From 7-8pm, Monday-Saturday, we have what we’ve been calling “The Daily”.

It’s a great chance for us to get together and share stories about what has been going on and all that God has been doing.  To share encouragement, thoughts, ideas, hopes, fears and to be reminded that every cup of hot chocolate poured,  every person prayed with, and for every person greeted and cared for, is part of a greater work that God is doing here in the City of Vancouver.

Some highlights from today’s Daily…….

• Prayer Stations -  “We met a guy, who wanted to pray, and as we were praying, we really felt the Spirit of the Lord fall and I just felt overwhelmed with wanting to give him a hug. So when I was done praying I said ‘hey, can I give you a hug?’ and he said ‘woah, that is so weird, because when you were praying for me, I wanted to give you a big hug!’ So we hugged each other, and then, this guy who isn’t a Christian and stopped for prayer said ‘I want to pray for you too!’
• Prayer Stations – “A man asked for prayer and then after being prayed for, went away and brought back his wife and his son and asked us to pray for them too!”
• Worship in the park – “We were worshiping downtown and a man was walking past with his dog, and the dog stopped and he took it to be a sign that he should stop and talk to us! So we talked and prayed and had a really great time talking with him…then we moved to another place, to another park, and the others there could tell the feeling in the park changed, and so many more people stopped to pray.  It wasn’t us, we could just tell that God was there, drawing people in through the power of worship.”
• Prayer Stations – “We walking down the street and sharing with a guy, talking and sharing ideas and finding out what he believed, and as we were talking, felt God giving us words of knowledge about his life, his relationship with his family members, and he was blown away by us knowing all this stuff about us. He stopped and we prayed for him, and he had been telling us about pain in his head and back and when we were praying for him he obviously was changed and said that he felt so much better and that the pain was better…we shared with him that we felt called specifically by God to be here in Vancouver for this, and to talk with him and give him the opportunity to change his life forever.”
• Prayer Stations – “We met a girl who was so grateful and so happy that we were out there caring, and was so encouraged, feeling real love to her, that she wanted more information to find a church to go to and other people to connect with!”
• Prayer Stations – “We prayed for one lady, and we prayed for what she asked for, something pretty small, and when we prayed, I just started speaking words of truth over her, and she started to cry and said ‘i need to be delivered from this, from all this rejection in my life and all this, i need to be delivered, will you pray for me” And we were able to pray with her and work through this with her.”
• Prayer Stations – “A lady came up to us, towards the end, who was running away from her abusive husband. She asked for prayer, and a way to keep in contact with us, and we were able to talk with her, and give her a new testament and some other resources, and we prayed with her. She said, my mum used to pray for me, but hasn’t prayed in so long, but now i see that i’m missing something and maybe this is it.”
• Prayer Walking – “We were walking around and saw an alley with murals tagged all along it. On the right side there were Christian lyrics sharpied on the wall. There was a guy smoking up there, and he started talking to us, and after about 45 minutes were able to pray for him, and comfort him that drugs aside God was listening and not judging him. He was worried that he had diabetes, so we prayed for that too, and were able to give him some resources too, a Soul Cravings book and a tract, and he said goodbye, encouraging us to keep going, saying that we ‘could change the world’.”
• Prayer Walking – “We felt like God led us down to the DTES to the ‘Tent Village’ and we met one of the leaders, and they gave us a tour and asked us to pray for them and their leaders and the people there.”
• Creative Outreach – “We were face painting, giving out balloons, writing scriptures on cards in the shape of hearts, and just wanted to instill worth and value into people. We met one girl and talked to her about hearing God’s voice, and then realised after this long conversation that someone was waiting to talk to us! We had prayed this morning that God would bring lineups and here was one! This girl was so desperate and so broken in such a hard place, and we were able to speak truth about how much God loves and values her, and we were able to share with her ‘The Father’s Love Letter’ and also my own personal testimony of how powerful God is in changing lives, and when we prayed, she accepted Jesus as her Lord, into her heart! We didn’t want to just sow seeds when we came here, we wanted to see people saved! Please pray for her, her name is Francine”.
