Reading Week

This year is flying by very quickly! Its already reading week and I have things planned right up until I leave for Bangor in May. How weird is that?

Hi.

I feel as though I haven't written much lately, so I had to say hello. ;)

Things here in the DTES are good. I am very happy to have this week of to relax, chill with friends and hopefully get to see a little more of Vancouver. My aim for this week is Stanley Park. I am almost afraid to admit to you all that I have been in Vancouver for 6 months and have yet to visit Stanley Park! It will happen this week and I will have pictures to prove it. Sometime soon I will also post pictures from our crazy windy time at the beach(even though Beracah doesn't want me to!heehee!).

Things have been somewhat sane and pretty normal since Friday. What happened on Friday, you ask? I'll tell you! I believe this may be my first post about something along this line...

Friday started off as a normal day. Woke up, went to class(we had Stephen on Friday, which isn't normal, but our schedule changes a lot so...), did an open air(which my wonderful roommate Olivia led), and went to discipleship. These things are all pretty average for any given Friday. Discipleship is where things changed.
We meet as a group of girls for study Song of Songs(I LOVE IT!) and talk about where we are and how we're doing. We get to our meeting place and are chatting...and hearing screaming coming from the alley behind the building. We continue to chat, the screaming continues to escalate. One of the leaders opens a window so we can hear if its someone who sounds hurt or just a regular screamer(we hear a lot of screaming in this neighborhood). This screaming doesn't sound normal. Kirsten goes outside to investagate and brings Sheryl back in with her.
Sheryl was coming down off of a very high trip(she had done crack-cocaine and herion that day), hence the screaming. We thought this would be a good place for Sheryl to hang out with us, eat the lunch that someone had given her and maybe have a little rest time(though if you've ever seen anyone coming down off a trip like this you'll know that rest doesn't really happen). She had to go to the bathroom. When she got there, the yelling and screaming only got louder. This ended with us being asked to take her out of the building. I was sad/angry about this.
In the end, we respected the decision and Kirsten decided that she would take Sheryl to her room. I decided to go with her(not always a good thing to do alone). We headed to the Balmoral and went in. When we got there, this guy was talking to Sheryl and telling her that he had arranged a room for her to stay in. She, in no way, wanted anything to do with this guy. She was yelling at him to go away and telling us adamently to get into the elevator and not let him up with us. We did as she wished and went upstairs without him.
In K's room, Sheryl layed down on the bed, continuing with her 'crack dance' and talking to us, as we talked with her. She ate some lunch(what actually got into her mouth), and she started in on some lucky charms(people coming down off drugs love sugar. I think it helps to regulate them).
While talking with Sheryl, we realized that any conversation geared towards her family or childhood brought up things in her that were not normal(she almost changed into a child). We knew then that we were dealing with more than just drugs. Satan was working here and we weren't happy with it.
We began to pray and to sing over Sheryl. Things then started getting stirred up. Matthew & Joe had also come home during this time and knew something was up(thank God for the gift of discernment!), and they began to pray outside the door and in their room.
After a while we stopped asking Sheryl about her past...it just wasn't pretty when we did. We kept praying and had brought in others(Jacynta was here by that point and I am thankful that she was) to do the same. A group of people in another room listened to Jesus and asked what we should do. The answer(from them and from a sister in the war room) was that we should keep her there and just keep on loving her. That we did.
Three hours later(and with the help of the police...for reasons I will not get into here), Sheryl was calm, looked totally clean and sober, and was heading out to the health contact centre. She hugged each of us and with tears in her eyes thanked us for a truly wonderful afternoon.

The moral of the story...
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Its all about love.

Blessings.