Updates – Page 28 – Teaching Adventures

2007/03/29

You were there

Have you ever done something that really took perseverance? Like about half way through you felt like you couldn’t go on, but you did? Well, that is what this quarter has been for us, a quarter of perseverance! We have gone through Genesis -Ecclesiastes book by book (except for a few we do next quarter) and what an amazing time it has been, but it has not been easy. One song that has really encouraged me is the one that will start playing on this website. If you are going through a challenging time right now I encourage you to listen to this song and read along with the lyrics. The events the song refers to are from the books we have been studying this quarter, but the amazingness of the bible is that its messages transcend time and culture. The message: God was there, and He is here with us. He was definitely strengthening us day by day to persevere! Enjoy the song. We will be leaving for a little week vacation on another island and so we won’t be updating this website again until April 6th (Angela’s dad’s birthday!).

You Were There – By Avalon

I wonder how it must have felt
When David stood to face Goliath on a hill
I imagine that he shook with all his might
Until You took his hand, and held on tight

‘Cause You were there, You were there
In the midst of danger’s snare
You were there, You were there always
You were there when the hardest fight
Seemed so out of reach
Oh, You were there, You were always there
You were always there

So there he stood upon that hill
Abraham with knife in hand was poised to kill
But God in all his sovereignty had bigger plans
And just in time, You brought a lamb

‘Cause You were there,
You were there
In the midst of the unclear
You were there, you were there always
You were there when obedience
Seemed to not make sense
You were there, You were always there
You were always there

So haven’t I learned that my ways
Aren’t as high as Yours are
And You alone keep the universe
From crumbling into dust
You are God and though we would
Not have understood You
There You were

Hanging blameless on a cross
You would rather die than leave us in the dark
Every moment, every planned coincidence
Just all makes sense
With Your last breath

You were there, You were there
During history’s darkest hour
You were there, You were there always
You were the Victor and the King
You were the power in David’s swing
You were the calm in Abraham
You are the God who understands
You are the strength when we have none
You are the living, Holy one
You were, You are and You will always be
the Risen Lamb of God

2007/03/27

Just some questions…

This week as we studied wisdom literature I discovered that much of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament (and the New for that matter) deals with how to make wise decisions not only for oneself, but also with the perspective of how it will influence the whole community. This is a very different way of thinking in light of our individualistic, western society. Out of this week I wrote a poem about my thoughts and feelings and thought I would share them.

Just some questions

Is it all about me? Am I that main character in a life full of secondary characters?

My decisions, when I make them, who do I consider?

Do I think how they will affect

my family?

my friends?

my church?

my neighbourhood?

my city?

Would I lay down my life for my friend? What about a stranger?

Does God care about how I treat my neighbour?

What about the one two doors down?

The next street?

The poor area of town?

The rich area of town?

I dont want to be reactive, but proactive

to decide to do something,

think up a new idea,

take initiative

to do something kind to another.

Not be thanked, not to feel good about me, but to bless THEM.

Am I responsible for the others around me? Even just a little?

I have allowed myself to be numb?

close my eyes?

walk by without a word?

without helping?

Is this bondage? I hear you cant live for others.

Why not? Jesus did. Actually He lived AND died for others.

I can anticipate your thoughts, because they are my thoughts

Wont you be pulled a million directions?

Get used?

Never be happy?

Yes! Without God, yes.

But walking with Gods gift of the Holy Spirit brings wisdom:

when to say yes

when to say no

when to wait.

The superficial relationship wont do this, but true intimacy and abiding will.

God wants the best for others and for me. and He knows how to bring this to pass.

2007/03/23

Send Us Your Favourite Saying

This week we’ve been studying about Hebrew wisdom literature. So, we want to hear some of your favourite quotes, sayings, proverbs and cliche’s, email us at badoerksen@hotmail.com or add them as a comment.

Here’s some to ponder if you’d like. Enjoy.

One good turn deserves another.

Every picture tells a story.

Revenge is sweet.

Divide and conquer.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Garbage in, garbage out.

And we’ll conclude with possibly the most profound:

Laughter is the best medicine.

Thanks to Theresa who emailed us today a few she and Kelly like:

"a happy wife means a happy life"

"best way to avoid punch, don’t be there"

"if you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

2007/03/20

Xie Xie

Xie Xie means Thank you in Chinese (prenounced Shie Shie). However, I was prenouncing it Che Che which means older sister…oops! Everyone had a good laugh at that!

