Thursday, February 28, 2008
The end of part 1
Coming to the end of 8 weeks now and how the time has flown by. I feels like we have just arrived and now we are preparing to pack and head out. I don’t know how to describe how hard it will be to leave some of these girls behind. We have bonded so well and now, for 3 and ½ months we are forced to part. I’m so excited about how this group has bonded so well and how we look out for each other and long to spend more time with each other.
Over these last weeks we have started to focus on some classes that we will need out in the field. We have been learning how to teach ESL classes, how do deal with the 3 stages of culture-shock, and learning a drime to help us when we are put on the spot and we have to do a church service or just on the street.
Culture-shock is a very real experience we will experience sometime or the other. What is culture-shock you may ask?! It is the experience frustration from not knowing the rules or having the skills for adjusting to a new land. For a demonstration, the interns put together a game for us to learn a little about being disoriented. We were put in our teams and headed outside. One person on each team took a stick and had to put their forehead on it and spin 8 times, head up a hill, and find a country on a map that was given to us when we got up the hill. The spinning part had some effects on a few. While I was spinning, I got my legs knocked right out of underneath me! Running up the hill has harder then anyone ever expected. There were trees every where and that was freighting to some.
We headed back in and discussed the activity and found out that, how we felt after spinning, will be a small part of the feeling we will feel on our assignment. Maybe not the dizzy part, but the confused, disoriented, out-of-place feeling. We have to realize that this is for real and that how we handle the culture-shock will effect the rest of our trip and the others on our team.
Bryan Born spoke on ‘Connecting Across Cultures’ and he gave us an article called ‘Leave Your Baggage at Home’. Its an article written for youth workers planning short-term missions. Its like seeing in the eyes of those at the receiving end of missions. I highlighted some major points.
‘… But please stop grimacing when you eat the food our people have prepared for you. Our food is an extension of us.’ That is a great way to look at that. How often do we go somewhere and just say we hate the food? Do we ever think about how that makes them feel? We would want people to try our food if we where on the other end. We should try and do the same. Just try new things. Embrace the chance to eat new food.
‘… We welcome your hard work. But do it along-side of us -- with us -- not for us.’ How often do we go down help people and we think our way is better and completely forget that they built things before we got there and they will continue. Our way isn’t always the best. We just have to keep that in our minds and take that into consideration.
‘… You’re not bring Jesus to us. He’s already here. In fact, He’s doing some amazing things here.’ How often do we forget that where we go… God could be doing more there then he is where we are from. Just because we are on a ‘Mission Trip’ doesn’t mean that the people we are serving are going to be the only people who gets served.
That was really neat to hear and a new way to look at the things we do for missions. I never saw it that way before and its good to see it through the receivers end for a little. We need to take that into consideration next time we plan to go ‘Take Christ to People’!! God is already there. We just need to show the people the love of God more and more. Being God’s hands and feet.
Over these last weeks we have started to focus on some classes that we will need out in the field. We have been learning how to teach ESL classes, how do deal with the 3 stages of culture-shock, and learning a drime to help us when we are put on the spot and we have to do a church service or just on the street.
Culture-shock is a very real experience we will experience sometime or the other. What is culture-shock you may ask?! It is the experience frustration from not knowing the rules or having the skills for adjusting to a new land. For a demonstration, the interns put together a game for us to learn a little about being disoriented. We were put in our teams and headed outside. One person on each team took a stick and had to put their forehead on it and spin 8 times, head up a hill, and find a country on a map that was given to us when we got up the hill. The spinning part had some effects on a few. While I was spinning, I got my legs knocked right out of underneath me! Running up the hill has harder then anyone ever expected. There were trees every where and that was freighting to some.
We headed back in and discussed the activity and found out that, how we felt after spinning, will be a small part of the feeling we will feel on our assignment. Maybe not the dizzy part, but the confused, disoriented, out-of-place feeling. We have to realize that this is for real and that how we handle the culture-shock will effect the rest of our trip and the others on our team.
Bryan Born spoke on ‘Connecting Across Cultures’ and he gave us an article called ‘Leave Your Baggage at Home’. Its an article written for youth workers planning short-term missions. Its like seeing in the eyes of those at the receiving end of missions. I highlighted some major points.
‘… But please stop grimacing when you eat the food our people have prepared for you. Our food is an extension of us.’ That is a great way to look at that. How often do we go somewhere and just say we hate the food? Do we ever think about how that makes them feel? We would want people to try our food if we where on the other end. We should try and do the same. Just try new things. Embrace the chance to eat new food.
‘… We welcome your hard work. But do it along-side of us -- with us -- not for us.’ How often do we go down help people and we think our way is better and completely forget that they built things before we got there and they will continue. Our way isn’t always the best. We just have to keep that in our minds and take that into consideration.
‘… You’re not bring Jesus to us. He’s already here. In fact, He’s doing some amazing things here.’ How often do we forget that where we go… God could be doing more there then he is where we are from. Just because we are on a ‘Mission Trip’ doesn’t mean that the people we are serving are going to be the only people who gets served.
