:. Weekly Resources up to August 31.
:. The weekly posting for Community Prayer is here. Post a prayer request here.
:. On Sunday, we did the Prayer of Examen - read about it here on the Daily.
:. Greg's teaching is up as well here.
(photo: http://www.unisa.edu.au/printing/images/binding/staple%20icon.jpg)
Check out the newest postings through the TILT blogs:
:. Community Life & Prayer (post a prayer here, view the prayer map here)
:. Weekly Resources
:. Gene's Teaching from August 12
:. How to get the TILT Podcast!
On Sunday night, we will be sharing about the week at Moose Deer, with lots of pics of course :)
Sorry for the lack of updates on the last two nights - time was limited and energy virtually nil for web updates on dial-up...we are now back in Toronto, and all of us are definitely changed by this experience. God has broken our hearts not only for the people of Moose Deer Point but also for all of the lost - as Jesus wept for Jerusalem when he journeyed to the cross, we too, weep. But we are thankful for the hope in Jesus' Resurrection!
Thursday and Friday were both challenging days. By Friday, I think we were seeing what was "normal" behaviour on the reserve - meaning the kids were no longer as respectful, etc. In one-on-one situations, these kids are all precious, but as a larger group, destructive behaviour brews--learned patterns and cycles from their community relationships. It was challenging! On Friday, one of the tougher kids decided to come for the day - as Greg had been praying, this was but a glimpse of the true spiritual warfare that is happening every day in this place. This one addition to the group completely changed the dynamics and showed us just how dependent upon God we are, and how much God is fighting for all those beautiful moments we had throughout the week.
Thursday night baseball was fun, and pretty low-key, which was probably a good thing. Congrats to Barb on her first softball game and her stellar play from behind home plate! A bunch of the older youth showed up and we were able to interact a bit with them, although perhaps not as much as desired (they ended up at one table and us at another eating hot dogs after the game...).
We had a very intense time last night as we shared with each other from the week and spent the bulk of our time in prayer. Tears were flowing in abundance! We do not want this to be a one week relationship, but we also have to entrust these people to God because it is only He who can do a good work there. There are also Christians on the reserve who need prayer and encouragement, and of course the DayStar ministry as well, under whose umbrella we were operating.
We look forward to sharing more in person! You can few some of the initial photos in this photo album. It includes the "passport" labels of where we travelled each day!
Another good day at Moose Deer!! Staying with mostly the same strategies as yesterday and continuing to recognize it is God alone who gets us through this, it was great. The relationships you can form with kids in three days just blows my mind. We have had opportunities for great conversation, and especially building into kids who clearly have been told they are not of much value to their world. Today we were in a "far country" for the story of the Prodigal Son. We thought we were in trouble this morning when we couldn't locate the puppets, but they were found and all was well in the world :). Tonight we are going into the reserve for the church service there which should be interesting - not sure if how 'populated' it will be, but that is of no consequence anyhow! Tomorrow night we'll be playing softball with everyone! (I think half of our team has never played so it should be interesting...)
Thank you for your prayers! I would upload pics but am on long distance dial-up here so it's expensive AND slow!
Sorry we missed yesterday’s update. We were hosted by the Simmons family from Spring Garden for an incredible meal at their cottage – two very different worlds in one day!
On Sunday night, we headed to Moose Deer to hand out flyers (yes, you hand out flyers for a weeklong camp the night before it starts). We were able to meet many children and their parents and were all excited, yet quite nervous for the next day.
Monday was an incredibly intense day – having no idea what to expect and no experience at running a camp! We have about 25-30 children aged 4 to 15 – they are all amazing in their own ways and are already teaching us so much. Yes, there may be behavioural problems at times, but more clear are the multitude of things we can learn from our time with them. Our day starts with “boarding” our plane and starting the weeklong journey. The puppet shows have been a hit, telling the Bible stories and “Big Bible Bill” delivers a rip-roaring message in about 3.5 minutes. The rest of the time is filled with snacks (very important), sports, crafts and ‘bible time’ (which varies depending on age from playing in the park to a chillin’ conversation). Day one was chaos!! By about 1 pm, we were exhausted and I think most of us were feeling that the day was less than successful. However, Shirley from DayStar reassured us that it had been a good day and God was already clearly at work. The evening was a great time of refreshment at the Simmons home – thank you thank you thank you!
Tuesday was amazing! We did some revamping in terms of organizing groups and leaders and it went swell. I personally (Scott) had the pleasure of hanging out with “da boys” which was encouraging and we had some great discussion. Greg and Michelle W lead the ‘middle’ group who enjoy nothing more than climbing all over them. The young ‘uns are with Barb, Lindzie and Milan. Jen-Mai led the elder girls today and said they were fantastic. Michelle D tends the special needs kids with great compassion and care. The rest of the team leads the various activities with vigour (Becki, Mel, Bill). A highlight was swimming in the afternoon with all the kids. The reserve is split along two forks and so the group split into two to swim with the kids from each “split”. It was a great time, and a great time of connecting.
We were greatly encouraged after today and incredibly grateful for God’s providence in so many ways. To see the ‘difficult’ kids be less difficult today was a miracle – to know valuing, caring and loving these kids makes a tangible difference is a simple yet profound expression of the power of God’s love.
Well, tonight we might actually get to bed on time for a good sleep. Prayer: another day like today ☺, continued energy and compassion for the leaders, for the reserve itself especially – for the spiritual warfare that is evident here, for the hurting kids and families…
We leave for Moose Deer tomorrow!
Resources for the week are on the Urban Monks blog. We will try to keep you updated as much as possible! Update Number One here!
:. Resources for the week are up under Urban Monks.
:. Community life and prayer is also there.
:. Other normal weekly additions are here.
:. The Prayer Map is here - I encourage you to check it out and add yourself to it (read the post for more info).
:. Read about next week's Moose Deer Trip.
:. Scroll down for more interesting stuff
You can also check out WWJD. No, not what would Jesus DO, but what would he DRIVE?
:. Gene's teaching from last night.
:. In the Daily - The prayer of St. Francis, with links to more info and the slide from last night.
TILT seeks to serve our city by fostering a growing, authentic, diverse community that will holistically encounter the mystery and healing of God together through worship and mission.
TILT is part of the wider Spring Garden Church community and we met here.
