My favorite question people ask me is, how do you know God
is calling you to go to Canada? Sometimes I start with telling them about my
call to the mission field when I was fifteen and how the Lord called me to go
to school to better prepare myself for the mission field. Although the biggest
thing I learned about the mission field is that I was already living in it. I
pass people on a daily basis that need to hear the Gospel, some whom have never
even heard the name Jesus except in a curse word. We are all living in a
mission field, but only a few are called to live cross culturally.
The most familiar command known to Christians is “Go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey all I have commanded you and I will
always be with you to the very end of the age.” However, many people do not
know the very tense of “go”. In this passage, it describes the continuous
action, “as you are going,’ and notice it didn’t say where to go. We are all
called to make disciples as we are going through life, wherever that takes us.
For some of us it is 8,000 miles away in a remote village in Africa or just
across the northern border.
Following the call I believed God laid on my heart almost
ten years ago, I have been exploring places that God could use me. When I went
to Vancouver the first time in 2015, I enjoyed exploring the city but not
prepared for the darkness I found. I left with no intention of going back,
until a friend approached me with the opportunity to return with a team.
Through prayer and lots of preparation, my team of four joined another team of
nine people in Vancouver prepared to reach out to the students on campus. Our
main objective was to “disrupt the unbelief” within the student body at the
University of British Colombia and who better to reach college students than
college students themselves!
And on that trip, walking through campus, things started
looking differently. I began to see glimmers of hope shining through our team and
through me. We were doing all the things I am passionate about: intentionally
building relationships by taking students hiking, meeting them for coffee,
cooking meals together, running to the grocery store together, and even serving
with them. I began to see where the Lord wanted me to get plugged in and how he
wanted to use me to link unlikely groups together!
When I got home, I began to ask God what he wanted me to do
about this new dream he placed in my heart. I was not actively seeking Canada,
but actively seeking the Lord and Canada kept coming up. Doors began to open,
incredible connections where being made, friends graciously encouraged me, God
kept drawing me. There is not a doubt in my mind that God is calling me to
Canada, not because he needs me there, but because he wants me to be a part of
what he is already doing!
This is where you come in my dear friend (who has made it
through reading this blog!), we were never meant to walk this journey alone. We
all have the same mission, fighting the same war. Some of us are meant to be in
the Navy or Marines, but some of us are meant to be foot soldiers. God is doing incredible things in Vancouver,
Canada, and I want to personally invite you on this mission. You can join this
mission in one or both of two ways.
- You can contribute financially, following the Lord’s guidance to the amount and frequency. I am specifically looking for monthly partners who will contribute once a month to ministry expenses necessary to stay on the field, such as housing. However, if the Lord leads you to give a one-time gift, I will graciously count you on my team! (Email me at brindleyt@hotmail.com for details on how to give.)
- You can join my team through prayer. Prayer is a supernatural way to uniquely connect the Lord with his followers. If ministry is not bathed in prayer, surrendering to God who and what he wishes, it is in vain. I am marching on the battle field and I need faithful prayer warriors to be holding the ropes as I march on. I promise you will be blessed by your faithful partnership in this!
Will you do me a favor? Would you pray about joining my
Grace Team? My Grace Team is made up of prayer and financial partners who take
the opportunity to invest and be a part of this ministry, not just giving money
toward a mission trip. I am asking you to consider being on this team as a rope
holder. Come be a part of what God is doing!
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