Bright and early sunday morning we drive to the Pastor’s house. She has a beautiful large living room that can hold a lot of people. What they do is they use a church building on Saturday nights for a service, but on sunday mornings they meet together in her home to have a deeper study time. We were the ones facilitating this particular week. Were we nervous? A little, but during the time of worship at the beginning God met with us and calmed our nerves. It is amazing how we could worship in our heart while the rest of the people sang a different language, but we were unified! The sincere worship and love was so refreshing by this little group of believers.

We were next up and after an introduction from Wendy our staff leader we had them reading the book of Philemon in Chinese, picking out the main characters, learning about slavery in Roman times and applying all the principles to their own lives. It was really cool to see that even though there was a language barrier they really picked up the main points of this tiny book in the bible! We were blessed to enjoy lunch with them half way through, yummy fish, rice, and beef! Even though their culture generally inhibits public participation they really were all taking part and thinking/answering all our questions!

Thank you so much for your prayers. One of the girls was a brand new Christian and shared with us that she now wanted to learn how to read the bible and apply it to her life- that is what this is all about! Helping people discover for themselves all that God has for them! There were so many times when they were working in groups that Ben and I said, ‘This is what drives us and gives us joy!’ This was just a little taste of what awaits us in the future, and boy are we excited! Taiwan, here we come…

2007/03/15

Troy and Tonya’s Visit

We had such a great time with Troy and Tonya when they were here! We played games, kayaked in a bay with dolphins, went swimming in huge waves at the beach, and prayed together! It was such a blessing to have them here, they actually came during a week when we didn’t have a lot of homework so that was perfect timing! On the last night we went to a place called ‘Lava Java’ and played Phase Ten while the sun went down over the ocean. We talked about how to hear God speaking to us and then we finished off praying that we would all grow in our intimacy to hear God speak. We even prayed that Troy and Tonya would have a divine encounter on their way home to hear God speak. Here is part of an email that Troy sent us when he got home! Thanks for letting us share this Troy, it is a little longer than our usual entries but if you have the time to read it YOU WILL BE ENCOURAGED!:

Angela mentioned in prayer about possibly having God place someone in our travels (even on the plane next to us) that we could encourage or be encouraged by and/or even plant seeds with those listening. Oddly enough, that is exactly what happened. It was very cool, and it was specially great to listen to God’s voice and respond. As that is something I’ve been praying for. And you know what, you’re right Ben and Ang, it’s not that hard to do.

In the plane on the way home we sat down next to a young girl. I couldn’t wait to move seats because I was in a middle seat and there were lots open. All I wanted to do was move seats and sleep! I noticed the young girl right next to me pull out a Max Lucado book, "Facing Your Giants". I didn’t say anything as I figured she just wanted to read her book and be left alone.

So time went by and I felt God prompting me to say something to her. Anything at all just to open up a dialogue. It took me awhile but eventually I asked her how she liked the book. This girl hadn’t even graduated high school yet but she spoke like one on fire and totally devoted to God, a fresh new awakening was taking place right in front of us. we noticed others around curiously listening to the conversation for most of the flight to Edmonton.

We learned that this girl had recently moved to Vancouver to attend a Christian school for the last part of her grade 12 year. She was in the midst of making huge changes in her life. Raised as a Christian but lived rebellious for the majority of her upbringing. Now she
was commiting her life to God totally. She was totally inspired and encouraged to know that there were other Christians sitting right next to her on the plane. We spoke freely of God’s working in her life, she had such passion that it convicted me to be more open with my love for God.

I sensed God prompting me specifically to ask her a question…but I was afraid. Afterall I had never done this before…and what if it was too personal. What if I had to act on it right away? Scary…

The question was specific and wouldn’t stop nagging me, then I remembered Angela had prayed for an experience like this for Tonya and I in our travels back home. So I knew I couldn’t live with being disobedient particularly after asking for God to speak to me in prayer.

The question was to specifically ask her what she needed prayer for. So after a long awkward silence I said, "I’m supposed to ask you what you specifically need prayer for."

She was taken aback a bit and paused…then smiled this huge 1000 watt grin and responded in detail.

What a feeling to obey God in such a simple task! It opened up a door and an opportunity to encourage another Christian in their walk. You see, in telling her story, this girl was going against great odds to change her lifestyle, she was leaving her friends and for a time her family to bravely step out and listen to God’s call on her life. She knew that going back home for the first time in months was going to be a challenge because she had been growing in leaps and bounds but her non-believing friends would not understand this and she would be tempted to fall back into old habits with them.

