Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Brian and I enjoyed our day off by sitting at Starbucks for an hour or so just reading and taking in the last bit of sunshine until May. Brian's been reading a lot about various men in Christian history such as Steve Saint, John Newton, and Adoniram Judson. After reading about the last guy, Adoniram, Brian was convinced that we are missionaries living a "nerf" life (you know what a nerf ball is, those soft, squishy, fake footballs and such). We're comfortable in our North American cushy home with a refrigerator, a yoga ball, and a DVD player.
Adoniram Judson was one of the first missionaries into Burma. You've probably heard a lot about Burma and its political unrest lately. Well, Adoniram lived through decades of unrest and his life was spent trying to bring the Gospel to the Burmese. He pretty much lived an awful life, malnourished, in prison, or attending to dying wives (2 of his 3 wives died while they were with him in Burma and his 3rd wife died shortly after he did). And he never really saw any fruit from his labor.
We are a part of a whole new generation of missionaries. We have access to anywhere in the world from anywhere in the world via satellites, we have a medicine for pretty much any known disease, and we have batteries so we can have power wherever we go. Are we living a "nerf" life?
The more I think about it, the less I'm convinced that we do. Yes we're comfortable physically, and I'm thankful to God for that every day. But we still face battle after battle for souls. I do not get on campus and stretch out my arms and say, "Welp, everyone's already following Jesus, so I think I'll hit the gym." It is far from that.
A week or two ago my friend and I shared the gospel with a girl who decided to accept Jesus as her Lord after hearing the Good News. We soon found out that she had studied with Jehovah's Witnesses and we're still working through a lot of fundamental issues with her regarding Scripture and the person of Jesus to name a few. Almost every time I talk to a Catholic student on campus I want to beat my fists against my forehead. They have the Truth but for many of them it's buried under piles of legalistic jargon!
To say that we live a "nerf" life might be true physically (thank you, Jesus), but I know when I open the door to my "nerf" apartment in the evenings my soul is often weary and my heart torn.
10.08.2007
10.02.2007
I can't believe it's already October. This semester has gone by so quickly. Last week all of the first year Bible studies officially started; I'm leading 2 this semester. I'm also leading a study for third year girls based on Robert Coleman's book The Master Plan of Evangelism. This weekend we had our fall retreat for all of the Campus For Christ students from Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, and Douglas College. Between the all universities we had close to 100 students!
As a staff team, we have been praying to see 250 students choose to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior this school year. So far we've seen 8! As a follow up to the fall retreat, we are having a "Week of Evangelism" this week at SFU. We are trusting the Lord to use us to find those 250 students for His kingdom through random evangelism on campus and other outreach events.
Here are some pictures of stuff that's been happening this semester (courtesy of Jeffrey and Paulman).
Group shot at the end of BC Summit 2007. (Brian and I are on the far right.)
We played volleyball during free time at the retreat. We were playing boys vs. girls... it was 10 on 3 at one point, but we said, "If you have the XY chromosome, you're not welcome on our team!" Here's our cheer:
We jumped up and down in the shape of an X.
We passed out almost 2000 Real Life Kits to students during the first week of school. Each kit contained a New Testament, evangelical tract, highliter, pillow case, and The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel or Soul Cravings by Erwin Ralph McManus. Through the RLKs we got close to 1000 contacts to follow up with, many of which led to great spiritual conversations.
Worship in Burnaby Mountain Park during our Kick-Off BBQ.
Thanks for your prayers everyone!
9.04.2007
first day of school
Today was my first day back on campus at Simon Fraser University. I must admit I woke up in a bit of a funk and was not looking forward to the day. Besides having to leave my house at 6:50am and not sleeping well the night before, I just wasn't in the mood to battle the crowds in the hallways and look outside just to see fog and rain.
