Rwanda Update 5...

Hello family and friends,

I hope that everything in your lives continues to be going well and that you have enjoyed your last couple weeks of the summer months. The ending of August has come about quickly and with it, my second month here in Rwanda is coming to a close as well. This month was kept busy with my work with the widow’s ministry.

The widow’s ministry is involved in 4 areas of the Kigali area. Some areas we concentrate more on small businesses or income generating things like goats, and in other areas, one area in particular, we are starting to concentrate more on working with their children. Many of these widows are raising their own children as well as opening their homes and lives to care for children who are orphans. Many of the widows cannot afford to send these children to school. We have recorded 300 children so far into our documents by taking their pictures and writing their information down. The prevalence of HIV among these children is also disturbing and heart breaking. These children are so precious and desperate to get an education, but the finances just aren’t there. We are presently looking into ways to raise support for these children’s school fees. If you have any ideas or have heard about things that have worked for others please feel free to contact me with that information.
In all of the areas we visit we share a time of preaching, discussion and worship with the women. In the upcoming weeks I will likely be taking on a larger role in this area, as the woman I am working with, Jackie, will hopefully (for her sake, not mine) be going to a school in Montana until next March, providing her visa and finances work out. We are hoping that 1 or 2 YWAM staff will step up in the next week or two to volunteer their time with the widow’s ministry, especially for the time while Jackie is away and ideally long term. Please be praying for that situation.

Living in community on the YWAM base is a good time. For work duties everyone on the team helps make a meal or two a week and helps with cleaning the dining hall and kitchen area. The kitchen here consists of three charcoal run fire pits and big silver pots for the food to cook in. The base doesn’t having running water except for 2 taps where we get all the water on the base.

Along with living in a community come wonderful friendships with the people you live amongst. We lost a member of our YWAM community 2 weekends ago. Since the beginning of this YWAM base there has been a man working here, who was both deaf and mute. He still managed to communicate using his own version of sign language and was very funny as well as a wonderful help around the base. He was here working on the Saturday morning and around lunchtime he was starting to complain that he had pain in his stomach. He was taken to the hospital in the afternoon and by the evening he had died. It was all very fast and shocking to all of us here on the base.

Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers for my time here in Rwanda and for reading this update even though it was a bit long. Continue sending those e-mails and calling me. I love hearing from you! Until next time…

Be blessed,
Trisha

Rwanda Update 4 ...

Today marks exactly my halfway point. It is exactly halfway from the day I left home and went to Switzerland to the day I will return home. The time is passing very fast and I am continuing to love it, as I learn so much and am challenged a lot as well.

This past week was my first week of my official placement here in Rwanda. I will spend the next 4 months working mainly in a widow’s ministry. The woman and the children I am working with are incredible. All have heartbreaking stories about all the things they have had to overcome in life. As the weeks continue I will share some of their stories with you. The person I am working with in this ministry is an incredible girl who is my age and has been running this ministry by herself for around 6 years now. She interacts with over 700 widows. The work I will be involved in includes group meetings of the widows as well as one-on-one visits. We will be continuing to pair five women together, giving them an opportunity to plan a small business together, apply for a loan from the ministry and then hopefully make the business work. There is also an opportunity to give some of these widows goats, which helps generate an income for them. The next big task we as a ministry have is that we will be compiling the woman’s individual profiles including pictures of themselves and their children in an effort to be able to raise awareness of their issues and hopefully raise support for these woman and especially their children since many of them are not in school because their mothers/caregivers can not afford the school fees. I will also be working one afternoon with a local prostitution ministry.

My heart has been softened for these woman and their children since the first moment I met them. I am looking forward to spending the next four months with them very much. Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers for my time here in Rwanda.

Photo links

For those of you that don't have facebook here are the links to the photos I have posted on there:

Switzerland -Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1632&l=b5e98&id=508932531

Switzerland - Part 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174&l=1cc0a&id=508932531

Switzerland - Weekend in Zurich:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2740&l=90ac8&id=508932531

Switzerland - Part 3:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2742&l=0ab31&id=508932531

Rwanda - Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3278&l=2d172&id=508932531

Rwanda - Update 3

Thank you so much to all of you who e-mailed and called me on Sunday (the 22nd), to wish me a happy birthday. (I am now 24!!!) Your love and thoughtfulness is very much appreciated and blesses my life so much. Here in Rwanda life has been keeping me busy. Last week we visited with 4 different ministries and a Returnee/refugee camp. All of them were such wonderful, eye opening and heartbreaking times for my teammates and myself. There are more details and photos on the team blog (www.crs2007rwanda.blogspot.com) if you wanted to read more about them.

This week is also a very full week with visiting another 3-4 ministries. This is our last week of visiting ministries and we will all be praying about the options and choosing what ministries we will be working in for the remainder of our 4 months here. Please join me in thoughts and prayers as I make this choice over the next couple of days. For those of you in the Toronto area, I just wanted to tell you about a movie that will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival. It is filmed in Rwanda and most of the scenes where it is filmed are places I have been and the actors in the movie are people that I know here. A lot of the actors are actually youth who are and were street children here in Rwanda. The director of the movie lives in New York and comes to runs a school here every year that is teaching some of the local youth about video production, etc. Many of the youth helped in filming the majority of the movie. The movie is called “Munyurangabo” and it is by: Lee Isaac Chung. Their website is www.almondtreefilms.com. The movie has been recognized with awards and nominations and has been shown at other movie festivals, like Cannes. If you happen to have the time to go and see it at the film festival, I highly recommend that you do. It shows very realistically life here in Rwanda.

Returnee/Refugee camp...

Last week the team went to a returnee/refugee camp. We drove for about 3 hours to get to it. It was a very interesting experience actually seeing a returnee/refugee camp in real life and not just seeing it as a video on TV. Refugees have really become a reality for us. The returnee/refugee camp we went to is rather small with only about 362 families. Most of the people living in the camp are Rwandese people who were living in Tanzania or people who had just set up a home out in the bush and were not surviving on their own so they were moved into this new community. The camp has only been open about 7 months. Some people are still living in makeshift tents, cramming all their kids into one which is rather small, but all the families have been given a plot of land to build a house on and a couple kilometres away is land that each family will be given land to start farming crops on. A lack of rain this past year meant that there wasn’t a good harvest for most people. A lot of the children have swollen bellies and other types of sores on them as well, but their smiles are still so beautiful. The refugee camp was developed by CARE International and is funded by CARE Germany and CARE USA. We were told the local government is helping the refugee camp as well. The biggest need the people have is more food and other water supplies, like bore holes, to be brought in. Also the children are having to walk 5km everyday to get to the closest school, so there is a definite need for a local school to be built as well as teachers to be brought in or trained locally. Once the houses are built on this camp the next step they will be working towards is helping the people with their land and teaching about agriculture, as well as teaching people trades that they can use to start businesses and help develop this community.

Rwanda - Update 2...

(writen on July 13th)

I am soon going on three weeks here in Rwanda, though most days it seems like I have been here longer. The people that I am meeting all have incredible stories and I am learning a lot form them. The majority of my Rwandese friends here on the base lived through the genocide. Their stories are often heartbreaking but the way they have come out on the other side still being so loving, and forgiving astounds me. We went to the Genocide Memorial with two of our Rwandan friends this past weekend. It is a very powerful place. It takes you through the years leading up to the genocide and what has happened after it. It even tells some people and children’s stories that both survived and were killed during the genocide.

This past week we have visited three ministries. We went to Compassion International, World Vision, Cards From Africa (http://www.cardsfromafrica.com/. Cards from Africa was a really cool place. They employ youth who are orphaned and now are the heads of households caring for their younger siblings. They pay them at a fair trade price and you can even order from them worldwide, online. Click on the link above to check them and their products for sale out.

This upcoming week we will be visiting a children’s ministry, an HIV/AIDS ministry, a street children's ministry, orphanages and a returnee/refugee camp. We will also be attending a wedding. The team and myself are continuing with the language classes and it is coming along slowly. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers.

