"Prior to the start of our mission week, I was anxious about how I would initiate conversations with people/strangers about God and spiritual matters. I knew I needed to fully depend on God to put His Words in my mouth and speak through me. As my prayer warriors prayed for me, I really experienced a new boldness as He helped me to overcome my fears and actually had the opportunity to share the gospel and to pray with people." --Miriam

"Jesus loves anyone and everyone. He has called us to love like He has and does. Missions isn’t just a week long or a few months long, it lasts for a lifetime. We are servants of God 24/7. His plans are greater than any of our expectations. He can take the little things and turn it into something amazing." --Jamillia

"Key things I learned: God is faithful and powerful enough to move in big ways through small acts of obedience. We need to let go and be flexible to give God the space to do His thing." --Ivan

"This week, I had the opportunity to see my city from a different perspective…from God’s perspective. It is my prayer that I will continue to move in that compassion and boldness of faith. I’ve learned that the smallest acts of kindness can be the hardest things to do; by human nature, we like things big and dramatic. But God works through the smallest details of our lives. I will be looking out for those God-moments in the mundane, every day activities of my life… for those divine interruptions that turn out to be divine appointments." --Jo

"Every time you step out the door, it is a mission trip. God demands the first-fruits of our harvest, not our leftovers. We are to commit the best of our time to God, and don’t get caught up in catching up with all the busyness of all we have to do. I am learning that as I keep my eyes on the prize, the other things will take care of themselves." --Mike

"God has prompted me to be more aware with opportunities / ‘divine appointments’ He might give me to talk to people and to inquire about their spiritual journey. He has given me more boldness and confidence, along with a heart of obedience to share His love. It is not my business to change people. God will change people in His own way. My role: Just give the message. THIS is ‘normal’ Christianity." --Madeline

"God has taught me to be more responsible and positive with all that happens. I have been given a drive of compassion and more able to handle rejection. When someone slaps you in the face, turn the other cheek. The stabs to the heart of a Christian will always heal, because Jesus saves; and Jesus heals." --Michael J.

"At first, this may seem like a week outside the ordinary, but I learned that it’s the reverse, this week IS the ordinary. To be proactive in talking to people, having compassion for those around you, and listening… truly listen to others and to God – this should be the ordinary life of a Christian. When you live this “ordinary” life, God works in extraordinary ways. --Anna

On behalf of the team, a heartfelt THANK YOU to all our prayer supporters for your intercession over our ministry this past week.  We’ve deepened in our relationship with God, especially in the area of reaching those in our city and within our spheres of influence.  The consensus is also that we’ve become more bold in stepping up and displaying our faith.  You’ve played a big part in that process.

Talk to us individually if you’d like to get more personal stories from our week.

Thanks again, dear friends.  We appreciated you having our backs while we served on the front-lines!!

******

Earlier this week, in another hot cocoa station in the down town area, a First Nations lady was approached and offered hot cocoa.  The crew on shift was from Texas and he asks the lady if she’d like some hot chocolate.  She said yes.  As he handed her the hot cocoa, he asks in his Southern drawl, “And y’all doin’ awlright tonight?”

“No.  Not at all,” the lady honestly replies.

She continues to explain how things can’t get any worse.  Arguments with her husband; the family is split apart; things are hopeless.  Time is taken to listen to the lady’s situation.  Jesus is eventually shared.  And Jesus is eventually accepted by the lady.

Two nights later, she returns to the same hot cocoa venue.  This time, with her husband and children.  They had reconciled.  New life abounds in this lady, in the husband, and in the children.

Not just another hot cocoa, now is it?

*****

As we head to our last formal day of ministry, pray that:

- we will enter this day with even more fervor and compassion

- for “divine appointments” in the day; and for the perseverance and faithfulness in doing the small things for the Lord and leave the big results up to Him

- as 6 of us share stories from our week at the Young Adult Ministries later in the night, that we may instill excitement and vision for city missions to our peers

- as we enter into the Saturday’s debrief day, that God can speak directly to each of us on how we can be living more missionally for Him.  We will have some solitude time in the afternoon.

Co-partnering with other young adults for ministry at the King Ed station

Long, deep conversations are tough to make.  But good impressions are being made, nonetheless.  Our team is greeted by many smiles and even questions such as, “Why are you doing this?”  ”This is so nice.”  ”Can we offer to pay a little something for this?”  To which our crew would use that opportunity to bless them with more words of kindness and explain the purpose of why we are there.

