Boxall Family - Canada

Dear Gateway Family,

As many of you will know, we travelled to Canada last Summer for a few weeks in order to continue to pray and decide about an opportunity to move out there more permanently. Canada has been on our hearts for many years, however, it has never felt like an open door until now. 

In September 2024, we sensed that there was some sort of change coming for us and in particular around Bec’s job so we began to pray and push some doors. In December 2024 we heard about a job opportunity for Bec to work for an organisation called Barnabas Landing in Canada as a childcare coordinator. We have connections to this place through family that have either visited or worked there before. After months of chatting and praying with them as well as people here, we decided to continue to push doors and visit the place in the Summer.

After visiting in the summer and continuing to pray and discern, Bec has been offered the job and we have decided to say yes to the adventure and see if the doors keep opening!

Barnabas Landing is a Christian organisation based on Keats Island where their heart is to provide a place for families and leaders to find rest in order that they can be reinvigorated and refreshed to go back and serve in their places of work and home.

Bec’s role out there will be to coordinate the childcare provision for the staff’s children that work on the island with the idea to help it grow and flourish.

As a family, we feel that God has spoken to us about going on this adventure with him where we let go of the things we hold on to here in Leeds and trust him with all the unknowns of what the next year or so will look like. Our prayer is that he will use us all as a family in many different ways.

The hope is that we can move out there in spring time in order to be settled in our home and get to know the job role before the place becomes busy in the summer as well as allowing Ruby to have some time to settle into the school there before summer. However, this is very visa dependent!

There are lots of things that we would love you to pray for us over the next coming months:

-       Bec to receive an invitation to apply for her visa anytime from now - the sooner the better!

-       Chris’ visa - this is much more complex and will probably not be able to be sorted until we are out there - prayer for wisdom as we decide what options he should explore and take

-       Our house selling at the right time as well as getting everything else in place and having the time to sort all this.

-       The girls as they transition from here to Canada - that they will feel secure and make quick friendships. Prayers for Ruby as she settles at a new school that she will find her place, make friendships and feel safe.

-       Prayers for us emotionally as we say goodbye to Leeds and our family. We are so settled here and it feels hard to leave so prayer as we navigate that before and after we leave.

There will probably be more prayers as time goes on! Thank you for praying and being on this journey with us, we so appreciate it.

Lots of love.

Chris, Bec, Ruby and Josie x