My mailing address here is:

Trisha Cullington
YWAM Kigali
Box 3159
Kigali, Rwanda

Our team has also started a blog. The link is www.crs2007rwanda.blogspot.com . I am the team’s communication person so I will be the one writing and posting all the blogs. Feel free to keep track of the team on there.

My phone number is 03027087. The country code is 250. Look online to see what other codes you have to dial.

Rwanda - Update 1 ...

It has been almost two weeks since I have been here and I have become quite accustomed to life here in Rwanda. The people are wonderful and so friendly. I have got the hang of the “taxi park” in the local town nearby and can navigate my way into downtown which is an adventure all on it’s own. I have tried almost all the forms of transportation, including van/bus taxis, a bicycle taxi, motorbike taxi and even a motorcyle taxi. We have started language classes as well. Hopefully the team and myself will be able to effectively learn what we are taught. We will be having language classes for about an hour a day for the next month. Prayer is most definitely needed in the area of language studies.

The trip here went very smoothly, except for some major turbulence near landing. All the members of our team have now arrived in Kigali, Rwanda and presently as I type this we are experiencing our first African rainfall. It is absolutely incredible and I only wish you could be here to share it with me. This past week has been quite hot and dry (we are in dry season right now). We have mainly spent the week meeting the people on the base and exploring the cities that neighbour the YWAM base that I will be living on for the next 5 ½ months. Now that all the team has arrived we will be visiting different ministries and networking as we start praying about what ministry we would like to be involved in for our time here. It is an incredible opportunity to be given the chance to pick what ministry I will spend the majority of my time with.

We went to the Genocide museum on Saturday. It is an amazing and heartbreaking place to visit. I'll write more about it at a later date.

Prayer Requests:
1- Team unity and dynamics
2- Learning the language
3- Health and safety for everyone on the team

Week 11 Summary...

This week was the last week of classes for our lecture phase of the Children at Risk school. We had the amazing blessing of having Camille Bishop come and spend the week with us speaking to us on cross culture communication. She offered us a lifetime of working and living in different cultures. She shared with us her success stories and her failures. We looked at Kingdom culture, as well as Western and two-thirds world cultures. We talked about different proverbs from the different cultures of everyone in our class and were reminded how important it is to be culturally sensitive and to be willing to take the “one down position” when working with other people. We also were taught about the different levels of experiencing a culture and about culture shock.

The most impacting information for me was just really looking into why certain cultures behave or think in certain ways and how important it is to learn the history of a place to really understand the culture. It was also really impacting thinking about how you can go deeper into a culture and not just accept the surface level of a culture that you can experience at with your five senses. A new revelation that I discovered about God this week was learning about His plan for languages, community development, and how nations were created.

This weeks teachings brought out questions for me about the Rwandan culture. Such as: What is it going to be like really? What areas will I experience culture shock in while I am there? Amongst many others. I will get these questions answered as I spend the next 6 months in Rwanda and am able to experience it for myself as well as ask questions about their culture.

This week in the community… they have all started to blur together… I think this week was a good week. God showed Himself as the faithful provider that I know that He is and most of the issues with my bank worked out so that was an encouragement and such a blessing. I have continued to invest in my friends here, and am realizing how hard it will be to leave a lot of them behind. I learned this week again about how important communication is and how it is important to clarify that what you are communicating, is what the other person is hearing. This week I have also just been reminded so much of how much I love this community in Burtigny and especially the staff of this school. Saying goodbye is going to be hard, but I am getting so excited for Rwanda and everything God has in store for the team and for myself there, in Rwanda.

Week 10 Summary...

This week our speaker was Dave Swann. Dave used his lifetime of experience of development projects and proposal writing to help teach us about program planning. With Dave we looked at how important certain steps of creating a project and writing a proposal are. Some of the areas we looked at were, knowing the history of a place, knowing where you are at exactly, also known as point A and then setting a vision (point B) for the project and knowing exactly where you want to go. We continued on during the week to create a hypothetical plan for an African village based on what the greatest perceived needs were. We worked as teams of four and created a project proposal and then presented it to the rest of the class.

The most impacting information of the week for me was that I discovered that I actual love this kind of stuff. It made me so excited to try and think of ways to serve a community and improve their daily lives. Also just looking at what a huge project it would be, but it is actually doable. It is even possible to do these things in the areas of Canada that are in need. As the weeks go on, I am more and more getting a heart for the people of Canada and feel called to return to a province and work there. I love the different nations so much and it has been impacting to see the way I can love the nation I come from just as much. This all relates to the new understanding/revelation that I received this week. I can actually do this kind of work. I can be involved in community development and in fact I believe some of the ways I have been gifted are designed for that type of work.

This weeks teaching brought out the questions in me of how I might be involved in the future in the areas of community development and project planning. I will continue to seek answers for this question by listening to God’s voice and really seeking in prayer any opportunities that come up that He might have me be involved in.

Life in the community this week… I still really love all the people here. I don’t really like my work duty at all anymore, but I am trying to stay positive. I am so thankful that I only have 6 more meals to clean up! It will be a blessing to be done with it. I personally have just felt heavy this week, as well as last. Satan has been trying to get the best of me, and he is unfortunately winning a lot of days. I am really learning to trust God for the bank situation, since it is still not working out yet and time is getting very close to when I am supposed to be leaving for outreach. I am really going to miss Burtigny. I have realized this past week just how much I have come to love this community and the people here. It has been such a wonderful blessing on my last three months.

Next week our speaker is Camille Bishop. We will be talking about cross-cultural things. We will also be giving our teachings next week. It will be so nice to be done all of my assignments by the end of next week.

Week 9 Summary...

This week our speakers were Ed Morales and Eva Spangler. Ed talked to us about Child Protection Policies and the ways that we should be careful when interacting with a child, especially as outreach is fast approaching. We also looked at with Ed, forms of abuse. We looked at physical abuse, sexually abuse, neglect, and emotional, physiological, or mental abuse. We also looked at stories of protection in the Bible and what protection involves in a Godly way. With Eva we got to do more wonderful art. We did two assignments with her this week. The first one being our hands filled with pictures and positive words that describe ourselves around it. The second assignment was drawing out 5 containers that represent different areas of our lives. We ended the week with a time of prayer and encouragement for one another.

The most impacting information for me this week was just the different prayers and words spoken to me and over me during our time of prayer on Thursday. A new understanding about God was through all the protection stories in the Bible and the specific and different ways that He protects His children. A revelation about myself that I received this week was the way that God looks at me. It is something that God and I have been talking about for a long time now, and with the time of prayer I was really encouraged. When Elin was talking about how she felt God really wanting me to hear that he was in love with me, and that I really needed to hear it and believe it, it really hit hard. Also with Jillian speaking of how God is just aching for me to let Him hold me, it really broke my heart because I know how much of a truth it is. I so often just want to be strong and deal with everything myself, and I know how much God just wants me to know that he knows that things hurt and that is ok, because He wants to be with me in the hurt.

This week’s teaching brought out the question of what type of child protection policies do the different ministries have in Rwanda and if they don’t have one in place how can we help them to instil one. I will get this question answered by doing research and asking questions especially once I am in Rwanda.

This week was a rough week in some ways. I have been so frustrated with the incompetence of my bank that my mind has been all over the place. I have found myself doubting often wither I should even go to Rwanda or not. Or if I should just return to somewhere in Canada and work in a ministry there for my field assignment. It has been hard even thinking about outreach being so soon when we have so much more work to do here first. I feel like I have not been turning to God this week as much as I need to in my everyday life. I have loved this community and it’s people and culture so much over the last 2 ½ months. It is hard to imagine leaving it in 18 days.

I am looking forward to the next two weeks of teachings and the final deadlines of all our assignments so that we can take a deep breathe finally and really be able to focus on going on outreach.

