This week the team and I had the opportunity of learning about church plants, and new ways of reaching the community.
We were in Acton this week, at a church plant off the Erin Village Alliance Church, where we had our 3rd week of camps. This church was started just recently by 4 families. These 4 families have just invested a great deal of money into buying a bar called "Manny's Roadhouse", and are the process of totally turning it around.
Originally this bar had been a coffee shop in the 50's, and they planned to make it into the same kind of coffee shop, along with a music hall. These will both serve as outreach opportunities. They hope to build relationships with the costumers, and hopefully from there tell them about God. They will provide free coffee for customers on Sundays when they are having their church services, and with the music coming from the service at the hall in the back, they hope for the costumers to check out the church.
They are calling it Crossings Community Church. They call it this because the people can cross right over from the coffee shop and into the church.
What an amazing way to outreach, beginning with only 4 families. If you're reading this, could u pray for this church and their ministry. They are going public some time this December and they still have lots of cleaning to do. It still has the stale smell of alcohol, but everything is coming along nicely. Praise God for this ministry
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
God Tingles
First of all, thank-you Reuben for those words, "God tingles." I like to call goosebumps, but I think "God tingles" describes it better. It's when goosebumps are arising when you've just experienced something so cool, something beyond this world, that a shiver runs down your back, through your arms, and right down to your fingertips. And, goosebumps appear, and hairs rise as a result. Ok, that might be a bit of an exageration, but it's pretty awesome when it happens.
I heard a story this weak that gave me God tingles. A story to do with faith, prayer, and believe it or not- healing.
Liz and I got the privilege of staying with a women named Mrs. Grosse this week who had recently retired from teacher for more than 20 years. One of the most amazing teaching stories she could tell us happened this may before she retired at the end of June. This story is about a boy named Colin.
Colin was a really fun, bubbly, energetic kid. Over some time though, he was diagnosed with a disease (I don't really know the spelling), called a pesticite- which is a worm in your intestines that makes you sick and is very hard to get ride of. He was diagnosed with this in January, which means he had probably been having it for a couple of months allready. Mrs. Grosse could tell by his lack of enthusiasm that he had become very sick. He hardly ever came to school, did not have much of an appetite, and was generally not a happy kid.
Every day Mrs. Grosse would pray in front of the class (this was a Christian school) for Colin, but there were no real changes from January to May.
One morning in May though, and Mrs. Grosse recalls, she was praying on her way to school, preparing herself for the day. She really felt that God was telling her to pray for Colin again this morning, but this time she felt like God was saying to get the whole class involved. They had never done this before with all the kids involved, but they decided to give it a try.
When Mrs. Grosse got to school, she first began praying that Colin would show up in the first place, because it was rare that he could make it to school. But God didn't fail and Colin was at school that morning. She asked Colin in private first if it was ok that he come to the front of the class so everyone could pray for him. Eventually, he agreed. Mrs. Grosse asked some kids in the morning to come lay their hands on Colin, one kid to pray and the others to be involved in some other way so that everyone was involved.
After school that day Mrs. Grosse called Colin's parents to let them know what had happened in the morning in Colin's class. Colin's mother was happy to hear what had happened, and informed Mrs. Grosse that when he had come home from school, he had eaten a snack (which was rare) and Colin had also wanted to go for a walk (which he had not done in months).
God began to heal Colin that day, and now Colin is completely better.
How amazing it is that God puts things on our hearts to pray for, and then answers them right away. Not to say this always happens, but it does sometimes. And what a testimony that healing still goes on today. God is so powerful and works in pretty cool ways. Praise God for these God tingles.
I heard a story this weak that gave me God tingles. A story to do with faith, prayer, and believe it or not- healing.
Liz and I got the privilege of staying with a women named Mrs. Grosse this week who had recently retired from teacher for more than 20 years. One of the most amazing teaching stories she could tell us happened this may before she retired at the end of June. This story is about a boy named Colin.
Colin was a really fun, bubbly, energetic kid. Over some time though, he was diagnosed with a disease (I don't really know the spelling), called a pesticite- which is a worm in your intestines that makes you sick and is very hard to get ride of. He was diagnosed with this in January, which means he had probably been having it for a couple of months allready. Mrs. Grosse could tell by his lack of enthusiasm that he had become very sick. He hardly ever came to school, did not have much of an appetite, and was generally not a happy kid.
