2018 – July
A Message from Randy
Each year I plant a garden, and by July everything is in full bloom and it’s beautiful! Nature is a great illustration of how God works in our lives.
Summertime is such a fun time of year in the Okanagan, but people without homes still struggle during this time. As you enjoy the season, please remember those in need. Someone like Clyde, whose story is a reminder of how God uses each of us to impact the lives of people around us.
We’re celebrating 40 years as a Mission this year. What a privilege it is to see the good work that God continues to do through Kelowna’s Gospel Mission!
Blessings,
The Power of Prayer
After taking a course about learning to hear God, Bev, a Kelowna’s Gospel Mission volunteer, began practicing the discipline of listening. In the weeks that followed, she kept hearing the idea to do a prayer walk downtown around the Mission. This was outside of her comfort zone, but she organized it.
When the day arrived on the first Sunday in January, six people showed up. As they walked and prayed, they felt called to specifically pray for those dealing drugs on Leon Avenue.
Weeks later, when Bev was leading a table at Alpha, she noticed two guys sitting by themselves, and invited them to join her table. One of those guys was Clyde. He came to Alpha after attending Trinity and hearing it was a course that might answer some of his questions about God.
It wasn’t long before Clyde grew in his understanding of God and surrendered his life to Him. Until the first weeks of January, Clyde had been dealing drugs on Leon, when he felt an overwhelming need to seek help.
That’s when Clyde walked into the Mission and told one of the staff, Terra, that he wanted to break free from his destructive behaviours. Terra connected him to Freedom’s Door, a faith-based recovery program, and it was a few guys from that group that took him to the church service that brought him to Alpha.
Before showing up at the Mission, Clyde was exhausted and at his wit’s end. Thanks to the support of Kelowna’s Gospel Mission staff, Freedom’s Door, Alpha, Bev’s prayer walk, and gifts like yours making all of this possible, Clyde has now been able to see transformation in his life.
“The morning I went to recovery, I got rid of all my drug paraphernalia. I haven’t used since,” Clyde says. “I have been happy.” After attending recovery, he has never been the same.
Terra says that Clyde is someone with a lot of integrity. He doesn’t play games, he has character, and he is honest about where he is. Even local police who had previously arrested him celebrated his graduation!
Clyde continues to work on making positive improvements in his life. “I have not been myself for my whole life so I’m still figuring that out. I actually have a future now and it looks bright.”
