Marina Brunsdon graduated from Kelowna Secondary School, Saturday June 5th. Congratulations from all at the vlf blog!

Every Day, Joyce is thanking God for His Goodness. She shares what happened for her during the time of her husband’s death and the miracles God provided daily!
On Tuesday May 4th, the doctor called me to the hospital from work because Arthur was getting much worse, and he thought he would not last the night.
I stopped at the VLF office and saw pastors Dieter and Diana there. They immediately came with me to the hospital.
Diana drove my car and she put money in the parking meter for 24 hours.

Arthur had a private room, I anointed him with oil, and pastors Dieter and Diana and I prayed for him, and Diana sang to him.

He was resting comfortably. Pastor Diana arranged for people from VLF to come and stay in the private room with us.
I called family members and they came later in the afternoon and evening and said their last goodbyes.

Later that night pastors Dieter and Diana visited again. Diana led Arthur in a prayer for salvation.
On May 6th 2010, in the morning about 5am, Arthur passed away peacefully.

I called Dieter and Diana and they arrived soon after.
They took me out for breakfast in Westbank, and filled my cars empty gas tank and later gave me a gift card for $100 worth of gas.

They both came to my house that day, and helped me find an affordable funeral director for the cremation.
Diana made a list of all the information needed for the funeral director, who later came to
my house and finalized all the details of the cremation.
She also made a list of all the people that I needed to call. It was a very long list, and I contacted most of them that day, and made appointments where necessary. The cremation details were all taken care of in a less than an hour.

Lenore Hendricks came to my house to gather photos for the DVD to be seen at the memorial service.
Rob and Mandy his girlfriend came later that afternoon. I said to Mandy that I needed money for the funeral director by May 10th at 11 am, but I had no money.
I said that I might have to take up a collection or try to borrow money from some of my brothers, and I laughed.

Mandy offered to lend me the money and whatever extra that I needed.
I was surprised. She said that she had just sold her house and received the money from the sale of it 2 weeks ago. So that was a real miracle and a great blessing for me.

On May 7th 2010, Sophia Kassay who speaks fluent Hungarian, was able to contact Arthurs family in Hungary and tell them the sad news of Arthurs passing away.
She also ministered to his two sisters and led in a prayer of salvation which they prayed with her.

I needed help to find the wills, so I said to the Lord, where are the wills, help me find them.
And the first place I thought of is where they were, right in front of me in a case on my bedroom floor, so that was a miracle also.
I will write some more later. – Joyce Salga. Thanks for sharing Joyce! We believe with you for more daily miracles and blessings coming your way!

Welcome Back Andy!! We missed you!
We were able to give out enough ice tea even though in the natural we should have ran out. God kept filling it we were able to give 20 cups even though it was nearly empty to start with.
We had an open door to ‘Garden of Eden’ (escort service) again and we able to offer a smile. Praise God for open doors. We prayed over the building as well.

Testimonies- Mark from the Kelowna Gospel Mission praised us for the work we do. He said at the end of the day be happy knowing that you are making a difference down here. Praise God!!

Just a little praise report from class this Sunday. I am so proud of our kids!
I started teaching about prayer and having the whole class share what they know about prayer (with a little help from victory bucks) and our kids came out with some really amazing and insightful answers. Answers like: “Praying is just talking to God” and “All you have to do is pray and God hears you” “When we asked Jesus in our hearts all we did was pray” “God even cares when we pray for a new bike or help with homework.”

We also happened to have a new girl Kalyn in our class a very sweet young lady who her Mom said was “shy” well not with the friendly kids in our class. You would think that she had known everyone for years… well the love of God makes everyone comfortable.

Well what this is all leading to is Kalyn excepted Jesus into her heart on Sunday! As a class we asked her if she had ever asked Jesus into her heart to be her best friend and she didn’t think so. So I asked if she wanted the whole class to pray with her she excitedly said “Oh Yes!” So our whole class without any argument prayed with her and it was an awesome moment.
I really hope this blesses you as much as it has me. – Teacher Lindsay
*(just a side note: this little girl is Joyce Salga’s ‘adopted’ granddaughter)J…Praise God for family salvations!

Greetings from Taiwan! Thank you very much for your support!! We are in the process of finishing up the translation of Brother Hagin’s “Tongues: Beyond The Upper Room.” According to Rick Renner, this book is the most complete book of its kind on the subject of tongues that he has ever read. We would like to get this book to as many pastors as we can in Taiwan. As soon as the books are printed, we will send to as many pastors as we can within our reach!!

Anna VanDuyn is out of the hospital as of last night! Her blood pressure came right down to normal.

I was blessed with money to add to my wardrobe and accessories! …(you ladies will appreciate this!) After sowing some money into someone else for some clothing and accessories, immediately the day after, I was blessed with money specifically to go towards wardrobe and accessories! God is so good …ALL THE TIME! – Pastor Diana

Arthur Salga is in Heaven, healed and whole! On Tuesday night, May 4th,  Pastor and I went back into the hospital to visit Joyce and Arthur as the family was gathering. We had prayed earlier that day that there would be assurance of Salvation for Arthur. Ten minutes before we got to his room, he woke up, alert and clear minded. He spoke and even joked with his sons. He had not been that way for a couple of days. They had sedated him quite heavily with morphine earlier…so we know this was a miracle for him to be so alert and awake! We were able to take that window of opportunity and pray the Salvation Prayer with Arthur. He is now Born Again and living with His Heavenly Father in Heaven!

