To all our gospel partners,
It continues to be my joy and honour to serve as the pastor of Redeemer Baptist Church here in Kelowna, BC, Canada. And I am so thankful that God has surrounded our fellowship with other brothers and sisters, even from around the world, who support our work. In the end, it is God's work through us, not our own. We labour hard, but God gives the growth. I am reminded of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15 – I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. I want to be able to say the same thing as Paul – that I was a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ and did not get lost in civilian pursuits. And so, please pray for me in that. And pray for our whole church in the same. We want to work hard in the Lord's vineyard, and labour with all our might for His glory. And as we do so, we will give Him all the glory. Because He gives the grace, He gets the glory!
These last few months have been really encouraging overall. We have seen lots of answers to our prayers, and we have been encouraged with good fellowship. I was able to meet with lots of brothers in Edmonton in May at the Grace Fellowship Conference, both in connection with HeartCry and the Alpine Baptist Association, along with others. While there I met a brother who is going into cross-cultural missions, and we have been connecting with since. My wife and Lukas's wife were both able to attend a Pastors-Wives retreat in Ontario with other HeartCry churches. This was a huge encouragement to them both, and to me as well. May God continue to strengthen the wives of faithful pastors around Canada. They are in God's economy more powerful and precious than the world knows.
This spring and summer God has brought more people through our doors, which is encouraging to see. Just recently we began our 3-week baptism class preparing for a baptism service on July 26th. We hope to see a few brothers baptized in the Okanagan Lake that Sunday afternoon. We have also had more interest in church membership and recently hosted an Introducing Redeemer class. It is good to see believers taking these steps of discipleship and pursuing Christ with all their hearts.
Recently I have been preaching through Ephesians 6. This has been a good reminder of the spiritual battle we are in. Every good gospel step we seek to make we need to anticipate opposition from the enemy. And we have felt it around here. As we pursue baptism and membership, as we teach and disciple the people, as we pursue our own building space, as we hit the streets for street evangelism – we feel and see the opposition. Our church sign gets sabotaged, someone will yell and scream against me as I preach downtown, people in the church will experience all manner of discouragement and opposition – in all of these things we know that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We are in a spiritual battle. That can be scary to think about, until we remember the next truth – that God is on our side, and He is greater than all of our enemies. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
And so, we are encouraged. Any flack we take just reminds us that we are over the target. We aren't off on some pleasure trip flying around Greenland. We are in the thick of battle. Opposition is to be expected.
As we move through the summer, we have some plans. We are still pursuing purchasing a building of our own someday. However, we have recently pivoted towards leasing a space in the meantime that can be used for offices and mid-week meetings. We have called the idea of this space Redeemer Commons. And, by God's grace we might see this idea become a reality this year. We have sent in a proposal to create this space in a little-used 750 sq. ft. upper room located in the Hall where we meet on Sundays. This would effectively give us deeper roots in the East Kelowna community where we have been meeting these five years. Our desire is to see this space used for prayer meetings, Bible studies, ministry work, fellowship space, and outreach. Some of our brothers helped draw up plans for a small renovation up there; and gave an idea of how the furniture would be placed as well. One really exciting prospect is building out our very own church library. We are praying that God brings all of these desires to fruition for His glory. I am trusting that God will make a way for us here and that He will continue to provide for us so that we can serve Him well.
The timing of Redeemer Commons is looking to be very providential for us. Lukas, who serves as an elder-in-training and is working on seminary right now, is about to dedicate more time to his studies and to ministry in the church this fall semester. I am praying that Lukas and I can meet together day-by-day in this new office space for fellowship and for quiet, fruitful study and prayer. I truly long to devote myself more and more to the Word and Prayer, and I believe that having a dedicated office space would help facilitate that.
As we continue into the summer, we are carrying on the ministries that God has entrusted to us. We seek to be faithful Sunday by Sunday as we worship the Lord and to reach out in evangelism throughout the week. We have been praying for God to add to our number new believers, growing believers, and strong believers. I mentioned this in my last letter. Well, I would like to report that God has been doing that. We have seen a little bit of all three these last few months. Praise God! He really does answer our prayers. Please continue to pray for us in this. We want to see the church grow in all the right ways: in our own hearts as we grow in love for God and one another, but also to grow in number as we truly make an impact here in the Okanagan. Ultimately, God gives the growth, so let us keep asking Him for it.
Thank you for your partnership in the gospel. We are truly blessed by God that He has turned your hearts towards us. What grace and mercy is ours! I pray that you would be encouraged and filled with hope for what God is doing and what He can yet do. We serve a great God!
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Ross Odnokon
Redeemer Baptist Church, Kelowna BC, Canada