A couple of days ago I spent over an hour writing this post and then accidentally lost it all! So...it was not meant to be. Therefore, I condensed this post. There has been so much happening with regard to ministry that I have not been able to keep up with entries. For this I am thankful. I desired to be used by the Lord, and I am being filled up and growing in Him daily.
The Lord is continually drawing people to himself and we are being used by the Lord to lead people to Christ. The last couple of weeks we have seen several people come to Christ through 'Street Church' and through Monday Night Evangelism. Every Sunday at Street Church people are giving their lives to Christ, being baptized in the Bow River and receiving baptism of the Holy Spirit.
On Mondays, the Lord has been leading me to the skateboard park, where we are getting the ground ready for harvest. We are not preaching there right now, but are witnessing for the Lord. On Monday July 11th we led our first person to the Lord at this location. He was about fifteen years old. That night we forgot our bibles, so we did not have any to give him. It was the first night we handed out pizza and it was well received. Last Monday we had some excellent conversations about the Lord.
On Wednesday July 13th, three of us were asked to speak to a young adults group. We spoke about the Monday night ministry. It was an absolutely fabulous evening. We had several youth interested in coming out and helping at the skateboard park. The end of the night a brother and myself were able to minister to a young woman. The Holy Spirit impressed needs upon our hearts, which might lead to a ministry opportunity in Saskatchewan in the next month or two. Praise the Lord!
Today we had our First Christian Festival at the skateboard park. We had a band and worship team, a dance group, people with flags/dance and speakers. We had a free barbecue complete with hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks. There were carnival games, candies, a prayer tent with bibles and I did some face painting. It was a beautiful sunny day, one in which many seeds were planted. Praise the Lord!!!
I decided to end this series with the seventh posting. I have great expectations of a great God. He will be continually working through this ministry and I will continue to write stories. In the last 6 and a half months we have had about 170 people come to the Lord through this minstry. I look forward to the many ways he will continue to use me. Even now, I have another opportunity awaiting aside from this ministry to go and witness to a family. Hallelujah!!! When I decided to follow the call of God on my life, I told Him I would go wherever he sent me. Jesus...I will follow you to the ends of the Earth until the day I see you in Glory!
I thought it fitting to end with Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV):
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Part 6 - Psalm 24 days!
I just realized it has been 15 days since I wrote my last post! My goodness, the Lord is good! I have been very busy being used by the Lord to further His Kingdom! Hallelujah!
On Sunday July 3rd, we had a couple of people re-dedicate their lives to the Lord, and a man walking by come up for prayer. Afterward, 3 people decided to get baptized in the Bow River. One was a young man driving by on his bike. He came out of nowhere and said he wanted to be baptized. He openly professed that Jesus was his Lord and Saviour, was baptized and disappeared as quickly as he came! The Lord certainly draws His people!!! It was a beautiful day.
Afterward, I asked some of my brothers to pray for me as I was asked to the family's home that I ministered to on Father's Day. (See Part 3 of this Series) Their daughter was just married on Friday and they were having a family barbecue. I went inside and immediately went to the man I had prayed with only a few weeks before.
I held this man's hand. He was very weak and had a hard time speaking to me. I noticed his hands felt better and that his circulation must have improved. He looked at me with a beautiful smile and said how happy he was to see me. He said, "Karen I was just thinking about you and now here you are! I am so happy to see you. I have so much to tell you." I asked him how he was feeling as I stared into his very yellow eyes. He said he was weak, and not better although we discussed his circulation and he noted that it was improving. He said although physically he was still suffering, that something indeed had changed in him since I had been to his home and prayed with him only a few weeks before.
He held my hand tightly and with much love, said "Karen, I have been a very cynical man, a hard man to penetrate most of my life. Anyone close to me will tell you so. When it has come to any matters of religion, I have not wanted to listen to what they had to say, until you came along." He then went on to explain to me that he had talked to his mother again, perhaps offending her, but not really caring as he was speaking truth to her. He looked very deeply in my eyes, continuing to hold my hand tightly, giving it a firmer squeeze each time he became expressive in his voice and face. "Karen as I told my mother and I am telling you now, I have not ever in my life seen someone glow as you do. I have known and met many Christians but have not seen them radiate such a light as you have. In you there is truth and a purity I have not seen. It is the closest thing I have seen to God."
