Author: ba

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Pleasing people

Today I think I will give you a little glimpse into my heart.
 
About a week ago Ben and I were at a big group gathering when Cassie started to really cry (her little digestive system is still growing and sometimes she gets bad gas). She was crying really loud so Ben took her to the other room. I could still hear her wailing and so after a few minutes I got up and went to them. Ben asked me why I came since she didn’t need both of us, so I actually lied to him and said I thought maybe it was time for her to eat. Now I knew it wasn’t time for her to eat yet so as I walked back to my seat I started to think about why I gave him that answer. After the meeting we went home and I told him that I had lied to him and we sorted out why I would have done that. We figured out that the reason I really did get up was because I cared about what people were thinking as they watched me sit there while Cassie was crying. Going a little deeper, I discovered I was insecure what people think of me as a mother because I still am involved in my work here and I don’t stay at home with her all day but instead bring her with me. This was really good for me to discover these deeper feelings early. I have now found peace that I am going to be the best mom to Cassie I can be, following the path that God leads me down, which currently still includes teaching and training people to study the bible.
 
There is no need to live to please people, because it isn’t healthy and realistically it is simply impossible.
Instead of people pleasing I choose to pray and obey.
 
ps. Speaking of people pleasing do you think the Bombers will be able to please their fans this year with at least one win? Let’s have hope for the 24th against the Stampeders! 
 
 
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Time Flies

Nearly 3 weeks ago a team of 17 people were greeted at the airport by myself and a few friends. For us it was the beginning of training them ‘how to teach’. For them it was the beginning of outreach, two to three months of living away from family, friends and most modern conveniences. Their stay here has been a nice transition from the U.S. to the developing world. Easy access to the internet and communication home, a number of ‘normal’ meals and maybe the most important, toilet paper.
 
But the real beginning of outreach will only start this weekend as they take off for a number of places. After only two more days of teaching pracitice and some cleaning and packing, they will be off. If you can, take a moment to pray that God would really help them as they transition to a new world, get settled, meet contacts and beginning to teach and preach the truth that will bring change to peoples lives and the world they live in.
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Wresting – Mongolian Style

This weekend is Mongolia’s National Holiday commemorating its declaration of freedom as its own country. The festival is called Naadam and is known for its 3 main activities – horse racing, archery and wrestling. But no, I don’t want to get into the history…I just want to give you a glimpse into their world.
 
I can’t add pictures at the moment, but if you want to see some, check out the following webpages. I should mention, their costumes sure are interesting!
 
Why this topic you might ask. Well, in just over a month we’ll be heading there as leaders of a team of teachers. We’re very excited to go and strengthen the very young church that exists there, give them tools that will help the believers mature and encourage them to live for the King! We will be taking Cassie with us and the team already loves her! We are so very blessed to be doing what we love and though we are far from you physically, we are close to you spiritually.
 
 
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A super great week!

We have 17 amazing students who are excited to learn to teach and to go and train people how to study the bible!
 
We have had a lot of fun getting to know them! I can tell we will be sending some awesome teams to Mongolia, Ch**a and Kyrgestan in 2 weeks from now.
 
So why was this week so good? Many reasons!
-Cassie slept through the night the past few nights in a row! Wow, I had forgotten how good a full night sleep is!
-Her first full night sleep was the night before I taught in the morning.
-I had a great time teaching ‘How to present a lecture’
-Her second full night was the night before Ben taught in the morning.
-I learned a lot from Ben’s teaching on ‘How to preach a sermon’ 
-Cassie gave us her first real smile
-We got some amazing news- we are going to be coming home for 10 days this October…
 
Yes you read right, we are going to be home in Winnipeg for 10 days this October 10-20. We were blessed with flights from Ben’s family so that we can introduce Cassie to our friends and family before she is a year and a half old :)
 
So for those in Winnipeg, we are excited to see you in just 3 months!
It’s definitely been a super great week!
 
ps. Sorry no new pictures lately, we can’t really upload any until we get our laptop back (AGAIN!) from Canada once HP fixes it (hopefully they actually do this time!)
 
