Who Has the Authority to Calm the Storms of Life? Jesus Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings in the Lord.

Let’s just say that when I woke up this Monday morning, my week and month looked entirely different than the way I had envisioned it going the week before. Within a very short time, our fledgling ministry here in Canada had been forced to cancel three conferences (planned out a year in advance) and several other scheduled events for me and Patricia Engler (our other Canadian Speaker and Youth Outreach Coordinator) as well.

I am sure many of you are feeling the same way, perhaps surprised at how swiftly COVID-19 has impacted our entire country.

I am sure many of you are feeling the same way, perhaps surprised at how swiftly COVID-19 has impacted our entire country. You might be a little unnerved about what the future holds, all the while possibly having to deal with the realities of living with new restrictions and responsibilities in your daily routine.

Luckily, as believers, we know we serve the Creator God of the Holy Scriptures, the Alpha and the Omega, the Sovereign King over all—who knows everything that will be before it happens and who never fails to accomplish what He wishes. And we know that our heavenly Father “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Available Resources

Our mandate as a ministry is to faithfully steward the means we are given to serve the Lord’s people in the best way possible. Providentially, even with the many restrictions on our ability to do outreach at this time, the Answers in Genesis (AiG) ministry has developed a huge amount of resources we can bless the church with, through our social networking platforms and the Answers in Genesis website. We hope these resources will be helpful, especially for families with young people at home that may not have resources at hand to help educate and entertain their youngsters for extended periods of time.

We trust that even more may hear the message of biblical authority as we simply press on doing what we can do under the circumstances.

So even though we were trusting that many people would have been impacted at our speaking events, we trust that even more may hear the message of biblical authority as we simply press on doing what we can do under the circumstances.

One of the first things we did was conduct an online poll to determine what people felt they needed or wanted, and based on what we heard, we crafted some ways we can bless Canadian Christian families who are home-educating perhaps for the first time.

Every day (except for Sundays) for the next few weeks at 9 a.m., we will be posting a free, daily, themed digital educational and entertainment package on our AiG–Canada Facebook page. It consists of a recommended video, activities, and online books to help you provide high-quality, family-friendly educational and entertainment materials for children from a Christian worldview perspective.

Our “edutainment” videos will encompass topics ranging from animals, daily dramas, “Answers with Buddy Davis,” dinosaurs, and a whole slew of science topics (like extreme caving, dissecting a sheep’s heart, and comets). Our activities will include science experiments, quizzes, mazes, crafts, coloring, devotionals, word games, and more! You’ll also have access to a vast and comprehensive assortment of online books from our digital library.

Also, the AiG–US team has been diligent as well in responding to the situation and has come up with a schedule of amazing online content available each day. We will inform you of those, too, so that you can supplement and take advantage of that also.

We know the One that we serve, and we have His Word, a written testimony to how He has supplied His people’s needs in the past.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we look forward to seeing this troubling time pass. And just let me be honest with you, for a ministry that is just in its infancy here in Canada, situations like this can have severe consequences for our staff. Because a charitable organization relies on partners in the gospel like yourselves, and you are likely to be affected in some way as well, we really feel as if “we’re all in the same boat,” so to speak. However, we know the One that we serve, and we have His Word, a written testimony to how He has supplied His people’s needs in the past.

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn. Public domain

Jesus Calms the Storm

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Mathew 8:24–27).

We are called to have faith and to serve God over all the storms of life. We ask you to pray for the ministry and our team, and if you can, assist us in sustaining the ministry at this difficult time. Please consider donating today.

I look forward to seeing many of you at an upcoming AiG–Canada event after these dark days pass and we reflect on how the Lord was faithful in helping us through these times in ways we couldn’t have imagined!

Blessings to you and yours,
Calvin Smith