Today is all we have. Let us begin

Pictures

2010-07-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post from Piura, Peru!!

Lisa Derksen came to visit our team in Peru and take some fantastic pictures of the people here as well as our team. She posted some pictures on her blog, so if you want to take a look at some of the beautiful people I am spending my team here with, check out her blog.

The link is http://exploringthecall.wordpress.com/

I will post more pictures of our team at a later time.

Thanks for following and praying!

Amber

First impressions

2010-07-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

You can all rest easy, I have arrived safely in Peru!

We left MCI on Friday morning at 7:30 and headed to the airport with the two Japan teams who were heading out at the same time as we were. Our flight left at 11:45am and things went smoothly. We flew from Winnipeg to Toronto, and then from Toronto to Lima. We arrived in Lima around 1:30am and Nathan (staying at a church in Lima and serving there for the year) picked us up and brought us to the place where we were staying. We got to bed around 3:30 and then got to sleep in a bit the next morning. On Saturday we did some planning for the youth program and church service the following day, and then Nathan took us out exploring Lima. At 7pm we went to the church where we put on the youth program with games, songs and our drime. It went well and it was a ton of fun. They welcomed us with open arms and we experienced the love of Christ that goes beyond language and cultural barriers.

On Sunday morning we participated in as well as led parts of the service. It was great to join in with people and sing praises to God, no matter what language we speak! Following the service Nathan took us out for lunch and we did some more exploring of Lima. We visited the park of love (which includes a large statue of two people making out) and walked around. We also visited a Starbucks which made me feel right at home! Our bus left from Lima at 6pm, and soon enough we were headed to Piura!

After a very loooooong (16 hours) bus ride we safely arrived in Piura at 9:15 on Monday morning. We settled in and began to explore the place where we will be living for the next month. Since we arrived we have had a few meetings, a lot of time to hang out as a team, we shopped at the market and the supermarket and we are also had a spanish lesson! Things are going well, and we are looking forward to diving in and getting to know the language and culture.

Here are a few first impressions that I have experienced...

Rules on the road are more like guidelines..... stop signs are only followed when people feel like it.
People honk their horns to warn everyone else that they are there, not out of anger.
Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. Cars will not stop for you.
At night- red lights are merely there if there is a lot of traffic.

I have made myself let go of my right to having a warm shower. Cold showers are the way to go. I have to keep reminding myself of that as I feel chilled to the bone each time I step in.

Time doesn't mean a whole lot. If we have a meeting at 10, it may start at 11 or it may not happen at all. On Peruvian time, things happen as they happen. Schedules are held very loosely. To be honest, I LOVE it. I'm more ten minutes late kind of person anyways.

I have been voted the team mom, and as a result Matt calls me "mom" more than he actually uses my real name. I kind of like having that role.

For more team updates please check out our team blog, where each person will get a chance to update it every so often:

www.peruteamaction2010.blogspot.com

On Monday night we went up on the roof of the place where we are staying and we prayed for the city of Piura, as well as for the church that we are working with and staying at. The church has experienced a lot of hard things lately, and is now working on healing and moving forward. We spent time praying for healing and restoration for the people here. It was a really powerful time of prayer and I think God will call us to do more interceding in behalf of the church and the people during our time here. God is going to do new things in this place!!

Thank you for following my trip so far, and I will attempt to continue to post updates. I will also post team pictures and pictures of where we are staying and some stuff we are doing in the next week sometime.

Please pray for:

-Health

-That we would not be affected by the darkness in this place, and that God's light would shine through us.

-That we would remain united as a team

Thank you for your continued prayer and support!

-Amber/ Team Mom.

New Adventures

2010-06-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

In 1 1/2 weeks I am about to embark in a new adventure with five other people. This summer I will be participating in Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International (MBMSI's) ACTION program. I start Orientation on June 30, and then we leave for Peru on July 10. We return to Manitoba August 10, and then I have a few days of debrief before returning home August 13. Orientation and Debrief will both be held in Gretna, Manitoba at MCI.

I am co-leading the Peru team with Jeremy Siemens. The rest of our team consists of David Thiessen, Carolyn Wonneck, Matthew Bergen and Miriam Chavez. I have met four of them, and I have talked to Matt and Miriam via Skype, but I look forward to our time in Gretna together where we can bond as a team and build community before we go out and serve in Piura, Peru.

While in Piura, we will be serving alongside of Otto and Lydia and their work with a local church. We will be partnering with the local church as we help run children's VBS programs as well as being involved with the youth and helping in some english classes. I am really looking forward to this!

I have a few prayer requests as I prepare to go:

Financial support- I am in need of raising funds for this summer; please pray that all of my support comes in. Please prayerfully consider supporting me in this way.

Smooth Transition- I am currently working at Manitoba House, but this will be my first summer since I graduated that I will not be working at Manitoba House. This will be really hard for me, but I look forward to going to Peru and experiencing what God is doing around the Nations, and bringing that home with me in the fall. I will be returning to working part time at Manitoba House in September, and I hope this summer will be a nice break and I will come back feeling refreshed.

Strength and Wisdom- Please pray for an open mind and heart as I walk into this new adventure. I want to learn and serve this summer and rely on God's strength and wisdom.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. I will try and keep this updated througout the summer with what we are doing and more prayer requests.

Blessings,

Amber

Watching the Rain.

2010-06-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

I am sitting here in my living room watching the rain. These past few days I have been experiencing the rain. Sometimes I hate that I care so much about things, but I guess it's blessing. I have a passion for people, relationships and for seeing the redeeming power of Jesus Christ at work in the lives of people around me. These lyrics sung by Incubus are running through my head:

Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive

Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
Cause without love I won't survive

Sometimes you love something or are passionate about something so much that it is painful. You carry this burden, and you care so much and you want to see it grow and succeed. And when there are tough days and situations that are out of your control, it hurts. You take it personally, feeling as though you have failed. I have to realize that I have not failed. This passion, this love that I have makes me feel alive. This anger that I carry when there are difficult situations keeps me going back the next day. Love hurts...and it feels like I'm alive.

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

After the rain, comes the sun.

Back again

2008-10-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I have written on here, and I don't even know if anyone reads this, but I felt like writing anyways.
I am sitting here in my basement, knowing I should be doing homework but I can't help but think about other things. (Which means it'll be a late night tonight and tomorrow...)
Lately it feels like my life has been way too crazy to handle, and I seem to have lost sight of things. But now I feel more at peace with things. I think I am finally letting God be in control, and realizing that He is Almighty. Again.
My friend Lisa and I recently decided that we would work at holding each other accountable for things. All things.
There is a verse that I know is her favourite verse, and I am holding onto it tightly right now.

Proverbs 31:25
"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

We were talking about how we want to learn to trust God more, and be able to laugh at the days to come. To laugh, and not worry about the future.
This image of a woman who is connected so closely to her Heavenly Father, and she walks around with His love shining through her. With dignity and grace. And I want to be that woman. Father teach be to be that woman. Lead me to be that woman.

Last night I talked to Bre. It was so good to hear her voice, and just to laugh with her about nothing. It's amazing how I feel God's joy when I talk and laugh with her. She was praying for me and her and us and we both just kept laughing, and it was uncontrollable and uncontainable. Pure joy. Everytime I laugh with her, even if it's just on the phone, because she lives far away, I just get the word "daughter" in my head. I think it's because we can't help but be the daughters we are made to be. Daughters of the King. And I know our Father is looking at us, and laughing with us, and just IS with us. Those are truly moments of unexplainable joy.

Thank you Father for moments like that. Thank you for allowing us just to be your daughters, who can laugh and cry together. And share our hearts with each other and with you. Thank you Father. I love being your daughter.

Back on Canadian Soil

2008-06-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

So when I started this whole blog thing, I thought it would be a great idea, I would update it at least two times a week and people could keep track of what was going on in my life, in case it was too difficult over email. Apparently it was more difficult than I thought to keep it updated!

At this moment I am sitting in my room at the Mark Center, looking at all of the stuff I brought home, and the stuff that I left here to take home, and wondering where time has gone??? Sometimes I still feel weird being back in Canada. It's like I know that it's all almost over, but I don't want to actually believe it. I remember a year ago sitting in my friends car (who was also planning on going away and doind YWAM for 6 months) and we were just itching to graduate and begin new adventures. Now here I am, a year later and I can hardly believe how much has happened this year and how my life has changed. First off, I worked in a place where I fell in love with (MB House and it's neighborhood kids!) and God really showed me a lot there. Then I came to Abbotsford and spent two months with amazing TREKers and Leaders and Interns and Mentors and MBMSI Staff and learned so many things that will stay with me my entire life. Then I was sent off to Japan, to a country I didn't know, with a team of girls I thought I knew (but looking back I was oh so wrong, and I came to know and love them more than I thought possible!), and to work with a culture and missionaries and church that I knew nothing about. I know that looking back none of this would have been possible without my Savior in front of me and beside me the whole time. He has carried me each step of the way, and lead me to where He has wanted me. I know I haven't always done the right thing at the right moment, but I did try, and God's Grace is bigger than my mistakes.
Japan was an amazing time of learning about a new culture and people group and about team life and missionary life. Even though it's hard to remember it all, I know that the learning never stopped. I think that's how life should be, as long as we are learning we shoudn't be worried, but it's when we stop learning, and stop seeking that we are in danger.

Anyways, I will share more about our last couple weeks in Japan later, but right now all the TREKers are watchign a movie and I would love to join them. I am trying to just dive in and enjoy these last couple of days together. Debrief is a time of rest and relaxing and a time to slowly transition and re-enter our own culture. So far it's going so good, and I would say that I'm over jetlag already! I am really enjoying my time of hearing and sharing stories from the missionfield, reflection on good times on training, and looking towards the future. God is here with us and is going to guide us as we go out from here.

God is so sneaky..

2008-05-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

I am trying to think of all that has happened since I last wrote on here. Let's see, last Friday we went to the Toyota main Headquarters and visited the showroom (which they have spent a lot of money on, and it looks great! Anyways, so when we got there, Laurence dropped us off at the door, and there were like 150 guys standing outside waiting to go in I guess. They all parted and we walked through the middle while everyone watched us silently. It was really funny and awkward at the same time. Then while we were in there we kept getting our picture taken, some were trying to be conspicuous, but some weren't at all. It seems that everywhere we go to sightsee, we become the sight to see. Interesting. So when we got to the showroom this guy came up and asked if he could be in a picture with us, so we said yes and posed for one, then with his friend. It was pretty funny! Then I was wating to go sit in the convertible (because it was a really nice car!) and that same guy sat in it with me and took a picture. As he was getting out he said to his friend, "Hot car, Beautiful Girl, It's my dream!!!" We all got a pretty good laugh out of that one :P The picture is of me and the Korean guy in the convertible.

On Sunday we were at church helping out again during lunch and also watching the kids in the afternoon. Ok so one thing is that every Sunday the woman always do the dishes, and we try and help but most of the time we just get shooed away. But this time we beat them to it, we started washing dishes before they were done eating, just because we wanted to. We like being able to serve in any way they can. It was really funny because they tried to kick us out like four or five times (and you have no idea how hard it is to fight with these ladies!! And when we don't speak the same language.) We usually lose the battle. But this Sunday we were determined, and even when they came and bascially grabbed the dishes out of our hands we stood strong and we won. THE VICTORY WAS OURS. It only took us three months! :)

One Wednesday, Brianna and I were invited over for supper to a couple from the churches house (and we teach her daughter english!). They have this small but very cute apartment. They made us a wondeful meal and we enjoyed our time there. I played on a Wii for the first time (I am not very good at it!!). After the games the food we went and sang worship songs in English and Japanese and then we prayed together. It was really great to worship and fellowship them! God has put so many wonderful people into our lives here and we are thankful for any and every opportunity we have to spend with them.

