hey all. well. i arrived home..after much frustration at the toronto airport. i had issues getting through the check-in with my treatment. when i finally did get through..my plan was to leave in less than 30 minutes and i still had customs and security check to get through. thankfully the check-in manager got me moved up to the front of the customs lines and i made it just as the plane was pulling out.
thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much for all your prayers and support! it means so much to me, and i firmly believe that you will be blessed for it!
here is a podcast of the last worship service in canada if you are interested in listening to details on our summer: http://www.thesanctuarymississauga.libsyn.com/
also. here is an overall slideshow of the summer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ebRKkde00
love.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
homeward bound.
well. this is my last full day in canada. this past week has been a little sad. you don't realize how close you have grown to people until you have to leave them. its amazing the connections and relationships we have developed with people here in just 6 weeks (some even less). but its so rewarding to see God moving and working!!
quick story. bernie..the head manager here at sheridan..kinda took a liking towards team habakkuk. we would play phase 10 together and chat every now and then. all week he expressed interest in hanging out with us some before we left. since alyssa was leaving this morning, he wanted to hang out a little last night. apparently he had been putting off alot of work..and ending up having to work the majority of the night and into the wee hours of the morning. but he took a few minutes of his time to come hang out with us a little. then..he told us he had gifts for us. so we were like..ok cool, not really expecting too much. then he pulls out this bag and hoodie that say sheridan on it. and he proceeds to tell us that he never does anything like this, but he just really likes us and wanted to do something special for us. how cool is that!
continue to pray for bernie. especially that God would put other believers in his path to share with him and water the seeds the Lord has planted in his life!!
on a second note, the family from sheridan has been trying to squeeze in every moment possible with us...which is awesome! on wednesday, we all played mini-golf together, had another pizza night and then headed over to a secondary school to watch jennifer's soccer game. we started the wave, had posters for her, and screamed louder there than the argos game and blue jays game combined. it was great! then we headed back to sheridan and stayed up chatting with them until almost midnight. we had several opportunities to share what the Lord has been doing through us this summer! it was wonderful. also, God is opening doors for the allen family to possibly move into the verbeeks basement until their home is ready! how awesome is that!?
so, all in all, God is doing some great things. and its really awesome to see that His work that He begun with us (team habakkuk) is going to continue after we leave, which was ultimately the goal.
thanks again for all your prayers. they mean SOOO much to me! and now i ask that you would pray for me as i head back to "real life," that the missional lifestyle i have taken on would not be put to the side just because i'm back to school and work and all.. pray that the work the Lord has done in my heart will continue to grow and i will be willing to be used in every way.
love you guys so much! see you soon!!
quick story. bernie..the head manager here at sheridan..kinda took a liking towards team habakkuk. we would play phase 10 together and chat every now and then. all week he expressed interest in hanging out with us some before we left. since alyssa was leaving this morning, he wanted to hang out a little last night. apparently he had been putting off alot of work..and ending up having to work the majority of the night and into the wee hours of the morning. but he took a few minutes of his time to come hang out with us a little. then..he told us he had gifts for us. so we were like..ok cool, not really expecting too much. then he pulls out this bag and hoodie that say sheridan on it. and he proceeds to tell us that he never does anything like this, but he just really likes us and wanted to do something special for us. how cool is that!
continue to pray for bernie. especially that God would put other believers in his path to share with him and water the seeds the Lord has planted in his life!!
on a second note, the family from sheridan has been trying to squeeze in every moment possible with us...which is awesome! on wednesday, we all played mini-golf together, had another pizza night and then headed over to a secondary school to watch jennifer's soccer game. we started the wave, had posters for her, and screamed louder there than the argos game and blue jays game combined. it was great! then we headed back to sheridan and stayed up chatting with them until almost midnight. we had several opportunities to share what the Lord has been doing through us this summer! it was wonderful. also, God is opening doors for the allen family to possibly move into the verbeeks basement until their home is ready! how awesome is that!?
so, all in all, God is doing some great things. and its really awesome to see that His work that He begun with us (team habakkuk) is going to continue after we leave, which was ultimately the goal.
thanks again for all your prayers. they mean SOOO much to me! and now i ask that you would pray for me as i head back to "real life," that the missional lifestyle i have taken on would not be put to the side just because i'm back to school and work and all.. pray that the work the Lord has done in my heart will continue to grow and i will be willing to be used in every way.
love you guys so much! see you soon!!
