St. Luke’s Tenth Annual Irish Stew Dinner
will be held on Saturday, March 21st, 2015, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall at the corner of Cameron & Mackenzie Streets. Tickets $15 for adults; no charge for children. Takeout available for $12. For tickets call Sally McBain 344-0906 or Patricia Mark 623-8594. Funds raised will go to support a local charity.

“Almost World Famous” St. Paul’s Anglican Church 10th Annual Fish Fry & Bonfire
Fresh Pickerel, Hand Cut French Fries, Hand Made Coleslaw, Fruit Cobbler, Ice Cream, Marshmallow and Weenie Roast for Kids (weather permitting).

Holy Saturday, April 4th, two sitting; 5:00pm or 6:00pm [limited to 125­­ per sitting]
Get your tickets early, always sells out! Call 622-4945. $15 Adults; $5 Kids (Fish) / $3 (Hotdogs) [5-10 years] [ Kids under 5 FREE]

Bring your friends and family and celebrate the arrival of Easter with a Fish Fry and Bonfire!
Come in, sit down, enjoy!

A fundraiser for Thunder Bay’s “Teen Challenge” and “Underground Gym”, hosted by our St. Paul’s Men’s Breakfast Group.

All are welcome to come out to hear about Hope House!
April 7, 2015 at St. Michael and All Angels Church
Coffee 9:30am; Speaker 10:00am
Hope House–New Life Ministries Thunder Bay: A home for young women. A place to experience the love of Christ, heal from the past and move forward with hope and confidence for the future.
www.newlifeministriesthunderbay.org

Rev. George Porter of St. Luke’s is helping to plan an interdenominational conference for Thunder Bay and area focused on reconciliation and learning to walk together as Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal peoples in our churches. More information at www.walkingtogethertbay.com

Would you like to join us on the Camino? (June 5-18)

Our Christian travel agent, Dale Sherwood, tells us that there are still 3 spots available on the June 2015 Camino pilgrimage. 2 people had to drop out due to illness.

Please contact Dale Sherwood (dalesherwood@rogers.com) if you would like to join us. We have a total of 20 people committed to this walk in June and have room for a total of 23.

Many blessings on all of your footsteps, wherever God is taking you.

Dorothy Piccinin and Deborah Kraft (from St. Paul’s, Thunder Bay)

To: Friends of the Mission to Seafarers:
This past May (2014) our van broke down. Due to the nature of the repairs and the age of the van (1981), the Mission’s Board of Directors did not support putting any more money into repairing the van. While we explored the possibility of obtaining a grant, a mini-van was rented.

The van rental was an unplanned for expense and it cost the Mission $9,300. St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Thunder Bay made a generous contribution towards the rental, and we realized some savings in unspent repair costs. The Board would like to thank churches, groups and individuals who donated toward the van in 2014. As of December 31, 2014 the Capital Fund had $6,072.21 that includes funds donated for upgrades to the Seafarers’ Centre as well as the purchase of a van, and the General Fund had a small deficit of -$590.03.

It would greatly impact on the reputation of the Mission if we were not able to offer transport to seafarers. This past shipping season (2014) we transported 1,202 seafarers, 791 of which came to the Centre. Transportation is highly desired. In addition to using the facilities of the Centre to get in touch with their families, seafarers need to get to a store to purchase toiletries and other items. Most of our activity this year has been at Current River Terminal, Richardson’s Elevator, Mission Terminal and Superior Terminal. For those unfamiliar with Thunder Bay, Current River Terminal and Richardson’s are about a 15 minute drive one-way north of the Seafarers’ Centre, and Mission Terminal and Superior Terminal are about a 30 minute drive one-way south. This past summer a seafarer took a taxi from Mission Terminal to the Centre, and it cost him $70 one-way.

Our considerations for a new van:
· The maximum size van that a person can drive with a G license is 9 passengers.
· Often 8 seafarers from a ship would like transportation at a given time. It is a 60 minute round trip from the Seafarers’ Centre to Superior Terminal or Mission Terminal in the south end of the Port. In an evening shift, there is time to make a maximum of 3 pickups. With a smaller van during a busy time of the year, we may not be able to transport everyone ashore who would like to go ashore.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Seafarers Trust has awarded the Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay a grant of 25,000 pounds sterling. Our goal is to have a van ready to transport seafarers in mid-April.

Groups and individuals are invited to donate to the purchase of a van so that the Mission to Seafarers can continue its valuable ministry to seafarers.

The Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay has a Charitable Registration Number and an income tax receipt will be issued to donors. Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Mission to Seafarers’. Donations may be made at any time by mailing them to:
The Mission to Seafarers: Port of Thunder Bay
Suite 450, 100 Main St.
Thunder Bay, ON P7B 6R9

Many thanks to anyone who is able to help up out on this important project!