From left to right: Jamillia, Ivan, Madeline (far back), Jo, Anna, Miriam, Mike, and Michael
DAY 1
On Saturday, our orientation and training to our ministry/missions effort began. Through the various speakers, we were equipped to see our city’s ethos from a different perspective, inspired to be moved with compassion for the people that we will see, and challenged to be gripped with the things that grips our Jesus’ heart.
Perhaps the most inspiring lesson from Saturday was in the earliest talk that challenged us to remove blinders and prejudices we had of people from our eyes; …to yield our first impressions up to the Lord in exchange for His compassion.
DAY 2 (today)
Our morning began with worship at the Eagle Ridge Bible Fellowship church. It was so refreshing to be in a context of worship where it was responsive and enthusiastic. Again, we were challenged in the area of compassion…to allow compassion to move us emotionally and physically. It’s not just about sitting around and feeling sorry and pity… it’s responding in action with Jesus’ love, no matter how small of a deed or how radical of a task Jesus is asking for us to do.
After lunch together, we moved into our next sessions. Here are some quotations from the various sessions:
“Anytime you give God space to move, He moves.”
“There’s a depth that happens within the family of God; we are stronger as a group than if we were alone.”
“We can do hard things together. We influence each other all the time.”
“Often times, the smallest things are the hardest things (e.g. bringing someone coffee, waking up early to do devotions, remembering to call my family when I’m out of town). Small things have tremendous value in the Kingdom of God.”
“May you be so favored by God that He asks big things of you. In the meanwhile, may you be so zealous in your pursuit of God that you do any and every small tasks He asks of you.”
“Size of faith isn’t as important as WHERE you place your faith. Big faith in wrong things is pointless. Small faith in the right thing (aka Jesus) is key.”
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS of SUNDAY:
Team Time: we got to mingle with the additional team members that will be partnering with later this week. We’re all pretty stoked about getting out in the street and ministering together.
Solo Time: got to spend a good chunk of time just in solitude with the Lord and hearing from Him.
TOMORROW’S PLANS and HOW YOU CAN PRAY:
We begin the day in Coquitlam at 9am (a good 45-min drive for most of us) for worship, prayer and a session entitled “Holy Spirit Empowerment.” We then head to First Baptist Church in downtown area where we are working as a Welcoming Crew from 2:30-8:30pm-ish.
Please pray:
-Safety in all our travels this week.
-For divine appointments and conversations.
-Ephesians 6:19-20 for all of us…that whenever we open our mouths, words may be given so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…. Many of us on the team tend towards the shy; pray that we may be bold in our extension of hospitality and represent Jesus without fear.
-Matt 9:35-37…when Jesus saw the crowd he had compassion for them… pray that as we encounter the crowds, that we may also be moved with compassion for the people… to see them as Jesus sees them… to love them as He loves them.
-Michael Jao (the guy on the farthest right) has been feeling really sick. Pray for healing — a quick recovery — from his head cold so that he may join us full-strength soon.
