Jesus in jail

Thankfully, and in answer to our prayers, there's been a change in the number of women attending Sunday chapel at the Fraser Valley Institution; six last week and four this week. It's wonderful to see the chapel at least partly filled with women, and to be able to worship together with them; they love to sing. Today the power and the knowledge of the Lord's presence softened hard hearts - even to the point of tears and sniffles - as Wendy, the chaplain, led us in worship and preached the Word and I led us in a time of prayer.

One of the women I was with one-on-one a couple of months ago when I led chapel in Wendy's absense has moved from the maximum security unit to the general population. It's amazing to see how radiant she is as she grows in the knowledge of God's love for her - thanks to the chaplain's patient and anointed ministry. She has softened incredibly and her smile stretches from one ear to the other. It's such a blessing to be greeted each week by a huge bear hug as she tells me how happy she is to see me. What a change from a couple of months ago when she sat in chapel, sullen and non-responsive except to express sarcasm or anger. I'm thankful that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit God allowed me to see past her self-protective defences to her heart. It's so amazing to see the transformation that occurs when people who are lost and hurting give their lives into God's hands.

For the past two Sundays I've been able to witness Wendy's ministry to the women in the the maximum security unit, and even the segregation unit. The issues she deals with are often difficult to resolve, except through prayer, as they can result from the obsessive needs of women whose psyches have been twisted by abuse, violence and addiction. The good news is that God is there and He's working, patiently drawing these women into relationship to Himself through Jesus. Today I had a conversation with one of the guards who is kind and merciful, while still remaining firmly in control. She sees the hearts of the women and has compassion for them. I'd like to be more like her, actually. Unmistakably in control, yet maintaining a gentle, kind, open heart, and a sense of humour the same time.

I am thankful to those of you who've been praying for me, and I'm happy to report that both here at the house, as well as in the prisons, I am finally beginning to feel more confident and able to assume the authority that comes with my role and position. Of course I'm a work in progress, and there is still much that the Lord wants to do in me. But, it's truly a testament to God's transforming power that I have remained willing to persevere through the difficult times. In the past (BC: before Christ) I would have quit when things got hard, believing that it wasn't meant to be. Now I know that all I need to do is surrender my life and my circumstances to God, and to trust and obey Him. Like the song says, there's no other way - and the beauty is, it's just that simple.

Oswald Chambers speaks eloquently to this subject in the November 14 devotional reading from My Utmost For His Highest: When once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.

May we walk in faith always, trusting that our Heavenly Father, Almighty God, is in control, and obeying His guidance so that His redemption can rush through us to bear much fruit by redeeming the lives of those around us.

Fragrance

Song of Songs 1:3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.

I went out for a walk around the neighbourhood this evening. It's a beautiful, warm, peaceful summer evening. We had some rain earlier today and so the air smells fresh and clean, but there was also the heavy, beautiful scent of roses in the air. It was captivating, and I couldn't help but thank God and give Him praise for creating such a beautiful and fragrant plant as the rose.

I spoke to Connie on the phone today. She's still in the hospital, and today she seems to be doing better. I believe that this is the next step in the healing process for her, not only psychologically, but physically as well. While she is there, the doctors are addressing physical problems and damage to her body that she's been living with for some time now, and wasn't able to address while she was living on the streets and active in her addiction. Please continue to pray for her as she is no longer willing to work her recovery. She believes that she's already learned everything to learn and it didn't help her. But, obviously, if she knew it all already, she would be able to keep from relapsing after three months.

Andrea is doing well. Although she's a reluctant disciple, there is a willingness to learn and to ask questions, and today I was able to see progress and growth in her interactions with me during our study session.

We will be welcoming another woman into the house at the beginning of next month. There's always a little (or a lot) of tension when this happens as we get to know the new person and get used to having another person occupying space here.

I'm still thankful to be here. Elsie, Mun Hee and I had a prayer meeting this morning. We want to make time to pray more so that we are bathed in the glory of God's presence, and able to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us, that we would be able to find and make the time to do this; the busy-ness of everything there is to do at the house, as well as the meetings and outreach that we do, often robs us of being able to spend time in God's presence.

Thank you for reading this, and for praying. May the Lord bless you in all goodness and fill you with His peace that passes all understanding.

