a quick trip.

Last week I went with my family to Montréal for a week. This visit had been planned for some time, it had been a while since we had all been together with Brendan and Caroline without any ministry happening, and originally this trip was supposed to be when I went up to Montréal to stay, before plans changed.

It was so lovely to be there in the summertime; everything is so very alive! You can imagine in a place that stays frozen for so much of the year, the months of warm weather will be lived fully.. unlike in the south where the heat is often unbearable. Almost everyday was spent outside enjoying the city and our time together as a family and with good friends.

It was a good respite from this odd in-between preparation time. I was sad to leave.

I want to thank you all for showing me support over the last week or so! Over the past few days a number of folks have decided to support me financially on this journey of ministry. I still need 17 individuals or families to commit to supporting me with $30 a month, please pray about joining me in this. You can give with the paypal donate button at the bottom of this blog, or for other ways email me at alycehardee@gmail.com

Downtown Montréal during the fashion and design festival

My ridiculously cool siblings

Dear Friends,

My time over the course of this summer has been both busy and unpredictable, some things have changed and I have been less consistent in communication.

And so, dear friends, it is time for me to inform you of my recent decisions. 

I came home at the beginning of June and immediately began the communication process of raising support to return to Montreal at the beginning of August to work with Youth With A Mission. However, as seems to happen sometimes, my support raising efforts have been slower and more difficult than I had anticipated. After a couple of weeks of prayer, talking with people I trust, and more worrying than I should have allowed myself, I decided to push back my return to Montreal until I raise more consistent financial support (as opposed to moving and hoping for the best).

This was a hard decision to make because my heart is really with the people of Québec and my desire is to return as soon as possible. Whats more, my commitment with YWAM is supposed to begin Sept 1, so I now risk being late and missing the beginning of the Urban Cultures course that I'll be helping with, among other things. However I feel like the Lord is asking me to trust his timing and provision and am at peace with waiting to see what he does. 

So now I am again in the humbling place of asking you for help. 

This past year has been a learning experience of the sometimes precarious finances of a missionary, and the immense blessing of friends who believe in what you are doing. What has happened many times is that I've been unexpectedly blessed by supporters with large gifts, which is wonderful. However now, as I have committed to serving more longterm with YWAM Montreal, I really need people to support me in smaller amounts on a monthly basis. 

What I am asking for at this point is for 20 more individuals or families to commit to giving $30 a month for at least the next year. 

I know for some this amount is quite easy and for others it is a burden, but please pray and consider this. If you have any questions or would like more information on the ministry of YWAM Montreal and the best ways to please do not hesitate to ask me. As always, there is a paypal donate button at the bottom of this blog.

And my favorite part, here is a small sample of the photography I have worked on this summer...

              

Photographs of a Montagnard family living as refugees in the States

Eddy and Ashley

ZCWA summer dance conference rehearsals

ZCWA summer dance conference nursing home outreach

new name

Why?

Because it was time for a change.

Driving through uptown Charlotte

transition; reflections on a journey.

So much has happened in the month since I last posted anything on this blog. I left Montreal two weeks ago to come back to the Carolinas for a few months. My last few weeks of DTS in were spent processing and reflecting together and individually on our 8 month journey. It was a really good way to finish; there was just a sense, as we went through the last weeks, of the weight of all the Lord had done in each of our lives this year.

We were each required to do a presentation on our internships and sort of sum up what we've learned about ourselves through the process of this year. It was good for me to spend some time thinking through my art process (photography was part of my internship) and how I've grown. What has come to be so real for me in the past months through art making and life is that I see evidence of the Lord's work and presence everywhere. He is there with the things that are broken and hurting and he is found in beauty and joy. This brings me to a place of such wonder, joy and worship; a place where I wish to truly live and experience this life with God with abandon, allowing my photography to come out of that place.

I've also been reflecting a lot on what I've learned about the church and how my perspectives have changed. Its a bit strange being home, where, at least by comparison, Christianity is quite saturated into the culture. I realized at some point this past week, while thinking about the church in Quebec versus the church in Charlotte, that you almost cannot compare the two, they are just in completely different places.

