This is quite the meaty update from all of us at Team Alenskis … honestly, we’ve got a lot to share with you. So, let me start out with some great news from our family, before tackling a number of other really important matters having to do with life and ministry here in Toronto.

Baby Announcement

First things first, Lord willing our family of four will soon be expanding to five. That’s right, Mary Beth is pregnant with our third child, expected next April! We are very excited, even with all our apprehensions and questions about the future. Things have been going very well so far: the first trimester had been tiring, but there have been no complications and the second trimester is starting off a bit better. Mary Beth is very happy with her OBGYN and the hospital here, and the health insurance we have in Canada will cover the entirety of the pregnancy and delivery. We’re not sure how exactly people manage three children at a time – isn’t being outnumbered a thing??? – but we figure others have pulled it off successfully, and we’re determined to do the same.

Speaking of the other children, we are not sure how soon the boys will understand what will be happening to their band of brothers. Mary Beth isn’t showing yet, but we have begun to pray for the baby in mommy’s belly, and I suspect that Austin will begin intuiting more about his youngest sibling before long. We’re expecting a terrible shock for James when he is ousted as the baby of the family, but he’s a resilient soul and with a little help from his brother (and his mommy and daddy) we suspect he’ll be just fine soon after his newest companion is born.

In short, please keep Mary Beth and the baby, and our whole family in your prayers as we approach this new horizon in life!

Life and Ministry in Toronto

The weather in Toronto is cooling off significantly these days, and we are enjoying taking walks around the city as the leaves fall and a crisp bite settles into the air. Mary Beth and the boys have explored a good chunk of the playgrounds within a mile or so of the college, and we are trying to take advantage of all the days when they can play outside without their mama worrying too much about how cold they’re getting. We’ve discovered a few gluten-free joints at which to get some treats – a bakery, a chicken ’n’ waffles fryer, and a gelateria, to name a few – and very occasionally we will indulge one of our cravings. There are of course so many more places to explore … but then again, we have a few more years to discover them all!

One of the best parts about our move to Toronto has been the relationships we have already been able to form since arriving. Wycliffe College truly has an amazing community of faculty, staff, and students, and we consider ourselves blessed to be meeting so many new people so quickly. Many of our first friendships have been formed among the other residents at the college who come from all over the world, and beyond getting together for meals or casual conversations, most of us gather each day in the chapel for Morning Prayer (and I was honored to lead the service this past Friday!). It’s the kind of thing you don’t miss until you experience it all over again, and you realize it was missing all along. Additionally, Mary Beth has been meeting other spouses of students and moms with toddlers who are connected to the college, going to Bible studies, play dates, and other informal get-togethers. Although the ongoing weight of the pandemic still can mute these times of fellowship – inside encounters are masked, and other precautions still have to be taken – we are still able to be more social than we have been for years, and it has been nourishing for our spirits.

We have also continued to integrate ourselves more and more within our new church family, Christ the King, and we hope to be able to serve more and more as time goes on. We are slowly meeting people and connecting faces with names, and Mary Beth is a part of the rotation of accompanists for Sunday worship. Some big changes however are in store for the congregation. The church’s curate – ordained to the diaconate just a few months ago – has been reassigned to a church in Windsor (across the border from Detroit). On top of this, the rector recently announced that he will be leaving in December to begin a PhD program in New Testament at the University of Durham: while we are very excited for him and his family (we like them a lot!), they have been with the church now for six years, and it will be difficult for everyone to say goodbye. As the parish searches for a new rector, the interim period will be led by a retired Wycliffe professor, assisted by the church’s remaining deacon. As you can imagine, I also am hoping to chip in at Christ the King in any way I can, and to this end I sat down with the local archdeacon this past week to see about being licensed by the bishop to preach and administer the sacraments in the greater Toronto area. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes, and please keep our church’s transitions in your prayers!

Finances

As I was hinting at above, our baby news is not without its anxieties for our family’s future, particularly with respect to finances. To be honest, we are feeling quite squeezed from two different directions.

On the one hand, life for a family in downtown Toronto is unavoidably expensive, both in relation to the U.S., as well as to suburban and rural Canada. We thank God for student housing (what a gift!), but our regular household expenses (food and other essentials) are still trending measurably higher than what we had been hoping for. There are still discount grocery stores to explore nearby, and this past month has required that we make fewer large purchases, but we are nevertheless coming to grips with the reality that – even apart from tuition – our basic necessities may end up exceeding our family’s income on our current (decreased) SAMS salary.

On the other hand, though, gifts by pledged donors to our missionary account with SAMS continue to trend lower and lower, reducing the likelihood that we will be able to recover part of the salary that we gave up in March. Much of this is inevitable given everything that is happening in the world: for example, churches have closed during the pandemic, and others that have remained open are experiencing budget crunches themselves – and in many cases individual donors have hard go of it as well. Although in other circumstance this might mean taking time to raise support, given our present commitment to my doctoral studies we are unable to travel at this time. However, we are so grateful for those who have made a recent commitment to give sacrificially to our ministry, or to increase their regular gift.

And we are doing other things to make ends meet. Beginning this month, our family is no longer on SAMS’s health insurance: Ontario’s international student health care program is not only cheaper than U.S. insurance, but it’s also mandatory for us – so that will help our missionary account somewhat. And we are praying that God will bring opportunities for service as we gradually become more accustomed to life in this big city environment.

But the bottom line is this: we are in desperate need for new partners for our ministry as SAMS missionaries, a ministry that is still ongoing during this time of Educational Ministry Assignment. We urge you to pray and ask the Lord if he is calling you to go beyond simply praying for us, to take the step of making a financial commitment to the mission he has given our family: making disciples who will make more disciples, and training leaders who will train future leaders. Will you partner with us today?

Doctoral Studies

Finally, I should let you know how my studies are going, shouldn’t I? The short answer is that I think they are going well. The longer answer is … well, a little longer. I am currently taking two courses for credit this term, one centered on how to teach (pedagogy) and the other on how to think theologically (methodology). They have both been interesting and stretching, each in its own way. The more unusual, and more engaging aspects of this Fall term have had to do with what has been happening academically outside of these courses.

In early September, my advisor invited me to serve as a part-time Teaching Assistant for his Introduction to Anglican Theology course, with a section being run online for clergy in the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, as well as the customary section for Wycliffe students proper. Not only has this given me an opportunity to get an early window into the world of a university instructor, with a little experience in managing online content delivery, but it has allowed me to meet amazing Anglican leaders on the front line of mission in Southeast Asia. Additionally, a couple of weeks ago the professor had to be out of town at the last minute, and I was given the opportunity a to teach one of the class sessions for the section being taught at Wycliffe, a chance few second-year doctoral students get around here (also, I think it went really well!).

On top of all this, I am continuing the work needed to outline a dissertation topic. At this stage, this means putting together a short “prospectus” by the end of 2021 that will sketch out the broad contours of what my doctoral thesis will involve. This in turn informs the various general and comprehensive exams that I will be taking in the first half of 2022 – the last task before submitting a formal dissertation proposal. There is so much to do, so much to read, so much to write: all to be finished while I am focused on my other courses and obligations at the college. It is a lot, and I ask you to please keep me and my academic work in your prayers.

Well, that’s all I have for now. Thank you for keeping us with us, for holding us up in prayer, and for supporting us in so many ways. May the Lord richly bless you all!