City Wide Youth Rally

This year's City Wide Youth Rally at Prince's Island Park on May 28th was wonderful. We saw a much larger turn out this year with people of all ages coming out to engage and pray for the youth that came to the event. Once again, it was wonderful to see an increase in unity between churches, coming together in one accord to reach and embolden the youth. Many speakers and worship teams came together to pray and worship together and to proclaim freedom for Calgary. Many people stepped up and made a commitment to a revived life in Jesus Christ, being awakened for the next steps in their walk with the Lord. There were even some people who showed up at the park, heard the messages that were given and gave their lives to Christ, right there and then. It was truly encouraging to see what the Lord did through His people.

Upcoming March for Jesus on June 19, 2011

The time is here! We are now less than two weeks away from the 2011 March for Jesus. That means that excitement is growing. It also means that there are many last minute preparations that need to be made, and for that, we need volunteers. There are also many costs that are mounting, and so we humbly ask that all who believe in the March for Jesus and what is doing for our City, Province and Nation, to please step up and make a contribution. Last years March for Jesus, where we gave away; March for Jesus ball caps, T-shirts, balloons, barbecued food, popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, and provided bouncy houses for the children, cost around $25/person to provide. As always, our commitment is to provide a day in which the body of believers can come together to worship, pray, and boldly proclaim Jesus Christ over our city, in one accord to the glory of the Heavenly Father and do it at no cost to those who desire to attend. We have felt that too often the message of Christ comes with an admission cost, and it is our view that an event like this, should be accessible to all who want to come and worship and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, or event to those who want to find out about the gospel message and their creator.

With this is mind, it is critically important at this time, that the body of believers rise to the call and pitch in together so that we can all enjoy together what the Lord is doing in our city. Last year's March for Jesus cost a total of $120,000 to put on, but this year's event will be a little less due to the fact that some purchases made last year were for items which we now own and therefor do not have to buy for marches from this year forward, but there are still many costs and fees which are ongoing, due to all of the free items that are given away at the event. If you are a business person or a church leader or simply an individual who believes in the March for Jesus, please call us to arrange for us to receive your contribution. Your giving will be a blessing to many.

Archbishop Dr. Gerry Kibarabara, the secretary general of United Christian Churches of Kenya's Supreme Council, recently hosted Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski on an African crusade where he got to see first hand and for the first time the impact that his ministry's founding and supporting role of an African orphanage, school, medical clinic, church and evangelistic street ministry has had on Africans. Pawlowski was received openly and was encouraged to find out that the African Archbishop was aware of the constitutional battles for religious freedom in Canada that Artur and his ministry have been fighting.

As a man who was actively involved in the fight for freedom and independence in the Kenyan Mau Mau Uprising between 1952 and 1960, and one who himself has stood for Christian beliefs in the political and business community in Africa, Archbishop Kibarabara really appreciated Pawlowski's commitment to stand for freedom and democracy. Due to Pawlowski's influence for the Christian community in Kenya and abroad the Archbishop presented Calgary's street preacher with an honorary Kenyan ordination.

“I am greatly honoured and humbled by this ordination and amazed at how far reaching our little contribution has been to the population of Kenya. It's strange to me how in both Europe and Africa we are embraced and appreciated for our commitment and resilience in fighting for what is good, but in Canada, we meet with resistance and opposition from the very people we are fighting for. It reminds me of the words of Jesus, where He stated that 'the prophet has no honour in his own country',” stated Pawlowski.

Artur Pawlowski is presently working on putting together a chicken farm for various feeding programs in the capital city of Nairobi and is raising funds for deep water drills in an effort to bring fresh drinking water to various communities throughout Kenya.

The rest of the team that was in Kenya with Pawlowski were presented with “Certificate of Appreciation” for their participation in assisting Kenyans with humanitarian work.