Catherine

Power in the rest

God is so good, and He knows what's best for us. And when we give Him permission to be in control of our lives, He works all things for good. That's what He's done in the situation with Connie. She didn't go to Belkin House. The hospital had her assessed by a psychiatrist before they released her, and as a result, she is spending a few weeks in hospital so that her mental health issues can be addressed and she can be stabilized on medication. I believe that this is the next step in her recovery - and God knew this is what she needed now in order to be able to go forward in her healing and recovery from addiction.

Andrea is doing well. She's discovering her gifts and, in spite of the resistance of her "flesh", drawing closer to Jesus, as He continues to draw her closer to Himself. She is a sweet girl.

I am feeling exhausted today. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are always very busy here because of all of the different things that we do - outreach, food co-op, meetings, etc. - and I guess that, added to the stress of last weekend, it's all caught up with me. I hope to be able to rest today and remain quiet, hopefully to have some solitude. I know that all I need is some time to rest in the arms of my Father; and to drink deeply of the Living Waters.

I'm grateful that I can trust God in all circumstances, to bring about the best result for everyone involved, and also to bring healing and comfort and strength to those in need. My God is a good God, and my Daddy is a loving Daddy.

All's quiet on the western front

Thank you all for your prayers for those of us at the Women of Hope house. Things have settled down. Andrea is safe and doing fine; she will be returning to us very early tomorrow morning. I'm actually thankful to God that she wasn't here last night to witness Connie's erratic behaviour because it was a very difficult and stressful few hours.

Earlier today I learned that Connie was going to be going to Belkin House, a wonderful Salvation Army shelter and a place of refuge and healing for those who are seeking recovery from drug addiction. We love Connie and want to stay involved in her life and recovery, and we want her to come back to us too, but she'll have to have 30 days of continuous sobriety before she can do that. I pray that she will avail herself of the counselling and discipleship opportunities that are available at Belkin House.

Mabel's fine, and Mun Hee and I are tired but grateful. I feel blessed and am thanking God for giving us His peace. I'm also thankful that He gives courage, wisdom and strength in times of trouble. Praise You, Father!

In Christ,
Catherine

Testing

Please keep us all at the Women of Hope house in your prayers. It has been a very difficult and stressful weekend, and Connie is in a full blown relapse. She was awol all weekend, but tonight after she returned I had to call 911 because of her behaviour which was threatening the safety of the rest of the women here at the house. I'm so sad that she's returned to her old ways and I pray that she will return to the bosom of the Lord quickly. Andrea, who is fairly new, is also struggling right now and has broken the rules. I don't know what is going to happen with her. She's gone too and I have a feeling that she may not come back. Elsie's away and so Mun Hee and I are dealing with all of the chaos and crises the best we can. I feel ill equipped, but God is giving strength and guidance, and, thankfully, even peace. Thank You, Father.

And as for good news, I had the privilege of seeing a gospel performance by Jim Byrnes, and also the Blind Boys of Alabama, last night. The Blind Boys were one of the featured acts at the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the coolest thing about the concert was that every song carried the message of the good news about Jesus Christ! Thousands of people heard it! The Blind Boys aren't shy about talking about their faith either.

God is on His throne. Hallelujah!

The invisibles

We have another new face around the Women of Hope house. Andrea has come to live with us. Your prayers for Andrea, and for me as I minister to her, would be gratefully appreciated. She has a different background, and therefore also has different needs than many of the women we have discipled in the past.

My role within the house is changing as I take on more of the responsibility of managing it and discipling the women. I am grateful to have Elsie's guidance and mentoring in the process. She is supporting and encouraging me every step of the way, and also giving valuable feedback. Even when she points out my shortcomings, she does it in such a way that it doesn't feel like criticism, in fact, I feel blessed. I guess that's what it means to speak the truth in love.

