Romans 8

This evening we had our first youth life group night (which is basically a small group) for the youth.  I had the girls in my group write letters to God reflecting on where they are in their relationship with Him now and where they would like to be by the end of the school year/what they would like God to do in their lives this year.  For paper I had quickly grabbed an old notebook and while flipping through it noticed that it was my old notebook from YWAM--and I found a letter that I had written to God. So cool. 

Being a visionary, I tend to see what can be and then get frustrated when what I know is possible doesn't happen.  Tonight when I got home from Life Group I found myself in that slump so I pulled out the letter I found and saw a sermon I had written on Romans 8 tucked in behind it. It's the sermon I got to preach on the island of Sicily (which I still think is the coolest thing ever to have had the opportunity to preach where the apostle Paul preached.)

As I was reading through my sermon notes a couple things stood out to me:

A) When life does not meet our expectations it can be hard to recognize God's love for us--but God's love is not conditional on our circumstances or how we feel. He love us. The Creator of the universe loves us personally! 

B) Regardless of our circumstances and feelings, are we honoring God as God? Do we recognize that He has a plan--that He knows what He is doing? We need to get our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances and back on Him. 

I found this to be a good reminder to me tonight. I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but if you do happen to read this and you find yourself struggling with the realities of life, remember that nothing can separate you from the love of God. God is greater than your circumstances.  Fix your gaze on Him. Seek Him and let Him be God.  Find rest, peace, and joy in His love. 

Happy autumn!

A Year of Provision

Happy 2015!

A number of years ago I was challenged to prophetically name each year. Near the end of 2014, I was standing outside a cafe late at night asking God what He would have me name 2014. The word that stuck in my head was PROVISION. So I wrote it down, prayed into it, and thought of a number if ways in which it would be nice to see God's provision. Why is it God likes to do things different then I think He will? 

In reflecting in this past year I realize that it was truly marked by God's supernatural provision.  While I away, God provided food that I could eat in each of the countries I visited. I came home from YWAM with no money and no job yet God provided. He provided an opportunity for me to spend a week in Cuba with my whole family. He provided a good job. When my job was only a two month contract, He provided an apartment sublet. When my job became full-time He provided a place for me to stay for a couple months until I could figure out what I was doing. He also provided a condo for me and furniture to put in it. I am amazed by God's goodness and provision in my life this year. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

This next year I think will look very differently. We will see what doors God opens and what doors He closes.

May you have a blessed new year.

Time for change

I thought it was time to post an update. I am writing this sitting on the porch of my parents cottage at Braeside camp. We have had this cottage since I was five and today I am trying enjoy the last Saturday that I will have here, as the cottage has been sold. This place has been a place of refuge for me--a place where I come to refocus on God. It is also where I felt God first call me to be a missionary. It is not easy to let go of it. This only marks one portion of the change going on in my life right now.

Somehow the past four and a half months since I have been home in Canada have flown away. The past couple months have marked a major transition in my life. I have decided that it is time to stick around for the next little while. I now have a great job in Mississauga. It's not what I was initially looking for, but I can see God's hand in providing it. Meanwhile I am in the process if looking for a place to live in the city. 

It's a strange feeling looking transition in the face. Sometime it's exciting, but at times it's very difficult. For me, I feel like I am starting a whole new chapter in my life. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

The view from our cottage porch:

Hugs worth a million dollars!