With tears in my eyes and rolling onto my cheeks, I asked him, "so now do you believe in God?" He also had tears in his eyes and replied, "I am not sure if I can say that to you, but I will say I am believing there is something going on with what I believe. I have not been the same man since you prayed for me. Something is changing inside of me." He was very tired, so I asked if I could pray for him and he said he would very much like that.
The Holy Spirit lead me in this prayer and filled me with an incredible boldness! I prayed that the power of God would come upon this man so mightily that he would believe in Jesus. I prayed for his salvation, and thanked God for his healing. I prayed that he would not ever depart from this earth unless he accepted Jesus into his heart. I prayed for the loving arms of our Father to wrap around him and fill him with His love. I asked the Holy Spirit to fill him to overflowing, extending and pouring out his grace and mercy into his life.
He said he would like to see me again soon. I then spent the next couple of hours with his family, talking about the glory of God and just allowing the Lord to use me as a vessel.
~~~~~~~~~~
On Monday July 4th, as I prepared myself for Monday Night Evangelism, I was seeking the Lord where to go to do ministry. Which location Lord? How would you like to use me? I had no particular leading, so I agreed to go wherever the Lord needed me. One of the Brothers had started a ministry out at a skateboard park the week before. So, this night would be their second night. He boldly asked for people to come with him to help out. No one stepped forward. Inside I was battling as I wanted to go back to the drop-in centre. I kept thinking of the relationships I was forming with some of those folks. Then I said to myself, 'teenagers'? Not exactly what I was looking forward to. I kept thinking of the rebellion, rejection and bad attitudes we might face. In the few seconds of thinking I looked at my brother standing, waiting for volunteers and felt the Holy spirit urge me to say what I had received in prayer earlier that day. "I will go wherever the Lord needs me", and stepped forward. He said I need you, so let's go! We managed to invite another brother, who was even more uncomfortable going to the park. When he realized what he was doing, he tried to back out of it. I said, "we need you". Give it a try and let the Lord work through you in your discomfort. We always grow when the Lord places us in the position of uncomfortablilty.
So, the three of us went off to the skateboard park with pop, chips and bibles. When we found a patch of grass, I thought if we used my massage table, we could attract attention. It worked! People thought they were getting free massages, then realized it was food and bibles! We gave away everything, except perhaps a few pops. We had many deep conversations about God and Jesus Christ. We talked to kids about sex, drugs and rock and roll. I had a conversation with a young man, perhaps between 25 and 30 years of age. He was new to Canada from China, just visiting the park and watching the bikes and skateboarders. We discussed many things about Christianity as a whole. He asked me about God and how the Trinity worked. I was sooo thankful at this moment I had researched Saint Patrick last semester. I grabbed the leaves of the tree behind me. I found three that came together on the same branch and explained how God was three in one, the Trinty, but all the same God. He seemed to really understand through illustration. He showed me three fingers, for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He then made a fist to show one God! He got it!!! Yeah!!! I gave him the web site to contact the gideons to found out about how he can get a bible that is half English/half Chinese so he can understand the bible. He thanked me very much for my time and said he would like to meet me again sometime to talk more about it.
My other brother was making headway with a youth that was struggling to give up his heavy metal music. We both explained to him that we gave up all of our heavy metal music and why. The music does not glorify God at all. Over all, we had an amzing night, being used by the Lord and being able to witness the love of Jesus Christ! Praise you God!!!
I will try to write more later on this evening, so keep posted! God Bless!
On Sunday July 3rd, we had a couple of people re-dedicate their lives to the Lord, and a man walking by come up for prayer. Afterward, 3 people decided to get baptized in the Bow River. One was a young man driving by on his bike. He came out of nowhere and said he wanted to be baptized. He openly professed that Jesus was his Lord and Saviour, was baptized and disappeared as quickly as he came! The Lord certainly draws His people!!! It was a beautiful day.
Afterward, I asked some of my brothers to pray for me as I was asked to the family's home that I ministered to on Father's Day. (See Part 3 of this Series) Their daughter was just married on Friday and they were having a family barbecue. I went inside and immediately went to the man I had prayed with only a few weeks before.