That was really neat to hear and a new way to look at the things we do for missions. I never saw it that way before and its good to see it through the receivers end for a little. We need to take that into consideration next time we plan to go ‘Take Christ to People’!! God is already there. We just need to show the people the love of God more and more. Being God’s hands and feet.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Clearbrook MB Church
What a blessing old people can be. They touch the lives of people, young and old, everyday in new ways. We ( TREKers ) had a commissioning session last night at the Clearbrook MB Church where most of our sessions are held. We were put up in the front of the church and were introduced and had to tell everyone where we are from, a normal routine for us now, and to say where we are going. After giving our intros, John gave a short sermon about God being our light in this world. How we aren’t supposed to all cluster in one area instead of going out and shining our lights into the world. He gave a better analogy of that in saying that why would we, if all Christians had flashlights, stand in a lighted room and just shine our lights into the air? Who would notice? No one. So why do we do it? We need to take our lights outside where people can see it. That’s how it is in our lives. We cant stay where people don’t need light. We need to go out and give light to people who need it.
After the sermon, we were led out to the back of the church where people could come back and talk with us. They also were given the chance to “adopt” one of us and pray for us specifically the next months of our journey. They would go up to Luke and John and just say they wanted to pray for so-and-so, not knowing anything about us, and Luke would introduce them to the one they chose. It was amazing to get to see how elderly people love to pray for people they don’t even know. They have nothing better to do then “adopt” a young person and pray for them everyday. It touched my heart.
Tonight we headed to Clearbrook for a monthly prayer meeting they hold to pray for missionaries all over the world and also for us. We were divided into 4 groups and split up the booklet we had and we spent time in prayer for each person in the group and in the booklet. A elderly man named Bud sat beside me and started us off with prayer. He prayed so tenderly and so passionate with the love of God in his voice that it overflowed into us. He came to me and prayed for strength, courage, and just the power to speak out for the love of God. That prayer was the most amazing prayer I’ve had anyone pray over me. The fact that I hate speaking in front of people and having someone pray that I will have the power to speak out amazed me as well as scared me at the same time. It was so amazing to see the love of these people and see how they gave up their time to do this for us.
Clearbrook MB Church has really been a blessing to me and everyone in this TREK team. The congregation filled with loving old people who have so much love and passion for the love of God and for the people doing the work of God. So touching and amazing. God is amazing and loving, as are the elderly of Clearbrook MB Church.
After the sermon, we were led out to the back of the church where people could come back and talk with us. They also were given the chance to “adopt” one of us and pray for us specifically the next months of our journey. They would go up to Luke and John and just say they wanted to pray for so-and-so, not knowing anything about us, and Luke would introduce them to the one they chose. It was amazing to get to see how elderly people love to pray for people they don’t even know. They have nothing better to do then “adopt” a young person and pray for them everyday. It touched my heart.
Tonight we headed to Clearbrook for a monthly prayer meeting they hold to pray for missionaries all over the world and also for us. We were divided into 4 groups and split up the booklet we had and we spent time in prayer for each person in the group and in the booklet. A elderly man named Bud sat beside me and started us off with prayer. He prayed so tenderly and so passionate with the love of God in his voice that it overflowed into us. He came to me and prayed for strength, courage, and just the power to speak out for the love of God. That prayer was the most amazing prayer I’ve had anyone pray over me. The fact that I hate speaking in front of people and having someone pray that I will have the power to speak out amazed me as well as scared me at the same time. It was so amazing to see the love of these people and see how they gave up their time to do this for us.
Clearbrook MB Church has really been a blessing to me and everyone in this TREK team. The congregation filled with loving old people who have so much love and passion for the love of God and for the people doing the work of God. So touching and amazing. God is amazing and loving, as are the elderly of Clearbrook MB Church.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A true blessing from God himself... family
Families are a blessing from God himself. Families are a piece of heaven on earth. Families are what makes you who you are. Families are the thing that God knew everyone needed. I’m am so blessed with my family and I thank God everyday for each and everyone of my family. My immediate and extended. They all have blessed me so much.My family came to visit me this past weekend and it was the best weekend of my life. You never really realize how much each one means to you till you don’t see them for a long extended time and then they show up. Its like a breath of fresh air. Its like the saying… ‘you don’t know what you have till you lose it.’ Or, in my case, till you don’t see them. They are a gift from God.
We did a lot of things this weekend that I wouldn’t really have found fun or amusing, but it was great. Like on Saturday… we went to Surrey and were going to ride the sky train… but we made it there and we decided to just turn around. But that trip to and back from Surrey… made me see how
much my family means to me. We just rode in the car and talked. Talked about some things at home, my life here, how the weather was beautiful, and how we missed each other. That time with each other was a blessing. And any other time, I wouldn’t have thought about it that much. This morning for church, we had one of our own famous “church services”. Where we usually sang songs, had a ‘message’ and prayed. It was nice for a change and I loved every minute of it ( even though I was the preacher )! We did a massage from Mark that Steve had led us through in one of his sessions. It was fun to get feed back from them and to just share some things that I have been learning.
Saying good-bye was harder this time then it was when I left in January. I don’t know why but it was. This time there were some watery eyes and some more sobbing then the first… but when it came down to it… it made me love my family even more. I know I will see them in 4 months and then I wont have to leave them again until the Lord calls
me else where. I am so blessed to have an amazing family and I thank God everyday for each and everyone of them. Dad, mom, Kristen, Ryan, and Bethanie. I love you guys and I miss you so much. I will see you guys in 4 months.Embrace your families. They don’t last forever. The time you have with them is short… you don’t know when it is the last time, the last minute spent with them. Take pictures, make memories! Sing, wrestle, and play car headlight games! Every minute is an amazing minute God has blessed you with!! So… just EMBRACE it!!!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
ER run
I now know why I am NOT a nurse. I would love to help people and to be involved in peoples lives, but I believe I will chose a different way of approach. I will do a lot of different things to help and get involved, but I think I will stay away from the medical field as of now.