Awhile ago I had an encounter with a lady who lives on the streets in the Veronica's area. I saw her and felt like I should give her my apple so I tried, but she got mad at me and ran away. Another day Johanna also tried to give her something and she threw it back at her. We have has this woman on our hearts since then--so much so that we had a day if prayer and fasting for her. The same day most of our group was praying, Johanna and I felt like we needed to be out in the streets. This day I waved and the lady waved back. It was amazing as she usually runs away from us. So later that day we tried again and said bonjour and waved. Since then I have waved and said bonjour and then yesterday I tried talking with her further but it didn't go so well. Maggie had on her heart the passage in the Bible about not calling unclean what God had made clean when praying for this woman-- and from appearances this woman would not be my first choice to hug, but God has given us a heart for her and told us to hug her. So tonight we went down to the Veronica's to find her. It was AMAZING! We had a conversation with her and we were able to show her through hugs that she is valuable and precious to God and we even got to pray with her. It was a miracle! To see her face light up and see her smile was an amazing goodbye present. I wouldn't exchange that hug for anything. Thank you Jesus for your incredible love!

Exiting my 20s with a bang!

After our leaders came back from La Gomera they met with each of us and asked us what we want to see happen for the last couple weeks of our DTS. I said that I would really like to exit my 20s with a bang...

Near our first flat here there was a cafe where we hung out frequently for coffee and wifi. The ladies that work at this cafe have really been on our hearts and one girl from our team had it on her heart that we need to invite one of the ladies to our flat for dinner. She came tonight and brought her best friend with her. As they were leaving we asked if we could pray for them. Her friend could not stretch out her right hand. She showed us and then we prayed or her. In front of our eyes we watched as she stretched out her hand without pain and was completely healed. It was so awesome and an amazing testimony that Jesus still heals today. Praise Jesus!

Now it's time to go to the Veronica's and pray for more people. Wahoo! 

He must increase and I must decrease

During our lecture phase we had a week on discipleship where we talked about what it costs to follow Jesus. We were asked what rights we were willing to give up... Food, family, entertainment, etc... The past two weeks we have had a lesson in what it means to give up some if our "rights". We started by spending a couple nights sleeping in a moldy church and then progressed to camping in the mountains, which was absolutely beautiful, but it was cold and rained almost constantly. It is a miracle that none of us got really sick. Each day we learned to  gather and cut firewood, cook our meals on the fire, and hike up the mountain a ways to wash our dishes or use the washroom. There were outdoor showers but it was too cold to shower so we went a week without a shower. I really enjoyed the camping experience. It had it's challenges but it was good and taught our team to really work together. Then we moved back to the moldy church for a couple of days. We were grateful to a least have access to a shower and feel the sun again. We felt like God wanted us to go minister to hippies in Valle San Rey and one of the friends we made on Tenerife has a small shack here where we were supposed to stay. On Sunday he was supposed to meet us to give us the key except he never showed so we waited for him until Tuesday and then decided to just go anyways. And so our faith journey began. 

Before we left we prayed and asked God to provide a place for us to sleep. Some people were praying for a nice apartment but I felt like praying that God would position us in a place where we could have the greatest impact for Him regardless of how nice it was. Little did I know how God would answer my prayer.  We got the swimming pool the one person prayed for but it came in the form of the sea instead. When we arrived in Valle Gran Rey the place where we parked the car ended up being the main gathering spot right. It was a God thing. After talking with people we learned that we could sleep at a nudest beach just down the road. According to the law you can technically sleep on that beach but you just can't camp there or set up a tent or anything. So we have been calling this beach home since Tuesday. There was a bad wind storm which cleared out most of the nudests until today--which was nice for us but made sleeping a challenge. The cool thing has been that it has given us an opportunity to connect more with some of the hippees and get a taste of their life as a lot of them also live there. Simple things like a toilet, a bed to sleep on, a shelter from the wind, rain, and sun, a chair to sit on, easy access to drinking water, etc... All have become luxuries which I am looking forward to experiencing again. It has been a challenge this week operating with not much sleep and still having a grateful attitude. I am sleeping in an amazing place but I am really looking forward to going back to Tenerife next week. Jesus said that, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matt. 8:20) we have been experiencing a taste of what Jesus was talking about. The question remains: Are we really willing to pay the cost to really follow Jesus? 