Every day Mrs. Grosse would pray in front of the class (this was a Christian school) for Colin, but there were no real changes from January to May.
One morning in May though, and Mrs. Grosse recalls, she was praying on her way to school, preparing herself for the day. She really felt that God was telling her to pray for Colin again this morning, but this time she felt like God was saying to get the whole class involved. They had never done this before with all the kids involved, but they decided to give it a try.
When Mrs. Grosse got to school, she first began praying that Colin would show up in the first place, because it was rare that he could make it to school. But God didn't fail and Colin was at school that morning. She asked Colin in private first if it was ok that he come to the front of the class so everyone could pray for him. Eventually, he agreed. Mrs. Grosse asked some kids in the morning to come lay their hands on Colin, one kid to pray and the others to be involved in some other way so that everyone was involved.
After school that day Mrs. Grosse called Colin's parents to let them know what had happened in the morning in Colin's class. Colin's mother was happy to hear what had happened, and informed Mrs. Grosse that when he had come home from school, he had eaten a snack (which was rare) and Colin had also wanted to go for a walk (which he had not done in months).
God began to heal Colin that day, and now Colin is completely better.
How amazing it is that God puts things on our hearts to pray for, and then answers them right away. Not to say this always happens, but it does sometimes. And what a testimony that healing still goes on today. God is so powerful and works in pretty cool ways. Praise God for these God tingles.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
ABK Teen-coed experience...
Here we go...
Coming into this camp, I was bracing myself for girl-boy drama and raging hormones. To my suprise and relief, and I didn't find either. Instead I was so blessed to be placed in a cabin with an amazingly cool co-counselor, and a bunch of very diverse but amazing girls.
There were the girls in the cabin who had heard all about Jesus before, there were the home schooled girls, one girl with ADD, and others. It seemed to all work out for the best though, and everyone got a long great.
Wednesday night, one girl told us her story of how after being born, her parents didn't want her. So, her grandparents(who she called mom and dad) took her in. To this day though, they don't seem to spend a lot of time with her at all. They'll give her anything she wants but their time. She said she spends most days sleeping and night awake on the computer by herself. She had also begun to cut. We could see the scars.
On this night, all the girls were gathered around as this girl shared her story. Everyone tried to help, and after she said that she had started to cut, one of the quietest girls in the cabin spoke up, and spoke well. We soon learned that she used to cut as well. And she had realized that it's a silly thing to do, cause it doesn't actually make you feel any better.
Wow, two girls ages going into grade 9 and grade 10 had cut themselves. And not just once. The one girl who had done it, had done it a good number of times.
The quiet girl who spoke up told me of her story later on the week. She only wore black, and she said she did this only because she liked the colour. I know from talking to this girl that she isn't the type to just lie about anything. I went on to find out that she has never had a father. Her father left her and her mom for crack when she was born. She used to live in Quebec but they moved about 7 years ago because her mom was being forced into robbing banks. (It seemed like her mom was involved in that sort of thing often.) She had also been sexually abused when she was younger, and she had lots of friends addicted to drugs. She said that she herself was addicted to drugs as well, and she smokes cigarettes now.
Wow, the stuff some kids go through.
In spite of all of this, I really experienced the power of prayer this week.
The week before this- at Owen Sound- I was strongly encouraged by a volunteer from the church there- to pray for an older girl spiritual mentor, an older sister in Christ, so to speak. So, I put this request on my prayer this that week, and God answered that prayer really quickly.
The first day at ABK, I got to meet my co-counselor, Hilary. She's a 23 year old woman with a huge heart for Jesus and Christian missions in the Islamic community. We clicked right away, and spent much time talking about everything and anything. I really looked and still look up to her real, genuine faith, and her passion of God. It was so encouraging and inspiring.
On the last day, I asked her to be my spiritual mentor. She was so excited she clapped her hands, and I was so excited to do, what an answer to pray right away! Thank-you God!! And Thank-you Hilary for being the person you are!!