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Not a baby blog

Our thoughts tend to be consumed by this beautiful bundle of love. So when I read this story I couldn’t help but think of Cassie:
 

An old woman came into her doctor’s office and confessed to an embarrassing problem. "I do that all the time, Doctor Johnson, but they’re soundless, and they have no odor. In fact, since I’ve been here, I did it no less than twenty times. What can I do?"

"Here’s a prescription, Mrs. Harris. Take these pills three times a day for seven days and come back and see me in a week."

 

Next week an upset Mrs. Harris marched into Dr. Johnson’s office. "Doctor, I don’t know what was in those pills, but the problem is worse! I’m doing it just as much, but now it smells terrible! What do you have to say for yourself?"

 

"Calm down, Mrs. Harris," said the doctor soothingly. "Now that we’ve fixed your sinuses, we’ll work on your hearing!!!"

Gas, smelly gas, has become a regular part of our day as we hold, snuggle and love Cassie :) Who knew little babies had it in them? :)There are so many fun stories to share and we know that as family and friends who love us, this is one way you can get to know her a little better even though we are far away. But don’t worry, this won’t become a baby blog- we so often hear from you that you love this blog because you can read all about what we are up to and the amazing things that God is doing in us and this world. We love it too because it helps us process and stay in touch with you! So we’ll keep updating it twice a week, covering a variety of topics. Thanks for always taking the time to come and check in on us, and leaving us a comment every once in a while.

 
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I thought, “It could NEVER happen to me”

Many of you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s not that you think she might be incapable, of course she could. No, rather its this gut feeling that says, she’s not like that, she likes me too much, I’m better with kids than most folks.
 
Well, apparantly, I’m not. Tonight, actually just moments ago, I stood with my little bundle of love as she pee’d all over me. Honestly, I don’t completely blame her. It’s been a long day. She joined us for a meeting this morning, during which she had her first bottle feeding experience. Then, after lunch she went with mom for a hospital visit. It got a bit rocky as she belted out "I love Jesus" (well, it was maybe more like what kids listen to now-a-days, you know, where the band screams instead of sings)while receiving her second Hepatitus B shot. Then, about 10 of us made a trek to some friends house for a wonderful assortment of dishes from curry (sorry Bek, didn’t save you any) to a spicy peanut sauce (for our Cambodian friends) and some cold tea with jelly to cap it off (you’ll have to come visit if you want to try this one).
 
Anyway, back to the story, a long day. Oh yes, well, I usually get to bath her but she missed last night while we crazily prepared for Titus this weekend, so we thought, right when we get home. I wasn’t finished washing her hair… anyways, you know how it goes, the diapers off, you’re holding her close and you feel the warm water from the tap dripping down your leg, only, the sink isn’t overflowing. You don’t want to look, already dreading the outcome…
 
She’s calmed down now and just about ready for bed. I think I’ll turn in soon too. G’night! Hugs & Kisses to all of you, we miss you and wish we could share these experiences with you up close and personal! :)
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Matter of Perpective

When we go to different countries to teach people to study the bible, we warn them of seeing the bible through their own cultural perspective or making it say what they want it to say. Instead we encourage them to try and understand it from the original reader and writer’s perspective. To demonstrate this point we often tell this funny story:
The Pope and the Jew
A long time ago the Pope wanted all the Jewish people to leave Rome, so he gave them three days to evacuate the city. You can imagine they were shocked and outraged, so the Pope said that he would allow them to stay if they could produce a person who could beat the Pope in a silent debate. Well, nobody wanted to face the Pope and risk losing, but one old man who lived on the streets said he would do it. The Jewish people were totally dejected because they knew this old man could never win, but no one else would volunteer so they let him go to the debate.
 
Looking at each other the Pope began.
He held up three fingers. The old man held up one.   
 
Then the Pope swung his hand around the top of his head
The old man pointed to the ground.
 
Exasperated the Pope took out the bread and the wine
the old man took out an apple.
 
In utter disbelief the Pope through up his hands and said, this man is too good, the people can stay!
 
When the bishops surrounded the Pope after the old man had left, they asked him what had happened. The Pope replied, "I held up three fingers to represent God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he held up one finger to remind me that God is still one and common between us. Then I swung my hand around my head to demonstrate that God is everywhere, and he pointed to the ground to say that God is here with us too. Finally I reminded Him of the death of Jesus with the bread and the wine, and he held up an apple showing me original sin. What else could I do, he had an answer for everything!"
 
