Equalization!!

So I managed to get through Tuesday in one piece. Tuesday is our busiest day of the week, we start off with class, then go to our MP's office, and then have Rob's class in the evening. Our morning class taught on how to interpret Parables correctly, and how not to. Richard taught us that the closest thing we have to a parable is a joke, for both of them have a punch line or point. The afternoon I went to Lynn's office and was finally able to meet her. She is a very busy woman and is straight to the point, I also found out that she is Parliamentary Secretary for Human Resources. (No wonder she is so busy!!!) Rob's class on intercession touched the topic of warfare in intercession. His three main points were: Our Authority, Keeping Alert, A Protective Barrier. I took lots of notes, but to extensive to include in one blog entry. Another interesting thing I wanted to tell you all about is that the Justice committee held a meeting to look a raising the sexual consent age, back up to 16. (it is at 14 currently) The team that has been staying here, went to the meeting to pray and one of the key leaders here in Ottawa was able to share for 10 minutes. It's not to be voted on yet, but in Parliament everything is a process. So today (Wednesday) Ken came in, and if I had to pick one of my favorite points that he said it would be this..."With the fall came curses, but also blessings." For example, death was a curse, but to live in sin for eternity would be worse, childbearing was a curse- but most women will agree that it is also a blessing. That statement seemed so profound to me and will be one I remember. (We were discussing the heart of mankind) I also went to Question Period today, everyone seemed very obnoxious, and were yelling almost steady. The opposition accuses the government of breaking its promise to Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan by putting a cap on equalization payments. (I cannot explain all of this in depth in one entry but I do have information to email you if you are interested...especially those from home) Even Saskatchewan's premier Lorne Calvert bashed the government's new budget. (email me at ricky_rayth_@hotmail.com) By the way the budget was passed, the Bloc sided with the Conservative government, it is rumored however, that threats of an election will be far greater once the House comes back from Easter holidays. (of course this is murmurings between different MP's) I went and played basketball tonight, but I played terrible so there is nothing to mention, other than the fact that I feel so sore now. I hope you have an amazing night and talk to you all tomorrow.

Erica

p.s. Robin L. you are the rockin'est personI know and now I am cooler than Amanda cuz I mentioned you in my blog!!!!

Song writing

Unfortunately, today I have nothing to write about. We made beds this morning and the team from Manitoba arrived this afternoon. We went to the House of Commons, but it was soo full we weren't able to get in. (Luckily Jill and Mark were able to) So Amanda and I came home and wrote a song that we will sing at the church in Toronto. We tried to write from the perspective of Ruth, Esther, and Mary, as well as include our feeling in it. These are the words:

For months I've prayed
I'd find favor in your eyes
As I struggled to prepare
For a life time of love with you
I lay at your feet the fragrance of my purity
I lay at your feet all I am and all that I will be

I don't understand
why you brought me here
I'm scared and want to run
But wherever you go I will go
I lay at your feet the fragrance of my destiny
I lay at your feet all I am and all that I will be

I ran to the room
your forgiveness brings me to my knees
unbridled tears at you feet
I dry them with my hair
I lay at your feet the fragrance of my worship
I lay at your feet all I am and all that I will be
Chorus:
I pour out my life as a perfume to you
Cuz I'm bringing all I am
To my Jesus......the one I love
my Jesus......the one I follow
my Jesus.....my Saviour and Friend

So we spent the night practicing the song and getting ready for Toronto. That was my Monday. Nothing to spectacular today. Have a great night everyone and I will talk to you all tomorrow.


Erica

Thursday and Friday!