I held this man's hand. He was very weak and had a hard time speaking to me. I noticed his hands felt better and that his circulation must have improved. He looked at me with a beautiful smile and said how happy he was to see me. He said, "Karen I was just thinking about you and now here you are! I am so happy to see you. I have so much to tell you." I asked him how he was feeling as I stared into his very yellow eyes. He said he was weak, and not better although we discussed his circulation and he noted that it was improving. He said although physically he was still suffering, that something indeed had changed in him since I had been to his home and prayed with him only a few weeks before.
He held my hand tightly and with much love, said "Karen, I have been a very cynical man, a hard man to penetrate most of my life. Anyone close to me will tell you so. When it has come to any matters of religion, I have not wanted to listen to what they had to say, until you came along." He then went on to explain to me that he had talked to his mother again, perhaps offending her, but not really caring as he was speaking truth to her. He looked very deeply in my eyes, continuing to hold my hand tightly, giving it a firmer squeeze each time he became expressive in his voice and face. "Karen as I told my mother and I am telling you now, I have not ever in my life seen someone glow as you do. I have known and met many Christians but have not seen them radiate such a light as you have. In you there is truth and a purity I have not seen. It is the closest thing I have seen to God."
With tears in my eyes and rolling onto my cheeks, I asked him, "so now do you believe in God?" He also had tears in his eyes and replied, "I am not sure if I can say that to you, but I will say I am believing there is something going on with what I believe. I have not been the same man since you prayed for me. Something is changing inside of me." He was very tired, so I asked if I could pray for him and he said he would very much like that.
The Holy Spirit lead me in this prayer and filled me with an incredible boldness! I prayed that the power of God would come upon this man so mightily that he would believe in Jesus. I prayed for his salvation, and thanked God for his healing. I prayed that he would not ever depart from this earth unless he accepted Jesus into his heart. I prayed for the loving arms of our Father to wrap around him and fill him with His love. I asked the Holy Spirit to fill him to overflowing, extending and pouring out his grace and mercy into his life.
He said he would like to see me again soon. I then spent the next couple of hours with his family, talking about the glory of God and just allowing the Lord to use me as a vessel.
~~~~~~~~~~
On Monday July 4th, as I prepared myself for Monday Night Evangelism, I was seeking the Lord where to go to do ministry. Which location Lord? How would you like to use me? I had no particular leading, so I agreed to go wherever the Lord needed me. One of the Brothers had started a ministry out at a skateboard park the week before. So, this night would be their second night. He boldly asked for people to come with him to help out. No one stepped forward. Inside I was battling as I wanted to go back to the drop-in centre. I kept thinking of the relationships I was forming with some of those folks. Then I said to myself, 'teenagers'? Not exactly what I was looking forward to. I kept thinking of the rebellion, rejection and bad attitudes we might face. In the few seconds of thinking I looked at my brother standing, waiting for volunteers and felt the Holy spirit urge me to say what I had received in prayer earlier that day. "I will go wherever the Lord needs me", and stepped forward. He said I need you, so let's go! We managed to invite another brother, who was even more uncomfortable going to the park. When he realized what he was doing, he tried to back out of it. I said, "we need you". Give it a try and let the Lord work through you in your discomfort. We always grow when the Lord places us in the position of uncomfortablilty.
So, the three of us went off to the skateboard park with pop, chips and bibles. When we found a patch of grass, I thought if we used my massage table, we could attract attention. It worked! People thought they were getting free massages, then realized it was food and bibles! We gave away everything, except perhaps a few pops. We had many deep conversations about God and Jesus Christ. We talked to kids about sex, drugs and rock and roll. I had a conversation with a young man, perhaps between 25 and 30 years of age. He was new to Canada from China, just visiting the park and watching the bikes and skateboarders. We discussed many things about Christianity as a whole. He asked me about God and how the Trinity worked. I was sooo thankful at this moment I had researched Saint Patrick last semester. I grabbed the leaves of the tree behind me. I found three that came together on the same branch and explained how God was three in one, the Trinty, but all the same God. He seemed to really understand through illustration. He showed me three fingers, for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He then made a fist to show one God! He got it!!! Yeah!!! I gave him the web site to contact the gideons to found out about how he can get a bible that is half English/half Chinese so he can understand the bible. He thanked me very much for my time and said he would like to meet me again sometime to talk more about it.
