Figuring out the who and the what

Our Team...

We have really needed to ask God to give us special grace to deal with the differences we are encountering - on a few fronts:

• The rest of the girls on my team (all the Americans) have never been to a place with so many different foods/speech patterns/world views, and most have been raised in small towns
• I have never had to explain (and sometimes try to justify) Canadian/multicultural world views for a long period of time.
• We are currently 6 very hormonal young women with differing temperaments, personalities, and life experiences.

But although we are very different, we really are becoming like sisters. One of the girls revealed a serious health issue, and we all offered to change our lifestyles so that we could encourage each other to be healthier, better people. I'm hoping that by hanging out at the park and rec center and with this new/improved way of eating, I'll come back to Edmonton a lean mean Joyce machine.

What are we doing here???

Last week, our tasks were to learn about the city of Mississauga so that we can avoid being insensitive jerks when we chat with people. The big thing that jumped out at us was that it's a really multicultural city, and that Oakville (where we're staying) is a really rich town.

This week (and for every other week that we're here) will be spent figuring out:

• How to show people that God loves them (through doing good, random acts of kindness)
• How to tell people that God loves them (through getting to know people and then telling them about how God can help them overcome the sin and struggles in their lives)

The scary (but empowering and liberating) thing about that is WE decide what to do. Almost every other missions trip that I've been on (where the goal was to show and tell people about God's love) involved someone more learned/probably more spiritual than I am telling me how to do it. This time, I have to take personal responsibility for how effective we do the showing & telling. But in another sense, it's really awesome practice- it's the way it SHOULD be. As a Christian, aren't I called to show and tell about how God loves people? It shouldn't be something that just happens when I'm away from home - it should happen all the time.

So the tentative plans (and we all know about the plans of mice and men) we've started to put in motion are these:

• Giving free hugs (and hopefully having fruitful conversations) at the Pride Toronto next week
• Throwing a FIFA party in a neighborhood park similar to that around ECBC
• Hanging out in said neighborhood park and playing soccer often so can get to know the families there
• Getting to know people in the University of TO in Mississauga (UTM) Rec center
• Meeting and connecting with random people (in our dorm, in checkout lines, on the bus, etc) and inviting them to hang out with us at Panera Bread (If I had any kind of entrepreneurial bone in my body, I would open one of these in Edmonton - this sandwich place is AMAZING. I will take pics of my food and the restaurant/bakery next time. You'll see what I mean.)
• Inviting said random new friends to an All-American-Independence-Day-Cook-Out. Possibly complete with fireworks and sparklers. Yee haw!

There are a few other ideas (such as 'paying it forward', helping out at a nursing home, having a Post Secret board) but we're not too sure how it'll all fit into our plans, although they are pretty flexible. The key here is prayer. Since our marching orders are supposed to come from God, it is ESSENTIAL that we cultivate the spiritual discipline of prayer. And, like all disciplines, it is definitely a struggle.

We've made a few friends so far, and with God's help, we'll make more before the summer is over.

If you can pray for us, that would be really helpful.

• Pray for Juan, Alaina, and Megan that God will prepare their hearts so that they'll be open to being friends with us so that we can share about who God is
• Pray that each of us will become more attuned to God's will, so that (1) we'll know where to go and what to do/say and (2) we'll be of one mind and there will be lots of peace and grace among us.
• Pray that God will help us become more disciplined: to pray more often, to eat better, to sleep better

Thanks guys! I hope you're all doing well,

Love, Joyce

Building up treasure in heaven

I'm really glad I'm here, because I'm meeting all these awesome people. A few days ago, we picked up utensils/silverware from Bruce and Janet who go to The Sanctuary. They were SO helpful and gave us everything we needed (and a few more - Janet was a mom, and I guess is in the habit of thinking of everything we could possibly need.) On our way out, they told us we could call them for anything and that they would give us a tour of downtown Mississauga when they returned from helping their daughter in Haiti. She's a teacher's assistant at a Christian orphanage/school in a town across the bay from Port-au-Prince. On our way back to the dorm,

