Today God decided to open my eyes, simply he showed me the morning paper. This morning I read that 97 people were injured in Norway, due to the fact that he did not like the idea of political leaders and diversity. I took a moment and prayed deeply for the young people who were killed and knew that their death would not be forgotten. However when it came time to pray for the man who shot the 97 people, I found it harder... I know that God calls us to love one another but this man completely tortured innocent lives. Then I realized there was no but about it. God plainly told me to think beyond the worlds view of this man. He told me to ask the questions that people would not normally ask. Like what point was this person in his life to make him do this? What was his childhood like? What kind of pain was this man carrying as he decided to hurt those that did nothing to him? Those questions were hard to ask but once I did I found that it was easier to pray for this man.
Some of you may ask why I am even talking about this and why it relates to my mission in Canada. Well I will tell you my friends. We do the exact same thing. We judge before we really know. We say ''Oh this person deserves what they had coming" or "this person is homeless because of their choices" That is not our place to say those kind of things. It is honestly between that person and God. We are called to love and be the church to people who need us. That is what God has taught me this morning and the rest of my day! I was sorta called to share this with everyone.
The teams come in tomorrow and I hope that everyone is able to come and be broken before Jesus.
But before I go I do wanna talk about Urban Promise. Last week I had a great opportunity to work with a childrens ministry, called Urban Promise. It was kinda like a day camp. Basically it reminded me of VBS and camp. It made me realize how much I truly love kids and how much joy they give me. There is something about the spirit of children that just automatically brings joy to hearts. Children are the future and I am grateful to anyone who chooses to work with them!
LOVE YOU ALL <3
Monday, July 25, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
The Learning Experience.
Sorry guys for not writing anything recently, everyday is so full and jammed pack with things to do that sitting down and writing something out was just not possible. So anyway this last week we had 18 amazing people from Edmunston Alberta. This last week I got to see them all grow with the Lord and come to love the city of Vancouver with the eyes of Jesus. Every single ministry they went to, they poured their heart and soul into and truly got the experience that YWAM hoped for!
I'm not saying that it wasn't hard because believe me there were times I felt extremely discouraged and almost rejected, however God and my fellow staff members picked me up and told me to move on from this. That is exactly what I am doing. This is where the learning is present, in life there will be people who won't accept you, however that doesn't mean that God won't accept you. God is the ultimate accepter and by the time that this week was over, I was able to feel God's love and power. Before if I would have been rejected or discouraged I would have literally shut down, but now I know that I can relay on the strenght of God because there is nothing more comforting and powerful. Period!
Another learning experience came in the form of relationship, or friendship. One of the benefits of going to all these ministries is being able to come again. The teams sadly can only go once, but staff have mulitple chances to go and talk to the people and form friendships. Before coming here I would have never thought to form a friendship with someone who was less fortunate then myself but God basically told me to get over it. Why is it that we as a society must have that mindset? Our judgment holds us back from experiencing the work of God in other's lives. I know that now. I know that it is important to look at a person in the eye. I know that I maybe the only person who is willing to give my time to them, so why waste it with empty converstation? The world is a book and people are the stories that fill them. Everyone is different and has something to say, therefore listen.
Like I said, God literally kicked my butt and told me to learn this week. I took what he has thought and now I'm mving forward with the rest of my summer, which includes another team, more ministry and Alberta. YWAM is going to do more outreach in Fort McMurray (I spelt that wrong), to tell those about Mission Adventures. So this is something that I'm looking forward to!
Finally I would love to take this time and thank everyone who is praying for me. Without the prayer and support I would not be here. Prayer is our powerful tool that the Lord gave us. A freely given gift that makes the difference in the lives of others. So those prayers are making a difference in my life and throughout my mission to serve the city of Vancouver!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
-Lily
I'm not saying that it wasn't hard because believe me there were times I felt extremely discouraged and almost rejected, however God and my fellow staff members picked me up and told me to move on from this. That is exactly what I am doing. This is where the learning is present, in life there will be people who won't accept you, however that doesn't mean that God won't accept you. God is the ultimate accepter and by the time that this week was over, I was able to feel God's love and power. Before if I would have been rejected or discouraged I would have literally shut down, but now I know that I can relay on the strenght of God because there is nothing more comforting and powerful. Period!
