Back from Vancouver!

Bonjour!

I'm back from Vancouver! It was a fantastic time! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! The majority of my time over the last 2.5 weeks have been spent in seminars and discussion groups, receiving training and brain storming better ways to reach students with the Gospel.

Here are a couple of memorable conversations I had:

Men with Accents
I met a couple of guys from the United Kingdom. What they told me about the ministry there really impacted me! They invited me to come to the UK for reading week (Feb 2011) to do some evangelism on their campuses and bring as many students there as possible. One of them told me that 'statistically speaking', the number of people that respond to the Gospel n China is 1 in 3. In the United States it's 1 in 10. In Canada it's 1 in 20. In most Western European countries (Such as England and Scotland) its 1 in 300. Despite these 'statistics', God is moving in the UK! I really want to be a part of it!!!! The fellas' names are Ross and Ben. Ben told me that the majority of ppl that are coming out to their discipleship groups are non-Christians...! What an opportunity to be a light in a dark place! My problem is that when people tell me they are in t tough situation... my immediate response is "what an opportunity!!!" I'll let you know in the next couple of posts, if I decide to take them up on their offer and head to the UK for a couple of weeks in Feb. Regardless of whether or not I go, let's pray that Ottawa U and Carleton will send some strong student leaders to help these men bring Jesus to the lost students in Europe!

Will you take a minute right now and pray for them and their ministries in Glasgow, Scotland and Bristol, England? Both of them are pretty much pioneering their ministries from scratch..and I don't think either of them have a staff team... Brave men!

Pioneering ....I had a chance to catch up with some friends who just spent the last year ministering in my old city in EA! They told me that this past summer, nine... yes nine... NINE students were sent on mission's projects all over their country and in a couple of nearby closed countries! They have a weekly worship meeting that has roughly 50 students involved. I am in awe of what God has done with our 11 months on that campus 5 years ago...and what He has continued to do over the past 5 years!

When we arrived in our closed country in EA five years ago, we were 5 recently graduated students with no real "experience in full time ministry"... we were given a name of a University written down on a piece of paper (in a different language)... and someone pointed us in the direction of the buses we should catch to get to our city... ha ha! That was pretty much what we started with. We were so naive! There are so many things that should have gone wrong that year but didn't! I have no idea how it didn't end in catastrophe....(honestly speaking!) Five years later lives are still being impacted on that campus and students are taking the Gospel to the world!!!!! Honestly... if you fog a mirror..God can use you in astounding ways!

What I've reflected on this week:
Training is so important and it's such a blessing to get insight and ideas from people who have been doing what I do for the last 30+ years. And gaining experience is so important when it comes to growing in character and developing as a strong leader. That being said, training and experience are nothing compared to the power of straight up prayer and obedience. Sometimes God asks us to do something and those are our only two options.

Some of you might be wondering... so what came out of this training and discussion time..? I have more to share about some exciting initiatives that we'll be using in the fall during Frosh Week to bring more students to Jesus.... .

These initiatives involve:
a.) Orphans in Tanzania
b.) Drilling a well in Benin
c.) Grilling 200+ hamburgers in one afternoon while playing Ultimate Frisbee outside the residences...
d.) Bringing this woman to speak on our campuses about Jesus and how she learned to forgive the people that bombed her village...
d.) All of the above and more...

I know... I know.. I have you intrigued... now I will leave you with that... I'll explain it all i a few days.. but for now... I am tired from my plane ride home and I need to rest.

The Game Plan for the coming week... Please pray for me:

a.) I an trying to meet with as many new and old supporters as possible for the month of Aug. Right now I have 11 appointments set up and 4 'maybes' for the month. Please pray with me that over the month of Aug, I will be able to meet with 30 individuals or couples... This is a very crucial aspect of our ministry... and August is a limited window of opportunity to meet with new supporters and old friends.

b.) I am praying that I'll see $570/month raised by the end of August so that I'll be fully funded for another year by Sept 1st.

c.) I am praying that God will connect me with more people that will want to pray for the students in Ottawa and for our staff team. Prayer partners are key. We need them!

Love you all very much! Thank you for your support and prayers!

Here is my music recommendation for the week:
A Great Song by Erwin McManus' Daughter- Mariah McManus

God Bless!
M