New Blog

Thanks for reading about my ministry in the Cloverdale community. If you would like to continue following my journey check out my new blog at: http://www.ambassadoroflove.blogspot.com/

One Last Time...

Well, that's it. Our last sleepover has come and gone, marking the official end of girls' group. It was a little sad but all in all we had a great time. For the first time ever, all 15 girls were there and as crazy as that was, I could not have been happier to celebrate the last year and a half all together. We had a blast playing some wild and crazy games in the gym...

The slideshow was a definite hit and the "Girls' Group Jeopardy" was a lot of fun as well. It was great to see how much the girls remember from all that we've talked about over the past 18 months. As we were settling down into our time of discussion I invited the girls to share about something they have learned, something that has touched them, or a way that they have changed as a result of our times together and I was so blessed by their responses – everything from making new friends and increased self-confidence to developing an actual relationship with God, praying more often, understanding that God’s love never changes, etc. We ended off the evening with a brief lesson in cake decorating which the girls then got to try out for themselves…

I am so thankful for the last year and a half and for the awesome privilege it has been to know and love these girls and to play a small part in the amazing work that God is doing in their lives.

Girls, in case you ever read this, I love you and I am going to miss you so much…

Final Sleepover

Next weekend I am going to be having my final sleepover with the girls. It looks like all 15 girls are going to be there which, considering various situations including the fact that one now lives in Ottawa, another's father has said no to the last several sleepovers, etc. is quite a miracle. The girls are really excited and so am I. The finality of it all is going to be sad for sure, but really it's going to be a time of celebration of all we have done over the past year including a round of "Girls' Group Jeopardy" and a slideshow of pictures from all of our activities over the past year. I'm especially excited about our devotion time. I feel that I have done everything I could to share the gospel with these girls over the past year and so my challenge to them on Friday is going to be to "choose for themselves whom they will serve" (Joshua 24:15). In His final address to the Israelites, Moses said to them: "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) That is both my challenge and my prayer for these girls, that they would choose to follow Jesus and hold fast to Him every day of their lives. Would you join me in that prayer? It is your prayers that have carried us this far.

The End...

Jesus is like Bread...

Sorry it’s taken me so long to update, I came down with a cold/virus at camp and haven’t been able to shake it… So anyway, as you know last week was our last girls’ group event for the summer and our topic for the week was how Jesus is like bread (gotta love the bread sculpture churches… I told them they could make whatever they wanted and that’s what they came up with!). Jesus being like bread is obviously not an easy concept for elementary school aged students but, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I was once again blown away by their understanding. I asked the girls what kind of things people hunger for, besides food, and as they sat there thinking I saw a light go on in one of the girls’ eyes as she responded with “money… love… friends” etc. It was a great way to end off our summer and I’m praying that these girls truly do turn to Jesus to satisfy their every hunger.

Now that the summer is over it’s time for me to talk about the one thing I have been avoiding talking about on this blog… As I imagine you all know by now, over the past few months I have felt God leading me into missions and, as a result, I am no longer working with Montreal Youth Unlimited. I am currently looking into opportunities abroad and hope to leave within the next few months. I am very excited about all that God has in store however, ever since I made this decision there has been one thing I have been dreading – saying goodbye to the girls. I let the girls know at the end of the retreat and it was a lot harder than I expected. The girls were more genuinely upset than I thought they’d be and, after having such an amazing summer with them, so was I. I remain convinced and totally at peace that this is what God wants me to do but that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to these girls that I have come to love so much. We will be having one final sleepover on October 9th and in the meantime I will continue to visit them and have one-on-ones with them until I leave. Please keep my girls in your prayers over the upcoming weeks and months, that they would understand why I am leaving, that they would not feel abandoned (so many of them have already been abandoned too many times in their lives) and that I would be able to set a good example for them of what it means to truly follow God. Pray also for me as I pray about how I might be able to continue to be involved in their lives.

Well, considering I no longer work for Youth Unlimited you probably won’t be hearing much more from me here but I’m planning on starting a new blog soon so stay tuned…

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support!

