Greetings from Vancouver, British Columbia!  Home of the Winter Olympics.

After a VERY brief turn around in Portland, Oregon (just enough time to get my computer and phone operational) I squeezed into a much too small car for a 12+ hour trip north.

Fortunately the fellowship was fun as our car load carried three “mature” women, a 15 year old and the co-leader.  Dan, the solitary male held his own well.

I must admit that I selpt the entire way except for some lunch at – Fat Burger – not as good as our local Burgerville.

Our team of 13 has a mean age of 22, keeping this old lady moving.  The team is a partnership of Go Connect, Passion for People and More Than Gold.

MTG is the team on the ground and has done a fantastic job of bringing people and ministries together working closely with The Salvation Army.  During the first week of the games thousands of pieces of literature werr distributed and gallons of hot chocolate and coffee.  The fruit of decisions for salvations will be fully seen in the days ahead, but the stories are exciting.

The overwhelming religion of the area is “environmentalism.”   The Apostle Paul warned us about worshipping the creation rather than the Creator and we see that here.  BUT, the games have brought the world into Vancouver and people are ready to dialogue.   We’ve heard stories about God preparing people with dreams.  I’m thrilled to see so many believers stepping out in boldness to bring the truth of God’s love in Christ.

This was just one story from my first day out yesterday.

I saw “Stephan” grimace as he stood up from his subway seat.  Despite his limp, he moved fast onto the platform and up the steps.  “Jesus could heal him” I thought to myself and tried to catch up.  Not knowing where I was going, caused me to stop and wait for the rest of my team.

Thus when I saw Stephan on the same train, I immediately approached him.

“Do you speak English?” (I’ve been in Israel too long!) I asked him.  His smile could melt ice.

“I saw you in the other train and saw that you were in pain.  I would like to pray for you because Jesus can heal your back.”

Stephan was touched and explained that he’d been working out training for the junior Olympics (Teek Wan Do) and that’s why he was hurting a bit.

The door was thus open for me to share with him a small booklet with the testimonies of other Olympic medalists who had turned to Christ.  He was thrilled with the booklet.

“You know, after you win your gold medal, your life will be empty without Christ” I said.

“That’s what my coach keeps telling me” was his response.

YES GOD!

Knowing our time was short, I asked him the “Evangelistic Explosion Diagnostic Questions….”

  • On a scale of 1-10, if you died today how certain are you that you’d go to heaven?  His answer: 6
  • Let’s say you do go to Heaven and are met by God, He willl ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?”  What will you say?  Answer…I dont’ know

I shared with Stephan the good news of the Gospel.  That through faith in Christ He is ASSURED a welcome in Heaven.  That he can say to God, “Because on the subway train on February 22, I gave my sins and my life to Christ!”

Stephan was visibly touched and kept saying, “This is so good.”

To make sure he understood, I took out the Evangecube and began to walk him through the pictoral presentation of the Gospel when suddenly we arrived at our final destination.

With a hug and the biggest smile I’d ever seen, Stephan thanked me and walked way – without a limp.

Please pray for Stephan that the seeds planted on that train will come to harvest.  It would be my desire to have our paths cross once again.  Next time I’ll get contact information immediately!

Thanks for you prayers.

Love, j

P.S. A personal plus was meeting a church elder who’d been given a copy of Celebrate Jesus!  and was anticipating my return to Vanvouver in May for a speaking tour.  She said, “The last few weeks of preparation has been just to meet you.”

This appointment was especially touching for me as I’ve begun to wonder if the book was having any real impact.  Listening to Trystan and how God is working in her heart and home church  about the Feasts was so encouraging.

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