Friday Night we were very sneaky and had a Scavenger hunt prepared for Darlene because it will be her brithday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Darlene! (She turns 19.) It started up at home, went up to the 100yen store and then took the bus downtown to starbucks, then to Karaoke and then back home. We really surprised her and it was a ton of fun! On the bus on the way home I ended up sitting by this Japanese guy who asked me where I was from, why I was here etc. I said I was from Canada and here volunteering in a Church. He asked what Church, I said Toyota Higashi. His face brightened and he said that his wife took a class from Leona and that they knew the Hieberts, and had known them for over ten years! It was so neat how I ended up randomly sitting by him and him knowing the church and the Hieberts. Then we also realized that I helped out in the class that his wife took, so I knew her! That was pretty cool. We got to talk about the whole way home. He said although he and his wife aren't Christians he likes the church and the Hieberts and thinks its great what we are doing. It was pretty neat. It's amazing how things that seem so random to us, and be so right to God. His timing and His ways are always perfect. It's amazing, it really is. And He's so sneaky about it too!!

Last thing for this post, today we were in Fujjigaoka running a kids program all day. We weren't quite sure how it would go, but it actually was great! There were about 20 kids and we had translators. I think that everyone had a good time! We did songs and games and eating and a craft and more songs and more games! Everyone was tired by the end of the day, but as Joanna said it's an answer to her prayers (p.s. She prayed that we would be exhausted at the end of every day....God asnwered her prayers!) There was one girl, Soyoka (Soy-chan) who attached herself to my side all day, it was really sweet.

Being there reminded me of home and the inner city kids and made me miss doing stuff with them! But it was really exciting to be there with these kids and I will cherish every moment we had!

I thank God for all of the wonderful opportunities He has given us here, and I hope that we will continue to have divine appointments while we are here. Please pray for strength and endurance as we finish off our last two weeks here in Japan. We want to finish off strong, and we have a lot planned! Pray that we are able to get everything done, and not just because we have to, but because we want to. We want to have hearts like Jesus and let our every action be out of love for God and one another.

Little moments

2008-05-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

On Sunday when we were walking back from the park, I was carrying Shin-kun (he's the cute little guy in the pictures in the previous post!) who was getting kind of tired from the long day. I was holding him and he has his arms around my neck, and he was singing softly to himself. I almost started crying because it was so beautiful. I couldn't understand the words he was saying, but it was just such a sweet moment. One of those moments that you want to hold onto forever and never forget. Thank you Jesus for children, and for the love and life that they have to offer. Without realizing it Shin-kun blessed me in that moment, he gave me a little gift from God, a reminder to never lose my childlike heart, to always sing and dance and laugh. To live a joyful life. Arigato Jesus. Thank you.

Pictures.

2008-05-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Lunch after the Service

Team Singing in Church

Shin-kun and I

Wataro-kun and another guy from Church waiting for the Okonomiyaki to be ready. You can see it being made in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. So good!

Moe-chan and Cambria

Me and Shin-kun

Shin-kun and Trenton

Taro-kun playing guitar and singing during the "youth" event on Sunday night.

Dancin in the rain..

2008-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Sunday) the day began as normal, we got up, got ready and headed to church. Then when we arrived we found out that there was a woman there who was from .....PERU! It was so ironic that we found a bit of Peru in Japan. Anyways she spoke mostly Spanish and so Joanna ended up being her "translator." It was just so interesting, but really cool that she got to use that in Japan. Who would have thought??
After the service we had lunch with the church as usual, and then we helped with cleanup again. Then some people headed upstairs and we practiced for later on. Then we took some of the kids to the park (only because they begged us :P)
*Sidenote- I got to share my testimony in church, with Laurence translating. I think it went pretty well!*
After the park we came back and hung out with the "youth" (youth meaning anyone 30 and under!) where they sang some songs and we heard two testimonies, and then we (team+Cambria and Sean) sang five songs, the team performed the drime and Darlene shared her testimony. It went really well and it was a lot of fun!! Then we all went downstairs and had some Okonomiyaki. I can't even describe how good it is!! Hopefully I will learn how to make it so I will never forget the taste. (Although I will probably not be able to make it as good as the Japanese, but that's just life!) Once we were done cleaning it was about 8:30. We were at church for over 10 hours but it was so much fun!!

Today we had a calligraphy lesson with Misaka-san and Kisuna-san from church. It was so much fun. We were working at it for three hours and we did some pretty neat stuff! I have a bunch of practicie papers and a fan and another nicer one. I am so glad we got to do that. It's such a beautiful art I think.
Then after we got home we had supper and then worked on our new drime. If you want to see which one we are doing you can click on the link for the Lifehouse "Everything" Drime, and that's the one. I am the girl, Simone plays Jesus, Amber is the one taunting the girl with money, Darlene is the girl who is drinking, Brianna is the model and Joanna represents death. If we work on it hard enough I think we can pull if off!! We practiced tonight and I have to get tossed around a lot, and now my legs are all rugburned and I got hit in the face once. I won't be able to do that everyday, but I think it'll work out nicely. It's actually a lot of fun, but more exhausting than I thought it would be!!
After we were done practicing we went outside, saw it was raining and decided to have a party in the rain! So we danced in the rain. It was so much fun to just enjoy ourselves and enjoy the rain!! Sometimes you have to take hold of those moments, and just live a little. It's good to act like a kid every so often, and even if I wake up with a cold tomorrow morning, it was will totally have been worth it!

Make the most of every moment because you can never get them back. Don't spend your time wshing you had done something, but when the opportunity arises, go out and do it. Live for today, for right now. Live for the moment.

What do we do??

2008-05-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

So with the recent natural disasters it keeps popping through my mind, what do we do with this? Thousands upon thousands of people's lives were changed in a matter of moment. With the earthquake in China, and the cyclone in Burma, people have died, are dying, and are injured. What does one do with this? How should we respond? The world is watching, waiting, wondering. We all feel the pain, but will this pass in a week, or two weeks? I honestly don't know. Like so many tragedies that affect so many people's lives, we cry for them, we send up a prayer, and then a week or to later we go on with our lives because it hasn't directly affected us. China is hurting, Burma is suffering. All I know is to pray.

And now that our attention has been drawn to Burma, and we know the situation they are in, we need to pray harder. They are not letting relief teams in, they are not giving out the amount of food that is being sent. It has been discussed to drop packages of food from the air to get some to the people, as a last resort.

And then we ask, where is God in all of this? How could he let this happen? So many people were killed, many that don't know Him I'm sure.

My answer: "I DON'T KNOW!" I honestly don't know. What I do know is that God is Sovereign still, and He is in control. He is there in Burma with those that are suffering and He is there in China with those that are hurting. God is moving through the Nations. I don't know anything else but this. I have to cling to the hope that God is still in this, or it's just too overwhelming.

I choose to believe that God is there. And I also choose to raise my hands in prayer, to intercede for the hurting. To thank God for those He has called to go in and help. Right now, praying is all I can do. The One who created the heavens the earth is in control.

He tends his flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

"To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one,

and calls them each by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:11-12, 25-26, 28

Ahhh It's been a month!

2008-05-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

I was realizing the other day that is has been a month since I have updated this! And I am so sorry, I bet that no one reads it anymore because they think I have fallen off the face of the earth. Don't worry, it's not true!!!
I obviously won't be able to say everything that has happened in the past month because that would be way to long, and I don't remember half of it, but I'll try and give the reader's digest version. During the last couple of weeks, we have continued teaching our classes, which have all been going really well. We are enjoying getting to know our students and building relationships with some of them. About two weeks ago on a Wednesday afternoon we had two women over for dessert and to play some dutch blitz. It was a lot of fun, and now they have invited us over for an Okonomiyaki party. Okonomiyaki is kind of like a Japanese omelette, except with this teriyaki type sauce on the top, as well as fish flakes and mayo. It is sooooo good! We are going tomorrow morning. :)
From the week of April 29th until bascially today, we have been pretty busy doing many different things. One Tuesday the 29th, we had some people over for lunch, that have helped us a lot, to show our appreciation. There were 20 of us altogether! After that we went over to the church where we got dressed up in Kimono's by a bunch of the church ladies and their friends. I cannot believe how many layers, and how difficult it is to put them on. They are so beautiful, and worth thousands of dollars. Some ladies played the Koto for us (Japanese intstrument) and we got to try it as well. Then we went to the garden to take pictures, and then we had a tea ceremony. It was a lot of fun and a great cultural experience, but I would not want to wear one everyday. They are quite heavy. But again, very beautiful.
Then the next day we went sightseeing with Nozomi (she runs an english teaching school) and a couple of her students. It was a lot of fun. On Thursday Simone and Brianna and Joanna went to Nozomi's school to help her out, and Darlene and Amber went to help Wendy teach in Fujigaoka. I stayed at the house by myself and I worked on learning a new drime that we want to perform for the church. It was also nice to have the house to myself for like 8 hours and just relax. I love all the girls here, but we rarely get a chance to have the house to ourselves, so I enjoyed every minute of it!
Last Saturday began our Midterm Retreat, where Andrea Dueck, Wendy Eros (both english teachers here in Japan) and Katie Wiley (an International student from Ontario) came to Toyota for the weekend and we all hung out. During the time they were here (Saturday-Tuesday) we did a lot of sightseeing and souvenier shopping. And each evening we would meet and worship together, have a devotional, and three people would share their testimonies. It was really neat to here where people had come from, where they were going and to realize how, even though just for a short time, our stories were now sort of connected. I really enjoy hearing testimonies so it was really awesome!
This week seemed kind of messed up in my mind because of the retreat ending on Tuesday and so the days were all mixed up! But we got back on Schedule and taught the classes we were supposed to and whatnot.
Today (Sunday) was a busy day because we were singing some songs in Church for Mothers day.
*Oh and I forgot to mention that we had prepared and handed out carnations for Mother's around the city. We bought 500 carnations and along with a card delivered them door to door, hoping to bless them and also invite them to church for today. *
Then after the service we prepared most of the lunch, and we told all the women they had to sit down and eat (they usually run around finding things to do instead, and then eat last) and that they were NOT allowed in the Kitchen to clean up or serve the coffee and desert. They kept trying to sneak in, but we would not let them! We really wanted to show them that they were appreciated, and that they could have a break. I think it was hard for some of them, and I know that Leona said that it was difficult not to help out, because they always do. But we really wanted to do this for the women. Inue-san (one of the older women at church) said that she was really happy and felt very special that we were doing this. That comment made it all worth it! :)
After all the cleanup was done we took the kids to the park to give the moms a break from watching them, and then came back and watched them until they got picked up.
Tonight we are planning on having a girls night with Cambria and Leona. Brownies and a good chick flick. I can't wait!

Thanks for all the prayers and support that I have received from everyone. We know that God is at work here amongst the people of Japan, even if we can't see it. There are always little things that remind us that God is here. It's those little things that keep us going. And now with only a month left (1 Month and 5 days to be exact!) we want to dive in and do all that we can to help the church and the Hieberts and anyone else. Our prayer is that we would be able to bless all the people we have come in contact with, and to remind them of God's great love. Pray for patience with eachother, and lots of strength and engergy to finish strong. Pray also for health because we had a cold floating around, and none of us want to be sick during our time here!

Miss you all!

Turning 19 one Country at a time...

2008-04-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

I thought that since I was celebrating my birthday today and yesterday, I thought that I might share with you in the celebration. (I would just like add in that I am really tired right now, so if I don't make a lot of sense, then just ignore it and pretend you know what I'm saying!)

