For all you on the west coast, it's snowing in Québec right now

Good thing we already installed our winter tires.

Looks like I'll have to go out and buy some gloves.

I've been asked to teach part of a church planting boot camp, in French. So this week, 18 people (13 are aspiring church planters in Quebec) will walk through the many models and methods of church planting, all undergirded by a sound theology of ecclesiocentric church planting (one interesting difference between Quebec and the U.S. is that in Quebec, the emphasis is on the local church birthing daughter churches, in the U.S., the emphasis is generally on the church planter himself).

Wednesday and Thursday I'll be teaching the following subjects:

• "Préparation pour le lancement" (Preparing for the launch)
• "Préparer l'équipe de lancement" (Preparting the launch team)
• "Partager la vision" (Sharing the vision)

• 

  "Votre chemin vers la maturité" - parcours de formation" (Your road to maturity - an intentional discipleship process)
• "Bâtir avec des petits groupes" (Building with small groups)
• "Relations avec la communauté" (Community engagement)
• "Cultes édifiants" (Intentional worship service) 

This is an exciting moment in the church planting history of Quebec. Could you take time out Wednesday and Thursday to pray for me, this course, and the 18 students taking it?

Thank you for praying.

-Rob

Ephesians 6:11-12
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

I ran into this bit of perspective at Matt Dirk's blog:

So far, the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression has forced some Americans out of their homes, but for most people it’s just caused them to put off a vacation, car purchase, or retirement for a year or two. Meanwhile, a million people in India live like this their entire lives:

We've had 3 baptisms over the last two weeks. The first two were two weeks ago,Sunday afternoon, at a nearby lake. Around 150 people showed up!

Sara and Audrey were both baptized by their fathers; Jean and Stephane. The third was last week during our morning service as Julie was Baptized by her father-in-law Joclyn (an English pronunciation would be something like "Josslin").

Sunday afternoon at the lake was an unforgettable festive occasion. Here are a couple of photos:

Above: Stéphane baptizes his daughter Audrey

Above: Jean baptizes his daughter Sara

Last Saturday I was invited to preside over the funeral of Martine's uncle. It was the thickest emotional preaching experience I have ever had. About 100 people crammed into a small chapel as I shared a few thoughts from the Bible and sang a couple of songs (with Martine's sister Julie).

Even though I had been invited by the closest family members to speak (who do not consider themselves necessarily to be christians, and who have heard me speak before), the tension in the room was palpable. Most listened with arms crossed and stoic expressions. Many in the room had long since expressed their objection to any form of spirituality; and at the behest of the closest family members, here I was talking not only about spirituality in general, but about the hope that Jesus brings in particular.

All I did was share the same thing I shared with Michel before he passed on... hope in Jesus. That hope had transformed a man terrified of dying into a man at peace and looking forward to passing into God's presence. Michel had even asked me to return on a couple of occasions to continue talking about Jesus and what the cross was all about. "That's good" he repeated throughout our talks

At the end of the funeral service, about half the people mentioned that, though tearful, they had been greatly encouraged. The other half walked out with gazes fixed ahead.

After a short night's sleep Saturday, I was joyful, encouraged, and full of hope.

...Thank you for praying for me, for us, and for Martine's family.

I ran into this review over at Tall Skinny Kiwi: