I'm a believer...not a trace of doubt in my mind

There's a Christian cliche that I've been told that we're not to use anymore because it no longer holds any meaning for people. It's "Jesus is the answer." Maybe it's outdated and has lost its relevance because nobody's asking the question, but it's the truth! Jesus IS the answer! He's everything we need, everything we ever wanted, everything we hoped for. Everything we ever felt we needed - but never got - from other people can be found in Jesus Christ.

He is the answer to all of our problems today (another true cliche). He heals us from the pain and wounds of the past. He can transform our lives, lifting us out of despair and hopelessness to a new life - right here on earth! It is Jesus who gives our lives meaning; it's in Him that we find our purpose. It's through Him that we can love and help and bless other people. As we walk with Him, He restores our broken relationships and reunites us with estranged family members. He provides us with everything we need to live - if we will seek His Kingdom above all else. Most of all, He is the love of our lives, our "soul-mate", the one we've been searching for all of our lives and in all the wrong places.

The other day as I was praying my heart was breaking for all the people I know who desperately need Jesus; who long to be known for who they are, to be loved and appreciated just as they are, to find meaning and to know their purpose in life, to find refuge and safety in this harsh self-centered world. I cried a few tears of frustration because it's really so simple: JESUS IS THE ANSWER! I know that each one of us must seek and discover Him for ourselves, but why is it so hard for us to believe?. I searched and sought down so many paths and in so many ways before I finally surrendered my life and came to believe in Jesus, and it was only out of desperation that I chose to do it. But for days after I finally did, I couldn't stop laughing out loud at myself. "It's so simple!" I kept exclaiming to myself. "It's so simple! All I had to do was believe!"

In the Gospel of John (NIV) Jesus uses the word "believe" more than 40 times. In John 6:29 Jesus says, "This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent." Six verses later He says, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst." What Jesus means by never being hungry or thirsty again is that, if we do what God wants us to do and believe in His Son - the one he has sent - then we will be satified. We will feel fulfilled, and we will stop searching in all the wrong places to fill the emptiness and the longings in us. I know this because it's been my experience; my life was changed and my heart-hunger was filled the moment I gave my life to Him.

Only Jesus can fill the emptiness we feel inside; only Jesus can satisfy the longings that we have to be known and loved for who we are. Only Jesus can give our lives meaning and purpose. And only Jesus can save us from spending eternity without God. Do you want to live throughout eternity feeling lost and empty and unloved and unfulfilled? You don't have to. You can know satisfaction and fulfillment, love and meaning and purpose right here and now. Only believe! Jesus is the answer.

"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in..." Revelation 3:20

No greater love...

I thank God for His grace, and His love, and His patience with me as I continue to learn to let people in, to get to know me just as I am. It's taken me a year of living in community here at the Women of Hope house to get here, but it's beginning to happen.

I was so blessed on my birthday when each of the women shared what they appreciate me - it's a birthday tradition here and everyone who has a birthday here has to endure it. Well, that's how I used to feel about it - that it was something I had to endure, because I wasn't able to receive appreciation and love, or to truly believe the words that were spoken about me. This year I was tempted to go to that place of steeling myself to endure the words of appreciation as Elsie initiated the sharing, but the Holy Spirit convicted me that those thoughts and feelings were prideful, and that if I chose to go there I would be sinning against God and against my sisters. So I chose to humble myself and stay emotionally present instead, and I was incredibly blessed by the love that I received.

God has blessed me by bringing me here to the Women of Hope house and I am finally able to acknowledge and to receive that blessing. In a recent session with one of the women of the house, we were studying a chapter in The Purpose Driven Life which stated that the reason we are here on earth is to learn to love. I was convicted that it is also for this reason that God has placed me here in this community. I need to learn to love, to give love as well as to receive it. This has been an area of great wounding, fear and pain for me in my past life, but since I've given my life to Him, God has lavished His love on me and has been healing me through the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. I pray that I might be "perfected" in love so that I would never again ignore or do harm to another person because of my pride, and that I might focus less on my own needs and desires and instead choose to lay down my life and my desires for the love of my brothers and my sisters.

The women who live at the house have been experiencing some struggles with addiction and other distractions as they draw closer to the Lord and His love. Please pray for an encounter with the living Christ for each one of them. It was the revealation that Jesus is alive and a personal experience of His love for me that transformed my life. And please pray for the leaders too, that we would have wisdom and discernment and will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we minister to each of the women who live here. The leadership team is Elsie, myself, Mun Hee and Winnie, a Church Army student who is doing a summer placement here with us. The women of the house are: Kelly, Andrea, Jen & baby Sierra, Sarah, and joining us soon, Camille.

