Carinval Day

We started off today preparing for a Carnival at William Whyte school. Volunteers from SOAR have been preparing the school all week, clearing snow, setting up booths, and making sure that the Carnival was going to be the best experience possible. At twelve, volunteers began to set up the Carnival, with booths for magic, mini golf, a hockey shoot out, and also balloon animals.  Students brought groups of kids from their ministry locations to experience all the event had to offer. So often kids from the inner city of Winnipeg grow up too fast. This was an opportunity for them to be kids again. We had over 700 kids and community members from Winnipeg.

Our speaker for tonight's session was Lisa; here is a little of what she spoke about tonight:  "Loved seeing you hold their hand, watching those moments of Jesus working in you. Kids would be bouncing in the bounce houses, stop bouncing, then look around for you, look you in the eye, and keep bouncing. Those are beautiful moments, they may not seem like much, but those are powerful moments. A man was sleeping in a bus shelter, and this man was telling josh later, that at four in the morning, someone gave him a cup of coffee. He was so overjoyed at receiving this coffee, he had an enormous smile. Giving out food to someone is so significant. Jesus becomes flesh and blood and moves into the neighborhood. All of a sudden, people who didn't have access to God suddenly do. It's absolutely mind blowing that God would step down into the chaos of this world. He not only came to be our messiah and savior, but to become our friend. In the midst of the many, God sees each individual person. He loves the one so much, God desires for you to experience his love. I can get overwhelmed by the security of the issues, and it is paralyzingly sometimes. How can I make a difference in all of these issues? And then God reminds me of his love for the one and the many. The parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd leaves behind the 99 sheep to search for the one. The parable of the women and the lost coin, she searched all over her house, and when she found it she celebrated. In one moment we have the opportunity to shift the trajectory of someone's life. This week you have the opportunity to participate in those trajectory shifts because God is at work in their lives. You have two more days of ministry, and God is calling you to pour out yourself, but he is also calling us to trust him. To trust that what God is doing in people's loves is beyond anything that we can imagine. I am coming to believe that Jesus began a good work in each one of you, and God will continue to change people after we have left."

One of the many booths set up