Amazing Grace

My chains are gone

I've been set free

My God my Saviour has ransomed me

And like a flood

His mercy reigns

Unending love, Amazing grace

Where to begin!

This week has been a changing one!  It was the 24/7 week of prayer.  There was a room set up, where we were all assigned 1 hour time slots a day, with the idea that no one ever left the room.  Some nights I would set my alarm for 4:00 AM, go downstairs, and have a very real hour of prayer.  For me I found that some of the times I felt God the most, was when I got up from sleep and gave myself to Him, out of my normal routine and with no distractions at all. What happened this week is difficult to put into words and bring justice to.  The Holy Spirit was moving in our hearts, and none of us left the room feeling the same as we had been entering.  We were able to be raw and real with God.  Wrestle through things, give Him praise and share in fellowship as a community.  In this one week we saw so many prayers answered, and the dynamics of our have group also changed, in terms of being able to become more real with each other, and being intentional about our conversation.This is something that had been on all of our hearts for the last little while.  Praise God!

This week had a lot of significance for myself.  On Monday in chapel, I was able to share my story- and be more honest than I ever have.  I can only describe what happened as the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  We were on the dock as a group, and as Jim was talking and opening chapel, my heart was pounding, and I could not hide my tears.I talked aloud about internal struggles I have faced on my own, and in voicing them, I felt walls I had built up crumbling down, and as I sat in the middle of 30 people who love me, I felt their hands come around me in love and support.  After I was finished speaking, the group put their arms on my and went around and told me how they loved me, followed by a prayer.  How do I sum up this most powerful and overwhelming experience in one word?

FREEDOM!

God is healing and shaping me.  I feel so alive in Him and He has become so tangible and real to me!  I am learning what it means to surrender.

The day after I shared my story I was in the prayer room by myself.  It is a beautiful room, with a window looking out to the ocean and beautiful mountains surrounding.  I was sitting in the window seat reflecting on what I had shared, and what God was doing in me.  As I looked out the window, I saw a storm in the distance, the mountain I had been looking at now had grey clouds around it, and the sky had become a grey colour.  I reflected on things in my past that had been dark and grey, and the storms I had been through.  As I continued to sit there, the sky began to clear up, within 3 o

r 4 minutes it had become completely clear and beautiful and the mountain was perfectly visible.  I left the chair for a few moments and when I came back I was at a loss for words.  The most brilliant rainbow was right in front of me.  The biggest and brightest I have ever seen- I looked the end of it came right out of the ocean that was in front of me.  Behind it formed a second and bigger rainbow and it was the most beautiful and remarkable thing I had ever seen.  Over the next 30 or 40 minutes, the rainbow disappeared, and a the mountain began to grey again- this time it was much less dark, and the rain was much less intense and the sky remained clear.  It was remarkable.  This was me.  

Little did I know, a friend of mine was downstairs, and had seen the rainbow also, and took this picture.

The rest of my week continued to be wonderful- I was able to serve coffee at a NewLife church event and spend the evening listening to a godly woman talk about her life and her struggles, and what God was doing in her life ... not to mention wear these AMAZING aprons!

Youth group this week was quite uneventful.  We had a night in a local gym playing dodgeball and other games.  There was no real message shared, but I led a connect group, and I am feeling like I am getting to know a lot if the kids in a more real way.  It was fun to have a night and just have fun with them, and see them interact.  I am enjoying getting to know a lot of the girls, and many of them are opening up to me.  On Sunday, one of the girls who recently moved came to visit!  She is someone I had been getting to know on a deep level, and I was very upset when I found out she was leaving, so it was great to have a chance to see her again!

We are in class once again this with Prof. David Lee.  It is ‘Foundations of Church Ministry’.  It is a very interesting course, and I am excited to learn about the church and God’s plan for it.

 

Thank you for your love and prayers!

Many blessings!

 

Love Erin

24/7 Week of Prayer!

Hello all!

We are currently in our 24 hour week of prayer, which is refreshing and amazing.  We have a room downstairs where there is always someone in there praying.  We sign up for one hour a day, and what happens is hard to explain!   The hour goes by so fast and it is a very focused and genuine time spent in God's presence.  God is really moving in Kaleo this week, and we are praying that our community would get to know  each other in a new and refreshing way.  Please pray that our relationships would grow to a whole new level with each other and that we would allow ourselves to be vulnerable and broken in front of each other.  Pray that we would struggle and be broken down, and be able to be healed on by Him!

