Tag: NAMB

September Update!

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We made it to Canada!

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After one long road trip, a stop at Niagara Falls, two stops at the border for visas (not by choice!), a few days of long waits in different offices around Montreal, we are officially moved in and ready to make our apartment and this beautiful city our home!

So many of you have prayed, given financially, and encouraged us to this point and for that we are so grateful!

Being in the city makes us so aware of the lostness and the great need for the hope of Jesus to be shared with those who haven’t heard. We are praying for our heart to be sensitive to His leading and to give us those points of intersection with the lost around us.

Our apartment is coming together nicely, we are enjoying our neighborhood so far. We  hope to visit places as points to begin forming relationships. Please join us in prayer for this to happen!

One story that we wanted to share happened a few days after we arrived. As Abi was taking a picture of the coffee shop near our apartment a woman started talking to her about taking pictures. This woman, Jasmine, is from Cuba originally but lives in Montreal with her boyfriend. As she and Abi were parting ways she asked for some “good fortune” and began asking about horoscopes. Abi had the chance to share about her trust in God and His control over the universe, rather than horoscopes and luck, and our lives. She asked Abi to pray for her right there on the spot! Please join us in praying for our paths to cross again soon and that Jasmine will come to faith in Jesus.

James had his first staff meeting at Renaissance on August 30th and is excited to be on a team with such incredible guys who have a great heart for Montreal.

DON’T FORGET: If you have committed to joining our partner team financially and haven’t set up payments, please let us know how we can help you do that. We can send you the link if you need it or walk you through the process in a phone call. Thanks!

Also, if you are interested in joining our partner team we are still lacking 10% of our monthly support. We’d love to talk to you about how you can join what God is doing in Montreal through giving monthly support.

Click the GIVE NOW button on our blog to set it up: www.copeland6inmtl.wordpress.com

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August Update

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It’s Moving Month!

Although saying goodbye to our family, church family, and friends will be difficult we are anticipating the day in a couple of weeks when we will start our new adventure and ministry in Montreal.

We are thankful for the incredible way that so many have encouraged us and blessed us over the past month with financial support, written notes, and genuine care (especially for our kids!).

As we approach the last few weeks of our time in Springfield we ask that you continue to pray for us as this transition is beginning. Here are specific ways you can pray with us:

  • For us to reach our full 100% of monthly financial support before we leave. We are currently at 84% – Praise the Lord!
  • For the logistics and details of moving to run smoothly. (moving truck, traveling, ect.)
  • For continued wisdom and guidance on how to help our children in the midst of this big change.
  • For our hearts to continually be drawn to the Lord and for a continued passion for seeing the lost in Montreal come to salvation in Jesus Christ.
  • For relationships to be formed right away once we settle and for opportunities to share the Gospel.

Again, we are thankful for the way that so many of you have come around us and supported our family as we walk in obedience to the Lord’s calling. From the bottom of our hearts…THANK YOU!

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Our family at our commissioning at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, our sending church! 

It’s not to late to partner with us!

There is still time to join our monthly support team and partner with taking the Gospel to Montreal a city that is 99.5% lost and without the hope of Jesus Christ.

If you would like to help us close the gap on our last 16% of monthly support please contact us and we would love to share more about how you can join us in Montreal!

Click on the green GIVE button on our home page OR visit this link:

Copeland Online Giving 

June Update and Prayer Points

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Summer is in full swing and we have hit the ground running. Only 66 days left until our moving truck heads north and we are excited about all that God has to show us between now and then.

We just returned from the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis and loved hearing from our North American Mission Board (NAMB) leaders who have the great vision of seeing the Gospel taken to all parts of this continent — Montreal included. To read more about NAMB’s vision for Montreal read more here: NAMB website

While at the SBC we learned that James will be officially functioning as a NAMB Church Planting Intern for the first year which affects our monthly support slightly. We are sharing this because we anticipate some questions about the change in our overall percentage from last month to this month. (Our post last month stated 75% raised but with this change we are now at 63% of monthly support)

We are so thankful for the constant encouragement and prayers. Here are some points of prayer as you remember us each day:

  • For our full support to be complete before we move. Currently we are at 63% of our monthly support and 46% of our initial costs for moving.
    • How can YOU or your family help us reach our monthly goal? We are praying for God to provide:
      • 15 individuals/families to partner with $100 a month
      • 15 individuals/families to partner with $50 a month
      • 25 individuals/families to partner with $25 a month
      • Or maybe you want to give one time for the entire year? Contact us!
      • Just want to give a one-time gift? Contact us!
  • For God to giveus wisdom in finding a “new to us” vehicle — SUV or Van
  • For our children who are realizing the reality of all the “lasts” that are happening this summer and anticipating the unknown of Montreal in August.
  • For the city of Montreal — that God would continue to move and the Gospel would change lives.
  • For James and the team from RBC that leave Monday for a week in Montreal serving with Renaissance Church.

