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----- Original Message -----
Sent: February 28, 2006 00:57
Subject: PALM Report Vol 5 Issue 2
Lifting up Mississauga in Prayer John 17:21 May they be brought to complete unity PALM -Pray ALways Mississauga Vision: To see “City Transformation take place in Mississauga, ”. This transformation is one that reflects the values of the Kingdom of God where Jesus Christ is exalted in the lives of people and is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit through revival and renewal.
February 28th, 2006
Greetings
When I looked at the Volume number for this year’s PALM Report I can hardly believe that I am in the fifth year of sending out these email reports. When I look back over these past four years God has certainly been amazing, demonstrated through the ways in which our prayers have been answered. I encourage you to continue praying for Mississauga.
I pray that during this season of Lent that you will experience the closeness of Jesus in all that you do.
In this report I am asking you to be praying for the following issues and concerns:
Blessings
Bruce Serving Mississauga through Prayer and Action
The Mississauga Life Centre
The MLC has been operating out of the downtown Port Credit area for 15 years. This ministry has the following three priorities: 1) pregnancy information and counseling, which includes discussing the alternative to abortion, 2) resources for young women including the care closet and referrals to helping organizations, 3) education and community, utilizing various groups and educational programs as a source of support, information, and ultimately evangelism and discipleship.
Towards the end of 2005 their operational expenses had exceeded their rate of contributions and therefore several changes and restructuring initiatives were made in an attempt to balance the budget. Fortunately, through prayer, their restructuring efforts and increased contributions the MLC is “Alive and Well”; a situation on which is being reported in their latest newsletter (soon to be released).
The following prayer requests were personally relayed to me via a Board member:
Please be praying for this most important ministry and for more information on how to become involved or to receive their newsletter please contact: Paul Ferri, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Battle for Cooksville
The illegal operation at 3035A Hurontario Rd. (a place of prostitution which I have asked you to be praying about) appears closed as of last week. However, I have been down this road before, therefore, I am still concerned that somehow another member of this prostitution gang will find a way to reopen this place. I ask you to be praying for this situation and for me, as I have become very involved with this situation.
After a lengthy ordeal last week at the Provincial Court House located on Burnhamthorpe Rd., I was able obtain a copy of the court prohibition order to close this place, an order which was signed by the Judge on January 12th. I am perplexed as to why the implementation of this court order to close this place down took 5 weeks from the time it was issued. In an attempt to answer this question and others about this illegal place of prostitution, I have filed a “Freedom of Information” application with the City to have the City’s complete file on this place released to me. Please be praying that I will be able to have access to this file.
My Appearance on Local Talk -discussing the cartoons
Last week I was once again as a representative of the 905 Faith Community Leaders-Peel asked to be on “Talk Local”, a live talk show on Rogers Cable 10. I was on a panel with two young men who were Muslims, Taha Ghayyur who is the Chairperson of Muslimfest, Development Officer Sound Vision and Syed Reza who is the National Coordinator of Young Muslims of Canada and who is a double major student at UTM and heads up the an on campus Muslim group and Pundit Sharma (a Hindu Priest). The topic centered on the controversial cartoon depictions of Mohamed. The following is what Taha emailed me after the show:
“Syed Reza and I were truly honored to participate in the Talk Local show with you! Whoever I know watched the show loved it. Your bridge-building efforts with people of various religious backgrounds is heartfelt and appreciated. Dialogue and mutual understanding can make a difference in ways we sometimes can't imagine. Please keep up this remarkable effort!”
Next month as part of a group of 905 leaders I will be meeting with Mississauga West’s MPP Bob Delaney about government initiatives regarding affordable housing. Your prayers with my involvement in this group are appreciated.
Concerns raised about Interim Place funding raising activities-The Vagina Monologues On their web site it says that “Interim Place provides 24-hour emergency shelter to abused women and their children in Peel Region. There are two shelters operating in Peel Region, one in the North and one in the South. The shelters serve women and children who are being abused and need a safe supportive place to stay and plan their future.” The web site also makes several “we believe in” statements one of which is as follows: “we believe In working within a feminist framework” Normally I wouldn’t be concerned by such a statement, however, a fundraising event this weekend to be held at Stage West called “The Vagina Monologues” has raised community concerns about the feminists component of Interim Place. V-day is the sponsor of this production http://www.vday.org/main.html , on which site is a picture of a feminist holding a sign stating “hoot if you love vaginas”. Several community groups have written to Interim Place expressing their dismay and concern over this fund raising event. Peel District School Board
If you recall I sent to Jim Grieve (the Director of the School Board) in December a letter regarding the recently published outcome study on the Board’s equity strategy “The Future We Want”. I have yet to receive a response from him and this lack of response appears to be the result of his not recognizing that my letter has any official group representation.
During the process when the School Board banned the Gideons from distributing Bibles in the schools, the Board effectively set the Christian community against itself. There has been and still is no official representation from the Evangelical Churches to the Peel District School, therefore, I plan to send out an official letter to the participating churches of the prior “delegation’s” effort asking for their support in forming an official group who will make representation to the Peel District School Board. Please be praying for this effort.
Additionally, the current delegation is following up on a long term strategy and I hope to be able to report on this progress in next month’s issue of the PALM Report.
Events
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Title: PALM Report Vol 4 Issue 9
