A Year in Review
December 31, 2022
New Year’s 2022: Wow, what a year it has been! We’ve been looking back on this past year and how many surprises and new people God has brought into our lives. Little did we know as we prayed in the New Year, around a very big and hot Bonfire in -10 degree winter conditions, what the Lord would do this year. So, we thought it would be fitting to look back on all that God has done because we know so deep in our knowers that this is just the beginning and we have no idea what is coming next but it’s going to be amazing!
The New Year brought a lot of illness to our group and so many of us ended up sick with the dreaded “Cron” variant. The Lord had told us it was a season of rest and that we’d know when it was time to launch out again.
February: All of Canada was watching what was taking place with the truckers and we felt so strongly that we were to go to Victoria to worship and pray at the Legislative building. We got in touch with Mary and Doug who lead Burn 24-7 Vancouver Island, and they had just been asking the Lord if it was time to move forward again. They had been waiting for confirmation and got the call from us. They agreed to having us come and stay with them and so began the figuring out of sleeping arrangements, where the Lord wanted us to pray and worship, and reaching out to other groups on the island. We contacted Jason and Kasie from The 5000 and they joined with us and brought all their sound equipment and gear and part of their team to help as well. Within a week we had mobilized over 20 of us to head to Victoria and that weekend they lifted restrictions on the numbers of people allowed in a house. We had never actually met Mary and Doug in person. We also had been talking with other leaders and found out on the way to Victoria that there was a massive protest expected to be taking place. We had filled out all the forms to be allowed to use the Legislative grounds for our worship and prayer event but then the Precinct from the Building called and said we weren’t allowed on the steps where we had requested to be, while we were on the ferry headed there.
Instead of heading straight to Mary and Doug’s, a few of us went to the Ledge building and began walking the grounds worshipping and praying. We knew we were supposed to be there, so we asked the Lord where we were supposed to be. We introduced ourselves to the onsite Legislative Police and let them know who we had been in contact with. I got a call from one of the organizers of the protest and he offered to call the precinct and grounds people as he had permission to be there and knew they couldn’t refuse us to be there as well. It turned out that they were worried about vandalization of the building and of riots taking place, so they allowed us to be at the back of the building on the grass. We worked with the Police as well as the protest organizers and told everyone we were just there to pray and worship and love on people. One officer asked if we planned on being violent and I told him we would be hugging people and he shuddered at the thought.
Everyone arrived by late Friday night, the protest organizers were in need of someone to sing Oh Canada before their march on Saturday and asked if we would be able to do that for them. We said yes. Saturday morning, before we began at the Ledge, we went to Mile Zero for Canada’s Hwy 1 to pray, we didn’t know until the night before that that was where a lot of human and blood sacrifices take place as well. We had many people praying for us from across Canada and we had an intercession group from Nova Scotia, from the Canadian Firewall, join us over zoom as we prayed for Canada. We were literally praying from coast to coast and beach to beach.
We repented and forgave in that place and we worshipped. We then went to the Ledge and began 6 hours of non-stop worship at the back of the building. Protestors would walk past us first before going to the front of the building. People would stop and ask what we were doing. Many stood there and watched with tears streaming down their faces. This is where the Grandma Contingent was birthed. Many of our prayer team were Grandmas and had “Free Hug” lanyards on and began hugging and loving on people and praying for them. There is something so disarming about a Grandma hug. They were hugging Bikers and all kinds of people. People would ask why it felt so different at the back of the building compared to the front and it was such a powerful testimony of the Love of Jesus that was filling that space. We then were asked to come to the front to sing Oh Canada. We got to the front and there had to have been a couple thousand people there. The air was electric. Cathy led everyone singing “Where the Streets Have no Name” and then Grant played guitar for her and everyone sang the national Anthem. It was crazy, especially with the guy standing right in front of Cathy wearing a Guy Fox mask watching her and standing completely still. When I looked behind me all I could see was a sea of faces and flags all standing at attention. It was amazing. We then went straight back to our place at the back and more people kept coming by and being ministered to.