We are continuing to go out in teams as we deliver the food to the food co-op members on Friday afternoons. I drove and blessed last Friday, and my first team were husband and wife missionaries-in-training who have come all the way from Korea to be eqipped for cross cultural service at Gateway in Langley(http://www.gatewaytraining.org/). Our delivery route was the skid row and China Town areas of downtown Vancouver. This couple from Korea were amazed and appalled at the poverty and depravity on Vancouver's streets as we drove through the old downtown core. There is nothing in Korea that prepared them for what they saw: dirty, aging, homeless men pushing shopping carts full of their meagre belongings along the sidewalks; women whose bodies are nothing but skin and bone because they are too caught up in drug addiction to care about food; drug addicte3d prostitutes in outlandish get-ups and garish make-up trying to look alluring to passersby; and young men and women sleeping on the streets covered up with blankets and sleeping bags. This couple was so outraged at what they saw that it caused me to realize just how hardened and desensitized our North American hearts have become towards the marginalized and "throw-away" citizens of our culture. Although they are there on the streets every single day for all to see, somehow they've become invisible to most of us. We don't want to see them; their problems seem too overwhelming for us and so we choose not to care. The Korean couple told me that in their country anyone who is caught with an elicit drug, even a marijuana joint, will serve a long jail sentence. They cannot understand how our government can let people drink and do drugs and sell them openly on the streets.

My second delivery run was a long one, and our "swamper" was Stanley, a mentally handicapped man who is one of our food co-op members. Elsie told him that his job was to carry the boxes, and so he valiantly carried every single box, even though some of them caused him to huff and puff - especially since we sometimes had to park a fair distance from some of the buildings we delivered to. Stanley opted out on the last delivery; he was too tired to carry one more box. It was a real blessing to have him along, and as we went into the buildings and greeted the various food co-op members, they were generally very happy to see Stanley and the rest of us. We didn't do any praying on this run, but we blessed a lot of people and got a praise report from one lady that I had prayed with on a previous run. God had come in and healed some of the grief she was experiencing after her sister's untimely death.

Connie is doing very well. Although going to school on a full-time basis is exhausting for her as she adjusts to her new schedule, she his hanging in there. She's learning to deal with disappointments and with the normal ups and downs of life without wanting to resort to addictive behaviour to comfort herself and zone out. I give praise and glory to God for all that He is doing in her life; a few short months ago she was among the ranks of those who are homeless and drug addicted in Abbotsford. Your continuing prayers for her are coveted. Please pray for Mun Hee, as well. She's our resident Korean missionary, and she is having a tough time lately.

Thanks for reading this and for praying for us may the Lord bless you abundantly!

Elsie and Jana, Connie and Mun Hee

Answers to prayer

It's been a busy week, and tomorrow another one begins. There are lots of changes happening around the house. There are women moving out and others moving in.

Thank you to those who have been praying for us. Connie, who has 80 days clean now, begins the New Start program tomorrow. It's a program for upgrading education and skills and for helping women to become more employable. She's excited but nervous. It's been a long time since she went to school, and it's a huge step up from being on the streets just 2 and a half months ago. It's a wonder to see all that God is doing in her in such a short time. She's truly being transformed.

Elsie and I interviewed a couple of women who were interested in coming to live at the house. Neither of them are Christians yet, but the evidence of God's hand on their lives was so obvious. They felt drawn to our program because it is Christ-centered - although neither of them realized that's what the draw was. One woman was very fragile emotionally, having just left a very violent and abusive partner. Her life story was filled with trauma and abuse. She realized, as Elsie and I did, that our house is not the right place for her. She needs a place that is quieter and more secure. But we had a powerful prayer time with her and she told us she wanted to come to church with us, and today she did just that! I pray that she will continue to draw close to God. The other woman had an entirely different story to tell; she comes from a life of privilege and wealth. She has recently been released from prison, and will be coming to join us at the house some time this week. She'll fit in well, I think. I look forward to getting to know her better.

I had the privilege of praying for a few of our food co-op patrons on Friday as we delivered orders. One was a man with arthritis, another a lady who has recently lost several friends and family members, and another was a native lady whose son is serving a sentence in a federal institution for a crime he didn't commit. I love being able to bless people and to lift their needs up to God in this way, and I trust that He will respond by answering. He loves to reveal His care to people who are lost and hurting.

And speaking of answers to prayer, Connie and Mun Hee and I went to visit Connie's brother in hospital last week. He was very ill. He is a homeless drug addict who lives in the skid row area of Vancouver. He has AIDS and was sick with a severe bacterial pneumonia. He was eager to have us pray for him, and as we did, even he could feel the power of God move in response to our prayers. Today we had news that he is better and has been moved out of the ICU. Thank You Lord that You hear and answer prayer.