Friday was the day that the girls choose to do some surprises for both Joanna and my birthday. They planned that we would eat supper at the Church with the Hiebert's and Sean. It was kind of funny because all of a sudden three people disappeared to make supper, but Joanna and I were out of it a bit so we didn't really notice. (Ok another side note: Joanna claims she knew what was going on the whole time, so maybe I was the only out of it...but anywho) Then Simone all of a sudden went to check on supper at the church and came back being very adament that we come for supper NOW. Claiming she was hungry, but by this time even I had caught on to the fact that something was going on, and I figured we were having a supper for our Birthdays. So we had supper (which was very delicious, THANKS LEONA!) and the girls brought out gifts and some dessert and coffee. I got a two pair of dangly earrings and a notebook, and Joanna got two t-shirts with funny english and a notebook as well. They refused to let us help clean up (our teammates can be quite stubborn if they want to!) so Joanna and I went back to the house and were just hanging out. Both of us were tired and I wasn't feeling all that great. Then they came back a bit later and told Joanna to change out of her sweats. We got our shoes on and they blindfolded us, put us in the van and off we went. When you are blindfolded you really have to trust the people that you are with, good thing we have trustworthy teammates!! When we got to "the place" the lead us out of the van, into some building where loud music was playing. By this time I was quite positive where we were, but I didn't say anything. They had us sit down and then asked us where we thought we were, we both yelled "KARAOKE!" And then we were allowed to take off our blindfolds. We were right! They had booked a room at this Karaoke place where you can sing for a while. It was so much fun, and the perfect way to spend my birthday in my new home away from home. Thank you girls for being so thoughtful and surprising us. It's the first time I've had a "surprise party" and you girls made it extra special! Love you all!

Backstreets back alright! :P

So on my actual birthday, which was today, I got up early, we had team time and then Brianna and I went off to prepare for our class and then had the class. After that I came back and called home and talked to my mom, and then talked to one of my good friends Tania! It was great to hear from home! I also got a few emails and facebook msgs wishing me a happy birthday. It's kind of funny though because in Japan my birthday is almost done, but in Canada it's just beginning. Almost like having two birthday's, but not. Hence the title "Turning 19 one country at a time". It's true you know.

Anyways to conclude this entry, I would just like to say that I have had a wonderful year, and I am so thankful for everyone that has been a part of it. So much has happened in this last year, and I know that I am only moving forward in life. God has started to reveal His plan and His heart for my life and it's really exciting. I can't wait to see what this next year holds, and my prayer is that I take every opportunity I can, and that I glorify God in all that I do.

Celebrity Status, English Classes and Freedom.

2008-04-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Since today is our day off, I figured it would be a good day to update on here and let you all know what's been going on in the last week and a bit. We have actually done a lot since I last updated so here goes!

Last Saturday we went to Inuyama with Wendy (here with MBMSI teaching english) and Nizomi (she runs an english teaching school that we are helping out at!) for the spring festival. It turned into a really long day, but it was a lot of fun. Bascially they set up tons of booth selling food and souveniers and goldfish (Yes we bought some. Unfortunately they have all died now. Well all except for mine!) We also got to see some more beautiful cherry blossoms. Also through the streets there are floats that circulate, each representing a different community. They are three stories high and pushed by men, who are underneath and all around. It is pretty cool. Then at night they decorate all the different floats with paper lanterns (365 to be exact, one for every day of the year) and light them all individually. They all line up and one by one parade through the streets, the people follow their community float. It's pretty neat to see! Some of the lanters lit on fire, but they were very quick to up them out.

One thing that we found quite humorous was that we thought we were going to see the tourist attractions, but in reality we become part of the attraction. For the first while we had several people coming up to us and ask if they could take our picture, some posed and some candid. And some people pretended that they were taking a picture of other things or people, but at the last second we would see how they turned their camera towards us. We eventually began just to pose for those people so we could show them that we knew that they were taking our picture. At first it was funny, but it kind if got tiring after a while. And Darlene and I had an interesting experience with taking pictures with these slightly intoxicated older men. We had instant stardom I guess you could say, and it makes for some interesting stories!

Sunday was church, and it went well. We also enjoyed a nice lunch with the Church family here.
Sunday afternoon the Hieberts came back from Canada, where they had had MBMSI meetings all week.

This week was pretty full of teaching different classes. We attended the regular classes of Leona and Laurence and Sean, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then thursday, Simone, Brianna and I attended Nizomi's school for the day and helped her out. It was a really good day, and I think we are going to be going back out there every week now! Darlene and Amber went to help Wendy in Fujikaoka, and Joanna stayed back because she had to help out in one of Laurence's classes.

On Friday and Saturday we began teaching our own classes. Last minute we got a couple new students, so I think there are at least 6 classes that we are doing now. I am co-teaching two young kids classes. The goal is so teaching them basic greetings ("Hello, My name is ..... How are you? I'm fine thank you" etc.) and colours, shapes, numbers, the alphabet and animals. The trick is to make learning fun, by playing games. The kids are between the ages of 2-5 so we need to do several activities and be switching them quite often or you will lose their attention. The first classes started off really good, so I'm hoping and praying they continue so. Our other classes are private tutoring, North American Culture, Bible, Basic Travlers English and a parent and child class. Pray that we can build great relationships with the people who are already attending these classes, and that they would bring friends!

On Saturday night we met with Laurence at the Church and prayed. We prayed for our students, and for the baptism and the church people and anything that came to mind. I could sense that God was at work, and His Holy Spirit was with us. I just got this sense of wanting to proclaim God's freedom. I couldn't thank Him enough for what He offers us, and how much He gave so we might be free from our former lives. We then went up to the sanctuary and sang the song "Freedom". We proclaimed that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom in that place. All who hunger and thirst can find Freedom in Christ. My prayer was that anyone who entered that building would sense God's freedom and long for it. It was beautiful.

Yesterday there was a baptism at church, and two membership transfers. It was really great to see this. I just keep getting this picture in my mind of all the believers who will one day all worship together, nothing like race or language will stop them! God isn't limited to those things, and neither should we. Praise be to God! Pray for Mr. Nakaoji as he is the only Christian in his whole family, including extended, and this is very hard. Japanese people are very group oriented and so his going against the group could be fatal for his relationships. Pray that God would bless him, and that he would continue to seek God, no matter what. We are praying that his life would be a testimony for his family and allow them to at least show interest! After the service we had a nice lunch with the church people and then some of us went up to the sanctuary and just played intruments and worshiped together. It was a little chaotic with all the different intsruments and singind and is running around and screaming, but it was a lot of fun! I think that's something God delights in, His children having fun together and loving eachother and loving Him!

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom.
If you're tired and thirsty, there is Freedom.
If you're tired and thirsty, there is Freedom.

Freedom reigns in this place
Showers of mercy and Grace
Falling on every face
There is Freedom.
Jesus Reigns in this place
Showers of mercy and Grace
Falling on every face
There is Freedom.

JESUS REIGNS! Hallelujah.

One day all God's children will rejoice together and glorify Him who is worthy of it all!

Glory Glory Hallelujah HE REIGNS.

Komaki and Cherry Blossoms and morning workouts.

2008-04-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I figured it was now time for an update on what's been going on here.

Last weekend we got picked up on Saturday afternoon at around 1:30 by a Pastor and he took us back to Komaki where we were going to stay for the weekend. Instead of staying altogether this time, we got split up into groups of two's and we were each staying with different people. Darlene and I roomed together, and the woman who hosted us was Keiko Sakurai. (I think Sakurai means Cherry blossom in Japanese). So we got there and put our stuff in the house, then went back to the church where we were going to hang out with some english students for the afternoon/evening. We sang a song in Japanese (they sang, we listened) and then we performed our drime, sang two songs, and Brianna gave her testimony. It went really well. Then we started to watch the Narnia Movie. Not the newest one, but "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Unfortunately we didn't get to finish it because supper was ready. For supper we had Yaki Soba. It was so delicious! I think that that is definitely one of my favourite meals that we eat here. It is fried soba noodles with onions and cabbage and some meat, usually pork I think. After the meal we went back to the homes we were staying and visited with our host families. Keiko and her son visited with us all evening. We got to try on Kimono's and try some Japanese tea! It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got too, because it is part of experiencing the Japanese culture!

In the morning we went to Church, where we again performed our drime and two different songs. It went really well. Keiko and her son came for the service, even though they dont' usually attend the church. That was really awesome! Darlene and I prayed for them before we went to bed that God was working in their lives, and that they would come to know Him. They sat with us and it seemed like they were paying attention and following along in the bibles. I hope and pray that they continue to go to church and that God would work in their lives! After the service we had a bbq lunch with the Church family, and then we finished watching Narnia. Brianna and Darlene and I went to this woman's house for supper, where we had make your own sushi. It was deliscious!! The only thing that I didn't like were the fermented beans. They smellt really bad, and tasted bad as well. But oh well you don't have to like everything! After dinner they drove us back home! It was a good weekend.

This week has been pretty uneventful, but yesterday afternoon some ladies from the church came and picked us up and took us to the park for a picnic to see the Cherry blossoms! We had a great time. They bought so much food, which was all delicious by the way!! We also played this fun game, where you had to tie a towel around your neck and then clap two times and pass it on. Then another towel was started and you had to do the same thing, if you got both towels at the same time because you weren't quick enough then you lost! Amber lost and had to wear this funny looking headband. We had a great time!! We also got to walk around and see the cherry blossoms, they were so beautiful! We took a bunch of pictures, and just had an all around good day.

Oh one thing I don't think I have mentioned yet...some of the girls and I are starting to get up early (8am!!!) and do some workouts. We found these 8 min workouts on youtube, and they are a lot of fun, and they work you hard. Well some of them anyways. We are trying to get into better shape! We'lll see how long that goes. But for now it's fun and it feels good!!

Stop waiting on the world to change.

2008-04-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

Here are my thoughts on the song from my above post. No one except Josh commented, but I figured I'd share my thoughts anyways! Thanks Josh!
He makes a point in saying that “We just feel like we don’t have the means to rise above and beat it.” That’s how I feel sometimes. There is so much wrong with the world today, will we ever be able to rise above it all and change it? Is there hope that one day, things will be as they were meant to be? That one day war, racism and fear will end and we won’t ever have to fear them again? “It’s hard to beat a system when we’re standing at a distance,” so let’s stop waiting. Let’s get up and fight. Fight for Peace. Fight for Love. “It’s not that we don’t care, we just know the fight ain’t fair” but should that stop us? We should join together in fighting for what’s right. Because “one day our generation is gonna rule the population” and “[t]oday is all we have, let us begin” (Mother Teresa). We are the future leaders; let’s choose to rule with peace, with love, with hope, and with faith. Faith that one day things will be different. Let’s put our trust in the God that created, and work with Him for “God is not unjust; he will not forget the work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10) “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Let’s have faith that one day all will be restored. That one day peace will reign over violence, once again.
This is what we were instructed to do “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it all with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. “(1 Peter 4:8-11)
If we begin with this, with love, we can stop waiting on the world to change. Instead we can change the world one heart at a time. It may seem like something so small, it may seem like we are waiting. But showing someone love is something great. And if you must wait, then wait on the Lord. Wait and pray. God will show us what to do. “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14) Instead of waiting for the world the change, wait for God to change the world. Wait and be amazed. And when God calls you to action, then stand up and do it. Don’t be the one to look back and say, “I’m still ‘waiting on the world to change.’”

Waiting on the World to Change.

