November | 2024 | Edhird's Blog

-a article in the December-January 2025 Light Magazine

(Healing Pioneers Series)

In 1932, when the healing ministry was neglected in many churches, Rev. Dr. John & Ethel Gayner Banks birthed an interdenominational healing ministry at St Luke’s Church in San Diego called the Fellowship of St. Luke. From that fellowship was formed The International Order of St Luke the Physician (OSL), incorporated initially in the state of California in 1935, and later in North America in 1953. OSL helped ordinary people realize that the healing ministry is not just for snake-handlers and religious fanatics. John Banks commented: “People are very scared of the healing ministry. They’re scared that nothing might happen, and they’re scared that something might happen.”

In the twentieth century, people became more aware of God’s healing power that is available to all people, not only through medicine but also through healing prayer. Earlier healing ministries in which John Banks had participated had been specifically Anglican/Episcopal. Dr. William De Orteaga commented that “Anglicans and Episcopalians have been among the most pioneering, persistent, and innovative leaders of the renewed Christian healing ministry of the last century and a half.” Many Anglicans however were unaware that there are twenty-two pages in the Book of Common Prayer on the healing ministry. All the Anglican healing ministries emphasize the close relationship between medicine and healing prayer. In 1914, the Society of the Nazarene was first sponsored by William Temple, who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1926, the Society of the Nazarene was officially approved and endorsed by the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops as the healing organization of the Anglican Communion.

In the USA in 1920, Rev. Henry Wilson and John Gayner Banks established an American Branch of the Society of the Nazarene. Banks had moved from England as a layman to obtain a doctorate in therapeutic psychology at the University of Missouri. Wilson encouraged Banks to be ordained. After the death however of Wilson in 1929, the Society of the Nazarene withered away. Wilson’s family did not even allow the Banks to continue to use the Nazarene name.

While conducting a healing mission in California, John Gayner Banks met Ethel Tulloch, a top postal union leader. The economic panic of 1907 caused banks to collapsed, resulting in great unemployment. Ethel couldn’t find work, until she taught herself to type and do stenography, making herself invaluable for the post office. In 1908, the San Diego Post Office had no eight-hour day, pension plan, overtime, or sick leave. Ethel recalled, “These were the jungle days of the post office.” In January 1919, she was appointed fifth vice president of the National Federation of Post Office Clerks, the first woman to hold office. The Labor Leader (Sept. 1919) called Ethel a “live wire” and “one of the strongest workers for the cause in the country.” As a gifted writer, Ethel personally replied to complaints to the San Diego Postal Office: “She probably met more people…than any other person in the city. She was known for her courtesy in the treatment of the public.” Ethel commented:

Seventy-five percent of the friction and trouble in the world occurs because of misunderstanding — and so I consider it a favor when anyone, instead of harboring resentment or bitterness, asks for an explanation.

Because of her standing up for workers rights, Ethel was unfairly targeted by the Postmaster General Albert Burleson as a communist agitator. She almost lost her job and was put under severe scrutiny. The stress and exhaustion of this thankless 90-hours per week job left her ‘brain weary’. A specialist diagnosed her as having an incurable fatal illness. She suffered from incessant images of “pain… pain… pain. Pain and death…. Where could I hide from them?”

One sleepless night, Ethel dreamed about the opening lyrics to Rock of Ages: ‘From Thy side, a healing flood.’ She saw the Rock of Ages with Living water spilling like a healing flood through the Rock. She cried: “‘Lord help me’… from the bottom of my troubled heart.” Ethel then had a vision of Jesus in white robes bidding her to receive Holy Communion. His eyes glowed with such “yearning and tenderness and compassion.” Two hands stretched toward her from the light “with a loving welcome — and there were nail prints.” Jesus invited her to the altar. “I knew he was pleading ‘come unto me.’” Ethel realized: “Could not my sick body be made clean of disease by his body if he dwelt in me and I in him?” Her faithful obedience resulted in a miraculous healing of her body, mind, and emotions.

After reading Ethel’s Come from Away pamphlet about her healing, John Banks appointed her as convenor for the Southern California Chapter of the Society of the Nazarene. John and Ethel were married a year later in 1929 at Calvary Church, New York City by Dr. Samuel Shoemaker, one of the co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. Now John Banks was no longer a widower. While on their honeymoon, they visited all the healing homes in England and America, dreaming of drawing them all together into a world healing fellowship.

