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