Monday, July 27, 2009
saying goodbye is never easy..
sorry it has been so long since my last post. as the last days draw near, we find ourselves wrapped up in dinner with families, and squeezing in last minute activities.
this past weekend, a mission team from florida came up. 2 of the guys stayed at sheridan with us in carson's extra room. we spent time with the team, throwing block parties, and doing youth events with them. stephanie and jennifer (the 2 girls from the family at sheridan) came to the youth event with us (5 pin bowling)! we had a blast. we are trying to find every bit of extra time to spend with the precious family at sheridan before we leave.
as we pack up and prepare to fly home, we are looking for ways to further the ministries we helped start here in the area. aubrey and nishika have decided/agreed to continue the bible study at UTM with kevin, and possibly some other interested people, which is very exciting!! also, we are hoping to connect the family from sheridan with the verbeeks, who also live in oakville. we're not really sure what God had/has in store for the children of floradale park, but we trust that He will continue to work there.
church was good yesterday, but hard. team habakkuk had a time to share about the summer and encourage the Sanctuary, but we also had to say goodbye to our new family. it was tough, but also exciting, knowing that God's work is being done here in the toronto area, and that we have family here to come back and visit.
so my plane leaves on saturday, and this week will be full of goodbyes..be praying for the team as we part ways, for safe travel and for the family and friends we are leaving behind! as always, your prayers have been an amazing support and encouragement for me. much love!
this past weekend, a mission team from florida came up. 2 of the guys stayed at sheridan with us in carson's extra room. we spent time with the team, throwing block parties, and doing youth events with them. stephanie and jennifer (the 2 girls from the family at sheridan) came to the youth event with us (5 pin bowling)! we had a blast. we are trying to find every bit of extra time to spend with the precious family at sheridan before we leave.
as we pack up and prepare to fly home, we are looking for ways to further the ministries we helped start here in the area. aubrey and nishika have decided/agreed to continue the bible study at UTM with kevin, and possibly some other interested people, which is very exciting!! also, we are hoping to connect the family from sheridan with the verbeeks, who also live in oakville. we're not really sure what God had/has in store for the children of floradale park, but we trust that He will continue to work there.
church was good yesterday, but hard. team habakkuk had a time to share about the summer and encourage the Sanctuary, but we also had to say goodbye to our new family. it was tough, but also exciting, knowing that God's work is being done here in the toronto area, and that we have family here to come back and visit.
so my plane leaves on saturday, and this week will be full of goodbyes..be praying for the team as we part ways, for safe travel and for the family and friends we are leaving behind! as always, your prayers have been an amazing support and encouragement for me. much love!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
1 of the 7 wonders of the world!
today was alot of fun. we started off the day with an adventure to niagra falls. we had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours on the canadian side of niagra falls..which is alot prettier than the american side. we rode maid of the mist..which was more like (in carson's words) maid of the tsunami. it was wild..granted we did choose to stand on the top level, close to the front of the ship. but anyways, we had a good time. we walked around..hoping to catch another tourist attraction, but ran out of time, so we finished off the afternoon with lunch at the rainforest cafe. :) it was nice.
we got home and had a few hours to chill out, and prepare for tomorrow night's bible study at UTM. since this will be kevin's first bible study as a believer..we are trying to prepare some stuff that suits a new believers needs. for example, baptism, faith, and repentance. we each have one topic to prepare. i will be leading the faith portion..which i've realized is alot more complicated than it seems. looking forward to the bible study though.
