Eden Gear Up

.entering debrief.

2011-07-18T16:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we've successfully completed our mission week!

To catch you up....
On Thursday we got lost due to construction (when it says "local traffic only, no through road," it literally does end at a cliff) but eventually made it to a church along the lakeshore to do some gardening, decorate and sew more balls and beanbags, and do some street evangelism. It was a great day to experience both practical service and outreach evangelism types of ministry. We had a lot of fun with the team from Westside, too.

On Friday we did a free carwash and handed out posters and flyers for Westside's upcoming BBQ. It was awesome to see people's faces when they realized that "free" actually means free. We were able to tell them that because we have experienced God's love and grace freely, we want to share that with others and let them know that some things in life are free. Cool conversations, very happy and blessed people, and hopefully more connections that will continue to grow at the BBQ. The kids all have tons of fun stories about this afternoon, but you'll just have to wait to hear them in person!

On Saturday we went to an old folks home and sang a couple songs and did a play. Then we got to talk to them!! We all had some awesome conversations and had a great time with them. It was definitely one of the highlights of the week for everyone.
After that, we went over to a park where we gave out free lemonade, painted faces, made balloon animals, and did crafts, games, and sports with the kids. We had some great conversations and some walls were broken down as people responded to us being there just to offer them and their families a fun afternoon/evening.

On Sunday we went to our home churches for another great discussion, and then we went to Sue's for a BBQ and swimming! We had such a lovely afternoon spending time with each other, and it was a great way to close our ministry with Westside. That evening back at College Notre Dame we all had a celebration time where each group shared something from their experiences the past week. We all invited our host churches, as well as any random person we'd made a connection with during the week, and we were encouraged hearing about God's work this past week.

Monday and Tuesday are debrief days. We had some staff kick off our debrief this afternoon with a 2 hour group session, and it's been a good start. Tomorrow afternoon we'll meet as a team again as we prepare to return home. The morning and evening sessions are also very relevant for this, but it's nice to have a bit of a break in the afternoons!

We look forward to seeing you soon, and we thank you for your prayers! Please keep praying for us as we process all that God has taught us and prepare to adjust to the realities of life back home.

.Mission Week.

2011-07-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy the past few days! We have a lot to catch you all up on.

On Sunday we all spread out to 4 different house churches with Westside Gathering. All of us had a great time connecting with the people at our separate homes, and are very much looking forward to next Sunday again with them.

Some of us had a little adventure along the way, too. When we arrived at our house church, Josiah noticed that the front passenger tire was looking quite flat. After church, we were directed to a gas station nearby to fill it up. Josiah, Allison and I were filling up the tire (yes, apparently it took all 3 of us) and Josiah noticed air spewing out the back, and quite the bubble back there too. We let the guy next to us use the rest of the air we'd bought, and took the car to a parking lot next door, next to a Mr. Lube. I decided this would be a great opportunity to teach Josiah and Allison to change a tire. Only the Sequoia did not have a jack inside. So I asked the guys at the Mr. Lube if they'd be able to change a tire, and they said no problem, they'd be able to in about 15 minutes. I pulled the car up, and our pastor, Dave, came to communicate a bit more clearly with the tire guys. Apparently they only change 2 or 4 tires, our vehicle was too big for their lifts, and they could not do this for us. However, he sweet talked them into an under-the-table deal. It took 4 men to get the rusted spare tire (thankfully, a full tire, not just a donut) off the car and on. They told us that if we had gone over a speedbump or pothole then it would have exploded and we would have been on rim. We spent a lot of time thanking God for how this situation all turned out!!!

On Monday we met with our church and did planning and prep for some of our projects this week. We've got an amazing team to work with at Westside and they've got lots of energy and vision for helping their community. We painted, sewed, planned, and got to know each other. In the evening we went to some parks and soccer games and handed out postcards about an upcoming BBQ.

On Tuesday we had a few hours in the prayer room together. All of our students have asked if we can go back for more; it was such a sacred space that was conducive to all sorts of prayers, without distractions. There were guides to pray for the city of Montreal, for various upcoming events, for confession/forgiveness, for personal reflection, for alone time, for artistic creative prayers, etc. We ended our time there having team communion, which was so special.
For our work project we gardened at a housing co-op. The garden beds were FULL of weeds, and it was so satisfying to see all we accomplished by the end of the day. We were tired, but were still able to get some laundry done just before bed.

Today we had a change of plans due to rain, so instead of gardening again/having a carwash, we joined Welcome Home Mission downtown. It's such a cool ministry, and it was nice to have a bit of "down-time" just labeling books for them. They said we got the most work done of any group they've ever had in! After that, we did a bit more planning and preparation for an upcoming park day.

Prayer Requests:
We are a very clumsy team! It seems like everyone has gotten injured in some minor way (cuts and scrapes), and a few people have been feeling sick. Please pray for physical healing and that we stop hurting ourselves (or falling)!
Our team has repeatedly impressed us with their maturity in handling conflict. God is really at work unifying us and making us a stronger team to be used for his glory.
Pray for our upcoming ministry days; we'll be doing some park ministry, serving the elderly, a carwash, spontaneous ministry by the water, etc. (we're pretty flexible because some of these things are based on weather). Please pray that we'll make meaningful connections with people, raise questions with them that cause them to want to search for answers, and to make further connections with Westside Gathering.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Montreal!

2011-07-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the view from the top of St. Joseph oratory, just across from where we're staying! Hope you all enjoy the view of the beautiful city of Montreal!

.Sharing Jesus.

2011-07-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today's theme was "sharing Jesus" and we learned about evangelism and sharing our story with others. We especially learned about asking good questions and listening, listening, listening to what other people have to say.

