Haunted Happenings, Week 1: Salem, Massachusetts

Jess Mott (Croyden, UK) and Lucy Nelson (Belmont, MA) hosting outside our tents

Excitement has been abuzz ever since the Salem trips were first announced back in September, and this weekend was the time to finally go! We arrived in Salem early on Friday afternoon, full of spiritual adrenaline. This year the Gathering Church has been given the drained water fountain and surrounding area in the center of Essex Street to set up a stage, a hot chocolate tent on one side, and dream tents on the other side of it. Various artists, both local and from the surrounding area, perform on the stage while we hand out free hot chocolate, give spiritual readings or interpret dreams in the surrounding tents. After we finished setting up, which in itself was a hefty endeavour, we got down to business for the afternoon. The streets were already starting to fill with people after lunch, so it wasn't hard to find people willing to come in. At one instance during the afternoon, two highschool-aged girls sat in front of my group for a spiritual reading. For one of them, I got a picture of a yellow bobcat digging around, which I ended up sharing as a metaphor for the reconstruction that was currently happening in her life. Tom Schwabe (Los Angeles, CA) got a picture of a silver a ring for the other girl, which we explained was symbolic for the upcoming redemption for promises to her that had been broken in her past. Both of them left in a daze of amazement that someone cared for them that much. It is such a thrill to be used by God to impact His children, even if it isn't always deep or profound.

At closing time, I had forgotten to take the signs down advertising our tents, so a group of 5 women came up to the tent and begged me to let them in to a team. I went in the tent where Broie-Christian Orr (Richmond, VA) and John Harding (North Shore, MA) were sitting talking with a teammate about the day's encounters, and despite tiredness they graciously accepted. Afterwards, all parties involved felt it was worth the wait! We are constantly in awe of the spiritual hunger that rests in Salem.

For the evening there was a special event happening at the Gathering Church called 'The Brimstone Chronicles'. It was an interactive role-play event where a funeral and a feast were used analogies for Heaven and Hell. For one part of the event, people were locked in the vault, as an illustration of Hell being life absent of both light and God, who is our Light. When people were eating at the feast, different members of the gathering were stationed around the room, waiting for people to eat apples. Every time a person ate an apple, all the stationed people said together, "Oh no, they ate the apple!" as a unique way of conveying the Bible story of Adam & Eve and the forbidden fruit.

Saturday was predictably a much busier day; it took forever to get anywhere on Essex Street due to the hordes of people. As a result, we decided to move one of our tents from the fountain to the front of the church, so that we could hopefully spread our traffic out.

Street performer Ryan with his sister after an act

During the afternoon, we met several indirect forms of resistance - the first came in the form of aggressive street preachers, who were doing their thing fairly close to our tent in front of the Gathering Church. Lucy Nelson watched a woman walking by roll her eyes, look at her and sarcastically say "Hi sinner!" to which Lucy replied back mischievously, "Hey sinner!" Not even 2 hours later, acrobatic street performers set up for their act right beside our tent and began their show, with their music blaring and lead performer broadcasting his voice via microphone down most of Essex Street. It was impossible to focus on the task at hand, so we just watched their 15 minute show (which was actually really good), and then we were able to get them to move further down the street for their later performances.

In the evening we had a group of 7 friends come up to the tent in front of the Gathering. We decided to take 3 first, and then 4 (we were the only team operating at that tent at the time). In a bit of random weirdness, one of the guys in the first group shared a dream which involved a jelly donut singing opera to him! In the last group, one of the guys had a dream where he helped Asian kids escape from a mentor by hiding them in his closet upstairs until it was safe again. Academy Leader Ali Johnson (New Britain, CT), Nicky Ogston (Scotland) and myself were able to affirm his call to be a father to children that are not just his own. The 7 of them left completely dazzled and in awe of what they had all been told. Later on, Matt Stewart (Sutton, NH) came by and excitedly shared with us that in one of the groups he was in, the people sitting in front of them insisted on paying after getting their reading!

Essex Street

Sunday morning we attended the service at the Gathering, and then went back to business on the street. The early part of the afternoon was a frenzy; at both tent locations there were always several people waiting. One of the most amazing stories of the afternoon involved 2 guys who sat in front of Dustin Zupancic's (Abbotsford, BC) team for spiritual readings. They were both so blown away by the words given to them that they both eventually accepted the Lord into their lives. Not wanting to leave them high and dry, Dustin sent sister Elisa Zupancic (Abbotsford, BC) to the Gathering to grab his Bible, so that he could give it to them!

We actually had to wrap up early during the evening, because there was pretty much no one on the streets of Salem. That was almost certainly due to the Boston Red Sox being in Game 7 of their series. We weren't upset though, as most of us had become very tired by that point.

Next weekend we go to Salem again, and this time my older brother Luke and my Mom & Dad will be there with me!

First Outreach: Claremont, New Hampshire

Although we didn't go far, Claremont still felt vastly different from New London. We arrived on the main street a little after 8 AM to begin tent setup. Two ends of the street were blocked off while tents were beginning to get set up all around us, ranging from US presidential candidates to jewelery merchants to the Chili Cookoff tents. Mmmm, chili...

The chili cookoff tents

Understandably, the beginning of the day for us was slow for getting traffic. Around lunch time people started pouring in, and then we started having fun! For many of the interns, it was their first time attempting to give spiritual readings (our street terminology for prophetic words) or dream interpretations on the street, so there was some nerviness, but it didn't last long. The joy of being able to impart hope and new life into complete strangers quickly takes over! In one instance when a man sat in front of me and the other 2 members of my team, I got a picture of the inside of a Subway restaurant, with a custom sub being made. I interpreted that for the man as God telling him that he has a gift of "custom-making" people, in the sense that he can see their gifts and guide them towards their purpose in life (the "complete sub"). We found out at the end that he is actually a pastor...talk about confirmation of a prophetic word!

I got to have an hour break for lunch, so I decided to go participate in the Chili Cookoff judging. I had to pay $5 to get a "paid" wristband, a spoon and a large ticket. After passing through a booth to try their chili, that booth holepunched their name on my large ticket. I actually liked the first one I tried the best, strangely enough. There were over 20 to try, so it took quite some time. I found out just how picky I am with my chili taste! After voting for my favorites (3 categories to vote in), I headed back to the tents to work again.

Skater Zac with the chili cookoff mascot

For the last part of the afternoon I got to be the tent host. My job was to write down the names of people interested in a dream interpretation or spiritual reading, and tell them a bit about it. Close by our tent, teenaged skater boys set up their random props and were trying to do various grinds. One particular guy with them, CJ, wasn't really a skater, but knew them all and was bringing some of them to our tent! I found out he was raised Catholic and is on a search for his own spirituality, rather than what was "branded into him." Another skater, Zac, didn't end up coming in to the tent, but I did get to talk to him some between his tricks. He reminded me some of my older brother being 14 years old; Zac was the most talented athlete of them all, but was driven by a performance mentality. It was awesome to just be able to affirm him and relate to him; that to me is just as much ministry as anyone in the tents that I had words for or interpreted a dream for.

Next weekend we're off to the MetroWest Bridge in Natick, Massachusetts for the Eyes to See conference (we'll be working at it as volunteers). Biggies like Doug Addison, Jim Driscoll and Aaron Evans will be teaching/preaching...gonna be a blast!

First Trip

I decided to return to Streams Academy in New London, New Hampshire for the fall, so that I will complete all 3 trimesters of the internship program. I have already completed the last two trimesters, but not yet the first, so my last trimester is among a whole bunch of others who are just beginning their first.

A street corner in Salem

This past weekend marked our first weekend trip together as a group, and to a very special place to us: Salem. Some of the interns had never even been to Massachusetts, much less The City of Peace itself. A city of approximately 40000, Salem sits right on the East Coast overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded in 1627 and originally named Naumkeag (a Native American word meaning 'haven of peace'). Naumkeag was renamed in 1629 to Salem, taken from the Hebrew word for peace, Shalom. Salem would later become home to the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 that resulted in the hanging of 19 people. We will be on Essex Street during Haunted Happenings, a local street festival that runs through all of October, interpreting dreams and giving spiritual readings (our way of saying 'prophetic words', in non-Christianese language).

Our first stop in Salem was on the famous Essex Street. The Gathering is a church located in a former bank on Essex Street. One of the defining characteristics of the building is the huge vault located at the back. Jessica Ellis and Lucy Nelson (Belmont, MA) were among the first to get a picture in front of the vault.

Phil Wyman, the pastor of the Gathering, took the time to share with us some insight into the Neo-Pagan culture, including similarities of their beliefs and ours, key differences and some of the different types of Neo-Pagans that we will encounter in our ministry times during Haunted Happenings. Throughout the whole time he was speaking, Phil's heart for the Neo-Pagan community was very evident. Learning about what the Gathering does has brought such joy and relief to me; I have sought to better understand the Neo-Pagan community, as I have several friends who are practicing various forms of witchcraft.