Strength Finders "I am" Paper...

Last week everyone in my class took the Strength Finders test online. Our assignment then was to write a paper on our top 5 strengths. Here is my paper...

My top 5 strengths are Includer, Belief, Empathy, Developer, and Responsibility. For me these all make perfect sense to me and I can definitely identify with them all. Upon reflecting on them, I am thinking about how many of them have been developed so strongly out of past hurts and they really are strong ways that God is using those painful experiences and turning them into strengths and developing me even more in the ways that he had hardwired in me already anyways.

I can see the way being an includer affects my life in many ways. When I was younger I used to make sure all my stuffed animals were on my bed to sleep because I didn’t want them feeling left out. Even now in stores I would be more likely to buy something that is damaged in the packaging because I know most people won’t buy it, and I don’t want that object “to feel left out” by not being bought. I can remember in situations walking through a forest and picking up leaves. I always ended up picking up a lot of them because I didn’t want any of the to “feel” like they weren’t beautiful enough to be picked up. I can see it in the way I relate to people as well. I love making people feel welcome and accepted and even loved. I don’t like hurting people and so I go out of my way to like everyone and get to know everyone, and I especially pursue the people who are off to the side. I definitely identify with the fact includers feel being left out more painfully. I think that feeling left out and not wanted around when I was younger has made the desire in me to include everyone even stronger as I have gotten older.

Belief affects my life in many ways especially in the decisions I make. I choose to hold myself to high standards of my values and it affects the things I do, ways I treat people and my thought process. I identify especially with needing to do a work that matters. If my job title doesn’t really matter then I make sure my time there and my relationships with the people at work matter. My beliefs makes me do things I normally wouldn’t do, putting myself at risk for the sake of others, and taking major steps of faith. Since my core foundations of where I stand in my beliefs are pretty solid it makes me easy to trust and people tend to open up to me and share with me their struggles even when they know my beliefs will go against what they are saying.

Empathy is definitely something that affects my everyday life. My mom likes to say that I should work at a funeral home because I would be good with the grieving families and I am ok being around dead people. I am able to very quickly pick up on people’s feelings and can usually identify with their emotions very easily. Other people are drawn to me during times of hardship, because I am usually able to listen, care, feel their pain and offer appropriate words of wisdom. Knowing what to say, when (discernment) is something I continually seek God’s direction for. The funny thing about empathy is I am very selective of who I let into my life in this way. This is something I have been on a journey about for the last two years especially.

I am a developer in many ways. I absolutely love recognizing the potential in a person, and “fighting” for them to work towards becoming that person. I can identify strongly where it reads “Over time many will seek you out for help and encouragement because on some level they know that your helpfulness is both genuine and fulfilling to you.” My sister always comments on this part of my personality, that I love being friends with people who are “needy” and that I can “help”. It is cool to see that this might just be a way that I was meant to be and that God has specific purposes for me being a developer.

My fifth strength according to Strengths Finders is responsibility. There are specific areas that I can identify where responsibility affects my life. I don’t like disappointing people by not doing something, and have often not said no when I needed to. I often feel like I should take things on and do them myself. I feel honoured that people look at me as dependable and able to accomplish things. I notice that I am less responsible when it comes to following thru on things that my mom asks me to do, and I really want to work on that at home. When Celia said, “If someone doesn’t follow thru on the commitment to a responsibility person then they will have trouble trusting them or asking them to do it again.” I definitely identified with it. I find that once a person breaks my trust in a significant way or doesn’t do something they said they would do that I thought of as important then I struggle with giving my trust out to them again.

I believe that my strengths of Includer, Belief, Empathy, Developer, and Responsibility are ways that God has created me and He will use them for His glory and honour and for the purposes He has on my life. I am excited to see how I am able to walk these strengths out in my life, both now and in the future.

The Student...

At the beginning of my course here we were given a handout stating what our school leaders hopes for us to become at the end of the school were. We were given the assignment last week of personalizing it by looking at what we have learned and where we are at. Here is mine...

Trisha…

~ Is becoming a trained, life-long advocate for Children at Risk; learning to articulate the cause, especially including for children who are forgotten, abused, and trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation.

~ Understands importance and desires to have more practice in showing hospitality and celebrating and honouring people.

~ Desires to be aware of international current events in all spheres that affect the lives of children, and continues to pursue a greater understanding of the different areas of Children at Risk.

~ Has an understanding of the different areas of Children at Risk, and is growing in wisdom, prophetic gifts, apostolic calling, and knowledge in practical solutions to these areas.

~ Has understanding of God’s value of the child and His plan for normal child and family development.

~ Desires to understand the Biblical principles for developing a ministry to Children at Risk.

~ Is cultivating an awareness of a wide range of programs, ministries, networks, and resources.

~ Wants to become more familiar with international children’s rights and child protection laws.

~ Is praying about being a volunteer in YWAM and thinking of a strategy to put in place to financially sustain that mission.

~ Is working towards being prepared to face physical, emotional and spiritual challenges while working with children at risk.

~ Is passionate about Jesus, understanding the importance of committing herself to an intimate relationship with God, knowing that real love for children comes out of a relationship with Jesus and a desire to see the Kingdom of God walked out in my life.

~ Is able to articulate a personal Biblical worldview and has a determination not to live in a “dichotomy”.

~ Desires to know how to use assessment and evaluation tools to assess a child’s needs to a greater understanding.

~ Is full of hope and able to believe God for impossible things for all children.

~ Understands the importance of multiplication and has the skills and commitment to disciple and be discipled cross-culturally, by following where God leads.

~ Understands there is a battle and wants to be involved daily in spiritual warfare and intercession.

~ Has discovered various opportunities, schools to take and teams to join to continue working with Children at Risk.

~ Is equipped for the field:
* Is able to adjust to and appreciate cultural differences.
* Is developing an understanding of who God is in relationship to man’s disappointment, injustice, hopelessness and poverty and is able to bring hope because of this understanding.
* Is able to be an agent of change.
* Is a creative thinker.
* Can bring about resolution to conflict and understands the importance and the implications of working on a team.
* Has a basic understanding of development issues including global economic issues.
* Has basic tools for working with children in the realms of education, healthcare and counselling (including hygiene, art, preschool activities, child development, etc.).
* Is prepared for language acquisition.

"I believe..."

One of our assignments here was to write a paper stating what we believe about God, His character and nature, as it relates to children, children at risk, etc. Here is a copy of mine...

I believe in a triune God who exists eternally as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God. I believe that God forgives and loved us so much that He was willing to become flesh in the form of His son, Jesus Christ and come to earth, born from a virgin called Mary, to be crucified and experience death on the cross. I believe that He bore the sins of the world with Him on the cross.

I believe that God is the creator of the entire universe, from all the galaxies, to the animals, to the plants, to every human being. I believe in a God who loves His children equally and unconditionally, with no regard to sex, gender, or nationality and has planned their days before they even came to being. I believe in a God who knows every hair on His children’s heads and has a plan and a purpose for each of the lives He has created.

I believe that God sees every tear His children cry and cares and feels their pain more then we can even fathom. I believe that there is no “bad” situation that God will not use and redeem in some way so that good may come out of pain. I believe that God intensely loves being in relationships with us and loves when we use our freewill, that He gave us, to choose Him.

I believe that God loves justice and hates injustice. I believe that He sees the unjust acts of the world and will hold the people committing those unjust acts accountable. I believe that God is as faithful to the blessings as He is to the curses. I believe that God longs for us, His children to “choose life because the inequity is pursuing us.” I believe that at times God does allow suffering in the world, and that we as humans will never be able to understand the reason behind it, and that has to be ok, because we need to trust that “we know the one who knows, and since He knows then that is enough.”

I believe that God is extremely aware of, cares about the needs of, and loves the widows, orphans, and the poor, the sick, needy and the alien. I believe that God is powerful, big and strong enough to affect all of those hurting lives and that He wants to use us in that specific mission to care for these often forgotten about groups of people.