Anyway, I got into all that detail, because I'm just so impressed with the character of these people. Let me list the ways:

• They had been subpoenaed to appear as witnesses for a fire in a church they had been working in. They went to help that Aboriginal church every year, kind of like how ECBC goes up to Rae every summer. Can you imagine? Having to appear as a witness to testify against kids you knew because they were charged with burning down a church you had helped to build?
• They raised a very caring daughter who was supposed to be back home months ago, but is still in Haiti working with kids who need help. I think that it's rare for parents to raise healthy and very giving children unless they are that way themselves.
• Janet's mother had died suddenly a few months back, and she got most of the stuff in her mother's house. Instead of selling it all to make a few hundred bucks, they kept it and gave it/lent it to people who needed it.

Janet's mom's death was very difficult for her. That, in addition to them being in the middle of renovating their house, would have been a pretty good reason to just say to us: "We're glad you're here, hope you do a lot, we'll pray for you, thankyouverymuchgoodbye." But they didn't. They gave us everything we needed, made themselves totally available to us (24 hrs/day) and offered to take us sight seeing when they returned.

Plus, Brett told us that they support missions work a lot; if they don't go themselves, then they help raise money, they give money, they help other missionaries (or, summer interns such as ourselves)in tangible ways. These are very giving - eternity minded people.

Imagine what the Church would be if more of us was like them. We couldn't be accused of being passive or hypocritical - our love would be POWERFUL, and lives and souls would be changed for the better. It'd be one of those 'shine your light before men so that people can praise the Father in heaven' kind of things. Amen.

So my prayer request for Friday/Sat:

• Pray that Leanne (Bruce & Janet's daughter) will be safe and she'll be encouraged to continue to do good things in God's name
• Pray that the judge in the case of the kids burning down the church will have wisdom to make a good judgement, especially with gangs involved
• Pray that Bruce and Janet will have a safe journey to Haiti & back
• Pray that the Church (Body of Christ - not the institution) will grow more selfless and eternity-minded people

Thanks guys so much for reading this and praying along with me. You guys keep me accountable.

Much love, Joyce

Slavery isn't a thing of the past

I learned 2 big things today: (1) I have the "amazing" ability to sleep through a fire alarm, and (2) slavery, as in - forced work on cotton/sugar/coffee plantations are a PRESENT reality. In 2010. I'm pretty blown away by both of them.

This morning I was awaken by my roommate jumping into my room and screaming for me to get out. The reason being was that the fire alarm had gone off @ 7am. (If you read my last blog post, you'll know I stayed up 'till 3 to reflect on my life goals - it was homework -_-) I didn't know what was happening, but when there's a possibility your life may be in danger, you do what you're told. I ran into the hall only to discover that the alarm in my apartment was the only one on. I stomped downstairs to ask the hotel to fix it so I could return to bed. Maintenance came and replaced our old one, and I was left to ponder the what if's of the situation. What if it had been a real fire? What if I didn't have a roommate? Would I be dead? If I didn't have a roommate that cared for my life, then yes, I very well may be. Kinda sobering, although one of the other girls pointed out that dying in your sleep would be preferable to a painful death. Note to self: must set and stick to a curfew. And get another alarm clock.

I also learned that slavery is a real and ever present evil in today's modern world. It completely blew my mind. When I think of modern slavery, I think of the sex trade, or at its most depraved, human and child trafficking for sex. But the same kind of slavery that exists in the 17th century STILL exists today - it's just not legal like it was then. Orphans in a Haitian orphanage that Kathryn's (our pastor's wife) sister-in-law works in are often abandoned there because they do not work well enough to produce enough crops in the the sugar plantations in the Dominican Republic. And apparently, the same kind of thing happens to support other coffee, rice and cotton plantations. It boggles the mind, but it does make sense when you look at the cheap prices of goods in N.America.