Dave ( the only guy here ) was helping Steve Klassen by moving a huge flower pot from the porch to the back of a truck during work duties and it slipped and a huge chunk of the side of the pot jammed into his left hand ( right in the meat of the thumb ). So me and Joanna ( a fellow TREKer ) got him in the van and took him to the Abbortsford Hospital. Holding his hand above his heart the whole trip we talked and laughted about how this just had to happen during a work duty time.
We made it to the ER and sat there for about a good 2 hours before Dave got called back. The doc was a kind gentleman and told Dave what was going to happen and to just bare the pain for less then a minute and it would be over. He cleaned the wound and gave him a shot to numb it and he started the stitches. He told Joanna and I that we could watch as long as we didnt pass out. Jo watched all of it while I sat on a chair and looked but only saw what was visible when the doctor moved to the side.
Dave ended up getting 10 stitches ( the cut was about an inch long ) and we headed out after about 3 hours of waiting and Dave being in pain. We had a good time together concidering the situation. We laughed and jokes and talked about our dreams, lives, and some great hospital experiences and stories.
So to wrap the day up... we had a very eventful and exciting day. Thank God for no other major injuries.
Dave ( the only guy here ) was helping Steve Klassen by moving a huge flower pot from the porch to the back of a truck during work duties and it slipped and a huge chunk of the side of the pot jammed into his left hand ( right in the meat of the thumb ). So me and Joanna ( a fellow TREKer ) got him in the van and took him to the Abbortsford Hospital. Holding his hand above his heart the whole trip we talked and laughted about how this just had to happen during a work duty time.
We made it to the ER and sat there for about a good 2 hours before Dave got called back. The doc was a kind gentleman and told Dave what was going to happen and to just bare the pain for less then a minute and it would be over. He cleaned the wound and gave him a shot to numb it and he started the stitches. He told Joanna and I that we could watch as long as we didnt pass out. Jo watched all of it while I sat on a chair and looked but only saw what was visible when the doctor moved to the side.
Dave ended up getting 10 stitches ( the cut was about an inch long ) and we headed out after about 3 hours of waiting and Dave being in pain. We had a good time together concidering the situation. We laughed and jokes and talked about our dreams, lives, and some great hospital experiences and stories.
So to wrap the day up... we had a very eventful and exciting day. Thank God for no other major injuries.
My daddy Jesus
Bright and early on Monday morning, John Best started out our day with an amazing devotion. He started asking us who all has experienced being a father…. You could hear a pin drop till we lost our composure and busted out laughing. He was laughing and held his head high, proud of the joke he had just cracked. Then he regained his serious face and told us how much he takes pride in this son Alexander and how much he loves him and how he would do anything for him when it came to his sons life. That 9 month boy is part of him and every minute John spends with him is a minute he is so blessed with and wouldn’t trade anything for. Then he asked the simple question “Do we realize that our father, God, takes more pride in us then I could ever take pride in my son Alexander?”
Our father is the most loving, caring, and most patient father there is. We seem to compare God with our earthy father sometimes. If we have a good relationship with our father here and are able to relate to him and to carry a conversation with him and just be loved by him, we seem to be able to except the love of God as well. We see God as our father here. If we can trust the father God gave us… its easier to love God himself. But if we live in a home where we struggle to make it through a day with our fathers and just cant stand to be around him, how do you think we could ever really love a father we cant even see? If we cant even trust or confide in a human… how can we ever fully rely on a person we cant see? Its so true. I have a great relationship with my earthy father who loves God and has taught me to love the Lord and to do what’s right. I have a father who would do anything for me and who loves me for me and can forgive when I mess up. When I have that with my daddy… I can love my first father even more. I have a good outlook on Jesus and I can relate him to the wonderful father he gave me here. All God wants from us is to spend time with him. Just to sit down, tell him our fears, worries, and things that are going on in our lives just like we do to our daddies. He wants that relationship with us like our dads have with us here.
I had never really looked at it like that. We are a part of God and he takes pride in us. He loves us so much. He would do anything for us. He did everything for us. He died for us. What else do we need to help us see that? We have a great father in heaven… lets get to know him better and spend time with him. He is wanting to hold us and to tell us he loves us.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Trained by Jesus
We have many great speakers here. All talk about something that they have a passion for or that is in their job description. They all care about us TREKers and our well-being and how we will do in the assignment part of our experience.
One of my favorite speakers is Steve Klassen. He owns the MARK Centre and also is in charge of our work duties we do everyday. He is an amazing guy and he takes God’s word and work very seriously. He teaches the class ‘Trained by Jesus’. He wrote a book that walks you through the book of Mark and he also memorized the whole book of Mark. We have him teach maybe twice a week and if we can squeeze him in, we try for more then just 2! He does such a great job and he has a passion in his heart for us and it shows. Every session we take a small portion of a chapter from Mark and just chew on it over and over. We pick out phrases and phrases or just simple words.
Yesterday we were invited to his house for Chia while doing a lesson. And the Chia wasn’t the only thing delicious! His lesson was amazing. We studied Mark 8:31-38. We talked about how, in this scripture, Jesus first talked about his torture, death, and resurrection. Until now in the Bible, Jesus said nothing about his death and how he would raise again. We also talked a lot about the cost. The cost of giving everything up for God, the cost of surrendering it all, and the cost of just living a life for Jesus.
