Author Archive: hawkeye

Greetings From Portugal

Greetings from Portugal.

It is a very small world when you belong to a social justice church- The United Church of Canada. This morning I joined friend to attend a bible study at the International Church of the Algarve. There were 11 different nationalities who all bring a different way of thinking of the scriptures. So it is an interesting discussion.

Anyway, here is God speaking to me in a very special way. After the bible study discussion we stay for lunch at which time I start working the crowd to find out where people are from, etc. thus I met this couple.

In the 80's Joan , from England, was working at Brunswick Street Mission in the soup kitchen . She was a student and volunteered weekly in an effort to feed the homeless. John was homeless and suffered from mental illness. She cared for him and they fell in love. Now they live in England where they found work caring for others. They are visiting friends in Portugal and so came this morning to bible study. John is subject to mental illness and she is still his guardian angel.

When I told them I was from Nova Scotia, Canada they were quick to share their story and delighted to have their picture taken with someone who loves BRUNSWICK STREET MISSION.

Carnival in Portugal

Carnival in Portugal with Pam Harrison

To mark the beginning of Lent the CARNAVAL is a three day celebration. There were very large crowds, street decorations, decorated store fronts, children in costumes - just lots of fun! Enjoy the pictures.

Geocaching and Climbing Cliffs

This was a fun day when I joined new friends from Thunder Bay to go GEOCACHING. We found two sites in Estio and you can see we had to climb a fence and feel around on a rooftop to try to find the clue. At the second location we were at a church and found the clue in the courtyard behind the mailbox. New adventure for me but I think it will be fun to do at home. There are 336 site in Sackville, NB.

I was invited to join three friends from Ottawa to go "cliff climbing" and so up we go maybe 300 ft above sea level. The view was wonderful as you can see! However, there was lots of very small paths where my finger prints can still be found on the rocks. What a thrill. You get your money's worth because it is just as challenging coming down as going up.

Pam

Beautiful Portugal

A visit to the Palace of Estoi or the Pink Palace, built in the 18th century and restored over the past 5 yrs at a cost of approx €12 million. It is beautiful and the gardens are historic in nature.

My first adventure in Portugal was to join three friends to go cliff climbing. We managed to reach the top ( maybe 250 to 300 ft) of these beautiful cliffs. The climb was difficult but the view was worth it!

Pam Visits Iceland

Pam was on her way to Portugal, but her travel was altered, due to weather, with an unexpected visit to Iceland. 

She was able to have lovely Icelandic food, walk the streets of Reykjavik , and enjoy a few historic sites. She also attempted to see the northern lights.

Advent 2017

Advent Theme

This Advent our spiritual preparation for Christmas included an exploration of the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love through creativity and the arts. Each week we welcomed someone from our faith community who shared their creative gift and how their art form is an expression of their own spirituality and the Advent gift we celebrate on that Sunday.

The Congregation also participated in a congregational art project. Each week as part of our Advent Journey Supper Gatherings we coloured giant murals telling the story of the Advent journey to Christmas.

Hope

We welcomed Christine MacLeod as our Advent Artist-in-Residence for our December 3rd gathering.
 
Christine reflected on the gift of Hope and the creative expression of music. 

 

Peace

We welcomed Ruth Flanagan as our Advent Artist-in-Residence for our December 10th gathering.
 

Ruth reflected on the gift of Peace and Quilting. ("Peace by Piece")

Joy

We welcomed David Kelly as our Advent Artist-in-Residence for our December 17th gathering.
 
David is a Metal Art Fabrication Artist and welder by trade. He reflected with us on the gift of Joy.

Love

We welcomed Jim Slupsky as our Advent Artist-in-Residence for our December 24th gathering.
 
Jim spoke on behalf of his wife who was not able to attend. He reflected with us on the gift of Love and how its exemplified with their tradition of Bread making for the Advent season.

Supper Gathering Nov30

On November 30 about 50 people gathered for a meal, some singing and colouring.

Advent Journey Supper Gatherings – Thursday, December 7 - 5:30-7pm
Who: You, your family, friends, neighbors.
What: Supper (meal provided), singing, and conversation as we color our way
to Christmas.
When: Thursdays during Advent (Dec 7, 14, 21 at 5:30-7pm)
Where: Stilesville Campus. All ages welcomed.
Come once or come every week. RSVP each Wednesday by noon with
numbers & food allergies. Please bring your own plate, mug & cutlery to help
with our clean-up. This week's menu: Lasagna. We hope to see you there!

Visiting the Food Bank

The Vision Aiders were out in November to visit the Peter McKee Community Food Centre. They were taken on a tour of the facility and were excited to share their experience and some pictures with the congregation.

For more about the centre you can visit their website: http://fooddepot.ca/en/default.php

World Food Day

Visions Celebrates World Food Day

Seeds are sacred. Seeds are a constant reminder the Creating Spirit of God is always at work in ordinary and extraordinary ways. During our Spirit Gathering on World Food Sunday (Oct 15th) we created this sacred circle or mandala as a visual prayer.

We also celebrated our contribution to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank over the past year through our support of a Maritime Grow Hope project, partnering with the school in River Hebert.

Seed Blessing Prayer

We hold these seeds in our hands as a present and future gift.
Their existence reminds us of the power of dreams to grow in unexpected ways.
Their growth will help us celebrate Life, and Promise for a world where all are fed and all are loved.
May these seeds remind us all, that we, too, are sacred seeds planted in the Creator's garden.
Thanks Be for the gift of these seeds!

 

Plastics Reduction Petition

Visions Signs Petition

Plastic is everywhere. It makes up the bags at our grocery stores and the lids of our coffee cups. But most of us don’t think about where these plastic items go when we’re through with them. Unfortunately, these plastics are making their way into our waterways, lakes, rivers and eventually into our oceans. It is now common for us to find species that have been negatively affected by plastic pollution, some become entangled and others ingest plastic (mistaking it for a food source).

Join Us!

Did you ever wonder what 388 signed petitions would look like? Well, Visions United has collected that number of signed petitions in support of the Canadian Wildlife Federations "Plastics Reduction Petition"

We encourage everyone to take a look at the Web site, Canadian Wildlife Federations Platic Reduction Petition and join the global community in supporting this cause.