I believe that God is a good God, who can be trusted with my heart and every situation and thing in my life. I believe that God’s favourite title for himself is Father and His children being in relationship with Him and drawing others into relationship with Him bring Him some of His greatest joy. I believe that every person on earth matters to God and that to Him, not one of them is missing from His sight. I believe that God is someone who I can love fully and passionately and He takes great delight in me and loves when I love Him.

Week 8 Summary...

This past week our speaker was Matt Rawlins. Matt took us back to the foundations of our faith and we looked at the nature and character of God. Matt took us through views of the stars and the galaxies and we looked at how amazing our creative God is and how much he loves us. From Matt’s teachings we concentrated on how God is big and God is good. This week we also were taught by Matt’s wife, Ceclia, on StrengthsFinders. Ceclia and Matt both taught us about how our biggest strengths can also be our greatest weakness. My top five strengths from the StrengthsFinders test were Inculder, Belief, Empathy, Development and Responsibility.

The most impacting information me this week is hard to pick. The different discussions about StrengthsFinders were amazing and very helpful. Every single second of Matt’s teachings were very good. I especially loved the day we looked at the stars because I already love them and love meeting with God under them but the teaching that Matt gave us made it even more real and awe inspiring. Also impacting for me was how our greatest strengths can be our greatest weakness and what that means for me. I was also impacted during our talk on how do we decide something’s value and what do we filter everything through.

One of the new understandings and revelations I received this week again how to do with the lies I haven believed and worked through in my life. As well as how I really to value other people and their needs before mine own and I need to really work that out better and seek God in that area. These are also the areas that this week teaching brought out in me. What would it look like if I learned to love and value myself more? What areas do I need to continue to seek God for an understanding of why I think what I think and what filter am I putting my value system through? I will continue to seek God for answers to these questions.

This week in the community was weird in a lot of ways. Work duty time continues to be good and I love the friends I have made on the base. Rwanda is really setting in and the fact that it is only 3 ½ weeks away is overwhelming. The amount of work due this upcoming Monday has also been overwhelming. I have not gotten nearly enough sleep this past week since I was staying up late to make sure as much work as I could possibly finish did end up completed. I am glad worked so hard this week though because not having a ton of work this weekend has been worth it. I have absolutely loved being with some of my DTS friends this weekend and I have gotten to see the Zurich area of Switzerland, which has been a huge blessing.

This week, Matt’s teachings have really begun to sink in and I am really learning and taking in that “God is big. And God is good.” I am looking forward to this upcoming week and everything God has in store for us.

Week 7 Summary...

This week our speaker was Carol Boyd. She shared with us her wisdom on the topics of attachment and the foundations of life. Carol came with a lot of knowledge from research as well as her personal experience with adopting her daughter Fuxia, who has brittle bone disease, from China 9 years ago. Carol shared with us the importance of attachment for infants, adults, and adopted children. She also taught us about the “holding” technique and what it can do for the attachment process. We looked at symptoms of children with attachment disorders and reactive attachment issues and ways that a caregiver can work with the child who have them.

The most impacting information for me this week was how important a secure attachment is and the different ways to develop one. A new understanding I received this week on children is how important it is for a child to have an attachment to a primary caregiver and how more often then is diagnosed children often will have attachment issues as their root causes of behavioural problems.

This week in my community life I enjoyed spending more time with Elin and Jillian. I feel like I am working really well with Samuel on our Innocents Lost project. I am learning a lot from working with him and am really enjoying it. I have learned more about all the beautiful places to walk around here this week. I am continuing to love my walks with Jessica.

I am looking forward to having Matt Rawlins come and speak to us next week on Justice and the nature and character of God. I have that he is an amazing speaker so I am looking forward to hearing all he will share with us.

Week 6 Summary...

This week our speaker was Kimm Sickler. Our topic was Child Growth and Development. Kimm taught us on different developmental stages of a child, looking particularly at age 0 – 3 years old. We were given various resources to become familiar what a ‘typical’ development of a child at certain ages should be. We also looked at different theorists and their thoughts on a child’s development. We watched a national geographic video on the developmental stages of a baby in the womb. Every day, apart from one, Kimm gave us a reading to go over, scripture to look at and questions to ask and then respond to them in journal like entries.
The most impacting thing for me this week was Kimm’s presence. She radiated God’s love in everything she did. The excitement she got when talking about certain things in particular was absolutely inspirational. The journal responses were amazing times of thinking and reflecting on God’s character and His heart for the things He created and takes pleasure in. Coming back again and again to Joshua 3 was also very impacting because I do feel as though many of us are coming to a point where God is taking us on a path that we have never been that way before.
A new understanding that I came to this week is that I really can’t say that I believe something about another person, especially a child, which I don’t believe about myself. I realized things week that there are still things that I need to work on believing about myself that I know God believes about me, so that continues to be quite a process for me.
The questions that this week’s teachings brought up in me were on a couple of different things. This week made me wonder why I don’t journal more when I love doing it, and it helps me process a lot. I wonder what is stopping me. I will try and answer that question by trying to start doing it more and see where that takes me. The other questions were on thinking about how God sees me and what lies do I believe about myself. I am seeking out answers for those questions in prayer and really listening to His truths and thinking about how I can make them my truths as well.
This week I have had really good moments in community life and a lot of moments that I just really needed to be by myself and be quiet. I struggle with if that is ok or not and if I am finding a good balance. I think I am, but I still wonder about it sometimes. Jessica and I have been very dedicated to our walks and I love them. It feels so amazing to be more active and spending less time staring at my computer screen. The reality of how long I will be away from home for really started sinking in this week, so I have had some family, pets, and friends missing moments this week. For this upcoming week I want to try and spend a little bit more time with Elin and Jillian. They are wonderful girls, that during my times of “hibernation mode” I don’t spend enough time with them since they are not my roommates. I am looking forward to this upcoming week (like usual) with Carol Boyd and learning about attachment and the foundation of life.

Week 5 Summary...

This week was filled with 3 different speakers and a wonderful day off to do school work. On Tuesday Sydney … came to talk to us about refugees. He shared with us about the program he pioneered working with refugee children here in Switzerland. He also shared about his work in the United Nations. It was interesting to listen to his thoughts on his line of work. On Wednesday Ed Morales talked to us about our personal profile assignment. It was extremely helpful and thought provoking. For Thursday and Friday we had the wonderful pleasure of Eva Spangler sharing with us about art therapy. She had a lot of interesting facts and quotes to share, but it was her soft-spoken voice that so clearly expressed her heart that struck me the most. With Eva we also got to participate in hands on art activities, which was especially inspiring.

There were a couple things that impacted me the most and gave me new understandings this week. The first came at the end of Ed’s talk when he was talking about the path that God’s wants us to walk on is not a narrow path that we need to have a fear of falling off of. When he talked about how it is a wider path and God saying that he is going to bless you if you choose this decision, or that decision, really made me feel freer. Often times I have been so worried about what if I don’t figure it out exactly what God wants for me, but to know I have more freedom then trying to walk on a tight rope basically was an amazing feeling. Also the way Ed talked about God saying, “as long as you love Me and love your neighbour” helped things to really click for me this week in a lot of areas. The other things that impacted me were the art projects that we got to partake in with Eva. It was amazing to watch the different things that come up in our hearts while doing the art and then after with sharing it with each other as well.

One of the questions that this week’s teaching brought up came with part 3 of Eva’s drawing assignment to seek out what God is saying about our previous drawings and to draw that. My answer to that question came the same day. The first thing I pictured was a hand up to everything in the brokenness picture, as if to tell all of those things to stop. I was then reminded of a print I gave my friend a couple months back that portrayed a child safe resting in between two hands. As well I was reminded of something that had been spoken over me during my DTS. It was of a collection of bottles filled with tears and the words I cried too written on them.