It really makes you think. It really makes you sit back and ask, ‘Am I willing to lose everything, my life, for Jesus?’ Yea, we can say that pretty easily, but do we mean it? Would we really do everything we can do to live for God? Would we, if we had a gun to our heads, renounce the name of Jesus? or stand strong for him and for what we believe in? It’s a serious question and something that, as Christians, we need to realize what all Jesus gave up for us.
We also talked about suffering a little. Steve made a good point when he said that there is 2 sides to every coin. When we talk about suffering we went through in our lives, do we talk about the good times we had or experienced during that time of suffering? A lot of the time we may just talk about how ‘God caused this’ or ‘God allowed this to happen’… but do we ever say ‘God showed me this in that time of hardships’ or ‘God did something amazing in the midst of the trials’? Most of the time we don’t. Why? Yea… we may go through hard times but something good will come out of it. God only wants what’s best for us… and he will be with us through everything he puts us through. He loves us so much and he will never leave us.
I have learned a lot from ‘Trained by Jesus’ and we are only half way through the book of Mark and with only 2 weeks left, we know that it won’t get finished. We are disappointed and are amazed with that book so far. If you haven’t ever read it… I recommend you to. You won’t be sorry. God has a lot to show us… and we just have to look into that marvelous book and see for ourselves the love of God.
One of my favorite speakers is Steve Klassen. He owns the MARK Centre and also is in charge of our work duties we do everyday. He is an amazing guy and he takes God’s word and work very seriously. He teaches the class ‘Trained by Jesus’. He wrote a book that walks you through the book of Mark and he also memorized the whole book of Mark. We have him teach maybe twice a week and if we can squeeze him in, we try for more then just 2! He does such a great job and he has a passion in his heart for us and it shows. Every session we take a small portion of a chapter from Mark and just chew on it over and over. We pick out phrases and phrases or just simple words.
Yesterday we were invited to his house for Chia while doing a lesson. And the Chia wasn’t the only thing delicious! His lesson was amazing. We studied Mark 8:31-38. We talked about how, in this scripture, Jesus first talked about his torture, death, and resurrection. Until now in the Bible, Jesus said nothing about his death and how he would raise again. We also talked a lot about the cost. The cost of giving everything up for God, the cost of surrendering it all, and the cost of just living a life for Jesus.
It really makes you think. It really makes you sit back and ask, ‘Am I willing to lose everything, my life, for Jesus?’ Yea, we can say that pretty easily, but do we mean it? Would we really do everything we can do to live for God? Would we, if we had a gun to our heads, renounce the name of Jesus? or stand strong for him and for what we believe in? It’s a serious question and something that, as Christians, we need to realize what all Jesus gave up for us.
We also talked about suffering a little. Steve made a good point when he said that there is 2 sides to every coin. When we talk about suffering we went through in our lives, do we talk about the good times we had or experienced during that time of suffering? A lot of the time we may just talk about how ‘God caused this’ or ‘God allowed this to happen’… but do we ever say ‘God showed me this in that time of hardships’ or ‘God did something amazing in the midst of the trials’? Most of the time we don’t. Why? Yea… we may go through hard times but something good will come out of it. God only wants what’s best for us… and he will be with us through everything he puts us through. He loves us so much and he will never leave us.
I have learned a lot from ‘Trained by Jesus’ and we are only half way through the book of Mark and with only 2 weeks left, we know that it won’t get finished. We are disappointed and are amazed with that book so far. If you haven’t ever read it… I recommend you to. You won’t be sorry. God has a lot to show us… and we just have to look into that marvelous book and see for ourselves the love of God.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
God's new way of speaking to me
God has ways of speaking to people in different ways… we all know that. But some of the ways he chooses to speak are amazing and just flat out wonderful. Everyone has ‘special’ songs that mean something to them or had a major part in their life, and some just have favorite songs. Whether it’s a Christian song or just another song, songs are great ways to relate to life and people around you.
Before I got here… the song ‘In Christ Alone’ had a special place in my heart. Just the words gave me a peace in my heart and I felt comfort in knowing that in Christ alone there is peace and hope. A part of a couple verses of that song really send chills down my spine every time I hear them. It says: Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live. And as he stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me. For I am his and he is mine; bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Once I got here I started loving ‘Once Again’ by Matt Redman. I don’t really know why… but I started singing it in my head one day while cleaning my room and I found the song. The words of that song also gave me hope. The chorus just lets me sit back and relax in knowing that God has everything in his hands!
The chorus says: Once again I look upon the cross where you died. I’m humbled by your mercy and I’m broken inside. One again I thank you, once again I pour out my life.
Sometimes God shows you something and it takes someone forever to figure out that God is trying to show you something. That’s how I was over the last couple of weeks. They have an amazing radio station up here that plays Christian songs all day everyday. I have it programmed in my computer to where I can listen to it from the internet and I love it. At least once a day, everyday I hear the same song. It’s called ‘Everlasting God’. The chorus is the part that really hit me hard. It says: Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord. Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord.
I would hear it over and over again and every time it just touched me more. Today we were having a session called Prayer and we started out by singing a song. No one had one they could think of so Amy, one of the interns, suggested ‘Everlasting God’. We sang it to Joanna playing on the guitar. During that same session Amy read a verse from Isaiah 40 verse 30: But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. Wow!!