I knew my attitude was off and was praying all morning that the Lord would work through me, in spite of me, and that He would remind me why I do what I do. During my break between passing out and collecting Spiritual Interest Questionnaires all over campus, I went to the cafeteria with a co-staff to try to have a spiritual conversation with someone. We sat down with a Chinese international student named Rose and began to talk with her about "the God" (as she referred to Him). Coming from a communist background, she was taught that there is no God and so she didn't believe in Him. But she also didn't know much about Christianity and wanted to know more about it.
As my co-staff and I shared the four spiritual laws with her (an evangelistic booklet that covers the four main points of the Bible and brings the reader to a point of decision), she asked lots of deep, clarifying questions about forgiveness, why it had to be Jesus, punishment, and how to connect with God. By the time we reached the part where the reader must decide whether or not they want to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, Rose had complete understanding and wanted to open her life up to Him. She sensed a need for forgiveness in her life and gladly accepted Christ's gift on the cross.
So my co-staff and I are meeting to follow up with her on Thursday.
I do not understand God. If I were Him dealing with me this morning, I would've told myself to go back to bed and not come back until I felt like I could have a better attitude. But instead He chose to use me, answering my own feeble prayers, and drawing another into His Kingdom. Lilly doesn't have any earthly siblings, but I wish you could've seen her smile when I told her that we were sisters in Christ.
I knew my attitude was off and was praying all morning that the Lord would work through me, in spite of me, and that He would remind me why I do what I do. During my break between passing out and collecting Spiritual Interest Questionnaires all over campus, I went to the cafeteria with a co-staff to try to have a spiritual conversation with someone. We sat down with a Chinese international student named Rose and began to talk with her about "the God" (as she referred to Him). Coming from a communist background, she was taught that there is no God and so she didn't believe in Him. But she also didn't know much about Christianity and wanted to know more about it.
As my co-staff and I shared the four spiritual laws with her (an evangelistic booklet that covers the four main points of the Bible and brings the reader to a point of decision), she asked lots of deep, clarifying questions about forgiveness, why it had to be Jesus, punishment, and how to connect with God. By the time we reached the part where the reader must decide whether or not they want to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, Rose had complete understanding and wanted to open her life up to Him. She sensed a need for forgiveness in her life and gladly accepted Christ's gift on the cross.
So my co-staff and I are meeting to follow up with her on Thursday.
I do not understand God. If I were Him dealing with me this morning, I would've told myself to go back to bed and not come back until I felt like I could have a better attitude. But instead He chose to use me, answering my own feeble prayers, and drawing another into His Kingdom. Lilly doesn't have any earthly siblings, but I wish you could've seen her smile when I told her that we were sisters in Christ.
8.30.2007
simple yet profund
My life is about to get crazy. This summer has flown by, but the next month is definitely going to be a blur. I was blessed to be able to travel to Nicaragua twice on AIA Soccer tours and to have my brother and mom out here to visit me. Brian and I also got to take a 10 day vacation to Maui at the end of the summer. From the middle of July until the end of August, I was living out of a suitcase! I realized while we were in Hawaii how crazy our lives had become. Everyone told us before we left to go see places and restaurants and do all this stuff that sounded so awesome... but then we got there and realized we had done that allllllll summer. All we wanted to do, and all we did, was sit on the beach all day and have a relaxing dinner at home. Our lifestyle is full of "excursions" so when we went to Hawaii, we realized we just wanted to take a break from that.
So what does all this mean? I'm realizing quickly how wasted my life has been. After going on a prayer walk on campus this week, preparing for the spiritual battle we will be facing this fall, I realized that the only way I can make a difference in this world is if I can reach people at a spiritual level. And that can only come by giving up control of my mind, heart, soul, and body. All those things act as a shell, trapping our spirit and the Holy Spirit deep down. The only time a pure spiritual interaction can take place is when we are rid of physical, emotional, and mental distractions.
How impossible does that sound!?
