New Job for "Dr." Phil

Hi our beloved friends and family!

This bi-monthly prayer update begins with us expressing our love and appreciation for every second of prayer you invest in our lives. We are deeply grateful! Since we all need some good news these days we thought we would share some…

NEW JOB: On Father’s Day (June 20) Phil preached as a Pastoral candidate at First Baptist Church Fort Erie (Website). After the service, the church voted and extended the call to us -- WE ACCEPTED with the intention to begin in August!

It is a delightful church! As a simple description: the congregation is significantly multicultural; intergenerational; and they are committed to following Jesus and serving people in the community and the world. They have a meaningful ministry to refugees through their strong partnership with the Matthew House Refugee Ministry (Website). We are excited for what God has in store for us! The boys made good connections and have been asking when we will be going back to spend time with their new friends… As we prepare for the transition, we would highly appreciate your prayers for accommodations to rent or perhaps purchase. We know God is faithful and will guide us. Thank you for praying with us during this season of transition!

SCHOOLING: Phil successfully completed his Doctor of Ministry defence at Acadia Divinity College on June 16, 2021! The defence went very well! We were honoured to have Phil’s parents, family, and some friends observe the defence via Zoom. My graduation will be in the Fall so until then I can only informally use the title “Dr. Phil” … but it does sound nice! In talking to my youngest son David, he asked if he could still call me “Dad.” I assured him that “Dad” was the greatest and best title I will ever be given... maybe next to grandpa! lol

With no less fanfare, Jonathan is proud to announce that he has graduated Grade 1 and David is graduating Junior Kindergarten. Jonathan is doing great at reading and David is very good at math! Melanie received the “Teacher of the Year” award from both the boys! We all acknowledge that it FEELS GREAT to learn and achieve goals! Pray for us that we may continue to pursue wisdom as Proverbs 8:11 says, “Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”

WE LOVE YOU! We have so much more to share but at this time we’ll finish with something very important – our love of you! We cannot begin to share how many of you have blessed us with encouragement, prayers, financial blessings and help with the practical challenges of life. Thank you so much for being “family” to us! We love you!

We'll stay connected in 2 months from now. By then, who knows what other wonders of God's love we'll be able to share! Thanks for journeying with us! Again, we love you!

"Dr." Phil, Melanie, Jonathan, and David Styles