2011

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long since I've had a new post. I have been unable to access the page in english and it's been stuck in Arabic. Anyways, I've been busy and had a lot of great experiences. I've started preaching on occasion which is really a lot of fun! The first time I was quite nervous but the Lord really just took over when I got up there and helped me to speak with confidence. My first day preaching was at a small service (about 25 people). It's a new service here that is run out of a little Filipino restaurant downtown. It was amazing to see their joy in being able to attend a church service. This is the first Sunday morning service the Lighthouse Church has held (Sunday morning here is the first day of the work week, so it's like a Monday morning service in Canada) and already it's growing. The restaurant is now almost overflowing so this service is going through the process of moving onto the actual church compound. The same day I preached to a group of about 20 people packed into a small appartment living room at 11pm. You must be versatile to be a pastor out here because so many of the people are on contract and only allowed to be out at certain hours of the day.

Two weeks ago I went back to the prison to distribute matresses and pillows. After we hauled them all into the prison we saw how the gaurds distributed them and it was a real eye opener. One of the gaurds would stand at the door to the massive cell (all the prisoners are held in 2 or 3 giant cells) and through the pillows and matresses in the air and then watch the prisoners fight over them. It was like watching someone through a steak into a lion den after starving the lions. Watching them fight over something like a pillow just helps you understand what prison can do to a person's mind. When you're treated like an animal you become an animal. My heart really longs for these people and I pray that God will find a way to show them his love.

Our church started the new year with a corporate fast that lasted a week.... I was sooooo hungry! But God really revealed some things to me during that fast which was amazing. I've never really grasped the concept of fasting, but now I hold the practice in high regard.

Next week I'm off to Lebanon for a street ministry/evangelism trip, not to mention they have snowy mountains there so.... I'll be SNOWBOARDING!!!!! I didn't think I'd go snowboarding when I moved to the desert, but I'll take it!

Please pray that God continues to teach me new things!