TTP in Edmonton, Canada

We’re in Canada again!

Job 26:7 says, “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.”  When we walked out of our hotel this morning the Lord had once again “spread out the northern skies.”  This picture does not capture the full majesty and splendor of the morning sky…it was magnificent!  As we drove to the church the northern sky was a very visible reminder of God’s present and active role in our every day activities.

That’s right, we’ve traveled across the border once again to share The Truth Project with our northern neighbors.  Sounds exciting, eh?  Sure is…just like the Toronto conference two weeks ago, our Edmonton event today is sold out!  We’ve crammed about 820 into the sanctuary at North Pointe Community Church in Edmonton, Alberta.

Although it is a little cold outside, we have been welcomed very warmly by the Focus Canada staff and all the conference attendees we’ve met.

Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement.  We received an incredible email this week from a student named Jimmy who was at our Missouri event last weekend.  It is always a blessing to our team when you write in and share with us how the Lord is working in your life.

We look forward to hearing from you if you are at our event today in Edmonton.  We pray that the Lord has begun a mighty work in your heart and mind…today may be the beginning of an amazing journey for you!

Comments

[Lisa Braun]

My busband, Roger, and I attended the conference in Edmonton this past weekend. Be were incredibly blessed. My heart has been at this point for so long. God, what is right and what is wrong? Why are so many Bible believing Christians at so many different points of the spectrum? What is the truth here in how we are not to conform with the culture around us? I have struggled with these questions for so long and my heart has just ached with the HUGE differences between us as Christians.

The Truth Project just hit that very spot in my soul. Thank You God! You are going to do mighty things in transforming the lives of those around us through this project. Thank you Focus on the Family and team for bringing this project to our disposal. Roger & I are so looking forward to bringing this to our church, our home, our families, and our community. Our hearts are on fire and we are desparately praying that the fire will not diminish or be snuffed out. God has been at work in my heart for a very long time.

After leaving the conference to travel back home to Saskatoon, SK, and having the lesson of "Who is our Neighbor" in our minds, we passed a hitchhiker near Vegreville, AB. Roger & I both looked at each other and ask, "Okay, what is this supposed to mean?" Both of us pondered and fell silent as we continued driving. Neither of us felt right. Silently I told God in my heart that if we passed the hitchhiker again, we would pick him up. :-) I hadn't told Roger that I had done this. We stopped at Lloydminster on the SK/AB the border for supper around 8 pm. Having filled our stomachs and the gas tank, we stretched and headed for home once again. It was foggy, with a mixture of rain and snow and we were driving against the wind. Just outside Lloyd, sure enough, the great test came and there again was the same hitchhiker. We looked at each other and pondered once again what this meant. As we continued driving, I told Roger what I had told God back at Vegreville. "Oh, you did, hey?" was his response. :-) We continued on in silence for another 20 km when Roger turned the van around and drove us back to Lloyd. As we backtracked, sure enough, there he was, waiting on the side of the road. :-)
"Alvin" had left Edmonton at 12:30 pm and was wanting to go to Saskatoon to visit his son, 12 yrs. old, who lived with his grandmother and also another son, who had a wife and 3 kids, who both lived high on drugs on a daily basis. The kids never saw their parents normal. "Alvin" had drank for 25 years and for the past 4-8 months was clean and had been doing what his mother had done when he was little, talked to Jesus in prayer and reading her Bible. "Alvin" was wanting to come clean and leave the drinking life behind. He had been in Edmonton to attend a funeral of someone who had just committed suicide. Another friend had offered to pay him $100.00 to sit and drink with him, but "Alvin" declined. Rather he chose to run away. He wanted to spend a couple of days with his 2 sons in Saskatoon, and then he wanted to go a spend Christmas with a daughter on a reserve in Northern Saskatchewan. "Alvin" had many stories of his kids, his wife and family, his parents. Many around him had already passed away due to cancer or suicide. Many others are still hooked on drugs and alcohol. As we sat in the van with "Alvin", praise and worship music was flowing into our ears and through our souls. "Alvin" was thankful for the warmth, the rest for his weary legs and feet, the food we shared with him and especially the music of Jesus. :-) Roger & I were deeply humbled and will be eternally grateful for this opportunity God gave us to be a blessing to "Alvin". We gave "Alvin" a couple of devotional 'In Touch' books we had in the van with us, an Inspirational 2008 Calendar which I had made with my photographs, we told him we'd be praying for him, and we told him to stay strong in Jesus and rely on His Strength to keep away from the alcohol lifestyle. Roger had also earlier shared with "Alvin" how God had helped him to stay away from alcohol for 14 years now and God can do the same with "Alvin".

O God, open our eyes to our 'neighbors' around us and that we would be willing to be guided by you to reach out to the lost, hurting and lonely and that we wouldn't allow fear to control our actions.

Please pray for Roger & I as we bring The Truth Project to our community.
Serving Him,
Lisa (& Roger) Braun :-)

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