Younger brother....oh my

Joshua Paul Ivany - my younger brother is now officially engaged.



Since my sister has written a blog and most likely Josh or Jenn will too, I won't spill too much of the beans.
Congrats guys!
May God continue to bless you as you journey together towards Christ.

Hard knock life

It's the hard-knock life for us
It's the hard-knock life for us

Steada treated,
We get tricked
Steada kisses,
We get kicked

This week I've been here in 614 Toronto. Most of the work our team has been doing this week has been working at a day camp for kids in Regent Park, run by the Salvation Army here at 614.

These kids have really put faces on the lyrics to this song. It is incredibly hard to work with these kids but it was an amazing experience.

One of these kids is a six year old boy that knows more about sex and violence and drugs than I did when I was a young teenager. We were taking the camp to the beack for the afternoon and I heard him yell out the window of a streetcar to a working girl "she ain't worth $10 for a blow job". This is a six year old...

There is so much need for role models. For mentors. For big brothers and big sisters. I can understand why heaps of people aren't running after the opportunity. It takes time, patience, leaving what is comfortable... it's not for the cowards.

I am a coward. All I can do is take it a day at a time in prayer. That God would give me the courage to live up to the life He is calling me for.

My big sis

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend last night hanging out with my big sister. We had the night off, so I headed down to Regent Park for some good times and a sleepover.
I love my sister a lot. She has such a big heart for people and is really good at loving them.
During my frantic last weeks of finals for summer school she came to spend a few days with me in my apartment in Montreal.
We definately had some adventures. Hiking up Mt. Royal in my flip flops and a skirt - woohoo! (I should mention that I didn't know we were going to end up hiking)
Despite the fact that I was in classes for most of the day, we got to have some great talks and walks.
I am so blessed to have her in my life.
This fall her and John (husband) are moving to Zimbabwe for three years. That's a long time :( This has been Rochelle's dream since she was a little girl - to live in Africa. I am so happy for her (for both of them) that one of her biggest dreams is coming true.
To see what they're up to and what they will be up to, check it out:

John & Rochelle's blog

It's getting a bit emotional as the transition is taking place, but I know that God's hand is upon it.
Rochelle, I LOVE YOU!!! (You too, John :P)You WILL be missed!

WINNIPEG -> East Toronto

We took our last flight and are here now in East Toronto. On the first day or so on a new location I seem to process through the week previous.
Each place we've been to has shown me new things and grown me in different ways.
WINNIPEG was the first time that I have really done extensive ministry with an aboriginal community. I had some cool conversations and listened to many stories.
On Friday nights the corps (church) feeds about 200 people, and both Friday nights I was able to chat with this man named Danny. He KILLED me at checkers. He asked me if he would ever see me again, so I told him that if he wanted to say goodbye he could come by on Sunday morning and I'd be leading the worship time.
He came just in time for the last two songs. He wasn't doing well. He had broken his probation and had to go to court the next day. When talking to the pastors, they said that he would probably be in jail for the next six months. I pray that Danny will find some peace. That God would come close and hold him tight.

We are now in East Toronto and our task is to get the church pumped up for a new vision. Most of the church is 60+ and the pastors want to outreach to the heaps of kids in the community. I am preaching this Sunday and am given the task of 'rallying up the troops'. Please pray that as I prepare I would listen to the Lord's leading and that the congregation would have open hearts to receive the Word.

P.S. Oh, and I am reading this new book "The Rebel Sell". Very interesting. It's pretty much an anti-counter cultural perspective. It's lead to some pretty heated debates :P
Me?...argue?...never! haha

Camilia

Today was a heavy day emotionally. Some stuff that I have been working through in my life sort of resurfaced in a big way. But tonight the three of us (my team) went to a bible study at this woman's house that we had actually never met before.
There was mosaic of people there. Older, younger, women, men, different nationalities etc.
One woman there by the name of Camilia was one of the highlights of my week. She was an elderly Native woman who didn't have any teeth. She walked with a cane and her face sort of winced together (a little bit like the grandmother in Mulan...)and was quite small. This woman was full of spunk! She was making jokes, and her smile just lit the place up. We were singing songs and she'd put her hands up and close her eyes and sing her little heart out. A few times during the evening she would just stand up and start singing a solo. It was beautiful. What a ray of sunshine! She also shared the story of how a God healed her from cancer and she is now engaged to a man who looked about twenty years younger than her.
By appearance alone, she looked as though she doesn't have very much in this world, but she has a lot to give. Her smile has been a great comfort to me this evening.
Bless you Camilia :)

Bubbles?