This week was a good week. I was feeling much more like my self again, especially after Ed’s teaching. It is fun having a new roommate and I am glad Lindsay is here. It is interesting to see how dynamics in our room have slightly changed and everything her presence brings. I was supposed to go to Paris this weekend but because of a couple different things, it just didn’t work out (Side note: There was a guy on the train from Geneva to Gland that picked his nose the entire way). At first I was quite upset about it but it has turned out to be an ok thing. Jessica and I went on a 2 ½ hour walk today, which turned into a hike straight up a hill in the forest. We have committed to each other to walk daily if our schedules allow. I am looking forward to that time spent with her, being more active, and really just enjoying this gorgeous country that God has created.

I am looking forward to next week’s class on Child Growth and Development.

Janna...

This remarkable woman is Janna Moates. She is the Children at Risk School leader. The passion that she has for children, woman and families is absolutely inspirational. She has been a widow for close to 10 years now. She has two children, a boy and a girl who are both married. She has two grandchildren. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. Janna is so easy to talk to and very open. She has also worked on the Kona, Hawaii YWAM base for a number of years but now calls Switzerland home. Her favourite role in life that she has got to "play" is ____.

The Morales...

This wonderful couple are two of my school leaders. Their names are Ed and Kay Morales. They have been married for 33 years. Together they have 3 daughters. Ed also has a son. They have 5 grandchildren. Normally they live in Hawaii on the YWAM Kona base. Kay is very creative and is working hard on redecorating the base here. It is turning out wonderfully! She has a disease called spinal muscular atrophy and she is no longer able to walk. She is a sweet, caring and very loving person. Ed is very wise and asks questions you would never even think to ask. He challenges all of us to think more. If Kay could be a paint colour, she would be red. If Ed could be a piece of furniture, he would be a valuable antique wooden chair.

Lindsay...

This smiley girl is Lindsay. She is 19 years old and from Washington, although her family currently resides in San Diego. She has an older sister and brother. Her brother is married and has a little girl. Lindsay is extremely intelligent, and talkative. She is a member of the Children at Risk School. She was here for the first two weeks and then had to go home for 3 weeks, but she came back on Monday and is now my roommate! Lindsay has an inspiring passion for learning languages and is very dedicated to becoming fluent in French during her time here. She is interested in the law side and political side of everything and will no doubt make a difference in this world. If Lindsay could be a type of fabric she would be cotton because she would like to be breathable and practical.

The Kamanzi family...

This is Mary and Method and their daughter Darlene. They live in Rwanda full time. Darlene is 9 years old. They have a 19-year-old daughter who is in University and a 17-year-old son who is finishing off high school at home. They are a wonderful addition to the Children at Risk School. They have been with us for close to two weeks now! They bring with them years of wisdom of working on the field in Rwanda. Mary and Method are an amazing example of what a Godly couple is like, for all of us here on the base. Darlene is fun and energetic. If Darlene could be a season she would like to be both winter and summer, because when it snows in the winter people would have fun and play with her and because people would enjoy her if she was the summer. If Mary could be a flower she would be a lavender. If Method could be a mode of transportation he would be a train. I can't wait to go to their country!

Samuel...

This is Samuel. Samuel is 24 years old and from Japan. He is in the Children at Risk School. His father is Japanese and his mother is French. Samuel has 1 sister and 2 brothers. Samuel brings such a unique aspect to our school as the only one from an Asian continent. He is incredibly gifted in working with kids. The little ones here on the base just love climbing on him and playing with him. Samuel speaks Japanese and French (which he only learned over the past 2 years). His English is also coming along very well. Samuel has a wonderful sense of humour and is incredibly funny. He loves playing pool and going swimming. If Samuel could only wear one colour of clothing for the rest of his life he would choose to wear yellow clothes.

Elin...

This is Elin. She is a wonderful 25 year old from Norway, with great English skills. Elin is also in the Children at Risk School. She is very funny and has a sweet natured personality. She is the oldest of four sisters. She is very talented with visual arts. Elin gives great massages. She also genuinely cares about how people are doing. Elin is one of Jillian’s roommates. We share stories of life, things that we are thinking about and things that are going on in our hearts and plenty of laughter. She is such a cool girl and a blessing to have around. If she could only eat one food for the rest of her life she would choose to eat a really good chocolate cake.

Jillian...

This is Jillian. She is a bubbly, 21 year old, from Michigan. She is in the Children at Risk School. Jillian comes from a family of 5 kids. She is the youngest. She has an adorable niece and a boyfriend named Nick. Jillian adds a fun dynamic to the class and always blesses you with a beautiful smile. She loves to laugh but has a gentle sensitive side to her as well. She is gifted in poetry and creative journaling. Jillian and I have good talks and love playing cards. She is an incredibly unique girl and special. If she could be an animal, she would like to be a penguin.

Rebecca...

I have decided to post pictures and a little bit about some of the people on the base here, both in my class and not. So let me start by introducing Rebecca...

Rebecca is 22 years old. She is my roomate and also in the Children at Risk School. She is from the Swiss-German part of Switzerland, but has wonderful English skills. She is musically gifted in singing and playing the guitar. She has a passion for working with child soldiers. Rebecca has twin fourteen year old sisters and a three year old brother. She used to work in a chocolate factory. If she could be a chocolate, she would be the kind with the bubbles in it. Her favourite place she has ever been in the world is South Africa. Rebecca likes to be in bed early (so I am learning to go to bed earlier as well) and she tends to talk to me in Swiss-German in her sleep. She is becoming a really good friend of mine!

Week 4 Summary...

This past week we had Ray and Joy Thomas come and teach us on HIV/AIDS and grief counselling for children. Ray gave us the facts on HIV/AIDS. He shared with us the statistics of the worldwide numbers of people who are infected and affected with HIV/AIDS. We learned about the ways HIV/AIDS is transmitted and about anti-retroviral drugs. Ray also shared with us about kingdom sexuality. Joy taught on how HIV/AIDS is a family disease and how to help people deal with the effects of HIV/AIDS in their family and community. Joy talked about how to help children deal with death and grief that they often experience as a result of HIV/AIDS. With Joy we also learned about play therapy and got to experiment with it as well.

The most impacting information for me this week was learning about the lack of HIV/AIDS education that is really being spread in Africa. I know there is a lot of information being taught but because of the huge stigma of having it and how many little villages there are, it is not enough. A new revelation that I got this week was about how many more teachings on HIV/AIDS need to be out there, and that maybe I might have a part in teaching about HIV/AIDS.

I was really challenged this week by Ray’s Thursday night teaching about HIV/AIDS and the possibilities of God permitting, sending, and withdrawing. I will continue to think on these things and get to know God’s character truthfully through the scriptures to come to a conclusion on what I think about what Ray was talking about.

Since about Wednesday of this week, internally, I have felt… off. I am not sure why and have not been able to fully think through all the things going on inside me this week. I was much more introverted this week then usual. Sometimes I wonder if I really am more introverted and just act like an extrovert or if I maybe am just a balance of both. I was able to work with a number of the SCF students this week on their shorts stories for their author’s night. I felt very blessed to have English as a first language, this week especially. My work duty had to be delayed/switched twice this week. I feel like the way I handled both of the situations were very good. This week I learned about the four calf’s on the farm here. The Leaky girls took me to visit them today. I love living here, with farmland and hills all around.

I am looking forward to this up coming week. Monday is going to be such a blessing to have a day off and just get work done, and I am sure the other speakers during the other days will be great. Also I am looking forward to Lindsay finally coming back, having her as a roommate and our class finally being together!

Week 3 Summary...