Thanks for reading this, and for praying for us. May God bless you richly.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 ESV

Ready or Not Here I Come!

(An article I wrote for the St. Simon's North Vancouver Pentecost Newsletter)

The Day of Pentecost was not just a random phenomenon that resulted from the fervent prayers of the apostles, it was an event planned by God ahead of time and prophesied by Jesus (Acts 1:4,5). God had a purpose for sending the Holy Spirit and when the resurrected Christ appeared to them, He told His disciples what that purpose was: “when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."(Acts 1:7-8 MSG)

Could Jesus’ followers have accomplished this commission without having been visited in power by the Holy Spirit? The book of Acts contains numerous accounts of miracles, healing, deliverance and conversion performed by the apostles of the early church, and of the often treacherous journeys they made throughout the known world as they spread the gospel of love and planted churches. The Holy Spirit guided, directed and taught them through dreams and visions; filled their mouths with words; and worked in power to perform miracles through them. These miracles, signs and wonders gave glory to God and changed the lives of those who witnessed them.

Are you hungry, as I am, to see God move in the lives of the people around you; to be able to witness to people about the power and love of God and have signs and wonders following? Do you long to see captives set free, and hearts and lives transformed in an instant by the hand of God? Me too! The people of the early church were hungry too. They met and prayed together for hours every day. If we want to be used by God in a powerful way, we need to make ourselves available to Him. We need to surrender our lives and exchange our worldly priorities for God’s Kingdom purposes. In Luke 12 Jesus tells a parable about servants who are prepared and waiting for their master’s return. If we want to be used mightily by God we need to be watchful and ready so that when God sends the Holy Spirit we are available to be used as His vessels to do whatever He commands.

Before He ascended to heaven, the resurrected Christ told his followers: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:17-18) This power is available to all who believe! It’s not just for apostles, preachers, or revivalists, and it wasn’t meant just for the founding members of the early church. Jesus said these signs will accompany those who believe. Do you believe? Me too. So where are the signs? And how come when we do see them we doubt the credibility of the believers whom they accompany? Is it because of unbelief?

If we truly believed in Jesus we would believe His sayings as well. When I sought God about where He stood on the issue of blessing homosexual unions in the church, He said to me, “If my Word is true, it’s all true.” So if God’s Word is true, then the sayings of Jesus that have been recorded for us to read two millennia later are true too. Let’s believe them! And let’s set aside our personal priorities for God’s Kingdom purposes so that we can truly be His witnesses and see people everywhere turning to Him.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

A year has passed...

Thanks so much to those of you who continue to pray for us - even when I neglect my blog! I can't believe it's already been a year since I came to Vancouver to live and to work with Partners in Hope.

Things are very busy around the Women of Hope house these days. We have a full house now since Rita, and Jen and her 8 month old daughter Sierra, came to live with us few a weeks ago. What a joy to have a baby in our midst! She is a delight! It is a blessing to watch the measure of wisdom and love with which Jen cares for her baby daughter.

God continues to draw the women into fellowship with Him by “cords of kindness and bands of love” (Hosea 11), and they are growing in their realization of who He is and who they are in His eyes. Please pray for “good soil” as we continue to plant the seeds of the gospel of love and salvation into their hearts. Being willing to hear and to learn is the key as we try to teach and to minister, and I am blessed by the willingness and the trust the women demonstrate.

Rita has made great progress as she allows the truth of God’s Word to penetrate her heart and practices taking her thoughts captive into obedience to Christ.Kelly, Andrea and Sarah continue to grow and blossom. It is an amazing process to witness the transformation that is taking place in them. Kelly was confirmed a few weeks ago, alongside a woman who used to live at Women of Hope and a man who's been a friend of Partners in Hope for years

Elsie is taking some much needed time off this week. Please pray that she will be able to get some much needed rest and relaxation. Also, your prayers for all of us as we learn to adjust to one another’s habits and behaviour, and learn to love one another, would be a blessing. Prayers for God’s protection and peace would also be appreciated.

I am blessed to have a safe car to drive to Abbotsford twice a week for the prison ministry I'm involved with at Fraser Valley Institution for women. Chapel is going very well, we had twelve women last week, which is wonderful, and the Bible Study in the maximum security unit is alive and intense because of the hunger in the hearts of the women who are in attendance each Monday. God meets them each week in their place of need. We are working through “The Purpose Driven Life” and although it is wonderfully rich (and for the most part scriptural) material, it is very challenging to teach to women who are incarcerated and have difficulty believing that God could have a purpose for their lives. I challenge them to believe and to stand on the truth of God’s Word, and already I see changes in the way that they live together and behave inside the prison walls. I will be filling in for the chaplain for several Sundays during April. Your prayers for us would be greatly appreciated.