Goodbye Summer

So, the kids go back to school on Thursday making tomorrow the last official day of summer and our last week of girls' group... After spending such an amazing three days with the girls I miss them already and am anxious to see them tomorrow. Also, knowing that many of them took big steps forward in their faith over the past weekend, I am anxious to build on that and to continue to challenge and stretch them in their faith through tomorrow's discussion. The Topic: Jesus is like Bread - He fulfills our longings and fills the emptiness we feel in our lives. Please pray that this week would be the perfect conclusion to all that the girls have been learning and all that God has spoken to them over the course of the summer. Pray that they would once again be touched by the power Jesus has to fill their every need, to heal their every hurt and that they would invite Him to come and be their everything.

Camp

They say a picture says a thousand words and all I can say is I hope that's true because even a thousand words would not be enough to tell you how awesome the past few days with the girls have been… Nevertheless, let me throw a few words out there just to give you an idea: fun, games, Michael Jackson music, swimming, boating, catching frogs, scavenger hunt, singing, dancing, more Michael Jackson music, facials, movies, junk food, fireless campfire, s’mores, late nights, even more Michael Jackson music… laughter, tears, deepening friendships, good conversations, profound reflection on the Word of God, powerful times of worship, heartfelt prayer and many intimate encounters with God.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS

Camp Here We Come!

Well, this is it, only one more day before we leave for camp… We’ve been planning and praying for this retreat for months now and I can’t believe it’s actually here! As I mentioned in my last post, God has made it so clear that He is moving mightily in the lives of these girls and we are SO excited for what this weekend has in store.

The theme of out retreat is “Rescue Me” and we will be having sessions each morning and evening talking about how Jesus can rescue us from the storms in our life, in times where we may feel vulnerable, out of control/powerless, unworthy or invisible.

We are leaving for camp on Thursday morning and returning Saturday evening and we would appreciate as many prayers as you could offer up during that time...

Some specific prayer requests:

- Safety and health for all the girls and staff

- That God would give opportunities to Helene, Stephanie and I to really connect one-on-one with these girls, that we would be attentive to what the Holy Spirit is doing in their lives and that we would make the most of every opportunity.

- That each girl would experience a personal and intimate encounter with God.

Finally, I want to conclude with the words of Paul… “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel… Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

God is at Work

Sometimes certain things happen and you just know that God is moving… this week was filled with moments like that. Wednesday’s girls group was nothing like what we expected. With all the prayer and preparation we are putting into the retreat, we decided that this week would be more of a relaxed week with more time to play games and hang out with the kids followed by a short discussion but nothing too intense. God obviously had other plans. After a relaxed but good discussion about how God is like a judge, I ‘closed’ by saying “Does anyone else have any other questions?” Well, one girl asked a question about what would happen to people who don’t believe in Jesus and one question led to another and next thing you know we were in the middle of an intense, hour-long discussion about whether or not Jesus truly is the only way to God and what that means for our friends who don’t believe in Him. Each girl there was participating with great interest and, as always, my 9-12 year old girls were asking deeper questions than many adults. God clearly knew what was going to happen that day as it was the only week that our two Muslim girls weren’t there which allowed us to discuss openly and in the end, many of the girls left with a greater conviction that Jesus really is the one true God and a greater desire to share Jesus with their friends.
In the later half of the week, I had one-on-ones with three different girls and it was clear that Wednesday’s discussion had truly impacted them as our conversation just continued to build on what we had discussed at girls’ group. God really allowed me to go deep with these girls and to ask hard questions such as, “Why do you believe in Jesus?”, “Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to God?”, “How do you know that you are right?”, etc. The girls took our discussion seriously and took time to ponder their answers and I was so blessed by the responses they came up with – “I believe in Jesus because I feel Him in my soul”, “I realize now that there can’t be more than one true God”, “I don’t know why Jesus is right but I’m reading my bible and praying more and asking God to show me”… There is no question that God is at work in the lives of these girls and I am just so grateful to be along for the ride.

Since we are leaving for camp on Thursday, this week's girls’ group will be on Tuesday. The Topic: God is like a Listener –you can talk to Him. Please pray that God would use this topic to prepare the girls’ hearts for the retreat and that they would be able to pour their hearts out to Him knowing that He hears them.

If you are interested in praying for one of our girls during the retreat it's not too late!