So when I asked what she wanted prayer for specifically…(thinking that I would mention it later to God in prayer), she called me on it right there! She asked after a moment, do you guys want to pray right now?

What could I say to that, "No thanks, maybe later." I don’t tihnk so, oh boy, now I was on the spot to live up to my Christianity if front of others on the plane and pray aloud. What will people think? More importantly what would God think if I didn’t!!!! I had come this far in hearing God’s voice, was I going to stop now….nope!

Tonya willingly jumped right in and prayed aloud as if she’d known this girl all her life, she spoke into her life with specific prayers that I have no doubt encouraged and strengthened her. Needless to say we are going to stay in contact with her via email and continue to pray for her needs.

All I can say is that this was obviously meant to take place. But the key to encourage the rest of us is: as simple as this is, look what great things can happen if we listen and obey. We really do have to train ourselves to listen to God, to quiet our minds and just listen with open hearts ready to do his will. Always asking, "what do you want me to do in this circumstance God?" I was tired and focused on going to sleep as soon as possible, it’s interesting to see how we can distract ourselves and be consumed with selfishness and busy details so that we’ll never heard God’s voice.

Seek Him and you shall find Him…

2007/03/11

What drives you crazy? Simple things you enjoy?

Every area of the world has different things that drive you crazy!

For instance, in Winnipeg it is the -40 weather in the winter time and the mosquitos in the summer. This weekend we experienced what would drive Hawaiian’s crazy-Termites! It is so interesting, they eat up the wood and then leave piles of wood shavings everywhere they go. You could clean up the whole house of all these little piles and then guess what? Tomorrow, there they are again! It’s enough to make someone go insane!

We have been up north on the island at a retreat center with our whole class. Times of refreshing and relaxing were abundant. We went hiking for a whole day, enjoyed a campfire & drank lots of coffee (well not Ben, he just made sarcastic remarks about how gross coffee is!). We were able to enjoy the simple things like playing the guitar, swinging on a swing and staying up late playing games. It was a much needed weekend away for all of us.

We had some team competitions throughout the weekend, and the highlight for our team was when Will (a guy) had to shave one leg, a big sacrifice- but we did tie for first place! Thanks Will!

So what are the simple things you enjoy? Or what are the pet peaves that drive you crazy? Leave a comment and let us know :)

PS. We made a video for our church and have uploaded it to this website for those who don’t go to our church. We edited it a little so it may be choppy and to make it web compatible it may be not the highest quality, but we hope you get the jist and are encouraged!

2007/03/04

Who’s the King of the Castle?

It is good to learn from others mistakes.

This week we were studying 2 kings, Saul and David. They both disobeyed God and experienced the consequences of it. One rejected God and went his own way and one repented and returned to God. From the outside their experiences were quite similar but on the inside, one experienced hope and refreshment and the other experienced torment.

Sometimes I like to think I can do what I want but at the end of the day I end up regretting it and find myself realizing that the best way is to obey God, then I experience freedom and joy inside.

2007/02/27

This is insanity!

Well, what can I say; Hawaii is really what it is said to be. I have spent the last week here with Ben and Ange, and I must say, theyre one amazing set of friends youll ever meet. My time here has been full of new experiences. One of the highlights I must say would be hitchhiking to the airport to pick up our rental car. Ben didnt seem to be very fond of this idea, and was worried for his life, Ange and I on the other hand were super excited about it. We set out with our thumbs up. Amazingly, 5 minutes later we were picked-up by a nice Tacoma truck and brought right to the car lot in the airport.
The YWAM base here in Kona is very nice and if anyone is wondering where they would like to do a dts, I would recommend this base. The people here have treated me very well and I would definetly consider coming back to visit or to take some courses.
Thats about all I have to say, I could say so much more but I wouldnt want to bore all you readers,

so God bless,
Joey

2007/02/21

What was right in their own eyes…

In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes. Judges 21:25

I want to reflect on what I have been learning and I hope it is okay to share this with you.

This week we are studying the book of Judges. It is interesting because it follows right after Joshua and the two stand in contrast to each other. In Joshua God leads Isreal into the promised land so that they can be a light to all the nations around them and show the nations who the One true God is. The book is a story of victory as the people obey God and follow his direction. The next book Judges is the total opposite, Joshua the godly leader dies and the book is one defeat after another with people not obeying what God said. In the end there is a brutal story of a gang rape and instead of the different tribes of Israel working together they are fighting each other. When I was putting a title to this book I wanted to call it "One big Mess!"