I think that sometimes God wants us to sit back and let God direct our lives without rushing every minute of our lives. I find myself saying… ‘I can’t wait to get to Peru!’… ‘I can’t wait till my parents come here!’… ‘I can’t wait till this week is over’… Why do we, I, do that? God gave us this life to live once. Why do we, I, wanna rush it and keep moving on? What’s going to happen down the road besides us just getting older? We can’t say this or that is going to happen. So why do we wanna see and get to the unknown? God gave us this moment. Live it. I think God was telling me to wait upon the Lord and not rush things. Tomorrow wont come any faster no matter how bad we want it to. So why wish it to? Time is precious.
As you may see, God has been teaching me new things everyday. I love learning new things. It shows how much God really loves me and how much he really does for me. We serve an amazing God!!
Before I got here… the song ‘In Christ Alone’ had a special place in my heart. Just the words gave me a peace in my heart and I felt comfort in knowing that in Christ alone there is peace and hope. A part of a couple verses of that song really send chills down my spine every time I hear them. It says: Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live. And as he stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me. For I am his and he is mine; bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Once I got here I started loving ‘Once Again’ by Matt Redman. I don’t really know why… but I started singing it in my head one day while cleaning my room and I found the song. The words of that song also gave me hope. The chorus just lets me sit back and relax in knowing that God has everything in his hands!
The chorus says: Once again I look upon the cross where you died. I’m humbled by your mercy and I’m broken inside. One again I thank you, once again I pour out my life.
Sometimes God shows you something and it takes someone forever to figure out that God is trying to show you something. That’s how I was over the last couple of weeks. They have an amazing radio station up here that plays Christian songs all day everyday. I have it programmed in my computer to where I can listen to it from the internet and I love it. At least once a day, everyday I hear the same song. It’s called ‘Everlasting God’. The chorus is the part that really hit me hard. It says: Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord. Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord, as we wait upon the Lord.
I would hear it over and over again and every time it just touched me more. Today we were having a session called Prayer and we started out by singing a song. No one had one they could think of so Amy, one of the interns, suggested ‘Everlasting God’. We sang it to Joanna playing on the guitar. During that same session Amy read a verse from Isaiah 40 verse 30: But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. Wow!!
I think that sometimes God wants us to sit back and let God direct our lives without rushing every minute of our lives. I find myself saying… ‘I can’t wait to get to Peru!’… ‘I can’t wait till my parents come here!’… ‘I can’t wait till this week is over’… Why do we, I, do that? God gave us this life to live once. Why do we, I, wanna rush it and keep moving on? What’s going to happen down the road besides us just getting older? We can’t say this or that is going to happen. So why do we wanna see and get to the unknown? God gave us this moment. Live it. I think God was telling me to wait upon the Lord and not rush things. Tomorrow wont come any faster no matter how bad we want it to. So why wish it to? Time is precious.
As you may see, God has been teaching me new things everyday. I love learning new things. It shows how much God really loves me and how much he really does for me. We serve an amazing God!!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
'Amazing TREK'
One of our scanvenger hunt photos:
Week four is over… but wow was it a long, fun, tiring, and exciting week. I already mentioned the Silent Retreat, but to add to that, yesterday ( Feb 9 ) we were forced to participate in an ‘Amazing Race’ or here it’s the ‘Amazing TREK’!!Ok… first of all, I have to through in that we didn’t get to bed until about 1 am on the 9th because we had a hint that something was going to happen at 5 am and wanted to set some payback up. You know, give them a piece of their own medicine! We set up foil with honey on them on the floor by the door, taped our light switches down so they couldn’t be turned on , and strung a web of string from my bunk bed to the towel rack in the bathroom. Our thoughts were that whoever woke us up would open the door, dashing towards our beds while getting foil glued to their feet, and completely running into the web and knocking themselves back into the honey. Harmless right? Right. Because it didn’t work like that in real life. They came as we predicted and open the door and started screaming. We all, 4 in a bed, held our breath and laughter to see if our little scheme would work. We heard her ( Amy McDaniel ) trying to turn on the light… crunching through the foil, and trying her best to hold back the laughter. She had a flashlight so see saw the web and didn’t come running in as we had hoped. But when she left the room, our laughter erupted the room.
We were told we only had 7 minutes to make it downstairs before our first task started. We scrambled around trying not to get in our own traps and still make it down stairs. I walked out the door with jeans, a cut off shirt and my shoes, socks, and sweatshirt in my hand. I opened the door to see it dark and POURING down rain. We all rain down to start our first task: Memorizing. Have you ever tried this? Memorizing at 5 in the morning? I don’t recommend it. We were given 1 minute to memorize as many things as we could in the back of a minivan. After, we had 2 minutes to write the things down. The Japan team ended up with 20 and my team ( Peru team ) had 19. So Japan got a 5 minute head start and we were off. We had to find 6 bandanas of one color for each on our team that were hidden all over the MARK Centre property. It was rainy, cold, and I was ALREADY socked. Not a good start to a long day.
We walked around looking for the bandanas and finally found them. We were given our next clue and it led us into the Great Room of the Centre. Being pumped about finding ours first after a 5 minute delay, we were given brain teasers for our next task. Again, I don’t recommend!
