Halifax Alliance Community
Overview
Warm Maritime greetings from our family!When we think of the journey on which God has placed us, the word “family” comes to mind over and over again. We are Cal and Sharon, and we have four young kids. Although we grew up in western Canada, Halifax is now our home. Since moving here in 2005 for work, we fell in love with this place and its people. There is an undeniable sense that God has brought us and others here for a greater purpose than just work, school and raising a family. Early in 2009, we sensed that God was leading us to start an Alliance ministry in Halifax. We had a growing conviction that we needed to spend more time building into and being more intentional in the relationships we had with our neighbors, friends and acquaintances who do not yet know Jesus. With much prayer, dialogue and affirmation, we see larger glimpses of God’s plan in the Maritimes unfolding. In September 2011, we welcomed Dan and Jenica VanEssen from Calgary (originally from Ontario) along with their one year old son to partner with us and serve alongside us. They are missionary apprentices with the C&MA who want to see people be reconciled with God. They want to humbly love and serve Halifax during their time here.
We meet together on Saturdays from 4-7pm with a potluck dinner to end. As we gather each week, we seek to delight in the Lord, nurture relationships and act on our mission together. We are praying for several more like-minded people to join us and for opportunities to connect with our neighbors who do not yet know Jesus.
We have been meeting with a group of around 15 people and we are learning to be a family. Some things that we value as we gather together are:
- CONNECTING with each other and others who are on God’s mission to reach Halifax as well as our extended Alliance family in the Maritimes, throughout Canada and the world
- REMEMBERING God’s love for us and Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross
- CELEBRATING God and His blessings together with our friends
- GROWING in our relationship with God as we engage each other in multiplicative, life-on-life discipleship
- SENDING each other out to serve, love, and bring life and blessing to others around us so that God would be glorified
While we have been meeting together as a missional community for the last 2 years and have been praying for God’s direction for some next steps, we will be stepping out in faith and are transitioning to have regular Celebration Gatherings on Sundays so that during the week, we can also have more focused time and have the freedom to reach the different people who are in our lives.
Let us know if you are interested in joining us or supporting us in this venture or if you have any questions. If you need help settling into the Halifax area we'd be glad to help too!
Blessings,
Cal and Sharon Cheng