The Anglican Lambeth Conference of 1930 recommended the restoration of the Sacrament of Healing, or Holy Unction, after prayer and preparation, and where moral and intellectual difficulties exist, confession as well. Lambeth also suggested for complete restoration, that prayer for healing be followed by the Sacrament of Holy Communion, which is also a sacrament of healing.

Ethel Tulloch Banks’ original two-page newsletter grew in 1937 to become the OSL Sharing Magazine, the oldest continuously published Christian healing journal in North America. Ethel as a gifted writer and theologian did much of John’s writing, so that some of what appeared under John Gayner Bank’s name was in fact her work. The Banks’ strong emphasis on Jesus and the sacraments gave an alternative to sick people who were otherwise tempted to get ‘healing’ through the very popular Christian Science and the New Age/Thought movements.

Ethel conducted Monday prayer meetings for forty years, beginning each session with the question: “Has anyone been a witness to faith?” The Banks were convinced that Christ’s power to heal to-day is just as great as it was when He walked on earth. One of Dr. Banks sayings was, “A little faith brings little results; greater faith, greater results; and marvelous faith, marvelous results.”

OSL is committed to

Promoting the restoration of the Apostolic practice of healing as taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ;
promoting a sound pastoral and counseling ministry;
promoting the practice of holding healing services in every church;
developing local chapters to promote healing missions, workshops and prayer groups in their area.

OSL believes that

God uses many agencies for healing: some are spiritual such as prayer, love, faith, anointing with oil, and the laying on of hands;
some are medical such as medicine, surgery, and psychology.
These agencies should be supportive of one another.
God’s desire for us is wholeness and health.
Christian healing is accomplished through faith in Christ and through subjecting one’s entire life to the scrutiny and counsel of God.
Jesus Christ is alive today and still possesses all power on earth as in Heaven.

We pray that John & Ethel Banks and the OSL might inspire us all to recover the healing ministry of St. Luke the Physician: “Almighty God, who inspired your servant St. Luke the Physician to set out in the Gospel the love and healing power of Your son. Make obvious in Your Church the love and power for the healing of our bodies and souls, to the praise and glory of Your Name, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

Rev. Dr. Ed & Janice Hird

November 24, 2024
by edhird Leave a comment

Isaiah 64:1 -12 “Returning to the Healing Father”

All Saints Crescent Beach Nov 24th 2024 sermon

Vs. 1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!

I will never forget at age 17 going to the Led Zeppelin concert in Dec 1971 with my Jewish friends from India. My original favorite rock band was the Animals, followed by my next favorite band Led Zeppelin. I was hoping that the heavens would open, so to speak, at this concert, and I would have this amazing experience. Instead it was just ordinary. The disappointing ordinariness of this concert tempted me to almost dropping acid in search of this ultimate experience. Fortunately, my Scottish side protected me from my foolishness. There was no way I was going to be overcharged $4 for LSD. A month later, God ripped open the heavens and gave me the ultimate experience that changed my life for ever. I had a Damascus Road conversion to Jesus Christ that brought inner healing and significance to a very lost soul. I was born again, and never have recovered from this.

The term ‘Oh’, as in Oh that you would rend the heavens, is used 207 times in the bible to express a range of emotions including surprise, anger, disappointment, or joy. Just think of the song ‘Oh Susannah’ or the expressions ‘Oh Boy!’ or ‘Oh no!’ Sometimes we become dead to this phrase, or use it without meaning such as OMG.

The word ‘rend’, by the way, can be translated ‘break down the door and come and rescue us.’ Do you ever wish that God would appear on earth, just show up, break down the door, so to speak, and make things right? There are many rending of the heavens in the Old Testament like the burning bush with Moses in the desert, the fire coming down on Mount Carmel with Elijah and the receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai with Moses. The ultimate rending of the heavens was with Jesus being born at Bethlehem and the Holy Spirit poured out on Jesus at his baptism. For us his Church, we were birthed with a great rending of the heavens on the Day of Pentecost. Times of revival and renewal are wonderful times of the rending of the heavens. Each Sunday in the liturgy, we often say Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again, the final rending of the heavens. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.

Does God ever feel abstract or meaningless to you? How many have ever read or seen HG Wells’ book The Invisible Man? Sometimes God feels like the invisible man. Are you willing to forgive God for being invisible most of the time? God’s invisibility easily tempts us to seek idols, because idols are visible. Jesus is God’s solution to the problem of invisibility.