2008-03-27T06:07:00.000-07:00

So this song has been in my head for a little while. And I keep randomly hearing it. It is really catchy, and hard not to like. But I don't know what to make of it. Because the main line in the song is "So we keep waiting on the world to change. " In my opinion if we all keep waiting on the world to change, then things never will. Here are the lyrics. I want to know what you think?

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it

We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would have never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on their door
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want

That's why we're waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

It's not that we don't care,
We just know that the fight ain't fair
So we keep on waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population
So we keep on waiting(waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

So tell me what are your thoughts on these lyrics. I have a few and I'll share if you do!
God Bless.

Prayer!!

2008-03-27T00:41:00.000-07:00

So we just finished the last bunch of fliers. I actually haven't minded handing them out for several reasons:
1. Get exercise.
2. Relax and listen to Music.
3. Advertising for English Classes.

Now we are just waiting to hear back from people.

Please pray that people would respond, and that our classes would fill up!!
Pray also for us as we continue to learn some of the language and the culture.
Thanks so much for your prayers and support!
I miss and love you all!!
Blessings.

Self Explanatory.

2008-03-25T07:03:00.001-07:00

"Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us,
and we are his,
we are his people,
the sheep of his pasture."
-Psalm 100:3

I love you Amber-Lee

2008-03-24T07:01:00.001-07:00

So today we handed out fliers again. I actually don't mind doing it. It's just walking around, listening to your music, handing out fliers and praying for the people of whom will receive the fliers. It's quite relaxing. Except that today I sort of got lost. I tried to follow the map, but it just wouldn't work. Every turn I made it seemed that I was either coming back to the same place I had already been, or finding somewhere new which was scary. It was a confusing area to be in. But the entire time I knew where the main highway was, so I figured I would give up on the map, and just walk around and put fliers in mailboxes whereever I could instead of trying to follow the map. That actually worked out nicely.
We were all pretty tired after that, but we had supper and then a session with Laurence with a bible study on John 4:1-47. and talking about teaching english. That was really helpful, and I really enjoyed studying that passage. It's about where Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman. There are so many impossibles that happen in that story. For instance, Jews would generally avoid going to Samaria because they were enemies. But Jesus and his disciples went there anyways. And at the well was a woman, a Samaritan woman, and Jesus talked to her. For him to approach her was another impossible. First off because she was a woman, and men and woman don't just talk to eachother on a day to day basis. And she was a Samaritan, and Jesus a Jew. Then later her testimony is used to reach many others, and they become believers. Her testimony would not normally have much credibility, once again because she was a woman. It just goes to show how God can work in any and every situation, and that He has no barriers. Old grudges, new grudges, languages, nothing. God breaks down every barrier; He is greater than it all. And then later in the text the Samaritans proclaim that Jesus is the Savior of the world. There aren't many who proclaimed this truth in the Gospels, not so bluntly anyways. So to hear a Samaritan say this is huge. God is bigger than everything we can ever imagine! Nothing will stop Him from His work! The impossible is possible with God.
Today while I was thinking in the shower. I was just feeling a little down. Easter time makes me miss home, my friends and my family. But I just felt God speak to me. And He said "I love you Amber-Lee." Those three words are said a lot, and they are thrown around. But when the King says them to you, you better listen. And know that He's not kidding. God loves me. That's all I need. Thanks God. I love you too.

p.s. Prayer Request!!! -Pray that people would respond to the fliers that we are handing out and that our classes would be full! Pray that God would lead the right people to us, and use us to show His Light, His Love and His Life.
Thank you!
God Bless.
And remember. God loves you. Don't ever forget it.

Osaka, Kyoto...temples, castles, shrines..and Easter

2008-03-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

The other day was Good Friday and today is Easter. This time of year is always a reminder of what Jesus did for us. How he was led to the cross like a lamb to the slaughter. He died for the sins of of everyone. And now we can be in relationship with God once again. Sometimes you can get so caught up in the chocolate/Easter bunny side of Easter, that you forget what it's all about. Or if you have grown up in church, it just feels like repitition again. But Easter is really important. And it's such a good reminder of what Jesus did for us, because it really is amazing. And we didn't deserve it. Thanks Jesus!!
So there has been a lot going on since I last posted. Last weekend we went out to Hirokata for the weekend to visit the Hirokata Christ Church. We stayed in a house (which used to be a bar) that is right beside the church. On Saturday night we visited the public baths (for the second time..ack!!!) and then on Sunday we spent the whole day with the Church family, having a Church service, then lunch with everyone. There are a couple international students who are attending a University in Japan, and attend the church. So we spent the afternoon with them, as well as two kids, Shyrio and Tzuniki (I think the spellings are really off...). We got a tour of the University campus and got to ask them a bunch of questions about Japan. Then we had supper with the people at Church (or whoever was still left) and then visited the baths again. It was a really good day, and we could all sense that God was at work among that congregation of people. This church is celebrating their 20th Anniversary very soon and they have a theme verse for it: Isaiah 43:19 "See, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?". I thought it was quite fitting.
Then on Monday we spent all day touring Kyoto, visiting several shrines and temples and castles. It was very interesting, but also very sad to see people worshipping there. They dont' even know what they're worshipping. I just prayed for people as we walked through.
Then we went and did some shopping, and then once again visited the public baths. It was an experience that's for sure. But I must say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
On Tuesday we visited one more castle and then Laurence picked us up. It felt like coming home again, which was a good feeling.
This week we have been delivering lots of fliers in hopes that people will join the english classes we are starting up soon! Pray that the right people would come and this would be how they become interested in coming to Church, and accepting Christ.
On Friday morning we learned how to ride the bus, then then delivered fliers, as we did on Saturday also.
Then today was Easter, and we went to the service. We performed our drime, and the service was good. It's awesome how people can worship God in any language. But I did miss my home Church. After the Service we had lunch with the people, and then had a little carnival with games and a pinata. It was a lot of fun!!!
For Easter supper, we had sushi! It was really good.
Anyways I think I am going to read before bed. It has been a long day!!

Change in Topics..but bear with me.

2008-03-12T01:38:00.000-07:00

Ok so I realize that I am on a big missions trip, in Japan that is occupying several months of my life. And I am enjoying it, and I am trying to focus soley on what is going on here. But there will always be a part of my heart that is back home in Winnipeg's North End, with the kids that I spent a lot of time with. Every so often I like to go to the Winnipeg Free Press Website and see what's going on, more specifically in the Local News section and see if there is any more news on kids in CFS. I didn't really find anything too new, nothing that I hadn't already read. But I did re-read some stuff. And all of it still makes me angry, but angry in a way that it makes me want to channel my anger and make a difference. From where I am right now, I can't do much. But I can pray. And pray I will. I think of the kids that I spent so much of my time with, all the time. They are constantly on my heart and my mind. I am scared that one day one of them will end up on the cover of the newspaper. So I pray, and pray and pray. This is an issue that won't go away, and that I want to get involved in. I want to be an advocate for these kids. A voice where they are voiceless. I want to empower them to do better, and be better than they ever thought they could. To make goals, and accomplish them. I want to be Jesus to each and every kid that I meet. I want them to see Jesus through my life, and through my actions. Jesus said "Let the little children come to me" and I want to be like Him. To welcome any and every child. Right now I can pray. And I want God to receive all the glory. Because only He is worthy, and only He can do it. I just hope He will use me.
In July I will work again at Manitoba House and get a chance love them face to face again. I am studying to be a social worker because I want to make difference. And one day I hope to be a foster mom. If one day I can see some of those kids in heaven, sitting on Jesus's lap, with their families. Then no matter what happened here, it will all be worth it.
I know that this has nothing to do with Japan, but it is what was on my mind. And as I was thinking about it and reading some articles I was reminded of my passion. It hasn't faded. I think this time away has only helped me grow and learn more, so I can do more later. God works in such awesome ways.
So right now while I can't actually be there with the kids, I am praying for them.
If you remember, I would ask that you pray too. Thank you.
This is my random vent for the day by the way! :)

Konichiwa

2008-03-08T23:26:00.000-08:00

We have now been here for a week, and we are learning things everyday. We went to church on Sunday morning, which is two doors down from us. We arrived there at 10am and put on the slippers, and then sat down. The service was of course, all in Japanese, but we were able to follow when they were praying, and singing etc. Not that we could understand it. Laurence made us a copy of his sermon notes in English so we could at least know what was going on. And one woman stood behind us the whole time and pointed out where we were on the notes. That was quite helpful!!

After the service we had lunch with the Church family. It was actually really fun. I enjoyed getting to talk to people, or try to at least. Brianna and I sat at a table together and were trying to figure out how to eat and what to eat, and when to start and stuff. But it went good. And then after lunch was cleaned up, the adults had caregroup, and we took some of the kids to the park. That was a ton of fun. Even though we couldn't really communicate with the kids because of the language barrier, kids are still kids no matter what language they speak. And there is no language for playing and laughing. It's all the same. That was definitly a ton of fun. But it made me miss working at Manitoba House, and playing with the kids that I know and I am familiar with. It just makes me pray for them more though, so I guess that's a good thing. After we got back from the park we played with the kids till the parents were done, and then we headed home. We were all pretty tired so we lay around for an hour before Darlene and I made spaghetti sauce, and we had it with rice. Laurence showed us how to make the rice in the rice cooker. I think that everyone should have a rice cooker! It is so easy and fast. The meal turned out pretty good (thank goodness!)

Yesterday we just had some team time, we prayed and shared how we were doing. It was really good to meet and share. We also practiced our drime because we want to have it ready to go whenever we need to perform it. I think we have it pretty much down now, so that is awesome!

Then today (Tuesday) we had a busier day. In the morning, two people went to the women's enligsh class that Leona teaches. Then at 9:30am we had Japanese manners lessons with two women from Church. That was really good, to find out what to do while we are eating, and entering a house and stuff. Although it was a lot to take in. We came back to the house, made lunch, and then we had a Japanese lesson from 1:00-2:30. Our heads were definitly spinning after that time because we had learnt so much today. But we got some homework, and a lot of stuff to practice during our free time. If we want to learn the language (or at least some of it) we really need to give it our best effort.

Tonight Joanna and I were on supper and so we made curry. Well it was this instant curry sauce that we had bought, and then we added meat, potatoes, carrots and onions. With rice, this turned out great. I think I am realizing that I actually like cooking, I just haven't done it very much. This is a really great chance for me to learn though, since we each have to take turns making meals.

I have a couple of prayer requests:

-That we would continue to get along with the people in our team, living in intense community like this can sometimes be hard and cause frustrations. Pray that we would keep things centered on Jesus, the author and perfector of life.

-Please pray for the Hieberts, as they continue to do ministry here. Japan can be a frustrating place because results are not quick. Pray for patience with us, and strength and endurance to continue ministering and pastoring the people here.

-Pray for Sean, who is here teaching english with MBMSI. Pray that his teaching will make a difference in his students lives.

-Pray also for the people of Japan, because this is a very dark place spiritually, and they need the Light here. God is so desparately needed. Pray that people's hearts would be opened to receiving God's love.

Thank you for all your love and support and prayers. It means so much, and it is good to remember this on the days when I feel alone. Yesterday I was thinking about all the people who are praying for us, people who may not even know us. And I was so thankful. We are not in this alone. So thank you. It means so much.

God is good. He has already won!

The trip over and our first day in JAPAN!!

