Bula Vi Naka and Kia ora!
In other words, hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about what I have been doing over these past 5 months. God has continually been showing me more about his personality and more about areas in my own life that have needed work. It has been a very interesting and very exciting past few months here on outreach.
Just a little overview about the past two months
The first month was spent in Fiji where we were working with a C3 Church doing various types of ministries. The main focus of this time was to really love on a poor housing group just outside of Latouka city. This was really neat, we didn’t go there shoving the gospel down their throats but it was evident that there was something different about us and how we were doing things. People started to take notice of the work we were doing and by the end of the kid’s camp we held on the second week everyone was welcoming us into their homes. It was neat to see the hospitality and selflessness of the Fijian people and it challenged me over and over again on how my attitude was and how selfish my thinking was. For these people to have next to nothing and still be willing to open their doors and insist on feeding the group of us was incredible. Those of you who remember the Mexico trip our youth group went on it was a similar experience to that- the way the poor people just gave everything, not caring about where there next meal is going to come from but just giving for the fact of giving and blessing people. Amazing.
All in all Fiji was a good, stretching experience full of ups and downs and through it all I saw God moving in an amazing way.
Now onto New Zealand..... Where to begin. New Zealand was awesome. The different aspects of the outreach in New Zealand were right up my alley. I was confronted with questions that made me think about what I believe. I was able to share the hope that I receive from Christ with a bunch of people from all different backgrounds. I was able to write and perform a drama for a kids week which I loved doing. So many different opportunities God opened up for us in New Zealand and I was really encouraged to see God working in all of the different things that we did.
My outreach was an incredible, lifetime experience that I would not trade for the world. God continued to stretch and grow me daily and I was forced to really find and stand firm in the Truth. I know that without God’s provision, all of your prayers and support, that my last five months would not have been possible. I thank God everyday for my family, friends, church and youth group (special shout out to you guys! You’re all freaking sweet and I look forward to hanging out, thanks for the prayers! :D). You all have been such a great support system for me as I have grown up- I cannot express how thankful I am.
I look forward to seeing you all shortly!
God Bless!
Brendan McCaskell
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
Last Post from New Zealand
Hello from New Zealand for the last time!
This will be my last update before I am off to Fiji. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to update everyone as much as I would like, it’s just that things here have started to get really busy these last few weeks.
Alright, so what have I been up too? Well for starters we have been doing a lot of preparation for outreach. We’ve had a ton of meetings in our outreach groups just preparing a bunch of skits and songs to do while were in Fiji.
I am sorry this message is so short but I am leaving tomorrow so I need to finish up some things here first. Thanks for all your prayers and support! If you could just pray that God would do great things through and for us to be able to go and boldly proclaim the name of Christ!
Thanks so much!
Love you all, Brendan
This will be my last update before I am off to Fiji. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to update everyone as much as I would like, it’s just that things here have started to get really busy these last few weeks.
Alright, so what have I been up too? Well for starters we have been doing a lot of preparation for outreach. We’ve had a ton of meetings in our outreach groups just preparing a bunch of skits and songs to do while were in Fiji.
I am sorry this message is so short but I am leaving tomorrow so I need to finish up some things here first. Thanks for all your prayers and support! If you could just pray that God would do great things through and for us to be able to go and boldly proclaim the name of Christ!
Thanks so much!
Love you all, Brendan
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Updater
Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t posted anything I have been up for a while. It’s been a pretty interesting 2 weeks here at New Zealand so I’ll share some things that I have been up to.
First off, last week we found out our outreach teams. My outreach is broken up into two different parts; the first four weeks is spent in Fiji and the remaining four are spent in different areas around New Zealand. In Fiji we will be working with a local pastor there doing stuff with the church and community... I forget the name of the specific city we are at but apparently it has been westernized a fair bit, but the citizens still hold on strongly to their culture. A large majority of the stuff we are doing in Fiji will be with the local youth group and the church, as well as sharing the hope that is found in Christ (: with the local community were in. We may also visit a very traditional village during our time in Fiji in which they are almost “stuck” in the past- that could be interesting.
After the four weeks we spend in Fiji we will be flying back to New Zealand where we will be attending a festival of sorts. When we arrive back in New Zealand it will be their ‘spring break’ and there is a massive party where a lot of people go and just get totally smashed for the entire week. Our outreach group is teaming up with a group of people who set up an area in the middle of this festival where people can go and get away from the stuff that is going on. After this week, we will be heading up north of Auckland and helping out with a church there for the last 3 weeks.
