Two of Our Favorite Things...

What could be better than Glee and Christmas?! That's right...virtually nothing!

Since it is December 1, we decided we could bust out the Christmas Tunes! Enjoy from everyone at Street Invaders!

Regina Retreat...and a NEW Contest!

I'm here at Regina Retreat! It has been an absolute blast! God is already showing up and it is only the first day! The worship has been awesome, Phil Collins is funny and insightful as always, and the activities are off the hook! Oh, and did I mention the food? Yum!

This year's theme is UNSHAKEN - This idea of living life in God, the only thing that is solid, unchanging, and unshakable...even when everything around us gets crazy. Good truth!
Anyway, since not all of you will be here to catch this announcement, I wanted to give you some info on a brand new contest that kicks off RIGHT NOW!
Do you want an opportunity to win a
$100 iTunes Gift Card?!
Yeah, we thought you would! Here’s how to win!


 


1) Visit www.streetinvadersblog.blogspot.com (You're already here!)
2) Click “Follow” (This way you’ll get updates from us and stay in the loop)
3) E-mail brenden@streetinvaders.ca with a list of five friend’s names and mailing addresses who have never been to Street Invaders, but who are interested in learning more about the program.
Contest open until November 30, 2010
Rules:
- To be eligible to enter, students must have attended Street Invaders in the past
- You must follow the blog and have submitted the names and addresses of your friends by e-mail on or before November 30, 2010 at midnight.
- Apostolic Youth Ministries International (AYMI) reserves the right to make the final decision in all matters.
- Prizes must be accepted as awarded.
- We thank all participants for their interest, but only the winner will be contacted via e-mail upon winning.
- Street Invaders reserves the right to publish the name and photo of the winner in promotional material to be used solely for the use of AYMI.

Looking for Fun?

Quick Note:
If you're thinking you're going to be bored next weekend (November 18-20), why don't you swing by College Experience Weekend at Eston College. It's a great opportunity to experience college life, sit in on some classes, worship with the students in chapel, and get a glimpse of dorm life. Best of all, it's completely FREE. You just have to get there! Check out www.estoncollege.ca for all the details.
Grab your friends, plan a road trip! See you there!!!

Introductions...

Thanks for the amazing introduction Kirstie! It seems as though now would be an appropriate time for me to share some thoughts with you. They will be brief, but I hope that they allow you to get to know me a bit better.

I am currently in my sophomore year at Eston College. My journey here has been a grand one. I have learned so much about the Bible, about myself, about others, and how all of these things work together to make a great disciple of Jesus. Having five years of Street Invaders under my belt before arriving here, I feel as though many of lessons and experiences that I've had on my teams have served to help prepare me for what I'm experiencing here.

Your experience at Street Invaders this summer is probably fading a bit in your mind. I can imagine that the craziness of school is beginning to take over and that you are busy thinking about the extra things that fill our lives up so easily. Can I encourage you to take a deep breath? Feel better? Now, think about all the ways you heard God speak this summer. Think about the things that you thought, “Hey, I want to do better at that this year.” How are you doing with those things? This isn’t meant to be a guilt trip, it is simply meant to give you a moment or two to reflect and ponder how you are doing. Now that you have given some thought to those things, are there some things you would like to take a fresh start on? Maybe you want to spend a few extra minutes in prayer or pick up your Bible more consistently; maybe you want to encourage a different person each day or focus on telling people in your school about Jesus. Whatever it is, I dare you to think about it throughout your day and ask the Lord how you can accomplish that vision together. I guarantee that He will have some thoughts for you.

As always, Street Invaders loves hearing from you. We really start to miss you once the summer rush ends and we have to wait all year again to see you. A phone call or an e-mail from you is a precious commodity! Let us know how we can pray for you, support you, or help you make a difference where you are right now! E-mail brenden@streetinvaders.ca or give us a shout at 1.877.356.0707. I am signing off for now, but we’ll chat again real soon. I promise.

The Transfer!

Hey Everyone!

The school year has started and the summer is drifting into a memory but the work of the Lord carries on. My time with AYMI has ended for the year, but Brenden will be carrying on the blog and all the other modes of AYMI contact - the twitter, facebook, and blog. I might sneak in a word here and there because we both go to Eston College.

As always, God is still in control and is teaching me so much about Him and about His Word. I've been sitting in classes that are lead by great profs, engaging in amazing times of worship, and having a blast in the dorms with my friends. I'm not sure what the future holds for me, but I know that He has everything under control. One of the most overwhelming thoughts of late has been what a privilege it is to be an ambassador for Christ to the world. Jesus trusts us so much in order to let us be the ones that show His love to the people around us!

Well my friends... Though Brenden is taking over the contact end of things on behalf of Street Invaders know that I'm only a text, call, or message away. Hopefully I will see you next summer at Street Invaders!

Summer Skin.

Well, my whirl wind summer of adventures with Street Invaders has come to an end.
The beauty of this however, is that our God is adventurous. He didn't take us through 3 weeks (or in my case 5 weeks) of crazy fun Kingdom things for nothing. Everything we learn in Him has a purpose and is meant to be shared - and I don't mean just when your youth pastor asks you to talk about it in youth group. I mean whenever someone asks you about your summer you have the opportunity to brag about God and glorify his name!

A couple days after Street Invaders ended in Saskatchewan I noticed a note that Jordan Duncan (another Team Leader) had posted on Facebook. I wanted to relay it to those that might read this... so here it goes!

Hey Friends, I miss being with you all like mad.

