Sunday May 27th is the Global Day of Prayer, when Christians and churches around the world gather to call on God to fall afresh on His people and His world! Here's the 2 1/2 minute promo video for the Kelowna piece of that story, starting 3pm at Island Stage in Waterfront Park.  All are welcome!

Photos from the 2011 gathering can be found here:

A video summary of 2011 Global Day of Prayer gathering in Kelowna can be found here: 

Find the International Global Day of Prayer website here:

Hello friends!  We wanted to make sure you were aware of a very important congregational meeting coming up with the KGF Church family on Sunday May 27th. We have three of these per year, and this one is a biggie!

Our membership will be voting on calling two pastoral candidates, Pam Grimm (Children’s) and Rolly Rangno (Worship). If you have not yet had the chance to get to know these fantastic individuals, please do so here on our website. They will also be present an hour before the meeting Sunday May 27 (6pm) in the Fireside Room to engage with you.

Another exciting item for discussion May 27^th will be the opportunity for KGF to become a host church for an apprentice with C2C, our Mennonite Brethren Conference’s church planting movement. This amazing organization (please take a look at their website to get the big picture) is doing a fantastic job of equipping and supporting church planters for today’s world, and one of the key parts of their process is a 12 month apprentice with an existing church. Being a host church does not mean that we are commiting to be part of the church plant, either with people or dollars. It means we believe in what God is doing, and who God is doing it through, and are looking to be good soil for an apprentice to grow in advance of their church plant.

Pray Globally, Gather Locally 10 DAYS OF PRAYER – May 17–26, 2012 PRAYER GUIDE

“I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.  You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth" Isaiah 62:6-7

The 10 Days preceding the Global Day of Prayer creates an excellent opportunity to unite in prayer with millions around the globe based on Acts 1 & 2 and the day and night prayer help us to gradually build a lifestyle of prayer in our communities, as well as to focus our prayers much wider than our personal and national needs as we pray with millions during this time.

DAY 1 – May 17, 2012 WAIT FOR THE PROMISE!

Lord Jesus Christ, we come before your throne of grace to ask that You baptize us with your Holy Spirit and so fulfill your promise again in our generation.

Without your Spirit we can do nothing.

Did you know the Bible has 2350 verses dealing with money, finances, resources & stewardship?  That's more than verses on faith, prayer and heaven put together!  

It's worth noting what God's Treasure Principles really are, and that's what we're going to do at KGF for three weeks, starting May 20th.  You won't want to miss out!

We love the work of the Okanagan Valley Pregnancy Care Center!! Over the past few years, hundreds of women have been helped by their work. Under the direction of Theresa White, the center and its volunteers provide free pregnancy tests, consultations on pregnancy options, practical and emotional support, community referrals and resources.  Watch a testimonial video here: 

This is the seventh annual Baby Bottle Brigade Fund-raising campaign. Donations from the KGF church family last year were very generous (over $11,000!!  Watch a video of the big reveal from June 2011)

Pick up your bottle from KGF, fill it with change, bills and cheques and bring it back by Father’s Day June 17th. Make cheques payable to Okanagan Valley Pregnancy Care Center.

If you’re interested in visiting or volunteering, please contact them at:

#201 - 2622 Pandosy Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 1V6

Phone: 250-763-2112

Web site: www.ovpcc.com 

Psalm 22:30-31  “Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.”

We love being a family at KGF, and we love being a part of a larger family in our province and country.  Kelowna Gospel Fellowship is part of the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, with 120 churches around the province.  This past weekend, our provincial family gathered for the annual convention.  Two of our own, Gerda and Don Vogt, enjoyed this event as our delegates at the Broadway MB church in Chilliwack on May 4-5.  Photos from the gathering here:  Here's their report:

We were very encouraged by numerous stories of individual hearts being touched and by people coming to know Christ through ministries such as Church Planting BC, the five MB Bible Camps, Columbia Bible College, as well as the numerous churches.

A highlight was the Church Planting BC ministry which under the leadership of Gord Fleming (whose original home church was KGF!) has blossomed and has become a widely recognized leading church planting model. There are currently over 33 MB church planters and apprentices in BC, 25 of which are working in churches that have already launched. Three new church plants became official members of BCMB at this conference. The decision was made to expand this ministry to become a national organization known as “C2C Network Canada”, which will minister to all provincial MB conferences as well as church planting ministries from other denominations. God has prepared this ministry for a wide open opportunity.   KGF is already contributing financial support to all of the ministries through our conference giving and we can all find joy in offering prayer support as well.