Isaiah was longing for God’s presence. Are you longing right now for the things of God? What is your passion, your longing? Do you have a passion to know Jesus better? James 4:8 says, if you draw near to God, he will draw near to you.

The Christian Ashram retreat was founded by E. Stanley Jones in 1930, 94 years ago. In this retreat, which I lead in BC, we always start with the time of the open heart. In the early days, the Open-Heart time could last for up to four hours of people sharing about three questions: Why did I come? What do I want? What do I need? Just for a brief moment, not for the next four hours, I am inviting you to share why you came to All Saints today. Secondly, what do you want from God at this healing service? Thirdly, what do you actually need today?

Vs. 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!

Vs. 2 talks about God coming like fire, a powerful symbol of the Holy Spirit. How many of you have ever had a fireplace? How many currently have a fireplace? Santa in the old days used to deliver presents through the fireplace. It has been a lot more challenging more him for so many homes lacking chimneys and fireplaces. You may or may not be aware that Janice and I are currently working on a book on E. Stanley Jones: Fire in God’s Fireplace. There is a lot of counterfeit wildfire out there that just burns people up, and leaves communities burnt out and burnt over. Revival and renewal can easily be imitated and manufactured in the flesh. All Saint’s is a wonderful fireplace. All Saints is so healthy, such an amazing gift in a time of great confusion and distraction. To be healthy, it really helps to be in a healthy Christian community. Being a Spirit-filled healthy community, as Bishop Peter often reminds us, is about surrendering our will. As the Lord’s Prayer puts it, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. The church is God’s family. Healthy children need healthy families.

Vs. 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

Vs. 3 talks about trembling. Paul, who was deeply immersed in the book of Isaiah, alludes simultaneously in 1 Corinthians 2:9 to Isaiah 64:4, Isaiah 52:15, and Isaiah 65:17.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

Can you imagine how will one day change when it begins to tremble at God’s presence? In Isaiah 66:2, it speaks of the humble and contrite in heart trembling at God’s Word. Have you ever trembled at God ‘s Word or at his presence? We as Canadians need to recover a holy fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom. Healing comes through our recovering a sense of God’s awesomeness. Even more than a beautiful Crescent Beach sunset, God’s presence can be very healing and calming.

Vs 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

Vs. 4 says that waiting is key to healing. One of my favorite bible verses in Isaiah 41:31 “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.“ Waiting is never easy, particularly when you are a child waiting for Christmas. I will never forget when my grandmother showed us where my parents were hiding all our presents.

I served at age 5 as a shepherd in our Kindergarten Christmas Pageant. Sadly I got lost and waited to be found. But they never did find me. I secretly think that because of my lost shepherd incident, that I missed my potential career as a famous Hollywood actor. There might have been a Hollywood agent waiting in the kindergarten audience to discover their next child Hollywood actor. Speaking of child actors, I had the privilege of interviewing 12-year old Ollie Herdman for the Light Magazine. The Herdmans (or to be politically correct, the Herdpersons) were the worst family ever in the entire world, yet they wanted to be part of what became the Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever. We laughed and cried at that movie with three of our grandkids. How many of you have seen this amazing Christmas movie yet?

It is remarkable how God acts and heals those who actively wait for Him. The Bible again and again challenges us, as in Psalm 27:14, Psalm 40:1, and Psalm 130:5-6, to wait for the Lord Healing is a waiting game. Our refusal to wait is often a refusal to heal. One of my greatest weakness is when in my impatient impetuosity, I refuse to wait. I am not willing. I want my healing right now. True love waits. Waiting heals and transforms us. How many of us are grateful for how God miraculously gave us this building in Crescent Beach? So am I, but I in my Hird impatience didn’t like how long it took to receive the recent Crescent Beach miracle. How many are believing that God will come through in enabling up to get the repairs done on the building? What if this latest miracle takes longer than I impatiently want it to? Are you ever tempted to use fear and guilt to get your own way, rather than wait patiently on the Lord? Never say yes to people who try to manipulate you through shame and telling you that the sky will fall.

