I'm Not Sure About This

I grew up in Australia and I spent most of my life in or around Canberra, which to most Australians that is as cold as it gets (Canberra usually doesn't get colder than 0 degrees celcius and gets up to 40 degrees celcius).  My favourite place would be Townsville, which we would visit in the summer (around 40 degrees with 90 percent humidity).  Even my family thinks I'm crazy for liking the heat and Jamie (my husband) says he won't go there at that time of year. **Dad, just a reminde:r you and Jamie had an agreement that if you spent Christmas in Winnipeg then he would spend Christmas in Townsville. Can't wait for you to come this Christmas. hee hee...

So how did I come to be in Winnipeg?  When I was 12, I was on a camp and the chaplain told me that she felt I was going to go into full time ministry and that I would be involved in a Winnipeg project.  Well, at 12 I didn't really know what to do with this information but when she said it, somehow I knew it was true.  Now, at the time I had no idea what, who, where or when Winnipeg was. 

Fast forward 6 years.  I was 18 years old and, partly due to an illness I had, I was looking for something to do while I took a year off from school.  As I was looking I remembered that word spoken over me and decided to see if I could find a program/ministry called Winnipeg.  I still had no idea Winnipeg was a place.  After much searching I gave up and decided to go to Canada for my Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM Winfield, British Columbia. It was here that I first met Jamie, who was one of my school leaders.

During the first month of being on my DTS my room mate came up to me and said she felt like she was suppossed to be a part of a Winnipeg project.  I was excited that this thing I had searched for must be real, for not one but two people who have never met had received the same word.  I began to ask my roommate if she knew what Winnipeg was.  She proceeded to tell me that Winnipeg was the worst place in Canada.  That it was freezing cold, that they had large mosquitoes and that there was nothing there.

I have to admit, I really didn't hear what she said after freezing cold.  Here I was: an Aussie who loved the heat and who was struggling with the cold in April in BC- in my mind there was just no way I would survive Winnipeg.  I soon found out that Winnipeg was not just cold, but the COLDEST city of its size in the world.

I really thought there must have been a mistake.  Not only was God calling me not to return to Australia but he was calling me to Winnipeg.  Was this a joke?  My husband does like to say that if Hell is a wasteland of infernal fire and heat, then Heaven must be a beautiful glaciel paradise.  While I know that God has a sense of humour, I also know that He is a loving God who cares about all our needs and there was no way that He would call me to place that I would be miserable.

It really makes me wonder when you hear someone say "I hope God never calls me to the Amazon.  I would hate that",  and then someone says "I wouldn't say it out loud- God will call you there."  I understand the premise that we need to be willing to do whatever God calls us to and that when He calls us there is always sacrifice and it is not all fun and games.  BUT if God truely is a loving God I just can't see him saying, "Well, Bobby doesn't want to go to the Amazon, so therefore he must go there."

However, I am extremely glad that God brought me to Winnipeg.  This city, while it is truly looked down upon by most of country, is an amazing city that celebrates the diversity of not only Canada's First Nations people, but also broad spectrum of other cultures.  It is also a city with great need.  It is not hard to fall in love with Winnipeg when you look into the eyes of it citizens.  I spent the first half my YWAM days in Vancouver and I love that city it is not only beautiful but diverse and a lot of fun.  However I never felt at home there like do in Winnipeg.

Now, I am not saying that I now love -40 or that I even know why God created anything below 20 degrees.   However I do love Winnipeg and (luckily for me) my husband allows me to control the temperature of the house during the winter no matter what the cost.  As much as I feel privileged to serve God by ministering to the people of this city, I am equally blessed by how much they have changed me for the better.