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.