At Douglas Park Community School, 45% of students are children of refugee families, who deal with issues most of us will never have.  They face the challenge of assimilating into a new culture and deal with language and resettlement issues. Many of the other students come from homes that struggle with finances and addictions. These little ones face so many needs: educational, material, financial, and, especially, spiritual.

Upon the principal’s request, our volunteers have been engaged in a number of activities to bring encouragement to the school, the students, the teachers and, ultimately, the community.

In May, we created a special day for all the students and teachers that we called Cupcake Day. Eleven of our wonderful volunteers each baked two dozen cupcakes to distribute to the kids for this special occasion. It was a day that brought a lot of delight and there were a lot of smiles from both the children and the teachers.

A prayer team meets on a weekly basis to pray over the spiritual needs of the school and the children. We pray for protection, hope, peace and blessing… for those gifts that can only come from our Father in heaven.

In September, we will coordinate volunteers who will not only read with the children, but will also be committed to praying for them and their families.

One of the greatest tangible needs is something very simple that most of us take for granted: shoes. Most of these families are unable to buy a pair of indoor shoes, so students track in dirt and mud from outside, and then spend much of their day sitting on the floor in their classrooms. As a result, we’ve made it our goal to donate 100 pairs of indoor shoes for kindergarten and Grade 1 students.

We rejoice that God has called us to minister to the broken and forgotten in our city. We praise God that we have been invited into this community, and that we are able to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the school.

If you would like to volunteer with us in our ministry to Douglas Park Community School, feel free to contact us.

Lowell, a volunteer for the Salvation Army addictions residence, spoke about his inner emptiness and his deep yearning for something beyond the comfort of his own life. Through his volunteer experience, God changed his heart and showed him that laying down his life by serving truly brings life.

Carla volunteers at the Edmonton Young Offender Centre. She described her experience as the highlight of her week. Her team reassures young boys that they are valuable and that God has a purpose for their lives. As a result of her their “just go and show up” commitment, sixteen young boys committed their lives to Christ.

Other volunteers testified of God’s continual favor, grace, and goodness as He uses willing and committed hearts to reach out to the “least of these.” Jane, the widow’s outreach leader, spoke about overcoming her own inadequacies and initial reluctance to commit: “What if I never bothered?” Sixty-four widows would have missed God’s blessing. “Watch what God can do with our willingness,” she warned. “There is a cost, but it is worth it.” 

Correctional center volunteers recounted God’s faithful presence in the midst of unspeakable heartache and sorrow. They testified that many inmates consider prison as the place God rescued them. Some portray a tough exterior, but inside, they cry real tears. Every week, many inmates, both men and women, commit their lives to Christ.

Donna Mitchell, Connecting Streams’ director, introduced new staff member Carrie Lynn Lund. Carrie described her faith journey and God’s call to serve with Connecting Streams. “I am so humbled and blessed to be part of such an amazing group of believers who are dedicated to discipleship and sharing the gospel,” she said.

Donna concluded the evening’s inspiring testimonies by affirming God’s call for Connecting Streams’ to connect the under-alive church with the broken and marginalized in our world. She alluded to the Samaritan woman’s story to remind believers of the urgency of selfless serving: “The fields are already ripe for harvest,” she said. “What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!”

The evening’s prominent theme reiterated that there is a never-ending ripple effect when believers embrace the life God intended by willingly and intentionally following Jesus into a hurting world. In reflection, Donna observed: “The harvest is ripe indeed. If we will ‘be bothered’ to do what He asks, the blessings are innumerable – the perpetual ripple effect of transformed lives!”

Eva is one the leaders of DRIME’s base in Kenya. Living in Kibera — the largest slum in Africa — she has very little, sacrifices a lot, and is passionate about making Jesus known, not only in Kenya, but all over East Africa. She has difficulties and needs that most of us cannot even begin to imagine.

Recently, Eva shared with Lillian Tarvudd, DRIME’s director of equipping and leadership in Canada, about her struggle to get money to transport her team members to practice every week. For a leader, the financial burden is particularly heavy when these very same people often struggle to have enough to eat. “As I listened and let the tears stream down my cheeks,” Tarvudd says, “I realized that this faithful ministry leader, who has seen her team through five years of ministry, has sacrificed and given so much more than I have ever needed to.”

“Eva has a few things to teach me about living sacrificially,” she adds.

This summer, DRIME Kenya will send a team to share the gospel in rural villages in the neighbouring country of Tanzania. Through DRIME’s affiliation with Global Aid Network (GAiN) and The JESUS Film Church Planting Strategy, the team will perform dramas in the streets of Dar es Salaam and Lindi, host workshops to train local leaders to share Jesus, and sow seeds for a future DRIME base. The trip to Tanzania will be DRIME Kenya’s first international mission trip.