“I believe in investing in people's lives wherever they may be. It's a great honour to be able to help people in need, especially in Africa. I was so impressed at how far the dollar goes there. They are doing so much with so little. We really could learn quite a bit from them,” said Pawlowski.

For those interested in lending support to Street Church in their effort to purchase and run a chicken farm for a Kenyan food program and to purchase and operate a deep water drill to provide fresh water to many Kenyan communities, please contact Artur Pawlowski of Street Church Ministries at 403-607-4434 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More on Archbishop Dr. Gerry Kibarabara

Kibarabara is well known in Kenya and is often called upon by government officials there to do swearing-in ceremonies and say prayers at the beginnings of meetings. His opinion is sought and respected by those in power. But he came from a much more humble beginning.Kibarabara said he was, literally, born in a forest after his mother went to gather firewood. She gave birth deep in the forest and was surrounded by "leopards, monkeys - all kinds of animals," as Kibarabara put it. She believed the gods of Mt. Kenya she worshipped had forsaken her and called out that if there be a mightier god, he should save her and her child.Kibarabara said it was a miracle the two made it out of the woods - and a sign that his life would one day have meaning. He would have to wait for a while, though, before he found his true calling.

Kibarabara was raised from birth to be a warrior and help gain Kenya's independence from Britain. He said he was trained to be a hardened warrior, to fight without emotion."I was told to never cry," he said."For about 10 years, I was a very dangerous, bad man."For some reason, he was afforded the opportunity to attend to school where he began to think for himself and realized there must be another life for him.A teacher at the school knew this of him and suggested he get to know Jesus Christ. He did."I applied the same principles of toughness and seriousness to my (pursuit of learning about) Christianity," he said."I was always taught to take seriously anything I did."

He is now one of the most respected religious men in Kenya. He has founded almost 200 Christian churches in Kenya, he is the founder and president of Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship of Africa, he is the secretary general of United Christian Churches of Kenya's Supreme Council, he is president of the Africa Relief Society, he has hosted a television and radio Good News program and is the senior elder/trustee of the Kenyan Peace and Reconciliation Committee.Kibarabara has preached and lectured in 85 countries.

"I believe in a wonderful God and take Jesus at his word," he said."It has become my whole life."

Let me explain the problem science has with religion. The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

You are a Christian, arent you, son

Yes sir, the student says.

So you believe in God

Absolutely.

Is God good

Sure! Gods good.

Is God all-powerful Can God do anything

Yes

Are you good or evil

The Bible says Im evil.

The professor grins knowingly. Aha! The Bible! He considers for a moment. Heres one for you. Lets say theres a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help
him Would you try

Yes sir, I would.

So youre good...!

I wouldnt say that.

But why not say that Youd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesnt.
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. He doesnt, does he My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good Hmmm Can you answer that one

The student remains silent.
No, you cant, can you the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

Lets start again, young fella. Is God good

Er..yes, the student says.

Is Satan good

The student doesnt hesitate on this one. No.

Then where does Satan come from


The student falters. From God

Thats right. God made Satan, didnt he Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world

Yes, sir.

Evils everywhere, isnt it And God did make everything, correct

Yes

So wh o created evil The professor continued, If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil.

Again, the student has no answer. Is there sickness Immorality Hatred Ugliness All these terrible things, do they exist in this world

The student squirms on his feet. Yes.

So who created them

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. Who created them There is still no answer.
Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom.
The class is mesmerized. Tell me, he continues onto another student. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son

The students voice betrays him and cracks. Yes, professor, I do.

The old man stops pacing. Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus

No sir. Ive never seen Him.

Then tell us if youve ever heard your Jesus

No, sir, I have not.

Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter

No, sir, Im afraid I havent.

Yet you still believe in him

Yes

According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesnt exist. What do you say to that, son

Nothing, the student replies. I only have my faith.

Yes, faith, the professor repeats. And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith.

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. Professor, is there such thing as heat

Yes.

And is there such a thing as cold

Yes, son, theres cold too.

