To the wonderful supporters of this HMI BC ministry,
Well, September began with a very strange bang here in West Kelowna. The Junior A Warriors, (where I have served as chaplain for 13 years now) started in considerable chaos with 8 employees being either fired or resigning. This included all coaches, the play by play broadcaster, the arena PA announcer, the front office administrator, the game day and sales director, and the team athletic therapist/trainer. Phew! I seriously wondered if the team would survive! Well, the club is still here thanks to the Lord…. and this ministry in West Kelowna still has an open door!
With the beginning of the hockey season, there are numerous opportunities for me to be involved in a variety of ministries. One of the things that I absolutely love to do is sing national anthems. I have learned to sing our anthem in french in order to be involved in Hockey Canada events where it is required. It’s a privilege to sing the anthem, whether for the Jr. A West Kelowna Warriors, the WHL Kelowna Rockets, the Jr. B Kelowna Chiefs, or other teams.
In mid September, I rode the Warriors bus down to Chilliwack for the annual BCHL Showcase, where NCAA college and NHL scouts gather to watch 3 days of BCHL games. This is a huge opportunity for players to be seen by influential and knowledgeable people in the hockey world. It’s always a good thing for me to make connections at events like this. It was here that I met up with the Penticton Vees chaplain Dave Funk. Dave and I are good friends and colleagues, and it was wonderful to see him at the Showcase. Shortly after, I was able to have dinner with our newest BCHL chaplain, Dave DeJong from Nanaimo. Dave has taken over the Clippers chaplaincy from Travis Barbour, who has moved on to the Vancouver Island University hockey chaplaincy.
Back in Warriorland, I had a good visit with veteran West K forward Chase Dubois. Chase is from Williams Lake and I actually connected with him at our summer hockey camp when I was there. I feel it is important to have one on one coffees with players and coaches. I call this J&J time, (Java and Jesus) where we can chat and pray about what is going on in their lives. At a Warriors home game night, the show can be quite spectacular, and I thought I would include a picture of the night when the 3 beautifully painted Warriors trucks drove on the ice at the start of the game. Pretty cool hey? (It’s quite impressive for the kids, even the big kids…!) Also, on most home game nights, I am in the press box for the action, doing colour commentary for the broadcast alongside the play by play broadcaster. It was especially fun the night that we did a Shaw cable TV broadcast of a Warriors game.
(This next paragraph is not hockey related, but is chaplaincy related… so I will tell you about it anyway…) In October, I was faced with officiating a very difficult and unique funeral. As some of you many already know, I serve as the chaplain of the West Kelowna Fire Department. This is a great opportunity to shine for Christ Jesus in my city. One of the members of fire department (Captain Troy Russell) passed away after a year long struggle with cancer. I had visited Troy very often in the past year, and we had formed a good close friendship. Troy’s type of cancer is common with firefighters and therefore Captain Russell’s passing was considered a line of duty death. As the chaplain, I was charged with officiating his formal and fully regimented funeral, with fire departments attending from all over BC. What a blessing it was to pray, quote scripture and honour Troy and his family at the funeral. To be able to lift up the name of Christ Jesus in this culture is a wonderful call; a marvellous joy that is beyond description.
In late October, I was invited to attend a Sports Ministry Coalition Conference in Vancouver. These two days were a wonderful challenge to work together in this specialized field of ministry, all for the Glory of God. It is so very important to know that we are not alone in ministry, but that we are a part of a wonderful collection of Christian chaplains and ministers.
Thank you for so much for faithfully standing with me as part of the Hockey Ministries team. I absolutely know that I am not alone in this… that the Lord is with me every step of the way and that you are all involved by praying, encouraging and giving.