I apologize for the lack of postings the last few days
We finished off the week really strong – so many great memories!
We had a blast at Stanley Park….then we had a very powerful club where we sand, shared and as leaders we washed the students feet as a sign of our desire to serve.
Today we woke up at 6:30AM…packed up the vehicles, cleaned up the warehouse, grabbed a quick breaky and headed out of town.
We arrived in Kamloops around 12:30PM…stopped at the mall to eat (and of course a few of the girls did a little browsing)
We loaded up the vehicles around 2Pm – stopped for a quick Starbucks and made our way to Sicamous for a delicious cone from Dutchmen Dairy.
Finally, after what appeared to be a fairly quick day…we arrived (safe and sound) in Revelstoke!
We gave the kids a few hours to unwind – grab a nap – go for a swim…we then headed over to the park for a pizza dinner and a time of debriefing our week.
And now – it is time for a good night’s rest! We will be heading out tomorrow morning around 9AM. With a lunch stop in Canmore, we should arriv eback at the West Campus between 3-30PM
Well we are all back – clean and freshly showered – team Grandview and Cordova are preparing supper…can’t wait to see what they come up with!
I haven’t had the time yet to ask how thing s went today at the different ministry sites but I am sure they saw and experienced some pretty cool things today!
Here are the teams and what they are doing at each site;
Crew Broadway: Union Gospel Mission
Right in the heart of Hastings they do chapel services, thrift store, kitchen/food prep (feeding over 900 people per day)
Crew Grandview: Union Gospel Mission -
New WestMinster
We spent the day cleaning, preparing food, hanging out with clients of the shelter.
Crew Nanaimo; Ward Memorial Baptist church
they have spent the last two days hanging out with kids, cooking meals, and picking strawberries and blue berries.
Crew Cordova; Fransiscan Sisters of Atonement / Harbour Lights
these ladies have been peeling eggs (500), folding ham (600 portions), bagged thousands of cookies and then gave them away.
Crew Renfrew: Urban Promise
this team has spent the last two days hanging out with over 100 children. they have been involved in playing games, preparing and serving meals.
Almost time for supper…tonight we are heading downtown to be involved in a digital camera scavenger hunt that will bring across the message of wealth versus poverty and how we should respond.
I am just in the process of getting ready for bed but I wanted to make sure I get this blog up and running for those of you who are interested in following our journey;
Today I thought..”instead of me describing what’s going on – why not have a couple students share’? So that’s what you will find here – a couple students blogging about their first day of ministry plus I’ll add a few pictures to give you a visual idea of what we have been up to.
Hey everybody! It’s Kathleen and Miranda. Today was our first day working at our sites. There were five groups, each going to a different one. These sites included working for children camps, working at a old folks home, working at a homeless shelter, working at a soup kitchen, and something else.
Our days were jam packed with work, and although they were very tiring we still had fun. Our experience was at the soup kitchen. We started at the Fransiscan Sisters of the Atonement, or something along those lines. We made sandwiches, and bagged bread or dessert. We saw giant pots of soup. We then walked to the Salvation Army. On the way, we sadly saw an arrested guy, going to jail. At the Salvation Army, we peeled like a billion eggs!!! Actually it was probably about 400.
Later this evening we went on a hike, to Lynn Canyon. We saw giant slugs, which scared us. We also went across a suspension bridge, and the boys seemed to have tons of fun bouncing it and making the girls scream. We’re now eating freezies, and getting ready for an evening service. We are enjoying ourselves, and don’t hope to see you soon
Hi mom!
-Kathleen and Miranda
(though Miranda did almost all of the typing)
Tomorrow I’ll fill you in who is doing what and where they are doing it plus I’ll give you a guided tour of where we are staying for the week.
We left Salmon Arm around 10AM – after refueling the vehicles and eating breakfast / devotions in the park.
Drove to Hope where we had lunch…man that place is busy – anybody know why?
We left Hope around 2PM and were planning on stopping in Surrey to swim…unfortunately there were a few car accidents along the way so traffic played havoc with our schedule.