No sir, there isnt.

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we dont have anything called cold. We can hit down to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we cant go any further after that.

There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.
Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness

Yes, the professor replies without hesitation. What is night if it isnt darkness

Youre wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isnt it Thats the meaning we use to define the word.

In reality, darkness isnt. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldnt you

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. So what point are you making, young man

Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed.

The professors face cannot hide his surprise this time. Flawed Can you explain how

You are working on the premise of duality, the student explains.. You argue that there is life and then theres death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cant even explain a thought.

It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.

Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey

If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.

Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where th e argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean.
The student looks around the room. Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professors brain The class breaks out into laughter.

Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professors brain, felt the professors brain, touched or smelt the professors brain No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir.

So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. I guess youll have to take them on faith.

Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life, the student continues. Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil
Now uncertain, the professor responds, Of course, there is. We see it everyday It is in the daily example of mans inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have Gods love present in his heart. Its like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.

The professor sat down.


PS: the student was Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein wrote a book titled God vs Science in 1921..

Albert Einstein takes on the atheist professor

We want to take this opportunity to update you about what is happening in Poland. Think about it, just eight months ago, with a few local churches in the capital city of Warsaw, we were able to start Street Church in Poland. We are happy to announce that the harvest is already amazing and beautiful. There have been many sent to rehab centres, many have received Christ, and there are around 300 people that come to the Street Church gathering each time it is held.

There is already a building dedicated to the work of Street Church in assisting the poor. Isn't God an amazing god. We acted by faith, with nothing, and through unity God created His church that the gates of hell will not prevail against. Please pray for Street Church in Poland, for strength, for provision and for faithfulness. God is always looking for those that are willing and are available to forward His Kingdom.

Here are a few pictures for your encouragement.

The Street Church Mobile Home in Calgary

Thank you very much for your prayers and your support. Within a few weeks, the mobile, to house the homeless, will be renovated. It has been a lot of work, the mobile had to be gutted and redone; heating, plumbing, new roof, etc...

But what keeps us going, even though the task is at times overwhelming, is that never ending thought that if all of this is for one soul, one person off the streets, one life saved, one human lifted out of the gutter, it's all worth it.

March for Jesus

This beautiful Father's day is coming. We see more people interested in joining this amazing event, teamwork, unity and one goal to raise the name above every name Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father. We are still looking for a licensed lifeguard for the children's water play area (required by the City). If you know someone, please let us know as soon as possible. We are also looking for an experienced camera man to operate one of our video cameras during the event. If God has blessed you with resources, the fees for having this march in Calgary continue to mount. So if you can contribute financially, please do.

Here are a few videos from last year's event and please visit the website within a few weeks and we will have more for you to watch and see. We recently had a man who came to us and told us, that Calgary is becoming known as the "city with the March for Jesus", where thousands of Christians are not ashamed of Christ. Praise God! Think about it! Who are we, that God would lift us from "the least of our Father's house and the smallest among the tribes" to forward His mighty Kingdom for all to experience.

The Gathering

White Hatting Ceremony

When we bring to our memory some of the reports of the secular media, calling us a bunch of rag tags, it makes us smile, perhaps we are, in their eyes. But, it is a pleasure to know that in God's eyes, we are mighty men and women of valor who have been given authority and chosen to do His mighty exploits.

This statement is so true about what we have experienced and have been through:

“We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.” Mother Teresa

We have a God of the impossible therefor with Him we are qualified to do the impossible. 

You see in the kingdom of God it's all about teamwork.

Live today as though Christ will return tomorrow
Blessings to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Artur Pawlowski on behalf of Street Church Ministries

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for coming to the meeting today.  It was a wonderful time sharing and praying with one another.  I also wanted to recap a few things that were discussed today, which hopefully will just act as a reminder to all of us of the things that will be done as a result of the meeting today.  If there is other feedback, please let us know so that we can add those items to our prayers and thoughts.