Another learning experience came in the form of relationship, or friendship. One of the benefits of going to all these ministries is being able to come again. The teams sadly can only go once, but staff have mulitple chances to go and talk to the people and form friendships. Before coming here I would have never thought to form a friendship with someone who was less fortunate then myself but God basically told me to get over it. Why is it that we as a society must have that mindset? Our judgment holds us back from experiencing the work of God in other's lives. I know that now. I know that it is important to look at a person in the eye. I know that I maybe the only person who is willing to give my time to them, so why waste it with empty converstation? The world is a book and people are the stories that fill them. Everyone is different and has something to say, therefore listen.
Like I said, God literally kicked my butt and told me to learn this week. I took what he has thought and now I'm mving forward with the rest of my summer, which includes another team, more ministry and Alberta. YWAM is going to do more outreach in Fort McMurray (I spelt that wrong), to tell those about Mission Adventures. So this is something that I'm looking forward to!
Finally I would love to take this time and thank everyone who is praying for me. Without the prayer and support I would not be here. Prayer is our powerful tool that the Lord gave us. A freely given gift that makes the difference in the lives of others. So those prayers are making a difference in my life and throughout my mission to serve the city of Vancouver!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
-Lily
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Canada Day to Coffee!
So this past week has been slightly crazy getting ready for the teams to arrive on Tuesday. So busy that I didn't get to have the day off on Monday for the forth of July, which was slightly a bummer because this is my first forth I'm missing with my family... However I did get Canada Day off, so the whole team decided to head into town and celebrate with the different concerts and fun little booths that the city of Vancouver had to offer. This was fun but America still does it louder and prouder... Not saying that the street performances weren't impressive, but America can just throw a better party with more fireworks. After we were in town we decided to go to a place called Belgium Fries. There I ate my first Poutine! Eat it!!!!!! So goooood...
The weekend was mostly quiet, we just really prepared for the teams to come and finished setting up the school that we are now currently living in. Tuesday the teams came! Earlier then expected, so we all did the mad rush to get things finished. However the team had some time to explore the city so they all went to the Van Aqurium... (I definately did not spell that right)... But while they were there, their car got broken into because a couple of the students left their backpacks in the car. Rule of thumb when in Vancouver, NEVER LEAVE YOUR BACKPACKS IN YOUR CAR!!!! Trust me on this one... Its a city of thieft. Anyway a lot of the students spirits got extremely affected and that overall made them have a sour attitude. However I believe that if I were in their case I would be too. It happened on my MA two years ago. Our church got broken into. We were able to look at it in a positive way. Needless to say the devil was causing chaos... It was super sad because we as team members were sorta falling a part but luckily we were able to figure it out and move on! God gave us an awesome team that works very well together! God can overcome anything and this event is just a little thing in his grand plan for the rest of this week.
Today I have the day off sadly... But I'm thinking about some Nutella!!! And JJ Bean coffee... Hands down JJ Bean is the best coffee ever! Sorry Starbucks.... Oh yea I have started drinking coffee for the summer because I definately need it in the mornings... Its hard to go to bed at 11 then wake up at 7! Like REALLY Hard! Luckily I have Jesus and coffee to get me through the day!
The weekend was mostly quiet, we just really prepared for the teams to come and finished setting up the school that we are now currently living in. Tuesday the teams came! Earlier then expected, so we all did the mad rush to get things finished. However the team had some time to explore the city so they all went to the Van Aqurium... (I definately did not spell that right)... But while they were there, their car got broken into because a couple of the students left their backpacks in the car. Rule of thumb when in Vancouver, NEVER LEAVE YOUR BACKPACKS IN YOUR CAR!!!! Trust me on this one... Its a city of thieft. Anyway a lot of the students spirits got extremely affected and that overall made them have a sour attitude. However I believe that if I were in their case I would be too. It happened on my MA two years ago. Our church got broken into. We were able to look at it in a positive way. Needless to say the devil was causing chaos... It was super sad because we as team members were sorta falling a part but luckily we were able to figure it out and move on! God gave us an awesome team that works very well together! God can overcome anything and this event is just a little thing in his grand plan for the rest of this week.
Today I have the day off sadly... But I'm thinking about some Nutella!!! And JJ Bean coffee... Hands down JJ Bean is the best coffee ever! Sorry Starbucks.... Oh yea I have started drinking coffee for the summer because I definately need it in the mornings... Its hard to go to bed at 11 then wake up at 7! Like REALLY Hard! Luckily I have Jesus and coffee to get me through the day!
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