That night was so crazy and then the organizer of the protest asked if we would come back the next day to lead a worship service at the front of the Legislative building. We were pretty floored and began working on the next day’s plans. We are so, so, so grateful for Jason and Kasie and their team and also for our dear friend Yolanda whose Mama’s heart and amazing van saved us so many times this year. They lent us their sound equipment and Jason and Cathy stayed for the Sunday and we lead worship on the front steps. So amazing!! Only Jesus could have come up with that amazing “suddenly and unexpected.” I seriously don’t know what came over me (well I do know haha! Holy Spirit!) but I began sharing about the healing power of forgiveness for those who don’t deserve to be forgiven and prayed the Lord’s prayer. One of the few truckers that had actually made it into Victoria was standing there weeping. We later found out that he had recently given his heart to Jesus and his testimony was so powerful. We are so beyond grateful for Mary and Doug and Jan and Tony and the whole Victoria crew for bringing in a bunch of strangers for a weekend of crazy Yes’s to do what God was asking us to do. That weekend we became family.
Tucked in between my sons in the left picture is Mary buried in one of their epic group hugs. They fed all of us, they housed all of us, and loved on all of us so deeply. We are so grateful for them and we can’t imagine life without them now!
March: We returned back to the mainland excited for what was to come next. Then Sean sent out a call for a global 24 hour Burn in March. Mary invited us all out to Ucluelet as it was the furthest possible place in Western Canada and the Spiritual and Physical Western Gate of our nation. We had a smaller crew this time and not sure where we would be sleeping, but a crew of 15 of us made it to Ukee. We came in low again and to serve the church that was connected with Mary and Doug. We felt we were to worship on Wick Beach on Friday and then also Saturday and to have a salmon bake, inviting anyone who was on the beach to join us for a meal. It felt fitting to have baked fish over a fire and also a prophetic act of coming to serve and love on the community of Ukee. We were so floored by the generosity of the church who weren’t too sure about us at first. Many of our team stayed at the church. It was not an easy trip and getting there on the Friday and then being exhausted and ill and pouring rain, it felt like it had been a huge mistake. It was such an attack, like nothing we had yet experienced.
We literally had to regroup the next day and were ready to throw out all itineraries and just sit at Jesus’ feet until we got the direction we needed. I’m so glad we were all on the same page and decided to just sit before the Lord. We got the all clear to go to the beach, so we drove there and began setting up. So many of the ladies helped out to get the Salmon ready and we got everything started on the beach. It became a time of family gathering and eating together. Church members came with art supplies and flags and began gathering on the beach with us. That day taught us so much. The Lord is wanting to move through, build and strengthen family. It’s no longer about agendas and performance, but about building intimacy within His church and His people. “They will know us by our love,” keeps ringing in my ears.
We fed a lot of people and one of our favourite parts was when a surfer came up to us after eating his meal and he said, “You guys are God’s people!” We went in without any agenda other than to serve and love on people, and hearing that just made all the challenges and every difficult moment worth it, because Jesus was speaking to his heart. Sunday morning, we attended the service at the church and after it was over we surrounded the congregation and began praying over them and they for us. We didn’t know until a few weeks later that one of their leaders had never fully understood the power of prayer until after that moment. A simple act of praying for our fellow church ignited a fire that we could never have anticipated being lit. We just never know what one simple step of obedience can mean for another.
The Lord had also asked us to stop in Nanaimo on the way home and hold a small burn for two hours there as well, right near the Ferry Terminal. Again, Jesus was building more Kingdom Family! We got connected to a few ministries there and they met us at this very secluded point and we began worshipping over Nanaimo. The Lord has such a heart for Nanaimo. I am not including in here all the endless hours of intercession, confirmations and prophetic words that the Lord gave but He really wanted us to also be there, so we gave Him our Yes. As we worshipped we felt we had to pass off the last half of our time to the worship leaders of Nanaimo, so we prayed over Tyler who came and for all the ministries he represented in that moment and it was so beautiful and powerful. We had literally driven in monsoon rain to get to the other side of the island and the clouds were held back and the sun didn’t move for the whole time we were on that secluded ridge.
Nanaimo once again was another solidifying kingdom family moment.