Meanwhile, the Jewish people were celebrating but they couldn’t believe what had happened. They surrounded the old man and asked him what had happened. He said, "To begin the Pope held up three fingers to say we had to leave in 3 days,  but I held up 1 finger to say not one of us was leaving. Then he swung his hand around his head to say we could go anywhere but Rome, I pointed to the ground to say we were staying right here…"
 
The people prodded him and begged, "Yes, yes, then what happened?"
 
The old man replied, "I really don’t know, he pulled out his lunch and I pulled out mine."
Hope you had a good laugh at the story :) It reminds me to try to see life from other people’s perspective. 
 
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Time Management

Many of you who know me well know that I love things like organization, action planning and teamwork.
I’ve even taught seminars on time management. And I will say that in my life I have usually been pretty good at managing my time and priorities.
 
But now I have met my match in a 3 week old.
 
From morning until night I live my life in 2 1/2 hour increments: feed for half an hour, keep her awake for another half and hour, put her to sleep for half an hour, then I have one hour to get stuff done…and then the cycle starts again.
 
I have two teachings to prepare which are due in two weeks, a newsletter to write for Titus, door signs to make, thank you cards to write, teaching illustrations to prepare, not to mention emails, laundry, dishes, meals… I can hear the mothers reading this saying, ‘welcome to my life!’
 
We are preparing for this next Titus Project in two weeks. With just under 20 students coming, we have a lot of work to do. Please pray that the time we do have we can use wisely (which includes many moments of holding and cuddling Cassie). We are excited for the school to start! Ben is going to be teaching on ‘How to Preach’ and how to teach the ‘Bible Overview’, I will be teaching on ‘How to Present’ and ‘Teamwork and Team Dynamics’ Then we will send teams to Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and another country near here that we can’t mention. We are very excited!
 
 
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My Dad: The Human Garburator

So you may have noticed the title – its basically just a joke we’re having around here. Dad comes from good stock that doesn’t waste too much, so when a couple of days ago he burned my grilled cheese sandwhich he said "Well, we are not going to throw it out, I’ll just eat it". Today we went for a stall-tasting tour, baked yams, chicken sandwhich’s, kimchi dumplings, corn soup, pork dumplings, some kind of seaweed wrap deal, you name it… Well, lets just say, whatever we couldn’t finish, Dad took care of!
 
Actually, its been great having him here. He’s been great with Cassie, enjoying all the spare time with her he can – which is really nice for Mom and Dad (apparently that’s us now) who are busy but joyful. Now all that’s left is for him to try the ‘stinky tofu’.
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Finally Some Pics

Finally some more pics. Enjoy! We’ll try to get some kind of video up soon…
 
Cassie has been SO well taken care of by countless friends and family, and though our thank you cards are not yet all in the mail, our hearts are filled with praise to God and gratefulness to you who have shown your incredible love for this little bundle. At the moment she is sleeping peacefully in grandpa’s arms!
 
If our computer continues to work (it’s still hit and miss) we’ll continue to put up pics but otherwise we are sorry for the wait.
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Announcement

For those who have just received our email, you can find the details on Cassie and the birth two blogs below this one. In about four days you can check back to this website for more pictures since we expect our laptop to be back by then.
 
Tonight has been so wonderful. We took Cassie on a nice stroller ride and we went to dinner at a patio restaurant on the water right by our house. This was our goodbye dinner with my mom. A beautiful breeze kept us cool as we ate under a thatched roof. We said all of our thanks for her hard work this month. She helped us so much (I don’t know how many loads of laundry she did), kept us laughing, timed my contractions, rocked Cassie when we couldn’t stop her from crying, played cards with us, made me decaf coffee, and the list goes on. I can’t hold back the tears as I write this because I will miss her so much.  
 
What does make me smile though is knowing that she will be home with dad tomorrow, even though they have talked often, they are so excited to see each other again, (and she can show him LOTS of pictures of his first granddaughter).
 
Another thing that makes me smile is looking forward to Ben’s dad coming on Monday. He is so good with his grandchildren and Cassie is just going to love him. Plus he will bring back lots of stories for Ben’s mom.
 
