“None of us were anticipating revival to break out this quickly.”

Elizabeth Mabie
Spur Ottawa Correspondent

At first, Dundonald Park was quiet. The late-September skies were overcast and threatening rain as a small group arrived with members of CityChurch Hawthorne and e3 Canada (part of I Am Second.com). They came hoping to share the Gospel and impact the marginalized people who gather there. By the time they left, the park was no longer quiet and they were planting a new church.

“The park was chosen because of its large population of needy people, who loiter there on a daily basis,” explains Dan Byrne, the CityChurch Hawthorne house church leader. “Also, my ministry partner, Matt Boardman, had recently moved next door to the park in hopes of establishing outreach in the neighbourhood.”

Boardman helped Byrne set up CityChurch Hawthorne last January. As the first house church grew, he and Byrne started discussing the process of opening a second house church, but God had other plans.

“This is Jesus, and Jesus opened deaf ears and blind eyes, and He’s alive today!” Photo courtesy of Marcel Knot.

Between September 21 and 25, e3 Canada held a number of evangelism training workshops around Ottawa. Members from CityChurch Hawthorne attended a workshops and, on September 24, they joined the e3 Canada team to put their evangelical training into practice at Dundonald Park, in Centretown.

At first, people at the park were open and friendly, but what really piqued their interests was the extraordinary healing of a woman named Josie. Josie is well-known in the park because she was deaf in her right ear. Marcel Knot, an e3 Canada team member, approached her and offered to pray for God to heal her.

“As I was praying, she started wiggling and mentioned that her head felt light, so we decided to test it out,” Knot says. “We snapped our fingers and she said the sound was so loud it hurt. We were excited and said, ‘This is Jesus, and Jesus opened deaf ears and blind eyes, and He’s alive today!’”

Josie was surprised as her ear suddenly opened up. The quiet was suddenly shattered as she ran through the park telling people she could hear through both ears. She gave her heart to the Lord that day and, in the coming weeks, more people from the park also came to know the Lord.

On October 4 (just over a week later), CityChurch Somerset was officially planted in Dundonald Park. Photo courtesy of Matt Boardman.

Boardman and other members from the CityChurch network continued engaging the park’s marginalized community in conversation, prayer, and Bible studies. Their outreach led to a gathering of individuals who wanted Jesus in their lives. On October 4 (just over a week later), CityChurch Somerset was officially planted in Dundonald Park.

“None of us were anticipating revival to break out this quickly,” says Byrne. “We were expecting that, perhaps, by next summer CityChurch would be positioned well to plant a second church, but when the Holy Spirit moves in this way, we must simply respond to His direction and leading.”

Over the past month, CityChurch Somerset has witnessed nearly two dozen conversions.

“God is consistently moving and growing [His witness] in this city,” says Boardman. “We had 40 people show up for Thanksgiving in the park. There was one renouncing her faith in Mohammed and others saying that they have cancer and that they need Jesus.”

“When the Holy Spirit moves, we must simply respond to His direction.” Photo courtesy of Dan Byrne.

Although not everything Boardman initially envisioned has been put in place yet, CityChurch Somerset successfully launched with its large and continuously growing group. CityChurch Hawthorne’s team has been able to offer guidance and support and CityChurch Somerset reciprocates their kindness in any way they can.

“We’re two different church plants, two groups of people. One is mature and growing while the other is new and needs to be established,” explains Boardman. “It’s a good example of cooperation within the Body of Christ. We’re one body within different house churches.”