But it's what I want. I'm reading The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee. The book is not an intimidating size, only about 50 pages. But it is so chock full of rich, deep, simple, yet profound concepts. I love it because it gets right to the point, right to the issues, without big words or lots of personal stories to beef up the pages. Don't get me wrong, those stories can add a lot to a book. But I guess I'm just sick of books like Blue Like Jazz by Ronald Miller, most of the John Eldridge books, etc. I can look on our bookshelf now and list off lots more. There's so many out there now.
My spirit and my soul have been reached so profoundly by this simple book. I would just like to say thank you for writing it, Mr. Nee.
So what does all this mean? I'm realizing quickly how wasted my life has been. After going on a prayer walk on campus this week, preparing for the spiritual battle we will be facing this fall, I realized that the only way I can make a difference in this world is if I can reach people at a spiritual level. And that can only come by giving up control of my mind, heart, soul, and body. All those things act as a shell, trapping our spirit and the Holy Spirit deep down. The only time a pure spiritual interaction can take place is when we are rid of physical, emotional, and mental distractions.
How impossible does that sound!?
But it's what I want. I'm reading The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee. The book is not an intimidating size, only about 50 pages. But it is so chock full of rich, deep, simple, yet profound concepts. I love it because it gets right to the point, right to the issues, without big words or lots of personal stories to beef up the pages. Don't get me wrong, those stories can add a lot to a book. But I guess I'm just sick of books like Blue Like Jazz by Ronald Miller, most of the John Eldridge books, etc. I can look on our bookshelf now and list off lots more. There's so many out there now.
My spirit and my soul have been reached so profoundly by this simple book. I would just like to say thank you for writing it, Mr. Nee.
8.03.2007
the power of a Father
Today, in Nicaragua, we heard from the President of Campus Crusade for Christ, Nicaragua, Jimmy Hassan. He talked to us about the roots of Nicaraguan culture and it totally changed my perspective of the work we are doing here. The fact that we are travelling with a Father-Son team is not insignificant.
When Christopher Columbus came to the Americas, his entire crew was made up of criminals from the jails of Spain who were forced by the government under the threat of death to join Columbus in his adventure. Columbus's goals were to discover India (or what he thought was India) thereby making the world a smaller, more reachable place, and to deliver the Good News to these new people. When the Spaniard men arrived, after months at sea, the only thing on their mind was women. After meeting and sharing the Gospel with these new "Indians", Columbus and his men had their way with the "Indian" women, forcing them to be baptized first so that they would be having relations with "Christian" women.
The result of these unions was an entirely new race of people, a combination of Spanish and "Indian" called Mestizos (mess-TEE-sohs). The families of these women who were raped and empregnated rejected the girl, blaming her for the rape. The Spaniard wanted nothing to do with her after he'd gotten his way. The woman saw the baby as a sign of all this rejection and so typically wanted nothing to do with the child, the Mestizo. This cultivated a culture of rejection, the woman being rejected by her family and the Spaniard, the child being rejected by his father and possibly his mother. The only reason a Mestizo child could survive would be if the mother had compassion and worked to keep him alive. All the while the child is wanting to be like his fair-skinned European father.
Fast forward through the centuries and we are still facing the results of this culture of rejection. Here, men have no responsibility in the home. It is the woman, the mother, who is the head of the household. According to the men, they can have as many women as they want, it's culturally normal, but they will only have one mother. Fathers carry no significance, no respect, no responsibility. The mothers make all of the decisions and are eventually taken care of by their older, grown sons.
Now transfer this knowledge of the Latino culture and their view of fathers and imagine trying to explain to these children about a Heavenly Father. It doesn't translate spiritually for them. You can take the Lord's name in vain or Jesus Christ's name in vain, but if you say anything bad about the Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother, you will get in serious trouble.
That is why our trip is making such an impact. The Nicaraguans are seeing white fathers (in their eyes rich and successful) encouraging and supporting their sons. They are seeing a completely different culture and are making a huge impact.