Mike getting trigger ready with the hot cocoa pack

Salvation Army has truly outdone themselves.  They provide 100′s of boxes of great-tasting hot chocolate all throughout the main hubs of Translink.  Not only that, but they’ve supplied all their volunteers with hefty winter coats to keep them warm!  An amazing ministry and we’re definitely proud to partner with them.

- Weather has been real good to us!  Though it’s cold, it’s not frigid and it hasn’t been raining.  That’s amazing for the Lower Mainland!!

You’re prayers are being answered!!

- We got free parking at the church AND we even got to park one of our shuttling vans right next to the Translink station.  Makes it even more convenient to bring hot water back and forth from the church to the main venue.

- Michael J is feeling lots better!  Even after a long day of ministry on the street, he came out to our Young Adult Ministry night to support me in the talk that I gave… to a small and faithful turnout.

Yes, it's cold enough to have polar bears. And no, that's not one of our team members outfitted in the suit. A fun atmosphere continues to resonate throughout Vancouver.

- Our crew is getting more familiar with the ins and outs of the work.  It’s encouraging to see them have so much fun in serving God.  Though the task seem small, they are faithful to doing what they’ve been asked to do.

Teammates Ivan and Jamie (a TREK intern) works the crowd across the street.

- A couple others in our church have come out to support us on the street; it’s been a blessing to see familiar faces, to be prayed for, and to even see them take part in the ministry tasks.

- Teamwork abounds.  That’s a great thing to have.  Enough said.

For the next couple days… continue to pray:

Twenty-minutes away from the King Ed/Translink station, the hot cocoa is being mixed in the kitchen of a local church. Then, it's transported by van to the main site.

- For our energy levels.  Strength and perseverance… especially as the work gets more familiar and “loses its novelty”… that we won’t slack off; but that we will finish the week strong!

- For the Translink workers.  As one of our team members noted, though the travelers may change constantly, there are a few workers that are stationed there for long duration / hours.  Pray that they may take notice of our great attitudes, how we treat one another, how we respond to people, etc.  God-willing, we may even be able to enter into conversations with some of them!

- Two more days left.  Pray that we will seize each day to the fullest… that as we see the crowds before us, that we will be like Jesus and have a deep compassion for them.

- That the Lord will speak personally into each of our lives in the area of missions… and what our role should look like after this week is over.  Pray that, as our heart has soften and our mind has become more open these days, that He will prompt us with a renewed vision for His Kingdom work, more specifically, in areas of mission.

- There’s a huge possibility of sharing about our week on Friday night Young Adult Ministry meeting and Sunday morning worship services.  Pray that we may be able to get our thoughts together with content that will encourage and inspire our peers and church family towards living missionally in their home town.

“God changes people His way, not my way.”

“Do you limit God (and his capabilities) to your small size?”

Samir Youssef was our speaker this morning and his topic was “Holy Spirit Empowerment”.  What an inspiration talk!  And what an amazing way to send us all out to our different ministry stations all pumped up and ready to love people!

Check out the crazy line-up in front of the Olympic Store -- at one point 3-blocks long!! People were anti-Olympic gear for the longest time...didn't want to give into propaganda; but it looks like patriotism won us over in the end!!

We arrived at First Baptist Church an hour earlier and we got right to work, helping out with practical things like sanitation.  A few went out around the block to collect trash, one stayed back to clean up the porta-potty’s and a couple worked the hospitality coffee/hot cocoa table.

Anna scrubbing down the porta-potty's. They smelled lemony fresh after she was done!

Serving up hot chocolate and coffee at First Baptist Church in downtown, Vancouver.

Today was a long day of ministry.  We started at 1:30pm and we ended at about 8:30pm.  The weather worked in our favor by not raining.  But even so, we were getting colder as the sun made its disappearance into the night’s sky.  I remember in the past 6 years of mission trips, I had to get students and staff to take breaks and get out of the sun; today, it was “get out of the cold and get defrosted.”

Me and Yoshiko - she's here in Vancouver to support her friend who's representing Japan in the ski jump event! How cool is that?!

All in all, it was a day well-lived.  I’m real proud of this team.  People were interacting and stepping out to initiate conversations with strangers… some great interactions took place and we got to engage in several people’s life stories.  Thanks for your prayers!  Keep sending them up to our God!  We definitely will need them as we continue into the week.

Hot beverages and great conversations! Always a good combo!!

Here are some PRAYERS of THANKSGIVING and PRAISES:

- We all traveled safely today and there were no problems on the public transit.  It all went smooth as silk.

- Great interactions with people.  I think everyone on the team got the opportunity to engage in at least one good conversation today.

- For the good teaching we had this morning.

Here we are a place called "The Hobbit House" where most of us would come and get "defrosted". In the back, next to Madeline, is Teran; she's the venue coordinator for this site.

