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Moving Day - May 17 , 2008

Please if you can help us move any time on Saturday May 17 please drop me an email!! All are welcome to help and enjoy some pizza after!!

Peace

Jason

jason@frwy.ca

My beautiful son

The onset of gorgeous weather has brought with it opportunities to share some new and exciting adventures with my handsome son Jackson. This past week Kristen, Jackson and I took a quick trip into Buffalo to buy some summer clothes, and some new baby clothes for Jackson who seems to be growing at an exponential rate! It was Jackson first trip out of the country and although he never said anything (he can't talk yet lol) I know he had a great time! We shopped at Steve and Barry's and were blown away by the prices, everything in the store was 8.98, running shoes, jackets, t-shirts, pants....all 8.98 simply amazing.

Our adventurous week continued with a hike along the water in Oakville. It was great for me to spend some time just Jackson and I while we waited for Kristen to finish tutoring. I am looking forward to the years to come when Jackson and I can play catch or football on the beach.

Anyways, I thought I might share some thoughts as it has been about a month since I last signed in!


Hope all is well with everyone in Cyber land.

Peace!

Jason

A little bit of Everything

I am halfway through my third month of working at The Freeway as an Intern and it has been anything but predictable. Here are some of things I have been up to.

Barristing at the Coffee House -

This is something I lamented having to do and I figured I would just put my time in and have fun with the other aspects of the job. But it only took a few shifts for me to realize that Barristing may be the most important part of my learning. You see every shift I have worked has allowed me to connect to people who are changing who I am. For example, yesterday I was spending time with one my friends, a 50 year old man who has spent most of his life in hostels and hospitals, he has an obvious mental illness, but he also has great depth. He came in one day begging for money instead of money I gave him an ear to hear and an opportunity to share his story. He talked about his relationship with Jesus, a relationship which is so vivid and real that it makes my faith look pretty weak. He talked about his family or lack there of. After just a short time he felt comfortable sharing with me his struggles and his addictions. I certainly didn't solve any of his problems, but I did make a new friend. My new friend taught me that true love and friendship goes far beyond how's your day and have you had enough food to eat. My friend shared from his heart some pretty difficult things and I have a responsibility now to respond in love.

Shadowing Pernell -

One of the coolest parts of my internship is that I get to learn from Pernell Goodyear who has quickly become a great friend. I have appreciated Pernell's willingness to share all aspects of church leadership and ministry. I have found in Pernell a leader who not only talks a good game, but he actually lives it out. I am finding that this is truly a unique combination as many missional voices either talk about it or do it, very rarely to find someone who is able to do both.

Planning for my Plant -

Over the last few months I have been sharing my vision with others in hopes of getting some quality leaders on board. I am still in this process and although our group is very small right now I am starting to see doors open and potential leaders coming along. I have also been involved in working through demographics research and piecing together program proposals. This has been fun, and I am eagerly awaiting the unknown and praying that God will continue to refine this vision. If you are interested in learning more about the vision or getting involved drop me an email at jason@frwy.ca.

Financial Appeal -

Many of you who read this blog will be getting an email in the next week or so asking for your financial support. Please prayerfully consider giving to this project. You can do it two ways.

· You can send us a cheque made payable to “The Salvation Army” or “The Freeway.” Please send it c/o Jason Dockeray, The Freeway, 333 King Street East, Hamilton, ON, L8N 1C1. Please write “church plant” on the memo line. A tax receipt will be sent through the mail shortly after we receive your gift.

· You can contribute securely online by visiting: “www.frwy.ca/church” and clicking on the “donate” button on the top right. This will take you to a separate form and you can enter your credit card information, etc. A tax receipt will be issued via e-mail.

SCD - A big Success

We are about halfway through Something Completely Different (SCD) and I have to say that it has been a load of fun being a part of it, and I am impressed by the passion and sense of mission that the group of 21 youth have. They have experienced and observed many aspects of mission and I believe that they have been challenged about what following Jesus really means.

Here some pics of Hamilton the group took while trying to find beauty.

Upcoming Fundraiser

So blogging wasn't as easy to get back into as I thought it would be. January and February have come and gone and I haven't blogged, sorry for those of you who check this blog.

I just wanted to post and let everyone know about a great fundraiser coming up called "Breathe" on Friday March 14, 2008. It is to support the work of The Freeway. Email me if you have any questions (jason@frwy.ca).

Jason

Its been a while old friend...

So its been way to long since I last blogged. I must appologize the last couple of months well really since the summer have been amazing but insanely busy, and blogging has fallen off the things to do menu. It is my goal to stay up on my blogging and get to it at least once a week.



Anyways, since the last time I posted, I have left my position at Routes and I have officially started a one year church planting internship. For those of you who are confused about what this internship is I will give you a run down of what kinds of things I will be up to this year. First of all, and most importantly I will be shadowing Pernell Goodyear and learning the ropes of starting and pastoring an urban church. Secondly, I will be doing a ton of reading to tide me over theologically until I can afford to get a formal MA in Divinity. Thirdly, I will be taking on some pastoral roles at the Freeway helping with worship gatherings, speaking, teaching you name it, really anything that needs to be done that will benefit myself and the Freeway. Another main area of my internship will be putting together a strategic plan for where the Salvation Army should plant in the future, putting together demographics and strategies for each area, with the hope of taking that ground work and starting one of the proposed churches.



If anyone is interested in talking to me more about the internship or the future church plant(s) please don't hesitate to email me I would love to meet with anyone of you to discuss it further!



Peace

Taking a breather!

Things are starting to move, change is everywhere! God grant me the wisdom and strength to make the right decisions and the faith to know that everything is in your hands.

peace