If you're looking for me, I'm at an all-expenses paid trip to a conference in Newport Beach, California!

Please Come to our Little Souls Daycare Indoor Picnic Grand Opening Tomorrow Morning!

Come join us for an Indoor Picnic as we celebrate the
Grand Opening of “Little Souls Daycare.”


Friday, January 29, 2010
10:00 a.m.
1475 Athol Street*, Regina, SK


You are invited to the official opening of Little Souls Daycare; a new ministry of Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission. Little Souls Daycare will begin operating on Feb 1, 2010, with 60 subsidized placements available to the public. The morning’s agenda will include dignitaries, a cake cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m., and a “piñata” and hotdog lunch at 11:00 a.m.

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission thanks the following partners:

• Government of Saskatchewan
• Affinity Credit Union and personnel including: the Board of Directors, Rich Harries (Community Development Manager) and Kevin Haas (Scarth Street Branch Manager)
• Rona Home & Garden (daycare kitchen donation)
• Elision Technologies (project management)
• Rev Ken & Michelle Porter, Founding Directors, Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission


* Corner of Dewdney Avenue & Athol Street


For information call Joseph Miller 501-7270

Media Release: Little Souls Daycare Grand Opening & Indoor Picnic

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR Friday, January 29th, 2010 10:00 a.m.
CONTACT: Michelle Porter
PHONE: 543-0011

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission, in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan & AFFINITY CREDIT UNION presents the Grand Opening of Little Souls Daycare!

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Join parents, children, & friends for an indoor picnic as we dedicate Little Souls Daycare!

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WHAT: This is the official opening of the brand new, Little Souls Daycare: a 60 placement subsidized daycare. The morning’s agenda will include a variety of guest dignitaries, a cake cutting ceremony, a “pinata,” and a hotdog lunch to follow.

WHO: This event is open to all media, the families of Little Souls Daycare, all project relevant trades people, and the public in general.

WHEN: Friday, January 29th, 2010 – 10:00 am
(Media can arrive at 9:40 am for early interviews with families and 10 new daycare staff members.)

WHERE: 1475 Athol Street, Regina, Saskatchewan
(Corner of Dewdney Avenue & Athol Street)

WHY: Little Souls Daycare is the end product of a collective vision, through the partnering of government, foundations, organizations, and numerous individuals, to address the need for subsidized daycare here in the City of Regina.

PHOTO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

• 9:40 am – Little Souls Daycare is open, children will be playing and parents will be available for interview opportunities.
• Honourable Ken Krawetz, Minister of Education, speaking at 10:00 am
• Affinity Credit Union personal will be preparing and serving the early lunch.
• Rev Ken & Michelle Porter, Founding Directors and visionaries of Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission, can talk about the continuum of care that the Mission provides to Regina’s less fortunate.

Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission is celebrating it’s 20th year of operation, and is an amalgamation of Souls Harbour Soup Kitchen, and Regina RESCUE. We offer a full continuum of care through 7 different facilities, providing food, clothing and shelter, life changing programs, subsidized daycare and the Gospel Message to those in need.

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Snow Day!

RIGHT: A man and woman are snowblowing my street this morning! How generous is that?!

There is usually at least one blizzard a year that keeps half the staff from being able to go to work. Today is the day. The timing, of course, is never great. This Friday is our Grand Opening Celebration at our brand new Little Souls Daycare, and we are nowhere near ready. We need to hire workers, fill children's slots, & finish assembling the furniture & play structures. All those last minute details, added onto one snow day, means some late nights for us as staff later in the week!

Rebecca, our LifeChange Program Manager, declared it a SNOW DAY for the 30+ residents at the campus. While Jack and Paula enjoy a month in Florida, Becca is also campus manager, which means looking after details for the 2 buildings which house our program, administrative teams, & Good News Chapel. Oh, and while Erin is enjoying beautiful BC, Becca is also the Women & Family Home resident manager. Yup. That's right. Three hats and a blizzard.

Aaron, our Emergency Services Manager, is making sure all 300 meals get served today. We normally cook all our food, banquet style, at the Soup Kitchen, and transport it to several facilities. Today the van has been decommissioned, so each location is responsible for their own cooking. It is Aaron's job to coordinate that.

Several staff are snowed in, including Mandy, our Little Souls Daycare Director. Today, she is working from home, recruiting & interviewing potential staff, informing folks of our 30 available licensed daycare slots, & preparing a to do list for us so we can all make the rest of the week smoother and ready for our grand opening on Friday, and our first day of kids next Monday!

This morning Mandy spoke on The Dog's Breakfast to promote our January Toy Drive. Brad Grass said that now they know she lives two blocks away they might call her in on a moment's notice for any storm stayed guests who can't make it this week!

We're thankful for some staff who live within walking distance who have saved the day: Rebecca, Rae, & Ruby, for instance! Others are not so lucky. While representing us at a missions conference at Millar College of the Bible, Intern Stephanie and LifeChange Program Intern, Theresa, have been storm stayed! Donovan, in charge of all construction on the St. Andrews project for our daycare and youth centre, got a flat tire this morning, and Derrick, who is the only office staff not storm stayed, has to go to emergency for a bout of gout! When it rains, it pours. When it snows, it blizzards!