The next portion of our trip took us to Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing port founded back in 1623. We had some free time to wander, so I walked down to the harbor and explored that portion of the city. Academy Leader Sharon Felder (South Carolina), Calle van der Linde (Vancouver, BC) and Matt Stewart (Sutton, NH) spent some time observing large schools of fish just off a harbor pier while I walked further on to a beach to gaze at the vastness of the open ocean. I grew up on the Canadian West Coast, so the sight of the ocean makes me feel right at home. Contrast that to the arboreal density of Central New Hampshire, the area where we are during the week.

Noah playing the djembe

In the evening we made our way to Eagle & Dove Ministries of Gloucester. Wow, was this ever a different church experience! The service is completely open to creative expression. Worship was a combination of a woman on a keyboard/synth pads, an electric guitarist, a bass guitarist, two djembe drummers and a percussionist. It was spontaneous in nature, completely open to the direction of the Holy Spirit; songs only barely followed a structure of any sort. Several artists were painting as worship was playing, and others were dancing with flags. Something that stood out to me in particular was that people in the congregation were also part of the band! A woman near the front had a Middle-Eastern drum with her that she played, a man near the back was playing a djembe, and the pastor himself had a djembe that he played at different points. He offered it to several of us during worship so that we could play, too - Noah Macdonald (Hopkinton, MA) took him up on the offer. A Phillipino woman preached about humility and death to self, which climaxed with her action of washing the feet of all those attending. The healing presence of the Lord that was present during worship became even more heightened, affecting many in attendance.

On Sunday we attended the Northshore Bridge Church in Beverly, Massachusetts. It was a great surprise to see former Academy leaders Caroline Hyden (Colorado), Jon Bohy (Massachusetts) and John Harding (Massachusetts) in attendance! Josh Young, a Streams Itinerant Ministry Team member, leads worship at Northshore, and it is quite the treat to listen to. There is lots of space in the back, perfect for people like me to dance; it's a good thing you don't have to be a talented dancer to do so at church! Ernie Freeman, pastor of the Bridge, continued with the weekend's healing theme by speaking about some of the meaning behind James 5:13-16, an often debated set of scriptures.

To wrap up the trip, Noah's parents graciously treated us interns to lunch at Acupulco's, a Mexican restaurant. It was a perfect chance for me to practice my limited Spanish with the waiters...Calle speaks some as well, so the two of us practice during the week.

Next weekend we'll be in Claremont, New Hampshire for this trimester's first outreach - the Claremont Chili Cookoff. I'm gonna have my tastebuds ready!

Boston Rescue Mission

Jacob and Ken preaching

Hard to believe, but this weekend marked the very last outreach of the trimester! It doesn't seem that long ago that I was going on my first outreach to Wakefield. And hey, if I'm going to start in Massachusetts, why not end there? This last outreach, though, took us to Boston.

Anton Luse (New Jersey) was the leader for our outreach event from Friday to Saturday. We were at the Boston Rescue Mission, a living center for recovering narcs/alcoholics. All people living in the building had to have gone through a detox program before entering, and while living in the building they have to regularly check in with a non-resident case worker in order to determine their outside privileges. One of the building's main caretakers (Dennis) had lived on the street himself for 10 years before he checked in to the Boston Rescue Mission. He lived in the house and cleaned up after 2 years, and has since been working for the Mission. Although he has a rough personality, he has a good understanding of the Lord and His ways, and we could see His love in Dennis.

We attended the Friday night church service that they have weekly in their 'chapel', which is the 2nd floor with a piano in the corner, and sound equipment in a closet where CDs are played for worship time. Anton was the main one preaching, while Ken Nelson (our leader), Sharayah Quinn (Huntington, NY) and Jacob Garrett (San Diego, CA) had short sermons to preach as well. One of the residents (Katie) give a testimony of what the Lord had been showing her, which was that not one person can ever satisfy everything for you and only the Lord can.

Afterwards Dennis showed us the different floors that the men and women stay on (only the girls could go onto the women's floors, and only the guys could go onto the guy's floors), and then brought out two huge pails of ice cream for us. It was almost midnight by the time we were done eating and talking to him about dreams, and he had to be up at 4 AM to start cooking! The rest of us had to get up by 5:30 at the latest, so we quickly headed for our respective rooms. We were staying in locked, isolated areas of the building for the night.

On Saturday morning me, my brother Luke, Nathan Fox-Helser (North Carolina) and Dustin Zupancic (Abbotsford, BC) listened to a black guy named George tell us about his adventures/trials growing up and his time on the street. Luke told me that he had seen me praying for this guy in a picture he got from the Lord, so once he had finished speaking we asked if we could pray for him. I started out, and then the others joined in. He had a broken arm so we all got to pray for it, and we believe that Lord is healing his arm.

The rest of the morning involved us doing various forms of manual labor, everything from cleaning the kitchen area to carrying boxes of food to moving pallets of stuff to making sandwiches. The sandwiches were being made for the Mission's program they do every Saturday, which is to go out to the Boston Common and feed the homeless there with sandwiches. Each sandwich is wrapped in an hand-made 'tract' napkin, which in this case is just different encouraging scriptures or uplifting words people wrote on the napkins.

By the time 1 PM hit we were all very tired. We were originally going to help with feeding the homeless in the Boston Common, but instead we got lunch and then headed on home. The car ride was the most quiet it has ever been!

That was it...outreaches are finished. We also had graduation on Sunday (pictures to come), where Scott Evelyn and John Paul Jackson himself were present to either speak to us or pray over us. Pretty cool stuff. We leave on Saturday for my most anticipated part of this trimester: Mexico!

Tornado Watch?

Yep, you read right. There was a tornado watch on Sunday, but I'll get to that later.

Our fearless leader David Carpentier (Rowley, MA) had a different sort of outreach for us this past weekend. We were to go on Friday to the quarterly prophetic meeting at Northshore Bridge Church in Beverly, Massachusetts, and teach the members of their prophetic team how to do prophetic ministry and dream interpretation on the streets. They had only ever done ministry in the Northshore Bridge, so our job was to teach the 'street lingo' that we use and different approaches to avoid being too religious. One way of doing that was having all of them get ministry from us (the interns) one by one, and we ministered to them using 'street lingo' instead of 'Christianese' (our word for religious lingo). The prophetic team was amazed at how well it worked and how completely nonreligious it was.

As a useless random trivia bit, there is a woman on the prophetic team at Northshore Bridge who was the voice of one of the screams in the Jaws movie trailer...how's THAT for nonreligious?

After the meeting we went to the McDonald's across the street, where we encountered an employee who is Christian and just starting to find out about prophetic ministry. I felt like we were supposed to minister to him, but I had a hard time getting anyone else to join me. He came out after his shift was done, so I took the chance to sit in front of him at a table and start talking to him. Jody Demske (Michigan) came over with a note of words for him that she had written. He expressed how much it impacted him, and that he'll never forget it. That's the kind of ministry I love, when it's random and not defined by a particular time.

Pretty funky artwork @ the Gathering

Saturday we all headed to one of our favorite places in the world to do street ministry: Salem! This time the outreach was only going to last for 3 hours, and the streets weren't exactly full of people. After an hour we did start getting a steadier flow of people come in, and at that point I was able to start teaching my team. The picture I saw for the first woman sitting in front of us was a picture of a tent with only a set of bright eyes visible in it, and then bright stars circling the tent. I told her that there was a mystical quality about her, that people are naturally drawn to her and see something she has that they want. My two teammates added their input, and then she revealed that she is a field nurse, and that often in the ambulance rides people reach for her and cling to her hand. She said that she was a Christian, but then a little further on mentioned that she uses tarot cards 'for fun' to give people hope. After we prayed for her and she went off, I used that opportunity to teach my two 'apprentices' about how to handle that sort of situation, which involved us praying after she was gone that the Lord would show her using tarot cards was wrong.

In the Gathering Church (see previous blog entries about Salem if you don't know about the Gathering) I noticed a lot of artwork from local artists. Pastor Phil Wyman mentioned that he is making the Gathering more than just a typical church, which includes welcoming local artists to 'do their thing' in the Gathering. There was this one clay sculpture in particular of a shoe in a handbag that looked so real, I couldn't even tell it was clay from far away the first time I saw it! I learn something new about Salem every time I go, it seems. One thing always remains the same, though; Lunch at Cafe Kushco! (some of the best food in the world)

There's another John Harding? Egads!

