Montreal: Day 1

Montreal-Day 1

The team arrived safely.  We attended the worship service on Sunday.

It was a wonderful worship service.  The gym auditorium was packed with music and preaching in both English and French. It was a very enthusiastic and engaging worship service.   A couple visiting the church sat in front of us and it didn't take long for that couple to become fully engaged in the service.   So many different cultures were represented in the service that it truly reflected how the Lord reaches out to all cultures.  There are mission teams from Texas, Mississippi, Florida and our Virginia team and, all are here to help on Tuesday's out- reach projects.

 We had our devotions and team meeting in a park overlooking a large rapids filled river.

Bill & Judy Bassette

For the Montreal Team

Montreal: Day 4

And the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood...John 1:14 (MSG)

Speaking of neighborhoods, that's exactly where we spent our day!  After saying goodbye to the Mission Team from Malta, TX who left today (along with the two teams from Mississippi), we made our way to the church offices...after our obligatory stop for coffee at Tim Hortons. Once there, Matthew, the associate pastor of Le Contact, the church executive assistant, Julie, and a church member and aspiring pastor, Michael met us and we all shared in a devotional and prayer time focused on servanthood and meeting the needs of those around us, which perfectly captured the purpose of this entire trip.

And then the walking began!  The church had made up around 1500 flyers depicting an action shot of the praise band and a ton of information about the church, their website and their Facebook page. Yesterday volunteers had cut out and prepared the flyers for distribution and with Michael as our local guide we began canvassing the neighborhoods around the church and the town of Repentigny, finally placing the last flyer late in the afternoon.  Along the way we learned about Michael and how this church, Le Contact reached into his life of drugs and emptiness and provided hope and life just over a year ago. He is a changed man, so on fire for The Lord that he brought his mother and sister to Christ as a well, getting to baptize them himself this past Easter. His exuberance was infectious and truly made the day fly by.

Tonight we closed the day with a second devotion, centered on prayer and how the early church used prayer. Reading in Acts about the power displayed by the Holy Spirit in answer to those true believers reminded us all that we should be ready for tongues of flame to appear, rooms to shake and people's lives to be miraculously changed by going to God with His Will as our guide. Let us be so bold as to expect that each of our prayers will be answered as powerfully.

Blessings,

The Montreal Missions Team

Montreal: Day 3

Day Three

LeContact church had been planning the activities of this day for many weeks. It had many of the characteristics of our own BIG SERVE event.  However, unlike BIG SERVE, LeContact had placed an ad in the local newspaper advertising free help to single mothers and the elderly who needed help in moving or household chores.  Eight projects were identified, of which about half were for people who had no church affiliation.  Our team along with the mission teams from Texas and Mississippi dispersed into small groups and began tackling the projects.

Several teams were faced with the daunting task of moving a family's entire possessions from one residence to another. This often included moving refrigerators, stoves, washers and driers down several flights of stairs around tricky corners in confined spaces. Coupled to these logistical obstacles were the sweltering heat and humidity.

Other teams provided help in cleaning homes and utility sheds, building storage shelves, painting rooms, cleaning windows and cutting grass.

What was most perplexing to those non-church members who received the help was why were the teams willing to offer free assistance.  The answer of course was that the teams just wanted to show the love of Christ in action.  What the long range result will be we don't know, but the recipients know that LeContact is the church that reaches out in love.

A very tired and soiled team returned to our lodging thankful for each of the day's opportunities of sharing the love of Jesus.

Bill Bassette

Montreal: Day 2

Montreal: Day 2 "Bonjour"! 
 
Day Two of the mission trip was a wonderful experience, starting with an early morning breakfast at the church offices of Le Contact in Repentigny, a suburb here in Montreal that's about thirty minutes from the Mission House where we are staying. There are mission teams from four different churches that have all responded to the call from Pastor Joel to help with the moving day ministry on the 1st of July (a church from Texas, two churches from Mississippi as well as us), and we all were treated to an amazing breakfast prepared by the Le Contact members featuring everything from bagels, muffins and sausages, to fruits, cheeses and pates (which was actually pretty good!).
 
As breakfast ended we were blessed to take part in an amazing time of worship led by their praise team, before Pastor Joel shared the history of Le Contact. His message clearly showed that God's Hand is at work in this city where less than one half of one percent of the three million residents of Montreal are Christian. This 4 year old church in particular has already outgrown their current space, growing from 40 members in 2010 to over 250 now, requiring them to move Sunday services to a school gymnasium located nearby.
 