We completed those before the Japan team came in with there bandanas and were given a roll of toilet paper and were told to count the sheets and then to rip the squares and to make triangles. We needed exactly 396 triangles. Two of the girls on my team ended up eating toilet paper just to make it come out right. We finish and we given our next clue. We had to go to a city blends and buy a chia. Luckily we were given a driver who couldn’t do anything but turn and do as we told her to do. Every turn, stop, and brake was determined by us. After buying the Chia, we were handed the next clue.
The Abbotsford Airport. We, having bandanas either wrapped around our heads or on our arms, we ran into the airport. BIG MISTAKE. We found that the guards don’t take things that well. We found our next clue somehow without getting interrogated or possible kicked out!! Next we headed to John and Christy Best’s house for ‘breakfast’. Not the type of breakfast I would ever chose to eat. It contained a 2 liter of Coke, sticky rice, and a can of sardines. Gross right? It all had to go down!! Some of the rice made it’s way to the bathroom toilet… but other then that, it all went down by the grace of God and we moved on.
We were directed to a house where, when we pulled up, saw 2 piles of hay. As we figured, we had to find a needle in a hay stack. Talk about getting frustrated and completely down!! We were almost to the point of tears when we heard ‘I FOUND IT’!!! That was like music to everyone’s ears!! We got over the excitement and screaming and we handed our next clue. That led us to the hot tub at this same house. At the bottom of the hot tub was a laminated letter hocked to a rock. I reach in and pulled it out. That led us to the MARK Centre to check our emails.
Photo scavenger hunts are the greatest. Ten different ’poses’ to our next clue.
Our breakfast: Rice and Sardines
We finished with quick ease. We had to develop one and trade it in for our next clue, which was in a car somewhere in the 7 Oak Mall’s parking lot. All we had was the license plate number. That was another needle in a haystack. I found out that Canada people have license plates on the back AND the front of each car. That’s one thing nice about Canada!! We fell behind and when we got our clue we learned that we were now 20 minutes behind the Japan team. How? We don’t know.The Fire Station was our next stop to either play Bocce Ball or doing a Firefighter’s workout. We chose the Bocce Ball and Laura and I dominated!!! We were led to a park/stadium to find 2 bowls. One filled with chocolate pudding and one with rice krispys. We all had to stick our faces in them to retrieve a gummy worm from each bowl. Fun fun!! Next we were directed to Luke and Greg’s apartment. We arrived and got to change cloths and to warm up. It felt great to sit by the fire. We couldn’t help but to notice the small of fish that stayed in the air and just lingered over everything. We waited and waited for the Japan team. They arrived and we were told our next challenge. And ‘challenge’ is a big understatement!! Set before each team was a plate of 2 dried squid. Talk about a gross thing to eat for lunch when you had sardines for breakfast. Our stomachs weren’t handling things very well. We got the squid down somehow and were headed to our next task: the library. We found a book with a paper of a different language written on it. We were stumped. How were we supposed to figure out what this was?! We were finally told that it was Panjabi! We were directed to the Sikh Temple. We were to cover our heads with our bandanas and to eat what we were given. It was kinda tough but we again somehow got it down. Indian food is pretty good as long as you don’t know what your eating!
Next, we headed to Sonja and Amy’s house for a icebreaker. We had to smash a bag with a frozen t-shirt. We melted it enough to get our next clue out. We headed to Castle Fun Park for some fun. We had to win enough of tickets to buy some candy for our driver, who didn’t want it so we graciously ate it. Next we had to come up with a romantic song and serenade a mystery someone to their front porch. We sang and Dave, a friend of TREK, walked out on the porch. AWKWORD!! We were handed our clue and we headed to Surrey. We got a tiny ‘nap’ in and arrived at King George Skytrain Station. We were to ride the Skytrain to Commercial Drive in Vancouver. We next ran to a Gelatto shop called ‘True Love’ and buy Luke some Gelatto. He had just received some from Japan team so we walked in, got out envelope, and walked back out the door. We then had to ride a seabus to Lonsdale Quay. The finish line was in sight!! We relaxed during the ride and planned how we were going to sprint to the finish line. Give it our all. We got off the seabus and climbed a spiral staircase to a huge letter ‘Q’. Everyone cheered as we ran to them… it felt like we had just finished a marathon. We were done!! It was a little after 6 pm and we were finally done!! We took pictures and packed into cars and headed back to Abbotsford for some pizza.
The length of that day was indescribable. It felt long but short at the same time. We estimated that we walked/ran a total of 8 miles during the whole day. From running down streets when our driver left us, running in malls and buildings, to just sprinting to the finish line. We were all sore and that is not even the word that comes close to the definition.
We got to relax and enjoy pizza and to talk about the whole day. We had a small debrief where we were asked questions and to just express our feelings. We were told that the reason for this wasn’t to have fun. It was to teach us about the field. Each task had a relation to something that one of the past TREKers had experienced. It helped to get a taste of what it may be like. They challenged us by saying that, yea… that whole day was stressful and tiring, but what would we do if we had to wake up and do that all over again? What would we do? How would we handle it? It may be like that in the field. We may have a long day and have no idea when it will end. You just have to keep going and keep pushing. We are only there for 3 and ½ months… so why not go hard and do what we can. Sleep can be regained and restored… but the time we have there is only for a little bit. It cant be rewound and started over. Once it’s done, its done. No going back and reliving it. We are going to serve God and we need to serve him with our whole heart. Serving whole-heartedly and without holding things back. This is only happening once… live every moment!!