God acts for those who wait. You may have heard the phrase ‘Good things come to those who wait.’ Do you need healing today? Is healing worth waiting for? Have you ever received a healing that took time? Have you ever received a partial healing that developed into a fuller healing later, like the blind man Jesus prayed for who initially saw people looking like trees. Jesus’ second touch gave him the full healing. Do any of you today need a second touch from Jesus?

God’s delays are not always God saying ‘no’. Sometimes God says ‘slow’ or ‘grow’ before he says ‘go’. I hate being on waiting lists. I really don’t look forward going to emergency wards nowadays, like at Surrey Memorial with its 20-hour wait. But waiting can be deeply healing as we surrender to the Healing Father. Don’t be afraid of healing tears as you wait. Which direction are you facing as you wait for things to happen? Grumpy waiting can look like picking up your marbles and leaving. Turning itself is deeply healing depending on the direction that we are turning. Many atheists nowadays are obsessed with the god that they don’t believe in. They have turned their face away from not only God but also painful situations that they don’t want to deal with. What is it that we can’t face in our lives? Biblical waiting is all about turning and returning to the healing Father. What if we turned our face openly to the Potter of our souls?

Roberto Escamilla in his book Prisoners of Hope said: “One of the most beautiful stories E. Stanley Jones told (repeatedly) was about the little girl who came to church with a broken doll in her hands… She was crying because her doll was broken. She asked the pastor perhaps the most meaningful question anyone could ever ask: ‘Is this the place where they heal broken hearts? Roberto said: “If I only had one sermon to preach, it would be about broken hearts. If I had only one song to sing, it would be ‘There is a balm in Gilead’ to make the wounded whole. If I had but one story to tell, it would be about the little girl and the broken doll. And if I had only one thing to say and one sermon to preach, I would preach about the One who has the power to heal broken hearts. Because that is a universal need. Somewhere along the way, your heart is bound to be broken. Psalm 147:3-4 ‘He heals the broken-hearted…He determines the number of stars.’…

As Roberto put it, one of the church’s primary responsibilities is to heal broken hearts, broken lives, and broken bodies; to heal and repair brokenness, all kinds of brokenness. The church is the hospital for sinners with spiritual needs, for all kinds of brokenness…The church is the place where we must always answer categorically, ‘Yes, this is the place where we specialize in healing brokenness -all kinds of brokenness!’ Is there a way, said Roberto, to help men and women with broken lives, broken health, broken homes, broken dreams, and broken hopes? Is there One who can heal brokenness when everything is broken? Is there One who can help us put it together again – help us get it all together? It is our mission as Christians to reach out and offer sustaining love to all persons with broken hearts.

Vs. 5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways; But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?

In vs. 5, Isaiah asks a very good question: How can we be saved? Many people in BC have become so secularized and emotionally cut off that they don’t even think that they need saving. If we don’t understand the human condition, we will not get our need for a saviour. As Bishop Peter often says, 95% of people are broken. The rest are liars. Broken people need a saviour, need a potter who can mend the broken parts. In BC and Canada, we need far more than just political salvation. Even a needed change in government is not enough to fix BC and Canada. We need Jesus. His Hebrew and Greek name Yeshua/Jesus means salvation. Vs. 5 teaches that a key to God turning up is our remembering God’s ways. Many of us suffer from spiritual amnesia.

Vs. 6 All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Vs 6 is the Romans 3:23 of the Old Testament: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin is just another word for our selfishness and rebellion. At the middle of the word ‘sin’ is the letter ‘I’. Our self-centeredness has the ability to destroy the best things in our lives. I can make us sick. The most selfish are often the most self-righteous. Our self righteousness is a huge block to self-surrender and healing. We are reluctant to acknowledge humanity is fundamentally flawed and sinful from birth. I used to believe that education would solve all problems. Many still believe that science and technology will solve all problems. A few naive people still believe that more government will solve all life’s problems.

Vs. 7 No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.

Vs. 7 talks about our unwillingness to listen to advice, even from God. One of my scariest moments as a teenager was when my mother was so frustrated with me that she would say: “Go ahead, do whatever you want.” I knew then that I was really in trouble when my mother was ready to give me up to my selfishness. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. If you really want the kosher cure, you have to understand the Jeremiah 17:9 reality. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can understand them?