This afternoon, we went out into the city to perform PAX (public acts of service for Christ). We used chalk boards with "aimer" on them to ask people what their definition of love is, and took photos of them to post here: http://aimelesautres.wordpress.com/
We also used a photo book to ask questions and start conversations with people. Some people used chalk art, soccer, and even slack-lining to connect with people. After doing this for a few hours, we went to la Place-des-Arts to "freeze". I don't have any pictures of this (because I was frozen in a ninja pose) but I'm sure we can get some from someone else. It gave us another opportunity to talk with people about why we were there.

At lunch today we were able to connect with some people from the church we'll be working with for the next week. We are all so very excited about how the week will unfold! We've got some great things planned, and are looking forward to see how God will use us. A few members of this church are generously loaning us their van/SUVs so we can get to and from our ministry projects. We look forward to meeting them all at their house churches tomorrow.

We want to praise God for the walls we've seen broken down in our group and the closeness we've been experiencing with each other. We ask that you continue to pray for this, that no one will allow fear to hold them back. We've been looking into 1 John a lot, and we are reminded that perfect love casts out fear, and we're praying that we will experience God's love more than ever before.
Please also pray for the hearts of people we'll be meeting over the next week or so, that God will prepare them and us for each other.

Compassion Day

2011-07-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone!

We've just gotten back from "Compassion Day" where we've scattered across the city to observe and participate with various ministries. Some groups went to learn more about ministering to immigrants, others to women in need, others to homeless youth, others to see what it looks like to live missionally in a diverse and poor neighbourhood, and others to learn about ministering to the homeless through art. I haven't talked to everyone about their different experiences yet, but all the ones I talked to learned a lot and are beginning to see people with new eyes; with God's eyes. Please pray that we will all learn to look at people through God's eyes of love.

Our theme for the two weeks here is "Love God, Love Others" and we're already having opportunities to meet and love people who are very different than us, and maybe not as "easy" to love.

Our worship and teaching times have been really great. They're very intentional about being bilingual here, so everything is spoken in both French and English, and half the songs are English and the other half French. Sometimes we'll sing a song in both languages. It's so meaningful to sing in another language, because it gives us pause to contemplate what exactly we're singing. Sometimes when it's a familiar English song we may sing it without thinking about our words as deeply.

We've been learning a lot about Quebec culture and the history of Montreal. We're learning about the spiritual state of the people here, who are hungry for spirituality, but distrust the Church.

We are so impressed with all of the students! They are so respectful of each other, and us as leaders. They are getting along well and being very considerate. Please continue to pray for team unity, because we know that the enemy would love for there to be tension.

We've had a few little adventures already. The first day we were here, while we were in a meeting where they were just about to explain emergency procedures, the fire alarm went off because they were filming the French version of "Degrassi" and were using fake smoke machines which set off the alarm. We all filed out in an orderly fashion; I guess all those fire drills have paid off!

Yesterday, as Mike wrote earlier, we walked for 4+km, and today we conquered the metro, and some of us explored the "underground city" for a bit. The weather has been gorgeous!

Continue to pray for us as we prepare for our ministry with Westside Gathering church next week.

On est arrivé à Montréal!

2011-07-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We thought we would give you a quick update (since you're all probably wondering). We arrived in Montreal yesterday at around 3PM... so a little ahead of scheudule! I'll save you the boring details of moving in, at least until I have more time to write a post. Here's a few interesting things that we've done so far:

Today we took a walk up to St. Joseph oratory, which is basically a giant church across from the college we're staying at. The view is breathtaking! I'll upload a shot when I get a chance, so that all of you at home can get a feel for the sights of Montreal. From there we took a tour around Mont Royal to several lookouts around the city where we were told about the history and culture of Quebec and Montreal. If there's one thing that's for certain it's that Montreal is a beautiful city that really needs to see the love of God right now!

After all the exposure to Quebec culture and history (and a 4km+ hike) the team is exhausted, and I'm not sure about the girls, but I'm the only guy that's still up ;) so I'll leave you all with a verse that we've been given at SOAR and a prayer request:

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He first loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." -1 John 4:7-11

Please pray that God would soften the hearts of the people of Montreal, and that He would prepare us for our journeys throughout the next two weeks, showing us how to truly love God and others, especially how to love the people of Montreal. Please pray that we might come to understand and be sensitive to the culture of Quebec and that God would use our gifts and talents to show people His love.

Thanks for all your support! I'm off to bed! :)

prayer

2011-07-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

We're leaving tomorrow morning, and as everyone scurries around figuring out the last minute details and getting packed, I thought I'd post a prayer here that I'm hoping echoes the hearts of each of our team members.

Eternal God,
lead me now
out of the familiar setting
of my doubts and fears,
beyond my pride
and my need to be secure
into a strange and graceful ease
with my true proportions
and with yours;
that in boundless silence
I may grow
strong enough to endure
and flexible enough to share
your grace.

Lord,
I believe
my life is touched by you,
that you want something for me,
and of me.
Give me ears
to hear you,
eyes
to see the tracing of your finger,
and a heart
quickened by the motions
of your Spirit.

In this moment
draw me to yourself, Lord,
and make me aware
not so much of what I've given
as of all I have received
and so have yet to share.
Send me forth
in power and gladness
and with great courage
to live out in the world
what I pray and profess,
that, in sharing,
I may do justice,
make peace,
grow in love,
enjoy myself,
other people,
and your world now,
and you forever.

SOAR Montreal

2011-06-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

We leave for Montreal in a week, and we had our last team meeting last night. We're gearing up for a great trip! Please check back here regularly for updates on our trip. We'll post what we've been up to as well as prayer requests.

Gear Up team 2011

2011-06-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Meet the Eden Gear Up Team!