• Prayer Station – “The people that stopped were so grateful for prayer. We prayed for one guy who was doing a fundraiser for Haiti and was just so discouraged about the lack of support he had, and had tears after we were done praying”
• Prayer Station – “I really sensed a lot of isolation in people. you could really tell that, and as people walked by they were so alone.  It was difficult to make contact on that corner, people were so intent on making on and going past they wouldn’t even make eye contact, it was so noisy”
• Prayer Station – “Just by being there, the people that did want to stop, they realised that we weren’t a threat, we were just available and they could trust us, that they would never see us again and they could just tell us stuff”
• Prayer Station – “I prayed for one lady and as she went away she squeezed my hand and said ‘I’ll pray for you too, keep praying for people, you are doing a good thing here’.
• Prayer Stations – “Within 5 minutes of us going out, a women came up, either homeless or an angel, she told us she needed us to pray for her family. We were praying, and then something switched and she told us, ‘you need to be bold, praying and doing this with boldness and courage!’
• UBC outreach – “We were attempting to hand out flyers about all the different things going on, and when we had about an hour left, a lady came up and she was really upset. Something bad was going on, and she had to go to the hospital, she was really frail and unwell, and while she first asked for directions, she slowly started sharing about her life. We walked over to Regent with her, and she was able to talk with another girl on outreach who spoke her native Romanian, and we were able to pray with her, and help her out with some practical help too.  She ended up praying for us too, and it was definitely a God moment, we were just there and she just walked up and started sharing”.
• Warming Stations – “This guy came up and started talking to us, asking if we knew YWAM. He asked us if we were with the people who stand on the corner and give prayer, and he said ‘I always need prayer, if they are only standing there to pray for me then they are making a difference in my life!”
• BSNS action – We had 50 of us lined up wearing the BSNS t-shirts and it was huge to see so many different reactions and how many people walked past us and saw us.
• The Great Room – We were there, and hanging out with women there, and it was a really healing, safe place for us to be, and personally dealing with a lot of grief, and after sharing with one of the ladies there, and I found a safe place to allow that pain of tragedy in my life to be healed, because I wasn’t expecting that at all, going there for outreach! I felt so safe, I wanted to share my whole life story there, no matter what, I knew I wouldn’t be judged!
• Warming Stations – I’ve done quite a few shifts, and now have started to recognise some people, and remember stuff about people, and show people value, remembering details, and it’s hard for me to leave here now, feeling like I’ve made connections with people, but now I’m really excited to see how such simple acts, like handing out hot chocolate has made a difference in people’s lives.
• UBC – Hundreds of people took free gift bags with bibles in them!
• We stayed at our host church today and started to worship and sat in the presence of God, but it was difficult for me to pray and get close to God. The others prayed for me, and I decided that I wanted to expect great things from God and that today would be a good day, even though I felt weak.  That was the moment that this day became great! We decided that we would go to the streets to dance and do some dramas. We went downtown to the Hastings Park, and then I decided that I wanted to worship, and even though people didn’t stop, their heads turned and they took notice. Even though noone talked to us, or seemed interested, we know that God knows what happened in the spiritual world and in people’s hearts.
• BSNS – Friday night we went to an action at a club downtown, and it was a really intense hour, I was standing across the street with a group and we had a group right in front of the club, the police came, the bouncers came, they were trying to intimidate us, the owner came out, and some of the workers too. One of the workers was going in, and stopped to talk with our spokesperson, and took a flyer, engaged with us, and the owner came out, pulled her away and pushed her back into the club. We don’t know who is there by choice and who isn’t. There are many that don’t know what they are worthy of, or what they are worth. We don’t often see things very publicly, but seeing that girl forced back into the club, gave me a different view of Vancouver. One of the really cool things was on the side where we were, there was a scrolling digital temperature sign, and it said it was four degrees cooler at the beginning of our stand than at the end.  The temperature was rising and rising, and it was weird but it felt like we were all praying and God was showing that there was a difference happening in the physical.

