Wednesday, August 24, 2011
It's been awhile...
Well, it has been quite some time since I have posted on here! I have been super busy, as I just graduated from ETSU in May and am now a graduate student at NC State. I feel very blessed to have this opportunity, and I cannot wait to finish in another year and finally be a teacher!! I am going to be using this blog some for school assignments. I will try to post about other events in my life, but until then...enjoy the randomness!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A little weary...
We only have about a week and a half left here in Vancouver! I know we all have mixed feelings about returning home because we feel like there is SO much work left to be done, but we know that God has been working before us, and that he will continue working after us in the lives of the people here. We are seeing God working in many lives, and it has been such an encouraging and rewarding experience.
We are growing a little tired, and some days it is hard to find the strength to keep going. We have been very burdened by many experiences while here, and it is finally starting to take a toll. However, I was reminded the other day of the comforting words of our Father, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mathew 11:28-30. Our team will lean on these words for our last days here. We know that through God we can find the strength to keep going, and that God will give us peace and comfort when we leave on the 26th. We will leave knowing that our God is greater, and stronger, and that His work here will never stop. So many seeds have been planted, and the harvest is ripening here in Vancouver. I have faith that the Lord of the harvest will continue to work, and that He will call more workers here, and one day the harvest will be plentiful and the Kingdom will be expanded! I can't wait for that day!
Please be praying for all of the people we have met, especially our friend Vicky who is warming up to the Gospel. We met a guy named Alvin, and his friends, Sam and Iman, at UBC last week and we had a great opportunity to share a little with him the other day. He is an atheist, but very open to discussing Christianity, so please be praying for him. Please be praying for Shiraz, Romina, Andrew, Peter, and all of the other families we have been able to connect with at SFU. Pray for The Point, as they will continue to reach out to these people after we leave. Pray for the pastors we have been working with, that they will be encouraged and given the strength to continue their work. Also, pray for us to receive the strength and energy we need to finish up our time here. Thanks for the support and encouragement, and especially the prayers!
We are growing a little tired, and some days it is hard to find the strength to keep going. We have been very burdened by many experiences while here, and it is finally starting to take a toll. However, I was reminded the other day of the comforting words of our Father, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Mathew 11:28-30. Our team will lean on these words for our last days here. We know that through God we can find the strength to keep going, and that God will give us peace and comfort when we leave on the 26th. We will leave knowing that our God is greater, and stronger, and that His work here will never stop. So many seeds have been planted, and the harvest is ripening here in Vancouver. I have faith that the Lord of the harvest will continue to work, and that He will call more workers here, and one day the harvest will be plentiful and the Kingdom will be expanded! I can't wait for that day!
Please be praying for all of the people we have met, especially our friend Vicky who is warming up to the Gospel. We met a guy named Alvin, and his friends, Sam and Iman, at UBC last week and we had a great opportunity to share a little with him the other day. He is an atheist, but very open to discussing Christianity, so please be praying for him. Please be praying for Shiraz, Romina, Andrew, Peter, and all of the other families we have been able to connect with at SFU. Pray for The Point, as they will continue to reach out to these people after we leave. Pray for the pastors we have been working with, that they will be encouraged and given the strength to continue their work. Also, pray for us to receive the strength and energy we need to finish up our time here. Thanks for the support and encouragement, and especially the prayers!
Monday, July 5, 2010
An Amazing Week!
Hey Guys! This past week was the busiest, longest, fastest, most tiresome week thus far, but it was AMAZING!!! We helped The Point church with a 3 day festival on Burnaby mountain with the help of a great team from Georgia. We were able to serve the community, most of whom are nonbelievers with no religious background whatsoever. We made some really good connections, and hope to build upon those relationships in the coming weeks. We have prayed constantly for God to make us bold and courageous, and for him to open up opportunities for us to share, and He has done just that. We serve an amazing God who is always faithful!
We were able to squeeze in a little fun as well! A team from Georgia came to help us out during the festival, and they were amazing. Thursday, Canada Day, after all the festivities were over we went with the Georgia team, and Vicky (read below) downtown to see the fireworks. We were able to see the Olympic torch as well, which was amazing! We had a great time of fellowship, and it was the perfect way to wind down an amazing week. I will post some pictures of what we have done so far in Vancouver.
We do have a few prayer requests:
1. Pray that we will continue to be bold and courageous for the sake of the Gospel.
2. Pray that though we may be ridiculed, or rejected that we would rejoice in our suffering because it is for the sake of Christ's name.
3. Pray for Vicky, a Chinese girl we met during the festival. She is no a Christian, and has no religious background, but she is very curious and asking a lot of questions. We have spent some time with her, and are going to spend more time with her this week. Pray that God will guide us, and work through us as we continue to invest in her, and build our friendship.
4. Pray for Shiraz, an older Indian man who we met at the grocery store. We made a great connection with him, and he loves to talk and ask questions. Pray that we can spend more time getting to know him, and that God will open up opportunities for us to share.
