Endings as Beginnings

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”  - Lord of the Rings.

Lifeteams – dangerous business.  I didn’t even really know the road I was stepping on, as most of us didn’t. And to be honest I was scared out of my tree, this was uncharted territory. For all of us the Lifeteams adventure would mean giving up eight and half months of our lives, some of us gave up our homes, then there were some of us who were all to happy to leave home, and then there were those who have never been on there own before, but any adventure it seems must start with running away from a place we call home. What started as nine strangers who didn’t know each other huddling together to flip a carpet became a living breathing fellowship, a friendship, a team, and a family. As we grew close to each other we began to see each other in ways others haven’t in our lives haven’t. We met God in new fantastic ways, where he shaped us, and refined all of us though the fire. At times we met the fire with tears and other times with great joy. I thank God for what has taken place here!

Though this year’s experience, we learned to become youth workers, by building relationships with the youth at our placements. But it was so much more then “placements” as the youth we worked with were real, with broken past’s kids who hadn’t gotten the chance to be just that. Kid’s. We showed them true love and what love looks like acted out we became servants doing more then what was asked of us, by the youth We became a shining light in the darkness, ambassadors of Christ, where we could show the youth that there is more to life then just existing! Because of all this youth drew closer to God and some even became his children!

I often say “don’t accept nothing less then what God has for you” I believe this year has been just that, and it’s so surreal that it is over, now we enter into the “real world” as professional youth workers, entering into a very broken world that needs God’s radical love and acceptance, I believe the nine of us, ablaze with the spirit of God will change this world for good and have already started! Now this configuration is no more, this chapter of our lives has come to a close, this is where we turn to next page where God reveals the story one moment at a time and we continue to see the story of life unfold! Again comes the time where we face the dangerous business, head out the door, and step on to the road. I believe we take with us the worlds the Lord commanded Joshua: be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!

Someone asked me the other day what I learned at Lifeteams …

There were many great things that Lifeteams taught me, but I think among those many great things there is one journey that I tried to start many times before, but became more fully aware of as I walked through Lifeteams. It is not something that you learn once and then are forever an expert at, it is something to practice, a discipline that takes great courage to live out. That journey is this:  that by becoming vulnerable those around us are welcomed to do the same, and by doing so they meet their true identity. What I mean by this is that through a vulnerable broken community we come face to face with our true selves. That we are but dust, weak and powerless and yet deeply loved by a great and powerful unseen God. I was reading something the other day that further reminded me of this and encouraged me to keep living life with others this way. It said this:

“…our identities are transformed with and through others. And, by discovering our true identities, we also make ourselves available to secure justice by affirming the dignity and identity of those on the margins.”
Jean Vanier, who has given his life to the mentally and physically disabled through L’Arche communities, sums it up beautifully: “People come to our communities because they want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered that they themselves are poor. And then they discover something extraordinary: that Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor, not to those who serve the poor!”  Vanier teaches us that the broken ones are those who lead us to our brokenness and awaken us to our need of a healing Savior.”

We were not left alone on this earth; we were left with each other, and for good reason. God deeply desires us to experience the kind of community that he lives in eternally. Lifeteams presents an opportunity where you can experience a taste of this kind of community. This is no easy journey to be invited into; it is one of great challenge, but you are not alone in it. There is a picture on the wall in my house, taken by one of my roommates as she traveled in Africa. It is of an African woman, her face is deeply distressed and drenched in sorrow, and she is on her knees reaching out with both arms, her palms facing slightly upwards, as if to receive help. Whatever her present sorrow is, whatever her present struggle, in the midst of other people she is willingly revealing her weak and vulnerable self. As I see her brokenness I am reminded daily of something I want to continue to practice in my life – that is to be courageous enough to be vulnerable and humble enough to grasp and accept the realities of my true identity.

Lifeteams opened my eyes to a reality that I struggled to see on my own, for that realization I am so thankful and that community of people I will forever cherish.

Laura

March Madness

March was awesome and full of crazy random times. We started planning an Urban Plunge mission trip for a group of kids from Wolfe Creek Alberta, with Melissa as our fearless leader. This involved, on my end at least, a tonne of late nights spent working moderately hard to get everything done on time.

One of the high points for me this month was going Timberline Ranch for their middle school camp, and I was stoked to go and be a counsellor again. It was glorious. My camp name was Lotus and part of the fun was not letting the campers know what your real name is. I bombed that horribly and I think that there was only on kid at the end who remained clueless. It turned out to be a crazy week with lots of unexpected’s – and lots to learn.

I ‘taught’ riflery all week and by ‘taught’ I mean that I handed ten year old pellet guns and told them to give ‘er. Being stuck in that box was fun and I got to have lots of conversations with kids while we sat and waited. I met a super cool kid named Errol who scratched my camp name into the hut (which is covered in the names of everyone who’s ever set foot in it) for me with a rock which he made me promise to keep. I’ve still got it.

The best part with my girls was being able to lead them all in some listening prayer and introducing them to real time conversation with Jesus, which a couple of them spent the rest of the day doing.

Then Wolf Creek arrived. DUN DUN DUN!!!

Before this though, as a celebration of Sergio’s birthday and the end of all of our trip planning, we got to go, get all swanky and dressed up (we got talked out of being really extravagant which was sad) and spend a night on the town at Nicky’s old Thai restaurant and get really really delicious deep fried bananas. Afterwards we tromped around downtown Abbotsford, waltzed in a parking lot and took awkward photos with everything we could find including some very friendly men sitting on a bench.

Then Wolf Creek arrived – early.  Very early.  Awkward…. and we took the scariest ride of my life up the hill to the Lifehouse in this huge charter bus that was way too big for the road! I thought we were going to stall and die. If you had asked me about the week at the time, after beating around the bush I would have told you in no uncertain terms that it was one of the most horribly intense and draining weeks of my life, in the bad way. Looking back now though it was exactly what I needed at the time and probably something I will need more of in my life. There was no lying to myself about anything that usually blocks me and I needed to run to God constantly to just make it through each day.

That trip saved me from falling back into commonplace ruts again. My favourite memory was having an amazing laugh fest while sitting in the back of the huge bus with Taylor and Liz while Brian made uncomfortable faces at me and mocked every single sound that came out of my mouth. Another would have to be having a bazillion random conversation with Cody about everything and anything – including the God he said he didn’t believe in.  All in all it was a fantastic exhausting month that was wonderfully perfect in its horrible crazy discord.

Natalie