This past week we had the huge blessing of having Steve Bartel come and speak to us about street children. Steve comes with an incredible history of working with street children in Bogota, Columbia and directing a ministry called “Formando Vidas”. The stories he told and the wisdom he shared was absolutely inspiring. Steve shared with us about the three categories of street children: pre-street, on the streets and of the streets. We looked into what God’s heart for street children is, what the felt needs and actual needs of a street child are, and specific characteristics that apply to a lot of street children and their families. We were also very blessed to be given a sneak peak into the ministry that Steve directs. He shared with us secrets and practical tools that are involved in the running of “Formando Vidas”. Along with it was the impacting way Steve remained humble while teaching of how the ministry has been running for 25 years and of how to keep God at the centre of a ministry.

One of the most impacting things of the week was when Steve was talking about working with the kids God has called you to and that you do not have to, nor can you, save all the children. We have a responsibility to work with the children God has called us to and He will call others to work with the other children. One of the main new understandings I got this week was that it is possible! We don’t have to be discouraged. We just need to be walking daily with the Lord and letting Him speak into our hearts what He wants us to do. God was speaking to me particularly today after Steve’s story this morning, in the area of my willingness to lay a person down.

I have really developed a love for street people over the past year or so. This week confirmed a lot of observations I had made and been taught during my time on the streets in Toronto. The main question I think this weeks teaching brought out in me was in what way might God be calling me to work long term with people who are street involved. I will seek the answer by reading scripture and by seeking the Lord in prayer and listening to what my Wonderful Maker is saying.

Community life has been good this week. I have been in my bed by 10:30 (not necessarily sleeping though) at the latest every night except for one, which was an exception because my friend told me she was pregnant and I was so excited that I kept talking to her. Rebecca and I have been getting closer and sharing more with each other, which I absolutely love! She is such a cool girl and I love learning about her. Her heart, her dreams/visions, desires, her life and everything she has to teach me about this beautiful country she lives in. Intercession was cool this week. What a wonderful blessing to get to spend time admiring God’s creation and praying with our roommates. I love my work duty, with minimal frustrations. One of my favourite things about my work duty is the time I get to spend with Meleah during and after it is done. Jessica is also around a lot of the time which is so much fun. I love their hearts and their spirits. Richard also comes around and is highly entertaining for us in the kitchen. He is such a fun dad like man to have around. One thing I wish I had done better this week was, talked to Ann more and helped her feel even more welcome in our class. I am learning how to be even more of an encourager and complimenter (I know it’s not a word) more and more to my friends here. It is something 2 of my good friends from DTS have blessed me with, being encouraged and complimented myself that is. I pray that it overflows into my friendships back at home as well. I have processed some more this week. God is so cool and I have been encouraged and challenged a lot during my time with Him. I want to continue working on sleeping more and processing this week. I would also like to be spending more time just studying the scriptures.

This upcoming week I am looking forward to being taught about HIV/AIDS and grief counselling for children. I believe that it will be so vital to have knowledge in those areas, not only for our field assignment time but also for the rest of our lives no matter where we end up living.

Photo link...

If you are interested in seeing some of the photos from my time in Switzerland please click on the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1632&l=b5e98&id=508932531

Enjoy!

Week 2 Summary...

*** When I am posting my weekly summaries, it is actually what I wrote for my weekly summary that I hand in to my school leaders every week. That is why there is at times things written that you may not understand why it is there, it is usually a class requirement***

This past week the topic was “What if you Got Involved – The Biblical Basis for Social Action.” We had a number of different speakers this week. Ed Morales taught us about meditating on Scripture as well he taught us on justice and injustice. Michael Kelly continued teaching us on justice and injustice. As well with Michael, we looked at church history and the church’s involvement with government. Steve Good came in and talked to us about our hearts, God’s heart and seeking out what we can do to help children and families in crisis. Olivia Jackson finished off our week of class by talking to us about human rights and advocacy.

It is hard to pick the most impacting information of the week. It was a heavy week full of heart provoking things. One of the things I think I really soaked in from all the speakers was to think about what you can do and what God might be calling you to do. I am loving being reminded over and over again how important scripture is and to know it. It is amazing how the answers really are in the scriptures, if we would just take the time to read them and really seek out what God is trying to say thru them. Ed said something along the lines of “We have to start with Christ, before we act on anything.” How important that is, and how much I want that statement to be true of my life.

Steve started his talk by asking, “What moves us?” It has been cool to think about that this week. Children and woman working in prostitution, being abused and trafficked, and made to feel like nothing… kids living on the streets… people doing drugs to escape… All these things usually because they feel they have nowhere else to go or options of what do to, these are the things that move me. Being a mom and a wife and working alongside my husband in some sort of ministry also pulls me so strongly. So what does that mean for my life? What am I to do? Where am I to go? I felt God speaking about it this week to me, so I am continuing to pray about that area and use discernment.

This week in the community I continued to love it. I have moved past DTS talk with people and been able to dive deeper into friendships, seeking to hear what’s on people’s hearts and how they are really doing. I love those kinds of friendships. It’s funny because before I came here I was talking to my friend back home about the fact that I felt like my heart was so full with love before I left, and that it was hard to imagine that in a week’s time, I would know all these new people and even though I felt like my heart was already full, there would still be room in it for the new people I meet, and there really has been. I feel so blessed that I can love people so easily, especially the people that others have problems with. I love the … unwanted? … unaccepted? I’m not sure what the right word is; I just know that they are God’s children as well and need love. I just pray that it will be honouring and glorifying to God, because He is the one that created me this way. I want to be aware to always give him the credit for compliments that people give me. I need to get more sleep. I struggle with it at home as well. I’m such a night owl, but Rebecca is going to hold me accountable to being in bed way earlier. I’ll let you know on next week’s summary how sleeping is going! I am very excited for this week’s upcoming teaching by Steve Bartel. I have heard such good things about him and the way that he makes you think. I hope my brain can handle it. I think I might need to be processing more then I am. So those are my goals for this week: Process more and go to sleep earlier!

Justice???

What does the word justice mean to you? Do we live in a just or an unjust world? These are some of the questions of the week ... I'll post more later.

Children Statement...

I am here as a child representing the children of the world
We are the victims of exploitation and abuse
We are street children
We are the children of a war
We are the victims and orphans of HIV/AIDS
We are denied good-quality education and health care
We are the victims of political, economic, cultural, religious and environmental discrimination
We are the children who are not being heard; it is time we are taken into account
We want a world fit for children, because a world fit for us is a world fit for everyone

In this world,
We see respect for the rights of the child
We see an end to exploitation, abuse and violence
We see an end to war
We see the provision of health care
We see the eradication of HIV/AIDS
We see the protection of the environment
We see an end to the vicious cycle of poverty
We see the provision of education
We see the active participation of children

We are not the sources of problems; we are the resources that are needed to solve them
We are not just young people; we are people and citizens of this world.
Until others accept their responsibility for us, we will fight for our rights
We have the will, the faith, and the dedication
We promise that as adults we will defend children's rights with the same passion that we have now as children
We promise to treat each other with dignity and respect
We promise to be open and sensitive to our differences
We are the children of the world, and despite our different backgrounds, we share a common reality and hope.
We are united by our struggle to make the world a better place for all
You call us the future, but we are also the present

Adapted from: "A World Fit for Children"

Week 1 Summary...

At the end of every week we have the assignment of writing out a weekly summery, so I thought I would post it on here as well. Enjoy...

The speakers for this past week were Janna Moates who spoke on “Why we’re here – A Framework for Action” and Colleen Milstein who spoke on “A Brain Dead Generation”.

Janna taught about what God’s intention for a child is by looking at the roles family, extended family, local church, neighbourhood, state and national government, international government and NGO’s and the global church were created to play. She also taught us on the many scriptures that are found that speak about children, as well as about fighting for the causes and rights of the poor and needy. We were taught to ask questions, lots of them and to seek answers in the scriptures. We were also taught from Janna about the basic needs of a child, networking and what is making ministries fail or succeed.

Colleen taught on 8 domains that God might be calling us to work in. They are arts, economics, communication, science, education, family, government, and church. We looked at how God shows up in all the domains and is the head of all of them. We were also challenged on where we are at (our willingness) when it comes to where God might send us and what He might want us to do with our lives.