2008-03-05T00:41:00.001-08:00

As of right now I have been in Japan for 26 hours. (That is from when we landed in Narita until now). Our trip was mostly uneventful, thankfully. So last I said that the Peru team left, and then we had all Sunday to pack and finish getting ready. I ended up going to church with SonJa to "the Bridge", because I wanted to go for my last Church service that would be in English, for the next three and a half months anyways. The service was really good. Then I went back and began to get ready. But after a while I got bored of packing and ended up calling my grandparents and then talking to my parents for a very long time. It was great! But it started getting later and later and I still had a lot to do. So I got some more done, and then we (team+SonJa) ate some fries and went in the hottub. It was very relaxing. After we got out we did some serious packing, that lasted till about 12am. We went to bed (some went even later!) and and then woke up a couple hours later, at 3 am to be exact. I got up and had breakfast (#1) (after running into the other girl's room and jumping on them to wake them up, I had a weird amount of energy for that time in the morning.:P) We did all the last minute packing and clearing out the room, and then John and Luke and Greg arrived with the Vans. We piled in and headed to Tim Horton's for some coffee and I had a yogurt and berries (breakfast #2) before our drive to the Vancouver airport. We imediately went to check-in and as we were waiting in line we were told that our flight to San Fransico was cancelled. We all just looked at eachother and kind of laughed. I was thinking AS IF THIS IS HOW WE ARE STARTING OUT OUR DAY! Anyways, we were told just to wait in line and they would get us on another flight. We ended up getting a flight to Portland, that actually left half hour earlier than our original flight. We were all relieved because we would not miss our connecting flights. Thank the Lord! It hit me at this point that we were not longer under the TREK Leaders, we were on our own. Well not on our own, God was leading us! Speaking of the TREK Leaders, it was quite sad to say goodbye to them! I will definitely miss them!
Back to our trip, the flight to Portland was quite and uneventful, it was also very short. Then we arrived at the Portland airport and had a three hour layover. We ended up being super hungry so we got lunch at Wendy's. Just a little sidenote, it was 9:30 in the morning at this point. But we had been up for so long we were hungry, even after two breakfasts. :) While we ate and waited we began to watch "She's the Man", but we didn't quite get to finish. Then we boarded the plane to go to Narita (just outside of Tokyo). The plane ride was about 10 hours long. And when we got there it was no longer evening (the time our watches and our bodies were on) it was now the middle of the day. About 3:30 in the afternoon. Just wonderful.
Then we had a two hour layover, which was probably the worst one. We were all tired and worn out from all that travelling. Finally it was time to board. Then we sat on the plane which seemed like eternity, but it was really 45 min. That's how long we drove around the tarmac for who knows what reason. They didn't share that part with us :P But once we actually took of it was a really really short flight. Then we arrived in Nagoya, went through customs and immigration and got our luggage and walked out to see Laurence waiting with a big smile! We were so thankful to see him! It was wonderful to be on solid ground again and know that we were done travelling. God is good!!
We arrived at the house, brought our bags to our rooms and realize we were very hungry. So Leona and Kambria took us to MacDonalds. Yes, that's right, our first meal in Japan was MacDonald's. We thought it was quite humourus. :P After eating we headed up to bed where we slept in the wonderful Japanese style beds, mattresses on the floor.
The next morning (this morning I mean) (which is Wendnesday by the way) I woke up suddenly, and felt wide awake. And then I looked at the clock and felt depressed, it was 6:15AM!! Now those of you that know me really well know that this is quite unusual, because I am a morning person. But my body seemed to tell me that it was time for me to get up. So I lay around, and then Brianna and I lay in our beds talking, then went downstairs for breakfast. We ate and then showered and slowly got ready.
Today we met Shaun (Shawn?), who teaches English here and does a lot of worship stuff at the Church. We also met Kambria (we had already met her last night, she is Laurence and Leona's daughter) and Trenton, their son. We had lunch together, made my Leona, and then in the afternoon were shown around the house, how exactly to use everything.
I will explain more about the interestin appliances around the house, but for now I think I head to head to bed. It's only 10pm but I feel like it is 1am. I'll finish tomorrow, and hopefully get some pictures up of the house.
Thanks for all the prayers as we were travelling, we felt them all as we arrived safely and got through customs no problem! God is good!

Verse for the Day:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."... "Do not say, 'I am only a child' You must got to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,'' declares the Lord."
-Jeremiah 1:5-8

Goodbye Team Peru...

2008-03-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

Well it is late at night, and the Peru team has just left. We had the comissioing service this evening, which was awesome. Thanks to everyone who came out, and thanks to everyone who was there in spirit!!! We felt your thoughts and prayers.
So it feels kind of depressing right now, because Breanne is missing from our room...and the other girls (and Dave) is missing from their rooms. I know that they are off to start an amazing adventure, and that God is going to work in their lives. But in this moment as we also wait to leave, and have a whole day it, it is sad. We have spent so much time getting to know eachother and building great relationships and now some of them are gone. It's really sad. But I know that they are going to have an amazing time, and that we will as well. God will lead each of our teams to where He has called us and it will be good. Because God has greated all things to be good.
But I still miss them.
I should get some sleep now because I don't want to have a bad day tomorrow because of lack of sleep. And I do not want to get sick.
So I am going to go to bed, and pray for that team, because that is all I can do right now.
I am going to fall asleep talking to the Saviour of the World. Hmm...what a good thought :)
Good night!

Leaving on a jet plane....

2008-02-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Heya Everyone. So I figured I should write something to conclude my last week in Abbotsford. As of right now I leave in two days. Tomorrow night at 12:30 the Peru team will be rolling on and getting dropped off in Bellingham and then taking a bus to Seattle where they will fly off to Peru. So we have all Sunday to relax and get ready and whatnot. We have plans to watch a movie in the evening because it will be depressing that half the group is gone.

Anyways in the last week we have done a lot of stuff. On Monday we had lunch at the MBMSI office with the staff there, to connect once more before we leave. They do a lot for us, behind the scenes and so it's awesome for us to connect with them before we leave. After the lunch we cleared up the board room and then we learned a drime. Drime is a drama to music, but with no words. It is usually a good versus evil kind of thing. It is actually really neat. I play the character "worldliness" and I am trying to lure all of the people away from Jesus. Hopefully I will get a video of us doing it one time and then I can post it. It is looking pretty cool. Some of our other sessions this week included stuff on Cultural Awareness, Culture Shock, and Teaching ESL. They are all pretty helpful, but it has been hard to sit through sessions this week because we are all exhausted, some peopel are sick, and we are anxious to leave. It's like they are just dragging on this last week, or were at least. Since it is basically over at this point.

So far I would have to say that the highlight of my week has been Work duties on Tuesday because Darlene and Brianna and I were rolling around in the mud and then we got hosed down. It was pretty funny. It reminded me of being a kid again. I think that I should do fun stuff like that more often...:P

Another Highlight from the week was the Talent Show on Wednesday Night. Each person had to do something, but it wasn't really a real talent, it was supposed to be something that was really funny. Everyone did something else. Laura and Simone did a skit making fun of Luke and John and their funny comments. Amber and Elli each wrote poems. Roxy was lysyncing to a song. Darlene re-enacted the movie "Princess Bride" in fast forward motion. Breanne, Roxy and Sarah did some awesome commercials. The interns did a cooking show where they shoved food in Greg's face. It was pretty awesome. And Joanna wrote a song, well that's not quite true, we took the song "Teardrops on my Guitar" by Taylor Swift and changed some of the Lyrics to fit what we wanted to say. We then serenaded Luke (Lucious Luke as we like to call him) with this song.

I tried to upload the video but it wouldn't work.

In case you couldn't hear all of the words I thought I would type them out for you. Keep in mind this is all just a joke to embarass and make Luke feel somewhat awkward.

Luke looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see

That we're sad because we leave, and after that won't get to see

Him leaving on a plane, to see that girl he loves

And she's got everything that we'll have to live without.

Because he's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar

The only thing that keep me wishing on a wishing star

You're the song in the car I keep singing don't know why I do

(This was the Chorus and it was the original, we didn't change it because we couldn't think of anything else)

Luke talk to me, I laugh because it's just so funny

When we were at his place we put shampoo on his toothbrush

He says he's so in love, He's finally got it right

But he gets awkward when he talks about relationships.

(Chorus again)

Lucious Luke the duke, that is what we say

p.s. wear more underarmor everyday

You tell me...how could it be any better than this?

2008-02-23T00:21:00.000-08:00

God keeps asking me again and again how much I am going to give Him. I want to give Him everything. I know that giving Him everything, dying unto myself, will mean I get life. Life from Him. And what could be better than that.

Find me here and speak to me
I want to feel you. I need to hear you.
You are the light that's leading me
To the place where I'll find peace again
You are the strength that keeps me walking
You are the hope that keeps me trusting
You are the light to my soul
You are my purpose
You're everything

And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms and you give me rest
You hold me in your hands
You won't let me fall
You still my heart
And you take my breath away
Would you take me in
Take me deeper now

And how can I stand here with you and now be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cuz you're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything. Everything
Cuz you're all I want
You're all I need
You're everything. Everything.
You're all I want
You're all I need
Everything. Everything.

And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

This is a song by Lifehouse. Go to this link and watch the video if you have time. It is so powerful. I definitly cried when I watched it. Just watch it and think about it. And ask yourself thsese questions: How can I stand here with you (being Jesus) and not be moved by you? Would you tell me how it could be any better than this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRIP6nXiIDU&feature=related

God Bless you all!

Intense. Very Intense.

2008-02-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

This week we have been having sessions with Randy Friesen (general director of MBMSI) on Spiritual Authority. We just had our last one this afternoon, and I think my head is spinning. They were amazing sessions, they really were. I wish I could have tape recorded each of them so I could listen to them over and over and take in everything. But since I can't, my notes will just have to do for remembering what we learnt, and reflecting on it. He told many stories of his life, and experiences he has had, as well as teaching us on this topic. He is very knowledgible, and his basis for almost every answer came from scripture. And if there was a question that wasn't in scripture then he wouldn't make up an answer or makg assumptions, but he would sincerely say he didn't know. I really like that, when people base their knowledge on scripture, and not on their own opinions of things. He talked about a lot of different things. About choosing under which authority you are going to live under. Because we have free will, and we can choose under who's authority we will live. I want to live under God's authority. I wanto be His follower. But it is a daily decision. There were many other things he talked about that if I went through all of them I would be here forever. All I can say is prayer is so important. Humbling ourselves before God is also important.
We also watched a NOOMA Video, if you don't know what is, it is a Video series by this guy, Rob Bell. He is the pastor of a Church, but I can't remember which church it is at the moment. Anyways the video was called Dust. It was talking about Rabbi's and their Disciples. Now Rabbi's in the old days would train up a disciple to be like them. They would choose someone whom they thought could take on their "yoke" and would train them to do what they do. And that person (I think a guy usually, and usually a younger guy) would do everything that the Rabbi did. And they wanted to be covered in the Dust of their Rabbi. It was a common phrase back in Jesus time. And Jesus was that Rabbi and his disciples were eager to follow them. I want to be like the disciples. I want to be covered in the Dust of my Rabbi. I am not totally fully sure what that looks like. But I want to find out. My goal is to dig deep and search for what this means for me.
Another goal I have is I want to dive into the scriptures. I want to learn more and more. To memorize more. I have seen to many speakers know their bibles so well, and I want to be like that. So I'm diving in.

"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
-Micah 6:8

Valentines day.