Just comment below or e-mail me at andreag@montrealyouthunlimited.org

and I will match you up with one of the girls who will be attending.

A Quiet Week

Well, it was indeed a much quieter week last week… Between family vacations, day camp outings, etc. we only had three girls at girls’ group last week but we actually enjoyed it as we were able to be a lot more personal with the girls. Two of the girls that were there are sisters and they are without a doubt our most faithful attendees – they’ve only missed one event since we started last summer! These girls are Muslim and I am continually amazed at the favour God has given me with their family that they allow them to come and at the openness the girls have in talking about God. On Thursday I took them to Dairy Queen (they had never been before) and we were able to have some good conversation. Hopefully some of our other girls will be back this week but in the meantime, I am thankful for weeks like this where we can really connect with these girls.

Tomorrow: God is like a Judge – He is a fair judge and will judge each one of us for what we have done. Please pray that the girls would begin to understand that God is just and fair and that they would also be convicted to live their lives in a way that lines up with His word.

PRAY-ERS NEEDED

As you know, in just two weeks we will be taking a group of girls from Cloverdale to a camp up North for a three-day retreat. We are so excited for this time with the girls and are expecting God to do amazing things in their lives. We have been in constant prayer over this weekend and the more I pray the more God impresses on my heart what an important role prayer is going to play in the work that He wants to do in these girls’ lives.
That said, we are looking for prayer partners for each one of the girls who are coming to the retreat - people who will commit to praying for them in these next two weeks before the retreat but especially during those three days that we will be up at camp. If you would like to be matched up with one of the girls coming to our camp and commit to praying for that child while we are away please simply post a comment below or e-mail at andreag@montrealyouthunlimited.org and I will send you the name and a few specific prayer requests for one of our girls.

Thank you so much for your prayers up to this point and whether or not you are able to commit to praying for a specific child, we would greatly appreciate your prayers on August 20-22nd.

Halfway Point

Last week was another great week with the girls – I can hardly believe that the summer is half over already… We had eight girls at girls’ group on Wednesday and once again I was so impressed by the depth of understanding and the desire these girls have to get into God’s word. One thing I have come to love doing is splitting the girls into pairs and having them look up verses. Even on days where they are wild and won’t quiet down in a group setting, the moment you split them up and put a bible in their hands they calm down and are serious about trying to understand what the scriptures are saying. What amazes me the most is what incredible understanding these 9-12 year old girls have of what they are reading; this week I saw one of our Muslim girls summarize ten verses into two phrases that could not have been more accurate!

I also had two great one-on-ones this week… With our retreat just around the corner I’ve really been trying to push the girls to get their hearts ready for what God wants to do in their lives. I had a conversation with one of our Christian kids about how God wants to use her in the lives of the other girls who don’t know Him and she was really touched and excited to see what God might do through her during our time at camp. I also had a conversation with another one of the girls about why she believed in Jesus and was it just because other people told her He is real or because she’s actually experienced Him for herself. She admitted that she had never experienced God personally but that she would like to. At her request, we stopped to pray right there in Tim Horton’s and agreed to continue to pray over the coming weeks that she would indeed have a personal encounter with Jesus over the course of the retreat.
We’re really excited about the retreat as we believe God is going to do an amazing work in the lives of these girls. As a result, we are taking a step of faith and praying that all 16 girls would be able to come to camp (something that would take a real miracle for some of them). Would you join us in the faith-stretching prayer? We know that our God is more than able.

This week: God is like a Rock – He is dependable and trustworthy and it is important for you to be dependable and trustworthy as well. Please pray that the girls would grow in their trust of God as a result of this week’s discussion and that they would also be challenged to live lives of integrity themselves.

A Great Week!

"Feed the baby"














This week really was a great week… We had 10 girls at girls group on Wednesday which is the perfect number. As you know, this week we were talking about how God is like a mom and it was really neat to watch how the girls connected with the topic. We had them look up five different verses that talked about how God is like a mother (He comforts us, protects us, delights in us, etc.) and then I asked them to share which verse touched them the most and why.