After the outreach we went to a little port town called Newburyport in Massachusetts, where our John Harding, who just so happens to be a local, took us on a mini-tour of the harbor area, and then took me to see a few of the shops. We got hungry rather fast, so the two of us went to eat Indian cuisine. As we ordered our food, we got a phone call from David saying that Newburyport had issued a regional tornado warning! The lights started to go on and off, and all the sudden the rains just hit Newburyport out of nowhere. David said that the two of us needed to get to the van, but the van was several blocks way. The rain was pouring down so hard that there were puddles and "mini-rivers" as deep as half a foot! John Harding had an idea, though - we asked for garbage bags, and the greeter laughed as she got them for us. They were bright white! We covered our heads with the bags, and on the count of three, rushed out into the monsoon rains, splashing through puddles and giggling like schoolgirls. We stopped under the awning of a cafe, and the looks we got from the people inside were priceless! As we ran onward, I decided to be a little crazy and just took the bag off my head. I got absolutely pummeled with rain and soaked, but it felt awesome as I jumped into the van with a goofy grin on my face. As we headed back to the Carpentier's house for the night, heavy hail started to fall...what a mess!

Sunday we went to the Northshore Bridge to promote the Streams Academy internship program and then prophetically minister to the people of the church one-by-one. I always have a hard time with it, as I only feel called to speak to specific people. I decided I would go to people that I felt were being 'highlighted' to me, and that seemed to work better. I didn't always feel the Lord when I was speaking, but the response from each person was always good. My confidence is ever rising...

After church Drew McGee (associate pastor of the bridge) had something called 'Take an Intern to Lunch' where different people from the church took us to their homes for lunch and to talk a bit about what was happening with us at the internship. Our hosts were Spanish speakers, which delighted me! It was great to get some practice in.

This upcoming weekend I have off - after that, there's one more outreach, graduation and then the trip to Mexico. Things are wrapping up fast!

Memorial Weekend

In Canada we're used to celebrating the May long weekend in association with Victoria Day, which occurs a week before its US equivalent: Memorial Day.

The drive to Hampton Beach on Saturday morning was one of the shortest we've ever taken, as it is a coast town about an hour and a half east of New London. It was a relief to go a different way than the usual toward Massachusetts, as we're all just about sick of driving on I-93 every trip.

Hampton Beach is definitely a village geared towards youth. Most of the houses are small and older, and the street adjacent to the beach (Ocean Boulevard) is laden with local businesses. The atmosphere and culture was completely different to what we've been used to; obviously people walking around wearing very little has some to do with it, but there was more to it than that.

Taking a break on Hampton Beach

Outreach leader Anthony Acevedo (Richmond, VA) instructed us to go along the walking path just off the beach and survey people about dreams. Basically the questions were "Do you dream?", "How often do you dream?", "Do you feel they have any meaning?" and "Can we interpret one for you right now?". I was grouped with Jessica Hamlet (Richmond, VA), Emily Phelps (Virginia) and their visiting friend Brittany Gray (Virginia). We were kinda unsure about what to expect, but that left after we surveyed our first two people. They were uncertain at first as to whether or not we were psychics, and then they later revealed that they were from North Carolina and had been to Morning Star Ministries, a group in conjunction with Streams. They even knew who John Paul Jackson was when we asked them! We were really encouraged that God would show up so quickly to encourage us that way.

By the time we got back to the beach for our break, we were pooped from all the walking! We got to just lie on the beach and enjoy the scenery. Me personally, I just power napped for an hour.

Ocean Boulevard at night

At dinner we all took turns relating stories about the people who had been positively impacted by our ministry to them, but particularly those who had their dreams interpreted. Brandon Crummer (Cody, WY) and Anton Luse (New Jersey) told us they got to pray for a woman in a wheelchair who wanted to be able to walk for her granddaughter's wedding in the fall, and Emily shared about how we interpreted a dream a woman had about dancing with a man whose face she couldn't see (the Lord wanting to "dance" with her). The evening was wrapped up with some music on the beach, and then we went off to David Carpentier's house in Rowley, MA to spend the night.

We attended the North Shore Bridge (worship leader Josh Young's home church) Sunday morning, where David's dad gave me words of knowledge about part of my calling (to youth). That in combination with the worship totally overwhelmed me and brought me to tears. I have been scared of the idea of working with youth in my own insecurity, but that doesn't stop God from expressing what He wants of us. I'm looking forward to seeing how God plays that out in my life.

Jessica and Emily playing frisbee

After church we drove out to Gloucester Beach in Massachusetts to have an afternoon to ourselves and enjoy the weather. The beach was far less commercial than Hampton Beach had been; the sand was almost white and there was a significantly smaller number of people around. I quickly noticed that there was a small island just slightly offshore and my adventurer spirit kicked in. The tide was low enough that I'd only have to walk through water waist-deep at most to get to the island. I went with Jessica Hamlet and Sharayah Quinn (Lindenhurst, NY) over to the island, but only Jessica wanted to climb up. There was no defined path, just different rocks, clefts and ground previously trodden on to refer to. I got whisked back to this childlike place of being an adventurer, imagining finding a new world as I went up. At the top, we just took some time to admire the view and creation all around us. However, my curiosity quickly took back over and I wanted to go explore the rest of the island. Jessica went back down as I explored further through the bushes, trees atop the grassland and quarries on the island's top. In one particular quarry the seagulls were all flying a mere several feet above my head! They were flying back and forth, diving down and coasting up, making me think they were going to lunge at me, oh fearless explorer that I am!

We spent Memorial Day back in New London, mostly just enjoying the great weather and relaxing. In the evening Brandon Bower (Airdrie, AB) was in charge of cooking the burgers and hot dogs for our picnic while the rest of us played volleyball in the yard. Jody Demske (Michigan), one of the oldest people here (mid 40s) is actually our resident expert on volleyball and she can play a pretty mean game herself!

This week we have all the mornings off to just relax and rest, which is definitely something we all need. Oh how I love sleeping in...

Street Ministry: Worcester, Massachusetts

This past weekend the interns were divided up to go to two different outreaches. One was in Maine, the other in Worcester Massachusetts. To be honest, I was disappointed at first when I was told I was going to Worcester, because I've never been to the state of Maine and I really wanted to go. However, God quickly fixed my perspective when He reminded me that I'd been to Pennsylvania last month, where half of the interns couldn't join us. As the weekend progressed, I realized it was definitely where I was supposed to go (good thing God knows best!)

We left New Hampshire Friday afternoon (later than we usually do when we leave on Fridays) to head to Worcester. Before this weekend I'd only ever heard of the city, due to the fact that the way it is pronounced is not even close to the way it is spelled (WUS-STAH). I wasn't even sure what to expect for ministry, as all I had been told was that we would be ministering in coffee shops Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to find out that we would be in the poorest area of Worcester, ministering to homeless/low income individuals. Did I ever mention we've been in almost every setting on outreaches?

After arriving at the Starbucks in Worcester, we met up with JJ, one of the guys from the Woo Church (the church in Worcester we were working with). He bought everyone coffee compliments of Luke (pastor of the church), much to the delight of the Starbucksaholics. Due to my sugar fast for the month of May, I declined. To add insult to injury, once we got to the Woo Church, there was a box of free desserts from Starbucks for all to enjoy. This wasn't going to be easy!

The Pilgrim Congregational Church building

Despite the fact that it is in the poorest part of Worcester, the church building itself is majestic! Originally for the Pilgrim Congregational Church, it was built in 1885 to meet the need for a place of worship in that region of New England. Its slogan, as inscribed over the front door, is "In This Place Will I Give Peace." In its prime the church seated a full house of over 1000 people. However, the current owners of the church get about 10 people per service, the youngest being in his early 70s! As a result, the upstairs area where the 1000+ would congregate has been locked up; they instead meet in a small room in the basement, backed by a beautiful stained-glass window. Every second Saturday evening for church services, the Woo rents one particularly large room in the basement of the church, formerly used as the dining room & games room.

On Saturday morning, Pastor Luke's wife made us an amazing breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage. I decided to try eating pancakes without syrup, and they actually weren't all that bad. I can't wait til I can eat sugar June 1st...After breakfast, we found out Pastor Luke only just started the Woo church back in April over Easter. We quickly realized part of the reason we were there was to encourage the church and impart life to them. Before heading out, we prayed over Pastor Luke & his wife, Assistant Pastor Bob & his wife and JJ. Off to the streets of Worcester we went!

Almost as if scripted for a movie, it was grey and raining outside. Some of us went to the PIP homeless shelter to spread the news that we would be interpreting dreams in two coffee shops, and then serving free dinner before the service at the Woo. It was awesome to see how much some of the people's faces brightened and their demeanors change when we spoke into their lives. Particularly amusing was speaking to the people that were either high or drunk, as some of them were so far gone it was almost impossible to understand anything they were saying. I did get to have one conversation in Spanish, albeit brief, with one particularly drunk man outside of the PIP shelter. Even though we weren't really able to minister to him, I was pumped that I actually carried out a conversation in Spanish. Worcester has a fair amount of Spanish-speaking people, which I was delighted to discover. Lots of practice for Mexico!

