Hey you guuuuuuuuuuuys! This is a pic we took after a wonderful day at the park tossing the frisbee and visiting with friends to celebrate my 28th birthday! It was so much fun. We wanted to give you a quick update along with introducing you to some new faces in our lives up here in Canadaland! We are still doing well, adjusting to life and weather with each new day. Jason has just finished up his second course of the summer and already busy reading (this is a full time job folks!) and a little over halfway done with his first paper. He is working diligently day in and day out to start out strong and diving into seminary life really well, if I do say so myself! We are becoming more involved with a local church plant here so some of the faces you see below are involved as well. Jason & I count ourselves extremely blessed to be chosen to use our giftings and abilities to bring the Light of the world into this city. There is so much to write about the spiritual darkness here and plagues me considering the absolute thrill of the Gospel that surrounds it in the mountains and beauty.
"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars."
First, we have Carisa & Rob Willems. This sweet couple have been married a little over 2 years now and are from Abbotsford, BC, which is just an hour or so southeast of Vancouver. They ventured up to Vancouver in order for Rob to pursue his undergrad @ UBC in mechanical engineering. We met these lovelies at a local place of worship down the street called "Westside church". They were holding a beach cook out in honor of 4 baptisms within their church body as well as offering a gathering for folks to meet. Jason kindly asked them if they wanted to share our picnic blanket set-up with us and they obliged. We ended up spending the day with them at the beach and then off to a game of Regent soccer. The boys sweated it out for a few hours and the girls laid it out on the picnic blanket to soak in the 70 degree sunny weather. :) Yes, Texans, you can be jealous. 
Please meet the Robinsons! These smiling faces are (L to R) Lyndsey, Victor & Brooklyn. Carson had made his way over to the car already so I'll post a solo pic of him below. They are also new to the Vancouver area after moving all the way up from Mississippi. They have made their trek to Canada in order to assist in thecrossings as well full time. They have a 3 year old son named Carson and an 8 month old daughter named Brooklyn. We have really enjoyed getting to know them so far. :)
This would be Carson Robinson. Cute as a button!
The newlywed couple you see above are Jonny & Melissa (Mel) Lochhead. Jonny is from Scotland and Mel is from around the Greater Vancouver area. They met at Regent college a year or so back and then fell in love and married. They have their first wedding anniversary coming up in August. Presently, they are involved at their church here locally and plan on partnering with the rest of us in planting "thecrossings" church. They are a lovely couple, and lots of fun to be around. :)
~Martin Luther
All this to say, we see Him everywhere and the movements of His Spirit have been going on long before we set foot on Canadian ground. We pray to be apart of this movement in order to point others back to the Creator of all. Here is a truth He wrote on my heart this week about being here and present in what He is doing.
"If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him." - John 12:26
First, we have Carisa & Rob Willems. This sweet couple have been married a little over 2 years now and are from Abbotsford, BC, which is just an hour or so southeast of Vancouver. They ventured up to Vancouver in order for Rob to pursue his undergrad @ UBC in mechanical engineering. We met these lovelies at a local place of worship down the street called "Westside church". They were holding a beach cook out in honor of 4 baptisms within their church body as well as offering a gathering for folks to meet. Jason kindly asked them if they wanted to share our picnic blanket set-up with us and they obliged. We ended up spending the day with them at the beach and then off to a game of Regent soccer. The boys sweated it out for a few hours and the girls laid it out on the picnic blanket to soak in the 70 degree sunny weather. :) Yes, Texans, you can be jealous. 
Please meet the Robinsons! These smiling faces are (L to R) Lyndsey, Victor & Brooklyn. Carson had made his way over to the car already so I'll post a solo pic of him below. They are also new to the Vancouver area after moving all the way up from Mississippi. They have made their trek to Canada in order to assist in thecrossings as well full time. They have a 3 year old son named Carson and an 8 month old daughter named Brooklyn. We have really enjoyed getting to know them so far. :)
This would be Carson Robinson. Cute as a button!
The newlywed couple you see above are Jonny & Melissa (Mel) Lochhead. Jonny is from Scotland and Mel is from around the Greater Vancouver area. They met at Regent college a year or so back and then fell in love and married. They have their first wedding anniversary coming up in August. Presently, they are involved at their church here locally and plan on partnering with the rest of us in planting "thecrossings" church. They are a lovely couple, and lots of fun to be around. :)Hope you enjoyed these wonderful faces as much as we have, God is blessing us with community more by the day and we couldn't be more thrilled to be here! Please keep us in your prayers as I am still searching for a suitable job so we can take care of ourselves while J is in school and helping out with this church. We believe richly in the power of prayer and know that He will use you to bring to fruition His will for us here in Vancouver. We love you guys and hope some of you can make it up to see this promised land of milk & honey!
~The Allens
