November update

hi readers,

I hope that you are doing well? I am writing to you from the office space that YWAM Vancouver is currently renting. This is my November update. Thank you so much for your support through reading these updates and for praying for me, it means so much to me.

I guess I will get writing then! Since I last wrote to you at the beginning of October so much has changed... I spent 24 hours in the hospital with a collapsed lung, started really working on a project, discussed visions and ideas, and signed up for an online School of Biblical Studies. I'll break some of this down for you.

God first. I have really been experiencing God's heart over the last month as I look at what it is I am doing in Vancouver. He has been faithful in sharing with me some of His plans. It has not always been easy for me to sit a listen, as you may know I can get quite restless and I like to stay busy. But in the quiet times I have really heard clearly from God. This is how I have been lead to the ministries that I am starting to get more and more involved in. Maybe this was why I spent 24 hours doing nothing but lying in a hospital bed, it was very challenging from me but God is good and His goodness shines through.

Part of what He has shared with me is that I need to spend more time in His Word. I have always loved reading the Bible but recently I have found it challenging to keep a regular study of it. I felt called to start a Bible study of some sort, so I looked around and found that YWAM offer one that I can do on the side of the ministries I am involved in. It is called a field based School of Biblical Studies (fbSBS). When you do the course full-time at a YWAM base it takes 9 months to complete but I am doing it part-time which means it takes closer to three years. I will be doing it a module at a time and seeing how it goes. A module lasts 3 months. Over the whole school you read the whole Bible about 5 times and pretty much write your own commentary on it. I am very excited to do this. It will really help me to develop a skill for inductive Bible study which will be very useful when starting Bible College.

Simply living.  God has really been faithful in providing. When I last wrote I had just moved into a basement suite with another guy, it is a great place with lots of room and for location and size it is reasonably priced. However rent between the two of us was starting to look a bit steep and at about the time I was starting to get concerned about having enough for November I was approached by another guy looking for a place to live. On the 1^st November Taylor moved in with me so there are now 3 guys living in the basement suite. This makes rent do-able. Plus it is a great blessing to have Taylor there, he is a great godly guy and I enjoy the extra company. God also provided for me this month with a small babysitting job for the family that live above us. It is great to build relationship with them and even though I insisted they shouldn’t, they paid me for my time, it went straight to rent! I have really been blessed.

Fighting justly. Working in Vancouver is great, I have really started to get into my role here with YWAM. I am working closely with a lady called Jacqui, who was heading up the Olympic outreaches, and her husband Stu. They are a great couple with a real heart and passion for Vancouver. They returned from a long road trip around the USA and Canada a couple of weeks after I arrived here. Since they have been back I have been meeting regularly with Jacqui and together we have shared vision and are currently pioneering an intern ministry called “Into the Urban”. It is a 10-month internship where a person will commit to spending the time in Vancouver focusing on urban ministries. It is basically what I am doing. I am the first intern, it is really exciting to be part of the pioneering of something new. As “Into the Urban” we will be serving in homeless ministries, supporting prayer ministries and churches, hosting teams, working with others on social justice initiatives. Our heart is to learn from each other and encourage each other’s dreams and ideas. Being part of this team will really help me and others to develop leadership skills through the creation of new projects and ministry opportunities.

One last thing before I leave you to get on with your date, I would love it if you told me your mailing address so I can send you a Christmas card or postcard from Vancouver. If you could and don't mind me having your address please click here.

Many blessings as you continue to seek to bring glory to God in everything you do.

Stay in touch!