It is actually very sad but the key to what happened is in the phrase, "all the people did what was right in their own eyes." It repeats this phrase over and over in Judges. I was reminded how when I stop reading the bible and applying it to my life as the standard for living (instead of my feelings, what is right in my own eyes) that is when my life becomes a mess. But when I read, study and follow God’s ways then I live in freedom and victory.

In a bigger sense we can see that in our society. As people live by their own standards, what is right in their own eyes, and we remove any sense of right and wrong (truth) then society spirals downwards. When we look at the rate of crime, abuse, broken families etc. sometimes I want to say "This is one big mess!"

The difference now is that God isn’t focused on transforming a political situation so that we abide by His standards of love, justice, selflessness and mercy- but instead he has given us His Word and wants to transform the society person by person, heart by heart! In my own life I am challenged to be one who ‘does what is right in God’s eyes’ and help others by letting them discover for themselves what God’s Instruction manual (Bible) says and how to obey it.

The book of Judges has just spurred me on to remind me how important it is to teach what we are going to be teaching all over the world, so that people have an alternative to doing ‘what is right in their own eyes’ and so that they can truly live in victory instead of defeat.

Thanks for listening to my reflection on what has been going through my heart and mind this week.

2007/02/19

Make Love Not War

This was a great week!

We had some wonderful visitors – Dad stayed until Tuesday night and Chris and Katie Johnson arrived Sunday! They treated us to a great dinner at Quinn’s – fresh fish and Chips! They are leading the DTS in Honolulu with a wonderful team – 3 DTS’s joined Kona’s 3 for one week with some great speakers.

We worked through Joshua and the conquest of Canaan. Be strong and courageous to obey YHWH. There was also a fun map assignment – I haven’t coloured in a map in a long time, try it again some time. Our speaker also briefly introduced the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for us – thats a tough one. Especially for myself, I like it when people just get along. But I can proudly tell you that I now know what the west bank means.

On that note, let us be thankful for the incredible peace we enjoy in our daily lives!

ps. Liza’s song is playing in the background- she wrote it for our wedding and we thought this would be a great week to put it on the web :)

2007/02/14

Adventure Stories

WOOEE!!

This was a special visit – Dad really treated us! He took us to see the NFL pro-bowl, it’s an all-star game where all the big names play. Peyton Manning (QB Super bowl champions) only played a couple drives though. The last quarter was great when the NFC side caught up with two quick touchdowns (after an onside kick) but just couldn’t hang on as the AFC side kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to win it by 3.

We also did one of the coolest things here on the island – dwelt in the raw power of molten rock forming the earth, it sure was an awesome experience! We did lots of other cool stuff, Dad sure is adventurous, but I don’t want to give away all the good stories!

The best part was just having him with us for a few days, he got to see where we live, come to a worship time on that we have every monday morning, and even came to class with us. As we drove around the island (he rented a car) we had lots of time to talk. He sure does have some funny stories, and even some traumatic ones. We felt like little kids saying ‘tell us a story dad!’ For instance, we learned about just a few of the times that he narrowly escaped death – a careening truck, a rushing river (well, a stony brook), and also how to kill a snake in the wild (with only a stick and a machete) – don’t worry, there’s no snakes here, but the days in Africa will come.

And lucky you – you’ll get to enjoy some new pics finally!

We sure are blessed – what wonderful family and friends that share their lives with us! Can we tempt you to come visit too? You are always welcome as long as you don’t mind us doing homework along the way :)

2007/02/10

Dad’s coming!

Hey there! Guess what? Ben’s dad is coming to visit us tomorrow for about four days! We are really excited to see him! We’ve been working really hard to get our homework done early so that we can have time with him this weekend. We are just about done so it looks like everything is on track! We are hoping to show him around a little and since he has rented a car this is definitely going to be fun! We will post some pictures after the weekend. The only challenge will be that the traffic here on thei sland is pretty bad and the accident rate is high, in fact here is a picture of an accident that just happened yesterday:

Have a great day!

