Activate Ministries: March 2010

Catalyst Youth Conference in Fort McMurray

30
Mar

Just a few weekends ago, March 12-14, we trucked it on up to Fort McMurray. Many people may know this city because of its oil production. It is the provider of many jobs and the success for many families. However, little do we hear about the youth of Fort McMurray. Its so easy to label the town as money-hungry or a place for bad opportunities, but when you look past what is just on the surface, you'll see a great mission field. Located 4 and a half hours north of Edmonton, Fort McMurray is experiencing something new, something fresh from God... all it

needs is people who are willing to be used, willing to reach out.

Catalyst Youth Conference was an event held for all denominations but put on by the youth ministry of the Pentecostal Church and led by Pastor Rob Lodge. Now there's a guy with a heart for the youth of Fort McMurray, not just for church youth but for youth of the community as well. Wayne Northup, international youth evangelist and founder of Answering the Cries ministry, was invited to speak and before the conference began Pastor Rob and Wayne visited one of the local schools to speak at an assembly. From there, several youth came out to the conference and received Christ as their own Saviour that weekend. And many others, developed a deeper relationship with God as their faith was challenge by Wayne's talks.

These are two fun girls who bought our t-shirts on Saturday night and came up with a crazy idea to make the t-shirt "more girlie". THIS is what they came up with...

Fort McMurray, being a place where we've ministered and visited many times in the past, has a special place in our hearts. And to see God at work not only in the youth but in families as well, is such a blessing.

Fairview, AB

25
Mar

If you drive 6 hours north west, through Grand Prairie then a little further north, you'll find a little place call Fairview. Being so far north, this little town of 3500 has pretty much everything it needs to sustain itself. With everything from a hospital to a recreation centre (with a pool) and a college, Fairview is a happening place. It was here that we journeyed last weekend for Snow Camp 2010 (Mar. 12-14).

There we joined Pastor Mark Frase, his youth group and others from surround communities such as Manning & Peace River. All together there were about 35 youth hanging our to enjoy lots of fun happenings, worship, learning about God and tons of recreation. Pastor Mark is the leader of a youth group that is primarily made up of community youth. Many do not attend church regular nor do they have a relationship with God, but the are learning about God. They learn about God through Mark & his wife, Shannon's love and concern for them. They learn about God through the open arms of the church family. While much of the youth group events is focused around building relationship and rapport with the youth, Snow Camp is a youth retreat that they hold to inspire youth to learn more about God and perhaps even take the step to begin a relationship with Him. And with that purpose in mind, we began to minister to this awesome group of youth. Though hesitant at first, it did not take long before the youth begin to drive into worship with us. God did some amazing things amongst these youth. There were a few who responded for first time commitments, others who were learning more about God while some just went deeper in their faith, allowing God to mold them. So amazing to see God at work within those who know Him the least.

Friday Night

First Pastor Mark leads in calestetics.... aka crazy exercises to make sure we were "awake". Rick later spoke from the Word.

Saturday Morning

Saturday mornings are always difficult to get youth interacting because, let's be honest, they are not even awake. To get the blood flowing, Lorne started the morning with leading the youth on a faith walk. Each youth was blindfolded then sent into different parts of the church as they followed a course that was made with rope. They encountered many obstacles (tables, chairs, walls, etc.) that they had to go around, over, under or whatever it took to continue through the course. Afterwards Lorne spoke to the youth what they experienced and how to apply that to their own lives.

Saturday Night

Leave it to Jase for any interesting and "interactive" message. These guys didn't know what they were getting into when Jase asked for volunteers. He spoke to youth about Jesus' foot washing... gotta have dirty feet first to get them clean.

God was definitely at work in the after service, as both community & church youth surrendered their lives to Him. What an encouragement!!

Invision 2010

17
Mar

It was only two days after we returned from Peru that we geared up for leading worship at another event. Invision, for those who do not know, is a event that can be categorized under many labels. For those graduating high school it is an event that is held at Vanguard College for those who are interested in learning more about the programs and education one could receive there. For Vanguard students its a time for spiritual enrichment and for youth groups in the city of Edmonton, it is the Friday night city-wide youth ralley held at West Edmonton Christian Assembly. With all this in mind we geared up for what we have always known to be a great time of worship and learning from the word. Steve Osmond, lead pastor of First Assembly in Calgary, brought a dynamic and fun message at each session and there was not trouble to tell that God was at work. Thursday night, the recruitment department of Vanguard, invited Panic Squad (the Improv comedy pros) for the late night entertainment for students. Perhaps the best light night entertainment that Invision has even had.

Regardless of how tired we were after doing 20 of ministry in Peru, Invision was amazing!

It kept US awake...

Day 18-22 - Jungles of Tarapoto cont.

