Summer Fun

The summer continues to speed past! I only have 9 days left here in Calgary. I can't believe it's almost over!

I'm still busy with many of the same activities - practicing English with new immigrants, helping out with ESL class and children's Sunday school at the churches, taking care of the children during the weekly ESL Bible study down town:

Each week, though, I have some things that are "out of the ordinary." For example, the week of the Calgary Stampede, I hosted 5 girls for a sleepover the night before the big Stampede Parade so that we could all get up really early and go to it together. The same day of the parade, I went to a horse show with a college age girl named Betty, who became a Christian the following Sunday! Exciting stuff! The day after the parade, I went to the Stampede itself and stayed there for about 14 hours:
It was a really fun but really busy week!

Another fun thing I did was get together with two middle school girls and tie dye clothes:
We had a lot of fun going crazy with the dye and chatting about lots of different topics.

One week, the missionary here and I had the crazy idea to take 8 children (aged 4 to 6 years old) to a farm to pet the animals. Thankfully, we were able to enlist the help of two volunteers, giving us a 4 adult to 8 children ratio! The trip went really well, and the parents were extremely grateful that their kids got the opportunity to ride a pony, milk a goat, and pet lots of animals for the first time (and be out of the parents' hair for the day :) ).
Perhaps the best thing I've done this summer was join 8 teenagers and 1 other adult from Truth Baptist Church at the Summer Youth Celebration camp. The camp lasted from Monday evening to Saturday morning, and I'll tell you, I was EXHAUSTED when I got back! Every day included worship, Bible studies, workshops, recreation, more worship, night games, campfires, and staying up ridiculously late. But, it was all worth it, because two of the boys from Truth became Christians! Praise God!
While all of those things have been fun, the most meaningful things happen during the daily "routine" things. Here are some examples:

Erica and Edward are new to Calgary. They have had lots of hardships since arriving here, ranging from giving up prestigious jobs to living on welfare and donations to Erica's mom dying. I visit them weekly, if not more often, to help them practice English for job interviews or to learn how to cook Chinese food or to just hang out with them. At first, Edward was a little leery of my visits, telling me up front that, if he decided to become a Christian, he wanted it to be because he believed in God, not because Christians are so nice. I was being really careful to not force conversations about God or anything spiritual, when one day, out of the blue, Edward began to ask questions about God. Deep, serious questions, like "What does the Bible say about how to treat people who are mean to you?" and "How do you know that Christianity is the only way to God?" I answer their questions to the best of my ability, and leave the rest up to God, because, as Edward told me, "Your job is to sow the seeds, but it's between God and me to decide whether those seeds grow." I'll tell you, these are the most mature non Christians I've ever met! They've already told me that they plan to never stop going to church, because they don't want to be the kind of people who commit to something then don't see it through. And they acknowledge how God has worked in their lives and arranged so many events. And, they probably pray more than me and have faith that God will answer their prayers. It's been amazing to get to know this family!

Another example is Helen, who asked me one day while I was visiting her, "What do I have to do to become a Christian? And what responsibilities would I have?" She doesn't feel like she knows enough about Christianity to believe in God yet (which is probably true, given that she just heard the story of Jesus for the first time a couple of weeks ago and that's pretty much all she knows at this point), but she has expressed interest in learning much, much more.

Yet another example is Christy's mom. She is a devout Buddhist, but she has noticed that her husband, Mark, has changed a lot since he started coming to church and Bible study. She told us that she wants Mark and Christy to become Christians and to never miss church, even though she herself still clings to her Buddhism and has no intention of giving it up.

One more example is Michael's dad, Frank. I kind of thought Michael's family was a losing battle, and continued to tutor Michael out of mercy and because I had committed to helping him throughout the summer, not because I expected to see anything come from that relationship. But, to my surprise, Michael's dad, Frank, attended last Saturday's Bible study for the first time. Just goes to show that you never can tell what God is doing!

Join me in praying for these families, and please pray that God will continue to move in amazing ways during my last week here in Calgary.

Time flies...

Wow, time is flying! I cannot believe today is already July 3!! I've been so busy that it doesn't really sink in that I've been in Canada for almost one month! Wow!

Sorry for the lack of updating. One reason is that I hadn't even realized how long it's been since my last post, and the other reason is that I've been busy!