So tonight as I lay my head on my pillow, I will shed some tears and smile too. I am so grateful for this time. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
 
Thanks mom! (thanks Dad for giving her up for a month)
Ben, Cassie and I love you both.
 
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Tom – Is that You?

We, all four of us, made it out today for a stroll down the riverfront. It was cool weather, a nice change from the humidity. So we decided to make an afternoon of it and included a stop at Starbucks to read our Bible. Well while Angela was getting the drinks, the three of us headed upstairs to find a nice place to sit. Sure enough, a table with a nice view opened up. While we waited for Ang we sat and talked. All of a sudden two young girls peeked their heads around the corner and politely asked, "Can we take a picture of you?". Thinking it included the four of us, especially Cassie because the Taiwanese sure are enamored with little babies, we said sure. Little did we expect the girl to wakl to the far side beside Ben (clearly out of the way of the other two) and have her friend take the picture. We were quite shocked. They weren’t looking at Cassie, they wanted a picture with Tom Cruise! I politely declined the request for autographs.
 
In other news, Cassie is now a full week old, Angela and I are learning how to parent and Mom K loves pushing the stroller!
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Our little bundle of Love!

We are TOO excited to introduce our brand new little bundle of joy! She arrived in our arms at 1.56 in the afternoon, Fri May 23, 2008 (Taiwan local time). A strong 3,850 grams (8lbs 8oz) and 54cm (21.25") long she quickly captured the hearts of mom and dad. Mom and the little one spent three nights in the hospital recovering but now are growing strong and healthy. Dad simply marvelled at his astounding wife!
 
Our little bundle of love is named after three incredible people. Her two grandmothers, Sandra and Colleen because of their great love, their gentle spirits and joyful attitudes. Cassandra Colleen is beautifully named. After having spent two months in Indonesia in the womb, we felt Cassie deserved a little bit of treasure from there, and since the word for love in Indonesian is "Kasih" (pronounced the same), it could not have been a better fit! You might wonder why "Angela", but after having watched his wife give her life to birth little Cassie, daddy could not help but include it, and of course, she is already becoming daddy’s little Angel.
 
Finally, a few thanks are in order. N-a-n-n-a (Grandma Colleen Krystik), has been running around, adventurising like nobodys business, helping in a thousand ways – Thank you Nanna! Amy Stevens, our Titus Leader and good friend, was on call for a whole week as we waited for Cassie. She brought us to the hospital and took care of a number of details. Another friend, Francis translated a lot for us. Those two also spent about five hours massaging mommy while she was in labour. Thank you!
 
PS The laptop is under repair so thanks for your patience with the pictures.
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Never stop growing

…I don’t mean physically (although as I wait for this baby I feel like my tummy is growing and stretching by the hour).
 
I’m reading a book called ‘Teaching to Change Lives’ by Howard Hendricks. He tells a story of an 86 year old woman. 
"The last time I saw her on planet Earth was at one of those aseptic parties. We were sitting there on eggshells, when she walked in and said, ‘Well Hendricks, I haven’t seen you for a long time. What are the five best books you’ve read in the past year?’
She had a way of changing a group’s dynamics. Her philosophy was, Let’s not bore each other with each other; let’s get into a discussion. She was eighty three on her last trip to Israel. She went there with a group of NFL football players. One of my most vivid memories of her is seeing her out front yelling back to them, ‘Come on, men, get with it!"
She died in her sleep at her daughter’s home in Dallas. Her daughter told me that just before she died, she had written out her goals for the next ten years."
A good friend of mine just told me she is going to be going to University again to get her masters. My mom flew across the ocean to be with us and is experiencing a brand new culture. Another friend told me of life change she will be making that takes a lot of courage… and we will be learning to be parents (hopefully soon!)
 
Learning (for the sake of growth not just job placement or advancement) makes our experience in life deeper. So keep making goals and pushing yourself to learn new things, even though as we grow older risks and learning seem scarier and scarier. Don’t let fear hold you back. So what new thing are you going to learn?
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Quick Update

Hey everyone, just to let you know, no baby yet. Our due date was yesterday but the doctor said it could still be a little while, the baby hasn’t even dropped yet. Also, our computer just broke down so we have to send it back to Canada for repairs which is going to make emailing and website updating a little challenging. Don’t worry, we still will, but it may be a little slow for the next little while. Thanks so much for understanding!
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Please pray…

Often our lives are so full of ourselves and our plans. For us, the excitement of having a baby seems to consume our thoughts, prayers and worries.
 