That being said, the big question in Quebec is what should the church look like in a culture that is moving quickly into Post-Christendom, a culture which in recent history has walked away from the church, and barely recognizes the gospel? What's more, the few churches that are there, hardly reflect the culture of Quebec, rather they are like the evangelical, English-speaking missionaries' church culture of 40 years ago. It is a strange dichotomy. Its kind of like when you were a kid and you were given hand-me-down clothes from your cousins in Vermont; it was generous of them to give you their clothes, but they didn't always fit right, and the styles in Vermont are pretty different from what people wore back where you grew up. Sometimes you wanted to pick out your own clothes, but maybe their's were nicer than what you could afford, so you took them anyways. This is a bit like the church in Quebec, a reflection of the English speaking/American church model, complete with translated songs and books. What some Christian leaders and thinkers are realizing is that the American model is for the American people, and in Quebec it simply isn't working.

I have a lot more going on in my head on this subject, but thats as much as I'm going to write about it for now(stay tuned for more!). I love the Christians of Quebec, they have a profound love for Christ, and I've experienced such beautiful community among them. And now what I pray is for a missional, grassroots movement of the gospel coming from the French-speaking Quebecois heart.

My time at home has been very relaxing so far, I'm enjoying my time with family and friends. I am currently in the process of raising monthly financial support for my work up in Quebec. Please consider supporting me on this journey. You can donate through this blog using paypal or for other ways let me know and I can get you more information. Also please pray with me that God would prepare my heart and mind for my return to Montreal to live and serve among the people that I love so much. It is such a joy knowing that I will be returning soon.
                                                                                                             

Metro Parc 

Stairs at the Fraternité Monastique Des Frères De Jérusalem

springtime.

I've had quite a few photos to catch up on recently.. it has been a busy few weeks for me. I only have a little over a week left in Montreal before heading home for the summer. Its a bitter sweet time. I am looking forward to seeing friends and being near family for a while, and at the same time I am going to miss Montreal and the people here so much.. especially because summers up here are glorious. Fortunately I am coming back, and knowing that makes it a little better. I've taken some time over the past few days to begin to reflect on and process all that I've learned and experienced over these 8 months. It really brings me to a place of humility and thanksgiving, I have been so blessed. Hopefully in the not-so-distant future I'll be able to blog about the fruits of all of this reflection. 

Anyways, here are some recent photos. The 1st 7 are from our trip to New York and the rest from my neighborhood project. All were taken with 35mm hp5. 

a thousand steeples

A few weeks ago we went as a group to visit a handful of churches in the city. We spent a morning with each pastor and priest of the different churches, listening to them share a little about their congregations and their thoughts on what it means to be the church. I find the diversity of the church fascinating, and equally interesting to me is which of the traditions I am drawn to based on those short meetings.

One of the mornings, we visited the pastor of a nearby church that meets in an old theater. I had been to this theater before, and during the week when it is empty the building reminds me a of The Phantom of the Opera- kind of creepy and mysterious. Anyways, after a satisfactory meeting the pastor led us up through the theater to a little door at the very top which opened to the roof, and from there we went up a ladder to the very highest part of the roof.

If you can imagine a perfect (well almost, still slightly chilly) spring day, I was facing south and just ahead and to my right was Mount Royal, the tiny mountain situated in the middle of the city. A little further to my right was St Joseph's Oratory, its giant dome perched on the backside of the mount. Further ahead just before the water I saw downtown Montreal, with its modest skyscrapers... an old law makes it illegal to build buildings higher than the cross that rests on top of Mount Royal.

What was most incredible though were all of the churches that could be seen from the roof of this theater. Hundreds of beautiful churches, all telling a rich yet broken story; a story that left off with abuse, mistrust and rejection. The pastor mentioned that when Mark Twain visited Montreal he called it "the city of a thousand steeples." Yet so many of these churches are empty shells, testifying to the culture's speedy shift towards post-christianity.

The view was breathtaking. Montreal is lovely in the spring.

A few weeks ago I decided officially that I would commit another year to living in this city. After much prayer and thought I realized that it wouldn't make sense for my time here to be finished, I am still compelled by the story of this culture and a desire to see redemption in all spheres of influence.

My dts is quickly moving towards its end and I've been in the process of reflecting on all that I've lived and learned since I've been here. In about one month I'll be heading back to Charlotte for the summer to work and raise support so that I can return. Next spring I'll be on staff with YWAM doing a number of things: continuing my photography work, continuing my involvement with St James drop in center, assisting with an urban cultures night class, and taking over some administrative tasks.

I love that I can further invest here, and I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to return.

I wish I could show you a picture of the view of Montreal from the roof of that theater, but I didn't have my camera with me that day. Lesson learned.

brooklyn bridge.

Last Sunday while in New York we walked the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a perfect day and I enjoyed photographing it. Here are a few of my favorites, these were all taken with a digital SLR.