Let's start with the "just for fun" part. There was another American girl who was working here when I first got here, and we had the opportunity to do some fun things together before she returned to the States. One of those fun things was a trip to the town of Banff, which is located in a national park with some of the prettiest scenery imaginable. The town itself is full of the typical touristy things, like fudge shops and lots of Canadian souvenirs and restaurants serving local food like buffalo burgers etc. The best thing about the town, however, is the breathtaking view of the mountain looming over Main Street.

The national park is amazing. Every time the road bends, there is a new, spectacular view of the mountains. Tall evergreen trees and a crystal clear river winding alongside the road just added to the general splendor. I think I took 100 pictures of each mountain, because every mile we drove gave us a new perspective of the same mountains. It was just unbelievable.

One of the main attractions of the park is Lake Louise. The day we went, it was a little cloudy. The clouds meant fewer tourists, making it easier to get the typical "post card" view of Lake Louise.

The water was an incredible shade of blue. The entire day was just amazing!

While I do get to do fun things like Banff once in a while, I'm also working really hard here. One thing that I helped organize and plan was a Canada Day picnic for the new Chinese immigrants we've been meeting downtown. Canada Day (which is the Canadian version of the 4th of July) was on July 1. We had a potluck lunch down at a local park with about 30 immigrants.

These lovely young ladies decorated a cake together, using strawberries to replicate the Canadian flag on the cake.

It was a pretty cold day for a picnic, so everyone enjoyed gathering around the grill to critique the chef, chat, or just get warm.
The picnic was a great opportunity for me to meet many new people. When I wasn't helping with the food or talking with people, I helped chase after kids so that their parents would get a chance to mingle and make friends. Many of these immigrants come to Canada with no job waiting for them, no house rented, and no friends to help them find where to buy food or where to start looking for a house or job. The picnic was a great chance for the just-off-the-plane families to meet some families who have been here for a few years and get advice or help or ideas or just a chance to chat in their own language. It was so much fun!

I'm still pretty much doing all of the things that I described in my previous post. I still help out at both churches, I still meet with new families to lend them a hand whenever possible, I still pick up supplies every now and then, and I still help out with childcare whenever needed. At least twice a week, I tutor a little boy named Michael:

I've also taken care of 8 children during a leadership retreat that lasted a full day and a half as well as drove a man to the licensing place to try to get his driver's license (unfortunately, he's failed twice now, so he'll try again next week). I'm busy every day! Even like today, where I don't have any set appointments until this evening, I'm still busy preparing for children's Sunday school tomorrow and organizing my receipts so I can turn them in to the missionary and playing with the host family's seven year old daughter and, and, and...

But I am still LOVING it! Even though I'm busy, I'm having a blast! And I can really see God working in several families, which is so exciting!

And, seriously, who can live in such a beautiful part of the world and not feel close to God every day?

God bless!

Canada!

Greetings from Calgary, Canada!
I arrived safely last Saturday and have been getting oriented and settled into the ministry opportunities that I have here. This first week has flown by, but at the same time, it feels like I've been here forever! I'm loving it here!
I'll introduce you to some of the ministries that I have been doing this week.

First of all are the more formal things at the two established Chinese churches here. The first church is Truth Baptist, which is the larger of the two:
It meets in Alberta Bible College. On Sunday mornings, I go there. Sometimes I help with the English as a Second Language (ESL) Sunday school before church. Sometimes I help out with the children's classes during church. Sometimes I help set up or clean up after the lunch that is served each week. I basically just do whatever I'm asked. :)

The second church I am working with is in the southern part of Calgary and is called Abundant Life. It is a much newer church and therefore smaller. It has a lot more children than Truth Baptist, though. Today, I sat in on the 1st and 2nd grade class, which I may teach sometimes this summer.
The kids are so cute!

Those formal ministries are limited to Sundays, so the rest of the week is spent doing a variety of things. The missionaries I am working with are trying to start a Bible study with the new immigrants that are moving into downtown Calgary, so I usually meet with some of these immigrants in the afternoons to help them practice English, to help them move furniture, or to just befriend them and show them God's love however I can. Some days, I am invited to the homes of the church members for dinner or for Bible studies hosted in their homes. Everyday, I come home to the Chinese church member's house where I am staying. (I have already changed houses once and will continue to change homes about once a week or so throughout the summer, which is a great opportunity to invest in these church members.)

