Week 1 Summary...

At the end of every week we have the assignment of writing out a weekly summery, so I thought I would post it on here as well. Enjoy...

The speakers for this past week were Janna Moates who spoke on “Why we’re here – A Framework for Action” and Colleen Milstein who spoke on “A Brain Dead Generation”.

Janna taught about what God’s intention for a child is by looking at the roles family, extended family, local church, neighbourhood, state and national government, international government and NGO’s and the global church were created to play. She also taught us on the many scriptures that are found that speak about children, as well as about fighting for the causes and rights of the poor and needy. We were taught to ask questions, lots of them and to seek answers in the scriptures. We were also taught from Janna about the basic needs of a child, networking and what is making ministries fail or succeed.

Colleen taught on 8 domains that God might be calling us to work in. They are arts, economics, communication, science, education, family, government, and church. We looked at how God shows up in all the domains and is the head of all of them. We were also challenged on where we are at (our willingness) when it comes to where God might send us and what He might want us to do with our lives.

The most impacting information for me was the questions presented to us. Questions like “Can God really call me anywhere or do I have specific places that I am only willing to go?” and “What if the greatest spiritual battle of our time is being waged against children and we don’t even know it? What is Satan understands the value of a child to God better than the church?”

This week I was challenged to think about the kids in my life already and think about which children are in a place that they really need me or someone else to “come just for them”. Which child needs to be reminded they are significant? I really was able to better able to understand God’s intentions for children this week. During times of my own healing I have had it prayed over me again and again that the things that happened were not what God wanted for me, and it is amazing to really have a scriptural basis of what He did want for me and for the millions of hurting kids. Something this past week also has taught me is how valuable a child is to God. I have always loved working with kids, but more and more I am beginning to look at a child and love them because God loves them. Not because they are cute or say funny things, but because they were created in the image of Him and I have a responsibility to help them become who they are meant to be … God said so. As well I feel like the things I learned this week and have yet to learn are going to significantly affect the way I am going to be a mom to my own kids, as well as with the children I will work with in the future.

This week we were assigned to read Motivational Factors for Work with Children At Risk by Steve Bartel of YWAM, Colombia. It was definitely something that made me think about my motivation factors for being here. I also thought a lot about how often so many people to go on to the field with not bad motivations but not the right one and how it totally makes sense why it is that people are burning out so fast. I can recognize in me that my motivations do have to do with having compassion for the kids and a desire to obey God’s calling. I can also see in me, already and growing stronger daily, the desire to bring honour to God. God is in the business of restoration and healing and bringing His children back to Him. I pray that my motivations will become more and more centred on being used as a tool in those areas and that I will glorify God and honour Him in all I do.

Some of the questions this weeks teaching brought out in me are, where is God calling me / what kind of ministry is He calling me to? And I have been really challenged on the question “Am I willing to go anywhere?” My answer used to be without a doubt, yes. But somewhere along the lines I have narrowed it down a bit, so I am left wondering, is it narrowed down because I have a clearer view on what God is calling me to or is it because of something else? I will continue to seek answers to these questions through prayer and reading scripture and really just listening to what God is trying to say to me… I’m scared… willing to listen, but scared.

This week in community I feel as though I did well. I love living in a community and it is not something I normally find that challenging. I was able to listen to a couple of my new friends stories this week, which was amazing. I love my work duty, which is cleaning up the dishes after lunch. I enjoy doing an act of service that makes a difference. I am beginning to learn to love reading my Bible again, which has been a struggle all my life. But knowing how relevant the Bible is and how many answers are in it, especially for the type of things I am learning about, makes me feel passionate about reading it again. I love learning what I am learning about, though I can tell I will probably cry daily for the next 9 months. I just feel really blessed to be here and to be meeting the people here. I feel really at peace about being here, like I am exactly where God wants me. I really just love being here.