One of the areas where I have deceived myself is sometimes confusing my impatient impulsiveness with being led by the Holy Spirit. When I let impatience lead me, it is more likely in the flesh than in the Spirit. Proverbs 14:29 says that whoever is patient has great understanding. My family default coming from a long line of blacksmiths and master mechanics is to get the job done. As someone who has been ordained for 44 years, God and people have tested my patience many times. What have I regretted since I was ordained in 1980? Those times when I impatiently rushed in where angels feared to tred. I have a pioneering anointing. It is deep in those who formed the Anglican Mission.

Business entrepreneurs like my late father are vulnerable to this temptation of impatiently doing things in the flesh, in their own wilfulness, of not surrendering their will to the healing Father. My dad so much disliked waiting for elevators that he moved from the second floor to the first floor at the Peninsula senior’s residence. My mother, who really heard from God, often held my dad back from his impatience. She would say ‘Ted, Ted’ in short staccato, and my dad would often calm down and think before acting impatiently. Sometimes Mom would say ‘Oh Ted’ to redirect his impatience. 😉

I was reminded this week that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, ….patience. True love is willing to wait patiently. True joy is willing to wait joyfully. True peace is willing to wait peacefully. I discover this week that I still need to keep growing in this area. My belt buckle symbolizes the testing of my patient waiting this week. While about to doorknock in Langley, my belt buckle disconnected. I grabbed some red ducktape to temporarily hold my belt together. There were no belt buckle clothing shops open at 9am near our campaign office on Fraser Highway. Someone said that there was a Walmart somewhere in Langley. But I didn’t have time or a real sense of direction. My GPS sent me three miles away from the correct doorknocking destination. My patience was really being tested. Guess where GPS sent me to: Walmart where I grabbed a new belt. Thank God for GPS being led by the Holy Spirit, and helping me grow in patient waiting.

Dr Gary Chapman in his book Five Languages of Apology said that the first language is ‘I’m sorry’ which taps into regret. In my family, we never said that we were sorry until I came to meet Jesus. Self-righteous people very rarely sincerely say that they are sorry. They hardly ever admit that they are wrong. Is it easy to admit that our righteous acts are like filthy rags?

My impatience at times have caused my relationships to shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind carry me away. Have you ever noticed that you can’t really control other people? They don’t like it and it doesn’t work. When I impatiently try to fix and control other people, say like my wife, she doesn’t always appreciate it. 😉

Vs. 8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Vs. 8 talks about God being a potter. in High School, I took a ceramics course, even creating my own toilet bowl ceramic. Have you ever thought of God as a ceramics coach? God loves healing cracked pots. We have a professional Crescent Beach potter in our walking group who sells his pottery every summer in Newfoundland. Were any of your dads into making pottery? The Fatherhood of God revealed in the Old Testament, and magnified by Jesus in the New Testament, is such good news in the midst of our sinfulness and brokenness. Cracked pots bring the best light.

Vs 9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.

Vs. 9 ask God to have amnesia about our sins. How many of you would like God to forget your sins? In Isaiah 43:25, God says “I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” In Jeremiah 31:34, and quoted in Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17, God says, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” As Corrie Ten Boom put it, God casts our sins into the ocean and then puts up a fishing sign. That is what the cross accomplishes. Without the cross, there is no lasting forgiveness. Forgiveness brings healing.

10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland; even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation. 11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins.

Vs. 10 and 11 speaks about the plight of Jerusalem on Mount Zion. When the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, the Jews were devastated. Everything that they trusted in had been destroyed. Sometimes life can feel like everything is ruined. Many of us feel that we no longer recognize the Canada that we grew up in. Everything seems broken. Much of Canada feels like a emotional wasteland with inflation, violent crime and rampant drug usage. In such difficult times, what do we trust in? Might Jesus bring healing to our broken land of Canada? As 2 Chronicles 7:14 puts it, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land. Does Canada need healing?

12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

Vs. 12 cries out to God to fix us crackpots. God is worth waiting for. His forgiveness is deeply healing. Can anyone tell us about the health benefits of sin and selfishness? It’s just not good for us in either body, mind or spirit. Turning and returning to our healing Father is always the healthiest thing that we can do

God knows you by name. That is deeply healing. Jesus remembers you. Jesus will never forget you. You are unforgettable. You are beloved. He gave everything for you on the cross. He held back nothing for you. Your healing is in his shed blood on the cross. He loves you with an everlasting love. He will never change his mind. Let our hearts come alive together. It is impossible to underestimate the hardness of our hearts, but Jesus can give us hearts of flesh. Do you want a soft heart today? Would you like Jesus to heal your heart? Let us pray…

November 19, 2024
by edhird Leave a comment

Hird Christmas Family Letter

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas 2024.

