NCS New Canaan

Founding Chapter

Finding Rest for Your Soul (Andrew Palau – 3/18/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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Like a conversation between old friends, Andrew Palau shares his faith journey with remarkable honesty and humility. In fact, it is a conversation between old friends–the Palau family and the New Canaan Society have had a special relationship for over 20 years.

Andrew shares exciting news about the Palau CityFest coming to Southwest Connecticut in 2022 (www.cityfest.org).

He tells about his “wayward” days (as described in his book “The Secret Life of a Fool”) and how his parents never gave up on him. Andrew describes his father’s heartfelt letters and talks and the prayers that came from around the world.

He describes the tortured, sleepless nights wrestling with shame and the direction of his life. He also shares about the trip to Kingston, Jamaica that changed everything–the trip when he met Jesus and Wendy, who became his wife.

Andrew also talks about his father and his legacy and what it has been like to be called to continue that legacy. Those who knew Luis will recognize his uniquely disarming honesty and humility in Andrew.

Finally, Andrew offers a way for us to “find rest for our souls” as he finally did in Jamaica.

The Youth Drug Crisis (and the Power of Jesus and Friends) (Panel – 1/21/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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The drug and opioid crisis is ravaging America’s youth. With amazing courage and vulnerability, a panel of NCS brudders share how drug addiction has personally hit them and their family. More importantly, they describe how their faith in Jesus and the prayers and support of friends, particularly NCS brudders, were powerful allies in each of their spiritual battles against darkness and evil.

In the face of societal stigma around addiction, the panelists emphasized the importance, particularly for parents, of admitting the addiction problem and seeking help. They also strongly encouraged family members of addicts to seek their own support.

Doran Wright (NCS New Canaan) shares about the battle he and his wife fought alongside their son Josh, who tragically died of a Fentanyl overdose in 2020. A photo montage of Josh can be seen below.

James Lillis (NCS New Haven) shares about his own uncontrollable addiction and how he was completely and miraculously freed at Teen Challenge after turning his life over to Jesus.

Armen Abrahamian (NCS New Haven) shares with amazing transparency and specificity the long journey he and his wife have been on with their daughter, who thankfully has now been sober for the last few years.

Before the panel share their stories, retired NYS Trooper Greg Porteus (NCS New Canaan) describes a program he is launching to raise awareness about the opioid crisis and equip parents and children to be prepared in advance with “a way out”. He invites all NCS brudders to “Join the Patrol”.

Following the panelists, Rev. Richard Williams (NCS New Canaan), Executive Director of Pivot Ministries (www.pivotministries.org), shares a bit of his own story of addiction and explains the Pivot recovery program available in Bridgeport, CT.

Think About Noble Things (Kevin Mackay – 10/8/21 – NCS New Canaan)

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Kevin Mackay served as a Corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps and for 17 years as a Stamford Police officer. With tremendous humility and vulnerability, he shares about the “moral injury” he experienced and the miraculous healing that came through his new-found faith in Jesus.

Kevin explains that the most debilitating “moral injury” came when he was a computer forensic expert with the Stamford Police investigating cases of child pornography. With amazing transparency, he reveals how having to examine unspeakable images and incomprehensible search terms drove him to a mental break. Although he began self-medicating, Kevin shares how he turned to the Stamford Police Chaplain for support. Kevin explains that he was an atheist not interested in hearing about God or Jesus, but he believed he could trust the Chaplain (NCS brudder John Revell of Life Line Chaplaincy) to listen confidentially.

Mackay explains how Revell shared with him Philippians 4, particularly verse 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” He describes how shifting his mind to the “noble” took his focus off the images of evil he had experienced. It also led Kevin to begin exploring the idea of God in various faiths. Ultimately, applying his analytical mind to Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Mackay knew that what was missing from his life was Jesus Christ.