Interested in partnering? Or maybe we have talked with you about support and are praying about how to be a part. Either way, we would love to follow up and talk more so please contact us! We can sit down and help you set up online giving (very easy!) or talk about where you can
send a monthly check in the mail.

We are praying that each of you would ask God how you can be part of what He is doing in Montreal!

Again, if you have any questions please email us: copeland5inmtl@gmail.com

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Join our family as we live on mission in Montreal!

Update and May Prayer Points

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**Don’t forget, if you would like to give to our family either a one-time gift or ongoing monthly support you can learn more about that by clicking the GIVE button to the right***

In mid-April we (James and Abi) had the chance to travel to Montreal to be a part of a NAMB Vision Tour and do some apartment hunting.

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James & Abi in Little Burgundy sharing about Renaissance Church

We enjoyed being in the city once again and had the time to take the metro to some areas we had not  been and grasp a better idea of the city as a whole. We can fully say, we love this city!

One of our purposes for this trip was to be a part of sharing and casting the vision NAMB has for Montreal to pastors visiting from the States. We took them to Little Burgundy where Renaissance Church is located, toured another church plant’s venue in an historic theatre, and spent time answering questions and getting to know these pastors who hopefully will partner in some way with NAMB in Montreal.

Another part of this trip was to start the search for housing. We had NO intention of finding an exact place, but we were totally blown away when God showed us that He has gone before us and already had a placed picked out for our family. We are excited to share pictures and more about it in the months to come!

Thank you to those who prayed for our trip and who continue to pray for us on this journey. We are humbled at how God has provided and how many people desire to come around us and partner in Montreal. To God be the Glory!

Here are some praise/prayer points:

Praise

  • Praise God we found an apartment well within our budget!
  • Praise God we are 75% fully funded for our monthly support!
  • Praise God James finished Seminary at Midwestern and in just a few days will officially have his Masters in Theological Studies
  • Praise God that last week a dear friend of ours living in Springfield (from the Middle East) gave his life to Christ!

Prayer

  • Pray for the city of Montreal – the large numbers of lost people and the growing numbers of believers
  • Pray that God continues to provide support partners for our family & ministry
  • Pray that we continue to gain support for our initial moving costs (approx. $12,000)
  • Pray for a vehicle for our family and that we can remain debt free in the process
  • Pray for friendships for our kids in Montreal (this one was given to us by Anabelle)
  • Pray for our families here at home as they prepare for this upcoming transition

April Prayer Points

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Here are ways you can pray for our family in April:

  • Wisdom and provision for a new vehicle
  • Continued increase in partnerships and financial support
  • James and Abi’s trip to Montreal this month
  • Understanding and peace for our children about the transition
  • For our story to continue to point to God’s provision and be a tool that the Lord can use to see other Ridgecrest families go on mission

We are thankful for your prayers. If you have not received a prayer card and would like one to remind you to pray daily for our family let us know and we can mail one to you! copeland_card

Support Update

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“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

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Over the last few months we have had many people ask us how they can give either a one time gift or a monthly gift to support us as we serve in Montreal. We officially have our online support page set up through the North American Mission Board and are excited to see the partners that God already has lined up for us. We are so thankful that we are not alone!

Check out the site here: Partner with the Copeland Family

If your family, your church, or your business would like to support our family in Montreal and be a part of reaching the lost here in North America please take the time to pray about what you might give and visit our fundraising site to get it set up.

We hope to sit down with many of you in the months to come to explain more but if we fail to set up a time please let us know you’d like a sit down and we can make that happen! OR if your church might be interested or you’d like us to meet your pastor and talk about options for your church to partner with us we would love to share!

We also hope that it is understood that this is not a fundraiser we are asking you to be a part of and then never think about again. By partnering with us financially we are asking you to partner with us through prayer and ongoing encouragement. Your giving is an active participation in the work that happens in Montreal and we are so aware that this work CANNOT happen without faithful people willing to give towards something that has eternal value. Our prayer is that our going to Montreal in obedience empowers many of you to do the same, whatever the call from God may be.

If you have any questions please email us: copeland5inmtl@gmail.com