Response and Recovery with Pastor Mike Hogeboom
Local Pastor Mike Hoogeboom joins Dave and Reb this week to share the journey his church and community have experienced since the tornadoes hit the Ottawa area last fall. Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church experienced loss to her property and buildings because of the storm, but also became a place of rest, refuge and mobilization in the time of crisis.
Pastor Hogeboom said that it was a crisis they would never have asked for, but because they experienced it, they have become a stronger community because of it.
“We have discovered unity that has impacted the community,” he said.
They have lived what the verses say in Proverbs 3:25-29.
“Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor,“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.
The neighbours in the Arlington Woods community have been learning what it means to give good provision to their neighbours, and they continue to do so. In light of the tornado experiences, Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church is hosting a training day on Saturday March 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., where members of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will train people in disaster rapid response. Organizers want to see an “Ottawa Responds” interdenominational team forming to be trained to respond in times of crisis. For more information or to register for the training day go to https://www.arlingtonwoods.ca/ or call the church at 613-596-9390.