On Friday night, Sophia Kassay come over and helped Joyce with calling family members in Hungary. Sophia speaks fluent Hungarian. Both of Arthurs’ sister’s in Hungary said the Salvation Prayer. On Saturday morning at the Ladies Tea, Joyce Salga’s son’s girlfriend, Mandy, also received the Lord. Praise God for family salvations!

Michael McCallum & Jessica Parker are engaged!

Their wedding will take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 18th.

Congratulations from all of us at This is how we overcome!

Dr. Bob Lemon will be ministering this Friday, 7 PM, Saturday 9:30 AM (Ministry of Helps) & 7 PM, Sunday at 6 PM at  CRC.
(Childcare for 9 & under is provided for all evening sessions)

Get Ready….
·         Pray that Dr. Bob has freedom of speech this weekend. Pray that he is able to speak out what the Holy Spirit has for us and needs to be imparted. Get in a position to receive!
·         Pray that when Dr. Bob opens his mouth, every WORD ‘hits the mark’ for EACH person that is in attendance! Ephesians 6:18-20 Utterance given to me so mysteries given, boldness, Colossians 4:2-5
·         Pray that each person’s heart is ready to receive… ears to hear… understanding opened to receiving. Ephesians 1:17-20 NO distractions!
·         Be at the meetings and arrive at the meetings early. Be in an attitude of ‘expectation’.
·         Come with your smile. Greet and Meet. You are representing Jesus as well as Victory Life Fellowship at those meetings. Come not only to receive, but to give too! There will be visitors. Make sure to welcome Dr. Bob’s wife, Marybelle! We also have Pastors Rick & Linda Sharkey from Spokane Christian Center visiting!
·         Be ready to ‘give’ Dr. Bob the very best financial gift you can. We will be taking up offerings on Friday & Saturday evening that will cover expenses for bringing him into Canada as well as sowing into his ministry; Harvest Fire International. Sunday evening offering will be as usual.

“In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pride fully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”
Romans 12:4-6 The Message (MSG)

Thank you to all who helped and showed ‘kindness’ to all the guests who attended the Easter Pancake Breakfast on Good Friday!

The Love of God in action…. His kindness displayed through you…is one of the ways that leads people to the Lord. It’s HIS GOODNESS that leads people to repentance!

Thank you for doing your part!

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Romans 2:4

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:8

There were approximately 2000 people in attendance at the Breakfast. Over 600 people received clothing. 900 + children went through the Egg Hunts… best of all 27 people accepted the Lord as the their Savior! Praise God!

Many, many more were talked with and prayed over for different situations.
Each conversation, each word is a seed that will NOT return void! It will do what it was intended to do and cause change and take root in the individuals life!

*In yesterday’s paper, ‘ The Okanagan Saturday Daily Courier’, there was an article on page A3 that highlighted the event. If you would like a copy, it is available at the front entrance table at the CRC tonight!

Good Reports!
‘The most impressive opportunity was with this lady and her son. I started our conversation with an invite to the Easter supper then talked of salvation. She said something I hardly have ever heard. Most people have some opinion on God.”No one, including my parents, have ever told me about God or salvation.” So I shared Jesus to her. She said she would think more on this …’ – Gary Hendricks

‘Louise is in her 80’s, and had just had a stroke a while ago which damaged her whole right side, including her hands that would randomly drop things.  I first prayed for her healing and she had pain in her hands and leg. After she said she had  NO pain- glory to God! – Lynn Gervais  (Go Team)

A young lady came in and asked if she could donate some baby clothes and her stroller.  I said okay and she lifted her son out of the stroller and said here and gave us some clothes. The stroller was like new and almost immediately we found a young Mom who needed one.
A man came in (from off the highway) and said  he had his clothes stolen and had nothing so he came and picked up a bunch of clothes. – Carol Quesnel (Clothing)

While I was standing next to the prize table a man and his family walked up and were looking at the prizes. I was standing beside the balloons that were taped onto my table and of course the wind was blowing them in my face so, just being silly I punched the balloons out of my face. The man then said If I don’t want those (balloons) he would take them. My first thought was no, but immediately I changed that and thought why do I need them, so I ripped them from the tape and gave them to the man. The man then bent down to give them to his son who loved them and actually smiled for the first time that day. I guess the boy was in a bad mood all day long and they cheered him up and he was so thrilled. It’s amazing what 5 balloons bundled together can do!! – Alea Verwoerd (Prizes)

Also had a chance to give away the coupon from Dr. Specs for new frames to a lady. The ladies daughter had broken her glasses not to long ago and she had been without!! She was so thankful!!  – Alea Verwoerd

There was a boy that kept coming to my table to ask me about a Club Penguin prize pack when I would give it away and If i would give it to him. I just kept saying ‘maybe’. So each time he came back he just kept asking in a very nice way too. He even brought me and Sherman some of the caramel popcorn. Sherman and I both decided we would definitely give him the prize pack at the end he was very thankful. He came back later with his two friends and they each were carrying one of the items that was in the prize pack. That’s awesome sharing!! – Alea Verwoerd

Thank you once again!
Blessings,
Pastors Dieter & Diana

Here are some of the VLF highlights for 2009: (for those of you that weren’t able to attend the Family Meeting a couple of weeks ago)

1. VLF is family, and we love to fellowship.  We had numerous opportunities to get together for  meals, Drive in Theatre Night, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and many more.