June: The next adventure the Lord opened up for us was a barn in Chilliwack. It was such a beautiful location so we literally went from the Western Gate to Chilliwack 12 weeks later. We were so grateful to be offered this space and it had been a dream of ours to be in a barn for over a year. We began rehearsing and visiting and praying over the location. On the day of, I was heading to Chilliwack when my tires started making horrible sounds on the Highway. I had to pull off and was “that car” with my hazards on, on the Highway. We waited for hours for a tow truck and then Yolanda came with her van to help us transfer all the gear I had. The Lord encouraged my heart with a dime I found right beside where my van was parked. That has been a confirmation to us over the years and dimes have shown up at significant moments and it’s like a gentle reminder from the Lord that He is with us and we are on the right track. It was like a little note from heaven saying, don’t worry, I’ve got this. So, I decided to crank the worship and praise Jesus in the parking lot until the other van arrived and saved the day. Everyone was at the barn setting up and we arrived right when we were supposed to begin. Again, it was a lot of kick back that we hadn’t experienced before. We found out on the Monday after, that my bolts had come loose on my rims. Thank God He was in control and took care of everything! We arrived just in time to unload and what was so wonderful was everyone stopped me and said, “Just breathe. Take a moment, we don’t have to start on time, just take time to rest.” It was such a paradigm shift for myself personally and I think for all of us as a team. It was more important to start from a place of rest and just being in Him, rather than pushing the schedule. What then happened was so beautiful. When we did begin to worship, it was like heaven opened right up. We could hear harmonies that were impossible to make and hear through the sound system with the people who were around us singing. I am positive we heard angels singing with us. It was so powerful and intimate and restful. We then stopped for one of the most beautiful potlucks we’d ever seen that the local community blessed us with, and it was so amazing.
July: On July 1st a few of us were able to go to Winnipeg to attend the final Battle for Canada. It was an incredible time to gather and worship Jesus over 3 days in a baseball stadium. I had never personally been to Winnipeg, but had heard about how oppressive it is there. You could feel the anger, sadness and grieving the moment we got off the plane. Such a heaviness. Yet it was so powerful witnessing so many indigenous Christian communities gathering together to pray and intercede for our nation. To be welcomed by the local chiefs and to have the parade of nations and dancers worshipping Jesus and all of us gathering to love each other and be together in unity for Canada and the Lord. The Lord had given me a specific assignment while there and I still have no idea what He plans to do with that but it was again, a simple act of obedience. We met up with some of our crew from Vancouver Island as well as North Van, and Langley and again, Yolanda and her mighty travelling van. That van is so saturated in Jesus missions, it’s the definition of a Holy roller haha!
While in Winnipeg I had hoped to go to the Legislative building to pray. Tony and Jan asked my son and I if we’d like to go on the break on Sunday and we said yes! We arrived there and you could feel the oppressiveness. We parked at the back of the building and found the Louis Riel statue. We prayed over the land and walked towards the building and you could see the statues all over it were so oppressive. God-like men with their feet on the backs of labourers, large bowls with Rams heads on them, masonic imagery everywhere. We walked around to the front and found a Teepee that was set up in front of a defaced monument. On the front there were large Sphinxes on the top and more oppressive imagery on the building. It really upset my heart. We walked over to the Teepee and I felt like we should pray near there. When we got closer we discovered it was put in place as a protest against the tyranny of the Government and is called the Peace tent and is only brought out when the nations are under great duress and is a place for the chiefs to gather to make laws and to bring peace. We found out that the Legislative building had actually been strategically placed right on top of the sacred meeting grounds where the Cree, Metis and many other indigenous nations would meet. The government was not allowed to remove the teepee because it was considered sovereign land. A guy walked towards us asking what we were doing there and then he looked at Tony and then all of us and recognized us from being at the Victoria Legislative building in February. It was crazy! We told him we were there to pray over the land and for Canada and he invited us into the circle around the Teepee and offered us to use the freshly tilled ground he had just tilled for planting. We picked up some of the dirt and began reading one of the prayers from a prayer book we had, and a woman came out of the teepee and just quietly watched. As we prayed I noticed the gentleman pick up dirt in his hand and begin praying with us as well. Then other people that were protesting in the area came up to us and began joining us in prayer as well. It was amazing. Then after we were done, the woman from the Teepee told us that within the circle of the tent they do not bring in any man-made books because they want us to speak to creator from our hearts. We apologized and she then told us how they do respect one book and that was the Bible because it was from ancient texts. The guy that had invited us in apologized to her and she was so gracious and said it was a teaching moment and it was all good. We got such an amazing lesson on cultural communication and by the end we were all hugging each other and encouraging each other. That moment was so powerful. We found out that the next night another team from Battle for Canada actually were invited into the Teepee and they were able to share the Gospel with everyone there. Again, little acts of obedience create a ripple effect that we may never fully understand. We also found out that the year before, the Indigenous people of the area had actually torn down the Statue of the Queen and beheaded it right in the place that that Teepee now stood. The anger, hatred and sorrow were so palpable in that place, yet we saw so much freedom and love being poured out on people as well. Please keep Winnipeg in your prayers.