we decided to also go back to floradale park tomorrow and take materials to make salvation bracelets with the kids. so we spent a big part of the afternoon/evening putting beads, bands, and papers explaining the bracelets into ziplock bags. we are praying to a beautiful, sun shiny day, and lots of kids!
after dinner, we spent the evening with our family friends: peter, allison, stephanie and jennifer. they decided to give us a tour of oakville, ontario! we really had a wonderful time. they also showed us their new home (which is in the process of being built) and made it very clear that we are welcome if we come back to the area. they took us out for ice cream, and we spent alot of time just walking and talking. very enjoyable. we also learned a little bit about the family's religious background. allison (the mom) grew up anglican, and then "converted" to catholicism for her children to go to a certain school. it seems they are not really dedicated to any religious practices, just in name only. we are hoping to connect them with families from the church for after we leave. pray that God will work all that out.
it is truly exciting to see what God is doing here, and i'm a little nervous about going back to "real life." its been a summer of learning how to life a 'missional lifestyle' and seeking the Lord in all things, which is something that i will be bringing home with me (thankfully i don't have to put that in my suitcase, which is probably going to be over 50 lbs.) i'm excited to see what God has in store for me back home, but also what He will continue to do after team habakkuk leaves. as always, thanks for the prayers and thoughts. blessings.
we got home and had a few hours to chill out, and prepare for tomorrow night's bible study at UTM. since this will be kevin's first bible study as a believer..we are trying to prepare some stuff that suits a new believers needs. for example, baptism, faith, and repentance. we each have one topic to prepare. i will be leading the faith portion..which i've realized is alot more complicated than it seems. looking forward to the bible study though.
we decided to also go back to floradale park tomorrow and take materials to make salvation bracelets with the kids. so we spent a big part of the afternoon/evening putting beads, bands, and papers explaining the bracelets into ziplock bags. we are praying to a beautiful, sun shiny day, and lots of kids!
after dinner, we spent the evening with our family friends: peter, allison, stephanie and jennifer. they decided to give us a tour of oakville, ontario! we really had a wonderful time. they also showed us their new home (which is in the process of being built) and made it very clear that we are welcome if we come back to the area. they took us out for ice cream, and we spent alot of time just walking and talking. very enjoyable. we also learned a little bit about the family's religious background. allison (the mom) grew up anglican, and then "converted" to catholicism for her children to go to a certain school. it seems they are not really dedicated to any religious practices, just in name only. we are hoping to connect them with families from the church for after we leave. pray that God will work all that out.
it is truly exciting to see what God is doing here, and i'm a little nervous about going back to "real life." its been a summer of learning how to life a 'missional lifestyle' and seeking the Lord in all things, which is something that i will be bringing home with me (thankfully i don't have to put that in my suitcase, which is probably going to be over 50 lbs.) i'm excited to see what God has in store for me back home, but also what He will continue to do after team habakkuk leaves. as always, thanks for the prayers and thoughts. blessings.
Monday, July 20, 2009
:)
the last few days have been more laid back..which is exactly what team habakkuk needed. yesterday we had church. still no sign of tammy :( but an argonaut (football team player) and his wife came as well as another argo wife..which was pretty exciting! later in the evening we headed over to the verbeeks to try and help out the big final packing up stuff to head to big trout lake. its kinda cool being on a "mission trip" and helping other people prepare for their mission trip. aubrey and nishika were there as well..so we all hung out and spent time together after dinner..which was nice.
today we planned this week out, went to lunch with leeann and then dinner at lorianne and jean's place. they are from south africa, and i just find it fascinating to learn about other cultures! i could just sit and listen to them talk about their home for hours..especially with their awesome british accents. :) we enjoyed our time with them..and the authentic african food we got to eat! yum. so far we've had: south african, chinese, vietnamese, mediterranean, greek, italian (pizza), and trinidadian. we will be having authentic indian sometime next week..and possibly a few other dishes. its quite exciting!