Hello Everyone! Once again I apologize for not leaving an entry for Thursday. With the teams coming in now, it will be very hard to write everyday, so it may become every second day. So on Thursday we had class, and we discussed the prophetic gift in the church, and the difference between being a prophet and prophesying. In the Bible God calls us all to prophesy, but that does not mean that we were all called to be prophets. We also talked about how to hear the voice of God, in order to know when he is speaking to us. Although this is a topic everyone teaches and quite often we are all suppose to "know" how to improve, I was really struck once again. I know pastors, and teachers tell us this all the time but it really hit home this time, if we want to be able to hear God's voice more in our life, it requires the sacrifice of our time. Just like we can't know each other without time, God is no different. Then in the afternoon we made hamburgers for the mission, and I was officially taught how to barbecue. (I know embarrassing) For supper we had pizza and cake to celebrate Amanda's birthday, then they took us to the art museum. That was so amazing, we didn't have time to look at all the art, but it is a real art museum. You see, those of you who read this and aren't from Saskatchewan, we only have local artists in our art museums, not famous people. As you can all imagine, I was in total shock and excitement when I saw 2 MONET PAINTINGS!!! Real ones, not prints, it was a highlight for my LIFE! ahhaha Anyways it was a blast. Friday started with our Civics class, and we looked at each other's papers (we wrote on Prime Ministers in history) it was really neat, if you like history, to learn about the different men. (for curiosity sake, McKenzie, is a really interesting man, spiritually. Take time to read about him and the seances he had) Then we went to the East Block Chapel to pray and when we got home, Mark showed up!!!(Jill's friend) So that was exciting and a new face to torment with our jokes! This weekend will be a homework weekend because next weekend we are heading off to Toronto. So I hope you all have an amazing weekend and I will talk to you all Monday. Blessings.
Erica

Tuesday/Wednesday-sorry its late

So once again, my Internet has been having problems and I wasn't able to post an entry for last night. So Tuesday we went to our MP's offices, this afternoon was better than the last one, but I still found very little work to do. I did however get to sit with a man who was watching Question period, and he was able to explain a lot of the things that were going on. The opposition has really been using Ralph Goodale, to attack the government for its budget ideas for Saskatchewan. The thing that is really disappointing is that most people from Saskatchewan don't like Ralph, yet he is doing a lot of the speaking for the Liberal side. If you are curious what is said in the House of Commons, there is a really good sight that types up all the notes, it is the http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm/cmhansrd.htm it record everything. So after the House of Commons we came home and got ready for Rob's class. He taught on Fear versus Faith based Intercession. His main point was that in order to combat fear based intercession we need to be in the Word and know the Word, because it shows us the character of God. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." So that was Tuesday. Wednesday, we had Ken's class and he really challenged me in a particular area. He stated that, we always picture God as someone who has unconditionally love for everyone. Although He loves everyone, if He were to love everyone unconditionally we would all go to Heaven. It's an confusing topic and one that will probably offend a few people, and I am probably not explaining it very well, but if it makes you think then that is good. (another thing to chew on is, in the Bible it says God loved Jacob and hated Esau.) Yes, God is love but he is first of all light. Even in 1 John where it says that God is love, it first says that He is light and in him there is no darkness. Anyways that was a neat topic to process. We went to Question period again this afternoon and they were still debating the budget, and asking the Prime Minister to fire his Defense Minister (Gordon O'Conner) for the inaccurate comments he made. (I explained this on Monday) In the end the Prime Minister stood up and sad that Gordon had apologized and had told the House that he made the statement in good faith with the previous information he had received, so he said that he was a great minister and doing an amazing job as the Defense Minister. Then Wednesday night I went and played basketball again, except this time I scored twice!!! I hope it just keeps going up. I also got fouled and all the boys started booing the guy that fouled me, it was really funny. At least they are all really nice and keep an eye out for me. All in all, it was a great game, and a great two days. Once again I am sorry this entry is so late. Goodnight.
Erica

Monday/Lundi

Well we are back in the swing of things this week! A team just arrived from Calgary and they will be with us till Thursday morning, so this week will be a full one. The weekend went really well but I did not attend the conference, which turned out to be a total intervention. Yuanita got pneumonia while she was here and wasn't able to speak on Friday or Saturday, so the organizers were rushed in trying to come up with a back-up plan; so had I attended I think I would have been disappointed in not having the opportunity to hear her speak. We went to Parliament Hill for the first time in 2 weeks, and boy was it good to be back! I made sure I greeted all the guards that I knew (Claude is always there, he's my favorite) and we settled in to hear the debates. Today questions really targeted Gordon O'Connor (the defense minister) because he had presented information in the House of Commons that was not accurate and he apologized to the House for those comments, but they did not let up on drilling him about the mistake. As most of you know, the budget was released today and we were not able to get in unless we had special invitations. By the sounds of things, it was a good budget. There was funding available for minority groups, childcare, and newly weds. (married couples have to pay the same amount of taxes as a single person, because the government would like to honor the marriage commitment Canadians take) There was only 10 minutes for debate and it sounds like the opposition is not happy with the lack of aboriginal funding, but it won't be until Wednesday that we really get to see what has the different parties upset, so I will keep you all posted. As far as tonight was concerned, we had the opportunity to meet the team, tell them a little about ourselves and then head off to bed early for our busy day tomorrow. I hope that you all had an amazing week, and I can't wait to see you all at home again.
Erica