September: For the rest of the summer and early fall, we felt the Lord kept telling us it was a time to rest again and to focus on family and each other, so we began gathering our core leadership team and had the privilege of Dean M. coming on board with us as well. It has been such a blessing to have his gentle and seasoned leadership on our team. It was much needed and many other things needed caring for within our own families and church communities as well. We began having times of worship as a small group and practicing new songs. Cathy, Grant, Dean and a team of other musicians lead worship for the Christians Ministers Association conference in Vernon in September and ended up meeting a bunch of our Vancouver Island crew there as well, and connecting with other Ministries. I discovered this was the same group that Mary had been mentioning to me about joining to help support us as a ministry and I actually applied to become a member and have been working through the application process. When reading their statements of faith and what they stood for, it was like reading all the conversations we’ve had about pursuing the Lord for the past two years. Both Cathy and Mary called me once the conference was over to tell me how we needed to be connected to this group somehow. God just keeps on weaving His amazing tapestry. My family went to Tofino as family ambassadors for an Autism Surfing event in September. What was so amazing was getting to introduce Karen from the Ukee church to the founders of the surfing event that had just recently moved there from the Lower Mainland. How awesome is that? We love being able to connect people together. That made the whole trip worth it. Another amazing thing was that Karen took the training to become a Burn Furnace Director and Ucluelet has now birthed their very own Burn 24/7 furnace! I was able to spend time with Karen while in Tofino, encouraging and sharing our own journey as a Burn Furnace. Then we got to visit with other members of the church and it felt like we had come home. It was such a special time to see everyone again just a few months later. Karen has now begun building relationships with the indigenous communities in the area and some that are only reachable by boat. It is so amazing to see what is taking place there on the coast. It just blesses our hearts so much.
November: For the fall we decided to have another worship night in a Barn. The Farm that offered us the space was super excited to have us and it was in Langley. We were so excited to be able to do something a little more local to all of us. Then Joe Sinanan, our leader for Burn 24/7 Canada, mentioned that he’d like to come out to support us at our next Burn. We were super thrilled! We hadn’t actually met in person yet in the two years we had been messaging and Zoom calling back and forth. Because Joe was coming, we decided we should let the Vancouver Island crew know and before we knew it we had a whole group coming from Victoria and Ukee to be with us as well. Then the forecast changed and the weather was supposed to be freezing and snowing. Because the Barn had no heat and number restrictions still, we had to begin looking at other possible places to hold our worship night. I had reached out to churches but all of them were full. It really felt like there was “No room at the Inn.” We contacted the Bez Arts Hub through a friend of ours who used to work there, thanks Pedro! They said they could rent the space to us as it just so happened to be available on that date and as a group we discussed it but realized we had no funds to be able to cover that high of a price. So, we said thank you, but no. We kept reaching out to churches but kept being told no. I was really struggling with this and had just found out that Let Us Worship would be coming to Vancouver and what that would involve for us. I kept pondering everything Sean has been through over the past couple years and then I heard so loudly from the Lord, “If I have made this place available, would I not also provide the funds to cover all the costs?” I felt so strongly convicted in that moment that I actually had to pull the car over and park and message everyone and The Bez. I told them what the Lord told me and within a couple minutes we were given the first $200 for the deposit. I shared this with a few people and the money literally began pouring in. Within days we had the entire cost covered. Oh, us of little faith. That was a huge lesson in being obedient when the Lord opens a door, and going through it even when it makes absolutely no sense. The kick back was so strong the moment we said yes to being at The Bez. We try not to focus on that part of the battle but it really has been extreme. So many of us fell ill, hospitalized, animals severely sick, basically anything to distract us. We kept pressing through and we were healthy when it came to the weekend. We gathered the night before with everyone to pray and eat together. Joe and his daughter got to meet everybody and it was a really beautiful time of once again growing Kingdom family. The day at the Bez was such an amazing time in His presence. Having our Mainland and Island family and Joe and Shanae all together was so wonderful. Everyone participated and we had two wonderful artists come and paint as we worshipped and flaggers and dancers all joined in and we went for four hours straight. We are so grateful for every person that came out to be with us. It was a powerful time of worship. I am also so grateful for the friends (Jan, Karen, Mary, Doug, and many others) who all joined together to make sandwiches and snacks for all of us for the day. It fed us all into the evening and was such a blessing to everyone. Thank you! And two of our most quiet and behind the scenes people that never get acknowledged are Carson and Julie. They have faithfully helped us with sound for two years now and we really couldn’t do any of this without them!