As always, there has been many fun and interesting happenings in 2024. Ed makes things exciting.

We initially had no big events except Janice’s birthday in January and James’ birthday in March. But Ed decided to door knock for his friend Bryan Tepper who was running for the Conservative party in BC. From our perspective, the NDP government here in BC over-regulates. Ed had a great time knocking on people’s doors and talking to them. The Conservative party in BC is a ‘new’ political party here but used to be government many years ago. Ed was the president of the riding association and Janice was the secretary.

The big thing we were praying in 2023 and 2024 was that someone would give us the 3 million dollars we needed to pay back our loans and get the floor fixed at All Saints Community Church. Last year we had a prayer vigil nightly for 6 months to the end of December 2023. We wondered when we would get the money to pay back our friendly loans. Finally in June, a foundation bought the church but let us stay there until Jesus returns! We celebrated by having a big party with almost 200 people at a fancy Indian restaurant in Surrey. As we still have to raise the money to get the floor fixed and put in additional bathrooms we are now having another prayer vigil nightly since the middle of October. Because it is at Crescent Beach, we always have newcomers come and visit at the church building. Ed has preached several sermons this year and will be doing another one at the end of November for our 10am Healing service. Janice continues to help with Sunday School and sings in the duets and the choir. We are fortunate to have a wonderful pastor, Bishop Peter and his wife Jenny, and a great team of volunteers.

Catherine turned 5 and Alicia turned a year older, both in May. Janice is now picking Catherine up from kindergarten in Langley 3 times per week and babysits her on Friday as her mommy now works full-time. She loves to play at the park as she is very athletic and is good with arts and crafts. James and Alicia continue to work at Safeway and in daycare. James continues to receive awards for being the best salesperson in BC regarding charitable donations. Brenda, Alicia’s mom has now moved into Amica so that is a big change. Miriah, Alicia’s sister has found an apartment to rent and they are getting Brenda’s townhouse ready to sell.

Aaron was once again in a musical as the Doc assistant for Peter Pan’s nemesis, Captain Hook, in May. He also sang in the grade 5 choir. He continues to do little skits on-line on Ed’s U-Tube page. In the Spring, we took them for swimming lessons so now Aaron and Kelsea can swim much better. Aaron is at a Middle School in grade 6 since the fall where he is taking trumpet lessons. Kelsea had her 9th birthday party at her house. She is a very beautiful girl inside and out. Being a great artist she also likes to make bracelets and necklaces. Being in grade 4, she gets to have the opportunity to sing in the school choir and is ‘Timone’ in The Lion King musical at the school in November. She has a lovely singing voice. Isaiah turned 5 on Nov 13. He is also in kindergarten and loves it. Like his cousin Catherine, he is very independent. Isaiah is very social and loves to sing right on key. Like his big brother Aaron, he likes to draw comics and take pictures on Grandpa’s phone.

In June, we had a big party for Mark at Auntie Wendy’s place as he turned 40 this year. He is still working at Safeway in the deli department and goes to Richmond Emmanuel Church. He helps lead the singing and also reads scripture and takes a turn doing Sunday school. Mark is the assistant director with the BC Christian Ashram.

For the BCCA this year, we were bumped from our date at Trinity Western University which meant we had to find another place to meet. So, we ended up at CLA which is a big church in Langley. Norma Carruthers is now 98 and had to go into a home last year so can no longer help us. Her eyesight and hearing are now poor. Janice really missed her insights and help with the registrations. So, Ed assisted with the registrations on-line. Bev Lombard was a great help with suggestions and registering people at the site with our dear friend Margie Knapp.

The speakers for this year were supposed to be Rev. Dr. Medad and Connie Birungi but the Canadian government would not process their Uganda visa. It now takes 18 months to be able to get into Canada from Africa. So, our friend Mike Schroeder was a blessing as at the last minute he spoke as the evangelist. Rev. Dr. Ken Deeks was the bible teacher and Ed Brett was the Church in Action speaker talking about the Mennonite Central Committee. We did not have any overnight accommodation but still had 50 people attend the meetings. Unfortunately, it was a very hot weekend and even though there was air-conditioning in the building there was none in that chapel where we were meeting. Janice did all the food except for a catered dinner at the end and also helped with the children’s program. Mark and Janice were in charge of the children with help from Elaine Bevan. One of the workers was sick so that made it very busy. We had 5 children of which 4 were our grandchildren. The two little ones loved to run so we had to watch them carefully. The people were very impressed with the food but it was quite an ordeal getting the food ready and also trying to help with the children. Next year we are back at Trinity Western and can stay overnight. Dr John Roddam helped Ed with the overseas and internet registrants who enjoyed the weekend as well. We had Christine Magee Scott do our music again and it was very Spirit led.