thursday and friday a blurr

Sorry this entry is sooo late, but last night we had a youth group spending the night and then this morning the Internet was down. Yesterday was really good, we made sandwiches in the morning, toured the Governor General's house in the afternoon, and worship with the youth at night. The group was from B.C. and they are on a missions trip with their Christian school. It was really nice to have them here because a lot of them are close to my age, and because I was raised in a small christian school too, we all really clicked and had a blast. We jammed together (worship music) and then talked about life, they also had the opportunity to ask us questions about NHOP. So that was Thursday. Today we had class this morning, Christian Ethics, and we learned that working is a way of expressing creativity and how God desires us to work. We also said goodbye to the team and got ready for the lunch with Yuanita Bynum. The good news is that many ambassadors came (Jamaica, Malaysia, etc) the bad news is that Yuanita wasn't able to make it dew to a miscommunication. So it was really hard that the guest of honor wasn't there, but God still showed up in a powerful way and blessed everyone that was there. Tonight I am going to stay home and go to bed early because I feel soo tired after this week and need to get ready for next weeks team. So I hope you all have an amazing weekend, tomorrow I am going to the conference but I will write about it on Monday. Bless ya'll!
Erica

Wednesday-BBALL!!!

Ken is back so we had another wonderful class time. He really challenged me on some of my own doctrines, and although it sucks because you have to rethink them, he really causes you to develop a strong theology to why you believe what you do. (He challenged me on the subject of healing, and how we claim that healing) I am still confused partly, you see Ken uses such majestic words that I sometimes get lost, but he has made me think, and I will have it figured out soon. So this afternoon we were suppose to go for a prayer walk but it is raining. YES I SAID RAINING!!! It is soooo beautiful out today, it's really cloudy but the humidity is like....Florida, if you have been to Florida its that real think musty, warm air. I loved it! Light jackets and almost all the snow is gone and it has only been 2 days. (For those of you who don't know, Saskatchewan stays super cold for a long time, and is always really really dry, we never have humidity, thus my excitement) So instead of a walk we did databases for NHOP. Then tonight I played basketball again. This game I played so much better, and I actually scored!!! I even scored over a big tall black guy and when the ball went in all 30 guys stopped talking, cheered, clapped, and then laughed in total unbelief. They were such good sports, they all shook my hand and congratulated me. Who knows, by the end of the 3 months, I could be running, jumping, and shooting like a black guy. That would be soo amazing if I could learn that. There is this one guy there, he's got to be 6'6" and when he lifts his arms he can touch the rim, anyways I am always on his team. (I think its because I am the shortest) So I believe his name is Abu, or something like that, and he can't speak English, but he is sooo sweet. I think he communicates to me more that all the rest. He is always motioning at me, giving me a high-five, or catching my eye when he wants me to do something. The only word he seems to know is SHOOT!! he is always yelling at me to shoot. So it was a really fun night, I just love basketball, and every week will get better. You all have a good night, and for those of you back home, wear lots of blankies because I know how cold it is there. hahaha

Erica

Long weekend, sorry

Well after this weekend I totally forgot to write an entry for Monday, sorry about that. So I guess toady's will include a lot of things that happened the last couple of days. So this weekend I went to a concert, Saturday night, done by the band Leeland, who is led by an 18 year old who is still in high school. I was so impressed with him, he led worship on his knees, with tears, from the guitar, and the piano, God is so apparent in his life even at his young age. So that night was really amazing to be apart of. On Sunday we went to a French church that has a lot of youth that are involved at a city level as well as nationally. I love the french churches, they are a lot more blunt than the English about how they are feeling or what they are struggling with. It was almost awkward at some points to be sitting there, yet it was also very refreshing to see their complete honesty. So I was able to meet some of the youth and we all went out for lunch and are planning on hanging out whenever we have some free time. They will also be at the conference this weekend, (Yuanita Bynum) so we will see them a lot of different places. On Monday we did office work all day, and then had fireside in the evening, so it wasn't to crazy. Today I had class with Richard and we learned about Narratives again and how to read them properly, for example, how to use Acts and how not to use it. Then this afternoon I went to work for my M.P. it was challenging today because the secretary was so busy that she didn't have time to explain things. I know it will get better though. Rob's class on intercession taught us how to wrestle with God in prayer. Rob encouraged us, that when we are asking or believing for something, we need to bug God constantly, never leaving him alone. Like Jacob held on for his blessing, so will we fight for ours. He also taught us how to argue with God, like Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah.