I continue to pray for the girls and boys at this camp. It was really exciting to see young men and women starting to ask big questions about life and God. Continue to pray for the followups of this camp and the rest, and may more homeruns be hit for JESUS!!!
Coming into this camp, I was bracing myself for girl-boy drama and raging hormones. To my suprise and relief, and I didn't find either. Instead I was so blessed to be placed in a cabin with an amazingly cool co-counselor, and a bunch of very diverse but amazing girls.
There were the girls in the cabin who had heard all about Jesus before, there were the home schooled girls, one girl with ADD, and others. It seemed to all work out for the best though, and everyone got a long great.
Wednesday night, one girl told us her story of how after being born, her parents didn't want her. So, her grandparents(who she called mom and dad) took her in. To this day though, they don't seem to spend a lot of time with her at all. They'll give her anything she wants but their time. She said she spends most days sleeping and night awake on the computer by herself. She had also begun to cut. We could see the scars.
On this night, all the girls were gathered around as this girl shared her story. Everyone tried to help, and after she said that she had started to cut, one of the quietest girls in the cabin spoke up, and spoke well. We soon learned that she used to cut as well. And she had realized that it's a silly thing to do, cause it doesn't actually make you feel any better.
Wow, two girls ages going into grade 9 and grade 10 had cut themselves. And not just once. The one girl who had done it, had done it a good number of times.
The quiet girl who spoke up told me of her story later on the week. She only wore black, and she said she did this only because she liked the colour. I know from talking to this girl that she isn't the type to just lie about anything. I went on to find out that she has never had a father. Her father left her and her mom for crack when she was born. She used to live in Quebec but they moved about 7 years ago because her mom was being forced into robbing banks. (It seemed like her mom was involved in that sort of thing often.) She had also been sexually abused when she was younger, and she had lots of friends addicted to drugs. She said that she herself was addicted to drugs as well, and she smokes cigarettes now.
Wow, the stuff some kids go through.
In spite of all of this, I really experienced the power of prayer this week.
The week before this- at Owen Sound- I was strongly encouraged by a volunteer from the church there- to pray for an older girl spiritual mentor, an older sister in Christ, so to speak. So, I put this request on my prayer this that week, and God answered that prayer really quickly.
The first day at ABK, I got to meet my co-counselor, Hilary. She's a 23 year old woman with a huge heart for Jesus and Christian missions in the Islamic community. We clicked right away, and spent much time talking about everything and anything. I really looked and still look up to her real, genuine faith, and her passion of God. It was so encouraging and inspiring.
On the last day, I asked her to be my spiritual mentor. She was so excited she clapped her hands, and I was so excited to do, what an answer to pray right away! Thank-you God!! And Thank-you Hilary for being the person you are!!
I continue to pray for the girls and boys at this camp. It was really exciting to see young men and women starting to ask big questions about life and God. Continue to pray for the followups of this camp and the rest, and may more homeruns be hit for JESUS!!!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Another week...
Where to start...
Another week just flew by.
We got together at Sunday afternoon at Karla's house. Karla was probably one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. She wanted to know so much about us. Darren calls her his mom.
Monday morning we piled up our gear, and headed out again to some very dry soccer fields. At Coaches Corner on Monday (the time when we all gather around and learn and talk about God), I realized that my small group for the week was going to be a great experience of answering many questions, as I had a very talkative bunch. I told all the kids in the small group that if they ever had any questions, they could ask me, and I'd be more than willing to answer them. The small group continued through lunch for anyone who wanted to continue to ask questions. Eventually it became more of a circle of girls that wanted to talk about the mean girls in their class. I kinda closed it after that.
10 minutes later though, one of the girls in my small group, Emma, asked me if she could ask me some things. I said of course, and she started crying right away. She asked so many questions about death, as her grandma and aunt had recently died, and someone had committed suicide very close to her house just a little while ago. I tried to answer her questions the best that I could, although I found it very hard to feel that there are good answers to suicide....
The theme of death was very real throughout the week, as kids had loads of questions about it. Most wanted to know, when they would die, and where they will go after they die. This was actually really cool because it shows that kids are really thinking about it.
There were other questions near the end of the week such as: When was God born? Did God create the devil? How can God know eveythings that's going to happen in the future? What are the end times going to be like?