Finally we arrived at our destination at 4:30PM
We unloaded…set up our sleeping areas and then had a nutritious meal (much better than fast food)
Tonight -we had club (games/singing/message) and then ended up with out team devotions – powerful stuff!! I heard kids talking about wanting to be used by God to make a difference in peoples lives…kids wanting to be set free to be all who God has created them to be! AWESOME!…God is already at work in your childrens lives!
It’s off to bed…it’s going to be an early morning (my teamand I have to be up at 6:30AM to prepare breakfast for 60 people)
Tomorrow I will be adding pics of our journey thus far…plus I’ll let you know where we are working and who is working where? Continue to pray – God is good!!
Featured Resource: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis
Fights at school, sexual abuse, eating disorders, school crises … the list goes on and on. Hardly a day passes without a local crisis at involving junior highers or high schoolers. This practical resource covers the whole continuum of private and public crisis, equipping parents to work with their kids to deal with any crisis in a way that helps the individual and helps the family stay intact.
Receive 20% off A Parent’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis using coupon code RWPN106 by July 31st, 2009.
Today is Canada Day here in the Great White North!
A day to hang with family and friends, sleep in, stay in your pj’s all day…and to prepare for a great night of the best brand of football on the planet earth!
For only the second time in it’s long history (way longer history than the NFL) the CFL season is kicking off on Canada Day! At 7PM ET the Hamilton Tiger Cats will visit the Argos in Toronto…and then at 10PM ET the Grey Cup rematch will take place at McMahon as the Stamps take on the Montreal Als. Gotta love the CFL tradition! I AM CANADIAN!!
So today …I got up made some java had a quick bite to eat and then quickly turned to TODAY to see what was going on in this world of ours. I was expecting to see news stories and issues that are currently affecting our world…instead the only thing that appears to be affecting our world is the constant coverage of the passing of Michael Jackson.
I ‘ll be the first to admit he was very talented and literally changed the landscape of music and dance. I just don’t understand the morbid fascination of worshipping a mere man who has fallen off the radar for many years. I have been amazed to read all the tributes and life changing stories of how Michael Jackson has changes peoples lives…stories from kids who are 10 years old…and their lives are no longer meaningful. The internet and social networks have been bombarded with videos, blogs, conspiracy theories about this life altering event.
The fact is there are a lot worse role models in our culture these days. Individuals who use our freedom of speech to objectify women, spew hatred in regards to any form of authority and portray love as a night of unbridled passion with a stranger.
The question that continues to come to mind is this; What has happened in our society that we have turned to rock stars, Hollywood and sports figures as our role models? I’m not trying to say they are all messed up – but when we turn to them…we are often turning away from those people who are the real role models.
I’m not saying every parent is perfect (I know that full well – I’m a parent and I’m not close to being perfect) But looking up to someone isn’t about their perfection it should be the fact that…that person (who is being looked up to) is in the process of being a positive influence in the lives of others.
What a week! I’ve been under a great deal of stress…so much going on right now. The world in so many ways seems to be spinningout of control and now we are faced with our mortality when three significant cultural icons pass away. AS I browse Facebook and other social netwqorks I am truly baffled at how many people have reacted to these untimly deaths.