It has been cool to see how God answered my prayer even though it was mot the answer I would have chosen. It has been a cool experience and I know God is doing something here. My heart goes out to the hippees and druggies that we meet each night. I know God has a purpose and plan for them. This place is all about being open to all spiritual stuff which makes it hard to share the Gospel but I believe that God is doing a work in their hearts. 

Next week our leaders are going to stay here and continue ministering to them while the rest of us return to Tenerife. I will be leading the team during their absence. Please pray for wisdom for me.

Some photos:

The rain cloud in the mountain at our campsite.

Our campsite.

The view from our campsite in the mountains. I hiked down there to the nearest village (1 hour hike down) to the nearest grocery store.

Drying our laundry in a park while staying at the church.

One of the places where I have slept at the beach (we kept changing it each night).

Sunset!

Blessings!

Psalm 19

Heaven is declaring god's glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork....Psalm 19:1

There is nothing quite like watching the sun peek over the mountains in the morning while meditating on God's awesomeness!

Radio!

This week a couple of us had the awesome opportunity to share on a Christian radio station here. On my heart lately has been the need to get back to the basics and just preach that Jesus came to die for us because he loves us immensely and so that we can know Him. John 1:1-5 has been particularly on my heart in particular. In the beginning was the Word and that the Word is light and darkness can't extinguish it. So on Friday I had the opportunity to read God's word over the airways here and preach about Jesus. It was really cool. 

Here is a picture of two of our team members in the radio station.

Jesus is King!

Tonight was an incredible night of ministry! I think it was my favorite night so far. A few of us went down to the red light area here in the late afternoon feeling like we needed to go and just pray and worship God. We found the building where the Living Room, a ministry there is. The ministry is on the top floor and the first couple stories are a strip club. We sat in front of the strip club and sang and just worship God in that place, read scripture out loud, and prayed over the area prophetically. It was amazing. When I arrived my heart felt heavy but when we left I felt like God had transformed the environment. It was awesome. I am reminded if the Israelites who marched around Jericho worshipping God and as they were obedient God brought the walls down. Now to continue to pray and watch what God does in that place.

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas has been good but different:
A) It's warm and sunny!
B) I am away from home.
C) Germans celebrate it on Christmas Eve so today feels weird not doing something special.

In reflecting on our Christmas, last night I realized that I don't really remember most of my Christmas gifts but nights like last night I will probably never forget. For the past two days we have been using our spare time to bake cookies. We bagged them and attached little Christmas messages to them and then handed out the cookies to people last night. It was really special. One man mentioned that he had wrote on facebook how he wished he could have some Christmas cake and then we came along as an answer to his prayer. We found a group of homeless guys who I think really appreciated their cookies, and the list goes on of cool conversations that we had with people because of a small gift used to represent God's amazing gift to us. Tonight we are going to go to a different area and see where God leads us and who we ended up talking to.

Here are a few pictures from some of our activities over the past week:

Chris and I with a Bulgarian man we have been getting to know, celebtrating his birthday.

Spending a Sunday afternoon at the beach with some people from Argentina that we met.

Our Christmas feast!

Participating in a Christmas service by the beach.

Enjoying our Christmas morning prayer walk.

Have a blessed Christmas!

Week One

Greetings from the island of Tenerife! Early Wednesday morning our team arrived safe and sound on one of the main Canary Islands called Tenerife. Just after we arrived a crazy storm hit the islands. It was said to be the worst storm they have had here in 50 years. The government asked people to stay inside so our first part of the journey was spent indoors in prayer and worship. It was a good start but it was exciting when the sun came out.

 This week we did a number of prayer walks to observe the culture and way of life. We also went to one of the main tourist areas to do street evangelism. I am not very good at talking with random strangers and so it was a stretching experience. Most of the tourists here are from Europe and are older and are physically challenged. Every forth tourist is either in an electric wheelchair or uses a cane or some sort of brace or crutch. A good thing is that a lot of them speak English. They seem very closed to the Gospel.

