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Under the mentorship of our Youth Pastor, Marcel deRegt, 212° Ministries have continued to flourish. The GEMS organization celebrated their 50th anniversary this past year! The IGNITE Youth Group adopted part of Yale Road (from Broadway to Prest) for garbage clean-up. After 16 years of involvement and leadership, Linette Vugteveen relinquished her role. Thank you for al your years of service, Linette! On December 8, Marcel and Monica deRegt left Chil iwack and Cornerstone to take up a position with Youth Unlimited. The congregation, in bidding them a fond farewel , gives thanks to the Lord for the gifts, energy and motivational abilities that the de Regt’s contributed to the life of Cornerstone CRC since the summer of 2005. By the end of the year a search committee was already meeting in order to find a replacement Youth Pastor. Under the capable leadership of our Worship Director, Rachel Vroege, our ministries and worship services continue to be enhanced, musical y, visual y and oral y. Members have been chal enged to use their gifts and talents in public worship and elsewhere and many have volunteered their services! We praise the Lord for Rachel’s understanding of worship, gifts and musical abilities! In the church office, Melissa Raap continued her efficient and able service to Cornerstone in her position of Administrative Assistant. Tienie Vriend, along with husband Bil , contin-ued to serve as our custodians in an ever growing and busier setting. This past year Ge-rald and Carol Gelderman stepped down from their work as treasurer and the handling of al the financial matters of the congregation. We praise the Lord for their work over the years of service! On January 4, 2009 we official y were dedicated as Cornerstone Christian Reformed Church of Chil iwack, understanding that Christ is our chief cornerstone. Al the renova-tions of 2008 had been completed and the facilities were ready for occupancy. Many of the regular ministries (S.P.I.N. “Single Parents in Need”, Coffee Break, Friendship, Women’s Bible Study, Golden Agers, as wel the Prison/Nursing Home services) continued to flourish with many committed volunteers. This past summer the Outreach Team held its second annual “Open House” for the community. Praise the Lord for scores of committed and wil ing volunteers and for another year of service in His name! At the November congregational meeting a record budget of just over $500,000 was adopted by the congregation. Again the congregation was chal enged by the deacons through the “Joy of Generosity” program to recommit ourselves to giving. Praise the Lord for His guidance and presence throughout 2009! As we enter a new year we do so in the confidence that the future is also in the Lord’s hands. Praise God from whom al blessings flow! Of course al of us have our own personal memories of the year gone by, but what fol- lows are some of the highlights as wel as facts and figures concerning life at Corner- While we experienced the birth of 7 children (5 boys/ 2 girls) at the same time we experi-enced the passing away of two of our members: Esther Kouwenhoven and Eric Pau- wels. Praise the Lord for His covenant faithfulness and for the hope and comfort we have in Him. We said farewel to 28 members who either moved elsewhere or resigned their membership. We welcomed 18 new people into our fel owship. Six couples with connections to our congregation were married (Jordan and Amy Kloot, Steven and Joanne Ivan, Ryan and Kel i-Ann Mysko, Michael and Melissa Krul, Kevin and Nicole Kolkman, and also David and Jenny Terpstra) and there were 8 public professions of faith (Alexa Geleynse, Greg Streutker, Christina VandeKamp, Rianna VandeKamp, David VanMuyen, Jonathan VanMuyen, Rachel VanRyk, and Travis Vugteveen). 2009 also was a year in which mission trips and service projects were prominent in the lives of a number of our members. Wiebo and Erna Maarhuis, Henry and Rita Meerkerk (August 29-September 19) as wel as Mel and Martha Melissen (early June) worked with CRWRC Disaster Relief in Cedar James Huisman came home from his involvement with YWAM in Finland and Jamaica on March 7. Lindsay Wiersma spent this past year working at the Children of the Prom- ise Orphanage in Cap Haitien, Haiti. An IGNITE Missions trip took place in the March break to Tijuana, Mexico where the 26-member group teamed up with the local YWAM ministry. Another trip to Tijuana is planned for March 2010. In June of this past year 14 members were involved in an Int- ergenerational Trip to Palestine and Israel teaming up with I.D.E.A. Ministries. Because of the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, a John Calvin bobblehead went along on each trip and each team had a picture published in The Banner! Many fund raisers were held for each of the trips. They included such events as beef sales, yard work, a valentine’s dinner and the Amazing Race 2: The Israeli Shalom. From August 2-27, Brent Meyerink and Eric VanEgdom returned to serve with the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) Tijuana project. Local y, others have continued to be involved with Ruth and Naomi’s Mission as wel as Council continued to be intentional about smal groups this past year setting aside 10 Sunday evenings for times of fel owship (food), worship and smal groups. 16 LIFE groups met throughout the year. The first part of the year (January-March) the theme was discipleship. The latter part of the year (September-November) a study of the Belhar

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