That’s a very brief explanation of what I will be up to for the outreach part and I am looking forward to it. Over these last few weeks I have learnt a lot about the character of who God is and some of the ways he works. These ways are not always evident at first, but looking back you can see God working quite a bit.
Well Sorry I couldn’t write more but I would just like to thank everyone back home just for all your prayers and support, there is no way I would be here without you, so thank you very, very much! I am realizing just how good my family (church family included) and friends are.
Brendan
First off, last week we found out our outreach teams. My outreach is broken up into two different parts; the first four weeks is spent in Fiji and the remaining four are spent in different areas around New Zealand. In Fiji we will be working with a local pastor there doing stuff with the church and community... I forget the name of the specific city we are at but apparently it has been westernized a fair bit, but the citizens still hold on strongly to their culture. A large majority of the stuff we are doing in Fiji will be with the local youth group and the church, as well as sharing the hope that is found in Christ (: with the local community were in. We may also visit a very traditional village during our time in Fiji in which they are almost “stuck” in the past- that could be interesting.
After the four weeks we spend in Fiji we will be flying back to New Zealand where we will be attending a festival of sorts. When we arrive back in New Zealand it will be their ‘spring break’ and there is a massive party where a lot of people go and just get totally smashed for the entire week. Our outreach group is teaming up with a group of people who set up an area in the middle of this festival where people can go and get away from the stuff that is going on. After this week, we will be heading up north of Auckland and helping out with a church there for the last 3 weeks.
That’s a very brief explanation of what I will be up to for the outreach part and I am looking forward to it. Over these last few weeks I have learnt a lot about the character of who God is and some of the ways he works. These ways are not always evident at first, but looking back you can see God working quite a bit.
Well Sorry I couldn’t write more but I would just like to thank everyone back home just for all your prayers and support, there is no way I would be here without you, so thank you very, very much! I am realizing just how good my family (church family included) and friends are.
Brendan
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Hope
I had a tough week last week. Now it wasn’t because I woke up and remembered I was 15000 km from home, or that it was at the ungodly hour of 6:30. No, these weren’t the reasons. I had a tough week because I had just realized on me how messed up our world was. Ok, let me explain.
After living in a bubble here at YWAM for roughly 6 weeks you begin to forget how terrible the world actually is. You don’t think about the recent tsunami in Samoa. Sure, you pray for it and all but the realness of it doesn’t sink in. The trials I face here at Crystal Springs are minimal. I sometimes get angry at my roommate because he doesn’t go to sleep until midnight, but really, this isn’t the end of the world.
On Tuesday night it was different. We had just finished singing some praise and worship and had listened to the speakers. The speakers for the week were the Whittles. Yes, the Whittles. After the Whittles had finished they gave everyone a chance to come up to the front and receive prayer. Now I am going to be honest. The first thought that went through my mind was, “I am tired, want to go to bed and what is the point of people going up to the front to just to end up crying.” I guess I was a bit cynical- not good.
I was sitting near the back and watching lots of the people from my DTS go up to the front, a lot of them ended up crying- especially the girls. And out of nowhere this thought comes into my head, “what’s the point.” This was the beginning of my tough week. I let this thought linger a little too long and wondered how many of the people being prayed for are going to go back into their old lives filled with the filth that they came here to escape. I began to vent to the guy I was sitting with. He was great. He just sat there listening to my nonsense and was paying attention to the junk I was saying. I was not so much fed up with what we were doing; I was more fed up with the state in which our world has come and how it is incredibly hard to hold onto this hope we have.
Jesus once told a story of a farmer who had planted some new seed. Some of this seed got eaten up by the birds. Some of it sprang up quickly but then got scorched in the sun because of their lack of roots. The rest was planted in good soil and produced a good crop. Emotional experiences are great. They help us feel the presence of God in a real way. At times I find myself longing for these experiences at times, especially at camp or a youth retreat. Then I find myself not “liking” God unless I am in one of these emotional “highs”. My plant just got scorched. I have no roots, nothing to sustain me. It’s when we have discipleship and a regular time in God’s word that we develop roots in our relationship with God. Then we are able to enjoy the emotional highs and recognize that our relationship with our Saviour is more than just a feeling.