2007/02/06

Protection and Passion

For our Winnipeg readers you probably have all heard about the fire last night in St. Boniface. For those who are from far away, there was a huge house fire in St. Boniface where two fire fighters died on duty. My dad is a fire fighter and was at the fire that night. Thankfully he is safe and sound, for which I want to say thank you to God. I often pray for my dad’s safety and I am so thankful that he is okay. To quote him, "I’ve at least got to stick around for grandkids :)"

On another note, tonight Ben and I had the chance to teach a short workshop to some of the friends in our class on the importance of long-term missionaries impacting their home team (whether that be church, friends, family etc.). It is something we are really passionate about and it went really well. Ben and I had a blast teaching together! It is our little way to give back to others what we have been learning.

Lately it seems we have been talking more about friends at home and what is happening there. Again, we just want each of you to know that you are loved and missed!

Time for bed, a big week of studying Deuteronomy ahead of us…

2007/02/04

MissionFest Manitoba

Just thought I would let you all know that my best friend Liza May is singing at MissionsFest Tonight (see her beautiful picture at http://www.mfest.mb.ca/liza_may.htm and Steve Saint is the guest speaker. I wish I could hear him because I am sure his story will be inspirational! Here is a quick recap of his story:

Born and raised in South America by missionary parents, Steve was just 5 years old when his father, Nate Saint, and four of his friends, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed Mc Cully and Roger Youdarian, were killed by a primitive tribe of Amazon warriors, known as the Aucas, in 1956.

Miraculously, two years after the killings, Steves aunt, Rachel Saint and Elizabeth Elliot were invited by the Waodani,(as they called themselves, not Aucas) to live with them. When the Waodani heard the gospel, many believed and began to walk Gods trail. Steve grew up knowing the men who had killed his father and came to love them, regard them as family and at the age of 13 was baptized in the same river where his father was killed, by the very men who had done the killing.

If you want more info go to http://www.mfest.mb.ca or you can watch the movie that was just released to make the 50th anniversary of the deaths "End of the Spear." I haven’t seen it yet, but I hear it is AWESOME!

MissionFest is February 2 – 4, 2007
Grant Memorial Church
877 Wilkes Avenue, Winnipeg

2007/02/01

Freedom Festival – February 1st

Every February 1st I have decided to celebrate my own personal Freedom Festival (I named it that too!)! Here is what I am celebrating:

When do you ask questions about meaning of life? Usually the early teens. By young adulthood you have started to numb yourself to those questions. Why? If you have no meaningful answer then it leads to despair. It was at the age of 13 I started to ask those questions. Why am I here? Who am I? What happens when you die? You know, the questions we dont really talk about as adults.

I grew up in a super loving home with a brother I looked up to like crazy! At age four I met my best friend Liza Johnson and my life was great. Throughout elementary school (especially near the end) I started to form a group of friends. We were pretty rebellious, as rebellious as a person who is 11 can be J. I didnt care if I got kicked out of class, I just wanted to be popular. Liza used to invite me to church with her family. Now I knew that church was for losers and so I made up as many excuses as I could not to go. Eventually my excuses ran out.

Grade seven was a difficult year. I started going to a youth group at this church which was full of amazing people and was so much fun. However, my friends at school were also getting more involved with smoking, drinking and other things. I still really cared what they thought of me and so I lived a two-faced life. I also would go to bed with this feeling in my heart like something was wrongmissing. I can remember that so clearly.

Finally in the winter of Grade 8 I was at a youth group retreat and I felt like God spoke to my heart and asked whether I would let Him have my whole life, or would I keep living for others and ultimately myself? It was a battle because I had a lot of pride and didnt want to be unpopular. As I talked to God I realized that I had guilt and fear, I wanted that to be gone and I was tired of the double life. I decided to accept Jesus offer. I went to school after that weekend and I was totally released from that need for approval. I was finally able to stop caring only about myself and instead care about others. The freedom and weight off my shoulders was indescribable.

I look at what happened to some of those friends as they grew up, one was pregnant by age 16, another in jail after high school for murder, others involved with gangs, drugs I have no doubt I would have made choices to do some of those same things to be accepted.

Im not perfect (even though Ben always tells me I am, he is so sweet!) and I often find myself living for my own pleasures instead of loving others first, but I know that this journey is one of love, forgiveness, and growth. Its actually a love story between God and me, He pursued me and won, and I would give my heart over again and again. No regrets!

Thanks for letting me share my story with you- it is exciting to celebrate my first freedom festival!

2007/01/30

Always time for friends and family

Sorry it has been five days since our last blog.We are studying the pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) which can be dry and boring unless you look for the big picture and understand historical context- so actually these books that I used to think were dry and boring are really coming to life! I love studying the bible! Life becomes richer, fuller, and deeper!