2008-02-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

This week has been packed full of stuff! We had sessions on Conflict Resolutions, Personalities, God and Money and Suffering. It was all really good, but all a bit random at the same time. Each session in and of itself was great, but it was on a wide variety of topics. But again, I took lots of notes so I can go and look back when necessary. That'll be good to have. Then on Valentines day we didn't have any sessions, except for worship in the morning. That was just what was needed, for me anyways. Because I always think that Valentines is sort of overrated, but it was good to re-focus and be reminded of who my love is on that day (and every day!!!). Then in the afternoon we got things ready and then we went to this park in the rough part of Abbotsford and handed out roses and candy to people. It was so awesome to see people, especially the women, faces light up when they say the roses. Like I would walk up to a woman and she would just smile when she saw the roses, and then the look in her eyes when I would hand one to her was priceless. A common response to it was that it was more than they would get from their husbands. The look in their eyes were of being thankful, and also that they felt special. And those looks were worth more than a thousand words.

I got the chance to talk to a couple of people, Ashley and Wesley. Ashley told us how she was a drug addict and that she had just gotten out of the hospital because she overdosed again. She began to cry and asked us if we had ever done dope before. You could tell that her brain was pretty fryed from doing so many drugs. It was really sad. Eventually she kind of started to walk away and we walked along with her. She began to tell Amy (one of the Interns) how she had been abused, physically and sexually, and that is why she began to do drugs. It was really sad.

And then we also talked to this guy named Wesley. Amy was explaning to him what TREK was, because he had asked what we were doing and why we were doing it , and I guess where we were from. And as she was explaning, he began to say something like "That's great you know, because the Harvest is plenty and the Workers are few". He kept spouting off bible verses, and said that he believed and trusted in God. And that throughout the years he had been on and off of drugs, but that he know God was with him through it all. He told me that he had memorized big chunks of scripture, like a big part of Matthew, and he started saying it, but he was a little rusty. And then just as we were about to leave, I told her I would be praying for him, and I guess he saw that look of feeling a bit sorry for him. I just hate to see people hurting or anything. And then he looked at me and said "Sweetie, don't you worry about me, because I know that God will provide for me. I know that I'll be ok." It was so cool because he had such a huge faith, bigger than I usually do.

I think that being there and handing out roses on Valentines day was possibly the best thing we could have done. It was so wondeful to be able to share God's love in that way.

I also took some pretty pictures of the roses that we were giving on the way to the park. Some of them actually turned out pretty good!!!

AMAZING TREK!!!

2008-02-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning at 5 am the TREK Interns, SonJa and Amy, ran into our room and told us we had seven minutes to get ready and be downstairs or there would be consequences. We were quite flustered and half asleep, but we jumped out of bed and got dressed and ran outside. We were told that we would be participating in TREK's version of the Amazing Race!! This was the beginning to a very long, wet, but fun day! We had to do many tasks throughout the day. Some of the included:
- eating rice and a 2 litre of pop with a can of sardines for breakfast.
-literally looking for a needle in a haystack
-taking fun pictures
-eating dried squid
-serenading a former trekker on his balcony with a song that we made up on the spot
-fishing out gummy worms from a bowl of chocolate pudding and then fishing them out of a bowl of rice crispies (and yes EVERYONE used the same bowl!! ewww!!!)
-going to a sikh temple and eating there
-getting dropped off in Surrey and taking the sky train to Vancouver
It ended with us getting on the Seabus to the Longsdale Quay where we ended. And my team won! Go team Japan!!!
That was a pretty exciting and exhausting day. It rained pretty much all day so we were soaked almost the entire time. But it was fun.
The point of the day was to test us in our teams; to see how we work together under stress and being tired. I think that our team pulled together really well, and we pretty much got along all day. There wasn't ever really a time when I woudl say that we didn't get along. That is very encouraging because we are bound to experience stressful days while we are in Japan, and if we can learn to work with eachother despite that, that is awesome!!
All together I think we were going for about 13 and a half hours that day. Whew! I can see how the real amazing racers get exhausted and pick fights with eachother. I think we persevered through it pretty well, but I would not want to do it every day that's for sure!
Hopefully once I get the pictures for Darlene I will be able to post them!!

My Date with Jesus...

2008-02-10T11:06:00.000-08:00

We finished the Silent Retreat on Friday morning at 10:30. It was an amazing time! It was for sure difficult not to talk or to laugh at times, but we all survived. On Wednesday we met with Steve Klassen, and we talked about it. Then he said "I am going to pray and after that we will begin" and just as he said this I felt the hugest need to talk and laugh and be loud a lot because I knew it was my last chance to do it for a while, but I held it all in:) So he prayed and it began.
I was pumped and I thought that I would begin it with something really relaxing, like going in the hottub. I got my swimsuit on and I went in. But it was really hard to relax, because I felt really antsy. So I didn't last very long in there, and I got out and went and took a shower and got ready. Then I went up to my new room (they assigned us to new rooms, so there were only two of us to a room and not four) and settled in. I pulled out my bible and started a new journal. I began to kind of flip through my bible, and then I decided to start reading from the book of Acts. Once I started I couldn't put it down. I have read parts of it before, probably most of it, but I had never just sat down and read it like a novel before. I just kept reading and reading and I loved it! It amazed me again and again the boldness of faith that the apostles had. They persevered through so much. But they didn't give up, they kept going and trusting that God would pull them through. They realized how important it was that everyone here the Gospel of Christ, and so they didn't give up. It was so cool to read, and see how the Church began. I was inspired by the apostles, to try and be more bold, and to trust in God more.
Then I tried a new form of journaling/listening to God. I wrote my name at the top of the page, and then I wrote down what I thought God was saying to me. I turned into this beautiful short love letter to me. It was so awesome. Then I read some more from Acts and then we went to bed. (Supper was in there somewhere, but it's not all that important:P)
Then in the morning I woke up at like five minutes to 9. Which was perfect because breakfast was at 9 in the morning so that worked out nicely. The day began and I spent a lot of time journaling, listening my bible and listening to what God has to say. I felt like His message to me again and again was "I love you". One verse that kept coming back to me was from Song of Songs.
"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me"
-Song of Songs 2:10
Then in the afternoon we got to meet with our mentors and we had one hour to talk with them. It was just so that we could debrief and discuss with them how it was going. Because some people like it, and some people really have a hard time. That was good to talk for a bit, and then return to the silence. I went for a long walk down at the fish trap park and just sang worship songs and enjoyed being with God. It was really good.
That night we turned out our lights super early and got a really good night's sleep. And the next morning again I was up just before 9 and went and had breakfast, and then I again journaled and read my bible until it was over. But I got to go in the prayer room where I was all alone for a while so that was good.
All in all I really enjoyed spending quality time with God. I totally fell in love with Him all over again. He called, and I answered. I want to follow Him. To get lost with Him. To love Him all of my days.

Silent Retreat today!!

2008-02-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

This afternoon we will be beginning our Silent Retreat. I am being moved to another room in the Mark Center, and another girl, Brianna and I will be sharing that room. They has us spread out so that there are less people to distract you and you just get that much more alone time. I am looking forward to being by myself and getting spiritually and mentally refreshed and rejuvenated. I am going to take advantage of the hottub, and going on lots of walks I think. And I am going to dive into reading my bible and journaling. Simone was joking and saying that I will have to show her how many pages I have used in my journal, because I am a huge journaler. I am sure I will use a lot of pages, I find it easier to process things when I write them down in my journal, and I like to write down my prayers as well. We still don't know all the "rules" for the retreat, but we will find out after lunch. Speaking of which I better go downstairs and socialize for the last little bit of time I have left before we begin.
Oh but we found out today that we DO get to meet with our mentors here in the middle of the day tomorrow, just to check up on us and see how things are going. That will be great I think!
Anyways I should go, but I will post again this weekend to talk about how it was!!
Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. :)

Silent Retreat..and then After Thoughts..

2008-02-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

Well I don't have much time because we are about to header out but I thought I would do a quick update. In case you didn't read before, we are participating in a Silent Retreat for the next two days...well for 48 hours beginning tomorrow at lunch. If you could pray for me that God would open my eyes, and that I would just spend some quality time with my Savior. That would be awesome.
Tonight we are going to After thoughts, which is a dessert restaurant (AMAZING DESSERTS)
because a couple of the girls are giving up junk food for lent, which begins tomorrow, and so we have to get cheesecake on their last night. I am just going because I love cheesecake. Although it's not quite as good as Grace Cafe Cheesecake, so don't worry Shauna I am not betraying you!!!
And then we are going to Vespers, a worship service at Columbia College.
I have go to go or I will miss the van ride! And the weather is crummy today so I don't want to have to walk!

Church and Sour Lemons...

2008-02-03T14:30:00.000-08:00

This morning those of us that were still here, went to church together. One of the interns, Greg, attends the Vineyard Church and so we all went with him. I really enjoyed the service. Kevin Boese is the worship pastor there, and he has been leading us in worshipping in song once a week since we have been here. It was a really good service. The topic was on obedience. I think that Iwant to go back there next week again.
Then after Church we went to Boston Pizza. I had the chicken fingers and fries meal. It was very yummy. One thing that was not so good was the lemons...Brianna and I each tried a lemon and we got in on video. I have the one of me on my camera, and Lisa has Brianna's on her Camera. Here is the one of me:

Sorry that it's sideways but that's just how it came out.

So I am an enjoying the last day of rest before we dive into a busy week again. This week will actually be awesome. We are going to be doing lots of praying ( not that we don't usually pray because we do) but we are having someone come in an do several sessions on Prophetic intercession. And then Beginning on Wednesday afternoon until Friday afternoon we are doing a Silent Retreat. During this retreat we are to be silent the entire time, not talking to anyone. We are also only going to be allowed to read our bibles and our journals. At first when I was thinking about this I thought it would be kind of terrifying, but now I am very excited. It will be great to just spend almost 48 hours just reflecting on all the things I have learnt and spend some good quality time with God. I can't wait until that comes. If maybe you all could pray for me, to just give myself fully to God during this time and being open to hearing His voice. It will be a much needed time in silence.

One thing I think I forgot to mention is that I am learning a new skill! I am learning to play the guitar. So far I am pretty terrible, but Joanna is an excellent teacher and I have confidence that I will come home a pro. Ha. Just kidding. But I will be average I am hoping.

There is something else I wanted to say but I cannot for the life of me remember what it is. So I am just going to leave it at that for now. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!!

busy week and ...doing someone's laundry??

2008-02-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

So this last week was possibly the busiest we have had so far. We had some really good speakers, and they all seemed to be packed into like three intense days. We has Sam Dick, who talked to us about Unreached People and about Relinquishing your Rights. Both were excellent sessions and very though provoking. The Unreached People was a lot of statistics, and it really hit me how few missionaries North America sends out. Considering how many people live here, we should be sending out way more people. But I guess it does take a calling, and being willing to obey, and sacrifice somet things. I guess it's not always as easy and it sounds. Hm...
Then we also had Phil Serez this week, he did two sessions on "Identity in Christ." Those were really good sessions. The first one we talked about the choice we have to go down two roads, trusting God or pleasing God. I know that I have a tendency towards pleasing God, because I like please people, but I would like to move more towards soley trusting God with everything that I am. In order to trust Him we have to trust fully in His love. And so the question Phile left us with to think over was from the viewpoint of God " Will you let me love you?" I have been asking myself this over and over and wrestling over with this. I want to say yes without looking back. I guess that is a prayer request, that I would fullly accept Christ's love.
The second sesison with Phil was about wearing masks, and identifying this. That was really good. We got a lot of time to just reflect and think about this. Then we met with our teams (Japan for me :)) and discussed this. It was really good to be able to open up to eachother and get to know the people whom we will be spending the next five months with. God is working in the relationships on our team in a really cool way. Please pray for team unity.
Then the last session with Phil we did a footwashing. But before we did this we did a manuscript study on the passage where Jesus washed his disciples feet. We picked it apart and looked at certain words and just really tried to understand it on a deeper level. It's a story we have all heard before, but do we ever actually take the time to understand its full meaning?
Like how Jesus says to Peter, "Unless you let me wash your feet, you will have NO part of me." It's not a subtle hint from Jesus, he is saying we need to accept his gift, we need to let him love us. Or we will have no part of Him. That really hit me. I want a part of Jesus, don't you?
Another realization I had is that Jesus washed his disciples feet as an act of love and service towards them, and he wanted us to follow in his footsteps, and his actions. For Jesus to wash their feet, an act that was reserved for the lowest of the low servants, was a big deal. I believe that yes it is important to follow Jesus's call to wash eachother's feet. BUT if Jesus were to come down to earth today and repeat that act, I am not sure it would be washing our feet. Because for us that doesn't mean anything really. In Jesus time it was not something just anyone did. Maybe this passage is for us today to find the thing that is reserved for the lowest of the low, and serve one another in that way. Maybe it is doing someone's dishes (not that dishes is for the lowest of the low, it doesn't really work that way in our society anymore), or washing someone's dirty laundry. And it might be different for every person. But we should try and serve eachother in all that we do. So let us try and find the thing that will really mean a lot to the person whom you want to do an act of service for. Even if you would rather not. Do it out of love. And if someone does something for you, receive it graciously. Give and receive.