More than a feeling. This was burning in my head when I went to the front to receive prayer from the funny named Whittles. I went up there not because I was in the mood for it, like I said I was tired, but because I was trying to get into the habit of being obedient to God and I believed he wanted me to go up there. When I was prayed for I did not have emotion bursting from me. I did not start to cry. But I did have three words come into my head. Three simple words. It’s not hopeless. It’s not hopeless. Well, that’s good. At least there’s hope. It’s tattooed on my friends shoulder. I always wondered why he got “hope” in big letters engraved on his body, but now I knew. Without the hope we find in Christ Jesus there is not much to live for.
These people who were crying were experiencing that hope. Even if they are faced with the same trials and temptations when they go back home at least they have experienced this hope. This hope is what we as followers of Christ live for. When we get a glimpse of this hope it then falls onto us to grow the roots. We need to dig into His word, find out more about the One we place our hope in so that when the trials do come, we have a sturdy base and do not fall away from our Maker.
It’s not hopeless because God is hope.
After living in a bubble here at YWAM for roughly 6 weeks you begin to forget how terrible the world actually is. You don’t think about the recent tsunami in Samoa. Sure, you pray for it and all but the realness of it doesn’t sink in. The trials I face here at Crystal Springs are minimal. I sometimes get angry at my roommate because he doesn’t go to sleep until midnight, but really, this isn’t the end of the world.
On Tuesday night it was different. We had just finished singing some praise and worship and had listened to the speakers. The speakers for the week were the Whittles. Yes, the Whittles. After the Whittles had finished they gave everyone a chance to come up to the front and receive prayer. Now I am going to be honest. The first thought that went through my mind was, “I am tired, want to go to bed and what is the point of people going up to the front to just to end up crying.” I guess I was a bit cynical- not good.
I was sitting near the back and watching lots of the people from my DTS go up to the front, a lot of them ended up crying- especially the girls. And out of nowhere this thought comes into my head, “what’s the point.” This was the beginning of my tough week. I let this thought linger a little too long and wondered how many of the people being prayed for are going to go back into their old lives filled with the filth that they came here to escape. I began to vent to the guy I was sitting with. He was great. He just sat there listening to my nonsense and was paying attention to the junk I was saying. I was not so much fed up with what we were doing; I was more fed up with the state in which our world has come and how it is incredibly hard to hold onto this hope we have.
Jesus once told a story of a farmer who had planted some new seed. Some of this seed got eaten up by the birds. Some of it sprang up quickly but then got scorched in the sun because of their lack of roots. The rest was planted in good soil and produced a good crop. Emotional experiences are great. They help us feel the presence of God in a real way. At times I find myself longing for these experiences at times, especially at camp or a youth retreat. Then I find myself not “liking” God unless I am in one of these emotional “highs”. My plant just got scorched. I have no roots, nothing to sustain me. It’s when we have discipleship and a regular time in God’s word that we develop roots in our relationship with God. Then we are able to enjoy the emotional highs and recognize that our relationship with our Saviour is more than just a feeling.
More than a feeling. This was burning in my head when I went to the front to receive prayer from the funny named Whittles. I went up there not because I was in the mood for it, like I said I was tired, but because I was trying to get into the habit of being obedient to God and I believed he wanted me to go up there. When I was prayed for I did not have emotion bursting from me. I did not start to cry. But I did have three words come into my head. Three simple words. It’s not hopeless. It’s not hopeless. Well, that’s good. At least there’s hope. It’s tattooed on my friends shoulder. I always wondered why he got “hope” in big letters engraved on his body, but now I knew. Without the hope we find in Christ Jesus there is not much to live for.
These people who were crying were experiencing that hope. Even if they are faced with the same trials and temptations when they go back home at least they have experienced this hope. This hope is what we as followers of Christ live for. When we get a glimpse of this hope it then falls onto us to grow the roots. We need to dig into His word, find out more about the One we place our hope in so that when the trials do come, we have a sturdy base and do not fall away from our Maker.
It’s not hopeless because God is hope.
Monday, October 12, 2009
God's Will and Our Lives.
Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog and I would like to encourage anyone who reads this to ask questions about anything I am saying or about something you would like to hear about. Feel free to leave a comment! :D
Over the past year I have been assaulted (literally, people have almost killed me) with this simple, yet extremely agonizing question, “so Brendan, do you know what you’re doing after high school?” UHGGGG! Now I am kind of a hypocrite when it comes to this because whenever I needed something to talk about I would ask my friend if they know what they’re doing for their life. So yes, I am also guilty, but why do we ask this question over and over? Because it is an important question! Parents find comfort when their kids have a “purpose” for their life. Teachers find a reason for teaching when their students have a “purpose” for their life. This “purpose” largely dominates the thinking of most high school students, especially those in grade 12.