A delicious feast provided by my last host family and attended by several church members:
Some days, I go shopping for supplies that the missionaries need, such as toys to entertain the children during Bible studies or snacks for prayer meetings. Some days, I just prayer walk in different areas of town. Every week, I have one day off to recharge physically and spiritually so that I will be ready for the rest of the week.

I have one amazing story I want to share.

This is Helen (on the left):

She has leukemia. A few months ago, she needed a blood marrow transplant. Her sister, who was the closest match to Helen's blood type, flew from China to donate some of her own blood marrow. While in Canada, the sister was overwhelmed by Helen's positive attitude and Christlike behavior. The sister became a Christian and was baptized only a few weeks ago. She has since returned to China. Pray that this sister will share Helen's amazing testimony of relying on God whatever the circumstance with her family and friends in China. And pray that Helen's leukemia will never return so that she can continue to show how God still cares about us, even in the worst times.

If you don't mind joining me before the throne of God, I have a few prayer requests to share with you:

1) Christy - a newly arrived immigrant, this 9th grader has really attached herself to me. Pray that I can find ways to explain the Gospel so that she can understand it despite our language barriers. Her father has expressed an interest in becoming a Christian, so pray that he will go past the "thinking" stage and be willing to step out in faith into actually believing in Jesus.

2) Mary - the woman whose house I am currently living in. She just told me yesterday that she has some friends who come to visit her every week to help her study the Bible. Unfortunately, these "friends" are Jehovah's Witnesses. Pray that I can find a way to explain the truth to her without angering her or making her think that I (someone who has no say whatsoever in her life) don't approve of her friends.

3) Helen, Yong Qiang, Yue Ying, and Niu Niu - a newly arrived immigrant family who is very interested in church. Yue Ying is in Kindergarten and is my little buddy already, so pray that I can reach out to her mother through her.

4) Chunlei's wife - I stayed at Chunlei's house last week. His wife is not a Christian. Chunlei really has all the makings of a great church leader, but he really wants his wife to become a Christian and join him in the ministry. Pray that he will continue to mature into a leader and pray that his wife will see his passion and begin to develop her own relationship with God.

A Day in the Life of a Cowgirl

Howdy, and welcome to Saddle Ridge Ranch! Last year's Vacation Bible School was all about Australia, but this year, it had a more familiar theme: a ranch! After living in Montana, I have a bit of experience with this theme and had lots of fun preparing for it. I got to teach the Kindergarten class, and we had a blast!

Here's the basic run-down of a day in the life of a cowgirl.

First of all, of course, I had to decorate my room. This was my first time to ever actually be the teacher in charge for a class, so I got to decorate my room myself. It was a daunting task, but I enjoyed it. The biggest hit was this barn tunnel (or as the kids like to call it, the "magical barn" or "secret door") that led the kids into my classroom:

Everyday, I got to the church early to prepare my lesson and the room for the day's activities. Then, I would go outside and wait for the kiddos. When everyone got there, we lined up and marched into Worship Rally Valley:
The beautiful backdrop was hand-painted and will be circulating to all the churches in the area who are doing this VBS. I love sharing!

After saying our pledges to the flags and Bible, reciting our motto and theme verse, and watching a goofy video clip about some kids at a ranch, we would make our way over to the new recreation building (which isn't quite finished yet, but it was finished enough for our purposes) to go to crafts:
My class was mostly girls, and they are all VERY artistic, so crafts was always a big hit. Plus, it gave the students a hint at what our Bible story for the day would be about.

