Welcome to Vancouver.  It’s raining.  But its July.  Fourteen years ago when Ellen and I first visited Vancouver in July; it was raining.  In fact it had been rainy and overcast for days.  It was during that visit that we were surprised by God and began to sense a call to this city for a long-term ministry.  Summers are usually glorious here, but not that year.  People were down right depressed over the weather.  But it was during that wet and cool week that God captured our imagination with what He could do with His Church in the city.  As I think about it now, it was if God was crying over Vancouver.  He shared His heart for the people here and I began to experience the grief and love of Jesus mirrored in His concern for Jerusalem:  "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace–but now it is hidden from your eyes."  Luke 19:41-42

My prayer for Vancouver, "Oh that our eyes would be opened to see the One, Jesus Christ who brings us peace, wholeness, healing, wellness, salvation, and even redemption."