“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17) We talked about how God delights in us just like a new mother delights in her new baby, even though all that baby does is eat and sleep. One of our Muslim girls in particular was very touched by the fact that God delights in her just because she is His daughter, she doesn’t have to do anything to earn it. There was one comment that nearly brought me to tears though… There is one girl in our group who lives with her aunt as her mother was abusive. When it came time for her to share which verse touched her the most she read Isaiah 49:15 – “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Praise God that He never fails and that He can fill the voids in these girls’ lives.

On Thursday I took four girls to Pointe Claire Village for some Wild Willy’s ice cream and a little window shopping. The highlight for me was going to Ten Thousand Villages (a store that sells crafts, etc. made in low-income countries where the profits go back to the people who made them). The employees working there were so great with the girls, letting them taste and touch and play and even helping them find things from their countries – I think we were in there nearly an hour!

Next week: God is like a Guide – He can help you make good decisions and you can look to Him for help when you feel lost. Please pray that this week’s lesson would challenge the girls to go a step further in their relationship with God and that they would truly begin to look to Him for guidance in their lives.

To each one of you out there who are praying, thank you so much. You are a playing a key role in the work that God is doing in these girls lives this summer!

Putting Flexibility to the Test!

Well, we had 16 girls at girls’ group this week… Needless to say, that’s a few more than the five we had last week and things were a little chaotic. Nevertheless, nothing catches our God off guard and we saw Him working through the details making things manageable. There’s a day camp going on at La Corde for the summer and the reason we had so many girls this week is because the girls from the day camp decided to stay. So, it looks like we’re either going to have 5 girls or 16 as they seem to stick together – if one decides to stay, they all stay and vice versa. It makes planning a little difficult but I’ve been known to say that flexibility is one of the most important qualities you can have in ministry so I guess this’ll be putting mine to the test...

This week we’re talking about how God is like Mom – He protects, comforts and loves just like a good mother does. Please pray that God would bring out the girls He wants to be there (be that 5 or 16), that we would have wisdom and patience in dealing with whatever may arise and that each would be touched personally by the love, care and delight that God has for them.

Summer Girls' Group

Alright, so, back to Cloverdale… Last Wednesday marked the beginning of my summer ministry with the girls. Each Wednesday we are meeting from 1:00-4:00 to eat lunch together, play games and have discussion. The theme of our discussion time for the summer is “Who is God” and each week we will be looking at a different characteristic of God. Last week we talked about how God is like a best friend and it was exciting to watch the girls begin to grasp just how awesome it is that the God of the universe would call each one of them His friend.
There are a lot of day camps, etc. going on in Cloverdale throughout the summer and as a result we only had 5 girls last week but it actually was good as each one of them was able to really participate in the discussion. Some of the other girls may be joining us if they choose to forgo their camp activities for the day but either way, I am excited for the opportunity to really pour into these girls in a more intimate setting.
I am thrilled to have a summer intern (Helene) as well as a volunteer student (Stephanie) helping me out with girls’ group on Wednesdays. Helene has been helping me all year with our sleepovers. She has a real love for these girls, a passion for sharing the gospel and is such a blessing to me. Stephanie is a girl that Helene has been mentoring for several years who just graduated from high school, is interested in ministry and is sort of “shadowing” Helene for the summer. She has a great heart for God and I am excited to have her on board as well.
On Fridays I am doing small group outings (no more than 4 kids) with the girls. Last week we went swimming and as there were only three of them, it was a great opportunity to really connect and have fun with them. I’m also taking time during the week to spend some time with the girls one-on-one, taking them for ice cream, etc. Once again, this is a great opportunity to connect and go deeper with them.

So, that’s what’s happening with me and the girls this summer – I would love your prayers. Specifically, would you take some time on Wednesday mornings while you’re getting ready for work, etc. and lift us up before God? Pray that God would bring out the girls that He wants to be there, that they would be ready and open for what He wants to do in their lives and that Helene, Stephanie and I would be attentive to His Spirit as we teach and connect with these girls. Tomorrow… “God is like a Dreamer – He has good plans for your life”; please pray that the girls’ eyes and hearts would be opened to and excited by the great things God has in store for them.

Thanks so much for reading… I’ll be updating every week so please keep checking back!