5. Pray for Alvin, a Chinese guy we met at UBC today. He was very friendly, and we spent some time talking to him. We are going to invite him to go to the beach with us on Friday, so pray for God's hand in that as well.
6. Finally, pray for all the contacts we made at the Festival this past week. There were 17 people who do not go to church, and are probably nonbelievers who wanted more information about The Point, and what they are doing in the community. We are going to have a Follow-up Fiesta tomorrow night to call the families who wanted to know more.
Thanks for the prayers, and support. I love you all =)
We were able to squeeze in a little fun as well! A team from Georgia came to help us out during the festival, and they were amazing. Thursday, Canada Day, after all the festivities were over we went with the Georgia team, and Vicky (read below) downtown to see the fireworks. We were able to see the Olympic torch as well, which was amazing! We had a great time of fellowship, and it was the perfect way to wind down an amazing week. I will post some pictures of what we have done so far in Vancouver.
We do have a few prayer requests:
1. Pray that we will continue to be bold and courageous for the sake of the Gospel.
2. Pray that though we may be ridiculed, or rejected that we would rejoice in our suffering because it is for the sake of Christ's name.
3. Pray for Vicky, a Chinese girl we met during the festival. She is no a Christian, and has no religious background, but she is very curious and asking a lot of questions. We have spent some time with her, and are going to spend more time with her this week. Pray that God will guide us, and work through us as we continue to invest in her, and build our friendship.
4. Pray for Shiraz, an older Indian man who we met at the grocery store. We made a great connection with him, and he loves to talk and ask questions. Pray that we can spend more time getting to know him, and that God will open up opportunities for us to share.
5. Pray for Alvin, a Chinese guy we met at UBC today. He was very friendly, and we spent some time talking to him. We are going to invite him to go to the beach with us on Friday, so pray for God's hand in that as well.
6. Finally, pray for all the contacts we made at the Festival this past week. There were 17 people who do not go to church, and are probably nonbelievers who wanted more information about The Point, and what they are doing in the community. We are going to have a Follow-up Fiesta tomorrow night to call the families who wanted to know more.
Thanks for the prayers, and support. I love you all =)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
First Week Down!
Well, we finished our first official week of ministry, and though it was a little difficult and frustrating at times, God always knew when we needed encouragement, and he would put someone or something in our path to do just that! He is really working in Vancouver, and it is so obvious to our entire team. The type of ministry we are doing here is very difficult! It is a lot of trial and error, and just letting God lead us when we don't know what to do. This week we have seen God work in so many situations, and it is a sweet reminder that He will never leave our side even during the most difficult times.
We have done so much this week, a week where we didn't know if we were going to have plans from day to day, but God provided opportunities for us to share his love with the people of Vancouver. We are working on two college campuses (UBC and SFU) and it is very difficult to reach the students because they live in such a dark, lost place. Just to give you an idea, there is a huge sign up on the SFU campus that says "There is probably no God, so stop worrying and just live your life". We prayed for God to reveal to us just how dark, and lost this place is, and he is doing that more and more every day. As hard as it is to see, we needed to be broken. We need to see how desperate these people are for the gospel, so we can be more bold in reaching them. We passed out waters to the students at SFU the other day, and invited them to a Potluck/Lifegroup meeting that happens every week at the park near campus. Before we even started passing out the waters, we met a man in line at the grocery store who was a little curious as to why we were buying all of their cold water, and we started a conversation with him. We invited him to the event later that evening, and he showed up!!!! He was an old Indian man, and was very passionate about his poetry, and he brought plenty of copies along for everyone to read. We were able to build a relationship with him that evening over a game of frisbee, and he asked a lot of questions about Christianity, and the church. We hope that we can continue to build on that relationship over the next few weeks, so be praying for Shiraz!
We are also helping another church plant in the community where we are living, and we decided to buy a bunch of flowers, and pass them out to moms leaving the grocery store. We were unsure of how receptive people would be, but God provided us with so many opportunities to share with people, and many of them were men who we were not even giving the flowers too! It was a much needed encouragement for the team! We are going to continue to do things like that weekly here, and hope that more doors will be opened for us.
This coming week we are going to be busy! We are moving into our new place tomorrow, and have a three day festival at SFU that we will be a part of. We are also going to spend a lot of time at UBC this week, hopefully passing out free gifts to the students, and hopefully we will get a good response and an opportunity to build relationships with students on campus. Please be praying for this opportunities this week. These campuses are huge, and it is difficult to know the best ways to reach people, but we know that God will open up doors if we ask Him! Thanks for the support, and prayers =)
We have done so much this week, a week where we didn't know if we were going to have plans from day to day, but God provided opportunities for us to share his love with the people of Vancouver. We are working on two college campuses (UBC and SFU) and it is very difficult to reach the students because they live in such a dark, lost place. Just to give you an idea, there is a huge sign up on the SFU campus that says "There is probably no God, so stop worrying and just live your life". We prayed for God to reveal to us just how dark, and lost this place is, and he is doing that more and more every day. As hard as it is to see, we needed to be broken. We need to see how desperate these people are for the gospel, so we can be more bold in reaching them. We passed out waters to the students at SFU the other day, and invited them to a Potluck/Lifegroup meeting that happens every week at the park near campus. Before we even started passing out the waters, we met a man in line at the grocery store who was a little curious as to why we were buying all of their cold water, and we started a conversation with him. We invited him to the event later that evening, and he showed up!!!! He was an old Indian man, and was very passionate about his poetry, and he brought plenty of copies along for everyone to read. We were able to build a relationship with him that evening over a game of frisbee, and he asked a lot of questions about Christianity, and the church. We hope that we can continue to build on that relationship over the next few weeks, so be praying for Shiraz!
