Honouring 40 years of ministry

For most of my growing up years, my family attended South Abbotsford Church. My dad was a pastor there and we lived in the parsonage next door on a small plot of land surrounded by chestnut trees. I spent hours each day in and around those trees and among God’s people in the church building. These were formational years for me.

Pastor David Manuel preaching on December 5, 2021

This past Sunday evening, the leadership of the church honoured my father for 40 years of service. They awarded him the title, Pastor Emeritas, and will provide a scholarship at Columbia Bible College in the names of “David and Stella Manuel”. He had already been given an honourary PhD by the M.B. Conference in 2010. This was very special for all of us who love Pops, in part, because he would never wish for these accolades, but is so very deserving.

L - R: Dave, Phil, Vijay, Rebecca (Klassen)

Each of us, his children, were given the opportunity to say a few words. It wasn’t easy to speak because my mother wasn’t there as she passed away in 2019 (see blog post here) and because I didn’t want my comments to feel like they belonged at a memorial service since Pops is still very much with us. :)

In my two minutes, I thanked my dad for modelling two very important things for me: 

1) The integrity of the presentation: What my dad presents on stage or in front of people is consistent with what he presents at home with his family,

2) Humility: My dad seems to personify Philippians 2:3-5 where we are encouraged to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit”. Pops has always and without exception lived out a humble life focussed on Jesus and others.

Our church family

This type of humble man would not have flourished in an environment that wasn’t already filled with humble, God-fearing people. Imagine the battles and political navigation that would have slowed down the ministry if Pops was a fish swimming upstream inside the building. This was not the case. Pops was given wings to fly and the support to thrive as an evangelist, teacher, and leader by likeminded Jesus-followers who were absolutely committed to the sharing of the Gospel.

The Manuels arrive in Canada, 1977

We arrived in Abbotsford, B.C. by train from Three Hills, Alberta in the summer of 1980. My dad had already been in Abbotsford for a few months having begun his service at the church. The people we encountered changed my life forever. Pastor Don Balzer and Pastor David Epp were kind, humble, and generous people who absolutely loved the Lord. Pastor Balzer welcomed us with his family and I distinctly remember playing for hours and hours in the church parking lot with his two children. Apparently during the interview process, Pastor Don had asked my dad how he would reach out to the Sikh community with the Gospel of Christ expecting to hear about the strategies that would be employed. All they got in response was, “Just love them”. Well, that is exactly how the church reached out to our family, they simply loved us.

Pastor Don Balzer commissioning Pops for the next season of ministry with his colleagues.

My dad always refers to Pastor David Epp, one of his dearest friends, as ‘his pastor’. To me, Pastor Epp has always been the model of a pure pastor’s heart. He knows our names, loves us, prays for us, visits us, and his unshakable loyalty to Jesus is absolutely inspiring. In my growing up years, it was never the preaching style that spoke to me, but rather, it was the heart of the man that could only be what it is because of the work of Christ in his life. This is how I see Pastor David Epp and this is how I have experienced my dad.

I could write many pages on the variety of ways that this church community, under the leadership of people like Pastor Epp, loved and supported our little family. Here are only a few of the many examples that will never leave me and will always inspire me to follow in their footsteps. I hope they will inspire you.

Stories of Love and Support

We lived next door to a family that provided daily milk for us from the cow on their small hobby farm. I distinctly remember walking over to pick up the pail of milk with the cream settled at the top. They not only provided for us, but they endured many, many visits from their 7-year-old neighbour to see if their teenage son wanted to play. It’s crazy, but he did play with me and the family welcomed me into their home with grace and love. 

I will never forget the impact that a close friend and supporter, who has since passed away, had on our family. He and his family would take us for day trips to Mount Baker and other local attractions. One day, he pulled into our driveway with a car we didn’t recognize. Unbelievably, it was a gift allowing my oldest brother to have a vehicle to drive to school.

My dear late mother has told me many times the story of how she came to the office counter at MEI Secondary to pay the tuition for my three older siblings. She had the funds to support two of the tuitions and was in tears as she asked the Lord to help her decide which one wouldn’t be able to continue at the school. Before she said anything, Mom was told that only two tuition payments were needed because an anonymous donor had paid the other one. My mom, being my mom, conducted a minor investigation and believed she knew who would have done this for our family and had never stopped giving thanks for that gift.

Here is another story that my mom shared with me before she passed. We were looking for a house in the mid-1980s as we had been living in the church’s parsonage for 5 years. Mom told this part of the story to us perhaps daily during her final year. You see, she had a list of 32 items that she was asking God to provide for us in our next house, and in our beloved new home on Edgewood Avenue, He provided 31! Apparently the only thing missing was a fireplace in the living room. This was eventually remedied when we purchased an artificial fireplace and mantle, so in the end, God provided all 32. :) I was shocked and moved to learn that one of our family friends had paid the down payment for the house purchase allowing us to enjoy that home for the next 35 years.

Doxa at South Abbotsford in 1997 before the move to Central Heights

For me personally, when I began coaching AIA Camps and needed support, it was the generous people of this church community that took care of me. When we started leading worship and amazing things started to happen with Doxa to the glory of God, it was this church and their leadership that encouraged and supported our team in those early days. Even now, returning to South Abbotsford Church feels like coming home. Over the years it was amazing to see our family’s church community grow to include many people from other churches as well. This passionate group of people met annually at Pops’ beloved “Praise Raiser” and again, it was like coming home to our church family.

Thank you

Mom and Pops with our Zoe, 2019

I am so thankful to God for the many people who put into practice the idea of reaching others with a commitment to “Just love them”. Thank you for honouring Pops and Mom in this beautiful way as it touched all of us deeply. I couldn’t be more thankful to be part of such an amazing church community in Abbotsford and the God-honouring legacy that was celebrated on Sunday night.

May this kind of tangible love be spread across Abbotsford today by us, God’s people, and may it lead many to the Hope found in Jesus.

To God be the glory for the great things that He has done!

Vijay