Eva and two other leaders are currently praying that God would provide the funds for them to go and bring their passion and ministry to the streets of Tanzania. They are hoping to raise $13,000 to cover transportation, living and ministry expenses for just over two weeks to make Jesus inescapable in Tanzania.

Since 1994, DRIME has been representing “The One in White” in cities all around the world – from the street corners in Canada and the US, to the slums of Kenya, to the villages of Benin, Paraguay, and Brazil — using drama to share the Gospel and engaging people in spiritual conversations.

Would you like to help send Eva and other Kenya leaders to do ministry in Tanzania?

“We want to have other nations [become] strong enough to be sending countries,” says Paul Ballard, a former professional soccer player and now the national director for AIA Soccer, “It’s not that farfetched to believe countries in Africa could be consistently sending teams to start and sustain ministry.”

Since 1993, AIA Soccer has been sharing the message of Jesus with the soccer community worldwide and, for over 10 years, God has been faithful as they bear witness to an abundance of fruit throughout Southeast Africa, including: 

• Significant growth of AIA’s soccer ministry
• Development of local and national leaders
• Doors opening in new cities and countries
• Sending shipments of equipment and ministry supplies
• The transformation of many souls

AIA is dedicated to helping others in the region discover Jesus, experience the power of the Holy Spirit, and inspire fellow believers to mobilize and perpetuate the cycle.

In a region that lacks the resources for soccer cleats and balls, a large part of the ministry is directed towards training coaches and developing their leadership skills. “We focus on trying to help coaches teach the players the principles to be ‘total athletes’ and how to include spiritual training in their lives as well as athletic training,” Ballard says.

AIA International soccer tours seeks to expose thousands of athletes and children to the life-transforming message of the gospel, and equip leaders of this generation to have an impact for Christ.

AIA is committed to using the universal language of soccer to communicate the most powerful message of all: God’s passionate love for His children as expressed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Thanks to the generous contributions of our donors, we have been able to integrate the gospel into the fabric of the culture of soccer both in Canada and around the world. 

 If you are interested in supporting AIA’s soccer ministry please visit us online.

This past week, our Langley Breakthrough Prayer and Outreach Team had the privilege of partnering with three churches that regularly reach out to the homeless and financially challenged of our community. These churches hosted a dinner for about eighty-five guests.

Our part was to show the love of Jesus through practical activities, such as hand spas (manicures and hand massages), free haircuts (a huge hit!), and our prayer tent where we offered “free spiritual encouragement.” Just blessing these folks in these practical ways was wonderful, but the added (intentional) bonus of being able to have conversations with them regarding their spiritual lives was really what it’s all about!

From the very first moment that I met nineteen-year-old Sam, I was impressed with what a beautiful and smart young man he was. As I shampooed his hair, he began to share how his parents abandoned him at the age of two, how he was raised in foster homes, saw his brother shot in front of him, was a reformed drug addict, and was now going to a special school where he could get his grade twelve diploma.

As I finished the shampoo, I asked him if I could pray for him. “Oh, yes please!” was his response. He was so open and so soft that I took it to the next level and asked him if he would like to invite Jesus into his life. Again he was ready and even thankful that I would ask. After I shared a little more about what that meant, we prayed together and he entered into a new life and fresh start.

The very next thing he said was, “I would like to volunteer and help youth at risk.” Praise God for the good plans that He has for Sam!

When you pray for your community, expect God to give you opportunities and a part in bringing the answers to fruition.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Just about every email I send out has that phrase at the very bottom.  I chose it because it reflects who I am, and how I see my role as president of Power to Change.

It’s a pretty bold statement – I’m aware of that.  So every now and then I remove it.  If I’m sending a message not related to work – maybe emailing an electrician about quotes for wiring my house – I delete that part of my email signature before sending.  If the person’s not a Christian, I don’t want to offend them unnecessarily.  If the person is a Christian, I don’t want them thinking I’m looking for special treatment because I’m a fellow believer or someone in full-time ministry.

One day, I forgot.  I was emailing a company for something house-related, and I forgot to delete my very bold Christian email signature.  When I called the man later to follow up, I was shocked.

“You’re the guy with the Jesus signature.  I know all about you!  I read your blogs.  I went to thelife.com and watched your movie!”  I waited for him to say something negative.  I had been worried about coming across as pushy.  But what this man saw was someone who really loved Jesus, and he was incredibly intrigued.  He asked me question after question about my faith.  He shared with me how a friend of his was a believer, and he had enormous respect for him.  Next thing you know, I’m putting an appointment with this man and his Christian friend in my calendar so we could talk more about following Jesus.

It made me remember:  God can use anything to draw people to Jesus – even my email signature.  Am I more worried about not offending people, or about obeying Him?

The small things – things like email signatures – matter.  God can use them.  Am I willing?  Are you?