The Church has GOT to do something about this. We're called to seek justice and care for the orphans and the widows in this world, not buy the inexpensive goods that allow for this kind of oppression to flourish.

Speaking of slavery, I sometimes feel a slave to the shiny new things of this world. Today, our assignment was to find a community, go to where the people would go and take pictures that would be indicative of that community. I was all gung ho when we went to the Erin Mills Community Center, and I took photo notice of the affluence of the community and the demographics of the families there. Then... we went to the Erin Mills Town Center. The plan was simple: sit in the food court, notice people, take photos, pray for anyone/anything that needed prayer. THEN we passed by a Sushi place, and I twisted my roommate's arm into trying it for the first time, and then we got all sidetracked with chatting about culture, food, and a myriad of other inconsequential things and we never got around to taking pictures and praying. We wandered around the mall, not really overtly window-shopping, but definitely not listening to what God wanted us to notice.

My lesson of the day: when there are new fun shiny things to be had, I'll have a hard time focusing on God OR the people he wants me to see. So what is this? Just a residual effect of materialism? Maybe. Or maybe I'm just easily distracted.

Brett asked us a question today: what would life be like if we lived like EVERYONE mattered? I'm not exactly sure, but it probably wouldn't involve ignoring people so I could look at that cute dress over there. It'd probably involve more listening and looking, and saying/doing encouraging things so that other people know that THEY MATTER.

So, some prayer requests:

• Pray for groups that fight against labor & sexual slavery and strive for justice for those oppressed. A big one is IJM (International Justice Mission) who goes undercover to root out slavery and prosecute the perpetrators.
• Pray that I'll learn how to control myself and my sleep habits. This has already ruined many good things in my life, and my life is headed into the crapper if I can't get it under control.
• Pray that people in N.America will recognize their focus on new/matierial things. You don't have to spend money to be materialistic. Pray that God will work in their hearts so that they'll be focused on things that have more significance - to the world and for eternity.

Love you guys!

Joyce

I hope all this reflection stuff actually works, and that I actually learn something. All I want to do right now is crawl into bed.

**NOTE: although I say i'm going to make some quick thoughts - I didn't. I wrote like an essay. At almost 3am. @_@ I guess I do that when I have lots to say, and when i'm tired. If you don't have time, please just skip it all and go to the bottom where I have my prayer requests. That's really the important part.

Some quick thoughts about today, before my scrawled notes gets lost in my grey matter:

Orientation day (#1) today - we get almost a week of it: We learned what the real idea of this mission is about - bringing life to people who need it. I found out why this organization (who put me in touch with this church) is called Currents Canada. It's based on a verse in Ezekiel 47: 6-12, which describes a vision of life-bringing water being deep and wide, and flowing into the Dead Sea to turn it into fresh water. This river also transforms the rugged dry land into a land filled with living trees and fruit. It's a beautiful image, and one that I hope is reflective in my own dry spiritual state right now AND one that I hope I will be able to emulate in this community.

Speaking of community - our team will be doing LOTS of roaming around 2 communities: Oakville (where we're staying at a pretty sweet dorm/hotel) and Mississauga. I guess our goal for now is to try to get an understanding of what community means to the people in these two places. So far, we've taken a stab at it by riding the transits and praying/walking around a few neighborhoods/important town landmarks. 1st impression of the town: people are REALLY helpful, and there are a LOT of ethnicities around Mississauga. It's reflected in The Sanctuary, because the 50ish people in the church reflect 13 different countries outside of Canada. @_@ How cool is that - that the only thing that holds a small community together is following Jesus? I mean, other than that, they have nothing else in common: socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, clothes, habits, language - nothing. God is pretty awesome to be able to keep them together.

Answer to big $20 million question of "what are we doing while we're here": Look, listen, pray and figure it out. We're not going to be getting a lot of guidance from the people at The Sanctuary. They gave us a list of places they think would really benefit from people praying for that area, but we're on our own as to how we're going to get to know people and connect them to people who live here who know Jesus. I guess we get our marching orders from God.

