GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

January 2020 was teeming with promise!... 

A friend had recently given his life to God at Christmas Camp. We were planting a Bible study at Saint Paul University where dozens of students expressed interest in participating. Our community was growing around rhythms of cross-cultural hospitality and learning at weekly dinner parties. We dreamed of inviting friends to work at an InterVarsity camp together in August. University staff and student association leaders were keen to promote our activities to their networks of international students. We were bursting at the seams with excitement and potential! It would be a year like no other!

Only days into the semester, I received news from a dear Iranian friend that a friend of hers was aboard
Flight PS752 when it crashed. Three international students at uOttawa were killed in the event. The tragedy and its political ramifications rocked the close-knit Iranian community in Ottawa. A Christian student and I attended a candlelight memorial service with our Iranian friends, bearing witness to the devastation. We sensed God asking us to simply share the tears and to silently intercede in prayer. We were reminded of the day Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died, deeply moved by his friends' pain and by his own grief. Just before this, he called himself "The Resurrection and the Life" and soon he would actually restore Lazarus from the dead, but in between these moments there was space for great lament. We lamented with our friends.

The last "International Family Dinner of 2019, to celebrate the year and to say farewell to the exchange students returning home. We didn't know it then, but it was the last time we took a family photo'... for now!

This was the first of many sorrows this year. Most students were abruptly and indefinitely separated from their families due to COVID-19, which has been especially hard for those who have lost loved ones during this time. Others quickly managed to return home before border closures, but now face uncertainty about ever returning to Canada — we may never see one another again. Nearly every student has shared about ongoing struggles with mental health. Several students have experienced housing and financial insecurity while their applications for study and work permits take months to be approved. Some of our Christian students are healing from crises of faith. A few of our friends have even experienced natural disasters and violent political events in their home countries.

In March, a few of us devoted ourselves to daily read Scripture and intercede together for the global Body of Christ. These 30 minutes a day strengthen and sustain us! We are increasingly aware of God's presence in the world and are being equipped to walk in step with His Spirit.

Moving aspects of our community life online in response to COVID-19 restrictions gave us access to new students and also renewed connections with former students internationally! The flood of suffering has blown doors wide open to share about the Gospel with our non-believing friends and has inspired many students (of various faith backgrounds) to find us to inquire of our Christian faith and hope.

Though at first it seemed we were being scattered, we see now how God is widening and deepening our "international family'. Though our methods of ministry have changed, the mission is the same: God is sending us to share the message of hope in Jesus with the nations, even as He renews hope in our own hearts!

Part of what helps our ministry thrive is people like you who will pray for us, encourage us, invest in students, and give financially to our mission. To continue in my role with InterVarsity on campus, I am committed to raise the remaining S18.OOO of my annual budget for the coming year. I acknowledge this has been a difficult year financially for many, so it is humbly that I invite you to pray about giving a special gift this Christmas, to further God's work among international students at uOttawa and Saint Paul University... and beyond! I trust He multiplies whatever we have for His glory!

There are a few ways you can give:

Online: https://ivcf.ca/donate/cpost
Mail: Send a cheque to "InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Donor Services),
1 International Blvd., Toronto, ON M9W 6H3" with "Cheralyn Post staff support" in the memo line.
Phone: Call 1-800-668-9766 to make a credit card gift by phone.

My personal contact information:
86 Blackburn Ave Ottawa, ON KIN 8A5
Phone: 613-407-7620 & Email: cpost@ivcf.ca

The last "International Family Dinner of 2019, to celebrate the year and to say farewell to the exchange students returning home. We didn't know it then, but it was the last time we took a family photo'... for now!

Friends, thank you for the ways you have blessed us this year! As we prepare for Christmas, the celebration of God entering our suffering to offer us new life, I pray this Advent season will be marked by a profound renewal of hope, joy, peace, and love in your lives. Pray for us, too, that we would be like lights shining in darkness, preparing the way for Jesus — our hope in darkness, the true Light of the World. 

Jesus' peace to you & your families,
Cheralyn Post