you want to share for lunch, which will be at the Morton Ninomiya home following the sledding. You can count on

Thank you Kate!

Katie Weins hosted this past Sunday since Wendolyn and Gemma could not host ... off in a log cabin somewhere being romantic. Thanks, Katie and to her mother who joined us and bought grapes for all of us to share.

Local Refugee Story and Sample Letter - for Feb. 5th Discussion

Alexi Kolosovs Statement

My name is Alexi Kolosovs. I was born in Russia on the 25th of March, 1956. I left my home (which at that time was in Latvia) on a fishing vessel and in December of 1997. I arrived in Newfoundland and claimed refugee status. With over 20 years experience as a deckhand, boatswain and with extensive knowledge of construction and repair of fishing gear, it was not long

A third January birthday!

Aidan turns 3 Jan. 25th!

Happy birthday to him too.

Another Birthday

CJ (Reilly's mom) is a NEW YEAR'S baby! She celebrated her birthday recently too. Mel picked this picture - not CJ....taken at a evening of chocolate fondue, bean dip, hot chocolate shake, and more before Christmas 2006.

Birthdays to Note!

Belated Happy Birthday to Reilly!

She celebrated her birthday on January 3rd!

2006 Winter/Spring Schedule

January 8: Watson (Childrens' Time: Shari)
January 15: Thiessen (Childrens' Time: Shari)
January 22: Morton Ninomiya (Childrens' Time: Shari)
January 29: Schlamp & Hickey (Childrens' Time: Shari)

February 5: Watson (Childrens' Time: Melody)
February 12: Schlamp & Hickey (Childrens' Time: Melody)
February 19: Thiessen (Childrens' Time: Melody)
February 26: Morton Ninomiya (Childrens' Time:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Simon and Judith have sadly left St. John's at Christmas time! We wish them well and hope we will stay in touch. I, Mel, am now taking over Simon's responsibilities as the blog maintenance person. And I am still learning how to work with this site. I'll be posting more updates shortly!

If you have ideas for additions for our site, let me know and I'll try.

The picture here is Reilly presenting