Finding ways to connect with the locals here will be another challenge--one that even the church here has been finding difficult. I am excited for what will happen as I am believing that God will do some awesome stuff here but it is going to take a lot of prayer and a move of the Holy Spirit.

On the personal side, I am grateful that I have been able to find gluten free food here in the main supermarket. Please continue to pray for healing for me as I am still fighting an ear infection. Our team has been incredibly blessed with a really nice apartment for the girls. The church that we will be helping out is really nice and feels like home. They are open to a move of the Holy Spirit which is totally awesome.

Blessings!

Canary Islands here we come!

Hello everyone,

I am excited to announce that tomorrow my team will be leaving for the Canary Islands for our outreach. Here is a picture of my team.

This time is bitter sweet as, while it is exciting thinking about the outreach, it is also a sad time as it means saying goodbye to some awesome people whom I will see again only briefly in February for our debriefing. Please remember us in prayer, especially me as I have been fighting an ear infection in both ears that does not want to go away.

I am not sure how often I will be able to post anything here while we are gone. We have a team blog but it will be in German (there is a section called English blog...so if someone has a chance to translate it there may be something there). Photos from our trip will also be posted there if you are looking for photos under fotogalarie.  The link is: http://islandmissionaries.webnode.com/

Thanks for your prayers.
Beca

Shalom Prayer

I forgot to mention that I found this prayer on the Stone Church website and it is really cool and worth reading/praying through. You can access it at this link: http://www.stonechurch.ca/site/stone_church/assets/pdf/Shalom_Prayer.pdf

Blessings!

The countdown is on... we leave in 11 days!

I have to be honest in saying that I have avoided writing anything here over the past two weeks because I haven't had any exciting news to share. It started three weeks ago when we were learning some dramas. In one of them I played the part of a crippled person who was limping in pain each day. I felt the pain. I felt the loneliness of the character. Another evening we watched a movie documentary on healing and then we started Holy Spirit week where I felt like I had to start expecting God to heal me. People had crazy visions that matched each other regarding the things holding me back from being healed by God. They prayed for me daily. I felt challenged to start eating different foods in faith. I studied different passages in the Bible and felt like God was telling me that He is healing me. However, instead of having some amazing healing experience I felt the same old symptoms. I kept asking God and continuing to step out in faith. Instead of feeling healed, I ended up with laryngitis. This past week was spiritual warfare week which I thought to be very fitting as I have felt like I have been in a battle. Instead of improving I lost a lot of my energy and got an ear infection. The past couple days I have been really discouraged wondering why God hasn't healed me or if He has healed me and my body is just not getting the message. Today I have decided to stop trying to eat normal food until God clearly shows me otherwise. I am still believing for healing. I know that God is a miracle working God. I know He can heal and He still heals today. I don't doubt this. I just wish I knew why He isn't healing me the way I want to be healed and when I want to be healed...which is probably my problem because that sounds really selfish and demanding when I write it. The Scripture verse that came to my mind as I began to write this blog entry is: " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33. Time to refocus. Time to just worship God regardless of how I feel and keep believing and asking for a miracle--and wait for Him to do it. 

Please remember me in your prayers particularly for quick restoration of my voice and for healing of this ear infection...and also for healing for the rest of my body to go with it.

P.S. The countdown is on. In a week and a half I will be on my way to the Canary Islands for the outreach portion of the DTS. It's crazy how fast the time has flown by so far. Please pray for vision and unity for our team and that God would lead and direct us and use us in incredible ways to accomplish His will and purpose. :)

Thank you for your prayers!

Believing for a miracle!

This week we are talking about the Holy Spirit in our lectures. This morning we looked at the different symbols of the Holy Spirit and noticed that it is represented by items such as fire, breath, and water which were, and still are, absolutely essential for life. The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential in the life of believers.

On Friday we are going to have a ministry time to pray for healing and I have asked God and am believing for compelete healing in my body. Please join me in praying and asking God for this miracle.