May the Lord bless you richly as you love and serve Him.

In Christ,
Catherine

Women of Hope

Today has been a welcome breather from the busyness of our ministry's preparations for Christmas. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, we've had a new resident come to stay with us. She's just been released from the provincial prison on a conditional sentence, and although the transition from jail has been quite overwhelming for her - especially because of the controlled chaos around the house these days - she's been doing very well.

Please pray for her, she is a sweet girl but is very much in need of healing. And please pray for me as I learn to set boundaries and be firm but loving as the leader here at the house. There are issues and outside relationships this woman brings with her that could affect all of us and cause us some anxiety.

In January we will welcome another woman into the house and then all of our rooms will be filled for the first time in months. I anticipate many challenges as she adjusts to having structure and accountability in place.

Thanks so much for praying for us and may your hearts be filled with the wonder and joy that the Christmas season inspires.

Blessings

Christmas Cheer

Tonight was our W2 Christmas party at the provincial women's institution and a great time was had by all! We made up 150 plates of food and set up the prison gymnasium with 150 chairs. Elsie led us in singing Christmas songs and carols, and told a few jokes, and the women recited some beautiful poems of thanks and sang some songs for us.

They loved their Christmas bags so much that many of them opened all the gifts inside before they even left the gym to go back to their units. Elsie told them about all the many folks who are involved in making up these bags - from a group of women in Ontario (Elsie's mom's friends) who shop throughout the year for gift items and then ship them out to us, to Elsie's mother who buys the material and sews up every one of the 700 bags, to the many folks who come to the house to help us wrap up all of the items that go into the bags. She reminded the women that they are not forgotten about at Christmas time, that there are people who care about them, even though they will never meet most of them face to face.

I had a chance to visit with all four of the women I've been seeing; they'll all be gone before my next visit as they are all being released at the end of the month or early in January. Please pray that Letticia, Denise, Lindsay and Kim will all remain clean and sober and be able to get on with their lives and resume their relationships with their children and families, and that they will never again see the inside of a jail. Every one of them knows the Lord, but my prayer is that they will give their lives into His hands.

Also, please pray for Lisa and her baby girl Jordan. Lisa is fighting to keep her baby with her when she is moved to the federal institution next month and there's a good chance she'll be able to do it, but there's just as good a chance that she won't. Both mom and baby are looking radiant and healthy. I pray that the prison staff will recognize the importance of keeping the baby with her mom.

Blessings!

Jesus' Little Elves

A week ago Vancouver looked like a winter wonderland. We had a huge dump of snow. But it's all gone now and today we have sunshine! That's rare in these parts this time of year.

The Women of Hope house is a beehive of activity these days as we are busy preparing for Christmas. For the past couple of weeks we have had crews of helpers coming in on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings - and whenever we can get them working - to help us wrap the thousands of items that will be going into the 700 Christmas gift bags we will be giving out in the next couple of weeks. Tonight the first bunch will be going out to the women at Alouette Correctional Centre. Elsie and I are members of M2W2 which is a Christian organization that matches prisoners with a visitor and also promotes and facilitates restorative justice in order to bring healing and reconciliation to prisoners and their victims. The women love our parties, and they also love receiving the Christmas gift bags which are loaded! For many of them it's the only Christmas present they will receive. Tomorrow night we will be doing the same again at Homestead, a women's treatment centre run by Salvation Army.

Other folks that will receive a gift bag are those that attend our Christian Twelve Step meetings, many of them men who are in treatment for addictions at the Union Gospel Mission, and folks who join us for our Sunday dinners at the house, Immanuel Church (our church plant), and drop-in times at the Salvation Army Community Services building nearby. But, I am most excited about going carolling on Christmas Eve in the downtown east side area of Vancouver; that's the area known as skid row. We will be sharing the love of Jesus and giving out Christmas gift bags to the people who live on the streets down there, most of whom are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Our hearts' desire and our prayer is that receiving these gift bags will remind folks who need to know, that there is a God who loves them and cares about their lives. He cared enough to send His Only Son to become one of us, so that He could save us from the darkness.

Please pray, especially for the folks on the streets, that they will see the Light shining out of the darkness, and that, if nothing else, a seed of hope will be planted in their hearts.