In January, MIT Nuclear Physicist Dr. Ian Hutchinson gave a talk at both SFU and UBC that explored the relationship between Science and Faith. It was encouraging to see students and faculty join in on a great discussion that demystified the common misconception that science and faith are in conflict. 

In early March, we hosted world-renowned philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig for a series of talks at SFU and UBC. On March 1st, Dr. Craig gave a very thought-provoking talk at SFU entitled “Is Belief In God Reasonable?” to a standing room only crowd of 150 including a number of students and faculty from the SFU Philosophy Department. It was encouraging to witness Dr. Craig answer their most difficult questions. A number of students and faculty have recently remarked that they are now giving the Christian faith serious consideration.

On March 5th, Dr. Craig then gave another academic talk to a capacity crowd of over 400 students at UBC entitled “Does a Fine Tuned Universe Point to a Cosmic Designer?”

One of the first questions during Q&A with Dr. Craig came from a girl who was deeply moved by Dr. Craig’s very scientific talk. She sincerely asked, “Now that you have convinced me that there is an intelligent being that has created me, what should I do about this? Does this being require me to worship him? How should this change my life?”

My colleague Jessica shared an interesting insight regarding her question: “As I listened to her ask her question, I realized that, over the last hour, her entire worldview had made an enormous shift.”

I am sure that she was not the only one grappling with the question, “What do I do now?” Please pray that students would continue to take bold steps towards Him!

I have recorded some of the talks and have just posted the UBC talk on our Youtube Channel if you want to see it and share it with your friends.

Haircuts, hand spa, kids games, coffee and dessert: These were the components of our recent Community Coffee Night event. Our purpose was to demonstrate the love of Jesus in practical ways, and to foster opportunities to have meaningful conversations with our guests from the inner city area of Langley. As I cut one man’s hair, he shared about how he had given up on God years ago. He had prayed for help many times as a young child suffering abuse, but did not experience any answers. He also talked about his son that he has not seen since he was four years old. Clearly his heart was breaking over this. When I offered to pray for him, he was very open and thankful. The haircuts and hand spa are important, but it is really about the conversations and the opportunity to present Jesus.

As our prayer team ministered to one lady, she quipped, “You are actually making me believe there really is a God!” Another man admitted that he had been doing a lot of reading, but didn’t really know God; the team prayed with Him to receive Christ.

It is exciting to see how the number of our guests continues to grow from one event to the next. With approximately 30 volunteers (representing nine different churches), it is a great way for the church to get “hands on” with the gospel. We expect as we continue to care for this neighbourhood in practical ways, build community, and share Jesus, we will see change that can ultimately impact the whole area.

The volunteer team

Faith without works is dead….

It is good to pray, but even better when the living God invites us to be part of the answer to those prayers.  Across Canada and in various parts of the world, Breakthrough Prayer continues to lead teams to pray for their cities, and encourage them to listen for the Lord’s lead, to take action that will see those prayers become a reality.

For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy Triumphs over Judgment. What does it profit brethren if someone says he has faith but has not works? James 2:13-14

Be A Light from Power to Change on Vimeo.

THANK YOU

• Last month, over half a million people visited our site
• Over 60 thousand of them heard the gospel
• 1500 of them made meaningful decisions for Christ

Imagine if these numbers grew exponentially. There are 2.5 billion people that are connected to the internet. Each one of them at one time or another will be searching.  We can be there for them… but we need your help.

Help someone find their light today.

Sincerely,

TruthMedia

He was only 11 years old.

Seized by Syrian soldiers for walking amongst protestors, he was beaten. Tortured. And when he died, the soldiers didn’t relent. They broke his neck.

The rest of his family escaped, fleeing to the neighbouring country of Jordan.

For Syrians, it has been two years of violence, strife, and fear. Over one million have fled the war-ravaged country, and hundreds of thousands more are internally displaced. Jordan is now host to 450,000 Syrian refugees, according to government estimates - the majority of them living in urban centres. The United Nations Refugee Agency is reporting that 1,500 more stream across the border daily.

Global Aid Network’s (GAiN) on-the-ground partner in Jordan is meeting with refugees every day in the city of Mafraq. These families are often living together in makeshift shelters. They have no money for rent, heat, food, or medical care.

By working through the local church, we are able to demonstrate God’s love, as well as provide much-needed food, water, and medical supplies. The Emergency Survival Kits we are distributing contain food and water for a family of five for 10 days, two blankets, and medical supplies. Each kit costs $150.

“I am thankful we have people who are willing to go to the field and help,” our partner says. “Now, [with these supplies], we can go and help the Syrians.”

The Jordan government is calling for significantly more humanitarian support. We must move quickly to respond. Together, we can tangibly show the love of Christ and help others when they need it most.

Will you partner with us today to bring hope to Syrian refugees?
Yes! I want to help!

GAiN is the Humanitarian Division of Power to Change