I wrote so much! enjoy!!

Hey everyone I'm super sorry it's taken me this long to post something more on my blog but the past four days have been super busy! Busy busy busy:) But Canada is doing great!

So on Saturday the team decided to go into town and explore so we ended up going to Chinatown, where I got guava tea and to Gas town. Gas town is the main area for the Vancouver International Jazz Fest. For those of you that know me, I LOVE JAZZ!!! So I was stoked. At the same time I was soaked... It rained a lot!!!!

Sunday we went to Full Gospel Assembly, which has a really awesome worship team along with great noodles for lunch!!! My dear friend Lynsey and I decided to go on an adventure to discover Vancouver more.... So we went to Stanley Park, which is a huge green park in Downtown Vancouver. The Sun was shining and the Lord totally blessed the day!!! It was wonderful!!! I was able to experience Passionfruit gelato and Jazz... Yes my friends I did go back to Gas town to listen to live Jazz! So many people but totally worth it!

Monday was the day to reflect and take note of the City. For those who don't know what an Urban Plunge is, it's basically a time to go into the downtown eastside and reflect and see what the area is like and how God views it. Basically a time to pray for the community and learn about the brokeness. The downtown eastside is basically the red light district in Vancouver, a lot of the drugs and prositution is located in that part of town. I want everyone to know at no point in the day did I feel in danger, because I knew that God had my back. However it was emotionally draining to take in the different characters that the downtown eastside has to offer. The Lord really did tug on my heart and at several points I would stop and pray. The Lord also told me to look at these people as he would view them, which instead of judging I was able to love them. So overall that day was hard but it was great because God really opened my eyes to a lot of pain that the middle class don't really have to deal with.

Tuesday was Chili Wagon day. We went to a church to prepare a huge tub of chili along with several loaves of Banana bread. So if anyone wants a killer banana recipe I got you covered!!! We literally spent the whole day baking and cleaning. Until someone started a food fight :) I don't think I can eat another banana for a couple more weeks! After we finished preparing the food, we went on commercial which is commonly known as the drive and served to about 100 people. I was really busy serving so I didn't really get to talk to a lot of the people who were there but it was nice to serve a community and see how people are so grateful for little things like chili. We have to remember that to these people, the little things are what make all the difference!

Finally to today which is Wednesday. Lets just say I'm spirtually tired. Today we went to th Union Gospel Mission. It was a very early start because we had to serve breakfast and lunch. I did most of the cleaning and was lead by God to do the Chapel for the people in the mission who were going to eat lunch. The whole morning I decided to fast and pray about what the Lord wanted me to say. Finally God brought me Psalms 139. This verse is extremely powerful and applies to my testimony. So I decided to give my testimony to the people in the mission. I get up and start to speak, then about seven minutes into it, a lady gets up and says that she wasn't going to stand for this Jesus crap and decided to leave. I was extremely discouraged but I kept talking then I closed in prayer. After that I started to break down and cry not because I was sad for myself but sad for that lady. The Lord pulled some heavy stuff with her and although her reaction was not exactly okay for the moment, the Lord had spoken. It was hard. However a majority of the people who I spoke to came up to me and said that I did a wonderful Job and not to listen to the people trying to bring you down.

I'm looking forward what God has instore for me this coming week because next week is when the teams come and things start to get crazy!!! :)
LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Rain to Peach Guava Gelato :)

Today was day three and filled with a lot of debriefing and how to handle certain situations. So that was cool. However before we got to base, the team really wanted to take a walk to get there. So I went along for the ride.... That was my first clue. You'd think because I'm from washington that I would be able to realize when rain is coming... but I think that my mind was thinking oh it's summer it shouldn't be raining. It didn't rain, no that would have been nice, it poured. Within literally five minutes I was soaked... Crazy!!!!

The day got better when we went to the drive to take a shower. For the family back home I'd like you to know that it has been two days since my last one so I really didn't care where I was, I was just grateful to be clean :) So praise Jesus!!! Swimming was really nice after being in a room all day...

But I have to say that the icing on the cake is the coffee shop a block away from the church that we're staying at... it's a really classy gelato shop that just happens to have peach guava gelato... Even though I may have a coughing spasm I really don't care because true islanders love guava in any way, shape or form! So it just goes to show that God can brighten up anyday :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Day One :)

            Hey Everyone!!!! So today was the first day and I met the crew. There are five girls including myself and one guy. I’m really looking forward to spending the summer with all these people and grow closer to God!

            The road trip coming up was great thanks to Julia, Nicole and Lori. However when we reached the boarder I nearly had a heart attack because I didn’t receive a parent note, but my mom answered the phone. So Canadians please note that I do have parental permission to be in Canada! Traffic is a bummer and at times like these I’m extremely grateful not to have a license J

            The place that we’re staying is actually the church that we stayed in when I came here back in May. So all you MCC kids who are dying to know, yes I did take a picture of the finger plays and I will be posting it soon! We’re only in the church for about a week until the Christian school that we’re going to be moving to is done with the year. So I’m excited about that!

            Being the anxious person I am, I have a tendency to over pack… and yea…. I over packed. However it works because most of the girls traveled by plane and were not able to get a lot of the things they need but I have J Score one Lily!!! Anyway I’m excited and we’ll see what God has in store!!!

LOVE YOU ALL, Lily

The Day Before...

So it's the day before I leave and I'm excited and nervous at the same. Excited because I never thought that I would actually make it to this place. The truth be told I haven't made it to this place, God has, God and all of the loving people who supported me in funding and prayer. Thank you all! I cannot express my graditude, literally my mind is blown at the love that I was showed and am continuing to be shown. These next two months are not going to be easy and I know that God will show me things and allow me to experience new things that will bring me closer to him!
Well, I'm nervous because this is the first time I will be far away from my family. All of them I will miss too. Through all of the tears they have supported me and I know now they are excited for me to leave and go do the work of the Lord. I'm also nervous because this is my first ''longish'' mission trip. I don't know what to expect especially because I don't know how the Lord will use me, but I do realize that my heart will be broken along the way.
For those that don't realize, this trip has been on my heart for a little over a year now. When I was in Canada last year God basically said that your coming back here. At the time I didn't know how until I reserched and found the summer program. Needless to say God had done work.
So to all of you who are going to follow me, it won't just be me on a missions trip, it will be us! It would be wonderful if everyone who reads this could keep me in their prayers:)
LOVE YOU ALL!!! -Lily