Although a reluctant convert just like C.S. Lewis, Kevin goes on to share how his new-found faith has both healed him and given him a new perspective on life. It has transformed him from someone always trying to control his circumstances to someone able to look through circumstances and see the hand of a loving God with a wonderful plan. He tells how anxiety and anxiety drugs have been replaced by the healing peace promised in Philippians.

Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

When It’s Over . . . No Regrets (Dr. Randall Peeters – 5/21/21 – NCS New Canaan)

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Dr. Randall Peeters is an aerospace engineer, adventurer, sportsmen, author and inspirational speaker. He is the 8th person in the world to complete the “Adventure Grand Slam” which consists of climbing the highest mountain on each continent (known as the “7-Summits”) and reaching both the North and South Pole. He has designed rocket engines and coached numerous CEO’s. But he tells us what matters most is his marriage of 56 years and the fact that Jesus has been at the center of his life for 45 years.

In addition to climbing the highest peaks (including Everest at age 57), Randy has skied from helicopters in avalanche zones, kayaked class 5 rapids, base jumped, sky-dived, surfed, and climbed some of the most challenging rock formations (including El Capitan) among other extreme sports, and he is still going strong at 76 (including off-piste powder skiing and surfing whenever he can). Although Randy has shared his adventures with many groups and organizations over the years, he shares with us his adventures as a follower of Jesus.

With incredible transparency and humility, Randy discusses his upbringing in the Lutheran church, his search for God through many other “isms” (including spiritualism, mysticism, buddhism, hinduism, etc.), his unforgettable encounter with Jesus at a marriage retreat, his miraculous healing from a marijuana addiction, his exploration of many Christian worship experiences and his eventual return to the Lutheran church. Peeters also talks about how he came to understand spiritual warfare, describing times when he recognized attacks.

Throughout sharing his life story, Randy describes how his faith has been central to his work life as well as his “adventure” life–seeing him through tragedies as well as physical, mental, emotional and spiritual challenges. He also shares advice on the adventure for which he says he would trade all the others–being married to his wonderful wife for 56 years.

Randy is also the author of “Journeys to the Edge: Where will your vision take you?”

From Rebellion To Obedience (Scott Simon – 4/23/21 – NCS New Canaan)

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With extraordinary humility and vulnerability, Scott Simon shares an incredible journey that, upon reflection, he realized is captured by the phrase “From Rebellion To Obedience”.

Scott describes a journey that took him from a “privileged” upbringing in a dysfunctional home to the hallowed halls of a prep school and then the Ivy League. He transparently shares a “rebellion” stage that resembles a painful movie almost too crazy to imagine: a secret double life in the drug world of New York City while “studying” in Philadelphia, walking away from Penn’s Wharton School after a year, hitchhiking to Seattle, working in a crab cannery in Alaska, getting “evicted” from Alaska, living in a trailer in Colorado and working at a water treatment plant. Scott explains that this is when he had the first of several dreams and visions that changed the course of his life.

Scott shares that his Colorado dream eventually led him back to Wharton where he met his wife, Margaret, and eventually graduated. He describes a successful Wall Street career as a bond trader in which pride was encouraged and nurtured among fellow “Masters of the Universe”. He then vulnerably shares how everything changed on September 11, 2001, when his brother and many close friends were killed in the attack on the World Trade Centers. Scott talks about this unbelievable tragedy beginning a new faith trajectory and a profound new experience of God’s love and inexplicable peace.

Scott describes the new faith journey that he and Margaret embarked on together, including incredible experiences, encounters, visions and dreams that eventually led him to leaving Wall Street behind and “obediently” following a path toward Christian counseling and a ministry of healing. Scott shares how this phase of his journey taught him the power of listening and the power of the ministry of presence–of “showing up”. Finally, Scott talks about the recent, sudden and tragic loss of their daughter and how God once again was a source of unimaginable strength.

Every NCS brother should listen to this amazing journey of God patiently leading a man to lay down rebellion for obedience and pride for humility and of God “showing up” during the most painful moments–to listen and to be present.

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