What about God’s purpose for us? Apparently, this god we serve loves us so much that he would like for us to do His will- which in turn, blesses us. And as servants of God we should strive to do His will. Alright then, we are in agreement. Everyone is called to the ministry. If you are not a pastor, worship leader, or in missions, drop what you are doing and start doing God’s will. God’s will is to go out into all nations and preach HIS WORD! If you’re not doing these things then you’re definitely not doing God’s will.
Now, I am a little bit curious to see how many of you are about to change the page. God’s will is not for everyone to become a pastor, or to go into Africa and tell them about the Gospel. Let me repeat that so you do not misunderstand me. I do NOT believe God desires everyone to go into the “ministry”. I think I had a lot of you convinced I was a bit crazy, seeing how I am at YWAM. Ha.
But there is a small question many of us our faced with, what is God’s will? How are we to decide what God’s will for us is? Now I don’t believe God is in the habit of telling us exactly where to go and when we’re going to go. Although I do believe that God uses His Word and our passions to show us His will. In Romans 12:2 it says, “Do not to conform by the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His holy, pleasing, and perfect will.” Woa! So by spending time with God through prayer and reading His word we can find God’s will? That’s awesome!
God also uses our passions and things He has gifted us with. God made everyone unique, with different passions (no, passions are not bad) and talents. Why would God give someone and incredible gifting of music and “call” him to build homes. God uses our passions for certain things to do his will, and when we are doing these good purposes God blesses us and encourages us. 2 Thessalonians 1:11 says this, “we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.” This is not God’s desire or God’s deed for you but, it is your desire for goodness and your deed!
We should not obsess over “God’s calling” for our lives. We need to live day to day as a living sacrifice and just enjoy the now- enjoy school, enjoy the work you are doing, enjoy getting to know that special someone, not caring if they are the “one”- Just enjoy living everyday as an act of worship to God!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
God is BIG
Hey guys, nice of you to drop by my blog and check out some stuff that God is doing in my life. I’d just like to say thank-you for all of you who care about what I am doing here in New Zealand, and a Big Big thank-you for all of you who are praying for me. Thanks .
Today I am writing about out of frustration and a little bit out of venting that frustration. Yesterday and the day before I had been writing a different blog, which I thought was really good, and I couldn’t finish it. Now this has a lot to do with what our speaker has been talking about for the past two days. He has been challenging me on a level that is just hitting home statement after statement. Now I do not agree with all the statements that he makes, but I do know they are hitting me on a personal and intellectual level that I cannot ignore them. A lot of what he has to say is counter to the way I was brought up to think. More of this to come in the future (I still need some time to process it, if you would like to pray that God gives me wisdom to understand this all that would be great!).
But now throughout this week, a realization that has been hitting me throughout my DTS here in New Zealand came up again. The realization is simply this; God’s family is incredibly large. He is not limited to a single “denomination”. He is not limited to a single language. He ranges across the world, making himself known in many different ways to many different people. People think of the Great I Am in many different ways. They have different views on how He acts in our world and how He speaks to us. Being in a foreign country with 18 different nationalities represented, countless denominations, and many different cultures, I have come to realize a small portion of the Bigness of God. When I say “small”- I mean small, tiny, microscopic.
Growing up in the small town of Macgregor I never fully realized this. I had God in my own, personal, small box. He was the God of us white Mennonites in our nice farming community, where really, there weren’t many problems. That’s not to say that I didn’t know God loved everyone and that other people could believe in the same God- it’s just that I couldn’t comprehend a God that big. “God loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his site,” there’s the song that we sand as kids that I wonder if we fully understood it.
What God is getting me to realize is that He is the speaker of many languages, and that He is the God of this entire world. I had the opportunity to experience some of this vastness of God last year when our youth group went to Mexico. This opened my eyes and got me thinking of how the God of Christianity in nice little MacGregor Manitoba can be the same God of Christianity in the grotesque sewers of Chihuahua Mexico.
It’s incredible to think that God created all this difference. Why didn’t he just create us to be all the same, look all the same, and just say the same things over and over? Because! I believe God likes uniqueness, difference, and indivuality! He created each of us in his own image, and the image of God is amazingly huge and diverse.