Back from Jamaica

Hi everyone! Sorry it’s taken me so long to update my blog. I’ve been back from Jamaica for a week now but it’s amazing how fast I’ve gotten caught up in daily life. Anyway, I am anxious to tell you about my trip…

First, let me say that it is HOT over there! With temperatures averaging at about 35 degrees (not taking into account the humidity) it was definitely a bit of a shock to our bodies. Despite the heat however, we managed to get a good amount of work done (we learned quickly and started our days at 5:00 a.m. in order to beat the heat). Our work projects consisted mostly of painting the inside and outside of the church’s preschool as well as several other buildings within the church compound and a couple of classrooms at a government-run school just down the road. The two men on our team worked especially hard and were also able to put in door locks and security bars over several windows at the church as well as install some solar panels for a couple of local families without electricity. Without a doubt however, the highlight of the trip for me was our VBS program. We started off our first day with about 50 kids and peaked towards the end of the week at about 100. The kids come from harsh environments and it certainly wasn’t easy but God showed His faithfulness to us in so many ways, bringing a tangible peace over our camp and ensuring that His message came across loud and clear. There is so much I could say about the kids, the culture, etc. but I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Instead, I would like to introduce you to one little boy who has stolen all of our hearts forever:

This is Kemar – he just turned eight years old. Kemar’s father is long gone and, in some twisted attempt to get back at his dad, his mother wants nothing to do with him. When we met him, Kemar was, for the most part, living with his grandmother however, for whatever reason she was unable to take very good care of him. Kemar is ostracised by his whole community; his teachers throw rocks at him, men in the streets taunt him, the women shout curses at him and the other children pick on him. By the end of our two weeks in Jamaica some local drug-addicted thieves had taken advantage of Kemar’s vulnerability and he was living with and working for them. It’s hard to hear Kemar’s story and feel any amount of hope for his future but the theme of our VBS, the message we shared all week with the children, is just as true for Kemar as it is for any one of us: God has good plans for Kemar. God’s good plans for Kemar were evidenced in his strength and resilience, in his smile and moments of pure sweetness. They were evidenced by the fact that even though he has faced unbelievable hardships, the following words were still uttered from his lips: “God loves me”, “God is my Father”, “God has good plans for me!”…

Kemar will forever be etched on my heart but sadly, his story is not that unique. There are millions more children all around the world just like Kemar. Unwanted, unloved. Thrown away and forgotten by the rest of society but not by their Heavenly Father. Would join me in rising up to pray, not only for Kemar but for every child around the world just like him? These are God’s sons and daughters and, no matter what anyone else may say or do, no matter how much we may struggle to see or believe it, He has good plans for them.

Jamaica

So, I am leaving for Jamaica on Saturday… I can’t believe it’s here already! The last month has been a flurry of prayer and preparation as I have tried to discern what God would have us share with the children who will be attending our VBS. In the end, the theme of our VBS is going to be “God has good plans for you – you can trust in Him”. Most of these kids are coming from broken and abusive homes with little hope for their future yet I believe that God does indeed have good plans for these children and I am excited to share this powerful, life-changing message with them.
Please pray for our team over the next few weeks. We will be leaving on Saturday, June 20th and returning Friday, July 3rd.

Some specific prayer requests are:
- For safe and smooth travel both there and back (no missed connections, etc.) and for health and safety while we’re there.
- For unity within our team – that there would be unity among the s, among the students and among the team as a whole and that our team would be able to be a reflection of Jesus to those around us.
- For the students on our team – that they would see God use them in awesome ways in the lives of those we’re working with, that they would be open to the work that He wants to do in their own lives, and that they would experience God in a more real, more intimate way than they ever have before.
- For the VBS which will be taking place during the first week, from June 22-26; Pray that God would bring out the kids that He wants to be there and that their hearts would be open and ready to hear what He has to say to them. Pray that we would be guided by the Holy Spirit as we teach these kids and that lives would be changed by the power of His word.
- That we would be open to whatever opportunities God gives us to serve / minister over there and that we would be a blessing to those whom we come in contact with.

Our Last Sleepover...