My other brother was making headway with a youth that was struggling to give up his heavy metal music. We both explained to him that we gave up all of our heavy metal music and why. The music does not glorify God at all. Over all, we had an amzing night, being used by the Lord and being able to witness the love of Jesus Christ! Praise you God!!!
I will try to write more later on this evening, so keep posted! God Bless!
Friday, July 01, 2005
Part 5 - Psalm 24 Days!!!
It has been so busy lately that it is hard to keep up with writing. For now, since I am behind I entitle these posts as 'Psalm 24 Days!'. Maybe I will change the title, perhaps I will keep it for now as Psalm 24 is so powerfully entertwined with what the Lord is doing in my life. My eyes have been more on Him, I am looking upward with great expectations. My faith is soaring with the eagles. My spirit is humming along with the most beautiful music in heaven.
On Sunday June 26th, we had our second service of Street Church. Again, we offered communion to those who believe in the Lord. We were blessed with great weather. We had three persons come to the Lord, one of which was a re-dedication to Jesus Christ. These three were baptized in the Bow River. We all sang with great praise and joy in our hearts as each one came up a new creation in Him! Afterward, we prayed for baptism of the Holy Spirit for these three. It was an emotional time, and one in which God was mightily glorified!
Monday Night Evangelism was the following evening. I had prayed and felt the Lord say I was to minister alongside one of the Pastors. So, the pastor and I talked briefly and we went to the same location. The location we went to is the same location in which we have our Sunday church service. Despite the fact that it was raining, we had quite a turn out.
You could tell people were hungry for the gospel, not just for some of the food we had to serve. Prior to the sermon and during worship, we were being challenged and stretched by many people asking questions. They wanted to know if we were real, does Jesus really exist,what about science? I had some comments about hypocritical Christians. I had comments about the love of God and how some Christians don't appear to demonstrate that love. I had one man say to me, 'Why would you care about me?' I do care, I replied. 'How do I know that?' I replied, 'Because of Jesus Christ'. I smiled and then prayed for him in my heart as I was being pulled away by another woman.
This woman was the lady we prayed for last week, and that had given her heart to Jesus. She pulled me away from the crowd to share with me some wonderful news. She said to me with such excitement, "God is healing me!" She bent down to pull up her pant leg and socks to reveal some healing wounds on her leg. Then she asked me if I remember her walking up to the truck last week for prayer limping. I had not remembered her limping, but I knew she had been in great pain. She said that the pain had been much alleviated and that she was limping less, plus the wounds were healing. We praised God, cried and hugged one another, once again basking in His glory!
We then walked over to hear the rest of the sermon, plus I wanted to be prepared to pray for others. There were several people coming forward very quickly to receive prayer for salvation. It generally starts with one brave, broken soul, then others follow in suit. This man came up beside me. I asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus as his Lord and saviour. He said yes and was quite emotional. I started to pray, then the pastor on the truck came and led him to Jesus alongside of us. The woman that had been healed the week before was also ministering, laying hands on and praying passionately alongside of us. I cried tears of joy and incredible gratification to Jesus!
I was praying in tongues as the Pastor was leading this man into salvation. I prayed as the Holy Spirit had me pray. This man stopped and looked at us while we were praying blessings over him and leading him to the Lord and said, "How did you know my name?" I said I did not know his name. Then he looked at myself, the Pastor and the other woman. He exclaimed, "None of you know my name! I did not even tell you my name!" He then looked at me and pointed his finger in my direction. "You keep saying my name! How did you know my name?" I said, "I honestly don't know your name. I am not saying your name, I am praying in tongues. It is a prayer language from God." He said,"Listen, I do not know what these tongues are that you are talking about, but you keep saying my name. That is what I am hearing you say." I then realized that the Holy Spirit was at work, allowing this man to hear his name. I had heard of these miracles. This even happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The four of us were speechless, in awe of the Lord's power. To be used as a vessel in such a manner was profound. We cried, praised God and watched as the Lord continued to work on this man and others as they were coming to the Lord. We figure about 8-10 persons just in this one location came to the Lord that night. Halllejuah!
