The entire congregation is extremely thankful to the Lord during this Thanksgiving Weekend for His abounding love and joy which He has overwhelmed us with during these blessed days. Members of the congregation participated in an overnight retreat at the beautiful White Oaks Resort in Niagara-on-the-Lake where we enjoyed fellowship, praise, worship, fun times, and sharing the Word of God. The theme of the retreat was “Walking with God” as we participated in three lectures delivered by Fr. Anthony Messeh, our guest speaker, and a lecture by Fr. Pishoy. The congregation also joined in a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday evening and enjoyed the night activities.
On Monday and Tuesday evenings, we gathered at the Armenian Youth Centre in North York where many church
members and guests participated in the Outreach Nights. The theme of both nights was “Straight Talk” where our beloved guest speaker Fr. Anthony answered several intriguing questions concerning our relationship with God. We are thankful for all our guests that joined with us for the first time and we pray that the Lord would continue to bless their lives. During these nights, we enjoyed musical presentations from Verena Rizg, Chris Assaad, Karim, Kenyssa as well as testimonials from Francella Brown and Leonard Chen. Also, Fr. Pishoy spoke briefly about the multicultural vision, the mission, and the welcoming spirit of SMSV church to all our guests coming from all corners of the earth. Overall, we all felt the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding each step of the way and giving every one a sense of joy, spiritual growth, and unity. We are very thankful for our guest Fr. Anthony whose spirit and charisma made these events not only popular but also life altering to many of the participants. We look forward for similar events, God willing, in 2010 during the Thanksgiving Weekend.
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