On the way to the One Love coffee shop, my group ran into a woman named Lydia, who we learned was homeless and had been drinking for 3 days. Despite her heavy drunkenness, she was not completely unreceptive to our ministry to her. At one point while we were talking to her, she looked at Rebecca Wallander (Sweden) and Kaylene Spresny (Bay City, Michigan) and said "Such pretty young girls, and you believe God can help me? No way, I'm unsavable." We eventually convinced her to come with us to the coffee shop. Unfortunately, when we got there, she went off with a man to prostitute herself for another drink. She would end up coming and going from the coffee shop while we there.

We found that we didn't really get to interpret many dreams or do many spiritual readings (we actually only did 3 in the 4 hour period), but we were instead doing more personal ministry to the street people (Lydia being one example). At the church in the evening, there were only a few street people that ended up coming, despite the initial numerous positive responses earlier in the day. Perhaps they thought we were going to try to convert them...oh well.

Stained-glass window in the church

Pastor Luke may be young, but he certainly knows the Lord. He preached a casual, yet effective sermon on the Lord's Prayer and what it means to us. Lydia had come in just before he started preaching, and several of the interns were around her to make sure she didn't get into trouble. Pastor Luke told the congregation that he was going to tell them a story, and Lydia unexpectedly heckled by saying "Can ya keep it short?" Even he laughed, and then continued to tell the story. Lydia stumbled out near the end of his sermon, but we weren't upset; we'd planted some seeds in her life.

At the end of the service, we decided to set up a "Fire Wall" (see From Silence to Intercession for an explanation on what it is) for the members of the Woo. They remarked how much they all got from it, both spiritually and emotionally. At that, we were ready to head home to New Hampshire.

Just when I thought we've done ministry almost every way possible, I get surprised. This upcoming weekend we'll be at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, doing live dream interpretation on the beach. I can't wait!

Christians United For Israel: Boston, Massachusetts

One particularly prevalent theme for the last several outreaches has been the diversity in expression of faith. An event with Christians and Jews together is no exception!

The prayer wall in the Olive Branch

However, for the day before the CUFI event, we were split in half. Half of us would go to Boston to interpret dreams and do prophetic ministry on the street, while the other half would go to the Olive Branch bookstore in Northborough to do the same. I was on the team that was sent to the Olive Branch.

In one of the groups that I ministered with, a guy had a dream where he was running after several majestic white horses while an avalanche was fast approaching from behind, yet he felt no fear. We had great delight in telling him that the Lord was showing him how much favor and authority he was about to walk in.

After finishing up at the Olive Branch, we drove to the MetroWest Bridge in Natick to spend the night. It just so happened that we got there as the Brazilian Church (which uses the same building as MetroWest) was just finishing. I got to see my buddy Andre! He greeted me in Spanish, and then spoke to me in a bit of French. Evidently my French is not up to par, but I have been improving on my Spanish. He taught me how to say thank-you in Portuguese (obrigado), and then his wife joined us, who speaks more Spanish. We actually had a short conversation that I understood, which is a step up for me in learning.

Early Sunday morning we drove out to Boston, which I would be seeing for the first time! On the way in we passed by the Green Monster in Fenway Park of baseball notoriety. Our final destination was the Massachusetts State House, located on Beacon Hill in downtown Boston. The Beacon Hill area is a site to behold; while everything is older, it isn't dirty and it actually looks really good! A particular point of interest is the Boston Common, a public park originally used as a military camp before the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Today it is a hotspot for locals and tourists alike.

Our job before the event was to set up all the stuff people would be seeing. Large banners depicting various messages in Hebrew were hung, and the US flag & Israeli flag were both hung slightly in front of those banners. There was an unexpected job which me and some of the other interns took on. We were asked for 6 guy volunteers, and I was one of them. We were asked to 'flag-bear'. We were to walk around half of the auditorium holding large Hebrew emblems (there were 12 in total, and each was representative of a tribe of Israel). It was a whole lot harder than it looked! The emblems weren't heavy, but awkward to move around.

A gazebo in Boston Common

About two hours before start time, we were all set to get changed into our formal attire and then go through dress rehearsal. I realized at this point that I had left my black dress shoes (that I borrowed) in the van! Desperate, I got the keys to the van from Mike Wise (Houston, TX) and then asked Dave Carpentier (Boston, MA) for directions. He told me to go across the Boston Commons (at least a 10 minute walk), look for a particular hotel and then eventually spot the van. I went all the way and could not find the van, even after going an extra two blocks in every direction besides what he told me. With an hour and a half before start time, I was in a panic. Finally in desperation I decided I had to buy new shoes. I asked the doorman at a ritzy apartment complex where I could buy dress shoes. He gave me the directions to a Macy's, which happened to be all the way back to the State House plus another two blocks! As I was in the process of trying on shoes, I got a cellphone call telling me to hurry back, as dress rehearsal was starting. Oy vey! I got back and got changed just a few minutes before the flag-bearing rehearsal, sweat dripping as I changed into my outfit. I wasn't perfectly presentable, but I had made it.

The event proved to be eye-opening and well done, despite the preceding chaos and lack of thorough pre-planning. There was a speaker from Israel and a speaker from Japan (surprised us all I think) that laid out the truth about what's happening in the Middle East, and our role. One of the things that shocked us the most was a quote given from an Iranian leader (and hidden from the media): "Give us the Jews, and we'll give you (America) the oil!" If only people knew just how deep in we are, and how much our decisions truly will affect the Middle East. Genesis 12:3 makes it pretty clear: we must stand up for Israel.

One of the larger banners

God For People Who Hate Church: Salem, Massachusetts

As soon as I first heard what we were going to be visiting Salem for, I knew the weekend would have to be awesome. The conference was going to have several well known speakers coming in to talk about their views on how the modern church as a whole has played a large role in driving people away, ultimately confusing those people's feelings about God.

On Friday we set up tents outside of The Gathering (refer to my February entry for background on The Gathering and Salem as a whole) to do dream interpretation and spiritual readings for the public. Unlike last time, it was actually somewhat warm out so we didn't freeze. Part of the afternoon I was on a dream team with Brandon Bower (Airdrie, AB) and Emily Phelps (Virginia), and we had several cool experiences. The first was with a young guy named Bob who was looking for a spiritual reading. After we encouraged him with words for the Lord, he revealed that he was a recovering ex-narc with a daughter that he loved very much. He left profoundly impacted at the words he received. The other interesting experience was when two Mexican women came in for spiritual readings; one spoke fairly good English, the other almost none. Since I'm in the process of learning Spanish right now, I said several small Spanish sentences at various points throughout the process. I messed up the verb conjugation when I tried to say "Running in the Holy Spirit", but they still got the message and quickly corrected me. They got something from God, I get something from them!

The evening marked the beginning of the conference. Jim Henderson of Off the Map Ministries (based in Seattle WA) was the first speaker of the weekend, and he is still one of my favorites. He spoke of the different ways that the modern church has not lived up to what Jesus intended, and some of what we can do to change that. He asked several interesting questions, one being: "What if we stopped being the most pious people and became the greatest listeners?" He spoke about how being a true listener is the most basic form of spirituality, and how spirituality isn't just an "Oh Hallelujah!" moment. Jim had us laughing a lot of the night, simply through his bluntness in showing the weaknesses of the church. However, he also offered sensible solutions. Not a lot of it was new to me, but there was some more perspective added that I definitely was able to take from it. There was one point near the end where he talked about solid proof that Jesus doesn't expect us to live every second doing something of pious importance; he pointed out that Jesus "did nothing" for the first 30 years of His life, and then "time wasted" a lot throughout His 3 years of ministry. If you look at Jesus' life, he literally tithed himself! (10% of 33 is a little over 3) Jesus is all about using ordinary people who do "almost nothing". That was a huge thing for me, as I've always feared I don't do enough.

Watching the late night movie

Shortly after Jim finished speaking, me and some of the other interns helped prepare the room for our late night movie showing. The movie was called "Lonnie Frisbee: Life & Death of a Hippie Preacher". It featured the story of a young guy who found the Lord while he was on drugs and then proceeded to create a movement in California, part of it influencing the start of the Vineyard Church. Controversy was revealed surrounding Lonnie's sexuality, so people in church leadership were mad that God would use "someone like Lonnie" so powerfully. Lonnie eventually died of HIV, and at his funeral a prominent church leader gave a eulogy which basically said Lonnie could have done so much more with his life/ministry if he had "overcome his circumstances". For those of us watching, it provoked feelings of disbelief and even a bit of anger. It brought up a good post-movie discussion about how the church has failed to reach that group of people appropriately.

Saturday had even more controversy in store. As Jim Henderson was preparing to speak again, a Gathering staff member was trying to help get video up on the screen, and somehow accidentally put up a porno video. It was fairly quickly dealt with, as pastor Phil Wyman made a public apology/declaration regarding the incident, and the staff member made his own statement of apology, saying he lent his laptop to a friend last week. The congregation took time to pray and bless the rest of the day before continuing on with Jim's presentation.