At the end of the evening, we praised God! We went back to the main location to all share with one another all that God did that night. I went to encourage the one brother by telling him of the healing with the woman from the week before. He prayed and praised God on the spot! What an awesome sight it is to see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, on fire!
I anticipate more and more miracles, signs, wonders, healings, salvations and baptisms as the Lord does a mighty work here and brings revival amongst the poor and homeless in Calgary.
Praise be to you God!!!
On Sunday June 26th, we had our second service of Street Church. Again, we offered communion to those who believe in the Lord. We were blessed with great weather. We had three persons come to the Lord, one of which was a re-dedication to Jesus Christ. These three were baptized in the Bow River. We all sang with great praise and joy in our hearts as each one came up a new creation in Him! Afterward, we prayed for baptism of the Holy Spirit for these three. It was an emotional time, and one in which God was mightily glorified!
Monday Night Evangelism was the following evening. I had prayed and felt the Lord say I was to minister alongside one of the Pastors. So, the pastor and I talked briefly and we went to the same location. The location we went to is the same location in which we have our Sunday church service. Despite the fact that it was raining, we had quite a turn out.
You could tell people were hungry for the gospel, not just for some of the food we had to serve. Prior to the sermon and during worship, we were being challenged and stretched by many people asking questions. They wanted to know if we were real, does Jesus really exist,what about science? I had some comments about hypocritical Christians. I had comments about the love of God and how some Christians don't appear to demonstrate that love. I had one man say to me, 'Why would you care about me?' I do care, I replied. 'How do I know that?' I replied, 'Because of Jesus Christ'. I smiled and then prayed for him in my heart as I was being pulled away by another woman.
This woman was the lady we prayed for last week, and that had given her heart to Jesus. She pulled me away from the crowd to share with me some wonderful news. She said to me with such excitement, "God is healing me!" She bent down to pull up her pant leg and socks to reveal some healing wounds on her leg. Then she asked me if I remember her walking up to the truck last week for prayer limping. I had not remembered her limping, but I knew she had been in great pain. She said that the pain had been much alleviated and that she was limping less, plus the wounds were healing. We praised God, cried and hugged one another, once again basking in His glory!
We then walked over to hear the rest of the sermon, plus I wanted to be prepared to pray for others. There were several people coming forward very quickly to receive prayer for salvation. It generally starts with one brave, broken soul, then others follow in suit. This man came up beside me. I asked him if he wanted to accept Jesus as his Lord and saviour. He said yes and was quite emotional. I started to pray, then the pastor on the truck came and led him to Jesus alongside of us. The woman that had been healed the week before was also ministering, laying hands on and praying passionately alongside of us. I cried tears of joy and incredible gratification to Jesus!
I was praying in tongues as the Pastor was leading this man into salvation. I prayed as the Holy Spirit had me pray. This man stopped and looked at us while we were praying blessings over him and leading him to the Lord and said, "How did you know my name?" I said I did not know his name. Then he looked at myself, the Pastor and the other woman. He exclaimed, "None of you know my name! I did not even tell you my name!" He then looked at me and pointed his finger in my direction. "You keep saying my name! How did you know my name?" I said, "I honestly don't know your name. I am not saying your name, I am praying in tongues. It is a prayer language from God." He said,"Listen, I do not know what these tongues are that you are talking about, but you keep saying my name. That is what I am hearing you say." I then realized that the Holy Spirit was at work, allowing this man to hear his name. I had heard of these miracles. This even happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The four of us were speechless, in awe of the Lord's power. To be used as a vessel in such a manner was profound. We cried, praised God and watched as the Lord continued to work on this man and others as they were coming to the Lord. We figure about 8-10 persons just in this one location came to the Lord that night. Halllejuah!
At the end of the evening, we praised God! We went back to the main location to all share with one another all that God did that night. I went to encourage the one brother by telling him of the healing with the woman from the week before. He prayed and praised God on the spot! What an awesome sight it is to see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, on fire!
I anticipate more and more miracles, signs, wonders, healings, salvations and baptisms as the Lord does a mighty work here and brings revival amongst the poor and homeless in Calgary.
Praise be to you God!!!
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