Here are some ways you can PRAY FOR US as we hit the streets tomorrow:

- Tuesday, we’re at a different venue entirely; it’s almost midnight now and I still don’t know the logistics of our travels, availability of parking, etc. Pray that I can get through easily to venue coordinators early tomorrow to work this all out

- Michael J. is still not feeling well; he rested at home today.  Please continue to pray for his recovery and that he may join us soon.

- Our team of 8 is joined by a team of 4-5 other young adults tomorrow.  They’re part of a program called TREK (much like a YWAM) and we’re really stoked about working with them.  Pray for our unity in working together.

- Madeline and I both have ministry responsibilities on Wednesday; she’s taking time out tomorrow morning to prep for her Bible study material and I’m using tomorrow night to get cracking on that talk for Wednesday night.  May God give us such great insight of content so that prep time would be efficient.

- Continue to pray that we may step out in boldness to love the people God brings our way; that they may sense a genuine kindness in our actions; that we may have “divine encounters” in which we can engage with people’s life stories and experiences.

- And pray for a sustaining of good health.  Though it’s not a frigid cold; it is cold, nonetheless.  Pray for the many that serve the late/mid-night shifts and are out serving and ministering on the streets in these hours… that God will send them a blanket of warmth and keep their team members from falling ill or from catching a cold.  Pray this for us, too.

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.

The Olympic Games are no longer around the corner; they are here!!  Tomorrow night, we will be hosting a viewing of the opening ceremonies in our church gym on a big screen.  The SOAR missions team will begin their team orientation and training sessions  on Saturday.  There, the 8 of us will meet the other 48 from around the city and nation.  I believe I speak for the rest of the team members when I say that we’re ready to being part of something bigger than myself… we’re ready to experience ministry that is bigger than just within the confines of my church wall….

SET!!

One of the main things that a few team members brought up is that, because we are doing “missions” in our own backyard… we don’t have the luxury of being plucked out of the everyday expectations of life.  For the mothers in our group, meals still need to be prepped and cooked and kids need to be picked up from school; our 4 college students are faced with mid-term exams the week after our packed ministry schedule; sermons/talks still need to be prepped and delivered on regularly-scheduled church ministry nights.

…SOAR!!!

It’s time for us to step up and rise to higher heights in our faith journey… to be challenged in our outreach efforts and to be bold to proclaim the love of God to our city’s visitors and locals.  To fearlessly be a representative of God in our actions and words to strangers and friends.  It’s time to SOAR in our faith with the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit taking us where God wants us to go.

Thanks for partnering with us and doing the hard and necessary work of praying.  Here’s how you can pray for us the next couple days:

–as we do our pre-field reflection in the next day or two… that it would be an honest, revealing, and refreshing time with the Lord

–for a unity in spirit as we meet and connect with the other members of the SOAR team; for unity amongst the team leaders

–for an openness of mind and heart as we receive the teachings all day Saturday and Sunday

–for wisdom and discernment on my (and the leadership team’s part) as we decide how we will transport team members from one location to another.  At this time, we will be traveling on the road 3 hours/day.  We’re trying to figure out how we can minimize that.

–for our families — as they deal with our absentee from home and a dramatic change in our schedules

–good health and a strong immune system

Our event organizers: Christine and Jamillia

The brain power behind the whole event goes to these two beautiful young ladies.  With their leadership and charisma, they drew out 55 YAM members to be on what they called their “dream team”.  That was an answered prayer: to see our young adults within YAM uniting together and working together for similar purpose.

The event’s draw was nothing short of a miracle.  Within two weeks of opening up ticket sales, the event was maxed out at 150.  We initially thought maybe 100 people.  God blowing us out of the waters by answering our prayers over-and-beyond!

A once empty hall begins transforming 30 minutes into set-up

After a couple of hiccups with another banquet hall, our organizers landed us at Van Dusen Gardens… AND at a great deal! More answered prayers.  Actually, more like God’s goodness and blessing upon us even before we asked and beyond what we could ever imagine.  God is GOOD!!!

45 minutes into set-up...and 45 minutes before doors open

We were allowed into the facility at 4:30pm. Our event decorator and her crew had less than 90-minutes to set up the place.   Sound crew and band members busily set up the stage.  And a team of others set up the photo station!  What a beautiful picture of the Body-of-Christ working in sync!

Two YAM guys set up a photo booth for the night. Amazing feature!

Then, before we knew it, someone tested the lighting and we got this:

15-minutes before doors open

Guests Arrive!