We had a great day and I enjoyed every minute of it and just realized that everything that happened that day was necessary and that it did really stretch us. We drew closer to each other and we learned some major lessons. Life isn’t always easy but lessons have to be learned, days aren’t always going to be fun and relaxing but days may bless someone new, and we aren’t always going to have things our way but we learn lessons by having things thrown at us. Good lessons learned!!
Oh… and just so you know… we didn’t win. We won when it came to completing tasks and points earned, but when it came to finishing first… we lost. That was another lesson learned! Humbling ourselves and learning to go along with things!
Japan and Peru teams gathering at the end in Vancouver
Friday, February 8, 2008
The end of silence
Our silent retreat is over and it was, I felt, a huge blessing. Today, at our first session, we got to share about our experiences, and for me, I didn’t really feel like anything big happened to me or that I really experienced something major. I enjoyed the time away from life in general and just to be silent and listen to God, but that was it. God spoke to me through my memorizing Psalms 119, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The others spoke about how they had cloths thrown at them, they had conversations with God as if he was really right there, and how rocks didn’t fall through the ice. For me, I just took one verse, picked it apart and seen what it had to say.
It may sound like I didn’t get anything out of this retreat or that I didn’t enjoy it, but in fact, I loved it. It was amazing and relaxing to just sit back, read, sleep when we wanted to, and to not have chores to do ( just kidding )! I just think I really expected much more from it and sometimes God just doesn’t show you as much as the other, but he still shows you his love and that he will be there for you always.
As I said before, I picked apart the scripture I’m memorizing in a way to help me memorize and also to help me get in tune with God. I’ll give a brief statement about a few of the 10 verses I learned in the 48 hours.
Psalms 119:7... “I thank you for speaking straight from your heart, I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.” To think back, its kind of funny that this verse was first to memorize. The things I wrote down in my journal was that God can speak to us in different ways. That some people hear him differently but yet he still speaks to us straight from his heart! Right there God spoke to me in a different way then he would’ve spoke to the others.
Psalms 119:8.… “I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.” Doing what God wants us to do isn’t always easy. Sometimes its hard and it feels like God just isn’t there anymore. But he wont ever leave us and he will always here for us. He isn’t like some friends that leave you when you have done something wrong. He sticks by you even more then before.
Last week, I started a cross-stitching project. It’s of a kitten hanging on a tree branch and it says ‘hang in there’. I’ve been working on it while memorizing and every stitch I made, I thought about how much that project is like life. When I started it, it was just a piece of light blue cheese cloth and lots of brilliant colored threads. Just like when we are born, there is nothing really there. With every stitch I made is one less then when I started. Just like every event in my life is one closer till my life is over here on earth. If I wouldn’t have directions and a picture of the finished item, I would be lost trying to work on it. Just by looking at it now, you cant tell what it is. Just like how we have no idea what our next step will be in life. We cant see past what we are doing this very moment. Like me with the end picture, God is the only one with the end picture of our lives. Everyday, every trial, hard time, struggles, wonderful days, is one more ‘stitch’ in my ‘fabric’ of life. All I can do is try my best to make sure I get that stitch perfect so that my end project ( life ) will be filled with brilliant colors and hanging up on someone’s wall ( heaven ) for looks and memory. Live life to the fullest, ‘cause you only get one hack at it. Live it the way you want others to remember and see it.
It may sound like I didn’t get anything out of this retreat or that I didn’t enjoy it, but in fact, I loved it. It was amazing and relaxing to just sit back, read, sleep when we wanted to, and to not have chores to do ( just kidding )! I just think I really expected much more from it and sometimes God just doesn’t show you as much as the other, but he still shows you his love and that he will be there for you always.
As I said before, I picked apart the scripture I’m memorizing in a way to help me memorize and also to help me get in tune with God. I’ll give a brief statement about a few of the 10 verses I learned in the 48 hours.
Psalms 119:7... “I thank you for speaking straight from your heart, I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.” To think back, its kind of funny that this verse was first to memorize. The things I wrote down in my journal was that God can speak to us in different ways. That some people hear him differently but yet he still speaks to us straight from his heart! Right there God spoke to me in a different way then he would’ve spoke to the others.
Psalms 119:8.… “I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me.” Doing what God wants us to do isn’t always easy. Sometimes its hard and it feels like God just isn’t there anymore. But he wont ever leave us and he will always here for us. He isn’t like some friends that leave you when you have done something wrong. He sticks by you even more then before.
Last week, I started a cross-stitching project. It’s of a kitten hanging on a tree branch and it says ‘hang in there’. I’ve been working on it while memorizing and every stitch I made, I thought about how much that project is like life. When I started it, it was just a piece of light blue cheese cloth and lots of brilliant colored threads. Just like when we are born, there is nothing really there. With every stitch I made is one less then when I started. Just like every event in my life is one closer till my life is over here on earth. If I wouldn’t have directions and a picture of the finished item, I would be lost trying to work on it. Just by looking at it now, you cant tell what it is. Just like how we have no idea what our next step will be in life. We cant see past what we are doing this very moment. Like me with the end picture, God is the only one with the end picture of our lives. Everyday, every trial, hard time, struggles, wonderful days, is one more ‘stitch’ in my ‘fabric’ of life. All I can do is try my best to make sure I get that stitch perfect so that my end project ( life ) will be filled with brilliant colors and hanging up on someone’s wall ( heaven ) for looks and memory. Live life to the fullest, ‘cause you only get one hack at it. Live it the way you want others to remember and see it.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Preparing to remain silent
Tomorrow is the start of a 48 hour silent retreat. No talking, no computers, no phones, and no music. Just you, God, your Bible, and your journal. That's it. I'm looking forward to the experience. Some think it will be difficult and yet others think it will be a great growing point in their relationship with our Lord. I believe this will stretch us. I believe this will bring us closer to God whether we plan on it or not. Just think about it. Complete silence for that long with nothing to do besides sleep, read, eat, and sleep some more!:) We are just past half way through training and I think this will do us some good when it comes to getting some silence and away from our normal routines of this training.
