by Hannah deKleer

Another installment from the daily report-back on this Tuesday evening:

• A few people from the Vancouver DTS went to the Downtown East Side – Hastings area. Prayer walking and had a sign that said ‘Free Prayer’, also helped set up some tents for the homeless in the area.  The presence of the Lord was definitely with them as they walked through the area. “My problems are so little when I hear from the people down there, and I was so blessed to talk with people”
• Prayer Stations: Downtown East Side – “These people are just real- you can talk to them just like anyone else, even when some people are doing crack-cocaine 5 feet away from you.” Gave an encouragement that if you are scared of that area, that you should go down there because we just felt so safe amidst the different environment
• Prayer Stations: “Tons of people stopped, it was really encouraging. We prayed for a guy who was drinking and swearing at us, but then he wanted prayer for his family and friends and for his sobriety. After we prayed he mentioned that he really felt like the prayer was effective, and we could notice a difference in his attitude towards us.”
• Stuart (YWAM Vancouver staff) – notices a difference of the spiritual-openness on Commercial Drive, and is encouraged by all those that have been praying on Commercial Drive (Ywam Vancouver’s neighbourhood)
• Prayer Stations – “There was light shining on one lady downtown who we were praying for, and the visual reminded me that we are punching holes in the spiritual darkness of this city, and letting God’s love shine through”
• “Met a guy that was addicted to drugs and down and out, but 16 months ago a Christian prayed with him and he has gotten clean and sober, and is now volunteering with the Salvation Army — He encouraged us that prayer does change things and for us to keep doing it!”
• “There was this lady that was really depressed, and she really wanted to feel valuable. Prayed and told her that she was made in God’s image, and the lady was so surprised that even women are made in His image, and that she is precious to Him!”
• Trying to pray for people in new areas of the city can be really difficult, as places in the city are very hard to the gospel. “Wish we were on Commercial Drive, because it is easier there” — The spiritual climate on the Drive has changed!!
• “Hard ground that needs to be tilled, so we parked ourselves outside of the Psychic Tent on Granville Island and were praying and reading scripture, and while we were there only 1 person entered the store”
• “Mask of happiness in the city, but stuff is definitely going on underneath the surface in people, so we were praying there and we believe that God was shaking some things up in that area”
• Heidi – by bus stop – “One driver stopped and after all the people had exited the bus, he asked if we were with YWAM, and it turns out that this driver had done a DTS a couple of years ago. He mentioned that he was talking with some other Christian bus drivers about the prayer stations on that corner — we are consistently at that station and he encouraged us”
• We want to spread Prayer Stations to local churches, so we are excited to see God use the YWAM teams to break new ground, so that the locals can continue on in the ‘work’ while our short-term teams are gone.
• “I was having a really tough start to the day, and I was feeling sick, so I wasn’t really feeling up to praying for other people, let alone get prayer myself. One of our teams prayed for me when they walked by, and then Alisha (one of our short term staff) came by also and prayed for me. Nobody was really coming by, but then this lady stopped and was encouraged by the prayer stations and we prayed for her. She ended up telling us that she was a Mormon. So that was really cool…Later I went to take a nap, and was out really quickly, and felt like it was really from the Lord because I felt so refreshed and encouraged afterward”

• Girl was prayed for who was drunk, and said she was drinking because she was bored, and it really broke my heart. — God was working in me and in people around me and He just showed His love for all of us.
• Warming Stations team had a lot of fun serving hot chocolate to hundreds of people at the skytrain station. We saw people’s days turn around while we were singing and dancing and giving away warm drinks. Smiles were out indeed.
• “People might walk by many times, but they are going to remember you, especially if you are there consistently. People will remember the red vests and know that if they ever want or need prayer, they will know where to get it. ” — an encouragement for the long-term people who will continue with prayer stations
• ” Praying for someone, and a lady walked by and said that she had never seen anyone doing that before and was very encouraged.” — We saw her again later that day, and she had a prayer request for a woman that she had met that day. So we were able to pray for her and it was really cool to be able to meet up with someone else that believed in prayer.
• ” I had a hard-heart towards the homeless population, and misunderstanding the people here in Vancouver. But the Lord led me to sit down and share some food with a homeless guy sitting on the street. We talked for a while, and when I went to leave, he didn’t ask for food or for money, but he asked for a hug. I then saw him as a person who needed human touch and connection, and God really changed my heart in the way that I view people, as people.”
• New atmosphere with Prayer Station and Warming Stations in that area of Commercial Drive
• Liv — had a “day off” but was able to talk and pray with so many people. “It is becoming a lifestyle, talking and praying with people on a daily basis”
• The Premier of BC thanked a leader of More Than Gold for handing out hot drinks at the skytrain stations, and said that the province needs to thank them.
• OUR HOT CHOCOLATE IS SO TASTY >> people are loving it!
• Prayer Walking: “We were looking at art on Granville Island and it struck me just how much impact that artists would have on the city if they had the Lord in their lives >> so we were praying for the artists in that area”
• Creative and Performing Arts ministry for More Than Gold have not been getting a whole lot of people coming to their events, so we want to pray for them as it is a great opportunity to reach out. Also they are in a bit of financial trouble as some of the events were ticketed and have not seen the revenue come in that was needed/projected.