When Christopher Columbus came to the Americas, his entire crew was made up of criminals from the jails of Spain who were forced by the government under the threat of death to join Columbus in his adventure. Columbus's goals were to discover India (or what he thought was India) thereby making the world a smaller, more reachable place, and to deliver the Good News to these new people. When the Spaniard men arrived, after months at sea, the only thing on their mind was women. After meeting and sharing the Gospel with these new "Indians", Columbus and his men had their way with the "Indian" women, forcing them to be baptized first so that they would be having relations with "Christian" women.
The result of these unions was an entirely new race of people, a combination of Spanish and "Indian" called Mestizos (mess-TEE-sohs). The families of these women who were raped and empregnated rejected the girl, blaming her for the rape. The Spaniard wanted nothing to do with her after he'd gotten his way. The woman saw the baby as a sign of all this rejection and so typically wanted nothing to do with the child, the Mestizo. This cultivated a culture of rejection, the woman being rejected by her family and the Spaniard, the child being rejected by his father and possibly his mother. The only reason a Mestizo child could survive would be if the mother had compassion and worked to keep him alive. All the while the child is wanting to be like his fair-skinned European father.
Fast forward through the centuries and we are still facing the results of this culture of rejection. Here, men have no responsibility in the home. It is the woman, the mother, who is the head of the household. According to the men, they can have as many women as they want, it's culturally normal, but they will only have one mother. Fathers carry no significance, no respect, no responsibility. The mothers make all of the decisions and are eventually taken care of by their older, grown sons.
Now transfer this knowledge of the Latino culture and their view of fathers and imagine trying to explain to these children about a Heavenly Father. It doesn't translate spiritually for them. You can take the Lord's name in vain or Jesus Christ's name in vain, but if you say anything bad about the Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother, you will get in serious trouble.
That is why our trip is making such an impact. The Nicaraguans are seeing white fathers (in their eyes rich and successful) encouraging and supporting their sons. They are seeing a completely different culture and are making a huge impact.
4.10.2007
summer's coming
Brian and I enjoyed a nice long weekend together. It was great and much-deserved. Things are slowing down on campus but AIA stuff in the office is picking up speed. After a great Good Friday service Brian and I went to IKEA to buy some flower boxes. I love going to that store! If only they sold clothes, then I wouldn't need to go anywhere else! Planting the daffodils and violas was great. Now I want a garden of my own so I can grow vegetables and bigger flowers.
Now that Easter has come and gone and school is winding down, summer is officially on it's way. Time for a change of wardrobe and lots of trips around the world. But while everyone else seems excited for summer to come, I'm not all that happy about it. The beginning of summer has always been kind of a sad time for me. I remember walking home from the last day of class in the third grade and crying because I wasn't going to see my friends everyday and (believe it or not) I knew I would miss my teacher. It's been that same kind of feeling every year for 15 years.
I want this summer to be different. I want to enjoy it and make the most of it. Summer in Vancouver is so beautiful! Plus, by the end of the summer there will be at least 3 new additions to the world. I'm so excited to meet all of our friends' new babies. Congratulations to the Stovers, Hourstons, and Tans!!! (And, in case you were going to ask, that won't happen any time soon for us.)
Now that Easter has come and gone and school is winding down, summer is officially on it's way. Time for a change of wardrobe and lots of trips around the world. But while everyone else seems excited for summer to come, I'm not all that happy about it. The beginning of summer has always been kind of a sad time for me. I remember walking home from the last day of class in the third grade and crying because I wasn't going to see my friends everyday and (believe it or not) I knew I would miss my teacher. It's been that same kind of feeling every year for 15 years.
I want this summer to be different. I want to enjoy it and make the most of it. Summer in Vancouver is so beautiful! Plus, by the end of the summer there will be at least 3 new additions to the world. I'm so excited to meet all of our friends' new babies. Congratulations to the Stovers, Hourstons, and Tans!!! (And, in case you were going to ask, that won't happen any time soon for us.)
Here's a picture of my new haircut... although it's been a month so I need to go again soon.
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