It was also a refresher for myself because explaining certain things really makes you re-evaluate your own beliefs, and I realized some questions are really impossible to fully answer.
I also realized that sometimes we don't know about the seeds that we have planted in people's lives. We don't always see the results. Karla told us that she has so many parents that talk about how much their kids love these camps. At the end of the week, we almost didn't have enough Bibles for the kids who had never opened a Bible before. When I handed out the last Bibles for kids to share, siblings would have to share. One brother would say to the other brother- I get to carry it to the car. Then the other would say I get to read it when we get into the car, and all night tonight. These kids were fighting over Bible reading time. If only more of us were like that....
It was another great experience. The rest of the summer is going to just fly by.
We're heading up to Owen Sound in about an hour. If you're reading, the team and I would like to ask for your continued prayers for us. Prayer is so huge in this ministry, and we would really appreciate it if you kept us in your prayers.
Another week just flew by.
We got together at Sunday afternoon at Karla's house. Karla was probably one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met. She wanted to know so much about us. Darren calls her his mom.
Monday morning we piled up our gear, and headed out again to some very dry soccer fields. At Coaches Corner on Monday (the time when we all gather around and learn and talk about God), I realized that my small group for the week was going to be a great experience of answering many questions, as I had a very talkative bunch. I told all the kids in the small group that if they ever had any questions, they could ask me, and I'd be more than willing to answer them. The small group continued through lunch for anyone who wanted to continue to ask questions. Eventually it became more of a circle of girls that wanted to talk about the mean girls in their class. I kinda closed it after that.
10 minutes later though, one of the girls in my small group, Emma, asked me if she could ask me some things. I said of course, and she started crying right away. She asked so many questions about death, as her grandma and aunt had recently died, and someone had committed suicide very close to her house just a little while ago. I tried to answer her questions the best that I could, although I found it very hard to feel that there are good answers to suicide....
The theme of death was very real throughout the week, as kids had loads of questions about it. Most wanted to know, when they would die, and where they will go after they die. This was actually really cool because it shows that kids are really thinking about it.
There were other questions near the end of the week such as: When was God born? Did God create the devil? How can God know eveythings that's going to happen in the future? What are the end times going to be like?
It was also a refresher for myself because explaining certain things really makes you re-evaluate your own beliefs, and I realized some questions are really impossible to fully answer.
I also realized that sometimes we don't know about the seeds that we have planted in people's lives. We don't always see the results. Karla told us that she has so many parents that talk about how much their kids love these camps. At the end of the week, we almost didn't have enough Bibles for the kids who had never opened a Bible before. When I handed out the last Bibles for kids to share, siblings would have to share. One brother would say to the other brother- I get to carry it to the car. Then the other would say I get to read it when we get into the car, and all night tonight. These kids were fighting over Bible reading time. If only more of us were like that....
It was another great experience. The rest of the summer is going to just fly by.
We're heading up to Owen Sound in about an hour. If you're reading, the team and I would like to ask for your continued prayers for us. Prayer is so huge in this ministry, and we would really appreciate it if you kept us in your prayers.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
What a rush...
Sunday-Friday...
Leaving in tears....
Swarmed by kids.......
Feeling God's love and presence all around us....
It's hard to describe the feeling that all of us coaches are feeling right now.
Sunday night we left to meet up with the Bolton Alliance Church. We were greeted with open arms by around 20 people that we had never met before. Liz and I met our host family that night, a young family with 3 little girls, Jaqueline(11), Lexi(9), and Tasha(6). What a blessing they were to us. Over the week, Liz and I developed amazing friendships with this couple, Bob and Odette, and they really made us feel and understand the community of Christ.
Early Monday morning, after feeding the ponies at Bob and Odette's beautiful home out in the country, we set off for AIA Bolton Alliance Church Soccer Camp. I was a little nervous, not knowing exactly what to expect. But the day went very smoothly and we soon began to fall in love with the volunteers from the church, and the 60 kids who were entrusted to us every day this week.