We met another couple (and another guy) from The Sanctuary: Aubry and Nishika from India, and Kevin (born in Guiana, but raised here). I'm so glad I met these ppl too. This church is FULL of awesome people! Aubry told us about how he came to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and it was an amazing convoluted tale that started with him being born into the Catholic Church (which, as he put it, was also mixed with Hindu spirituality where he was). When he was younger, he led the double life of being the good Catholic kid, but was also an alcoholic and college porn dealer/addict (I guess, before the days of the internet). He was literally a rock star (he played bass, toured with a band and played before crowds of 20 000 ppl). He was almost kicked out of school, which caused him to question everything he knew. He went with another guitar player to a new church, felt accepted and started attending a Bible study that was led by a missionary. Within a year of almost being expelled (for hazing freshmen kids) and joining the new church, he'd turned his life around. Since then, at every new place he's been, instead of joining an already existing/established church, he has been instrumental in starting new churches.

Anyway, I tell his story, because I felt really encouraged that he is the strong, rational and articulate Christian he is today because he really connected with the missionary who came and did the bible study with him. The other guy he brought came to know Jesus by connecting with other Current missionaries too. It's so encouraging to know that (1) normal, average people who were led by God could plant something so wonderful and loving in other normal person so that he/she could then be led by God to become someone totally extraordinary. And (2) even a pretty depraved person can be given so much mercy and grace that they become a completely different person ... who does AMAZING things for God. If it can happen to Aubry... maybe it can happen for me.

It seems like a key ingredient to what we're doing so far is a willingness to talk to strangers. So far so good - I like chatting with random people on the bus. (So maybe it's good to sometimes take the 'scenic route'). Now to work on the 2nd step: getting to actually KNOW these ppl. It's one thing to know what job ppl do, it's an entirely different animal to what their fears/hopes/dreams are. That is moving to a new level of intimacy that we may or may not ever reach on this trip. I guess it'll be up to God to put us in the path of people who're ready to know and be known by us.

After a long day of chatting and roaming and getting lost, I have to do homework. Grrr. Brett told us it would take half an hr to finish. Liar. It asks questions like: "What is your calling? What is your passion? What are your 2 core values?" I'm here in TO cuz I want to figure all that out. If I had the answers, I probably wouldn't have been motivated to come.

I'm going to skip all the navel-gazing that resulted from trying to answer those hard questions, and just go to the prayer requests, because many of them came from the navel gazing:

• Pray that God will give me "eyes to see, and ears to hear": as part of the look/listen/pray part of understanding the community to be able to connect people with Jesus.
• Pray that God will help me see His work in the lives of the people around me AND in my own life so that I can be encouraged
• Pray that God will help everyone on our team understand our true callings and to give us the courage to follow them even if we don't completely understand the end goal
• Pray that the Garthwood and Floradale communities will be receptive to being relational with us and with Jesus
• Pray for Aubry and Nishika as they move to Louisville Kentucky to attend seminary (@ Tawa's school!) to become church planters. Pray that their interview with US customs people will go well, and they'll be approved to get a Student Visa

Sorry that was all so long. I'm tired in all ways, and I guess I ramble. I hope you're well, and that God'll bless you wherever you are. I'm sure He is - you just need to see it.

Love,

Joyce

First impressions

Yay!! I arrived in one piece! First impression: where are we going? It seemed like we were on the 401 going from TO to Mississauga for a long time. And it turned out we weren't staying there, we're staying in a college dorm that's converted into a hotel in the summer. It's pretty nice for a dorm, it's situated in a new-ish graphic design college. I haven't had the chance to take a really good tour of the place, but it's pretty nifty.