There are many people, thousands, praying all over the world praying for us. God gave me a picture of someone decorating a cake, putting icing in an incing bag, and then on the bottom is a pieced screwed on to make a shape on the cake. In the picture, God was making a giant wedding cake, and the people praying for us are the people inside te cake, and we are the attachment on the end. We are the vessel that God is using to bring out his glory that is hidden and squirting it out onto the cake. God is saying to us that “you are helping me to make a beautiful wedding cake for my son”

Luke 14: 21 “For the man was creating a banquet and couldn’t fulfill the banquet, and said quickly go into the streets and bring them in!”

by Jonathan Schmidt

Along side of all the beauty of Vancouver, and the excitement around the Games, I have also seen many things that have broken my heart. I will only write about one example. The night before last a old women in a wheelchair approached me on the street. Her legs were so small and hung limp from years of being paralyze. She asked me for some change. I didn’t have any change at all. I offered to buy her food… she said “no… I want money for a place to stay tonight.” I was tired and just wanted to go home. I’m ashamed to say I excused myself and did just that… I went home. I didn’t know what to do? I realized on the train, a few minutes latter, that I could have gone with her, possibly had a good conversation, and paid for a place for her to stay? It made me so sad, and I felt helpless, staring into her wrinkly desperate face… I wanted to know what Jesus would have done?

Please be praying for us to know what to do to show people God that loves them, and wants people to come back to Him

by Richard DeMarco

On the first day our team from Texas arrived we were met with lots of rain but God started to stir us. Our fearless YWAM host set up a dinner for us down the street at a Vietnamese restaurant. As we were walking, I was with John Daniel and I started to ask the Lord where He was moving. We came upon a homeless man limping. As we approached him from behind and walked by, I sensed the Lord tell me to stop and ask Him if he was in pain, so I did.

He said he was in pain and we told him we loved God and followed Jesus and believed He would heal him if we could pray for him.

His name was Jonathan and he let us pray for Jesus to heal his pain in his left foot. I commanded the pain to go away in Jesus name and when I asked him if he felt better, he said yes! We asked like how much better and he said the pain was gone!

I then asked him if he had heard of a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ and he said no. I then asked him if he were to die today, did he think he would go to heaven. With soft eyes and a humble heart He said he didn’t know, but HE WANTED TO!

HELLO HOLY SPIRIT!!!

John Danie! and I shared Jesus with him and led him to the Lord right there on the street! He was so thankful! Right after he received Christ we asked him if he would like to feel more of God’s presence. He said yes and we prayed for him to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit. As we prayed I felt led to command any and  all demonic assignments against him to be broken in the Name of Jesus.

He looked up with new eyes right at John Daniel and said, “I felt a shiftJ” It was so cool! We embraced him and blessed him as we left.

On the way back to the church where we were meeting, Bill and I met a young homeless girl that was a believer.

She told us that she was abused since she was 15 and on the street. We prayed with her and Bill really encouraged her and spoke truth into her as a daughter of the most High.

She was feeling filled with the Holy Spirit as we prayed for her to be used in the lives of the people around her.

We got to pray for her family to be restored; they live in Europe and she wants to see them. When we finished praying she said “I totally feel Jesus’ presence in me and all around me!”

She said, “I was asking Jesus to send someone to me to pray for me and you guys came and He answered my prayer! I am so thankful!” “He LOVES ME!!!

On the same block we were waiting for the light to cross the street and I saw a guy with tattoos on his neck that said happiness on his right side and protection on his left.

I struck up a conversation with this guy and asked him what he found happiness and protection in? His name was Andrew.

Andrew had some tough experiences growing up his family and homelessness

Andrew walked three blocks with us and as we talked and listened about his broken up-brining. I asked him how he made it and he spoke about how he felt God had answered many prayers and has been with him through the toughest of.

I asked if he had ever had an encounter with the Lord or made a profession of faith to Jesus.

He said no but he felt He was loved by God.

I asked if he were to die today, did he think he would go to heaven. He said he didn’t know and at the corner where we were to go our separate way, I asked him if he wanted to invite Jesus into his heart?

He said yes and Bill and I prayed with him to receive Jesus.