The Neo-Pagans speaking at the Gathering

The panel after lunch featured a group of Neo-Pagans from Salem. The first was Teri Calgren, Director of Witches' Education and owner of several witch shops in Salem. She was born in the Bronx NY, raised Irish Catholic. While she was taught growing up to not be discriminatory but loving to all, she had the opposite demonstrated to her by her church family. She has maintained those values she was taught, but instead has focused it into a form of witchcraft. The woman in the middle was Susan Wade, a practicing Neo-Druid. She owns a memorabilia shop in Salem's historic Pickering Wharf area. She was raised Orthodox Hebrew, and one of the first things she remembered being told as a child was that she couldn't play with non-Jewish people. As she grew older she felt more and more that there was something wrong, and finally felt she got confirmation on that when a dream told her she had yet to step into her faith. Through a series of events she eventually found Neo-Druidism and is now quite content. The last was Christa Grillo, a solitary Wiccan. She was raised Christian, but started to question it after several events. One of those was someone in church telling her "Dogs don't go to heaven" when she asked for prayer for her dying dog, and the other was her mom dying of breast cancer. Christa at first turned to atheism, but found in it there was nothing to live for and no joy. She found a book about Wicca and fell in love with it. A consistent theme for all of them was some lack of love from the church, and their dismay at how people devalue what they believe, which in turn devalues them. This really struck home to all of us listening, as at some point we've all done that to some degree. We wonder why people automatically assume all Christians are the same, and yet we do that with witches. Thought provoking.

Following the Neo-Pagan panel, Phil Wyman started an interactive workshop for all the conference attendees. Basically we were all split up into 7 different teams, and each team was responsible for coming up with a 10 minute segment of a non-traditional way to do church. Ideas flew, and I couldn't wait for Sunday morning...

The Judson Window at Salem's First Baptist Church

Saturday evening featured Jay Bakker, pastor of a church in a bar in Brooklyn, NY. He spoke more about loving people where they're at, but at the same time being firm about our own beliefs. He gave a really interesting new twist on The Fruits of the Spirit: "There's a reason Jesus chose it to be fruits of the spirit - fruit trees don't eat their own fruit!" While it may seem glaringly obvious, it's something we've really missed as the church.

Finally, Sunday morning! It truly would be one of the oddest, but one of the most fun 'church services' I've ever been a part of! One segment was philosophically influenced; two guys sang 'Plastic Jesus' (much to our great laughter) and then asked us to talk about how the church has made Jesus 'plastic'. Another segment featured us putting whatever amount of money we felt we should into an offering plate, and then once it got up front there was a surprise. The lady leading the segment merely blessed all of the money, told us to take back what we had put in and use that money to advance God's kingdom, since all of our money is His anyway! I definitely wasn't expecting that, liked that part a lot. There were several musical segments that were really unusual, one of which was several people playing djembe drums as the congregation was called to dance and shout out praises to the Lord. Finally, Phil Wyman introduced us to one of his church's practices. He brought out an inflatable globe, and explained that whoever has the ball points to the country currently on their heart and then prays for it. I really liked it, and I now want to find a globe of my own to do that with at home!

I immensely enjoyed my time in Salem. It definitely had its difficult and stressful moments, but as of late it seems like every outreach has. Tis a good thing God's bigger than all of our troubles!

Susquehanna University: Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

Shortly after getting home from last weekend's event, it was announced that one vanload of interns would have the privilege of going to Pennsylvania and other various locales on the way there and back. I immediately went to the signup sheet, and the next day was overjoyed to find out I was going!

For the first day (Thursday) we were going to drive to Tolland Connecticut, minister at Pastor Westin's homegroup and stay in host homes for the night. It just so happens that the interns who didn't go to MetroWest last weekend went to Tolland and met Westin, as they ministered at the University of Connecticut and then at Westin's church. We were graciously welcomed and treated to dinner before doing dream interpretation and prophetic ministry at Westin's house, where homegroup was being held. Kaylene Spresny (Bay City, MI) was in my group with Brandon Crummer (Cody, WY) ministering, and she did remarkably well for her first time!

Fred, the Bassetts' gecko

Me, Brandon, my bro Luke (Calgary, AB) and Dave Carpentier (Boston, MA) were all staying with the Bassett family for the night. Luke had met Amy Bassett (the mom) and her kids the week before for the UConn outreach, and her kids had quickly grown attached to Luke. They were really excited to hear he was back! Amy quite clearly understood Luke, as they got along really well and talked at a really comfortable level. The kids have a really cool gecko named Fred, and one said of him, "When we gave him his name it was weird, but over time it became good." I love kids.

Friday morning we blessed the Bassetts' home before leaving, and had an unusual surprise on the way over to Westin's house. A turkey randomly dropped down and flew in front of the windshield, nearly getting pegged! We all woke up pretty quick after that, and were ready to get to Pennsylvania upon reuniting with the rest of the crew.

Jamie Bower (Airdrie, AB) shows up Vanna White as Dave Carpentier (Boston, MA) satisfies his sweet tooth

The main part of our trip for Friday was getting to Hershey Pennsylvania, home of the Hershey Chocolate company. My first impression of Penn was "Wow, it's green everywhere!" Take Alberta, remove the mountains, add a few hills, scatter some deciduous trees, make everything lush green and you have Pennsylvania. Once we got to Hershey, we stopped in at Chocolateworld; boy was it ever a treat! (yes, the pun sucked) There were special trolleys outside the builing, just waiting to take people to different places. Inside is a sight to behold; on the left is a "movie theatre" where one can learn more about Hershey's history. Straight ahead is the Hershey's shoppes/store, and slightly to the right is the Hershey Guided Tour. Off to the far right is the "Make your own" station, where for Friday people had the option of making their own Hershey Kisses. I went into the tour, and it was better than I had expected: we got to sit on a monorail while it took us through. I'm likely going to have nightmares with the 3 singing cows in them for days ("It's the milk-milk chocolate!") The chocolate creation process was explained in detail, with various demonstrations of Hershey machinery and video displays. After the ride I went and bought a huge sundae with Hershey fudge, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups sprinkled on, two brownies wedged in, topped with whip cream and a cherry. So much for my diet...

Our host home for Friday night was in Hershey, with the Stein family, who Streams came to visit last year on a trip to Pennsylvania. They live up the hill from a community golf course, and the view was just breath-taking! Michael Wise (Houston, TX) cooked burgers and hot dogs for dinner, and then we went wandering about the golf course. I went into the living room after dinner to fiddle with one of the Stein's guitars. Their son Norman and his friend John overheard me attempting to play, and actually taught me a few chords. I tried learning guitar about 10 years ago and gave up right away, but I think I actually want to again!

Part of the golf course

When it got dark, we lit up the fire pit and talked around it; me and Dave talked some about angels and the role that they play in our free will. During that time, Luke, Kaylene and others were out late walking on the golf course. By the time we got to bed, we'd all been on the course at some point.

It was only on Saturday morning before leaving the Steins' house that I actually noticed that the air outside smells like chocolate! Thoughts of a fairy tale environment partially existing sprang forth in my mind. After snapping out of it, I went with the others to give goodbyes before we went on our way. The Steins were truly amazing people, incredibly hospitable. They are moving to Virginia to open up a Christian-influenced coffee shop to uniquely minister to people.

We were finally going toward the main reason of our trip: Susquehanna University! The main reason for the whole trip was that Streams Academy had been hired by an entertainment company to "work" at SU during a university fair. We were officially hired as dream interpreters and spiritual readers.

An airborne Sharayah Quinn (Lindenhurst, NY)

Selinsgrove consists of either brick houses, brick buildings or older houses, some of those clearly labeled as frat/sorority houses (using various Greek letters). Selinsgrove in essence is just a college town. SU itself is rich with heritage and noticeably older; all the buildings on campus are made of brick and are bungalows (some with basements though). It was evident that the 1500ish students on campus are more interpersonal than you'd typically expect for a university. That gave SU a definite small town feel. Ken Nelson (the director of Streams Academy), Mikey Wise and Jessica Hamlet (Virginia) were the 3 doing the dream interpretation for the afternoon. The rest of us explored Selinsgrove and then had fun with the various games at the Susquehanna fair. Some of those were boxing with giant gloves, a bouncy slide and a basketball 3-pointer shooting contest with some army guys.

After finishing at Susquehanna University, we were set to go to our last major stop on the trip: the Lighthouse Church in Lindenhurst NY, home to Sharayah. It was so refreshing to see the Lighthouse again; I knew we'd get a hearty welcome from Kari (Sharayah's mom) and the rest of the Lighthouse crew. Not only that, but we got some New York style cheesecake, too - so good!