plans for the week include: niagra falls tomorrow morning!! yay :), then tomorrow evening spending time with the family living at sheridan. time at the park to have the kids make salvation bracelets, and then bible study at UTM on wednesday. thursday will be a bluejays game (baseball) and then meeting the team coming from florida and having dinner. friday we will probably be helping out with a youth thing with the team, and then saturday a block party and then a bbq (cookout) with the church.
pretty exciting stuff!! its hard knowing that our time here is coming to an end quickly..but its great to see how God is working and just the mystery behind all He does!
today we planned this week out, went to lunch with leeann and then dinner at lorianne and jean's place. they are from south africa, and i just find it fascinating to learn about other cultures! i could just sit and listen to them talk about their home for hours..especially with their awesome british accents. :) we enjoyed our time with them..and the authentic african food we got to eat! yum. so far we've had: south african, chinese, vietnamese, mediterranean, greek, italian (pizza), and trinidadian. we will be having authentic indian sometime next week..and possibly a few other dishes. its quite exciting!
plans for the week include: niagra falls tomorrow morning!! yay :), then tomorrow evening spending time with the family living at sheridan. time at the park to have the kids make salvation bracelets, and then bible study at UTM on wednesday. thursday will be a bluejays game (baseball) and then meeting the team coming from florida and having dinner. friday we will probably be helping out with a youth thing with the team, and then saturday a block party and then a bbq (cookout) with the church.
pretty exciting stuff!! its hard knowing that our time here is coming to an end quickly..but its great to see how God is working and just the mystery behind all He does!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
superrrr exciting news!!! a must read blog.
i really don't have tooo much to blog on today..but i actually have the BEST news to share. i shared last night about our bible study at UTM and how we each shared our testimonies. well...today, we got a call from aubrey saying that kevin has become a follower of Christ for real! he shared that after hearing each of our stories, and how real Christ is in our lives, he felt convicted and desired God as well. i can't wait to see him tomorrow!!! wow. our God is sooo good. and prayer is so powerful. :) you just can't not get excited about that!!
pre-hearing about kevin..we slept in today. sleep was very much needed, and it felt great. then we had a lazy afternoon, eating, making team t-shirts, and watching videos. it was super nice. and we had a good time. then we headed over to the chandoos for dinner and a movie.
it was a good day. to God be the glory!
pre-hearing about kevin..we slept in today. sleep was very much needed, and it felt great. then we had a lazy afternoon, eating, making team t-shirts, and watching videos. it was super nice. and we had a good time. then we headed over to the chandoos for dinner and a movie.
it was a good day. to God be the glory!
Friday, July 17, 2009
well, track and field camp had its final race today. yesterday was super busy. we left at 7:30 am and didn't get home until 11:30 pm. you can imagine how exhausted team habakkuk was! we had track and field in the morning, headed to the hudsons for lunch and a quick nap, and then went to floradale park for our second "mini block party."
lorianne and nishika joined us, which was absolutely wonderful! but it was quite strange. only one of the same kids was there, even after they all begged us to come back last thursday. so it was all new kids, and most of them were speaking an indian language, as well as english. but these kids were older, so i decided to try and talk a little bit about Jesus. i asked them if they had ever heard of Jesus, and one of the girls replied 'thats the christian god.' most of the kids said they hadn't. so i shared a little bit, saying that Jesus loves them. i talked a little more to one girl, and she told me that on canada day someone gave her a little bag with things about Jesus and she watched a video on Jesus (i'm assuming it was the Jesus video). then alyssa told me that she was talking with her and she was sharing that her family had just finished fasting and praying to all the gods, making us believe her family is most likely hindu. so..very interesting group.