We asked him afterward about coming to the church where we are meeting and he knew of it. Praise the Lord for divine appointments and harvest where we had not sown!

by Katherine Loucks

“There is truly no one like our God.  I am so fully convinced of this fact now, after experiencing His beautiful presence for the last 25 hours.  I have felt His love, His strength, and His healing.  I have seen his heart for the people of Vancouver, the broken, the hurting, and the lost.  I have smelled His sweet fragrance, and tasted His goodness.  I have heard him whisper to my heart.  I left tonight having never felt so completely empty, and yet so completely filled.  There are really no words to adequately describe what occurred at the Burn.

We interceded for the prodigal, the city, the East side, the people working at warming stations, the churches across Canada, the world…We worshiped with songs, with dancing, with tears, on our knees, completely flat on the floor, and with arms raised until we couldn’t hold them up anymore.  We prayed praises, healing, victory, and refreshing.  By Thursday afternoon, I was so tired, so completely worshiped and prayed out, I didn’t know how I was going to keep going, but one of the leaders prayed for new spirits, new fires, new songs in our spirits, and I suddenly felt completely filled again.  One of the people I spoke to who came in during the middle of one of the sets said he could sense the Spirit the moment he stepped in the doors.  God was there so completely.

God is the God of this city, His is the victory, and all glory honor and power are His.”

by Kalli Biegel

As a “people watcher” my senses have often been overwhelmed since arriving in Vancouver. Every turn is a new adventure, a journey of revelations. It seems as though the entire world has joined us here in the city, each person with their own unique beliefs and agendas, which has led to this marvelous kaleidoscope of colors, cultures and celebrations. It’s magnificent to watch and even more amazing to be a part of. And yet, with all of the diversity all around us all the time, there is a sense of unity as well. For this moment in time, for better or for worse, we areVancouver. The protesters, the athletes, believers and non-believers, visitors and residents alike, we’re all here together in this one epic moment. Just a fragment of something greater than any of us could comprehend.

The weekend was eventful. From the first “Buying Sex Is Not A Sport” stand in on Saturday, where many people from all walks of life (including several YWAM teams and leaders) gathered together to stand as one against the injustice of human trafficking, to the Memorial March on Sunday in memory and honor of those who have been lost. It was a great weekend in Vancouver and even better in God’s Kingdom. People with such diverse backgrounds and beliefs all coming together with one message. THAT is unity.

God is awesome in THIS place and He is revealing His heart for this city more every day. Handing out hot chocolate with a smile, singing and dancing on a street corner offering free prayer, random acts of kindness: These are just a few of the sparks taking place that God is going to use to set a wildfire in this city.

While prayer walking down at Waterfront Station I was standing at the bottom of the hill waiting at the crosswalk and had the most amazing glimpse of God’s heart. There was a sea of people all rushing down the hill and coming from each side, flooding the sidewalks in their hurry to get to the train. Apparently I was in a prime spot because it seemed as though they were all rushing toward me, impatient to get to where I was standing and in that moment I just felt God’s heart for the people of this city. He wants all of Vancouver rushing into His arms, in a hurry to get toHim. That’s why we’re all here, to let loose the flood gates and pray against all barriers Satan has established in this city. Two million people live in Vancouver and there are possibly a million more are here for the Games. Three million people…And God doesn’t want a single soul to miss His train.

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”

May we all be praying against the barriers that keep us separated. We are one and stronger as such.

God Bless.

by Ryan Hampton

February 14th 2010.

My somber heart goes out to our city on this day marked by flowers, greeting cards and warm fuzzies. Valentines day, Vancouver stops. and remembers and morns the lives lost. specifically those of women missing, abducted and murdered from the Downtown Eastside. Sisters, mothers, Aunties, daughters. Daughters of Vancouver. Many of which First Nations and Sex workers. lost.

We have all heard bout the Robert Pickton trials. I wish I could say justice has been served. but to see the faces of grief and mourning in downtown vancouver this sunday my heart just sinks. dozens of women stolen from our streets never to be seen again. This has been a very true reality for the past few decades here in Vancouver. Justice? Justice is far from the mouths of our city.

February 14th, 2010 the 18th annual Women’s Memorial march. for the first time we as youth with a mission made a commitment to stand alongside with the citizens of Vancouver as say Never again. thousands of people gathered. Lead by our First Nations elders and drummers we march. We marched the very streets of the Downtown Eastside and say, “We Remember.” and Never. Never will we allow our city undergo a silent genocide of our poor.