We attended the church Sunday morning, and much to our delight there were fresh New York bagels waiting! In the service Ken spoke about honoring leadership (specifically the church's pastor), as there had been some drama going on at the Lighthouse. After the message, Ken had the congregation line up around the sanctuary in a circle, so that all of us interns could give prophetic ministry to them. It was an powerful time, especially for one girl named Roseanne. Her friend had brought her to church knowing we were coming. Roseanne received multiple prophetic words of encouragement relating to her health, which caused her to break down. She revealed to us after that she was recently diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. She did not know the Lord but had felt something special when receiving the words she got. Ken talked with her for a while, and eventually Roseanne decided to accept the Lord into her life. That alone, if nothing else, totally made the trip!

Upon leaving the Lighthouse, we decided to try to get to Central Park. Unfortunately traffic was too congested, so we had to abandon that idea and head home instead. At various points during the drive, Ken drilled me on different Spanish words and phrases, which really helped me improve both my comprehension and vocabulary.

This was definitely my favorite trip of any yet; I'm likely a little biased due to the fact that it was more fun than actual ministry. That being said, we return to Salem Massachusetts this weekend to help out at a conference called "God for People Who Hate Church". I can't wait!

Healing Conference: Natick, Massachusetts

It has been some time since we've been on an outreach, but finally we got to do our first one of the trimester. This one sent us back to MetroWest just outside of Boston to attend their healing conference.

On the way to MetroWest

Friday was fairly straight forward; the guest speaker was a guy named Doug Collins who has recently gained favor in the Christian world because of God's impartation of signs and miracles to him. He basically went straight into praying for people and involving us interns in the prayer process. While others were assigned to different people, I specifically saw one woman who stood out to me. Her name was Annie, and she had flown in all the way from Vancouver. She is in a wheelchair due to MS. It was rather funny; I thought I was going to be the one ministering to her but she ended up giving me some ministry of her own! Once she finished that, I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to sing words of life over her and then pray. She was able to get up on her feet holding me and then go a few steps, but then had to sit back down. I was told later that's more than she has been able to do before, which is pretty cool! We are going to be keeping in touch over email.

On Saturday Doug gave a brief message before sending everyone out to the streets. We were to ask people if they would like prayer for anything in need of healing. This part of the trip was hard for me. The interns were all split up into individual groups, and I was randomly asked by 3 older women to join their group. It's not that they weren't nice, but I really wanted to have at least one other guy in the group, and I couldn't just say no because of that. We went to the local mall, and things just got more awkward as my group was steered towards the ladies' sections in department stores (including a brief trip through lingerie), and then a baby store. In the latter location, I split off from the others to try a different approach: connecting through children. A man in his early 30s was watching his 6 month old daughter in her carriage, and I went up and just made conversation involving his daughter. Finally after I was comfortable enough with our discussion I asked him if he would like prayer for anything in particular that needed healing. He said no, but pray for the people in Iraq and Virginia Tech. I wished him and his daughter well and went back to reunite with my group.

Once we got back to MetroWest there was a time of story sharing and then Doug prayed over different infirmities in need of healing, and then empowered people through prayer into different ministries. As we were cleaning up, I went into the portion of MetroWest where a Brazilian church takes place. I met a young guy named Andre who speaks Portuguese, some English, some Spanish and he is currently learning French! He was a lot of fun, and we'll be keeping in touch. He said he wants to have phone conversations with me in a different language each time. I'm going to have my hands full!

While we're on the topic of languages - there is a team of 7 of us going to Mexico: me, Jamie Bower (Airdrie AB), Jessica Hamlet (Virginia), Anton Luse (New Jersey), my bro Luke (Calgary AB), Sharayah Quinn (Lindenhurst NY) and Jesse Smith (Michigan). My duty is to teach the team some basic Spanish, but here's the kicker: I'm learning it before I teach it! Jamie has expressed great interest in becoming fluent and teaching as well, so the two of us are going to work together at instructing. I'm really looking forward to the challenge!

Goodbyes Galore

It has been all about goodbyes this week. Annalee O'Dell (Massachusetts) surprised us all on the 6th when she said that she was leaving the internship on Sunday the 9th. She is moving with her sister to Washington DC soon. Annalee has a great intercessory prayer gift, and carries such a servant's heart. I remember her telling me that all she wants to eventually do is cook dinner for her family and be a great wife. I have absolute confidence that you will be, Annalee, and you are certainly going to be missed here!

The first goodbye that we knew was coming was for Micah Jackson (Oregon) on Tuesday. He has moved out west from New Hampshire to Oregon to work for a while and do something different. His unique presence and persona will be missed.

My thumb nails with painted-on Scottish flags

The second goodbye that we've known was coming for a while was for Dan Collier (Scotland). In order to celebrate him in a unique way, we decided to host a Scottish theme party for him, which all went down yesterday. The house was decorated with various lights, photos of Dan and then several Scottish flags drawn on large paper. We were all asked to wear some form of plaid clothing to the party. I wore my plaid pajama pants, while others had made T-shirts with Scottish flags on them, and a few of the guys even dressed in homemade kilts! Mandy Wise (Houston, TX) took on the job of face painting whoever wanted it done. Noah Zehr (Utica, NY) had a Scottish flag painted on his entire face! I went more conservative; I had the flag painted on part of my left cheek, and then a flag painted on each of my thumbs. Nathan Fox-Helser (North Carolina) didn't have any plaid clothing, so he drew plaid on his arm with sharpies - crazy kid. Finally, for the finishing touch, we turned on the soundtrack from Braveheart. We were ready to have a party!

Dinner was chicken pot pie and an Americanized version of haggis, a traditional Scottish dinner dish. I tried some haggis and it actually was fairly good. I think I'll need to eventually try some of the authentic stuff in Scotland though...

The first thing planned for after dinner was a Dan impersonation contest. Dave Carpentier (Boston, MA) threw a chair in the middle of the room, and muttered stuff like "NUGGET!" and "GYPSY!" as he was pretending to fix the chair. The room applauded Dave's excellent impersonation, and Dan roared in approval. There were some other very amusing impressions, but difficult to describe in writing. Our second contest was a riverdancing contest. Dave was really good, Dustin Zupancic (Abbotsford, BC) did a hilarious rendition of something sorta resembling riverdancing, Chad Seymour (Michigan) & Sharon Felder (South Carolina) had fun trying, and then my brother Luke (Calgary, AB)/Jon Bohy/Jacob Garrett (San Diego, CA) used two of their fingers each on their own palms to 'riverdance'. Ali Johnson (Connecticut) had us scream in unison who we thought the winner was, and from there she would take the top 3 names she heard and have them do an encore. We all burst out laughing as "REE-BEE-COO!" (Rebecca Wallander of Stockholm, Sweden) was the loudest of all the names, despite the fact she hadn't even danced! The laughing was even louder as Rebecca actually did end up riverdancing (or at least trying to).

A cliche techno song (Vengaboys - Venga Bus) was put on for the purpose of amusement (click here for a short clip, click here for a short instrumental clip), but it became even more amusing when the Holy Spirit decided to use it to move in and take over. Chad in particular started manifesting and getting 'drunk in the Spirit', while Luke, Jamie Bower (Airdrie, AB), James Kyllonen (Michigan), Jesse Smith (Michigan), Kaylene Spresny (Michigan) and Anton Luse (New Jersey) began to follow suit. It didn't take long for me, Sharon, Jon, Anthony Acevedo (Virginia), Emily Boe (New London, NH), Sharayah Quinn (Lindenhurst, NY) and Caroline Hyden (Colorado) to get into the action and start dancing, praying for people and breaking loose. A few years ago I never would have thought that strong Christians could actually have so much fun and be unreligious! It is amazing to see what God chooses to use to bring glory to Himself...

Before he left us today, Dan prayed various anointings over us based on which tribe of Israel he felt different interns represented spiritually - that was a really cool mini-impartation to receive. It was hard to see him go, as he truly has made a great impact on us all.

Just when we thought the goodbyes were done, there was another surprise goodbye announcement - Danielle Pitre (South Carolina) is going home to South Carolina on Tuesday! Her plans are to pursue other schooling, so while we're really happy for her, it was totally unexpected. All these goodbyes so soon are really tough to handle!

Mandy Wise at work as Sharon Felder looks on

The Week Between Trimesters

The last day of the Winter trimester (March 29th) came like a flash - seemed like only a few days before that we had joined together. My brother Caleb (Calgary, AB) revealed to the interns that he was not returning for the next trimester, which came across as a total surprise to all. Interns had been asking me about Caleb for the last few weeks, but due to his request I avoided giving any direct answer.

The interns on the pitch

A whole slew of us interns went outside before dinner to play a US versus International soccer match - it was quite a contest! The competition heated up quickly when Rebecca Wallander (Stockholm, Sweden) scored the first goal for us, causing the US to pour more into the game. In the end, the International team was leading 4-0 when the US quit to get ready for the wrap-up party - WE WIN!