Tuesday was the day I had to do my testimony. This was a great experience. On Monday night, for some reason I was very calm. I finished it at around 11:30 at night, and said it out loud to Liz. Tuesday morning came, and still, not much nerves like I usually have. I ended up being more excited to share a part of God's work in my life than scared of going up in front of 70 people, and I feel honoured that I can share it again in the weeks to come.
Wednesday to Friday passed so quickly. From getting into a huge whipped cream war (check out the facebook pictures if you want), to ice cream every day:), to lots of questions about God from several young children, to experiencing God's true community, and feeling so loved by people we've known for less than a week.
I feel like I'm on fire right now, and it won't leave for a while. I pray that it won't leave, as many rushes tend to do. I feel so privileged to have this opportunity to serve God in this way. There are so many funny stories about kids, and so many empowering stories of God's working in this camp. I never heard one bad things said about this camp all summer.
On Friday, I had the privilege of talking to all the kids in the camp who were still unsure about their faith, and who still had questions. I had questions ranging from- did Mother Nature or did God create the earth? Is hell a place where you get tortured and burn? Then there were insightful questions like- How do you know if you're going to heaven or not? and Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people? Thank-you God for these questions.
It's crazy how the church thinks that us coaches have a great deal to do with how the camps worked out, and it's crazy to think that they appreciate us. They don't know, and the campers do not know how they have touched our lives in so many ways this week. But ultimately, all the praise and glory goes to our God, the giver of everything. God, without you, nothing can live and breathe. How awesome you are, and we pray that the seed that were planted this week will continue to grow.
Bolton Alliance Church family, Thank-you for all your efforts, prayers and continuous kind thoughts and words. We'll never forget you, and hopefully we'll see you next year.
Leaving in tears....
Swarmed by kids.......
Feeling God's love and presence all around us....
It's hard to describe the feeling that all of us coaches are feeling right now.
Sunday night we left to meet up with the Bolton Alliance Church. We were greeted with open arms by around 20 people that we had never met before. Liz and I met our host family that night, a young family with 3 little girls, Jaqueline(11), Lexi(9), and Tasha(6). What a blessing they were to us. Over the week, Liz and I developed amazing friendships with this couple, Bob and Odette, and they really made us feel and understand the community of Christ.
Early Monday morning, after feeding the ponies at Bob and Odette's beautiful home out in the country, we set off for AIA Bolton Alliance Church Soccer Camp. I was a little nervous, not knowing exactly what to expect. But the day went very smoothly and we soon began to fall in love with the volunteers from the church, and the 60 kids who were entrusted to us every day this week.
Tuesday was the day I had to do my testimony. This was a great experience. On Monday night, for some reason I was very calm. I finished it at around 11:30 at night, and said it out loud to Liz. Tuesday morning came, and still, not much nerves like I usually have. I ended up being more excited to share a part of God's work in my life than scared of going up in front of 70 people, and I feel honoured that I can share it again in the weeks to come.
Wednesday to Friday passed so quickly. From getting into a huge whipped cream war (check out the facebook pictures if you want), to ice cream every day:), to lots of questions about God from several young children, to experiencing God's true community, and feeling so loved by people we've known for less than a week.
I feel like I'm on fire right now, and it won't leave for a while. I pray that it won't leave, as many rushes tend to do. I feel so privileged to have this opportunity to serve God in this way. There are so many funny stories about kids, and so many empowering stories of God's working in this camp. I never heard one bad things said about this camp all summer.
On Friday, I had the privilege of talking to all the kids in the camp who were still unsure about their faith, and who still had questions. I had questions ranging from- did Mother Nature or did God create the earth? Is hell a place where you get tortured and burn? Then there were insightful questions like- How do you know if you're going to heaven or not? and Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people? Thank-you God for these questions.
It's crazy how the church thinks that us coaches have a great deal to do with how the camps worked out, and it's crazy to think that they appreciate us. They don't know, and the campers do not know how they have touched our lives in so many ways this week. But ultimately, all the praise and glory goes to our God, the giver of everything. God, without you, nothing can live and breathe. How awesome you are, and we pray that the seed that were planted this week will continue to grow.
Bolton Alliance Church family, Thank-you for all your efforts, prayers and continuous kind thoughts and words. We'll never forget you, and hopefully we'll see you next year.
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