Blessings!

Islands

Canary Islands

Spanish

Exciting news

About a month ago our island team met to spend time in prayer for our main outreach. We spread out a piece of mural paper on the table and people were to write down any impressions they felt God give them while praying.  In my head I saw a map where there were several islands and a mainland to the left. I didn't draw it and almost didn't share it with the group because I thought it was insignificant. I ended up telling everyone sheepishly and our leader got really excited and asked me to point it out to him on the map. I was looking in the the area of the Caribbean and didn't see it so  I just drew the map that I saw on the paper and forgot all about it. 

Today we found out that the details for us going to the ABC islands were not working out and our leader had the impression that we had the wrong islands. God had not specifically told them what islands we should go to in the first place so they planned on going to where they had contacts. After he felt God wanted us to go somewhere different he had the Canary Islands on his heart and my map confirmed that for him as the image lines up. 

Yesterday morning I was praying and I felt like the Holy Spirit was moving across a strip of land starting in the waters beside China and it flowed west to the waters just past Africa. 

 They told us today about going to the Canary Islands and it blows my mind how the visions line up (the map and the westward direction). I am so excited for our outreach! 

Another amazing thing. Before coming here I decided to get a visa for fun as it was free even though I didn't think I would need it. The Canary Islands are apart if the EU and so I now need a visa to stay here which would cost me money if I had to get it here. Praise God for my free visa that covers all of the EU and is valid until the end of our DTS. 

God is so cool! Please remember us in prayer.

Ps. We started Spanish lessons today :)

Photos

Preaching

A 10 minute lunch break by the Mediterranean Sea after visiting the refugee camp.

Some of our team

Some of us at a pizzeria

Worshiping in the square before doing a skit.

Group Photo

A week in Sicily!

This past week in Sicily has been awesome and it has been really cool to step outside of my comfort zone and see God work. 

I am reading through the book "Radical" by David Platt and he comments: "in direct contradiction to the American dream, God actually delights in exalting our inability"(kindle location 613). I don't want to live a life that is dependent only on my own gifts and abilities but instead I want to live a life that is dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit so that God gets the glory. For me this has been the case this past week. 

One of the highlights for me was preaching at a youth (young adult) service. Friday night we were informed that one of us would be preaching and we were asked to pray about who should do it. I felt nothing and, in wanting to give the others an opportunity, I held back from offering. It didn't help that I was experiencing difficulty in spending meaningful time with God. A couple people came to me and said I should preach but I didn't think anything of it until one of our leaders came to me and said that they too had the impression that I was to preach. Typically when I know I have to preach I like to spend time in prayer and research the passage I will be preaching on at least a week in advance so that I can just spend time meditating on it. Then I write the sermon and go over it so that I know it and can preach from my heart. Needless to say, I did not have the time nor the resources to do this. I went for a prayer walk and asked God to give me something to say. He gave me a passage in Romans 8 and so I spent my afternoon reading Romans and trying to put together some scrap of a sermon. I just asked God to speak through me and I asked specifically for a word of knowledge for someone. It was the largest group of people I have preached to so far and it was a more modern church with the bright lights and stuff which I am not used to. When I saw the platform and the people I felt nervous and intimidated especially seeing as I felt really unprepared. When it came time to preach I just spoke what was on my heart and that was it. I sat down and wished I was sensitive to the Holy Spirit like Jenn Wilton or Robert Martin where they speak effectively and seem to always have an awesome ministry time afterwards--but that wasn't the case. I just sat down when I was done speaking because I didn't feel like I was to do anything specific to conclude. I felt discouraged as usual. The coolest thing happened afterwards. One guy came up to me and told me how the prophetic word that I thought God had given me for their church was exactly what he had asked God for. Another woman around my age came to me and told how one of the stories I shared was a mirror image of her present situation and how it encouraged her. It is incredibly humbling to see God take my insecurities and fumbling attempt to do what He asks and transform it for His glory. 