Things are going well in my church ministry.  We have been so blessed to be invited for lunch with by some amazing and loving families.  Being in their homes it has just been so evident that God was such a part of their families, and it has affirmed in me things that are so important to have in a family of my own... someday!  I am feeling slightly discouraged, however,  regarding the youth group for a couple of reasons.   One of the girls who I have been getting to know in my youth group on a deep level- who I have had the opportunity to pray with and speak into her life a bit is going to be moving away.  This Sunday was her last Sunday at church, and it was very hard to say goodbye to her.  She will be coming to youth group once a month which is great, but I worry about how this move will affect her, and her faith.  She is such a strong girl, and I feel blessed to have been able to get to know her on such a deep level.  Please pray that she would find a church and her transition into her new school would be smooth and that she her faith would only be strengthened in this time!  Also pray that God would prompt and use me as a leader in the youth group.  That he would make me approachable and in that environment His love would shine through me.

There is also some tension in the leadership of the youth group right now.  I was in a meeting and able to see how two different visions for The Hunger were clashing, and my eyes were opened to the importance of godly leadership in a church.  Please pray against any disunity in the leadership of the church, and that He would be in that situation.  Also, please pray for our roles, as New Life Kaleo students in this situation, that we would be sensitive and willing to be used.

On a more personal note, God has been speaking Freedom into my life in such  powerful way!  Pray that he would continue to shape and mold and transform me.  That my story would be his story, and he would use my life to bring glory to his Kingdom!

Thank you for your encouragements, and your prayers, and your faithfulness!

God Bless!

Love Always,

Erin

6:30...AM

...

is the time I went to bed on saturday night, well Sunday morning this week.    

I pulled my first almost all-nighter-working on homework- but I'd like give a shout out to the fall-back daylight savings that gave me one extra, much-needed and appreciated hour of sleep!  

All in all, I have had an amazing week.

We completed our Hermeneutics class.  It was very interesting, a

nd I know we all appreciate the new perspective we have gained on how to read the bible.  Our week project was to, in a group of 7 create a 15 minute presentation on a book of the bible- ours was 1 Peter- using our own creativity and little structure.  We dissected the book, and our initial reaction was to create a flashy video, using a high-tech camera and editing software.  We probably spent about 6-7 hours filming our video, and had planned to stay up as late the night before we were presenting.  We plugged in our camera to the computer, and it didn't work.  We tried about 4 different computers, and neither of them would work.  So we got a new camera, and another one- didn't work.  By this point it was about 1 o'clock, and we had 9 hours to pull something together.  We sat quietly for a few moments and one of my group members suggested we pray.

and so we prayed...

It was clear that God had in mind something much different for our representation of I Peter.  In about 15 minutes of discussion we came up with the idea to stage a coffee shop, with live music and hot chocolate. Our group was humbled by the experience and it was so cool to see how he works in that way.  And we were also blessed by a great nights sleep before it was presented.

Another blessing this week was a surprise visit by some Briercrest boys from Kaleo 5.  They spent the week with us, and great conversations were had, and encourage

ments were given and received.  At the end of the week we were able to hear a bit of their testimonies, as well as how far they'd come since Kaleo.  When asked to sum up in one word of advice something for our Kaleo experience, one of them challenged with the word

STRIVE

Being in this beautiful environment, with wonderful teaching, and a amazing friendships, it is very easy to get comfortable.  That word really resinated with me and I felt like it was something I needed to hear; to be encouraged to be stretched, and to not get used to the amazing community I am in.  Thanks Kevin;

This week at youth group...

 

Our church hosted a safe alternative to halloween; Trunk or Treat.  Cars trunks were decorated, and kids went around a circuit within the church parking lot.  My role was to be security for the night, but freezing outside in my Raggity-Anne, I came inside to get warm, and it was clear that God had something different in mind for me that night.  Sitting on a couch, I was able to talk with, cry with, and pray with one of the girls I've been getting to know over the past couple of months.  Our struggles were brought up, and it was amazing to see how God is using my story to encourage others, and he is using areas of my past for his Glory.  I continue to feel blessed at my church, and a part of the team.  They are looking into getting us a van so that some of can make it to the early Sunday service.  It's been on my heart to lead a small group Sunday mornings with the grade 7/8 girls, so prayer for that would be great.  

the term Fellowship is another thing I have been learning a lot about this week.  I was having a conversation with one of the Kaleo interns, Jordan at the beginning of the week, and after I think I said something about having toast crumbs left in the butter, he brought up that his pet peeve is the misuse of the word.  I think that so often the word fellowship is tossed around about Christians spending time together, but in reality light conversation does not make it fellowship.  But rather being intentional in conversation, and using our time together to bring glory to God.  To say the least, I was challenged to experience authentic fellowship this week.  

In some wonderful conversations I had with many Kaleos, a family from New Life who had us over for lunch, and spending time in Victoria, talking with the homeless today- I was able to experience this fellowship as God intended it to be. 

Some things to pray for this week: that God would bring clarity to the destination of my mission trip next Spring.  That I would continue to be challenged at Kaleo and in my ministry, and mostly just praise to God!

He is so good.

Like I said, I have had amazing week.

MUCH LOVE !

Erin