After so much time sitting still in the Worship Rally and crafts areas, it was time for the kids to expend some energy. The church rents a big bouncer each year, and the kids are free to just go wild! (As you can see in this picture, where the kids are all climbing UP the slide instead of sliding DOWN it...)
After rounding up the kids, we would go to our classroom. In this picture, you can see "Cowboy Joe," who would be holding our Bible story picture each day. Cowboy Joe's naughty horse would steal our Bible verse each day, and we would have to scour the room searching for that crazy horse and our Bible verse. We also usually did a worksheet/activity during this time.
Due to the rotation schedule, my class time was broken up into two parts. Since Kindergarteners have short attention spans, this actually worked in my favor. After the story/Bible verse/activity time, we moseyed on over to snacks and missions time. Although, I have to admit, our church goes all out on snacks and it really could be classified as lunch!
After enjoying our delicious treats, we would go back to the room, review the Bible verse for the day (if the kids could recite the verse the next day, they would get a treat, so they all wanted to remember their verse!) and then it was game time! The board game that came with the kit was the biggest hit by far!
Sometimes the games would get a little crazy (especially the one where I played music and let the kids run around the room like crazy people until I paused the music and shouted out an animal name and they would have to stop and act like that animal until the music started again...yeah, it got pretty wild sometimes!), so the kids were always super energetic during our next stop, Music!
The kids LOVED the catchy tunes and fun hand motions and really got into the songs. A lot of times, they would leave Music humming or singing the songs, which was a great way to send the kids home! We would wrap up Music time, I would hand out whatever they were supposed to take home that day, then we would all run outside to wait for parents to pick them up. Then, this tired teacher would go back to the classroom, gather up whatever I needed to take home with me, and then drive back to E's house for an afternoon of fun with the M family mingled with a little bit of quiet down time.

I really loved teaching this age group. Sure, a couple of times the kids got a little out of hand - trying to run out of the room while we played games or read the Bible story or sometimes all of them talking at once trying to answer the questions - but overall they were a great group and were very excited about everything we did. I know for sure that all the kids had at least the first two Bible verses sealed in their memory because we practiced them every single day, and I hope they will take them both to heart, since they were by far the MOST important ones of the week ("I am wonderfully made" and "God cares for us" were the simplified verses we focused one during the first two classes). They were wonderful kids, and I hope to see them around church or at least at VBS next year so that I can watch them grow physically and spiritually.

Now, I am sitting in the Memphis airport, waiting for my flight to begin boarding. I can't believe that in just a few hours I'll be in Calgary, Canada, beginning my next summer adventure!

P.S. Thank you all so much for your prayers! I still have a little bit of a cough/sniffle, but other than that, I am recovered from my cold. Thankfully, during VBS, my cold would be worst either right before while I was getting ready for the day or right after I got back to E's house. Which didn't make me the most fun playmate or house guest, but at least I did get through teaching VBS each day without going into a coughing fit or sneezing my head off! Thanks again!

Back to Blue Mountain

I had a wonderful time at Granny and Papa's. The day after Cal's graduation from high school, my aunt, uncle, and cousins went on vacation, so I got to spend lots of time with my grandparents. They both had birthdays this last week, so I cooked them up a special birthday lunch of tomato pie, Hawaiian chicken salad, and lemon cake. My last morning there, we went out for a birthday breakfast, courtesy of Mom and Dad:

Other than birthday celebrations and the awful cold that I caught, the last week at the farm was just like the first two - peaceful, quiet, and free. I really enjoyed spending time with my family there.

Yesterday, however, it was time to load up the car and head back to Blue Mountain. This coming week is VBS week at my church here, so I'll be helping out by teaching the Kindergarten class. When I arrived at E's house (where I'll be staying while I'm here), I got to spend some time playing with my cousins! Yay!

Littlest M is walking on her own now! She's so proud of herself when she manages to toddle across the room into someone's outstretched arms. Too cute!
Today is actually Little M's second birthday! Happy birthday! He got a bubble machine for his birthday, and he LOVES chasing the bubbles around the yard.
M is going to be in my VBS class this week. She is very excited about it! Unfortunately, she was too busy running around for me to catch a good picture of her, so here's the best one I got. Hopefully, I'll get some good ones of her this week in class.
Today, I started decorating my classroom. I just got a package from Oriental Trading Company, so tomorrow I'll finish putting that stuff up. Pictures will be coming soon!

P.S. I am still battling a cold that I caught last Sunday. I would really appreciate your prayers that I can completely recover by Monday morning so I will have the energy needed to control, teach, and entertain a room full of Kindergarteners. I've been medicating like crazy to try to knock it out, and while I am feeling better each day, I still am coughing and having trouble with stuffed up ears. Your prayers are needed! Thank you so much!