we heard that the park had been closed earlier due to a fallen tree..which may have been why the kids from the week before weren't there. the dynamics of this group of kids was completely different. we mostly played soccer while there was a little bit of face painting going on. there weren't half as many kids either, which i feel was a blessing in disguise considering how tired we were.
when we left the park we went to square one and had dinner in the mall before bible study. kevin was the only one to show up for bible study, but the study was great!! last week, if you recall, we talked about the depth of sin, and this week we talked about the cross. we each shared our testimony, and aubrey asked kevin to close in prayer. in his prayer, he thanked God for allowing us to share with him what the cross means to us, and prayed that he would have that same experience. we all feel he is super close to becoming a believer!!! continue lifting him up in prayer.
on the way home after bible study, we were praying for another encounter with peter (from the bus last week). our prayer was answered, but not in the way we expected. we saw peter, and he acknowledged us, but went out of his way to avoid us. the way i view it is God is working in his heart, convicting him, and he's scared. i mean..i think it would be hard growing up believing you are a good person, and then find out that you've been missing something for all this time, a relationship with Jesus and the salvation He brings. so we didn't really talk to peter, but i still believe the Holy Spirit is convicting him.
today we had our final day of track and field camp, ending the day with the final races and closing ceremonies. it was sad to see the kids go, especially since i love playing with kids so much, but it was great to see them finish big!
tomorrow..we are sleeping in as long as possible!! (we lost quite a bit of sleep this week) and then we are just having a relax day, and ending the day with supper at the chandoos! praying for recooperation from this busy week, and looking forward to what God has in store for the last 2 weeks of our time here!
much love!
lorianne and nishika joined us, which was absolutely wonderful! but it was quite strange. only one of the same kids was there, even after they all begged us to come back last thursday. so it was all new kids, and most of them were speaking an indian language, as well as english. but these kids were older, so i decided to try and talk a little bit about Jesus. i asked them if they had ever heard of Jesus, and one of the girls replied 'thats the christian god.' most of the kids said they hadn't. so i shared a little bit, saying that Jesus loves them. i talked a little more to one girl, and she told me that on canada day someone gave her a little bag with things about Jesus and she watched a video on Jesus (i'm assuming it was the Jesus video). then alyssa told me that she was talking with her and she was sharing that her family had just finished fasting and praying to all the gods, making us believe her family is most likely hindu. so..very interesting group.
we heard that the park had been closed earlier due to a fallen tree..which may have been why the kids from the week before weren't there. the dynamics of this group of kids was completely different. we mostly played soccer while there was a little bit of face painting going on. there weren't half as many kids either, which i feel was a blessing in disguise considering how tired we were.
when we left the park we went to square one and had dinner in the mall before bible study. kevin was the only one to show up for bible study, but the study was great!! last week, if you recall, we talked about the depth of sin, and this week we talked about the cross. we each shared our testimony, and aubrey asked kevin to close in prayer. in his prayer, he thanked God for allowing us to share with him what the cross means to us, and prayed that he would have that same experience. we all feel he is super close to becoming a believer!!! continue lifting him up in prayer.
on the way home after bible study, we were praying for another encounter with peter (from the bus last week). our prayer was answered, but not in the way we expected. we saw peter, and he acknowledged us, but went out of his way to avoid us. the way i view it is God is working in his heart, convicting him, and he's scared. i mean..i think it would be hard growing up believing you are a good person, and then find out that you've been missing something for all this time, a relationship with Jesus and the salvation He brings. so we didn't really talk to peter, but i still believe the Holy Spirit is convicting him.
today we had our final day of track and field camp, ending the day with the final races and closing ceremonies. it was sad to see the kids go, especially since i love playing with kids so much, but it was great to see them finish big!
tomorrow..we are sleeping in as long as possible!! (we lost quite a bit of sleep this week) and then we are just having a relax day, and ending the day with supper at the chandoos! praying for recooperation from this busy week, and looking forward to what God has in store for the last 2 weeks of our time here!
much love!
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