Today I am writing about out of frustration and a little bit out of venting that frustration. Yesterday and the day before I had been writing a different blog, which I thought was really good, and I couldn’t finish it. Now this has a lot to do with what our speaker has been talking about for the past two days. He has been challenging me on a level that is just hitting home statement after statement. Now I do not agree with all the statements that he makes, but I do know they are hitting me on a personal and intellectual level that I cannot ignore them. A lot of what he has to say is counter to the way I was brought up to think. More of this to come in the future (I still need some time to process it, if you would like to pray that God gives me wisdom to understand this all that would be great!).
But now throughout this week, a realization that has been hitting me throughout my DTS here in New Zealand came up again. The realization is simply this; God’s family is incredibly large. He is not limited to a single “denomination”. He is not limited to a single language. He ranges across the world, making himself known in many different ways to many different people. People think of the Great I Am in many different ways. They have different views on how He acts in our world and how He speaks to us. Being in a foreign country with 18 different nationalities represented, countless denominations, and many different cultures, I have come to realize a small portion of the Bigness of God. When I say “small”- I mean small, tiny, microscopic.
Growing up in the small town of Macgregor I never fully realized this. I had God in my own, personal, small box. He was the God of us white Mennonites in our nice farming community, where really, there weren’t many problems. That’s not to say that I didn’t know God loved everyone and that other people could believe in the same God- it’s just that I couldn’t comprehend a God that big. “God loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his site,” there’s the song that we sand as kids that I wonder if we fully understood it.
What God is getting me to realize is that He is the speaker of many languages, and that He is the God of this entire world. I had the opportunity to experience some of this vastness of God last year when our youth group went to Mexico. This opened my eyes and got me thinking of how the God of Christianity in nice little MacGregor Manitoba can be the same God of Christianity in the grotesque sewers of Chihuahua Mexico.
It’s incredible to think that God created all this difference. Why didn’t he just create us to be all the same, look all the same, and just say the same things over and over? Because! I believe God likes uniqueness, difference, and indivuality! He created each of us in his own image, and the image of God is amazingly huge and diverse.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Unrealized Truth
I have just recently come off a very busy week with loads of stuff bombarding my thoughts. There are so many different things that God has shown me about himself and about myself that I could probably write a 40 page essay on it. Don’t worry; I’m not going to do thatJ. Some things that He has shown me this week I may not share through the means of a blog either, just for the fact that I don’t think I would be able to convey the message I would want. But one thing God has shown over this past month is what worship is.
I believe worship is when we bring praise, adoration, thanksgiving, and a general sense of awe before our creator. You can do this through prayer, testimony, giving to back to Him so of what He gave you, singing, and many other ways. I am not going to talk about all of these but I would like to talk about worship through song.
Many of you know that I enjoy my music. Especially the stuff that lots of people may find.... “scary” haha. When it comes to worship music I enjoy the contemporary. Music with a good beat, catchy tune, strong lyrics, and just overall fun to sing. I found myself time and time again only singing and worshipping God when I enjoyed the song. If it was a Hymn that was 60 years old and I believe that it should have never been written I turned off- not thinking about who I am worshipping.
Another thing that happens when I sing, and probably happens to a lot of you, is that I let how I am feeling get in the way. If I had a fight with my friend or if I didn’t get to watch the latest episode of 24 because I needed to go to sleep in order to wake up for church, I just don’t feel like singing. I don’t feel like opening my mouth and singing to God. Apparently (and just for the record I have absolutely no idea if this is true) it is a lot like marriage. You love your husband/wife and even though there are times when you do not feel like loving you still do. True love is more than a feeling, it is an ongoing action. Now if this is true in marriage why is it not true in our relationship with God? If God loves us so much that He gave His son to die for us, and if we love Him so much that we choose to be against the norm and follow Him, then why do we not have this love? Why do we just sit there, sulking in our self-pity or thinking about what we are going to do in 45 minutes for lunch instead of putting our feelings aside and worshipping God?
Yesterday here at Crystal springs, we had a time to worship God. There was a couple who came in to teach us a few things and after they had finished we sung a few songs. I had been dreading this moment. The day before we had a marathon of worshipping God and just doing all this awesome stuff that lasted until midnight. When it came to worshipping after this teaching I was completely out of it. I had a headache, I was tired, and I didn’t really know the songs. I just stood there for ten minutes, not doing anything and the whole time there was this battle going on in my head. I didn’t want to worship God but I knew I needed to because I love him and this was a day I didn’t feel like loving.
God has slowly been getting into my thick skull that He is Big, He is the Creator, He is worthy of ALL praise. And it absolutely doesn’t matter if I am singing a chorus or Hymn, feeling on-top of the world or need another three hours of sleep, I still need to worship God.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)