2024 Easter Dinner and Update:
We are so thankful for what has been happening in the ministry so far this year!
In February, Veronica and I hosted a volunteer appreciation dinner at Ladner Baptist Church. We wanted to thank and encourage all of our volunteers. We also wanted to let everyone know about our upcoming plans for the ministry, including an Easter dinner for the workers.
The Easter dinner was held on March 24th, and despite the beautiful sunshine that day, 116 workers attended the event. It was successful in every way.
We witnessed two things that evening: First, the Holy Spirit spoke to unbelievers about surrendering their lives to Christ. Second, we saw the body of Christ working together for one purpose, glorifying God and sharing the Gospel.
This was so encouraging for all of us, and I believe that this is how the church is supposed to work—working together as one body to fulfill the great commission. To see a great group of brothers and sisters in Christ working and serving together is a blessing. It is also a reminder that all of us are important in this ministry—whether you drive, cook, set up tables and chairs, clean up after the event, greet the workers, pray, or donate money. Whenever workers come forward to receive Christ into their hearts, you should feel that you are a part of that moment because without your help I wouldn't be able to share the gospel, so we wouldn't have seen workers receive Christ.
Twenty-five workers came forward at this dinner. Over the last fourteen years, I've shared the gospel and seen hundreds of workers receive Christ into their lives thanks to the churches and volunteers supporting this ministry.
One of the things I think and pray about is how we can share this sense of unity with the church at large. It is such a privilege to be a part of the body of Christ as it works together to share the gospel and to minister to others. We hope to capture some of that with the photos and videos that we share through our newsletters and website. But better yet, we encourage anyone with a desire to become more involved in this ministry to contact us. Perhaps we could arrange a visit to one of the workers’ homes together, or discuss other ways of getting involved.
At the moment, we are planning our annual Father’s Day project. We will try to visit as many houses as possible with some small gifts and sweets. Home-baked items would be greatly appreciated: pies, cookies, cupcakes or squares. This is a great way to show the workers that someone is thinking of them. If you would like to contribute to the Father’s Day project by baking something, or by contributing financially, please contact me at the number below.
Finally, this year, I have had the opportunity to do a weekly devotional with approximately ten new workers in Cloverdale. Due to their location and long work hours, we have been unable to bring them to the events. However, God has given me the opportunity to study the Bible with them in their home once a week. Please pray that God will direct this time and that it will bear good fruit.
Of course I continue to be busy, helping the workers with various things during the day (such as trips to the airport and appointments) and visiting workers at their homes in the evening. One of our volunteers visits various workers in their homes once a week to teach English. All that we do is for the sake of building relationships which allow us to share the gospel of Christ.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to know more about what we are doing on a day-to-day basis, or if you would like to get more involved. Thank you so much for your support and prayers.
God bless you all!
Pastor Carlos Carrion
Report: 2023 Thanksgiving Dinner
On October 15th, we held a Thanksgiving dinner at Ladner Baptist Church. Approximately 80 migrant workers attended from five local farms. We were excited to see many new faces—about half of the men who attended are new to this ministry. After dinner, I told the story in Luke 17 about the ten lepers, and how only one returned to thank Jesus. I spoke about the importance of being thankful, and recognizing the blessings that God has given us. At the invitation to accept Christ, eight men came forward for prayer. Praise the Lord!
I would like to mention that we had an amazing turnout of volunteers at this event. We are so thankful for those who drove, set up and cleaned up, brought salads and desserts, and served the dinner. We were especially encouraged by the joyful fellowship and servant-hearts of the volunteers, and by the number of volunteers who stayed to have dinner with us. For the workers to see the church come together and serve is a great witness of Christ’s love. It is also a tremendous blessing to Veronica and myself. Thank you so much.
Story: The Bible
Did you know that several hundred migrant workers were evacuated during the fires in Kelowna this year? One of our local greenhouses offered employment to eighteen of those workers.
One of these men contacted me recently. He told me that he had been having some challenges at home, and that his wife was reading the Bible every day. He said that he didn’t have a Bible in Kelowna, but when he arrived at his house here, there was a Bible in the bedroom. It was one of the Bibles that we provided to the migrant workers last year. Now this man has begun reading the Bible along with his wife. This was a great encouragement to me, and I hope that you are encouraged as well.
Report: 2023 Easter Dinner
Praise the Lord! We were finally able to host our first “large gathering” event since the pandemic. Veronica and I had been praying for this opportunity, and especially that we would have enough volunteers to drive and to help. God answered our prayers with an abundance of volunteers, food, and 87 migrant workers in attendance. Many of the workers are new to Canada and had never been to one of our events before. As you know, these kind of events are very important for me, as they give me the opportunity to share the gospel and invite the workers to receive Christ.
At the Easter dinner, I preached from Matthew, speaking of the days before Christ was crucified. This was followed by a portion of scripture from Isaiah 53, including Isaiah 53:5
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
I explained that the crucifixion was part of the sovereign plan of God, and that the death of Christ was the means that God has chosen to restore us to Himself and give us peace.
Seven people came forward at the invitation to accept Christ as their savior, all glory to God. Another one of the workers talked to me after the event and told me that he really appreciated the preaching. He told me, “We need to hear this. We never hear this at home” (in Mexico or Guatemala). This is what is truly important, and it continues to be my privilege to serve God and these workers. Thank you again to all of you for your help, encouragement and support.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone who has been supporting this ministry through prayer, financial support, and by volunteering, that you are very much a part of the work that God is doing through this ministry. Please know that even if you can’t speak Spanish, the workers recognize that you care about them. You are impacting lives.
