From the Director – Page 2 – Living Hope Native Ministries

Growing the Partnership

By Stuart Swartzentruber

Living Hope Native Ministries is turning fifteen years old this year. How is that idea of partnership, doing these days? What have we learned? What kind of future does LHNM envision?

The working out of ideas, even God-given ideas, can easily lose their glitter as they get dragged through the dirt and debris of what we call “everyday life”. The last 15 years have not seen the complete fruition of all that we have hoped and longed for, but God’s desire for unity is like a compass pointing us the right direction.

Faithful to Jesus

By Stuart Swartzentruber

God calls each of us to faithful living. The word faithfulness can elicit ideas of predictability, steadfastness, loyalty, and duty. These are great descriptions, but can come across as if being faithful to Jesus is unexciting and never makes waves. Faithfulness as described in the Bible meant radical living and upsetting the status quo.

The faithful men and women recounted in Hebrews 11, although loyal to God, were anything but predictable to onlookers.

The Unstoppable Kingdom

Stuart Swartzentruber

God’s kingdom is unstoppable! It has a mind of its own, and has a King who bows to no one. This kingdom will not cave to peer pressure or popular thought. In its truest form, it can never be hijacked by anyone for personal gain or status.

God’s kingdom topples other kingdoms, but not with a sword. It declares justice for all. It gives favour to the humble, the weak, and the vulnerable. It curtails and opposes the arrogant and the proud.

The Right Fit

by Stuart Swartzentruber

Recently, while working on my deck railing, I extracted a 1\2” drill bit from my tools and drilled the necessary holes for fastening the wooden railing to my deck. It was satisfying to see the obvious results as I drilled.

LHNM Office at the Right Location for This Time

By Stuart Swartzentruber

For over fifty years, Northern Light Gospel Mission, Impact North Ministries, and Living Hope Native Ministries had their offices and headquarters in Red Lake, ON. In September of 2018 LHNM moved those offices to Thunder Bay, ON. Why? According to Statistics Canada, in 1960 only 12 percent of First Nations individuals lived in Canadian cities. Today that number is close to 60 percent.

Maturing into Diversity

By Stuart Swartzentruber

Most of us celebrate diversity most of the time. We drive long distances to see the brilliant colours of the oak, maple, birch, poplar or evergreen trees. Through human intervention we can now enjoy over 7500 varieties of apples in our world!

Facetime

By Stuart Swartzentruber

FaceTime was introduced by Apple in 2010. This technology allowed individuals who were kilometres (miles for the non-metric world) or continents apart to connect face to face through their smart phones….

Restored, but for What?

By Stuart Swartzentruber

Tractors were a necessity on the dairy farm where I grew up. For small tasks around the farm, we had an old 8N Ford tractor. It seemed old when I was born and was ancient when I left home at 19. I have many sentimental memories of that tractor….

Hopelines March 2019

A Place to Belong Stuart Swartzentruber Growing up with six siblings in my family meant that as we gathered for supper every evening, all nine of us had our spot around the table. I distinctly remember sitting on the long bench between my brothers, joining in the conversations about everyone’s day. I felt included, cared…
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Living Out the Message of Jesus

Stuart Swartzentruber In the December 2018 issue of Hopelines, the theme of transition at Living Hope Native Ministries seems to permeate everything. But although there are changes, much remains the same. We have a dedicated staff team committed to encouraging and developing local churches that matter in our world. We continue looking for ways to partner together to build up First…
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Category: From the Director