I still don't know exactly what we're doing - orientation is tomorrow, so I'll keep you guys posted. I do know we're helping a church called The Sanctuary in Mississauga, but I'm not sure how. We met the pastor of the church: Brett Porter and his wife Kathryn and their kids: Ashton and Clayton. I like them; they seem like really solid people. You know how sometimes you meet people, and although they have different personalities, there's just something about them that makes you think: "that person is Awesome."? Yah, I've just met a few of those awesome people.

Other first impression: I'm the only Canadian on my team, which makes me by default the "Canadian interpreter". My team consists of 5 other girls from different parts of the US, but of them, 4 come from the South (Georgia, Kansas and N. Carolina). I'm pretty confident I'm going to come back home from Toronto with a southern drawl. Most of our conversation centered on "Chick Chalet" (which sounds like high end KFC), idioms (I learned Canadians think "love on someone" means to have sex with them??) and food (even the Southern girls didn't know what 'chicken fried chicken' was.)

Cultural differences aside, I have a good feeling about this team- I think we'll get along just fine. There's the whole gamaut of personalities and skills, and I think we'll learn a lot from each other. But who knows? Nothing hard has happened yet so we're pretty much all on our best behavior. (ok, maybe not best - decent behavior??)

We chatted about how we each came to be Jesus followers, and I was struck with how non-linear each of our stories were. God does work in mysterious ways. What kind of person would I be if my parents didn't think we should become "more Canadian" by going to church? (They thought that Christianity = western thinking, which would result in us not being ostracized for being Asian.) Thank God that He sees more than we do.

In between stories, I managed to slip in a few 'eh's which seemed to make them happy. So, all in all a day well spent.

My prayer list for today:

- Unity amongst the team: our personalities are very different and I'm sure we'll approach this new experience differently. Pray that we'll all give each other and ourselves some grace.
- Ruth, David and their daughter Kelly are going to be helping us (we're not really sure in what capacity) because they're leaders in The Sanctuary. But when we leave, so are they - they'll be moving to Indiana to work in Sports ministry. (Dave is the chaplain with the Toronto Argonauts.) Pray that the move will be smooth, and that they'll know how much to invest in us while simultaneously preparing for their move.

Thanks you guys! I hope things are going great back home ^_^
Love, Joyce

Goal: Tenaciously Faithing

Yay! My first blog ever! I'm pretty technologically challenged, so this is a pretty big step into the 21st century. *Pat myself on the back* This is mainly my reflection forum on what it's like to be actively and doggedly FAITHING in God on my missions trip to Toronto. Hopefully, I (and maybe you too, dear reader) can glean some wisdom and sense from this sure-to-be-adventure. In addition, I'll try to post a list of things that would be great to pray for so that great things can happen.

Why is this blog called "faithing"? Because I was reminded this past Sunday (thanks Teacher Stephen!) that although "faith" is often synonymous with "belief", it' roots are actually closer to "trust". And that as an active follower of Christ, we aren't called to just believe, but we're called to action. And rare is the positive action that's based on belief alone without trust.

For those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about, when I start speaking vaguely about adventures and trusting, let me enlighten you. In 6 days, I will board a plane to Toronto, and when I get there, some people from a church are going to take me somewhere, and then for the next 6 weeks, I'm going to do something that I pray will further God's glory. Never before have I gone somewhere where I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what I'm doing, and just trust that God will use me to do some good.

Those of you who know me well also know that this year has been one of my most difficult years to date. And my confidence in being able to be used for God's glory has been diminished. Yes, yes, I know, God can use anyone, even disorganized messy people such as myself. But like I said, just believing that doesn't do much good; you have to TRUST. And so it seems that God knows I need to be thrust into a situation where I HAVE TO trust God. But I doubt it'll be easy. And that's where the 'Tenacious' part of this blog comes in. I want to tenaciously trust God in spite of myself.

So here're my prayer requests for today:

• That God will have mercy on me and give me grace to trust Him
• That God will give me courage and the will to do what's good and right

I'm sure I have a whole laundry list of prayer requests, but those are the biggest and most pressing. Thanks!