Words cannot even begin to describe what’s going through my mind right now…fortunately someone I respect greasly has done an amazing job of putting his feelings/thoughts to paper…he took the words right out of my mouth;
via learning my lines. . . by Walt Mueller on 6/26/09
Another clump of celebrity deaths. . . and they all played some type of role in my childhood and young adult years. I hadn’t thought about any of them at all until their names hit the news this week. First, there was Ed McMahon. I thought Johnny Carson was a funny guy. He was especially funny when he picked on his sidekick Ed. It was even funnier when Ed would lay a zinger on Johnny. Whenever I could, I’d stay up late watching these guys in search of a good laugh. They’d deliver. More recently I’d travel down memory lane through the Carson DVD’s my kids got me as a gift a few years ago. Then, there was Farah Fawcett. I don’t remember ever watching Charlie’s Angels, but I have to admit that as a young twenty-something guy I certainly knew who she was. I remember that best-selling poster hanging on a few dorm room walls back at Geneva College. My college yearbook bears testimony to Fawcett’s influence on pop culture. Just take a look at the hairstyles on lots of the coeds. Finally, there’s Michael Jackson. I loved the early version of the guy. I can still remember with great clarity the first time I heard his music. I was in 8th grade at Huntingdon Junior High School outside of Philly. It was a rainy day and after school I had walked around the corner to my buddy Bruce Lutz’s house where we were to be working on a joint Social Studies presentation. Before, during, and after working on that project we kept lifting the needle on the family’s record player and starting over on a little 45 featuring The Jackson Five. The song was “I Want You Back.” The music was fast, catchy, fun, and infectious. I was amazed that the voice I was hearing came from a kid a couple of years younger than me. It was even better to see Jackson and his brothers perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Those infectious, high-energy hits kept coming, and today, that music transports me back to Bruce’s living room and that time in my life. After those early years, Michael Jackson lost me. But don’t use me as the benchmark for his following. We all know how big it grew.
As expected, the deaths of the two former stars have been eclipsed in the media by the death of the latter. It’s all over the television and the Internet. Shrines and memorials are popping up all over the world. This guy was big. He’ll most likely be the Elvis of the generation that follows all those Elvis followers. But as I watch the response to his death, I can’t help but wonder about what this very talented and equally odd entertainer meant to so many people. What left such massive holes in their lives that they looked to Michael Jackson to fill? Celebrity is a very, very strange phenomenon.
But other thoughts have been provoked by these deaths for me. I am reminded that while our lives on this earth take a variety of paths, they all end the same way. It doesn’t matter how much or how little one has in terms of money, fame, and attention. The heart eventually stops. Solomon pondered these realities in Ecclesiastes. If we watch the lives of the people who we look to as the bars we hope to reach, the last breath always comes. . . . and it’s always the same. That would certainly become more real to us if we were somehow able to witness the last sixty seconds of each of these lives. Life on this earth ends and it’s never pretty.
I’m reminded of how we need to view our lives not in terms of the number of days starting with our birthday and ending with our last breath, but from eternity to eternity. All of us are part of a bigger story. It is God’s story. Chapter One is titled “Creation.” It begins with the eternal God who made all things out of nothing. Those “all things” were made perfect and for His glory. Chapter Two is called “Fall.” It begins in Genesis 3:6 as all things come undone due to human rebellion and the desire to do things our way. Sadly, Chapter Two is also about the results of the fall, including spiritual death, the sufferings of life, and physical death. But thank God that His story includes Chapter Three – “Redemption.” Immediately God in His mercy and grace puts into place His plan to undo what’s been done by our rebellion. For those who have embraced the God who has embraced them and entered into Chapter Three, there is the hope of Chapter Four. “Glorification” awaits all those who are in Christ as once and for all those “all things” that came undone are restored to what they once were. . . . and whether we know it or not, all creation longs and groans for that day. If you’re unfamiliar with this story, it’s laid out in wondrous and engaging ways in the book we all call The Bible. I know that it’s an amazing story to live in. . . and the older I get, the more deeply I can’t wait to get to the end. . . which is really a new beginning that will have not end. In addition, I grieve for those who never get beyond Chapter Two before their heart stops beating.
Late last night I was sitting and watching the news about Michael Jackson’s death. My 16-year-old came into the house and immediately asked, “Hey Dad. Did you hear about Michael Jackson?” “Yep,” I answered. Then he asked, “Where do you think he is?” I couldn’t answer the question with any certainty. God is, after all, a whole lot bigger than me. What I could remind him of are the words of the Apostle Paul regarding those who have embraced the God who has embraced them and entered into the Chapter Three life of following Jesus. In Philippians 1:21, Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This reality gave Paul confidence to say that for those who are in Christ, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Cor. 5:6-8).
Today, we are reminded of these realities. Thanks be to God.
Crew Broadway: Union Gospel Mission