The same thing happened later on in the week. We were in a city center area and one person had the impression that we should do a skit so we set it up right in front of a bar patio for them to see. I got elected to quickly share after the skit with only a couple minutes to prepare. I had never preached on the street before and was nervous and I had no clue what to say so I just gave a brief summary about how only Jesus can fill the longings in our heart. Afterwards, one man got up from the patio and came to us saying that what we did spoke to him. It was really cool.

Another stretching event for me this week was our faith walk where we walked around the city and asked God to lead us to people He wants us to speak to. We also visited a refugee camp, and did a children's program at a church and on the street. I have been reminded of our need to be reliant on the power of the Holy Spirit, because it is only through Him that anything we do has any value.

All in all, our time in Sicily was fantastic! Thank you for your prayers.

Lesson from Haggai

This week we are doing a survey of the entire Bible. So far it is probably my favorite week of the DTS.

This morning we read the book of Haggai and I found it very applicable to us now. Haggai's message was to call the people to rebuild the temple. He gets their attention by pointing out how they work hard but somehow they never have enough. It is like their money bag has holes. How often have we felt this way?! We work hard. Sometimes the money just doesn't cover all we want, like a new pair of shoes, or even what we need. 

God tells them that they never have enough because He is blowing it away. Why? They cared more about their own homes and needs then God's. But, when the people  changed their ways and were obedient to God and invested in building His temple God encouraged them to be strong and to not fear. He reminded them that He is with them and He blessed them with His glory and His peace.

I just thought this is a cool message for us today. We need to remember to surrender our finances to God rather than chasing after financial security, because ultimately it is Him who provides for our needs.

Blessings!

Week at an Evangelical Convent

This past week I had the opportunity to go to an evangelical convent called Kanaan. It was really cool. I had a bedroom to myself which was really nice change after sharing a room with 8 other girls. It was also a really refreshing week of contemplating on all that Jesus has done for us and just taking time to smell the roses. There were roses everywhere--different kinds and colours and they smelled so wonderful. 

The following are a couple of quotes that spoke to me this week from Mother Basilea Schlink:  
 
"I never want the Holy Spirit to have to tell me something twice."

"My gift of love has no equal. But there is one condition: that you make room for it... Empty your heart of everything filling it, and you will find the most valuable gift, the most wonderful gift in all the world: a love relationship between you and Me--the deepest, closest, purest, holiest and strongest possible. Surrender all else, and you will find it!" My All For Him page 28

"Jesus as Love everlasting

Descended from on high

To show to sinful beings

The way of love divine.

Jesus as Love everlasting

Enkindled many souls

To dedicate their everything 

For love of Him alone.

Jesus with love still seeking

For hearts aglow with love

Their lives and longings yielding

To Him who's from above.

Once more the Saviour is knocking

At every heart and door.

Oh, can't you hear Him pleading,

Accept me as your Lord."

My All For Him page 28-29

And here are some pictures:

Picking apples to help the sisters get all the apples off the trees before the frost. They have so many apple trees and other fruits and veggies too.

 A view of part of their property.

They publish material to share the Gospel in so many languages around the world. It is really awesome to see it all. I even found a bookmark in Khmer but I couldn't read it...as it has been too long.

Here are some of the sisters leading worship.

 Here is a picture of myself and two of the sisters who are from Canada.

Two girls from our team in their main chapel where we went for a liturgical prayer service every day.

Here is another picture of some of the grounds.

They have a special path where you can walk through and reflect on the suffering and resurrection of Jesus. It is a really cool experience to go through each station and really reflect on Jesus' actions and what they mean for us today.

 

 

 

 

It was an amazing week! I recommend checking out this place if you are ever in Germany and remembering the sisters (and there are a couple of brothers too) in prayer for all the work they do to bring Christ's love to this world.