July was Ruth’s birthday. So, she had arranged for Andrew and herself to go away while we looked after the children for a few days. We always like having them over and Uncle Mark let them swim in his pool. Both Ruth and Andrew continue to work at Starbucks and White Spot. They continue to enjoy their basement suite with the three bedrooms. Ruth makes Christmas cards and Andrew draws in a computer game that he created.

In August, we went and visited my brother John Cline and family in Edmonton, Alberta. That was a fun time! We also were able to go to a mini family reunion on Dr John Cline’s new farm near Red Deer, Alberta. It was so great to meet the little cousins that we had never met and see their parents and grandparents. We also celebrated a birthday party for Joy Cline and Uncle Fred Cline. Near the end of our stay in Edmonton, we met Vanessa Hird and two of her daughters. They are Uncle Reg Hird’s grandchildren and great grand children. The older girl had beautiful red hair the same red color of Ed and his sons’ and nephews’ beards. The origin of the red hair came from Ed’s Grandpa Hird. Also, in August, Ed travelled to Oklahoma City for the annual International Christian Ashram Annual Board meeting. We have been praying like many others for the peace of Jerusalem.

In September, Bryan Tepper found out that the Conservative party of BC wanted him to be the candidate in another riding 5 miles north of where he lives. Ed, the president of the riding, was surprised but with the help of his volunteers, Bryan moved to Surrey Panorama to compete in that riding. Ed got out his app for the Punjabi language so he could give the pitch for the Conservatives on the app on his phone while trying to speak to them at the door. Over half of the riding were Punjabi people. The amazing thing, with the help of all the volunteers and our prayers, Bryan won the riding against one of the strongest NDP candidates. In the end, after waiting for a week for the final count, the NDP won 47 to 44 against the Conservatives and 2 for the Green party. The leader of the Green party did not win her seat. The election was October 19. The interesting thing was that the former opposition United party’s leader, Kevin Falcon which was formerly called the Liberal party of BC announced they would stop running in August so the Conservatives would have a chance of winning. Some candidates in his party were angry at him but a few of the members became Conservative so they could still run in the race. This happened in Surrey/White Rock as well and that’s why Bryan had to move.

In November we had a party for Isaiah with the close relatives in our common room. Catherine was very pleased to see Isaiah and gave him a hug. Andrew had a special birthday with his friends in an Escape room a few weeks later. We babysat for him. Once again Janice will be singing in the choir and duets for Christmas. She loves to go to the women’s prayer group run by Jenny Klenner on Tuesday mornings. Now that Ruth works early shifts, Ed can go to cover while Janice gets a ride to the prayer group. Also, in November, we took Andrew and Ruth Hird’s children to the movie The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and had a great time laughing at all the funny things that happened. As we continue to write in the Light Magazine Ed was invited to do a movie review for the movie and was able to interview one of the child actors about it.

The book Ed and his friend David Kitz wrote last year called The Elisha Code won an award at the Canadian Word Guild in 2024. They did not win the top prize but got an Award of Merit with a 97.6% approval rate. Now Ed is busy re-reading E Stanley Jones’ 28 books so he can help us get ready to write a book called E. Stanley Jones: Fire in God’s Fireplace. It will be a different book than others written on E Stanley Jones as it will have many personal stories from North America about E. Stanley Jones’ dream team.

We were glad to help James and Andrew when they both had floods in their places this year. James’ was in June from the roof which is right above his ceiling in his bedroom and Andrew’s was in his kitchen from the sump pump not working when we had a deluge of rain in October. Ed and Janice monitor the leaves and continue to clean them up outside our apartment building so the drains don’t get blocked outside our door. Now most of the leaves are gone for another year.

As the end of the year is nearly here, we wish you and your family, health and happiness. Jesus Christ the Lord loves you.

Love Janice and Ed Hird