At the wrap-up party they played a long slideshow of different photos from the winter trimester and from the fall trimester (the trimester I missed). Dance music was played as some of us randomly jived to the beat, including the infamous Hokey Pokey song.

Because of Caleb's decision to return home to Calgary, I went home with him to visit Calgary for a week. This unique situation allowed me to majorly surprise one of my good friends (Melanie) back home in Calgary. She hosts board game nights on occasion, and she scheduled the first one of the year for March 30th. Before I knew I was coming home for the trimester break, Melanie jokingly asked me to fly home and attend her games night, so I said I couldn't because it was too much money. When Caleb told me he wasn't returning to New Hampshire for the next trimester, I found out Mom & Dad would pay for my flight home and back, and I never told Melanie of the change in the plans. I had Mom drive me and Caleb up to her house, and then had Mom go to Melanie's door, where Mom claimed that "Jesse knew you were having a games night and asked me to bring something for you, but you have to come and get it!" The expression on Melanie's face and her reaction when she saw me and Caleb at the end of the driveway was one I'll definitely not forget - the night was absolutely special! We played a variety of games, including ImaginIFF (great party game). It was a great way to launch my week back in Calgary.

Saturday I worked at landscaping with Mom to earn money to help pay for my next trimester in New Hampshire. I then met Rachelle Nicholson (who might as well be my lil sis) at Bonavista Baptist Church after their Saturday night service and joined the BBC crew for a late dinner and chat at Santa Fe Bar & Grill. It turned out to be the last day I would see any form of good weather in Calgary; by the time the sun went down, snow was starting to fall!

I thought it would be amusing to just randomly show up at my home church (SunWest Christian Fellowship) on Sunday after being away for 3 months. I was right - I enjoyed watching some of the reactions from different people when I ran into them. More than that though, I was shocked at how much pastor Willy Reimer's sermons have changed. He has obviously done a lot of digging and probing into different materials to gain new insight. The message he spoke on (regarding foot washing and applying lessons learned from it to today) had content one would never expect to hear in a Mennonite church. The Bridge church in New Hampshire still feels the most like church as I think it should be, but I am definitely liking the directions Willy is clearly starting to explore at SunWest.

Caleb's new occupation post-internship

Since there was snow on the ground, I wasn't able to landscape with Mom for any of the rest of the week. Instead, I earned money doing various odd jobs for her business logistics. Also, in our boredom me and Caleb did some random stuff, including Texas Hold Em with our stuffed animals (don't ask). To wrap up the week home, I went and surprised the Calgary Scrabble Club players by showing up for Scrabble Club yesterday. Boy did I enjoy getting some real competitive games in! I played 4 games and lost only 1 - not too bad for being away for some time...

The week in Calgary was great, but oddly it didn't feel much like home. I think that's a sign that I need to be in New Hampshire right now, as it feels the most like where I need to be. When I finally got back here, the joy returned - I was immediately entertained by the random crew of interns that came to the airport to pick me up.

Upon arriving at the Yellow House, I got to meet two of the new interns for this trimester: Kaylene Spresny (Michigan) and James Kyllonen (Michigan), both friends of Chad Seymour (Michigan) and Jesse Smith (Michigan). They're cool cats and will be a great fit. These next 3 months are gonna rock!

Dave Carpentier (Boston, MA) "calling" someone

International Fair

Yesterday we were informed by leadership that in the evening, there was a special event happening at Colby-Sawyer College (New London and surrounding areas' largest college). Every year Colby-Sawyer hosts an international fair where students of various ethnicities set up displays to share more about their countries and cultures. I jumped at the idea of going, as I love learning more about other cultures, and even more than that I love the chance to learn words, even if they're in other languages!

We got there at about quarter to 7 PM. Unfortunately, the displays were only set up for 5 PM - 7 PM, so I didn't have much time to learn about many of the countries. The first table I stopped by was the Iranian table. I spent about 5 minutes talking to the woman there about various Iranian anecdota, which included everything from Iranian caviar to learning about Iranian currency. She showed me several different rials, Iran's national currency, and even let me keep two! Before she left, she taught me how to say God Bless You in Farsi, Iran's national language. It is written like this in Farsi: خدا بركت دهد )م.ل.( It is pronounced Hoe-dah Haw-fez, and the H sound that we have in English for the first word is slightly changed - the easiest way to describe it is that you pronounce the H throatily.

My next stop was at the Turkish table. It was almost 7, so I didn't spend as much time at this booth. I did get a brief primer on Turkish culture from the woman there, and she was so honored that I expressed genuine interest that she allowed me to keep several Turkish Lira, Turkey's national currency. I then briefly went over to the French table, but the woman had already put almost everything away. I had a quick conversation with her in French (she was surprised at how well I did, as short as it was) and then moved over to the Peruvian table. The dude there was really cool; he let me look for a few minutes at his booth before taking it down, even though it was already past 7. I learned about surfing in Peru; he mentioned the difference in water temperature depending on the region in Peru. Their national currency (Nuevo Sol), translates in English to New Sun. I briefly conversed with him in Spanish, and then went on my way.

I briefly spoke with several women from different African countries, but their booths had already been taken down, so it was more small talk. The gal at the Rwandan table in particular was very kind, and shared a little even though she had nothing really to show anymore. The last table I went to that still had something on it was the Polish table; I made some more small talk and general questions, and then asked for clarification on their national currency. I know from Scrabble that it is zloty (pl. zlotych), but I had no idea how to pronounce it when I asked. I was embarrassed when she corrected me, but she was surprised I even knew what the currency was! Her table had postcards on it, and I happen to collect postcards, so I asked if I could choose one and she said yes. When I asked about zlotych, she told me that I could email her and she would actually give me some zlotych for my collection. Pretty cool!

Samputu and his friends performing

Although we all but missed seeing the displays, we got there just in time for the 2nd half of the fair; one person from each booth from each country said hello with a brief message in both their native language, and then in English. After that, we were in for a special treat. Several people from Rwanda were set to perform for us through singing and dancing their cultural songs. Samputu was the name of the guy who did most of the talking between songs and all of the singing; he clearly had an incredible musical gifting. His voice was so pure and resonating - it took me right into his culture, as he sang in both Kinyarwanda (Rwanda's national language) and English. He told the crowd that for all of their songs, they try to sing in multiple languages, but Kinyarwanda and English were the two he interchanged the most. During one song he called up the Rwandan woman who I had spoken to earlier; he asked her to dance while he sang. The way she moved was hypnotic; one couldn't help but follow her every step and swing. Halfway through the song, another Rwandan man joined her in her dance, and he was just as good!

One of Samputu's last songs was called "Children Are the Future"; he said that it is requested of him to sing it, more than any other song. As soon as he released the first note from his mouth, my heart melted; the power and passion from the song was immediately present. Interestingly, the Kinyarwandan portions of the song felt more powerful to me than the English parts. I'm believing more and more than when someone prays or sings in their native language, God's power is even more present.

For the song following "Children are the Future", Samputu excitedly proclaimed that it was now his turn to dance! He had another Rwandan man come up to sing while he danced. Samputu was also fairly good at dancing - that really didn't surprise me though, as he was so clearly gifted. He then told us that it was OUR turn to dance! Abby Webb (Michigan) was one of the first to get up after he said that - it was obvious she was really enjoying the whole experience. After taking a few pictures, I joined in with the dancers. Samputu sang the whole song in Kinyarwanda. When the song was done, Samputu told us that the Kinyarwandan song title means "Time to Dance" in English. How appropriate!

I was definitely disappointed at first that we missed the displays for the most part, but the Rwandans definitely made up for that disappointment with the show that they put on. My desire to eventually internationally travel has been renewed!

Various flags of countries at the fair

From Silence to Intercession

Thursday marked what for some was an incredibly difficult challenge. Starting at 6 PM, we had to be speechless for a whole 24 hours! The point was that we were to fast something corporately. Nearly all of us also agreed to fast eating for 24 hours, and I even added on fasting my computer for 24 hours. I wanted to go for it!

I knew that not speaking was going to be the hardest part for me, not the loss of food or computer. The primary way we were to communicate was using a pen and paper, or the whiteboards in various locations around the houses. Some of the more amusing moments for Thursday evening was playing Hangman as we walked outside, me being taught Rummy with no speech involved, and Dustin Zupancic (Abbotsford, BC) using an soundboard of Arnold Schwarzenegger audio clips from the Ebaum's World website to speak for him. I unfortunately slipped up on talking twice; the first time I messed up, I was trying a card trick but messed it up and muttered something out. Claire Tatton (UK) was sitting across from me and wrote "Start the Public Humiliation!" and showed it to me, much to my amusement. We were allowed to giggle and laugh a bit, but no talking. The second time I blew it, someone held the door open for me as I walked into the house and I instinctively said "Thank you" before realizing my mistake.