It was an honour, as a Christian to stand shoulder to shoulder with out city as we mourn. It truly was the most beautiful gathering of people I have ever been a part of.

The olympics has been a source of great controversy. We have seen Violent protests to the games but lets be frank I do not know what the rioters agenda is. The Violence and noise seems to be unvalidating their entire cause. Yet thousands gather. in peace and love march.

truly a more powerful message and statement to our nation!

Ryan

For more information about the march, please visit

http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/rabble-staff/2010/02/memorial-march-draws-thousands-vancouver

http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/feb-14th-womens-memorial-march/454043802

We had our first prayer vigil last night with our teams from Antioch, Winnipeg and Davos.

It’s a vigil designed to challenge people’s preconceptions about the sex industry, to inform, to touch and to move them to prayer.

We were welcomed into The Great Room, a beautiful peaceful space in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and set up several stations, each with a different focus and meaning.

It was a really meaningful time, and very intentionally scheduled for the night before a BSNS action.

We’ll be doing 4  more of these during the Olympics for all the teams participating in BSNS, because we feel that it is very important for us to be going out, not just in a spirit of action, but in a spirit of prayer and peace.

Keep praying that these will be meaningful and spirit led times.

Today was also a sad day, when at 12.34 21 year old Georgian luger,  Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a tragic luge accident in Whistler.

Please pray for this situation, for his friends, family and teammates, and those in Whistler struggling through their grief.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=39621.html#ian+brown+a+dark

by Rebecca Barthelmess

Today was our first official day of ministry and it started with plenty of commotion and excitement. A few of us short term staffers along with a DTS outreach team from Finland were on duty at the Cross Culture Center with The Salvation Army doing warming stations. The torch was scheduled to go by on the Drive. We quickly got coffee brewing to get out to the mobs of people who came out. On the schedule was former Mayor Sam Sullivan, who captured many hearts around the world at the last Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy when he waved the Canadian flag by swinging his wheelchair back and forth. It was an inspiring act for people all over the world who are disabled.

Back to this morning, there were protestors and proud Canadians out there to support what they believe in. We saw groups of Aboriginals who were chanting “no games on stolen native land”, environmentalists with signs saying “Greenest Olympics? or Freeway Games?” and then many decked out in their Canadian gear yelling “Go Canada Go” The atmosphere was exciting and intense. The Finland team got out there with their hydropack coffee holders and starting giving out free coffee. One pairing had one of the protestors say something along the lines of thanks for being out here. Talking with the team they are all very excited and have anticipation in their hearts for the upcoming days and what God is going to do in the city. They’ve seen people who God put on their heart but at that moment they couldn’t get to them but at another time their paths crossed. They were pleasantly surprised at how open people are. Its faith building and God showing how big He is.

This is only the beginning!

by Kalli Biegel

What an AMAZING welcome to the city! As months of anticipation, preparation and prayer came to culmination, the enormity of God’s plan, and heart for this city became more and more evident. Teams from all corners of the world arrived and flooded the church with energy, vision and enthusiasm, all uniting at this moment in time for one beautiful and anointed purpose.

It was such a blessing to see the many gifts and passions imbedded in the diverse group of believers God has assembled to serve here in Vancouver. From young men taking a stand against injustice by donning “Buying Sex Is Not a Sport” tee-shirts to women dancing in the aisles in worship of our Lord, the day was more than merely encouraging, it was downright inspiring.

After Russ rocked our spirits with a worship session befitting a victory celebration, Joseph both challenged and encouraged us with a message I’m certain we’ll all carry with us for many years to come.

Then the night was ended with a Polynesian ‘haka’ that put our hearts, minds and spirits in check and quite possible shook the heavens. What a way to kick off the outreach that will chase the darkness from all of the hidden crevices of this city and light up Vancouver as a vital part of the Kingdom of God! His will is going to be done in this city and it is such a blessing and yet so humbling that He has brought us all together for that purpose.

All I can say is, “More, Lord!”