Japan....and everything else.

2008-01-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

Ok so I know it's been FOREVER since I have updated this, so it might be a long one. I sent out a mass email to say that I AM GOING TO JAPAN. My teammates are Joanna (Team Leader), myself, Simone, Brianna, Darlene and Amber. I am pretty pumped!!!! The day we found out our team had to go to London Drugs to get passport photos so we could apply for our visa's. I guess they were more Visa photo's then. Then we came back and took team pictures because we are going to send out prayer cards along with newsletters. Remember to email me your address if you want prayer card for your fridge and a newsletter. We have also done some country research and went to get vaccinations! Though we are in preparation to leave, there is still over a month before we actually leave. It feels like we should be leaving next week, but the time will fly by just as it always does. Some more info on Japan, we will be working with Lawrence and Leona Hiebert in Toyota City, Japan. I believe that we will be staying a house that is beside the Church we are working with. And I think that the minstries we will be helping with are: teaching ESL, youth and kids ministires, and musice stuff if we are so able. Joanna will definitly be invovled with this because she is an amazing worship leader.

So I am trying to think of what we have all done the last week and a half. The weeks are packed to full that sometimes its hard to remember everything. We did some small group stuff, and also some team time. Last Thursday we had a session called "Trained by Jesus" with Steve Klassen. This is an intense bible study of the book of Mark. I really enjoy this. We spend like an hour talking about four verses sometime. I think we have done four or five and we just finished the second Chapter. I love it!

Then this last weekend we hung out at missionsfest in Vancouver on Saturday. That was pretty cool to see all the ministries that were set up, and we got to sit in on some seminars. I went to one about the importance of learning the language of the country that you are going to minister too. It was really funny because the speaker had three categories, from easiest to hardest languages to learn. Of course Japanese was in the third category. Very encouraging!!!

Sunday we went to a Church (Clearbrook MB) because they really support us in prayer and let us use their Church basement for some of our sessions. The people there were very friendly.

tears..kleenex and a notebook

2008-01-22T22:56:00.000-08:00

Well if you could guess by the title, tonight we watched the movie The Notebook. Being the sappy girls that we are, we passed around the kleenex boxe because at the end most of us were sitting there sniffling, it's a sad and beautiful ending all at the same time. If you haven't seen the movie I won't give it away..but I suggest you watch if if you want to watch a beautiful love story unfold. Yes there are parts that are sketchy and may need fast forwarding, but all in all it is a beautiful story. Something that strikes me the most is how Noah pursue's Allie. He pursues and pursues and pursues and lets nothing stop him from loving her. Even when circumstances have pulled them apart he still keeps their love alive in memories and his actions of fixing up that house. All because of his promise to love her. It's so beautiful. Pretty much the desire of every girls heart is to be loved and pursued like that.
It reminds me of God. God never stops loving and never stops pursuing. He is constantly, in so many ways seeking our love and wanting us to love him in return. So many times we turn away, and we argue with him and we are angry with him and we run away and try and hide. But He is always there waiting for when we return. We are His first love whom He will never leave. And He is the love that can surpass everything else. It is a love that loves no matter what. Not despite our weakness but because of them, because that means we need Him. We can each have a beautiful love story in our lives if we let God love us the way He wants to. May we let God love us, and each day may we discover another part of His great Love for us. God is the pursuer, He will never stop until He catches us, and then He will woo us every day in so many ways.

Here is a quote from Rob Bell's book, 'Sex God'. It talks about God's love for us. A great love. Agape love.

"Agape is a particular kind of love. Love is often seen as a need, something we got from others. Agape is the opposite. Agape gives.

...Agape doesn't love somebody because they're worthy.

Agape makes them worhty be the strength and power of its love.

Agape doesn't love somebody because they're beautiful.

Agape loves in such a way that makes them beauitful."

God Bless:)

Photo Shoot

2008-01-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today my roomates decided to do a little photo shoot since the sun was beautiful and the lighting was perfect outside. Unfortunately most of the pictures are one Breanne's camera and we can't get them off because she forgot her cord. But I have a couple. And here is a video of a tour of my room. Hope you enjoy!!

Here is us getting ready for our "photo shoot" :)

p.s. Tomorrow I find out where I am going!! And who is one my team!!!

L-R: Me, Breanne, Simone, Joanna

The Sunsets are beautiful here, especially because

we are on a hill that basically overlooks the city.

This is a picture of the Mark Center from the outside. If you go down those steps, it leads to the "Great Room". This is the big gathering room, where we meet for many of our sessions and meals and just to hang out. Up the steps on the side are some rooms. My room is on the other side of the building.

This is me, after our photo shoot I went out and watched the sun set. It was absolutely beautiful.

"The same hands that created all of this, they created you and I. What a beautiful God. What a beautiful God. "

-Shawn Macdonald

(Beautiful)

Error

2008-01-21T23:23:00.001-08:00

I made a mistake I realized...when I said we can live with thoughts that yesterday was better than today...I meant that we CAN'T live with those thoughts. Sorry about that. I hope you knew what I meant anyways and got the point.

Yesterday? Today!!! Tomorrow?

2008-01-21T22:34:00.000-08:00

This morning we all met as a team, as we do every Monday morning, to debrief last week and to talk about the upcoming week. We watched a NOOMA video before we begun. It was about how all we have is today. That we can't just live in the past, we need to live in the here and now. We can remember what happened in the past and celebrate it or mourn it, but we need to live today. We can live with thoughts that yesterday was better than today is. We need to embrace today. Because God has given us this day to praise Him, and live for Him. This also came up in the book I am reading "The Life You've Always Wanted". The author quotes the psalmist "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in him." It doesn't say that tomorrow we should rejoice, but today. So let us not live in the past, or look only toward the future, but let us live in the here and the now. Embracing all that God has given us, and let us rejoice together and glorify Him.

Today is all we have. Let us begin.
-Mother Teresa

P.S.

2008-01-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

In the pictures, there is one of Joanna in a wheelchair. She is not actually in a wheelchair but she has really bad knee problems and so we rented one for her so she wouldn't have to walk around as much.
Please pray for healing for Joanna's knee so that it doesn't take away from her experience.
Thanks!

IKEA, Swing Dancing and Church

2008-01-20T14:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend was very relaxed. Friday we had a regular day with sessions. In the morning we prayed over the Mark Center, and over the rooms and just asked God's presence to fill the building, and allow His Spirit to be at work there. Then we had a short break and we had some missionaries, Ray and Judy Harms-Wiebe come and speak to us on forgiveness. They had been missionaries for 18 years at a Church. At the moment I can't for the life of me remember where it was they were missionaries. Shoot. Oh well. If I remember I will add it on later. They had experienced some rough times and had to go through the process of forgiving people in their Church. It was neat to hear how they worked things through, and how they were still dealing with them and processing them.

I think that I forgot to mention that TREK assigns mentors to us while we are here, to check up on how we are doing and such. I think this is a great idea. Now we have two mentors going on, one at home and one here. At home my mentor is Terence, my former youth pastor. And my assigned mentor here is Christy Best. She is the wife of John Best, one of the guys on the Leadership team. We got to meet on Friday after lunch. I had met her before a couple of times, but it was nice to go off and chat. I am looking forward to continuing to meet with her. It is especially nice because she hangs around every so often and her husband is a part of TREK, so when I talk about things she understands what is going on, on a first hand level pretty much. This is awesome. I look forward to continuing this.

Then in the afternoon we had work duties. We have work duties usually twice a week. And during this time we do different forms of work, whatever is needed either around the Mark Center or at the MBMSI Offices at CBC. This allows us to serve others, as well as work as a team. I always enjoy these. Thankfully it wasn't raining this time, which always makes it much more pleasant. We we working in the flowers, clearing out all the weeds and leaves and stuff. It is nice to drive by and see how good it looks once we are done!!

Then Saturday we slept in. This was wonderful! :) Then after lunch we drove near Vancouver to the IKEA where we spent a coupl of hours looking around. We also took some fun pictures in the fake "house" setups. I posted a couple for you to enjoy.

The rest of the day was spent just relaxing or doing whatever we choose to do. A bunch of us went in the hottub after supper and then just relaxed. It is nice to be able to do this. And the hottub was very nice and warm!

Today we went to Church. We all went to different ones. Myself and Breanne and Joanna went to The Life Center Church which is at an elementary School here in the city. It is a very small church, but I really enjoyed it. I also look forward to attending different Churches during my time here. Some I would like to attend are The Vineyard and The Bridge. Hopefully I will get a chance.

This afternoon we are probably going Swing dancing!!!! This will be a ton of fun I think. I'll let you know how it goes ;)

To end off I would just like to leave this verse. I really like it.

"And there is no God apart from me,

a righteous God and a Savior;

there is none but me.

Turn to me and be saved,

all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other...

Before me every knee will bow;

by me every tongue wil swear.

They will say of me, 'In the LORD alone

are righteousness and strength.' ''

-Isaiah 45: 21b -22; 23b- 24

The TREK Team

2008-01-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

Ok so again, I would just like to brag about how awesome my roommates are and how much I love them. I am slowly gathering a book of ridiculous quotes from Breanne...I think they might only be funny when you are with her. But here is the quote of the day... "Can I wear your retainer...I've always wanted to." So there you go, here is a little glimpse into crazy stuff that goes on in our room. It's all awesome.

I realized that I haven't really given an overview of the people on TREK with me, so I'll do that now.

Me-you all know me and if you don't then you're really missing out.

Simone- She is also from Winnipeg, and yes we knew eachother before. We both attend McIvor Church.

Joanna-From Texas. She is currently attending Tabour College (well not right at the moment, but she was before she came, and she will return there in the fall). She is super awesome, and one of my roomies. We have a connection (amazing how it is in the Mennonite world), her brother and I attended Ministry Quest together two years ago, and she attended the year before me.

Breanne- She is also one of my roommates from Surrey, BC. We have a connection too, because we each have a friend in Capenwray in England. So not really a connection, but sort of. She is also so awesome. Her and I are both not morning people and so we roll out of bed at the last possible second and everyone laughs at us when we get downstairs.

Roxy- She is from Chilliwack. I haven't gotten to know her really well but I hope to continue to connect with her and others. I think we are close to the same age. She is definitly awesome. I won't keep saying this for everyone because I think everyone is awesome but hearing it over and over gets really repetitive.

Sarah-She is from Williams Lake, BC. Sarah already has her first degree and is currently working as a nurse. Sarah has a huge passion for Peru and for doing missions. She is kind of the "mom" of the group. We all love her.