I didn’t have as many photos of the Bez due to my phone being used to livestream the event so our friends in Nova Scotia could take part as well.
December: After our time at the Bez, everyone headed back to their homes across two provinces. We then had to focus on preparing for our Christmas outreach in Fort Langley. Amazingly, the mayor of the Township of Langley granted us the use of his property that was right in the downtown core of Fort Langley. This is also the Birthplace of BC. And also, a place of great turmoil in the past. We knew we were supposed to be there and the Lord had confirmed it over and over. It felt like all hell began breaking loose in our lives over those next couple of weeks. Some traumatic events happened in my family that left us all reeling and I thought I couldn’t possibly cry anymore and then one of our dogs tragically passed away the day we were supposed to be rehearsing for the Christmas outreach. This dog was not just a dog. She loved on every person that ever walked through our doors. She brought so much joy to everyone who met her and people would come to our home just for dog therapy. So many people reached out to me with their Jesse stories. I asked for more intercessors to begin covering us even more than before. Other people connected to us were getting sick again and we resolved to keep leaning into Jesus and not backing down. I felt like I had lost all ability to be able to just breathe let alone sing. I was going to cancel everything but the Lord once again challenged me that I needed to practice what I preached. That being with people only when we are strong and everything is going well is not being a family. A family comes alongside us even in the worst moments and its ok to be vulnerable. So many leaders I know try to keep a façade of strength and are unable to be vulnerable with their peers. So, again listening to Him, I reached out and am so glad I did. Everyone brought us food that night and we simply spent time together. No agenda. Me in a lot of tears and absolutely heartbroken and emotionally exhausted. I was so grateful to just be and felt so loved. Family above all else. I know we say “team” a lot but we really have become a family. On December 16th, the carolling and Hot chocolate and firepits were really beautiful. Again, further kick back took place as the temps dropped drastically and we were literally socked in by thick fog. I have never seen Fort Langley look like such a Ghost town on a Friday night. So, we pressed on and people came by and warmed themselves by the fires with hot chocolate and joined in singing. Some came all the way from North Van and others from Chilliwack and Abbotsford. Thank you!! We met some wonderful people and Trinity Western Students and the prayer team got to speak with the people who came by. This was the first time we had actually advertised in public areas about the event and many were surprised by the low turnout but again, it was not about numbers but about being obedient when it doesn’t make sense. We were so grateful for each person who came and joined in and helped. It was literally freezing and I believe -2 by the time we ended. But hey, we’re crazy Canadians!
We are so grateful for every person who has come alongside us this year. It has been a year of growth and pain, family and friends, building kingdom family and strengthening our faith and giving our yes even when it doesn’t make sense. Look how far God has brought us! So amazing! So again tonight a few of us gathered together to eat, play games, testify of the God moments we witnessed this year and pray into the New Year ahead. Never in a million years could we have imagined what God had in store for us for 2022! Imagine what He has in store for 2023!
Looking ahead into the New Year, we have a few things already in the works. This January 18 we have sponsored the documentary about the Let Us Worship movement called “Superspreader,” to come to the Langley Cineplex. It is a one-night screening. We have to sell 60 tickets by January 5th to secure the showing. We are currently halfway to that goal! This has been a powerful testimony of how God changed lives as they stepped out in faith to gather outside and worship when all the churches closed due to the big C. We will also be having a spring worship event at the Barn in Langley when it is nicer temperatures outside. There is also more to come and we can also confirm that Let Us Worship and Sean will be coming to Vancouver early this fall! Please pray for us and for wisdom as we step forward in even greater capacity this year. Please pray that the Lord will open the doors He needs to open and close those that must be closed. That Divine favour and protection would be on us and over our homes, families and loved ones. That we would not get in the way of Him building and growing His kingdom family. That we would continue to grow in intimacy with the Lord so we are tuned into His voice so well, and that we move in complete harmony with Him and what He is doing in our lives for 2023.
Thank you for all your prayer and support,
Niki and The Burn 24-7 LMBC Fam!