Chris speaks first to help kick-off the event

After a video introducing our newcomers to what YAM was about, Chris takes the mic and gives us some words to chew on.

Him and I both shared on the theme of:  the value of a gift is not the pretty packaging; it lies in who its from, what it celebrates, and how it meets your wants and needs.  The purpose of our sharing that night was to sow some seeds onto good soil.  I think we did that.  Thanks to all those who supported us in prayer.  We struggled big time to come up with what we were going to share.  But, in the end, I believe we caught the vision and purpose of our organizers intent.  Thank you, God, for the final blasts of inspiration.

A few of our young couples had kids, so our organizers made childcare a priority of the night

Here's the band for the night, leading in some carolling time.

The dessert table!!! Mmmmm!!!

Our dessert team contributed an amazing display of sweet selections, enticing both to the eye and to the tastebuds!  Kyle did an amazing job leading this crew and working up the dessert menu.

I began driving home from the venue around midnight.  I was so tired but wired at the same time.  The night was a success.    It goes to show what wonderful things can happen when you release people into their skills and giftings.  Saturate all that with prayer and you have nothing short of amazing.

I must’ve laid awake till 2am that night.  The Lord brought to my mind something that I journaled back in September about grief.  My “complaint” to the Lord was how hard it was to “let go” (referring to my past years in Morrison and the community that became more like family than just friends).  ”How can I let go when there’s nothing to hold on to here?”

Tonight, I felt the noticeable ground beneath my feet.  As I looked out to the crowd, I got a sense of purpose of why I am here.  It was small; but it was there.  There was a little more “something” to hold on to.  I told the crowd that I am seeing them as “precious.” And I meant it.  And though I didn’t say it up front, I write it here…that the Lord has increased my compassion and love for my leadership team.  I sense an urge to connect more deeply with them; to invest, more purposefully, in them…or, at the least, in the ones that will receive it.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So, what’s next?  Here are some things on my ministry plate for the next few months:

-Small Group Leaders’ Training Manual and clinics, starting at the end of this month

-Moving YAM ever so discreetly and strategically into phase 2 of its structuring (Feb-June)

-Prepping materials for Advent 2009 worship services

-Biggest YAM outreach event of the year: the Christmas social

-Solidify more help/personnel for childcare

-Continue to build up relationship with my YAM leadership core

-Involvement in Watchnight Service — our church’s New Year’s Eve worship service

-Involvement in SOAR 2010, a joint missions crew involved in doing outreach during the Winter Olympic games

-Solidify a retreat ground for YAM’s first retreat in May

-Pass off more of the administrative work of YAM to leadership team so that I can focus more on the teaching and the connecting with members

-Continue to fly low on the radar and not poke any bears

Hmm…is there anything else that I should be doing???

I get to my meeting site at about 7:30pm.  Five of us have gathered to discuss a few topics regarding the church’s worship ministries.  I felt privileged to be included in this mix, having only been back for a few months and not officially an appointed worship leader yet.  But it looks like that’s about to change.  I’ve been regularly playing the bass for worship, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed; I’ve also subbed as a drummer for a couple of weeks.  There’s a new bass player coming in who’d like to commit to being a regular; so, I’ve been asked to become a primary drummer from here on out.  Interesting.   I’m certainly hoping for a fast learning curve on this one!

From the results of tonight’s discussion, it also looks like my break time as worship leader is over.  A new schedule is coming in December and I sense that I’m going to be a regular worship leader on Sunday mornings.  I’ve never felt more insecure about this.  All I can say about this is that I often feel cursed to being an alto stuck in a soprano world.  It’s frustrating when you feel that there’s so much within you that you want to give…but you can’t give it naturally.  This is not even about stepping out of one’s comfort zone; it’s about being asked to conform to something that one is not wired physically to do.

Inadequacies and insecurities about vocal ranges…who better to bring these to than Jesus himself.   I’d like to think that Jesus fancies altos worship, too…that — from time to time — he’d like the break from high shrills and the over stretching high pitch tones of sopranos / high tenors and receives the underdogs’ worship.  He appreciates the velvety and soothing vocal ranges of what only alto and med-range tones can provide.

Well, the musings for tonight in sum is: Roxy my bass is back in her case after an amazing three months of service; drumsticks are now to be my new primary expression instrumentally; and no more benching around as a worship leader…it’s back in the game in one month’s time, along with the inadequacies and insecurities.

I wonder if this was how people who ran their own businesses from home felt.

I kinda felt…alone.  It seems like we’re all just doing our own thing, in our own little worlds.  There’s not a lot of “co-working” going on with coworkers.  Another realization of the world I have stepped into.