Thanks for reading my blog again even though March 28th, 2007 was my last blog update. Anyways... a lot has happened since I lasted blogged, such as I got a job painting, from April to September, and from September till now I have been in a ministry training internship. I am a Canadian intern for Streams Ministries (www.streamscanada.com/index.php?cat_id=19 to
check it out on the web), and my girlfriend Elisa, is an American intern for the same program in New Hampshire (http://www.streamsacademy.com/index.php to check out hers). So I am sure that you all want to hear about how this came about, so I will now tell you. So when I was in Bangkok, Thailand at the beginning of March, I was at a Christian ministry's office, that outreaches to Thai prostitutes, and I was walking to the bathroom, and God showed me a vision of me blessing a pastor in Prince George, BC, Canada, and He said (in my head), "I want you to go to Prince George when you get back and bless this pastor". I said, "OK", and then went on with what I was doing. So a month after this I arrived home, and got a job painting for my girlfriend's dad, which is a whole other story (a good story), and thankfully he is a Christian, because it was easier to explain why, at some random time, I would be needing to go to Prince George. So I told him what happened to me in Thailand, and that I would probably need a day off to do it, and he just said to keep him posted. Well after a month of working I took a Friday off and drove to Prince George. The pastor that I needed to go and bless was my father and step-mom's pastor, so I called ahead and got my step-mom to arrange a meeting. Over supper on Saturday night of that weekend and read to him and his wife, the word of blessing that I had finished writing down as we were walking out the door to go for supper. The word was well received and I gave him the paper to keep, and I went to their church the next day and drove back after lunch.Needless to say, my assignment from God was complete, and this is what leads up to me being at an internship now, because it was about a week later when I was at work that I heard God clearly tell me (again in my head), "I want you to go to Streams Ministries Canada's internship this September". Surprisingly to you (well maybe not), I was not very happy about this new direction. I had been asking Him for new direction, even as far back as when I was in Thailand, and when He tells me, I was angry because it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I would trace the whole being mad thing back to pride, and pride on different levels. First, I was mad because Elisa, my girlfriend was already planning on going to the internship, and I, the man, didn't come up with the idea first. Second, I thought that I was super spiritual after being sent on a mission's trip to Thailand, and I didn't need any training. Funny thing though, when I was in Thailand, all the people there told me I should go back and get training, but I was too thick to get the hint. And the last reason, off the top of my head, would be that I thought that the school/internship was pretty weird, and I didn't want to be a part of something like that. Someone said (I don't know who), "God offends the mind to reveal the motives of the heart". True that. So what did I do? Did I just get over my self, and accept it and repent for being so arrogant? No, because that would be too simple and easy, and apparently I like the hard way.
So basically I ended up asking (more demanding) God for a sign. And not just anything, but getting my mother and step-father to confirm that I was to go to this internship. If He would do that, and provide all that money, then I would go. Well funny thing about doing this, is that this was a bad idea. You don't ask for signs, God gives them to you when you are doing the right thing. The Pharisees asked Jesus for a sign to prove that He was the Son of God, and he said that they were evil and wicked. Well anyways, it didn't worked out to well, because they didn't approve, and then I was stuck, because I knew that I had to go, but they didn't think that I should. Not even because of the school or anything, but one of their main reasons, was because I had heard God about Thailand, and went and obeyed Him and everything worked out, but now I am asking for confirmation when it doesn't seem like I should need it. This was my worst regret, because I had played with fire, but other people got hurt by it. I had deeply wounded my parents as a result of the fallout of my rebellion/disobedience to God. I have asked for forgiveness, but it was an injury that they never should have had to endure. It costs about $3700 /semester to come to the internship, and I had no money, until I did my taxes. Then God provided for me a $3,432.15 tax return and a $400 bonus from work, which then covered one whole semester and the $25 USD application fee, and all the postage to mail it express. So that's how I got from Thailand to Streams internship. I think that this blog is already long enough, so I will let you digest it first, then I will type some more later.
Pics: the only one: Streams Ministries Canada internship Fall 2007.