“He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers.”
1 Co 3:8-9a
2022 Christmas Project Update
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here are the results of our 2022 Christmas Project:
350 meals packages were delivered
195 bibles were given away
4 fully-cooked turkeys and 350 cookies were donated by volunteers
Fried chicken was purchased for the remainder of the meals.
Over 300 Christmas cards were included, with a Bible verse in Spanish printed inside
12 different volunteers were involved in cooking, assembling, and delivering the meals, including Pastor Jeff and his wife Ruth from Ladner Baptist Church
More than $1000 was donated to this project.
We are very grateful for the opportunity to serve God together especially because once again we can declare that He has been faithful to us. All glory to God!
Thank you to everyone who participated, donated to, and prayed for this project. Thank you for your continued prayers and support for this ministry and for the migrant workers.
Carlos and Verónica Carrion
2022 Easter Project Update
2021 Christmas Dinner Photos
Merry Christmas!
This is Maridel Kelm and her father, Dale. Maridel made over one hundred bookmarks, which were included in the Christmas meal package along with Bibles and tracts. Dale wrote, “We wanted to cook a turkey for the outreach dinner, but it didn't work out. Instead, we have enjoyed making these holiday bookmarks! We hope the verse from Phillipians 3:20 will encourage those away from home and family: Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks to you all, and may God Richly Bless You this Christmas and into the New Year!”
These are the Bibles, bookmarks and tracts that were given out with each of the Christmas meals.
Our Christmas project was a great success, thanks to God and to all of you who participated and supported this work.
Through the blessings provided, the Migrant Workers Ministry was able to provide over 300 Christmas dinners on December 8, 9, and 10th which were individually packaged and delivered to the migrant workers in our area. Since we had estimated that about 250 workers were still here over Christmas, the need was greater than we expected. However, thanks to God, we received just the right amount of money in donations for this project, and we had sufficient volunteers and supplies to meet the additional need.
On December 8, we fed about 150 workers with turkey and gravy that had been cooked by volunteers. On December 9 and 10th we purchased chicken for the remaining workers from a local restaurant. All of the meals were accompanied with fried rice, coleslaw, and banana bread or cookies. Along with the meals, we gave away approximately 170 Bibles in Spanish. Tracts in Spanish were included with meals that did not receive a Bible. Additionally, over 100 of the Bibles were accompanied by a hand-made bookmark created by Maridel, the daughter of Trinity Pacific Church member Dale Kelm.
As you can imagine, the workers were very thankful for the meal and for the visit from Pastor Carlos. Beginning only a few hours later and through the following days, Pastor Carlos received many texts and calls from workers, thanking him and the churches that participated. There is no doubt that these men deeply appreciate the care that they receive from the churches and members of this ministry.
Pastor Carlos and his family are also very thankful for the support of the churches that took part in this event: Trinity Pacific, Tsawwassen Alliance, South Delta Baptist and Ladner Baptist, and for our volunteers who cooked turkeys and/or prepared and packaged the meals: Todd Chapman, David and Barb Cheng, Boris and Debby Lum, Arlene Wu, Ted Osbourn, Maggie Rayner, Emily and Stefan Emberson and Dale and Maridel Kelm.
The net cost of the Christmas event was approximately $2050, which worked out to about $6 per meal. Again, we would like to thank all of those who contributed, and hope that you all have a very blessed and joyful Christmas.
In Christ,
Pastor Carlos Carrion and family
father’s day project
It is with great joy that I am able to share with you that our Father’s Day project was a huge success! We delivered five-hundred gift bags during the week leading up to Father’s Day. Each bag contained a pair of socks, some sweets, and a hand-made card made by a child. The workers were very thankful and encouraged to know that there are many people here who continue to care about them and support them. Many of the workers specifically asked us to thank the churches and children for their cards and gifts.
The Father’s Day gifts gave us the opportunity to visit the workers, and to strengthen existing friendships and make contact with new workers who have arrived during the past year. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this project, including children and members of:
The First Steps Preschool, South Delta Baptist Church;
Golden Fellowship Baptist Church;
Ocean Park Retirement Community;
Village Church;
Ladner Baptist Church;
Courtenay Fellowship Baptist Church;
Mr. Kerry Palmer’s class, Regent Christian School;
Trinity Pacific Church; and
David and Barb Cheng, who organized much of this event and provided a template for the children to colour.
As you can see in the video, the workers were so happy to see Carlos and to know that the churches are still supporting them. Thank you so much to everyone for helping to make this event such a huge success.
Ladner baptist gives
The children at Ladner Baptist Church were the inspiration for the Father’s Day project below. They recently put together about a hundred gift bags for the workers. In light of Covid restrictions, the church came up with this project to encourage the workers and to thank them for their service in our greenhouses and on our farms. It is always a personal sacrifice for the workers to leave their families to work in Canada, but this is especially true during these trying times. Thank you, Ladner Baptist children and church. You put smiles on the workers’ faces. All of the workers who received these gifts asked us to thank you for your love and support. They want you to know that it means a lot to them. Thank you.