This evening our team had dinner at our hosts house with their three kids. They were going to dinner with people from their church, and the babysitter was about to come over so that our team could go and play ball hockey with different people from the community. Anyway, I was doing the dishes with the kids for quite a long while (unloading the dishwasher, reloading, cleaning etc.) and even though the dishwasher wasn't completely full I wanted to put on the dishes so that when the hosts came home they would have one less thing to worry about.
So we left the babysitter with the three boys.
We came home tonight and was asked "Who put the dishes on?"
I was downstairs trying to prep for something tomorrow. Jono and Dana looked at me. "Why?" I asked.
Well, while I was doing the dishes I couldn't find the dish detergent for the machine. I thought - well liquid soad should work, I just will put in half of what I would use.
Well supposedly the babysitter was flooded with bubbles in the kitchen. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. Hahahaha. Amazing.
Thankfully the Russel's have a good sense of humor. They had to run the dishwasher 8 times to get all the soap out.

Reading...

I really love to read books that I get to choose. As the end of my degree is in close proximity, and after reading numerous compulsory texts, I get a great deal of delight in personal selection.
This summer I haven't had heaps of time to read, but I have read a couple of books thus far: "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller. I am currently reading "Moved with Compassion", which is a collection of stories of Canadian Christians living out God's love and Jean Jacques Rousseau's "The Social Contract" to give me my philosophy fix. I digress.

Searching for God Knows What = amazing. I used to read at least 2 books a month outside of school material, and I must say this is on my top 10, maybe even top 5 books of all time. I want to compile some of my fav quotes, so you'll have to wait a bit to hear some of the gems that are in this book. But if you are looking for a good read, something that will stretch you about Christianity being relational and not formulaic - hit this one up. Fa sho'.


Something that struck me a couple of weeks ago while we were doing prayer walks in Maple Ridge was that we, as the church, are like sheep dogs for God. I don't mean for that to sound demeaning in any way, but for me it was humbling and at the same time an incredible realization for my life. That we are called to go out into the world, into the dark places where the sheep may get lost, or caught in the ditches, thornbushes etc. and in a sense 'round them up' to take them to the Shepherd. Now, obviously Christianity is about relationships so this isn't an exact parallel, but just a fresh perspective (for me atleast) of how things are. I am not the great hero, I am a sheepdog. I must never forget that. It is true that God calls us to do great things in His name, but we must never forget our humanity.
This summer God has been revealing so many of my shortcomings and faults. The Refiner's fire is hot. No question. But I am happy to be a worker in His Kingdom.


We haven't seen a great deal of thing in Winnipeg yet, since Monday was a holiday. But we did get a bit of a "tour" as I mentioned last blog. I remember asking about the protistution in this city and what the Salvation Army ministry here is doing to help out. It's quite dangerous for the women/girls since their pimps will beat them if they are caught talking to non-customers, but the Army does incredible work to bring help to them.
The youngest prostitute (working under a pimp) that they have tried to help was nine years old. Think about that. A nine year old child, being sold, and under the 'supervision' of a ruthless pimp, stopping at nothing to exploit her and destroy her innoncence.
I think for the great majority (from my experience) of Western Christians think that things of this nature are far removed from our reach. They may choose to be ignorant, for such a reality is unbearable.

To remix quote from Batman Begins (with the beautiful Christian Bale) "What chance does [insert your city's name] have if the good people do nothing?"

He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
-Luke 10:2