However, today I just want to remind myself and anyone else who is reading this blog to pray for the people suffering in Myanmar where the death toll from the cyclone that hit on May 3rd is around 100,000. One journalist (Martin Fletcher) wrote
"Imagine huddling under a tree with dozens of others, your back flayed open by the whipping leaves and branches in the water, and there’s no medication; the wind is severe and it’s raining hard, you’re hungry and there’s no food, and the only water to drink is the floodwater that surrounds you, which is polluted by the corpses of humans and animals bobbing around you. Your children are crying and the old people are sick. And you look into the sky for planes or across the water for rescue boats, and they both stretch to the horizon and are empty. That’s the situation described by aid officials who are frustrated beyond comprehension at the obstructive response of the Myanmar government.
 
Please also pray for the families in China, especially those who have lost their children in the huge earthquake that just passed. Many of those who died were children because it happened during school hours.
 
There is much suffering in the world and even though it is easy to be wrapped up in my own life,  Jesus calls me to love others like I love myself. So now I will go and pray… 
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Refreshing

Wow! This morning we spent two hours surrounded by many friends and family. Well, of course, we’re in Taiwan and most of them are in Canada but by using Skype Video we were able to chat with and see most of our female relatives and friends living in Winnipeg. Why female? Well, the reason is that our church put on a very special baby shower for us. We received many wonderful gifts which we are thankful for, but far more touching was being able to spend a few minutes chatting with everyone. I think that nearly everyone of us shed a tear or two!

You’ll notice that the title today is ‘Refreshing’ – why? Quite simply because the love that you have poured out for us has refreshed us in a way that nothing else can! Thank you!

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Our trip to Mackay Hospital

Everyday we get questions like:

"So does your doctor speak English?"

"What is the hospital like?"

"Are there rats running in the halls?" (okay well, maybe this one doesn’t get asked, but we know that people wonder!)

Today we went to the doctor and took a video of the whole experience. Hopefully this will put everyone’s minds at ease. It may in fact make our pregnant friends a little jealous :) 

And yes, our doctor does speak English.

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The Big Picture

You’ll notice that we posted pictures of the base fun day we had yesterday. Every quarter we get everyone together that is associated with YWAM Danshui Taiwan and we do something fun. Yesterday we took a ferry across the river to a park where we played (or in my case watched) football and ultimate frisbee. It had been raining that morning so of course there was lots of slipping and sliding in the mud. Eventually it just became a big mud war, clothes were ruined, but memories were made :)
 
We were thinking that as a faithful friend who reads our blog regularily and wants to know what we are up to, you may not quite understand the whole concept of this particular ywam base. Every base is different, but this one has a unique blend of training, community work and international ministries. We all live in the same area and get together on monday mornings to learn more about God, worship together etc. We also share office space and try to partner together to help each other accomplish goals. Some of the different things that people are involved with here are: DTS (the entry level training school for YWAM), SBS (about 35 students in this bible training course right now), Frontier missions (staff who look after encouraging and supporting missionaries working on the frontlines in Asia), International Publications (coordinating YWAM Asia’s communication), The Rock Coffee bar (where we teach English and provide Taiwanese students with a place to hang out and build relationships), Chinese language study, University ministry, and of course, not to forget TITUS PROJECT :) There are probably others I am forgetting but as you can see, YWAM Danshui Taiwan is a busy base with lots of people who are accomplishing some great things!
 
Hopefully this gives you a better understanding of our world here in Danshui… What’s going on your world? We would love to hear!!
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Catchup

Enjoy a few pictures and a quick update of our week.IMGP1079

We spent three days in the office, getting acquainted with all the gadgets and gizmos. We continued to finish closing the last Titus and we started prepping for the upcoming one – those two things will compose most of our life for the next two months – not including having a baby. Angela has started into her 37th week – so the baby can come at any time!