Two weeks ago, I came across a copy of a letter I’d sent to a friend in Canada a couple of years ago. In it I described a dream God had given me to open a new home in Santa Cruz. It would be a place where guys from the streets could continue their studies at a post-secondary level, after graduating from high school. I wrote about what I imagined this home would look like, and what I hoped to see happen in the lives of the guys who lived there. But I stressed to her that it was just a dream…just something I was thinking about. I had no idea how I would ever come up with the funding to open the kind of place I imagined.

The next day, after reading that letter, Isabel reminded me that it was March 1^st, exactly one year from the first night the guys and I slept in the house. As I stood in the middle of such a tangible example of God’s faithfulness, and realized how much had happened in the past year and how all the dreams God had given me had come to pass…well, it was a good moment….

I want to tell you a little bit about one of the ways God blessed us this past year.  In my last post, I mentioned Paul and Cheryl. Just over a year ago, Cheryl contacted me and told me that a group of teenagers from her church wanted to apply for a grant my Bible college was giving away at their annual youth conference. She wanted to know if I had a project I needed funding for.

Did I have a project I needed funding for?! Ha. At the time, I was just weeks away from eight guys moving in. I sort imagined they expected to have beds to sleep in when they got here. Somehow it the rush of trying to come up with the money for the house, I hadn’t completely thought through how I was going to furnish the place.

As I wrote out a list for Cheryl, of everything we needed to buy, I realized just how deep my hole was. I had visions of us sleeping on the floor and sharing the same six plates that I already owned. I had no idea what I was going to do…

But God had just miraculously provided the money we needed for the house (thousands more than I had originally thought I’d have), so why would He give us such a great place without having a plan to furnish it. Just because I hadn’t thought ahead, didn’t mean that He hadn’t. Before I even knew I had a problem, God placed the desire to help us in the hearts of this group of young people. They applied for the grant, and within an hour of the decision being made (before Cheryl could even write me to let me know what happened), my e-mail box was filled with letters of congratulations from people who’d already heard we’d won. Word travels fast in Saskatchewan…

Let me just say…dropping $4000 in a week is kind of fun… =) I’d never done anything like that before…so you can imagine how my guys felt. It was a bit complicated trying to keep track of what we’d already purchased and what we still needed. We made a few trips back to the market as we realized what we hadn’t bought yet. It’s a big job setting up a household…you don’t really realize everything you use from day to day until you don’t have it.

It was cool to see God working in the hearts of people here as well. When they heard what we were doing, people we didn’t even know gave us some great deals. Of course it didn’t hurt that I was buying eight of most things (beds, dressers, matrasses, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc.). Along with that, kitchen appliances, living and dining room sets, desks, shelves, tables, dishes, pots and pans, silverware…you get the idea. It did give me a bit of buying power. We even bought house plants….

Eventually we rented trucks and hauled everything home and got it squared away. At moments it was pretty funny setting up house (have you ever picked out curtain material with an ex-street kid? They’re surprisingly particular…). The guys learned how to use a microwave and washing machine and I learned that I didn’t need as much personal space as I thought I did. I also learned that no matter how many times you explain, some people will never understand the concept of Teflon. All my nice pans are now Teflon-less since none of the guys ever listened to my “Don’t use metal spoons to stir the pots!” sermon. It’s still a bit of a sore spot…

Of course a year later, we’re all still learning things. I explained it to one of the guys the other day actually. It’s one of the benefits (and challenges) of living in community. To have the opportunity to learn to give and sacrifice for others and to not always think of yourself first. To discover and use the gifts and abilities that God has given you. To see your own weakness and struggles and to learn to receive the help you need to overcome those things…both from your brothers and from God.

These things along with about a hundred others…

There are so many details in this story that I think about and wish I had the time to share with you. Little things that God did to demonstrate His love and care for us. Come down to visit sometime and I’ll take you out for coffee and talk your ear off about it. It’s pretty cool… One of my favourite parts of this story is that, after they helped us win the money, that youth group from Caronport decided to come down here and check things out for themselves (which I highly recommend by the way!). We were able to celebrate Christmas with them and my guys were able to get to know them. I can’t begin to tell you what a great time we had, and what a blessing they were to us! (Thanks Guys!!) We’re looking forward to their return! Next Christmas right?!

The following video is something I made to say thanks to Youth Quake (the youth conference that gave us the grant money) and to the team from Caronport who made it possible. Unfortunately, thanks to the wonders of technology, it didn’t make it to Canada in time for Youth Quake. So I thought I’d post it here. The quality isn’t great (thanks YouTube), but you’ll get the idea. It’s only a couple of minutes long, but hopefully it gives you a glimpse of this past year.

Once again (and I can’t say this enough), thanks again to everyone who’s been a part of this ministry. Thank you for praying and for giving and for encouraging us! We appreciate it!   

Enjoy the video. It’s two minutes long and took twelve hours to upload to YouTube. I love my internet provider…