I came across this beautiful Mother's Day Prayer. . . perhaps it's for you, or someone you know: 

Loving God, we give thanks today for mothers!
Thank you for mothers who gave birth to us,
and women who have treated us as their own children.
You teach us how to be good mothers,
cherishing and protecting the children among us.
Help us mother lovingly, fairly, wisely and with great joy.
Help us raise our children to be the people they are born to be.

We need your comfort here today, Lord,
because some are missing mothers, some are missing children,
some are parted by distance or death.
Comfort those who have given up their child for adoption,
or who chose not to give birth, and had an abortion.
Comfort those who longed to be biological mothers, and could not.
We pray for those here whose mothers have disappointed them;
we ask for grace in relationships where there is pain and bitterness,
for healing in relationships where there is abuse and violence.
Help our congregation be a space where people can feel mothered,
their gifts and talents appreciated and nurtured.

We had about 50 people join us for the annual KGF Spring Work Bee.  It was a huge success!  Here's a note of appreciation from KGF Trustee (and work bee coordinator) Jake Schroeder

"Just very thankful to all those that came out for the work bee last Saturday. A big thank you to those who helped with building the shed earlier in the week, by supplying their own tools and other equipment. A special thanks to Lori Wiens and helpers for the great lunch!  We accomplished everything on our work list and the relationship building was a plus!"

Lots of photos here: http://kgfchurch.com/photos

The leadership board and discernment team at KGF are excited to present Rolly Rangno as our candidate for Worship Ministries Pastor at KGF. Rolly has been involved in pastoral ministries for many years, and brings a great wisdom and maturity from his journey with God.

Rolly and his wife Benita and their 19 year old son Evan have called Kelowna home for twenty years, and been a part of the KGF church family since September 2011.

You'll have a chance to hear Rolly's heart in this 3 1/2 minute video, as well as this Sunday May 13th (Mother's Day), as he both leads and shares in the 9am and 11am services. Rolly will be available after the services to interact with you.

You can read Rolly's resume & philosophy of ministry here.

You can read the Worship Ministries Pastor job description here.  Here's a short version of Rolly's story:

My dream as a teenager was to be a professional musician. Along with a fairly extensive musical background, I started playing drums at age fifteen. This became my primary instrument & shortly after turning nineteen, I spent the next four years playing concerts in halls, clubs and high schools across Western Canada.

By the time I was twenty-three, I was seriously reflecting over my life and beginning to ask some tough questions. Through a series of circumstances, I got a Good News Bible. As I read the scripture, God made Himself real to me. Although I knew very little about Jesus Christ, I came to a deep realization and understanding that He was the One I had always been "looking for".

One Friday evening, alone in my bedroom, I cried out to God and surrendered my life and will to Him. The following day I had a dramatic encounter with the living Christ and walked out of work that day a "new" and transformed young man.

Now is the time to sign up for our annual camping weekend, taking place June 22-24 at Kettle River Provincial Park near Rock Creek!  This is an amazing opportunity to get to know people from the church family and start off the summer right!  We're going once again to the awesome group camping site at Kettle River Provincial Park (website here).  Cost is just $25 per couple, $12 per individual.  You take care of your own place to sleep & food.  The weekend is a relaxed gathering designed to build relationships and create great memories.  Interested?  Check out some photos from last year here:    Sign up by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 250-763-6553

As we approach Mother’s Day this Sunday (May 13^th) I stumbled across this powerful blog about ways to love your wayward child. It’s written by the son of John Piper, well known preacher & Christian author.

At the age of 19, Abraham Piper walked away from his Christian faith. For the next four years, in his words, he "just wanted to drink gallons of cheap sangria and sleep around." Of course his parents were "brokenhearted and baffled." After four years of living as a prodigal son, Abraham returned to the Lord and reunited with his parents. Based on his experience, Abraham offers the following advice to mothers and fathers of wayward children.

If this has been your experience, may God use it to encourage and give some guidance. If someone you know is going through this journey, please pass it along.

Many parents are brokenhearted and completely baffled by their unbelieving son or daughter. They have no clue why the child they raised well is making such awful, destructive decisions. I’ve never been one of these parents, but I have been one of these sons. Reflecting back on that experience, I offer these suggestions to help you reach out to your wayward child.

1. Point them to Christ.

Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or pornography or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk rock band. The real problem is that they don’t see Jesus clearly. The best thing you can do for them—and the only reason to do any of the following suggestions—is to show them Christ. It is not a simple or immediate process, but the sins in their life that distress you and destroy them will only begin to fade away when they see Jesus more like he actually is.

As we approach Mothers Day May 13th, thought it appropriate to share this interesting account of "the cost of children"

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family For those with kids, that figure leads to wild fantasies about, "All the money we could have banked if not for (insert your child's name here)." For others, that number might confirm the decision to remain childless.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.09 a week. That's a mere $24.37 a day! Just over a dollar an hour.