We held our 6th MLA Prayer Breakfast yesterday. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to write anything more than I could put up on Twitter. It was an incredible event.
We had almost 200 people in the room so it was packed. 26 MLA's came for breakfast. Our speaker Ian Green NAILED IT! He brought his usual British humor and provoked our thinking about poverty, the church and the power of the gospel. We did 2 additional sessions after the breakfast, one for Business and Church leaders and one for ministerial leaders only. Add to that a marketplace ministry luncheon on Tuesday and it's been a busy week.
During breakfast we were able to present a Poverty and Justice Bible to the Speaker of the House with additional copies for every member of the Legislature. The members who were present received bibles as they left the breakfast. The bibles were provided courtesy of the Canadian Bible Society. It was very exciting to see MLA's holding bibles in their hand as they walked out of the venue. We'll have some pictures up on our website as soon as possible.
In the afternoon, I delivered the rest of the bibles to the respective caucus offices. As I was carrying the boxes into the building, the realization that we were placing the Word of God into the hands of the 85 people in BC who lead our province filled me with excitement and faith about what can happen next. God is up to something in our province!
5 years ago, most of what I do today was a dream and existed only in my heart in a very fuzzy way. The breakfast was the first public event that we did. We had 44 people including 7 MLA's. I was terrified that the media would mock us, that MLA's wouldn't engage with us and that I had just put everything on the line only to crash and burn. God has been nothing but faithful to us in every way. We have had challenges, mountains and set backs. There have been more than a few times, I wanted a 'do over' with a conversation, ministry presentation or interaction with a Member. In spite of all of that, GOD has made a way!
On Wednesday, for the first time ever, I was publicly acknowledged in the Chamber as the Legislative Chaplain. It was a milestone for us. It was made more special because my parents were there to hear it. It came as a complete surprise to me. Something has shifted for us here in a very good way. It's hard to describe except to say that I feel like the boundaries of our territory have been enlarged.
To that end, I'm thrilled to share on more piece of news with you. On Monday we received news from the Alberta District of the PAOC that we have been granted permission to begin the process of establishing LIM in Alberta. I'm looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity and can't wait to see how God is going to build the ministry there.