17
Mar

Friday Morning - Children's Minitry @ Local School

We went from classroom to classromm, beginning with the littlest kids first, singing songs, playing games, doing skits and teaching them about the love of God. By now, we learned that Tarapoto tends to do things by the seat of their pants so we weren't sure of what to expect. Plans could change at a moment's notice but it all worked out and we had an awesome time with the children.

Saturday in San Antonio

After driving on a twisting road, up mountain, through a beautiful forrest which looked into a valley filled with lush plant life we arrive at this beautiful little village. It had an incredible river going through the village, which came down from the mountain. So peaceful and calm...

Lorne, Rick & Dean moving sand from one side of the river to the other, over a bridge. (Church seen in background)

This is the inside of the church where the floor was being built.

Everyone who was working that day, after a wonderful snack of locally grown grapes. These were perhaps some of the best grapes any of us had ever even! Yum yum yum

Everyone was helping out with this church project... both young and old! This elderly man put some of the boys to shame. With a smile on his face, he worked so hard.

Day 17 & 18 - Jungles of Tarapoto

17
Mar

Thursday afternoon, Feb. 18, we boarded a plane and fly to the jungles of Tarapoto. Then began the five days that we would spend taking part in a variety of things. We were not aware of this when we arrived, but the church was celebrating an anniversary so we were just a little part of that. We had many opportunities to lead worship (Thursday- Sunday everyday), speak at the youth and women's events as well as doing help out with the construction of a new floor.

Having the opportunity to meet so many great people was so wonderful. The children there were a delight.

(Right) Church nursery
(Below) Crazy faces with the kids

The beautiful faces of peruvian children. There were MANY!

Day 16 - San Isidro

03
Mar

On Wednesday night we headed back to the mother church for their prayer service. Now for most of us, when we think of a prayer service, we think of the faithful few that show up in the middle of the week to pray. Perhaps there are 10, 20 or if we're lucky maybe 40. Wednesday night prayer service packs the church out here in Lima. There were probably 800 people present to worship, hear the word and pray for family and friends. This was an inspiring response to the call to pray.

Day 13 - National Museum: A day to remember

03
Mar

Monday morning, Feb. 15 was free so as a team we decided to head to the National Museum to learn a little more about Peruvian culture. We were aware that we would learn about the history and even expected observe some of the inca artifacts but little did we know that we would truly be impacted by the most recent history that of the Peruvian people.

One whole floor of the museum was dedicated to the terrorism attacks of the 80s & early 90s. The attacks were lead by the "Shining Path" group and much of the government was corrupt, therefore there was not much that could be done. From talking to people, it appeared as thought the president himself was corrupt. This group was involved in drug trafficking and fought for power in the most violent manner. Both rural and urban areas were attacked with bombings, kidnappings, rape and many other brutal forms of violence.

Roads were often covered with rocks or garbage so that transportation was not available for those who attempted to escape.

This is the result of a bombing on July 16, 1992 on Tarata St. This is located just 4 blocks from where we stayed in Lima. This was a street we had walked through several times but until we the museum visit we really did not realize that history that was all around our feet. The building is now restored and a monument is resurrected in memory of this disaster.

During the attacks many children were left orphaned and so they were taken in by catholic orphanages or shelters. There children were responsible to help by doing chores and following rules of the nuns.

As we walked through this particular floor of the museum, everything got quieter. There were videos, photos, and documentaries which brought to life the seriousness of what Peruvian people have lived through, within the last 20 years. We were all struck by the fact that these attacks occurred within our life time. Which also meant that many of the youth and young adults lived through it. When we met up with our translator, Inez, 25, the next day we chatted to her about these attacks and she told her that she remembers the attacks. There were days when the Shining Path, decided it was a home day and anyone who stepped outside their homes would be shot. To children, she said, it was just a day off from school but for others who disobeyed this rule, it was their last.

Visiting the national museum really opened our eyes to the people we were ministering to. Within those 20 years, many children were orphaned and families were left with very little to survive on. But we recognized that the attacks ended only 15 years ago and to see how well the people have rebounded is absolutely amazing. There has been a mighty move of God since the attacks. People have truly looked to God for hope, protection and guidance to get through difficult times. Peruvian people are strong, determined people. They live for today as they are not guaranteed tomorrow. And while the rest of the world is not guaranteed tomorrow either, we tend to play it safe and not give God our all. These people are totally abandoned to their faith. They trust God with everything and respond to God's call, without hesitation and they know He is the only one that is constant in their lives. There's a lot to learn from people who have truly experienced difficult times.

Youth BBQ

Later in the evening we had several youth from the Dean's church over for a BBQ. There were about 40 people that we got to hang out with and learn more about. It was so awesome trying to communicate with some of them. Many of the youth could speak English quite well, while others knew very little. We know very little Spanish so it was awesome to have youth who knew both languages to help out. And sometimes we just used GoogleTranslator. All in all it was an awesome night!