We have to search our motives- God's will

We have to speak God's word back to him- as David did, reminding Him of His promises

Calling on God's compassion- like Abraham asked for God's mercy instead of judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah

We have to honor the name of the Lord

And Plead the blood of Jesus- His blood covers all

I found this lesson really enlightening, especially if you are believing God for something in your life. Well I am off to bed but I will make sure I write an article tomorrow, and I wont forget this time. Goodnight everyone.

Erica

Spiritual Giftings

Well this morning classes were cut in half because we were trying to get in yesterday mornings class in as well. So for the first part of the morning we discussed the Supreme Court and then the second part of the class was a spiritual gifting test. It was really neat to learn what strengths and weaknesses each other had. If you are interested in doing the quiz the address is www.buildingchurch.net then click on the gifted 2 serve on the left hand side and scroll to the bottom of the page, the quiz is the first link. While we were discussing gifts, the topic of churches came up. We talked about how some churches are really gifted in teaching, or evangelism and that if we weren't so insecure about loosing sheep or sheep stealing the church as a body could be really complete. For example, churches who are gifted in evangelism will be great for getting members but not necessarily keeping them, they will need to point their members to a church who is more gifted in teaching or intercession. If we could circulate members from church to church we would have an amazing 5 fold ministry. So after this discussion we ate lunch, then went to the East Block Chapel to pray. All of us felt pretty heavy today but apparently that happens when you are praying at a government level, and it doesn't help that the sun hasn't been out lately. So with heavy hearts we prayed but I know tomorrow we will feel better. Tonight we are watching my favorite movie and just laying low, so that will be nice. Saturday night we are going to the Leeland concert, so a great weekend is planned. I hope the same for all of you . Talk to you Monday.
Erica

Tours

This morning was spent making sandwiches for Capital City Mission, so that this afternoon could be spent at the supreme court. Not many people are aware of the supreme court, or have ever taken a tour. It is a very majestic looking building, and looks as if it was taken right from London. We were able to meet the only christian lawyer working in the supreme court, and she was able to tell us about her job. She works for the judges on recommendations, reasons as to why a case should be seen, or why it should be overlooked. The really neat thing about her job, is that if case contradicts her morals, all she has to do is give reasonable facts that support why the case should not enter the supreme court. (She can't say anything about it morally being wrong, she has to have real hard material) I thought that would be a much better job than being a lawyer, because you don't have to support something you don't agree with. So after our tour we went the the Museum of Civilization. While we were there we came to the coolest exhibit. It was our Canadian history from the explorers time and it was set up with little houses and cars. When we first entered the display the sky was blue and there was a breeze so that it felt and looked like you were outside on a summer evening. It was a blast. We took many pictures and I will try to post some for you over the next couple of days. We also went to the Imax to see a film about sky diving, and base jumping. It was so real, sometimes we got dizzy, and sometimes we were falling, it was a riot, except I don't think Richard liked it because when I looked at him he had his eyes closed. Well after a long day I am off to bed. Tomorrow is Friday!!!
Erica

Black Basketball

Hello everyone! So today we had Ken Hall's class but he is in Medicine Hat for a Watchmen leadership conference, so Rob taught us. We didn't get very far, but the neat thing about Rob is that he totally offends the mind, and goes straight to the heart. For those of us who know him it was good, but I think some of the other students were really caught off guard. It will be nice to have Ken come back because he is such a gracious man, he focuses a lot on knowledge, but he has this incredible heart that quietly seeps out throuhg his teaching. After class we decided we were going to have a homework day, because parliament is closed, I have almost completed my essay on Louis St. Laurent. Tonight was amazing though. I went and played basketball, and it was all of my worst fears in one building. I was the only white girl, and there was only one other white guy, in a sea of about 20 black guys. Most of them were fast, could slam dunk, and they all spoke french!!!! I almost chickened out and went home but a nice young black guy came and invited me to play, they were really good sports, but I have to step up my game. Needless to say it was a very interesting experience, especially because half the time I didn't have a clue what was going on, it did feel really good to run though. The best story of the night, by far, was one of the guys was wearing really baggy shorts and he jumped up to shoot, and his shorts fell down. I saw the first naked black bum ever...it was so embarrassing, but extremely funny. Well I am watching a movie now, so I will talk to everyone tomorrow.
Erica