One thing I am planning on trying during this retreat is a Bible study called Manuscript Bible Study. It’s where you take a passage of scripture and you read it through twice and then take 15 to 20 minutes to circle words, highlight words and phrases, and just pick out some important sentences and things that mean a lot to you and just meditate on it. Then when you don’t think you can find anything else, you read it again and see what else God can show you. We did it as a group last week and it was amazing. It makes you look at and study things you really never realized and noticed before in a story you have read over and over. We did it on John 13:1-15: the washing of the disciples’ feet. I never realized that you can circle, underline, or highlight so many words that stick out to you or your team members. It teaches you to break down and study every word.
Things are going great here. The Lord has been amazing and I look forward to seeing what he will do as we prepare ourselves to head out to our fields. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that it will be spectacular. We serve an amazing God!!
One thing I am planning on trying during this retreat is a Bible study called Manuscript Bible Study. It’s where you take a passage of scripture and you read it through twice and then take 15 to 20 minutes to circle words, highlight words and phrases, and just pick out some important sentences and things that mean a lot to you and just meditate on it. Then when you don’t think you can find anything else, you read it again and see what else God can show you. We did it as a group last week and it was amazing. It makes you look at and study things you really never realized and noticed before in a story you have read over and over. We did it on John 13:1-15: the washing of the disciples’ feet. I never realized that you can circle, underline, or highlight so many words that stick out to you or your team members. It teaches you to break down and study every word.
Things are going great here. The Lord has been amazing and I look forward to seeing what he will do as we prepare ourselves to head out to our fields. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that it will be spectacular. We serve an amazing God!!
Some pics....
Bri, me, Amber, Amber-Lee, Laura, Sarah and Roxy in the van
Going out to eat at Boston's Pizza after church
This is most of us girls chilling on the couch before a session
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Half way through training
It’s the end of week #4!!! Totally amazing!! Its amazing to see how fast time flies by. The Lord has blessed me so much and I thank the Lord that I am here. I thank him everyday for the friends that he has given me here, the chance to draw closer to him, and just the opportunity to do his will in Lima Peru.
This week was full and loaded with tons of speakers, great learning experiences, and just the amazing time with friends and God himself.
We are required to read a missionary biography and I chose to read ‘The Heavenly Man’ about a Chinese Christian named Brother Yun. It is a remarkable story about how he suffered and endured so much for the name of our Lord. In the one chapter he was sitting on the side of a river in the freezing rain and wind and God placed a song in his mind and heart:
‘As long as I live, I will only love my Lord
With all my heart, strength and mind, I will only love my Lord
Regardless of what happened, I will only love my Lord
In all my actions and words, I will only love my Lord.
In times of humility and learning, I will only love my Lord
In times of joy and gladness, I will only love my Lord
Whether I face hunger or if I’m full, I will only love my Lord
I am his in life or death, I will only love my Lord.
The Lord has sacrificed his life for me
My deep sin has been pardoned
I have dedicated all my life to him
I will only love my Lord.’
Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to sing songs when we are in trouble and in pain. To have the joy of the Lord in our hearts all the time. Just reading that made me realize that nothing I’m going through now is as bad as what Brother Yun has endured. And still he was able to rejoice in the Lord. That really spoke to me. We need to see how great we have it when we start feeling down.
With only 4 weeks left in Abbotsford, the more excited I’m getting about going to Peru. I know that the last 4 weeks will be filled with more passion, more excitement, more growth in God then the previous 4 weeks. That alone blows my mind. The Lord is good!!!
This week was full and loaded with tons of speakers, great learning experiences, and just the amazing time with friends and God himself.
We are required to read a missionary biography and I chose to read ‘The Heavenly Man’ about a Chinese Christian named Brother Yun. It is a remarkable story about how he suffered and endured so much for the name of our Lord. In the one chapter he was sitting on the side of a river in the freezing rain and wind and God placed a song in his mind and heart:
‘As long as I live, I will only love my Lord
With all my heart, strength and mind, I will only love my Lord
Regardless of what happened, I will only love my Lord
In all my actions and words, I will only love my Lord.
In times of humility and learning, I will only love my Lord
In times of joy and gladness, I will only love my Lord
Whether I face hunger or if I’m full, I will only love my Lord
I am his in life or death, I will only love my Lord.
The Lord has sacrificed his life for me
My deep sin has been pardoned
I have dedicated all my life to him
I will only love my Lord.’
Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to sing songs when we are in trouble and in pain. To have the joy of the Lord in our hearts all the time. Just reading that made me realize that nothing I’m going through now is as bad as what Brother Yun has endured. And still he was able to rejoice in the Lord. That really spoke to me. We need to see how great we have it when we start feeling down.
With only 4 weeks left in Abbotsford, the more excited I’m getting about going to Peru. I know that the last 4 weeks will be filled with more passion, more excitement, more growth in God then the previous 4 weeks. That alone blows my mind. The Lord is good!!!
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