We are also helping another church plant in the community where we are living, and we decided to buy a bunch of flowers, and pass them out to moms leaving the grocery store. We were unsure of how receptive people would be, but God provided us with so many opportunities to share with people, and many of them were men who we were not even giving the flowers too! It was a much needed encouragement for the team! We are going to continue to do things like that weekly here, and hope that more doors will be opened for us.
This coming week we are going to be busy! We are moving into our new place tomorrow, and have a three day festival at SFU that we will be a part of. We are also going to spend a lot of time at UBC this week, hopefully passing out free gifts to the students, and hopefully we will get a good response and an opportunity to build relationships with students on campus. Please be praying for this opportunities this week. These campuses are huge, and it is difficult to know the best ways to reach people, but we know that God will open up doors if we ask Him! Thanks for the support, and prayers =)
Monday, June 21, 2010
First Official Week of Ministry
We are heading into our first official week of ministry! We were a little worried at first, because now that orientation is over, we are all on our own! It is up to us to make our daily plans and decide the best ways in which to serve the people here, and help the church planters in Vancouver. There is so much opportunity for ministry here, and we are certain that God will guide us in all that we do. We are planning on spending a couple of days each week on the campus of Simon Fraser and the University of British Columbia, where two churches have been started or are in the process. There is also a church plant that is in the baby stages, and we want to encourage their ministry as well. We are going to spend time meeting students, and serving them in various ways hoping that God will open up doors for us to share. We are also planning on passing out gift bags with a few necessities we take for granted, such as food and water, to many of the homeless who congregate around East Hastings Street downtown. Please pray that God will open up opportunities for us to share with them a message of hope that is only through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Also please pray that we will be able to fill up our schedule every week, but that we will also have time to rest, rejuvenate, and grow together as a team. We are all excited about what God is going to do in this city, and what he will continue to do even after we are gone. Thanks for the prayers!
Friday, June 18, 2010
We're Here!
We have arrived in Vancouver, and are already in love with this amazing city. We have been blessed with some really great supervisors who have been leading us in orientation up til today. We are finally in our first home for the summer which is the basement of a house. We will stay here for 10 days and then move to our home for the last month which will be on the campus of Simon Fraser University where will be doing a lot of work with a local church plant called The Point. We are working with two other church plants in the area, and it has been amazing to see God working through these amazing dedicated followers. We are getting used to the time change and the long days. The sun is out at 4:30 and doesn't go down until 10! Vancouver is a beautiful city, but is full of lost people. Please pray that God will direct us as we begin our first full week of ministry.
Also please be praying for the Maine team and the family of Palmer Maphet who was killed in a car accident this past week. He was on the New England Travel team with three other summer missionaries from Tennessee. The other team members have been released from the hospital. Please pray that God will bring comfort and peace in this tragic situation. Pray for the family, friends, teammates, supervisors, and fellow summer missionaries who will carry on God's work and shine their light just as Palmer did with his life! Thanks for the support, and God Bless!
Also please be praying for the Maine team and the family of Palmer Maphet who was killed in a car accident this past week. He was on the New England Travel team with three other summer missionaries from Tennessee. The other team members have been released from the hospital. Please pray that God will bring comfort and peace in this tragic situation. Pray for the family, friends, teammates, supervisors, and fellow summer missionaries who will carry on God's work and shine their light just as Palmer did with his life! Thanks for the support, and God Bless!
Friday, May 21, 2010
It's Getting Close!
Well, I am now done with school, back from a wonderful week at Folly beach, and am getting into the swing of things back home in NC! I started working this past Tuesday, and though it is good money I am already tired of it...haha! I really miss my friends back in Tennessee, but I know in a few short months we will be reunited! A few of my friends are getting ready to leave in a few days to serve in various parts of the world for the summer. Though I am really excited for them, I am a little envious! I am so ready to leave for Vancouver! I don't leave until June 15th, and I will return on July 26th. I know God has some exciting things in store for my summer, and I am so anxious to be there and get started! However, I know God will use me while I am still here, and there are a few things that God needs me to take care of before I leave. I know God is preparing me now for what I will encounter over my summer, and I hope that you will continue to pray for me as I ready myself for the adventure that awaits! Thanks for the prayers thus far! God Bless!
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