The rest of the day was spent traveling around town with Pastor Joel, praying in public in various places that he chose. In this province of Canada, the mistrust of organized religion remains very high and our praying aloud in public was done with eyes open, looking around, in a "conversational" style to avoid creating a scene. We prayed for God's guidance with regard to future homes for this growing church, unity among the churches trying to reach the Quebecois (the people of the province of Quebec), softening of the government officials' hearts towards the church as an organization, praise for reaching so many people through the gift of music and for boldness for Pastor Joel in particular as he prepares some difficult messages to deliver to his congregation.
 
A late lunch/supper ended our time with Pastor Joel, and we headed back to the Montreal Mission House to fellowship with the other team from Texas staying there. As we did last night, a quick walk to the river ended in a beautiful park where we listened to a devotion, shared prayers and praises from the day and asked the Good Lord to turn us all into NFL linebackers so we can be ready to move lots of furniture tomorrow!  We'll let you know how that prayer turns out...
 
Blessings,
Sam Tanner
For the Montreal Team

Southeast Asia: Day 18

Southeast Asia: Day 18

We continue to stand amazed at the incredible timing and purpose of Father. These two days have been filled with meetings in the mornings and afternoons with individual or pairs of students we've connected with over the past few weeks followed by larger group meetings in coffee shops in the evenings. Several of these connections came out of students we'd just met inviting their own friends to come hang out with us. Other connections resulted from random conversations with people in restaurants, one of whom turned out to be a Sister. She was surprised and incredibly encouraged when she found out that we were in the Family as well. No conversation or interaction is too short for Him to work in mighty ways. We've also made some connections with medical students and outgoing philanthropists that will be extremely useful the next time we are in this country.

Unfortunately, our time here is coming to an end and we only have a few meetings left.

Tomorrow, we are meeting with a Brother and Sister to strengthen our relationships and perhaps help connect them with a strong Family Group here.

Please pray that our energy levels would be just as high as on Day 1 and that we would persevere to continue Upward Focused conversations via social media once we leave this beautiful country. Please continue to pray for our fulltime Ms here, that they would be able to connect with those students with Upward Focused questions and that their Work here would be His and His alone. Lastly, please lift us up as we're making the long trek back to the States. We are humbled and blessed by your thoughts and prayers and we can't wait to share more stories and pictures with you all once we've arrived home.

In Him,

Southeast Asia Team

Southeast Asia: Day14-17

Southeast Asia-Day 14-17

We arrived safely at our northern destination, met our guide and continued our long, winding voyage up into the mountains. 

Our Father is incredible. The views across the valley were breathtaking and only increased in magnificence as we traveled higher. 

We explored the city the remainder of the afternoon and rested up for the 4 hour trek that awaited us the next morning. 

We woke early the next morning and trekked along various roads and mountain paths, passing all kinds of animals, fauna, and natives as we wound our way down the mountain into a small farming village. We met up with several families our group had made connections with in the past. Unfortunately, the matriarch we were looking forward to talking with was temporarily living in another village while her home was being renovated. Nevertheless we got to spend time with several of her family members, helping them with their English and giving the daughter a copy of the JC movie in their native language. 

Please pray that despite traditional and political roadblocks, the HS would radically move in that village and that its inhabitants would carry the Message to their own families in other villages. Please also pray for the leaders of HCs in the area. Pray that despite persecution and financial pressures, these men would continue to study and teach according to Father's Word. The HS doesn't need human literacy, wealth, or freedoms in order to do its Work, but please pray that It will sustain and protect Its people on the long roads ahead. 

During our last day up north we had the privilege of dining with our guide and her husband in their homestay. Her husband is studying to open his own HC and Father is working in miraculous ways. We also got to leave thick blankets and mosquito nets with two young girls we met several years ago. Please pray that their families will be blessed by these gifts and that they would come to know Father very soon. 

Even though our initial plans changed every day we were in the villages, we know that our steps were guided by the HS and that nothing He does is done in vain. We boarded the overnight train back to our original city and arrived back safely very early this morning. 

Day 17

We're currently resting up for our last three days in country. Each day is full of meetings with students and M friends from the States. Please pray that our team would continue to regain strength and that our minds would be locked on His Face. 

We'll be in touch again soon!

Southeast Asia Team