MP Tuesday

Good Morning on another chilly Tuesday morning. We started the day with class where we learned about narrative books of the Bible. (Ester, Ruth, etc) We were taught that often when someone is speaking on one of these books they attempt to teach you a moral lesson, or allegory (usually myths, or stories made to symbolize things they don't) Although quite often we can learn a moral lesson for these stories, they were not written for that purpose. We have to remember that when reading a narrative the protagonist is God, the antagonist Satan. All narratives were written to glorify God and show his character, that is why they are historical accounts and need to be recognized as that. We can use this concept on other events in history, like Hitler. The story of Hitler and the Jews is told so that we can understand how WWII started and ended. Although a moral lesson can be taught, the story is not told for that primary reason. So after class we headed out to our MP's offices. I am working for Lynne Yelich and right now she is in Saskatoon, which made me a little homesick. I wasn't able to meet her but had the privilege of meeting her secretaries. We spent most of the time talking about politics, religion, and the purpose of the National House of Prayer, next week there will be more working. Then we had Rob's class at 7:00 tonight. He taught on corporate intercession and why it is a benefit to pray in groups. Rob said that often God deals with us corporately and we need to walk in authority to pray corporately. (ex: he deals with our cities, Abraham interceded for a city) We also learned what to watch out for in corporate prayer, things like:

Spectators- we need to get everyone involved
Preparing our hearts- through worship, or silence-don't be afraid of silence
Laying down our personal agendas and titles
Corporate hearing and discerning- increases our authority, mentors other intercessors etc.
Walking together- holding each other accountable, not getting of track of the topic and if we do being corrected.

It was a very interesting class and good for a lot of the church leaders that take the class with us to hear. So now I am off to bed, early, because I am getting tired lately with all the things we are learning. But tomorrow promises to be a good day, because I am going to go play basketball....YAY!!(I really like basketball for all those who don't know) So have a goodnight and I will talk to you tomorrow.
Erica

Cold Morning

Hello and good morning on this wonderfully, cold, Monday morning. I hope that you all had an amazing weekend, (and sorry about Fridays blog, it didn't publish) Today we started first with devotions and then began our usually Monday chores. I cleaned out the kitchen fridges, and then BAKED rice crispy squares. (for those of you who don't know me, I can't cook, and as easy as it is to make rice crispy, I was thoroughly pleased with myself.) After lunch we went to Parliament Hill for a tour (the House of Commons, and Senate, are on holidays for 2 weeks) it was really neat to finally see the different artwork and stories behind the building. We also took a trip up to the top of the peace tower and I met a police officer who had trained in Regina. We joked about how flat it is and thanks to Corner Gas, everyone knows about Saskatchewan. So after we left the Hill we came home to do some homework and then get ready for Fireside. Fran was up to share her story. she talked about how she became a christian and how the two of them started their path towards ministry. So all in all it was a really relaxing day and a greatappreciated to this week. Tomorrow I start working at Lynne Yelich's office so I will hopefully have some interesting stories for everyone. Take care and have a great night.
Erica

Fireside

Richard taught our Spiritual Direction class this morning and we continued our study of spiritual discipline. We focused on the Outward disciplines like simplicity, solitude, submission, and service. As well as corporate disciplines like confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. Now my favorite outward discipline was solitude because of this quote, "Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech,it always involves the act of listening." That quote totally clicked because if you think about life, whenever we are silent we are listening, for instance right now I am quiet but I can hear the hockey players outside hitting their pucks. My favorite corporate discipline is the act of confession. I think we feel that if we confess to Christ that's all we need to do. We also have to remember to repent to those we offended and sometimes it helps to confess to those in leadership. Often times there comes a major healing when we confess to people in authority. So it was a pretty "hevy, revy" class but a really good one. This afternoon we made sandwiches again for the local ministry and then we had Fireside. Today's guest came from Watchmen for the Nations and is a woman who has a real heart for Israel. She shared her stories, and how God really has developed her heart for His people. It was really neat to hear her speak because she has such a passion that she can't help but pass on God's heart for Israel. It was a really amazing night. Well I am off to bed now, and we are all preparing for a snow storm, so we may not be heading up to Parliament Hill tomorrow. I will let you all know what happens on Friday. Have a great night.
Erica