It went really well. We had our biggest number yet with 14 girls and it was a lot of fun. Like I mentioned in my last post, we had a lot of fun activities planned. One of those activities was wall climbing. The girls have been staring longingly at the climbing wall at Terra Nova since our first sleepover back in October and this time they finally got a chance to try it out. They had a great time and I was really impressed with how well they did…

As you know, my goal for this sleepover was simply to love these girls and to celebrate all that we have experienced together over the past year and I think we were successful in accomplishing that. We were able to have a bit of a heart to heart about their behaviour recently and I noticed a huge difference in their attitudes both towards me and towards each other. One girl in particular is definitely the leader of the group and usually the hardest to deal with but she and I were able to connect over the course of this sleepover and I was amazed at the shift in her attitude and so proud of how she stepped up and led the other girls in such a positive way. Finally, during our discussion time we did a brief look back on all that we have discussed over the course of the year and I was amazed at the specific details the girls remembered and at the things that clearly impacted them and have stayed with them over the past months.

Praise God for all He has accomplished in the lives of these girls over the last year, for the impact that has been made and for the many seeds that have been sown! Please continue to pray for these girls and for me as we carry on through the summer; may God continue the work that He has begun in their hearts.

Sleepover This Weekend...

On Friday we are going to be having our final sleepover of the school year and I would really appreciate your prayers… If I’m going to be honest I have to say that the girls have been very difficult to manage lately. The mother’s day dinner was great but the two most recent girls’ group events before that were trying to say the least. As the girls get more comfortable with me they are displaying more and more attitude and disrespect and discipline is becoming a real issue. I want to be both firm and loving at the same time yet it is hard to find the balance. My goal for this sleepover is just to love them. We have a lot of fun activities planned and I am looking forward to celebrating all that we have experienced in the past year. Please just pray that God would give me an unending amount of patience, that He would fill me to overflowing with His love for these girls, that I would have wisdom to deal with whatever issues come up and that we would just be able to enjoy one another and make the most of this last opportunity we have to be together in this capacity.

Thank you – I so appreciate your prayers.

Mother's Day

Just a quick prayer request for this weekend… On Saturday the girls and I are having a Mother’s Day Dinner for their mothers. This is an idea that I got back in the fall and it’s exciting to see it actually happening. There are two purposes behind this. The first is obvious: to honour and celebrate these moms for all the work they do and the important role they play in their daughters’ lives. The second is to provide an opportunity for me to continue to build deeper relationships with these moms. Generally, it is hard to get parents in this community to come to social events and be involved in the lives of their kids outside of the home but, much to my amazement, it looks like all the moms are coming. Please pray that the moms would indeed show up, that they would see how much I love not only their girls but how much I care about them as well, and that this would be a stepping stone towards a greater level of involvement in the lives of these girls’ families.

"The Rescue"

I want to shift gears from Cloverdale for a minute and tell you about another group of people that are very close to my heart… the children of Northern Uganda. For those of you not too familiar with the situation, for over 20 years the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, have been terrorizing the people of Northern Uganda in what has become the longest war in Africa. This conflict has become best known through the “Night Commuters”, thousands of children who would leave their homes in the village every night and walk to sleep in the streets of cities to avoid being abducted from the LRA. Since the war began an estimated 30,000 children have been abducted by the LRA and another 1.8 million individuals have been displaced, forced to flee their homes and take up residence in impoverished, over-crowded Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. Peace talks over the last few years have put an end to night commuting and allowed approximately 900,000 displaced people to return to their homes. However, peace talks have since collapsed. Approximately 90% of the LRA is made up of abducted children and while others are slowly regaining their freedom, these children are still out in the bush under the control of Joseph Kony.
This weekend I will be joining about 200 individuals here in Montreal along with approximately 100,000 people in 100 cities worldwide in an event organized by Invisible Children called “The Rescue”

(http://therescue.invisiblechildren.com/). We will be ‘abducting ourselves’ on behalf of the abducted, walking to an ‘LRA camp’ and spending the night there waiting to be ‘rescued’ by local political leaders, celebrities, etc. who will take a stand and make a commitment to take action to rescue Joseph Kony’s child soldiers.
I have not yet had the opportunity to visit Northern Uganda and meet the children there yet when I look into the eyes of the children I have come to love in Jinja, Kampala and Luwero I am struck by the realization that if they lived just a few hours North they too might have been abducted into an army where they were forced to kill even their own families.
Proverbs 31:8-9 says: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." I have committed myself to being a ‘world-class Christian’, to advocate justice for the oppressed and defend the cause of those who have no voice with which to speak for themselves. That is why when I heard about what was happening this weekend I knew this was something I had to be a part of.

