Not Afraid, Not Alone

I have a heart for inner city kids, when I was in college doing my education degree (I had to leave during the recession), my first practicum was at an inner city school. A lot of the kids come from broken homes, a number don't know their moms/dads, or barely know them. They don't have any positive influence in their lives, and some make bad choice, either for attention, or the impression they've been left with. It breaks my heart on a daily basis seeing kids go through this. My eyes are not dry, my heart is definitely broken, my emotions run wild, my passion flares up, and I get raw and down to the point with this. These kids need someone, they need hope, and a light in their life. They don't need punishment, or this reform school garbage. They need love, because they ain't gettin it any where else. They end up going to the wrong places looking for acceptance, for love, for some fake level of 'you did alright'. There is an attack on our Youth today, turning them into lifeless zombies drifting through life, numb and cold. Things need to change. Please help me; help me spread hope. Help me bring life to young men and women who feel their life deep down, means nothing. Help me, make a difference. 

**I wrote the words previous, and following this in raw aggression and desire for a change. Everything I say is real, pass it on.

When I slip into ignorance, complacancy surrounding me
I go numb, don't know what's goin on.
Ignorance is bliss, can I keep living like this?

When I see the hurt, when I see the pain
I know there's a God, he couldn't be more real to me
Cuz I know that when there's pain in the night, Joy comes in the morning
There is a hope, I'm not afraid, I'm not alone, I'm not afraid, not alone.

In the pain and the suffering, I know what hope will bring
I'm not alone, I'm not afraid.
I got the Lord Almighty by my side.
I'm not alone, not afraid.

Though the world is dark, cold, falling apart,
Here in His presence, He comforts me.
No mourning in Heaven, He'll wipe away my tears
I will rejoice, I will rejoice
I'm not afraid, I'm not alone.

Updates and Such

So it's been a few weeks (oops), I was at another Youth Camp, this time at Whispering Pines just outside of Medicine Hat, AB.  It was a great week and I saw the kids grow so much over that week and even saw the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in their lives (Mad props to God).

So I get back from camp and find my life in a slight uproar, while I was gone my Employment Inusrance Benefits ran out, thus leaving me with absolutely no income.  Want a stressful situation? Go through that while having the bank, etc. calling you for money.  STREEESSSSS!!!

But anyways, I sit down with my pastor/good friend, to mull over things, plan, and so on.  We end up scoring me a car for $1.00 (yes, One dollar, you read that right).  Thus I score a job as a delivery driver (for no less my favourite pizza place).  Now, what would life be without a curve ball (or two?), for my job I require commerical insurance, an extra $500 a year (ouch, I know), I know people that pay not much more than that for their insurance, and that's how much extra I have to pay.  On top of that, for it to be road worthy it needed a decent chunk of work.  Now for those wondering what car it is, it was a 1996 Geo Metro , now if it looked like this I would be COMPLETELY fine with it, however it looks like this

The story does not end here!! I drop it off at my church, I get a call asking what all the issues are and get told to drop off the list.  (Excuse that fragmented, messed up sentence thing).  So after dropping off that list of needed repairs, I get another call, everything is fixed!  For a grand total cost of, ZERO DOLLARS!  Why? Because we sat, prayed, planned, and followed God.  


Moral of this story: Trust in God, He has a plan, and it's better than any silly little idea we may have.  It may not be the prettiest car, or the fastest car, but God will used a rusty old lemon easier than a pimped out Mercedez (not knocking on you Mercedez owners).  


Do I car that my car isn't super awesome? Not really.
Do I plan on upgrading some day? Yeah, when I can actually afford it.
Am I content with how things worked out in a period of like two days? Definitely.


Don't be afraid to email prayer requests to amarks@live.ca

A Recent Testimony

So, today I was having a conversation with a young man from the youth group I volunteer at.  It began the usual way with, "Hey, what's up?" and so on.  Soon it turned to me asking what he was up to, and his response of, listenin to some tunes, about to grab my bible and do some reading.  So I proceeded to ask, which book of the Bible?  He said about to start reading in Isaiah, I assumed he meant Isaiah 1.  In fact, he had worked through Isaiah and was reading the last chapter, 65.  At this point he will be beginning on Jeremiah.  What blows my mind even further, this young man, isn't even 16 years old.
The fact of getting to see God work in his life, defeating drugs, depression, just leaves me in awe.  This just proves, that God's word does not come back void. I felt I should just share this little testimony, and I've always shared a link to a personal favourite worship song of both the young man and myself.
How He Loves-John Mark McMillan ,
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Hope this encourages any who read this in your faith.
~Andrew