Dads; Soccer; Generosity; and Celebrations!

Hello Beloved Friends!

This is our bi-monthly prayer update so you can be connected with our journey and perhaps whisper a prayer of support for us in the process. We love you and appreciate you! Here are several encouraging updates about our family.

Father's Day: With Father's Day on June 19, I want to thank God for the absolute privilege of being a Dad! As some of you may recall, we were told for 17 years of our marriage that having children was "impossible!" Specialist after specialist kept stating the same news. But by the grace and mercy of God, Jonathan was born 8 years ago in June! We are so grateful for him! To our absolute delight David was born 19 months later... I am also thankful that my father celebrated his 88th birthday in April. We love dad/papa. We cherish every moment we get to spend together! Thank you God for families!

Soccer: David, who is 6 years old, is sport minded. We signed him up in the community soccer league. At his first soccer game, David's team was insecure and the other team was crushing them. Some of David's teammates were crying because they couldn't get the ball. I shouted out from the sideline, "David, show us your 'thunderfoot'!" "Thunderfoot" was a nickname I had as a child for being able to score the length of the soccer field. David kicked the ball from his end (small kids field) and it went over the heads of the other team and into the goal! Then "Confidence" joined David's team and they dominated the rest of the game! David scored 8+ goals and was a very good team player. On our way to the car, I told David to go to the best player on the other team and encourage him by telling him he played a good game. David walked up to the boy and tenderly told him he played a really good game. I was impressed by David's soccer prowess, but his character of kindness was the highlight of the game! May God continue to grow David in his skills and kindness!

Generous Hearts: As you may know, we have been so blessed and privileged to work alongside the Matthew House Ministry to Refugees. In May, I was out at a Matthew House meeting and my wife sent me the following text: “The boys were asking where you were tonight and when I told them it was a fundraiser for Matthew House, Jonathan said he would like to donate some of his own money. He counted out all his money and he has $24.50 to his name. He would like to give $20 to Matthew House. David followed his brothers example and counted out 8 coins to also donate, totalling 90 cents. ” Beautiful! I came home and Jonathan asked me,”Who did I help tonight?” Through tears I told him about the wonderful people he assisted through his generosity and love. Both of our boys have generous hearts and are consistently willing to make sacrifices so that others can be blessed. This past year they even agreed to eat less as a family so that we could give more to refugees. As Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). May God's generous heart grow and expand in our hearts as a family!

Church Life: Our church family at First Baptist Church Fort Erie is doing well. We are enjoying our relational connections with witnessing 8 baptisms this year; new members; a most delightful Growth Group in our home; investing in the amazing youth and young people; and celebrating our 80th Church Anniversary (video highlights above)! I also just returned from our CBOQ Assembly (Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec) and we were all reminded of the value of hospitality, love, and reaching the lost. I was moved to tears several times as I considered the pure wonder and privilege of being a Pastor in these days!

Health: As a closing prayer request, we would highly value your prayers for an immunity boost in our family. Ever since the boys and Melanie had Covid in September, their immune systems seem to be low and they keep getting sick. Melanie and David often struggle with breathing. Naturally, the impact is intense, incapacitating, and limits their ability to serve others in our new church context. Please pray for their increased health. By the radical grace of God, Phil has not caught Covid and has somehow remained healthy. We praise God for that but always welcome prayers as the Spirit moves you!

Thank you for being patient in reading through these updates. Naturally, these are the highlights over the last two months. There are days/weeks when life is hard. But we desire to give thanks in all things. May you and your family be blessed! We appreciate you! If you are ever in the area, we would be honoured to see you and give you a GREAT BIG hug!

Until we connect again in August/September,

Phil, Melanie, Jonathan, and David Styles