There were many positive comments from around the room about last year's event.  There was mention of the fact that people were so blessed and pleased to see the ethnic diversity in Christ and the diversity from all walks and backgrounds all walking together and in one accord in last year's march.  We are pleased to see the same commitment to continue with Christ centred unity as we move forward into this year's march.  There was also mention of the need to ensure that aboriginal people's feel that they are not excluded from the march, but rather welcome.  We also discussed the importance of not raising names of churches or titles or denominations and the importance of the event being kept pure and free from demonic symbols and icons.

There was a strong emphasis on not quenching the Spirit in our effort to be organized; ensuring that while we make our plans for a well managed march this year that we allow flexibility in the spirit for God to do on the spot ministry in whatever way He sees fit.  May we all pray that the March for Jesus volunteer team will have the perfect balance in this area.

There was excitement over and commitment to reaching an even broader group of believers in this year's march by reaching out to other Christian ethnic groups that were not at the event last year and encouraging them to participate and be involved.

There was an agreement to change the format slightly to emphasize prayer by having a prayer in different languages to start out the celebration after our march down 8th avenue finishes.

Another idea which was well received was to have a cardboard testimonies time with about 100 cardboard testimonies marched across the stage to the music of Jesus saves by Jeremy Camp

It was nice to hear accounts of just how many people were noticing the march from patios along side 8th avenue last year and even about salvations that occurred through the sharing of the gospel and through the giving of gospel tracts.

There was some concerns expressed that many people somehow did not know about the march last year and so there was a discussion about taking the message first to our pastors and then to other believers, both inviting them to attend the march and also to have people keep the message going by inviting their friends and families.

There were discussions about sending out an e-mail with the volunteer positions that are needing to be filled.  Here is a short list of volunteer positions that we need filled:

• A set up team for the day before the march

• A tear down team for the night of the march

• A team for food services (ideally if one church could commit to doing this part of the event) - the food is available already but we need workers for food handling cooking, serving and food cleanup

• Security/cleaning team - security volunteers walk around the site and ensure that there are no problems and cleaning any garbage that is not in garbage bins

• Prayer team - some team members will man the prayer station and others will be in a prayer team behind the stage interceding for the event and all who come

• Medical team - we need some people with first aid skills to bandage boo boos and pray offer prayer for people injured. Also, if you know any Christian nurses, doctors, or paramedics who are willing to volunteer that would be a great asset

• Licenced Life Guard - If you or someone you know is a Christian who has an active lifeguard license, and is willing to volunteer, we really need this - for the kids play area in the water area of the plaza

• Worshippers

• Flaggers

• Musicians

• Singers

• Promoters - People willing to hand distribute pamphlets and posters to Churches and Christian schooling facilities

• Business owners willing to donate goods or services to the event to give more away

• Other volunteer opportunities - Just step up there is lots to be done

Funds

• As expressed in the meeting, we don't want to charge people to receive from God, so we are asking for whatever financial support churches and individuals are willing to provide.  Remember that we are unable to provide charitable receipts, so the donation is for God alone, not for a receipt.

• On faith we have ordered March for Jesus T-shirts, caps, posters, have printed invitations, have committed to paying the city all of the fees that the city needs paid, etc

• All receipts will once again be kept separate for full accountability

• As we mentioned last year's per person cost (not charged to attendees) worked out to around $25/person for a full day event with food and enjoyment for all.  Compared to many events this is very economical.  As we also stated, the costs will even be lower this year as some of the purchases made for the March for Jesus were one time only and so do not need paid for this year.

All in all, it was exciting to see the turnout and the enthusiasm for the upcoming march.  If you would please commit to getting the word out and letting us know which areas you are willing and able to support in.

Thanks once again for coming out today, for your input and for your time both today and in whatever capacity you choose to serve the body of Christ leading up to and during the March for Jesus.

Sincerely,

Jim Blake
on behalf of
The March for Jesus Team