God is working- part 2

Sorry its been a while. It always takes longer than anticipated before having time to sit down and type. So here's part 2...

Lots has been happening and is yet to happen in these last 3 weeks! I can hardly believe we've only got 3 weeks left here together in our tight little community- goodbyes are going to be hard!

Work is going well, still extremely trying but God is definitely giving me the strength to get through these last few weeks with optimism and genuine love for my co-workers. If nothing else (and there is much much else) I've learned just how much God loves these women and how sinful and judgmental my heart is when it isn't being controlled by the Holy Spirit!

My co-worker Natalie, whom I've had many opportunities to hang out with- and even had some great convos about God with- quit at the daycare we were at (for many reasons, but mainly it's a very difficult place to work- drama-stress and more drama!) But she has gotten a new and better job in Calgary which I know will make her much happier. So right now, I'm a bit discouraged as she was the only one I'd every really had convos with other than my boss Sharon. I'm just trusting God that He'll still make a way for me to meet up with her and talk with her more. I've really come to love her and we have a great friendship which is so encouraging, but I really want to share the full gospel with her before my time here is up, so she knows exactly where I stand and what means the most to me. Please pray that I would be bold in doing this and depend on God for the timing and words to speak his truth in a loving and genuine way.

We're planning a coffee house for Tuesday July 29th to invite our co-workers to. The theme is soul cravings- which looks at what our hearts really desire - love, relationships, satisfaction, joy- and how all these things can be found in Christ. I'm going to invite Natalie so please pray that she'll come and through it she'll come to better understand how much God loves her and wants her to know Him- and God willing she'll accept His gift of salvation. Pray for the night in general as well as I'm sure its going to be a great night!

Jesus Loves you has been going great, hard to believe we only have 2 more Tuesday nights there. I've definitely learned so much through this opportunity to share God's love in such a practical way for these women and children, and it's something I want to continue to do upon my return to Ontario. I think so often we (I know I do anyways) get so caught up in our own lives that we fail to see the soo many hurting people around us just crying out for someone to love them and share God's love with them.
Tonight we had the opportunity for 2 girls to share their testimonies in the women's time after dinner and there was lots of great discussion around God and the girl's story, which is very exciting and encouraging as well as motivating for our last few weeks. Next week 2 more girls will share and the following week another girl and I will share our stories and how Christ plays such a huge role in our lives. Please pray for all of us as well as the women who will be there, that we would speak words of truth in clarity and love and that the women would be open and able to relate to our stories.

Thats about all, other than our training which has been going great, I've learned so much this summer I don't know if I'll ever be able to remember it all let alone apply it to my life. Thank God for journals! Can't wait to share all I've learned with you upon my return so you too can be built up to strengthen your relationship with God and better reach those around you. I know I'm really excited to apply these things and grow closer to my heavenly father and allow Him to mold me to become more like Christ.

As these last few weeks fly by I'm taking some time to see God's beautiful creation out here in the west. This weekend I'll be camping in Banff with Sarah Roy, a friend from my home church and the next weekend I'll be camping with a bunch of girls from project. I'm really looking forward to some great bonding time with these girls before we all head home. Please pray for safety and a great time of refreshing, bonding friendships and connecting with God through His creation- and pray we don't meet anyone of his big brown creations aka BEARS!! haha

Our last weekend will be debrief (camping yet again) to reflect on all thats happened (and still will happen) this summer and how were going to take what we've learned and make it part of our campus ministry this coming year and our lives in general. I hope to update more in the coming weeks to keep you all up to date on what God is doing in these last few weeks here- I think and pray it's gonna be BIG!

I'll be coming home on August 4th and look forward to seeing and/or sharing with you!
Thanks again for all your prayers and support- its so encouraging to know I'm not in this battle alone. I thank God for each and everyone of you!
God Bless,
Emily

God is working – part 1

These last 4 weeks have been soo busy it’s been hard to find an minute or two to sit down and write this…but the time is here! And there’s so much to tell!!

Let’s starts where I left off last time, the second weekend of June was our relaxation retreat up in the mountains in Kananaskis at a wilderness camp called Blue Bronna. It’s a Christian camp up in the mountains with no electricity, running water or heat…and it was cooold up in them mountains! We spent the weekend learning from the word with a couple who work for one of Power to Change’s umbrella organizations (like Campus for Christ is) called Leader Impact which seeks to build up business leaders to effectively share their faith in their workplaces….which is our main goal this summer. We also spent a lot of time enjoying God’s great and beautiful creation, from sitting around the campfire singing praises to God as the stars shone above to horse-backing riding in the majestic mountains that rose high above us on all sides- it was a much needed rest and time to re-connect with God and remember the reason we all came to Calgary in the first place- to glorify God by knowing Him more and making Him known to others.

This was also the last weekend the staff members were here with us in Calgary. They passed on their roles, words of encouragement and any leftovers in their fridges and cupboards. So now we are entirely student run which is definitely a stretching experience for all. The staff have all gone home to rest and prepare for September when we all return to campus.

Work is going well, some days are still very trying, but God is teaching me how to depend on Him and persevere through it. Jackie (the other girl on project who works at the daycare) and I have had so many opportunities to hang out with our one co-worker Natalie…praise the Lord! It’s so neat to see a relationship forming between us and see her opening up to us more and more. One night we went to see the second Narnia movie and afterwards we starting talking about the Biblical imagery and got into a full blown discussion about the existence of God and why there’s evil in the word. God was definitely working through us as many “arguments” she had we were able to give her a biblical truth and she was often speechless and lost in thought afterwards…it was neat to see God working on her heart during those times. Since then we’ve hung out once and sometimes even twice a week, going shopping, out for dinner etc, God hasn’t come up a lot during those times, but I’m trusting he is still working in her heart and using our actions to be a witness to her if not our words. God is growing a deep love for her within my heart- I know it’s God because at the beginning of the summer I was slightly afraid of her cool and hardened exterior- but now I’m able to see past that, into her internal where there is so much hurt and dissatisfaction- I long for her to know Jesus the way I do and for her to experience life to the fullest. I’m praying a big God-sized prayer that by the end of my time here I will have the opportunity to share the Gospel with Natalie and she will come to saving faith…won’t you pray with me??

The Jesus Loves You ministry we’ve been helping out with has been going great. God’s been teaching me a lot there as well. One of the things we’ve been focusing on is just loving those women and children the way God does. But, in order to do that we must first be able to see and love ourselves the way God does. It’s been amazing to look into His word to see just how very much He loves us and really understand what Jesus’ death should mean to us. That is, that through His death God sees us as whole- like His son Jesus- not lacking in any way! Isn’t it funny how one of the biggest lies we listen to is that we’ll never be good enough to be used by God- it’s the easiest way Satan can make us complacent and have little or no impact for God’s kingdom- When in fact God promises the exact opposite (see Hebrews10:14, Philippians 4:19, Acts 1:8 and Ephesians 1:19-20) – that through Him we’re made whole and can be used by Him to impact eternity!! Exciting or what?!?!

More to come very soon!