It is difficult to describe the past 4 ˝ months. Definitely a walk of faith at every turn. This team has faced many challenges and put their faith and trust in Christ at every step. They were stretched and stretched to move out of their comfort zones and be used by God in different ways.

This year's Lifeforce team spent 8 weeks in Tobago, 7 weeks in Trinidad, then 2 weeks in Grenada. From Tobago, Tim has coordinated and booked their daily schedule in Tobago, Trinidad and Grenada. Many letters and hundreds of calls were made on their behalf to extend their ministry in these islands. We met some amazing pastors and churches along the way. It was a real pioneering time for the team. They traveled all over the island of Trinidad from small villages in the south and north-east to the big city of Port of Spain. God opened many doors for new ministry in many new places LifeForce had never been before in Trinidad and Grenada. As a family, we made several trips to Trinidad to be with the team and to help transition Shelley and the kids when they arrived. Tim traveled to Grenada with the team as well.

They had a different mission to Tobago this year, it was much harder, and more challenging. There were many cancellations which was frustrating but part of life here. Different from the massive responses to Christ in the past years of ministry here, they found their focus was on encouraging and igniting Christian young people. God is good and we know He has a purpose to how things worked out- we put our trust in Him. The young people in Tobago definitely appreciated getting challenged to serve Him in a greater way than ever before.

During the first of March, their original team leaders returned to Canada for personal reasons. Lindsay Hodges, Director of LifeForce, came within that week to lead the team. His wife, Shelley and 2 children (Jazmyn and Jaylen) arrived Easter Sunday morning. The team had to re-work their dramas and add many more. It was a real step of faith for them.

Many miracles happened over the past few months. Tim had sought out to have blanket approval from the Department of Education of Trinidad and Tobago for the team to enter all schools in the country and that was approved the first of March. It was really exciting as schools called daily to book their ministry in!

The biggest miracle took place in Grenada as God spared the lives of the Hodges family who were in a car accident on May 2nd. Although, Shelley was injured the most, they didn't drive over a huge cliff that may have taken their lives. They flipped their rental jeep and were rushed to the hospital. Shelley was kept in the hospital for 2 nights with 2 large cuts to her face, cuts to her knee and left hand as well she had 2 teeth knocked loose. Shelley and the kids then flew into Tobago and stayed with us. We helped care for the kids and Shelley rested. She sought medical and orthodontic care here in Tobago and recovered well. God just provided the right physicians to care for her! She will need follow up care in Canada from dentists there. God was with them at every turn. The team did have a great ministry time in Grenada but really felt under spiritual attack. Half the team was also very sick in Grenada. Everyone returned safely to Canada by May 15th for debriefing and to return to their homes.

From orphanages to street ministry, visitation, helping with crusades, school assemblies, church youth groups, Sunday ministry…the team took part in it all. Young and Old came to know Christ thru their message of hope and love. People were encouraged to turn to Christ and trust Him in a deeper way!

We praise God for all He did in this team and through this team to reach others for Christ.

Thank you for your prayers!

Meet the team.
Hear from them how God challenged their hearts!
Enjoy the photo album of their ministry time here.

Lindsay Hodges,
Director of LifeForce Teams International
Calgary, Alberta
And Children: Jaylen 5 years old and Jazmyn 3 years Old.

Favorite Trinidadian food:

Jaylen - Bake and Shark
Jazmyn - KFC
Linz - curried stuff you can't get here like goat and duck

Favorite Trinidadian Snack:

Jaylen - apples, although they were from the States
Jazmyn - Chubbies and cheese balls
Linz - Cheez stiks

God Moment: The obvious one for our family was the car accident in Grenada. Although it was bad, there were still a number of miracles and you could see how God was protecting us. We didn't go over the steep side of the mountain. Jazmyn and Jaylen basically escaped unfazed. Some Christians "just happened" to be driving by and took us to the hospital, etc. His faithfulness is unreal.

Shelley Hodges
Wife of the infamous 'Linz'
Calgary, Alberta
Favorite Trinidadian food: bake
Favorite Trinidadian snack: Apple and pear soda pop
God Moment: There was a few! Being in the hospital in a different country, I just felt so incredibly vulnerable!! I had to be so dependent on God, not being able to do much for myself, and having to have help from others. To see how God just used people and situations to help us get through the crisis of it all. There were people praying for me all over the world! God used Tim and Michelle to really minister and care for me. It was really good to spend time with them, getting to know them better. However, I went on the mission to minister, but somehow I was the one ministered to!

Karisa Amy McCann
Prince George, BC
18 Years old
Favorite Trinidadian food: Potato Pies
Favorite Trinidadian snack: Tea Bix
God Moment: God has taught me this year who I am in Christ - He has stretched me a lot this year and taught me how to step out of my comfort zone.

Julie Heindle
Saskatoon, SK
19 Years old
Favorite Trinidadian food: Bake and Shark
Favorite Trinidadian snack: Cheese balls and Catch Bar
God Moment: One night on the beach I was praying and I asked God to show me something about Himself in the stars. I saw a really bright star and I would watch as the clouds passed over it. Sometimes it would completely disappear behind the clouds and sometimes you would see it through but the light of it was dimmed. But either way, no matter what, that same star would be there just as bright when the cloud passed. Just like how God is always there, even during the times he feels far away or completely gone, he's still there just waiting for me. God has taught me a lot about completely giving my issues to him. That I can't say here God (giving him my problems) and try to help him out. He's perfectly capable on his own. And also that when I give things over to him it has to honestly be what I'm thinking and feeling and not what I think it should be. The request has to be completely from my heart and not what I think God wants it to be. He wants it to be 100% honest - that's it.

Joel Ryan Switzer
Calgary, AB
20 Years old
Favorite Trinidadian food: Bake and Shark/Roti
Favorite Trinidadian snack: Doubles/ Pholourie
God Moment: The last three weeks in Trinidad we spent a lot of time in schools. After we were done there, we looked back and found out that we ministered to thousands and thousands of kids. Although we didn't see hundreds of kids come to the Lord, I know that we planted seeds in all of these kids hearts. The Holy Spirit spoke to all of them in one way or another. God has been teaching me a lot about just learning to wait on Him. A lot of times I want things now, and I want to see things right now, but God wants us to wait. In Lamentations 3:19-26 it says that God wants us to wait for Him. The reason God wants us to wait for Him is because he has everything mapped out perfectly in His will, plus He wants us to build our faith, more and more each day. And true faith comes from believing in what we cannot see.

Matthew Craddock
Regina, SK
25 Years old
Favorite Trinidadian food: Doubles
Favorite Trinidadian snack: Cheese Balls
God Moment: While ministering in the prison in Grenada, the prisoners came up to me after the service to tell me how they appreciated what I spoke on. I had been very unsure of what to preach on. God really showed up to help me preach something meaningful. Some of the men were members of the revolution - part of the military council. I couldn't really relate to them but God provided the words I needed.

~ The 2005 LifeForce Team ~
View Slide Show

***

Check Out Other Spotlights!

Cory Waldron, Youth Pastor
2004 Tobago LifeForce Team