2. It is important to have a strong foundation in our families.  In order to build these areas up we hosted: Marriage Matters (building strong couples), Finance Matters (instilling biblical truths & practical applications by Craig Hussey), and Parenting Matters (acquiring the tools to ‘raise our children in the way they should go’).

3. Guest Speakers in 2009 were: Riley Stephenson, Chip Brim, Steve Munds, Pastor Doug Klan, Go Ministries and Pastor Teri Pearsons.

4. Our Crave Youth started up again!  They are a fired up group of 13-28 year olds who love the Lord.
They had wonderful worship services lead by the youth, games nights, and a slip & slide day.

5. Pastor Dieter celebrated his 50th Birthday in style.  The congregation blessed him with a lovely birthday card and money to purchase his own project car; a Plymouth of course!

6. VLF is very community minded and we reach out into the city of Kelowna in lots of different ways.   Our three Free Community Events: Easter Pancake Breakfast, Back to School Bash and our Christmas Day Dinner were a success.  Our KidZone (children’s ministry) reach out to a low cost housing complex- Columbus Housing, bringing God’s message of love through practical hands on application. Games, cookie decorating, skits, and of course candy were just some of the things they did. The Boys & Girls’ Youth Center is VLF’s focus once a month when we provide a BBQ or a meal to all the youth there.  Also on weekly basis members of the VLF congregation provide a meal, snacks & desserts.
Street Chats is a very large part of our outreach into the community.  Every Monday during the year you will find our people on the street corner of Lawrence & Bertram handing out hot-dogs, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and beverages to those who live on the streets. They also have a tremendous platform to minister from. Our Random Acts of Kindness/Missions in Our Own City days spanned the year with members giving out roses, Tim Horton’s gift cards and taking opportunities to pray for people.

7. VLF celebrated its 20th Anniversary this September. We enjoyed a picnic with food and games.
We were also able to take a VLF family picture.

8. Our annual Word Explosion was on the same weekend of VLF’s 20th Anniversary.  Pastor Dieter, Chip Brim and Steve Munds were the guest speakers.

9. Our own Victory School of Ministry Bible School celebrated a graduation. It truly goes with our mandate to ‘Reach em, Teach em and emPower Each of em’.

10. Prayer continues to be a vital part of VLF.  There is Spirit led prayer every other Wednesday evening and every Tuesday morning.  What a great time we have with the Holy Spirit moving at these meetings; Holy Ghost laughter & healings.

11. Our new building project on McCurdy road is progressing. We see the building to lock up with the parking lot paved and ready for our vehicles.  The plans were finalized and we are anticipating everything to go smoothly.  We look forward to the day in the near future when we hold our first Sunday morning service there.

12. Over 325 Salvations in 2009! We are an evangelistic church; over 100 Re-dedications and numerous people filled with the Holy Spirit.

Victory Life tithes and gives offerings as well.  We are so blessed to have a body of believers who love to give because they love the Lord.  In addition to the events listed above, here are some of the projects you made possible in 2009.

13. Close to home, we support Teen Challenge Okanagan and Kelowna Gospel Mission on a monthly basis.  Both of these organizations do great work in the community and we have seen the fruit of that seed in our very own Andy Johnston who heads up Street Chats.  On a monthly basis we also support,
Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Joyce Meyer, Billye Brim Ministries Canada and Jerry Savelle Ministries.  We also support Morning Star Fellowship in Israel under Operation Outreach. We were a part of them being able to purchase enough lighting for their whole building. What a blessing!  Go Ministries is also very dear to our heart as some of our own youth-Davina, Michael, Shala and Jason were interns at Go. We are able to sow into Go Ministries on a regular basis.  Our church was also a part of sowing Kenneth Hagin books into Taiwan.  We were able to sow into Victory Christian Center for their Christmas Dinner outreach; their Pastors were responsible for us starting our very own Free Community Events!

14.  Our annual Women’s Christmas Tea was a huge success!   The ladies did a beautiful job decorating and many ladies from the community were blessed.  We were able to sow gifts and money to Esther Place and the Kelowna Women’s Shelter.

15.  Not only does Victory Life care for the spiritual welfare of its people it  also cares for its members in a practical manner and was able to bless some VLF members with gifts of food and gas.

Thank you so much for being a part of VLF! Look at what the Lord has done… through you!!