“I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” (Romans 1:8)

Last week, Kelly and I were privileged enough to travel to our sister Church in Minnesota – the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Christian Church. Amazingly, this young Church got planted only two months after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by police officers in May
2020. His death sparked international outrage and protests. But God used this terrible incident to lay a foundation for His light to shine even brighter amidst chaos and darkness.

In some ways, the Toronto Church and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church shares a similar genesis. In 2014 the Toronto International Church got planted. Less than a year later, the couple leading the church planting, Tim & Lianne Kernan, got called back to Los Angeles, California. Likewise, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church, led by Mike & Brittany Underhill, was orphaned after a year when they moved to lead the Honolulu, Hawaii Church. Despite this challenge, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church now stands at 31 incredible disciples under the leadership of Richie & Elizabeth McDonnell.

Kelly and I flew the two-hour trip from Toronto to Minnesota on Friday night. And just outside the airport terminal, a handful of disciples graciously met us, singing our movement anthem, “We Love You With The Love Of The Lord!” Even more encouragingly, we were both handed a fresh cup of Caribou Coffee, which is a Minnesota version of Tim Horton’s! It was awesome!

After getting our bags and being escorted through the airport by the disciples, we headed to our hotel. We decided to stay in the downtown Minneapolis area because it was close to where the Church was hosting its Women’s Day event. We quickly put our stuff down and then headed out to take a walk around the city. To our surprise, Minnesota’s “sky bridge” ran throughout its downtown core and connected all the
buildings. So we were able to enjoy a long walk together around the city, indoors!

We finished the night having dinner together at the hotel restaurant – one of the few that had not been closed down due to the pandemic. Then Kelly and I worked together on her Women’s Day lesson before calling it a night. The exciting theme of the Women’s Day event was “I Am Her: Remembered,” based on Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is
preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:13)

The next day, we got up early to have our quiet times, and a fresh latte! Then I drove Kelly to the Women’s Day event, where the 19 sisters of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church had 48 in attendance. By all accounts, it was a great event! And from what I heard, Kelly nailed the lesson! Of course, I would expect nothing less from my amazing wife!

Because the Church was hosting its Women’s Day event on Saturday, Richie McDonnell decided to have a Bring-Your-Neighbour-Day type service on Sunday, which he affectionately entitled “Real Man Sunday!” I was especially fired up to be the guest speaker at an event with this title!

While Kelly was at the Women’s Day event, I was able to spend a little time working on my lesson. I entitled it “Real Men Love Jesus!” Since one of the buzz phrases tossed around in modern-day society is “toxic masculinity,” I spoke about how the solution to toxic masculinity is not to remove masculinity; it is to deal with the toxicity. And the only way to deal with toxicity is to add spirituality! My three points were: 1)
Real Men Fight, 2) Real Men Fish, and 3) Real Men Finish! Excitingly, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church had its largest attendance of the year that Sunday. Several of the disciples, as well as the visitors, shared that they were very inspired by the lesson!

After spending Saturday and Sunday encouraging the Minneapolis-St. Paul Church, Kelly and I decided to drive to the Mall of America on Sunday night. The Mall of America is the largest shopping mall in North America,  and the Western Hemisphere. It is so big that it even has an indoor theme park in the middle of the mall. (But no, in case you were wondering, I did not ride the roller coasters!) Kelly and I had a lot
of fun wandering around the mall. We even got lost once or twice.

Although we had a great time in Minnesota, as we flew back to Toronto, we were filled with gratitude for the Church that God has allowed us to lead. We were so encouraged to hear that two people were baptized in our absence: Mwaka on Friday, and Raeshawn on Sunday! And with those two baptisms, we are now averaging weekly baptisms for the year! Whenever we travel to another church, Kelly and I love to share about all God is doing in Toronto!

I want to thank Valentina, Glennda, Isa, and the other sisters who watched our boys. We are so grateful! Especially since the heater went out and the house was freezing. Still, no one complained even once. I would also like to thank the Hamula’s, who ran the Church while we were gone. Words cannot express how grateful we are to have the Hamula family in Toronto! I heard Kirk did a great job preaching on Sunday! It
is awesome to be a part of a Church whose faith is spreading all around the world! To God be the glory!

Evan Bartholomew