Brianna-From Kelowna. She is this sweet, tall, blonde girl. We are in the same small group and I look forward to continue to get to know her.

Darlene-Also from Kelowna. Darlene and Brianna (and Amber, whom I haven't gotten to yet) all attend the same Church, but didn't really know eachother all that well. I think their Church is really big and so they had seen eachother around but weren't really friends. I think it's cool they all ended up here. Darlene and Breanne call themselves twins because they often end up wearing the same thing without realizing it...and they like a lot of the same things, like the Beatles. It's pretty funny.

Amber- From Kelowna. Of course she is awesome because we share the same reasons. If I remember correctly Amber has a real heart for the people of India, but looks forward to whereever she will be sent too.

Laura- Laura is from Visalia, California. She is currently living in Fresno thought, and attends Fresno Pacific University. She is a natural leader in all aspects of the word. She has participated in the Ministry Quest program (one year before I did) and then came back to be a leader last year on the Spring retreat.

Lisa- from Indiana. I don't remember exactly where though. She is an awesome girl who loves volleyball like me. She is always up for a good laugh. I am excited to get to know her better too!!

Dave- Dave is from St. Katherine's, Ontario. He is the only guy on TREK this time!! This is apparently and unusual occurance for TREK. Actually I don't think it has ever happeneed before. Good for Dave for still coming. Poor guy has to put up with all these emotional girls all the time. Good thing for the guys on the leadership team, John, Luke and Greg. I would say keep Dave in your prayers as this must be tough. But he is totally an awesome guy and is really excited to go out and serve God.

So that's the team!! The anticipation is building as we wait to find out where we will be going on assignment. We find out this Wednesday!!! I am definitly looking forward to this. Pray for God to work in our hearts as we find out the teams and the destinations. Pray for guidance for the Leadership team as they seek God's will as to where everyone will go.

Dancing and mini Oranges...Cats and Dogs anyone??

2008-01-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

Today was a very full day. We started of the morning with me and Breanne rolling out of bed right when breakfast started again. It's becoming a ritual...Simone and Joanna wake us up at like quarter to eight and then Breanne slowly makes herself down from the top bunk and jumps on my bed where we lie until Simone and Joanne leave for breakfast telling us to get up. Slowly we moan and get out of bed and get ready in like ten minutes. Despite the fact that we are slow moving..we always make it in time for breakfast, with time to spare.

One problem I seem to have is with losing things. Almost every day I lose something. We joke that my side of the room eats up my things. It is an ongoing problem. Although I have found basically everything except a book and my ipod case. So I'll keep searching.

Our first session on Forgiveness. It was pretty good. Then we had a worship dance session with Sonja, one of the interns. That was pretty awesome. All the girls did it, and Dave and Greg and John (Greg and John are Trek leaders, and Dave is the sole guy on the program) went out for coffee or something. We are learning a dance to "How Great is our God" by Chris Tomlin. It's pretty sweet:)

Then we had lunch, which was very good. I would just like to make a side note that the food here is so amazing. Sonja (intern) and Gay (John's mom) are awesome cooks. We are definitely very spoiled here. So a small shout out to the cooks!!! Your efforts are much appreciated.

After lunch we walked over to Clearbrook Church where we had an long afternoon session. It was called the "Cat and Dog Theology". It's using them as metaphors...being like a Cat where it is all about us. Where we make the center of the Universe about us. And being like a dog is where it is (it being life) all about bringing Glory to God in all that we do. It was an interesting way of describing it. The presentation went by really fast and it was hard to take notes. Then the second part was connecting into the first part, but extending it. I don't know. If you want to know more then email me and I will try to explain in more depth. That session sparked a lot of good conversation, partially because it was interesting, and partially because it was confusing.

For a break in the session John went and bought us a snack. He bought these miniture oranges, as they are displayed in the pictures. They were so tiny. In the picture is a normal sized orange (not a Christmas orange, just a regular one) and these mini sized ones. I had to take a picture because they were so cute. Greg (intern) said he has a theory that all girls think that anything that is little is cute. Well here his theory has been proved right, that mini orange was very cute.

The picture above is of Simone at the Castle fun park. That was where we went on our fun event this evening. First we did mini golfing in the "Jungle" and then we played games in the arcade. Breanne and I rocked out playing DDR. We cleared every time we played (on the beginner level of course:P) Here is a video of us having a good time. Enjoy!!!

Here is a little quote for the day from our assigned reading book:

"The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope." -John Ortberg.

Another day in Abbotsford...

2008-01-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

Today was a really good day. This morning started off a bit rushed...Breanne (my roommate) and I didn't get up until five minutes before breakfast started. We are pretty good at getting ready fast so it was all good. Then we came back to our rooms for memorizing. It actually went really well today. I have most of Psalm 139 memorized. I think I will again memorize a chapter from Psalm. I just love the Psalms. That crying out to God in the good times and the bad. Praising him and questioning Him. It's so open and sincere. It's like we get to read David's journals. I am so glad I like journaling, because I love looking back on my thoughts and my prayers and seeing how God was at work. The times when I was crying out and questioning God were the times when He was the closest. He has answered so many prayers, it's so amazing. God is alive and He is working.

Today we continued the study of Mark. Actually we really just started. We talked a lot about authority. Crowds were so captivated by how Jesus spoke with authority, and his authority over demons (evil spirits). And we also talked a lot about Spiritual authority. Sharing stories of people who have spoken or prayed with Spiritual Authority, and how we can also pray with Spiritual Authority. This is something that I dont' know very much about, but I can't wait to learn more. We are having a speaker, Randy Friesen, do a couple sessions on it in a few weeks. So I think that will be awesome.

Just a little note: The pictures up there are of my room...before we really inhabited it. Simone and I had just arrived, so I thought I would take a picture before it got all messed up by four crazy girls living in it. And crazy we are. But we always have a good laughs. I am starting a quote book on all the funny things that people say when in those crazy awesome hyper moods.

Breanne always likes to declare how much she loves us. Simone sleeps like a mummy. And Joanna and I like to make fun of Breanne when she is talking to other people...I think she has selective hearing because she always seems to block us out. I love these girls so much. Oh and the other picture is me and Breanne after we had gone tube sliding or whatever it is called. It is her typical face. "She is so awesome that I just want to crap my pants" Haha that is a little inside joke. But she really is awesome. So is everyone in fact. I will try and slowly get up pictures of everyone here.

To finish it off..I thought I would just make you a little bit jealous by showing you a beautiful sight...something I get to enjoy quite often.

" 'To whom will you compare me?

Or who is my equal?' says the Holy

One.

Life your eyes and look to the heavens:

Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by

one,

and calls them each by name,

Because of his great power and might

strength,

not one of them is missing"

-Psalm 40:25-26

Enjoy!!!

Back in Abbotsford

2008-01-13T15:01:00.000-08:00

Well we just got back this afternoon from an weekend away in Abbotsford. It's weird because by this morning I was ready to come "home" (that being my new temporary home for two ) months, the Mark Center). It's funny to me that I think of it as home. But is kind of is for now. We are totally settled in here with all our stuff, trying to keep in organized everyday.

So this week has been a very full and busy week. I am now realizing the reason for a curfew, because long days like this are exhausting. It is super important to get enough sleep. Something my roommates and I have been doing is debriefing every night. We talk about our "highs" and "lows" for the days. It has been really good. It allows us to talk about our day, and also to get to know one another better. But we always end up going later than we wanted too. But I wouldn't trade those times for anything.

So this weekend we went up to Whistler for a weekend retreat. It was really good. We did more group bonding. On friday we went into the Village there and did a picture scavenger hunt. Brianna and Dave were in my group. Unfortunately we didn't win, but I think we did awesome and we had a really good time. It was a very relaxing weekend. Each night we would gather together and worship in song. Then we each shared our testimonies. It was really really good. Sharing where we have been, and what God has been doing in our lives previously and how He has brought us here was awesome. It really helps give you more of an idea of who the people are on the team, and what has shaped them and made them into who they are. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's stories. We spent hours doing it, but the time passed so quickly becase we were all eager to get to know one another. It was another step towards really getting to know people. I can't wait to continue this journey with everyone.
Then today we went to Whistler Community Church, where I got to share a bit of my testimony. I mostly shared a story about how God used one of the kids to speak to me, since the sermon topic was on hearing God's voice/call. It was really good to be able to share. And I wasn't even nervous about speaking. Which was the first time that has ever happened. I also didn't really use my notes for the first time too, so that was kind of cool.
Today was kind of a relaxing day, which was nice. We had no scheduled sessions, so it was a lot of free time. When we got back I spent a lot of time emailing people and stuff, which takes a lot of time and it is very repetitive, but I know how necessary it is. I need my friends and family at home to be praying for me. So I will try and keep in touch as much as possible.
Well I think that's all I got for now. Pray for continued strength and energy. The weeks are long and intense and it will get harder as times goes on. But I am looking forward to going through it all, and learning more and more. God is really working in me.

One thing I don't know if I previously mentioned, but we have been doing memorizing whole passages each morning. The passage I choose is Psalm 139. It is a great reminder of how God is always with us, and how he loves and knows each one of us.
"Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I got up to the heavens you are there,
if I make my bed in the depths you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of there sea,
even there you hand will guide me
your right hand will hold me fast."
Psalm 139:7-10
(and that was from memory by the way...well mostly. I messed up the last line a bit. But close enough)

I have arrived!!

2008-01-07T16:39:00.000-08:00

I am now in Abbotsford. After what seemed like a long day of traveling yesterday, Simone and I finally made it. Everything went well. Last night we met all of the other TREK-ers. I am really looking forward to getting to know everyone that is here. Thankfully it is a smaller group (12) so I know everyone's name already at least. My roommates are Joanna, Breanne and Simone. We share a room that we have to try and keep tidy all the time.
I am really excited about beginning everything here. One thing that will take some time getting used to is the structure. After my job for the last six months I am not very used to structure and have my day planned out for me. This will take some adjusting but I have no doubt that it will all work out fine.
A prayer item:
You could pray that I stay well. It seemse like I have been going hard for this last month and so it seems to be hitting me now. Pray that I get enough sleep and that I dont' get sick. I feel a cold coming on already, and I don't want anything to keep me from missing out on stuff.
Pray also that the group would connect really well.
That's all for now! Love you all!

16 hours left

2008-01-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

It is now less than a day until I step off the plane and embark on a new journey for six months!! Crazy. I can't actually believe it's real, if doesn't feel like it yet. But I am almost completely ready. I have one suitcase completely packed and the other one is basically done too. I can't believe how much stuff I need! And also how much I am leaving behind. I will be way less high matenance after this trip I am sure, not that I am really all that high matenance right now anyways. But still. I am trying to learn the difference between what I REALLY need and what I just THINK I need. It's hard to differentiate. Anyways I should finish packing, and my last supper is soon. Haha last supper with the family that is. One thing I will miss though is my own bed. But I will survive.

Leaving in three days!!!

2008-01-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well I decided that I would set up a blog before I go, so if I don't get a chance to email people then they can check here. I will try my best to update it weekly if not more than that, but I can't make any promises.
I am about to embark on a journey that I know little about. I know that these next six months I will need a huge reliance on God in order to get through it. But I trust Him and I know that He has my best interest in mind.
If you are reading this then I would like to ask you to pray for me, and my teammates. Pray that we would all get along and form lasting friendships. Pray that we would grow in all of our relationships, with others and with God.
I will also try and post prayer items regularly that are more specific to what is going on as it comes.
Thank you all for reading this, and supporting me as I embark on this journey. I love you all!