Every year we take a weekend to get away and saturate ourselves in God’s word, purposes, and presence through the ministry of His Holy Spirit.
Thirst is like Trinity Central’s annual family reunion! This Thirst was our first at Camp Squeah in Hope and we all enjoyed the space to roam, breathe in the fresh air and stretch our legs.
Some healthy competition
We love to seek God’s face together; He faithfully meets us in different and personal ways. Over the weekend there were many moving, reflective and celebratory moments as we worshipped Him together, prayed together, pressed in, and listened to His words for us and over us.
God spoke prophetically to us about restoration: calling us into all He has for us. Restoration in the church means restored relationships, restored faith, restored joy and renewed energy for mission. We shared the intimate, beautiful, convicting and redemptive work God is doing between and among us. There is an excitement that is welling up among us around the plans and purposes God has for His Kingdom through Trinity Central, in Vancouver and the nations.
God is great!
Guest speaker Lee Yarbrough
This year we enjoyed having Lee and Stacey Yarborough with us from Mexico. Lee, in his easygoing, fatherly way, encouraged us to step out in faith like Abraham and Sarah, and to take up the call of the early church and partner with God to be witnesses in this city. Rhys exhorted us to keep the main thing the main thing – remaining in Jesus, letting the Father prune us and make us Christlike so we can bear good fruit.
Daniel Tse tells his story
It is always so encouraging and life-giving to see people respond to God – whether it is deciding to get baptized, or sharing a word up front for the first time. For others it is less public, maybe it’s a conversation or an encouragement spoken or a prayer for a new friend, and sometimes it is very personal and not seen by others at all. However it looks, GOD IS THERE!
Maggie gets baptized
The five baptisms we had on Sunday (Daniel Tse, Maggie Sampogna, Taylor Scott, Ken Chen and Bin Qi) were extra celebratory as we rejoiced in the good work God is doing in His people. God has been enlarging our hearts for His mission on this earth in and through us. We love that He loves to dwell among His people, and we love to be in His presence together.
Stories from Thirst 2019:
Mark Machin
As you know, our weekend with you all was just fantastic; we were made to feel loved and really at home, both spiritually and in terms of community. Within an hour of arriving we were in double figures of new acquaintances! There was such an incredible sense of God’s Presence as we met together as a church too: a room full of people, unreservedly celebrating and loving Him. We have utter confidence in our Father as we make the move from the UK, but knowing we are going to be part of TC makes us feel even more at peace and tremendously excited for the next year – we can’t wait!
Ken Ruffelle
On the Saturday evening, while I was praying for my son, John, as he went to bed he said “I see a picture of God at a huge desk and on the desk is a tree and the tree is full of fruit and he said to me “come and eat healthy food.”
I’ve never taught my son who is five years old about how we see God in pictures. He had never said anything like that before ever. Normally when he prays he would say something like “thank you Jesus for mommy and daddy and Camden, bless our day, amen”.
Stanley and Tamara Tang
We had a fantastic time at Thirst and are so glad that we went. God met us through His people, word and worship. On Saturday night, we encountered Him in a profound way – we were reminded of his goodness, mercies and plans through the ups and downs of our life journey so far. It was wonderful to share this experience with so many Jesus-hungry people – we felt very much at home. Being new to Trinity Central, Thirst was a great opportunity to get to know people.
Chris Dyer
Prior to going to Thirst 2019 I had a real desire to see breakthrough and healing in a particular relationship. The first evening during worship the word ‘restoration’ was brought, which immediately resonated, and encouraged me to pursue a conversation. Knowing the Lord was with me and ‘on the case’ and the Holy Spirit would enable me to navigate the conversation, I stepped out in faith and connected. Consequently restoration and breakthrough has occurred in this relationship, and the Lord has lifted the weight for both parties. Despite there being more to do this was a real advancement for us both. Thank you Lord.
Scot Sustad
I was thrilled at how quickly we entered into God’s presence as soon as we gathered. His Spirit was tangible and thick and set the pace for the rest of the weekend. I felt filled and encouraged. I also believe that an undercurrent of this Thirst was us learning how to go deeper together. To let down walls, cross over lines, have conversations with those outside our typical circles and to generally be more curious about one another and invitational. I’ll continue to carry this insight and believe it was the beginning of something that needs to continue to be leaned into and carried out.