The most impacting information for me was the questions presented to us. Questions like “Can God really call me anywhere or do I have specific places that I am only willing to go?” and “What if the greatest spiritual battle of our time is being waged against children and we don’t even know it? What is Satan understands the value of a child to God better than the church?”

This week I was challenged to think about the kids in my life already and think about which children are in a place that they really need me or someone else to “come just for them”. Which child needs to be reminded they are significant? I really was able to better able to understand God’s intentions for children this week. During times of my own healing I have had it prayed over me again and again that the things that happened were not what God wanted for me, and it is amazing to really have a scriptural basis of what He did want for me and for the millions of hurting kids. Something this past week also has taught me is how valuable a child is to God. I have always loved working with kids, but more and more I am beginning to look at a child and love them because God loves them. Not because they are cute or say funny things, but because they were created in the image of Him and I have a responsibility to help them become who they are meant to be … God said so. As well I feel like the things I learned this week and have yet to learn are going to significantly affect the way I am going to be a mom to my own kids, as well as with the children I will work with in the future.

This week we were assigned to read Motivational Factors for Work with Children At Risk by Steve Bartel of YWAM, Colombia. It was definitely something that made me think about my motivation factors for being here. I also thought a lot about how often so many people to go on to the field with not bad motivations but not the right one and how it totally makes sense why it is that people are burning out so fast. I can recognize in me that my motivations do have to do with having compassion for the kids and a desire to obey God’s calling. I can also see in me, already and growing stronger daily, the desire to bring honour to God. God is in the business of restoration and healing and bringing His children back to Him. I pray that my motivations will become more and more centred on being used as a tool in those areas and that I will glorify God and honour Him in all I do.

Some of the questions this weeks teaching brought out in me are, where is God calling me / what kind of ministry is He calling me to? And I have been really challenged on the question “Am I willing to go anywhere?” My answer used to be without a doubt, yes. But somewhere along the lines I have narrowed it down a bit, so I am left wondering, is it narrowed down because I have a clearer view on what God is calling me to or is it because of something else? I will continue to seek answers to these questions through prayer and reading scripture and really just listening to what God is trying to say to me… I’m scared… willing to listen, but scared.

This week in community I feel as though I did well. I love living in a community and it is not something I normally find that challenging. I was able to listen to a couple of my new friends stories this week, which was amazing. I love my work duty, which is cleaning up the dishes after lunch. I enjoy doing an act of service that makes a difference. I am beginning to learn to love reading my Bible again, which has been a struggle all my life. But knowing how relevant the Bible is and how many answers are in it, especially for the type of things I am learning about, makes me feel passionate about reading it again. I love learning what I am learning about, though I can tell I will probably cry daily for the next 9 months. I just feel really blessed to be here and to be meeting the people here. I feel really at peace about being here, like I am exactly where God wants me. I really just love being here.

His children...

Our topic this week is: Why we’re here – A Framework for Action. Our speaker is our school leader. Her name is Janna. She is a wonderful woman with a huge heart for the children who live at risk and for those that God is calling into those children’s lives. We started class on Monday talking about how we ended up at the school and sharing scriptures that have influenced our journey here. We went on to be given an enormous amount of depressing statistics of the world’s children. I was going to share some of those figures with you but I’ve decided not to because it is not the numbers that count, it is the individual lives that make up the numbers that matter. God knows and created every single one of the children who live in a circumstance that He did not want for them. They are the result of a life being lived in a fallen world. But God cares and he wants us to care as well. Here are seven things I learned today about the intention that God has for His wonderful little ones:

1- God creates every unique person as a child with dignity.
God intends that no one prevent a child’s life from fulfilling His purpose. Respecting the image of God in every child demands a Christ-like response to nurture them throughout childhood.

2- Children need parental love in a broken world.
God intends for all children to be raised by at least one loving, committed adult.

3- God gives children as a gift to welcome and nurture.
God intends for children to thrive in stable and loving relationships.

4- Society has a God-given responsibility for the well-being of children and families.
God intends children to flourish in a just society.

5- Children are a promise of hope for every generation.
God intends that each generation will extend faith and fullness of life to the next. God intends that this generation grasp the centrality of children to his purposes for our time.

6- God welcomes children fully into the family of faith.
God intends for churches to provide children with opportunities to know him and fulfil their calling in the body of Christ.

7- Children are essential to the mission of God.
God intends that His church be a witness in every community of His transforming power, so that His purpose for every child can be accomplished.

So it begins...

The course I am taking here is called Children at Risk, so the stuff I am going to be learning about is going to be intense and heartbreaking. I feel like I am going to be crying a lot.

On Thursday night 2 girls and I watched "Invisible Children". It is an incredible documentary that 3 American guys, with little filming experience, made during their time in Africa in 2003. They tell the story of children who are used as weapons and children who are the victims. The film exposes the effects of a 20 yearlong war on the children of Northern Uganda. These children live in fear of abduction by rebel soldiers, and are being forced to fight as a part of violent army. It is hard and intense to watch things like that because it is unfortunately the truth of so many young lives.

Last night we watched a movie called "Innocence Lost". It follows a couple as they look into different situations that children are facing worldwide. Some of the areas they went into were:

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) where children are being kidnapped, as young as three, from villages and brought into Dubai to be a camel jockey.
The Soviet Union where young kids are being imprisoned for petty thefts and their cases are taking long periods of time before they are heard before a judge.
Greece where children with special needs are being basically thrown/hidden away by their families and put into institutes that are not equipped or staffed to deal with the amount of patients they have.
Togo, Africa where young girls are being sold for as little as $30 to live in another household and basically be a slave for the rest of their lives. As well as young girls being given to priests as his wife, to pay for the sins of someone else, usually a family member.
San Jose-Costa Rica where young girls are being pimped out and force to prostitute themselves in order to survive. Male tourists on the video were recorded as saying, "The girls enjoy what they do and they want to do it. They like knowing they pleased a man." (I almost lost it at this point. It took everything in me not to scream at the TV. They are just children. They feel disgusting and worthless. They hate it, they just don't know any other way..... oh Lord how I want to be involved in showing them another way.)
The last place they went was to Central America. In Guatemala they interviewed many street kids who are addicted to sniffing glue. They say that they use it to forget. When one child was asked what he wanted to forget his response was "That ... I exist." The homeless children are often beaten and have even been raped by members of the police. (How does this happen? How is it that those who are supposed to protect do harm? I have heard that this happens from my friends on the street in Toronto as well. I have been missing my street friends and those who work with them a lot today.)

Some of the quotes that really struck me during the movie were:

“That child needs to be hugged. That child needs a teddy bear and that child needs to be told that someone loves them. They are only children.” – worker on street children

“Necessity wears an ugly face” – young female prostitute

“Children are victims of a society that doesn’t really give a dam.”

“The biggest killer of street children is not the bullets, it’s not the glue, it’s the world’s indifference.”

The movie ends by saying “Until children are given a voice, everyone of us must speak for them” and so while I know that these next months are going to be incredibly tough and full of tears, it is my prayer that at the end of this course I will be better able and more equipped to speak for these voiceless, precious children of God’s.

Burtigny, Switzerland

Yesterday was my first full day here. It hasn't been that busy, they are allowing us to get settled in, explore the area, and get over jetlag. My flights here were both good. I sat by myself on both flights. My luggage arrived safely and I made a friend on the train that was very kind and chatty and strong. He must have been since he carried my bags on and off the train for me. A girl called Helen came and picked me up and I got to the base just as dinner was starting. The base that I am staying on is in a cute little village. It is surrounded by hills and on non-cloudy days has an incredible view of the French Alps and a beautiful lake. The base even has cows! Very cute! I am sharing a room with a girl called Rebecca. She is from Switzerland, but not from around here. As of right now there are 4 girls and a guy in my course. We are still hoping that a married couple from Rwanda will be joining us next Tuesday if they get their visas. Yesterday we just reviewed the syllabus for the semester and there sounds like there is going to be a lot of really good knowledgeable speakers. We also have quite a few books to read and assignments, but I am excited!!! Today we were assigned our work duties. I am on clean up after lunch, so I will be doing dishes and cleaning up the dining hall. Below are a couple of photos that I have taken over the last 2 days. Enjoy.