Most of all, please remember the homeless in your prayers at this time. Our January Cold Weather Shelter appeal is out and we are asking for a generous financial response. We turn no one away this time of year, as the consequences can be fatal. Our Mens & Womens Emergency Shelters house singles, families and children who would otherwise be sleeping in cars or who knows where. And please don't forget to make an extra donation to help Haiti, via the relief organization of your choice. They're fate is far worse than a winter storm.

Sunday Bonus Blog

This morning I had a rather hilarious facebook encounter, which is the preamble to the following cartoon. If it gives you a giggle, friend me on facebook at www.facebook.com/MissionMusings!

Michelle's Status: The Rev called and told me not to come to church. WHAT??!! So, I have settled in at home, catching up on emails, enjoying homemade French toast--I am very good at making French toast--with real Canadian maple syrup from Quebec, and Kona coffee from Vern & Sherry Mebs. Life is good.

Kristen Bair Hink: And Canadian ham/bacon, too?

Me: lol. Nope, sadly, I'm off pork. How to Shed 10 years in 10 Weeks, remember? lol.

Michael Towers: That must be awkward having your husband call you up and tell you to not come to church! :)

Darryl Darwent: Just heard on the Mother Channel (CBC) that Regina has a honest blizzard going on (I don't know what a dishonest blizzard is so let go with that). Lucky you.

Me: The Mother Channel?!?! LOL!! I'm totally stealing that, Darryl!!

Michael, Ken's always enticing me to go to church by giving me bits of his sermon, etc. This morning I told him it looked likke a blizzard. It's not a blizzard; it's a light snow!" he replied. Then he shovelled a path to the garage so I would have not excuses to skip. Next thing you know, he calls me up and says, "Don't comel. It's a blizzard out there!

Darryl Darwent:I don't know if you are familiar with the comic strip Betty by Delainey and Rasmussen (from Edmonton). I wish I could send today's Sunday edition. I think it would fit the bill for the morning you are having.

The Dream of Little Souls Daycare

Today Derrick gave a tour to a group of Alliance women from across Saskatchewan and Manitoba. When they came to our new facility, the old St. Andrews United Church, I had a chance to talk and laugh with them. They easily caught our passion about the expansion into prevention through daycare and a youth centre. I must admit, it is pretty contagious when you see everything developing right before your eyes! When we entered into the Little Souls Daycare area, we greeted a group from Nipiwin Bible College , who were working to construct all the tiny toys and equipment needed to get a daycare started!
The concept for the Little Souls Daycare is a safe, fun place to spend the day away from home. It's an open plan floor design, divided into quadrants, where children of all ages can run freely and interact with one another.Quadrant 1: Indoor Playground
This is where the indoor play structures live, the make-believe furniture for dolls -- pretend kitchen, cradle, etc - and the dress-up costume area is. Kids get to run free and be rambunctious here.

Quadrant 2: Sensory Area
This is where kids can play on water and sand tables, learn through touch and be messy, as kids love to be! This is also our music central station, where kids can express themselves through love of music and song!

Quadrant 3: Eating & Craft Area
This is where the kids can gear down and work on crafts, finger painting, puzzles and of course, eat their lunch and two snacks a day! We developed our menu today, and on it is healthy foods using whole grains and a lot of fruit.

Quadrant 4: Quiet Area
This is where the TV and books reside. Think of it a giant living room. We'll keep quiet moving pictures on the TV, such as animals or scenery, have special movie times, (Yay, Veggie Tales!) and, for the most part, kids will use this area to rest and read. It's a no talking zone because it's right next to the bonus quadrant--

Quadrant 5: Baby Area
We have room for 6 infants, and their sleeping quarters and baby paraphernalia are located in the far back room. This is where the change tables are, and the rocking chairs for putting baby to sleep or giving baby a bottle.

Please join us at 10:00 am on Friday, January 29th, for our grand opening celebration and indoor picnic. Bring your children as our our brand new licenced daycare staff will be out in full force to provide childcare! Instead of a ribbon cutting, we're doing a pinata breaking! All are welcome to attend.

The January Toy Drive has been kicked off, and we have expanded it to include basic craft supplies, so clean out your cupboards! We need rice, macaroni, buttons, tape, scissors, bits of cloth, string, wool... you name it, we need it!

We are still hiring a few more staff, so if you have a love for the Lord and for children, please call Mandy Bull at 543-0011. She'll let you know how you can apply to join our missionary team. We have half our slots filled, so are looking for 30 children to make Little Souls Daycare complete. Please pass the word and this blog post at will! In one short week, this Little Souls dream will be a reality!

The Pool of Bethesda

The Pool of Bethesda today.

Back in Jesus' day, there was a man by the pool of Bethesda for nearly 40 years, waiting for healing. Traditionally, as the waters would get stirred up, one would dip themselves in, expectant of a miracle. Jesus walked up to this man, and said, "Don't you want to be made whole?"

He did, of course, but replied, "I have no one to put me into the water."

That's what we do at the Mission. We help people into the healing waters of a changed life. They have to want it. And we don't actually make the change for them. It's a lot of hard work on their part, and much prayer and patience on ours.

No one wants to touch the men and women with palsy. The ones full of sin, and lives that have been tainted with things that most of us wouldn't want to go near, much less hear about.

And so our RESCUE team, a committed group of staff members and volunteers, agree to sacrifice their own time and conveniences, not only to touch the ones with palsy, but to enter into their world and offer them a changed life.