Something neat just happened to me and I wanted to let you know because it was very encouraging for me. (and if you can think of someone I didn't tag whom this would be encouraging to, then tag them or send it to them as well)

I am stuck in Regina for couple of days and I decided to see if Adam Frost was around to go for lunch today. He was, and we ended up going to the food court in the mall downtown. After we ate and walked around for a while, we randomly ended up outside, just walking around downtown. We weren't trying to get anywhere, we were just walking and talking and eventually we ended up in Victoria Park which we had both come to previously with our Street Invaders teams to do park ministry. As soon as we started walking into the park, I felt like God probably was up to something. But I was trying to ignore that feeling. I thought: Street Invaders is done for crying out loud! I am on vacation, no stress! I don't want to have to talk to strangers about Jesus!! (horrible, I know) But I thought maybe I could get out of going to Ninevah... at least while i'm on holidays. God had other plans.

Within 30 seconds of being in the park a man named Peter stopped us and asked if we had any money for coffee. Strange thing to ask for, but immediately I felt like this was the entire reason we ended up in the park, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. So I gave him a couple of bucks and started asking him about what he was doing, where he was from, what he wanted to do with his life... etc. After of only a couple minutes of talking to him he looked like he was a little uncomfortable with all the questions and wanted to leave. Before he could escape I thought we should pray for him. So I asked if that would be okay and I think he was a little taken aback at first, but then seemed very appreciative and asked where we went to church, so I told him where the Ap was. Then Adam and I prayed for him and he went on his way.

Maybe somewhat of an anti-climactic story... he didn't get saved or healed, however, I think God was doing something important to Adam and I. I feel now like what we had gotten used to doing on Street Invaders was able to break out of the container of Street Invaders. The boldness we had while on SI is now no longer restricted to just the three weeks of the year that SI goes on for.... which is kinda the entire point of SI in the first place!

SO, I would encourage you to keep your eyes and ears open to what the Lord may be speaking to you. Do not be surprised if you find him asking you to repeat the sorts of things you did on SI.... In fact, I would be surprised if you find he is NOT asking you to practice what you have learned. And I would encourage you to just do it!! I did not feel like talking to anyone at all, I felt like it was going to be way harder because my team wasn't there for support.... guess what? It was God supporting me in the first place, my team may have left, but God was still there for me.

So yea, get out there, do what you have learned to do. The Lord's not done using us. If you feel bored, or lonely because street invaders is over.... get off your butt and go evangelize!! You'll make some new friends hah! Or read your Bible, Pray. Man. Do whatever, just do something. God is still just as good and just as active as he was a couple days ago.

Jordan Duncan.

After this summer I know that I've been undeniably changed.
It's been a summer of laughter, love, and God serving and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

God has been talking to me about living in anticipation and expectation rather than with apprehension of what is coming next. As silly as this may be, God got the point across to me with a song called "Just Around the River Bend." It's from the movie Pocahontas, and though I disagree with some stuff in that movie, there were some lyrics that God caught my heart with...

I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Somewhere past the sea
Don't know what for ...
Why do all my dreams extend
Just around the riverbend...

Should I choose the smoothest curve
Steady as the beating drum? ...
Is all my dreaming at an end?
Or do you still wait for me, Dream Giver
Just around the riverbend?

I had never thought of God as the 'Dream Giver'. Yet he is.
Live knowing that the next step God has planned is for your benefit.
You don't have to dread what he's going to ask you to do next, because he's got your back.
Everything he asks you to do is to refine you, to encourage you, to stretch you, and to make you into a man or woman that looks more and more like Christ.

I can't wait to see what God has for us to do this year.

(p.s. The painting was eventually finished and I was hoping to share it with all of you)

Street Invaders BC edition!

20 hours of driving (not including city driving)
16 students
4 team leaders and
2 ferries

equals one ridiculous adventure.

I got home at about 2 am on Monday from our BC program... wow.

Brenden and I led a team to Sidney, BC with a trusty team of Jesus followers. We had 4 young men and 4 young women on our team. After 5 intense days of Boot Camp we took of to the thriving metropolis of Sidney... okay, that might be a little big of an exaggeration. The small city of Sidney is populated with many sweet old ladies and located right on the ocean - hence its slogan "Sidney by the Sea". We did a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for 3-12 yr olds every morning during the week and then spent our afternoons and evenings either out on the streets of Sidney spreadin' the love of Jesus or at youth drop-in nights at the church that was hosting us.

One of the coolest things was seeing our team learning to listen to God's voice. On our last full day there we had asked the Lord to split us into teams and tell us what to do for the day. The group that God put me with was two young guys. We felt like we were supposed to do lots of different things when we asked God what to do... so we wrote them down and went for it! One of the things on the list was to help people. So while we were walking looking for opportunities to do the things God asked us to we saw a woman working on her garden, so we went to ask if we could help. She said that she didn't need any help but was totally willing to stand and chat for a bit. After a little bit we mentioned that we're Christians and learned that she was one as well. We asked if we could pray for her and she told us that her husband isn't saved, so we were about to start praying when he pulled in the driveway. She asked us to "pray in our hearts" as it was kind of an awkward situation for him to walk in on. So we bid her farewell and as we walked away we saw him and one of the boys said to me, "I saw him! I think I saw him in my prayers! His face!" He was so excited.

(a photo of the BC team leaders... and Adam.)

God can move so miraculously when we let him. Every now and then I'm hit with the realization that we don't give Christ the wheel often enough. How many times have I tried to drive my life? How many times have my actions made it obvious that I think I have a better plan than Christ? Too many.

All of that said, tomorrow I leave for the Boot Camp in Saskatchewan. HOLLA. I'm looking forward to the amazing things God is going to do across this country this summer as we submit to Him!

Livin' the dream.