Back From Another World

When you think "missions work" what do you normally picture? 

I normally picture somewhere warm, somewhere expensive to fly to, somewhere most people speak a different language, food I'm not normally used to, exotic culture, hosting a service, encouraging long-term global workers and making new friends.

We just got back from a trip to the North where it was definitely not warm, but everything else matches the description for a mission trip! I haven't left Canada, and yet I'm experiencing culture stress coming back! Here are some things I saw/experienced in Fort Smith:

Average October Temperature: 4 degrees C

Flights to Edmonton (I didn't fly, but there's one airport in Fort Smith that only flies to Hay River and Edmonton): $1,500

Spoken Languages Heard: Chipewyan, Cree, Inuit & English

Common Food Eaten: Moose Stew, Bannock

Cultural Experience: Went to an Aboriginal church service, which was structured very differently than most services we went to.

Service: Ran a church service for the Pentecostal church in town (1 of 3 church buildings)

Encouraging Global Workers: Hung out with a few people in the community and were able to uplift them and encourage them.

Making New Friends: Met some young adults, adults and lots of youth who we hung out with and were able to share our testimonies with and provide a "safe place" where they could hang out and have fun.

Want to see some cool moments?

 Our team with our "Fort Smith Swag"

The Slave River... ft. Krystal slipping hilariously

 

Hanging with the buffalo!

Freestyle rap is the best way to end youth group!

Prayer Request: I'm starting up a Skype Bible Study for some of the youth in Fort Smith and would appreciate prayer for wisdom, that it would run smoothly on a technical level, and that the youth would be impacted and grow in their faith.

Why Praise?

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! (Ps 150:2)

I've been reminded lately of how important it is to constantly praise God for the good things He does. Some reasons I think this is important:

1. It strengthens our faith
When we can reflect and see the good things He does, it reminds us that He's there and taking an active part in our lives. It helps us to look forward to His goodness when we're going through trial.

2. It encourages others
Some of my greatest "WOW" moments are when I hear other people's stories about what God's done in their lives, which inspires and excites me to keep persisting in prayer or suffering through trials.

3. God loves it
He's our good Father and wants to hear us speaking of the good things He's done for us. It's a form of worship to Him to speak of His influence in our lives.

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. (Heb 13:15)

Now here are some of the good things He's been doing around me lately!

1. My friend's Dad (a Global Worker), who was imprisoned on false charges has been released and is safely back in Canada now. Praise God!

2. My roommate is able to live with us all year round now when she was unsure at the beginning of the year. 

3. A friend from Thailand's mother and brother got saved!

A video of our Beach Day during the Asia trip, when we took two buses of students to the beach for Shaokao (barbecue), swimming, games and chatting.

Pumpkin Spice, Packing and Papers

It's Fall again, one of my favorite times of year. After a lazy summer, I like getting back into a type of routine, meeting tons of new people and getting out my favorite clothes and boots I forgot about for a few months.

I've moved in to my new house in Edmonton, and it's beginning to feel quite homey now with some paintings, rugs and cushions.

In preparation for school, I'm going to post my favorite paper from last year, because it's an area close to my heart. 

Click here to read The Global Blaze of Garment Slavery, by Laura Pederson

I hope to update my blog more frequently than I have been this summer. If you have any topics you'd like my opinion on, leave a comment :)

Reflection: English Corner

For one week we hosted an English Corner in the evenings, after we had taught all day. In order to get in, students needed to ask us for a ticket to get in. Because so many wanted to come, we needed to use our judgement and say no to some students, because there wasn't space, and it became so distruptive when it was full that nobody could concentrate. 

We were looking for students with the following criteria:

1. Able to understand basic English
2. Wanting to learn
3. Wanting to improve their character

Every night we would do the Davina Saga (which you can read about in my Davina post), which got the kids to laugh, added a cliffhanger element so they would listen to the lesson and the message and taught them the good morals to exemplify in their own lives, as well as bad decisions that can lead to unfortunate consequences.

We played some fun games and handed out prizes!

There was a special song every night, and one of them "You're a Good, Good Friend" was very popular. In fact, one day in class I asked the students if any of them could sing and one girl stood up and started singing "You're a good, good friend. It's who you are, it's who you are, it's who you are, and I'm loved by you, it's who I am, it's who I am, it's who I am". All the other students in class even started singing along!

Each night there was an English lesson about Honor, Self-Esteem, Overcoming Obstacles, Temptations and Leadership, which were followed by a simple message.

One night there was a mouse in English Corner. Madi was teaching during the lesson and there was a commotion in the middle of the room with students lifting up their legs and talking. She stopped her talk to ask if the mouse had returned and continued to teach while standing on top of a chair and holding a broom as a weapon, just in case!

We also had a translator with us for the English Corners, which helped exponentially! It took us a few nights to get used to not acting out parts of the play when we heard the English cues, but to wait until she translated the cues into Chinese.

The end of the night always ended with a dance party!