If you think of it over the next few days, would you pray about this event that is happening all around the world this weekend? Pray that as people of all different nationalities come together that awareness would be raised, that government would indeed ‘come to the rescue’ and that the day of freedom for Joseph Kony’s child soldiers would not be far off.

THE FOUR POINTS

1 – God loves me;
2 – I have sinned;

3 – Jesus died for me;
4 – I need to decide to live

for God...

It’s called “The Four Points” and it’s an increasingly popular evangelism tool that I learned while with Metro Ministries in New York (for more info check out www.thefourpoints.com/). Anyway, those four points were the basis for our devotion time at Friday’s sleepover and as always, they sparked a lot of discussion. What I love about the four points is how simple and clear they make the message of the gospel and the emphasis they put on our need to make a decision. As we worked our way through each one I saw things click and the lights go on for several girls for the first time as they truly understood, “It doesn’t matter how much good I do, one sin is enough to separate me from God… There really is no way I can save myself… That’s why Jesus had to die…” Still, the spiritual battle was as strong as ever and it was clear that the enemy did not want the girls to hear this message.

Yet God’s promise is clear:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Please join me in praying that God’s Word that was spoken to these girls this weekend would accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it.

Next Sleepover

Just a quick prayer request… Our next Girls’ Group Sleepover is going to be on this Friday, April 10th. As it is Easter weekend, our discussion time is going to be focused on what Jesus did for us on the cross and the girls will have an opportunity to respond and make a decision to live for God. Please pray that God would begin even now preparing them for what they are going to hear and that they would be open and ready to hear what He has to say to them and make a decision to follow Him.

Thanks, I’ll let you know how it goes!

March Break

Last week was March break for our kids which gave us a chance to pull back from our usual hectic schedule and get some other things done that we don’t normally have a chance to do (such as some much needed ‘spring cleaning’ at the center). I also took the opportunity to spend some extra time with the girls, stopping by their homes to say hi, taking a couple of them out one-on-one to Tim Horton’s, etc. Most of these girls come from large families and as a result, many of them have younger sisters at home. As you know, Girls’ Group is for girls 9-12 however when I go to pick up the girls from their homes their little sisters often beg to come along, sometimes with tears… Those of you who know me know that 6 and under is actually my favourite age group and so it breaks my heart every time. Anyway, last week we decided to have a sort of “Bring Your Little Sister to Girls’ Group” day! We went sliding at a park just outside of Cloverdale and the girls had a great time...

Welcome To My Blog!

Well, considering this blog has been up for about three months now, I figure it’s about time I finally start posting… The purpose of this blog is to keep you up to date with what’s happening in ministry and what God is doing in my life as well as provide you with current prayer requests. I’m hoping to post every few weeks so please keep checking back.

For those of you who received my latest newsletter (which at this point is probably all of you), you may be wondering how our girls’ group sleepover went last weekend… well, it was a lot of fun :) The weekend revolved around a Valentines Day theme with lots of candy, games and even a chocolate fondue. The topic of our discussion time was love, more specifically, the extent of God’s love for us. I’ve been challenged over the past several months however to do things a little differently for this devotional time and instead of just telling the girls about how much God loves them, to invite them to experience it for themselves. We spent some time worshiping and I encouraged the girls to cry out to God and ask Him to speak to them. I could definitely feel the presence of God in that room. I could also feel a real spiritual battle going on. By the end of the sleepover I was much more exhausted then the other times and was drained not just physically but spiritually as well. God has reminded me to keep fighting in prayer for these girls. Would you join me? The seed has been sown but the enemy wants nothing more than to grab it back, to choke it out. Would you pray that the girls’ hearts would continued to be softened, that they would receive the words that God is speaking to them and that God’s work in their lives would grown into something lasting and beautiful.