Interestingly, I dreamed before waking up at 10:30 AM. I looked around the room after I woke up, and my vision seemed a lot better than usual for the morning. After a moment I realized I was so tired from Thursday that I'd left my contact lenses in all night! I got very lucky in that my eyes weren't in pain despite my forgetfulness.

By this time I've noticed my thought process has changed; words are not queued at the back of my tongue so readily, rather they are flooding through my head and occasionally getting onto paper. I started to notice the little sounds, like a roommate exhaling, Crasher (the dog) scuttling his tiny paws across the floor, and a doorknob being turned elsewhere in the house. I listened to some teachings in bed for a while, then went back into half-sleeping mode as I listened to soft music for almost 2 hours. Between 10 & 1/2 hours sleeping and the half-sleepy time, I'd spent a total of 12 hours resting!

In the last few hours of the fast, I made my way over to the Yellow House (the girl's house, also the dinner house) with others from my "dorm" to await dinner. I went outside with David Carpentier (Boston, MA) to throw a frisbee around for a while, which is amusing with the inability to talk. Mandy Wise (Houston, TX) came out to join us briefly, and then went back inside. After tiring of frisbee, Dave and I went inside. All the interns were starting to gather in the family room, anxiously awaiting 6 PM and ultimately dinner time. When what seemed like forever finally passed and 6 PM arrived, the room let out a unanimous triumphant cry! We all eagerly took up our plates and went after the lasagna which had been made for us. Needless to say, it didn't last very long!

Saturday took us in a whole different direction altogether. The New London Bridge (our home church) has been planning an event to honor regional intercessors for several months. Basically the idea was that we as an internship and as a church would honor intercessory people. Some of this was to be accomplished with a free luncheon and a time of worship for the intercessors to fully express themselves where the church may have shut them down in the past. There were about 135 people that ended up coming! Part of what made worship special was that Aaron Evans (an international seer residing in Newbury, NH) called a friend of his, Virginia Sullivent, to come up and do the worship session for the event. She is of the acclaimed prophetic worship group Winds of Fire, and came all the way from Orlando FL! She was clearly very gifted and spiritually driven, creating an incredible atmosphere. It was one of the wildest worship sessions I've ever been in, but one should expect that with a room literally full of intercessory people, right? Near the end of the worship time before the luncheon, a small group of people (including a lot of interns) went up on stage at Virginia's invite to dance. Claire Tatton (UK) came up to me and said she felt the Lord tell her to go on stage but that she was hesitant, so I offered to go with her to make it easier. At that point we both went up there and danced up a storm!

To end the event, church leadership and all the interns created what is called a "Fire Wall". We line up on either side of the main aisle, leaving space for people to walk through the middle like one would a tunnel. We were instructed to impart whatever the Lord placed on our hearts to the intercessors, as we know they have given parts of their prayer lives and very lives themselves for our wellbeing. I felt the need to impart the renewing of the mind to all who passed through, and sometimes imparted that via singing to the person going through. It really is quite a unique experience, both being in the wall on the outside and going through it yourself!

The event honoring the intercessors was our last of this trimester; our last day of classes/activities for this trimester is this Thursday evening, which will be our commencement party! (YEEHAW) I will at that point be officially halfway through my time down here, and yet there is still so much to do and to learn...help please, Lord!

Snowstorms Mean Changes of Plans

That they do. The earlier part of the week was so nice; we had a few sunny days, then a few rainy days, and we were doing just dandy. Unfortunately, when Friday hit, we proceeded to get buried under about a foot of fresh new snow. Jamie (Calgary, AB) and Chad (Michigan) made a less than wise decision to drive into Concord despite the weather. They ended up getting stuck and were forced to spend the night at a motel! 6 of the girls went together in their car to drive to Lebanon but were in for a bit of a surprise as the car got a flat tire on the way. In the meantime, I just stayed put in the house, playing on the piano and doing other random stuff to pass the day's time. As part of dinner, Noah Zehr (Utica, NY) made all of us Vanilla ice cream shakes with lime flavoring, while I made French Toast for all who wanted some. While it seems like an unlikely combination, the both of them together actually was really delicious!

We were scheduled to go to Rhode Island for a conference from Saturday to Sunday, but due to the snowstorm and the roads icing over, leadership canceled our trip out there. I was somewhat disappointed because I wanted to add another state to my list of states I'd been to, but I definitely would rather be safe than sorry.

My living quarters

I decided that since there was more time to do random things now that we weren't going anywhere, it was time to clean my room and take a few pictures of it. I've put up one of the better shots of my room for you to have a look at. The closet (off to the right of the picture) in my room is quite small; I have to duck every time I go into that closet, and I can barely stand up when I'm in the part of the closet with the highest ceiling. The view from my windows overlooks the side yard and the mini-highway that passes by this house. I can't wait until it is springtime, so that I can leave my windows open and the fresh smell of the outdoors can come into my room. Right now all that comes in is a lot of cold...

As our alternate event for the day, there was a youth worship event happening at the New London Bridge (our home church) that evening. I have to say, it was absolutely sensational! The music was just so well done, and led us all into that place of praise and adoration of God. The house was really gettin' down, dancing away as we went through the more uppity songs. I was movin' 'n' groovin' the whole time, too - I'm starting to think that worship is the best form of cardio on the planet! There was also a surprisingly large number of adults present for the evening as well; I suppose since we're all young at heart in the Lord, it's all good. We experienced a pleasant surprise when Kevin (the youth leader from the Wakefield, MA Vineyard) brought his wife & kids and some of the youth from his church up for the evening. It was unfortunate that we didn't get to spend a lot of time talking with them, as we were in worship the whole time and they had to leave early to get home to Massachusetts at a decent hour.

The auditorium at church

Something else that made the worship night special was that Kelly Guerra (Texas) was involved on the worship team as vocalist and guitarist. I'm not sure if she is going to be playing on the worship team for church tomorrow, so it could very well have been the last time we got to hear her sing and play guitar. Kelly has an incredible voice; the very essence of it imparts healing to those who listen. We have a special going away party for her happening on Monday evening, and then she leaves us on Tuesday morning. A few weeks ago, Kelly was proposed to by intern alumni Josh Steeper (Victoria, BC). Kelly and Josh are set to be married this summer, so Kelly is leaving Streams to go to marriage counseling and then marry Josh this summer. We will miss her dearly, but we are so happy that God is taking her to that stage of her life. Adios, mi amiga!

Free Weekend

About 2 weeks ago there was an unusual change of events - our trip for this weekend had to be canceled because our destination site was unable to host us. For the first time in a month and a half, we weren't going to minister anywhere on the weekend!

Dustin Zupancic (Abbotsford, BC) and Jamie Bower (Airdrie, AB) well represented the creativity and humorous nature of us Canadians by setting up a weekend activity for us all to do. We would go to the major shopping mall in Concord, NH (about a 20 minute drive away) to do a photo and video scavenger hunt! The list of things we were to take pictures of or capture on video was of course impossibly long; they wanted to see what each of the groups would pick to do. I was assigned to a group with my younger brother Caleb, Jessie Smith (Michigan), Annalee O'Dell (Massachusetts) and Jessica Hamlet (Virginia). Even on a trip like this where things were meant to be light, I ended up learning and being reminded of something elementary yet valuable along the way. I quickly noticed a glaring issue of idle time spent figuring out which pictures and videos to take. Being the ever impatient one, I suggested that we at least take some pictures of the easier challenges listed on our sheet while we thought of something to do for the harder ones. What response did I get? "Chill out, relax..." I had to basically bite my tongue and just let things flow. Surprisingly, I actually didn't dwell on 'trying to win' for long, like I would have done in the past. Instead, we just ended up having a great time doing stupid stuff together, including getting two women working in a camera shop to dance with us to cellphone music (we captured that on video)!

When we were finally out of time for the hunt and gathering back at the Food Court, I knew that we definitely weren't going to win the competition, but it didn't matter anymore; I'd actually learned to *gasp* cooperate and let others have their way! Simple concept, yet amazingly difficult sometimes...

(I don't have the pictures/videos from Jessica's camera yet, I'll post some once I get them)

The other thing I figured out over the weekend was whether or not I'd be staying for the next trimester here at Streams. I've resolved that there are still some issues and strongholds I need to face and overcome with the help of covenant community, and this is the best place in the world to do that. I'm going to be here until the end of June for the next trimester, and then for the last week in June and the first week of July, some of us here will be going to Piedras Negras (Black Stones) in Mexico to do missions work. Part of the preparation for that will be in the next trimester upcoming - we will be taught Fundamental & Conversational Spanish at some point during our learning week, along with instruction on piecing together a sermon/message. Although the Mexico missions is not going to be the full 3 months like originally planned (which was disappointing), I am still quite excited to be able to do that. This is gonna be a rockin' spring...