His plans are the best plans ...

This past week I had an amazing week! I got to go to Saskatchewan to see Chris and his family. I traveled there with another friend of mine, Dave. I am not sure what even to write because I am so in awe still of how much God taught me this week, how many ways He showed up and how His plans really are the best plans! I am almost at a loss of words because of everything (in such a good way)... maybe I'll just type and see what comes out...

We flew out Monday night and arrived in SK after many hours of plane delays due to weather, but we were there. I love being in Regina. It's weird, but it feels so natural to be there, just like as if it was my home. I love Chris' family a lot as well. They are so much fun to be around, chat with and laugh with. They teach me a lot about following after God simply by being. It is such a blessing to be around them. It is also a huge blessing to get to be around Chris. I am so proud of the man he is and continues to become, and I'm just so proud to know him. I love talking with him and that I don't have to be ashamed to cry in front of him. I appreciate so much the way he actually listens to the things going on in my heart and life and the stuff God is teaching me. People like him are rare these days. He is willing to seek after God's heart and the actual Biblical truth, even when it is hard to hear and even to understand. He helps bring that out in me as well, the desire to know actual Biblical truth. God taught me a lot this week in the area of Biblical truths. I learned new things particularly in the area of blessings and curses as found in Deuteronomy 28. There is a lot I am still processing about that so those thoughts will have to be saved for the next blog.

Traveling with Dave was also quite the time. He made me smile and laugh many times. He helped get me a wonderful extra day in Regina (although he doesn't see it that way, I do) He distracted me and held my hand as I cried on the plane ride home. I got to comfort him during take offs and landings and a missed flight, lol. Dave is such a quality guy. He has a heart of gold and I love knowing him and the ways he allows me into his life.

Here are some pictures from the week: (it's not letting me upload them right now, so they will have to wait)

Missing Him...

This morning as I was driving, I thought of a friend of mine that I miss a lot. I miss them so much, so often, that I often say that my heart literally aches because of it. So I started wondering what is this missing thing and where did I learn to identify this feeling? Did someone teach me that when I think about someone and tears come to my eyes and my heart hurts, that is what missing someone is? How did I even learn that I could miss someone at all? Some days I wish I didn't know this feeling.

As I kept thinking I was reminded of a blog I read back in the summer. It was about this little girl cuddling with her mom talking about how one day they would get to be in Heaven with Jesus. The little girl said to her mom "I miss Jesus." It made me cry when I first read it, because it was so cute and innocent and I thought "Me too!" It brings tears to my eyes now, because I long for that in a lot of ways now. To be so connected to Jesus, to spend so much time with Him, getting to know Him and His heart. To have such a childlike faith that I long to be with Him everyday of my life. I want to miss Jesus more then I already do...

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever ...

Over the mountains and the sea
Your river runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart
And let the healer set me free

I'm happy to be in the truth
And I will daily lift my hands
For I will always sing
Of when your love came down

(Chorus)
I could sing of your love forever
I could sing of your love forever
I could sing of your love forever
I could sing of your love forever

Over the mountains and the sea
Your river runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart
And let the healer set me free
I'm happy to be in the truth
And I will daily lift my hands
For I will always sing
Of when your love came down

(Chorus)
(Chorus)

Oh, I feel like dancing
This foolishness, I know
But when the world has seen the light
They will dance with joy
Like we're dancing now

(Chorus)
(Chorus)

When I first became a Christian this song was one of the first "worship" songs that I learned. I loved it right away. I loved the words, the tune, and the things it made me feel. I loved being able to sing about this kind of love I was experiencing for the first time in my life ... this kind of love that you can only receive from God. I loved the lines "I could sing of your love forever" because I couldn't imagine not singing of His love forever, and I still can't. This song just holds so many memories for me as well.

It reminds me of Muskoka Woods and the Saturday Chapels and the Praise and Prayer Services, and just sitting down by the lake in the canoeing area pouring out my heart to the Lord.

It reminds me of being in Thailand with my DTS outreach and being in this temple that you could sense there was so much spiritual darkness there, and singing this song without even realizing I was as I wandered throughout the temple. It was also during my DTS when I truly did start to let "the healer set me free" and what an amazing journey that has been.

It reminds of Romania, where I sat by a river with my little autistic friend Zjolt in my lap. He couldn't speak a word and was antsy most of the day, but sitting there in my lap I began to sing this song for him and he instantly settled down and we just cuddled as I sang to him, over and over again coming back to this song.

It reminds me of this summer getting to hang out with baby David at teen mom camp, and how at nap times and at bed times as I rocked him to sleep this was the song I kept singing.

It also reminds me of this past week as I walked up and down the hospital halls with my friend from high schools' baby, Memphis, in my arms, singing her to sleep with this song once again. Baby Memphis’ twin brother, Hudson, died last week at 6 months of age, and she has also been sick. She was able to come home on Wednesday though, which is very good news. Wednesday was also her brother's funeral, which is why I was with her at the hospital, while her family was at the funeral. That day was very bittersweet.

It is my prayer for all of these kids that just as they were settled to sleep or to calmness with the words of a song about how amazing it is to love God, that they will learn to do so all the days of their lives. It is also my prayer that I will never forget how amazing it is to love God and that I will truly always sing of His love forever.

Beauty tips by Audrey Hepburn...

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge you'll never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, reclaimed and redeemed.

Never throw out anybody.

A weekend like this...

I just got home tonight from a weekend spent at Muskoka Woods. Muskoka Woods used to be my life. I spent all my summers there. I worked some weekends up there during the year, and at the very least visited lots all year long. I also attended a Muskoka Woods Bible Study group for the last 6 years on and off depending on where I was living. Muskoka Woods is becoming a lesser part of my life as time goes on. My best friends are still from there and I still love it, but I don't spend my summers there anymore (as of this past year) and I visit less. One thing that is still a huge part of my Muskoka Woods life journey though is the memories I have and the bible study group. This weekend 16 of us gathered up at Muskoka Woods for a bible study leaders retreat. It was a phenomenal weekend. Camp was bare of people, except for us and a few of their staff that were around. A camp that at any given time usually has at least 1000 people on property was empty! It was also empty of snow, much like the city, which was sad and good in its own ways. We spent the weekend doing this thing called "life lines". Basically we were given the opportunity to share our stories of our lives and learn about everyone else’s lives. After each person shared we encouraged each other with our comments and through prayer. It was absolutely amazing listening to everyone. God was totally present as many tears and hard things were shared. What a privilege it was to get to share a weekend like this with all the wonderful people that were up there. I completely felt such a renewed since of love for many of my friends that were up there. (I also got to see my friend Emily at MW and have a sleepover with her which was awesome because I love that girl a lot.) God is so good and always knows exactly what we need!

"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." ~Matthew 6:28-34

I love having visitors!!!

Something that I have picked up from my mom is hospitality. She has always loved having people over for meals and visits. I am very much like this as well. One of my favourite things about having friends who live in different provinces and countries is being able to visit them and even better having them visit me! I have a wonderful friend Jay, who I have posted about on here before. He is from Manitoba. I absolutely love having Jay visit me and when I get to visit him. The time we spend together is always fun and entertaining. I purely enjoy Jay's company. He came 2 weeks ago to stay with me and visit some of his other friends as well. While he was here we went out for lunches, dinners, went trampolining and shopping, went to the ROM and a Leaf game, celebrated the coming of 2007, got a new car and hung out at my place a lot. It was fun laughing with, and sometimes at, him. I love having a friend as good as Jay … He is pretty wonderful!