We are trying to get ahead in our work a little because Ben’s dad is coming to visit next weekend! We are very excited to see family, it feels like much longer than a month since we have been home. I guess it is because of our study schedule… We made a new video and it should start playing in a few minutes- it’s a little silly and cheezy but I hope seeing our faces helps you remember us :)

Well everyone here is a thought for you, what is one thing you want to accomplish before your life is over? We’d love to hear some of your thoughts, so hey…leave a comment!

Some of my goals: go to every country in the world (okay maybe a little unrealistic but aim high right?) and I would like to write a book one day, but I will have to wait until I have something to say. I heard once that if you write a book it should be something that is burning on your heart so much that you just have to let it out! However, right now my goal is to finish this SBS…well! It is good to have goals, keeps you in line and makes life much more purposeful! Another goal of mine is to live in such a way that I grow in closer friendship to the only True God and to help others along that path as well as they desire to do so…

Okay enough rambling. Back to work. Thanks for listening, caring and staying in touch! We value relationships SO much!

2007/01/26

Who?

If I was telling you a story about a friend of mine, and you and I were not that close, I probably wouldn’t bother mentioning who my friend was. For example, "my friend and I were out for dinner yesterday when such and such happened". Now if you and I had a close friendship I would probably say instead, "My friend John and I were out yesterday, you know John, he’s my friend from work, anyways John and I were out…"

Ok, its the simplest example I could come up with but this is what I learnt this week – when you get to know someone, spend time with them and care about them it is expected that you know their name. Many of us think of God, the intelligent force or whatever out there, but few of us – me included often – realize that He, God, shared his name with us so that we might know him. He wants to be known by us. Exactly that, He isn’t some unnamed force, but rather he has a name, I AM WHO I AM. Ok – so maybe the name isn’t like Ben which is pretty simple and explained but it gives us a glimpse of how big He really is – He chooses who He wants to be, He doesn’t change like shifting shadows, He loves justice, He is filled with love and kindness, He is willing to be known. I want to know him.

2007/01/23

Billy in the Hills

This was a crazy week, it’s a good thing God said take a rest once a week. Ang and I have sat in our chairs for nearly 30 hours except for a wonderful day off on sunday – we took a long walk and watched two of the original hillbillies episodes (i mean, they were the original – they didn’t even have the theme song, just the music). Actually this weekend was cold over here but it looked nice and warm for the ‘Peg (-5). Well we completed our homework for Genesis, God shows himself to be wonderfully close to each generation as they obey him. I think we’ll celebrate tonight’s work with another hillbilly episode, so far Jed is my favourite but granny really keeps him on his toes.

On a final note> Ang would kill me if she knew I was putting this up here but … Colts will win the superbowl, 27-20 (don’t put money on that, my predictions are priceless (or worthless :)!

2007/01/18

We Speak to Nations

So what has our life been like this past week?

Well, we have a guest speaker Carl Amerding (from CANADA!) this week who has written articles for many books and commentaries, has been president of Regent College, lived in Israel, Germany, Switzerland, etc. and the list of his accomplishements goes on (Ph D in Middle Eastern and Semitic practices). The coolest thing is that while he is so smart, he still is totally down to earth and easy to talk to! He is a great man to be teaching us Genesis! We are so blessed! Genesis is a big book and so we have 40 charts to do this week (each takes 45 minutes) so if you think to pray for us, that we will have good time management and endurance, we would really appreciate it.

You may notice that a video comes up after a few minutes, it is a moving video about the needs around the world for freedom and love through Jesus, and we have been given special permission by Voices of the Faithful (International Missions Board) to have it play on our website. Feel free to check out their website at http://www.voicesofthefaithful.com.

Have an awesome day!

By the way- does anybody think we really will get a new stadium for the Bombers? I sure hope so! What about airport shuttles? See, we do keep up on Winnipeg news :)

2007/01/16

Celebration!

Celebrating Achievements is important! We wanted to share these pictures from our Graduation which occured just before Christmas. We call these mini-grad’s (since it is not the end of the whole school) a Love Feast!

On another note we had a huge test this morning (Had to memorize the reason every book was written in the New Testament, the Main Idea of each book and the Key verse) and both of us did pretty well. That is another achievement we are celebrating today! Tomorrow we start with Genesis :) There are so many things that we learned as we studied the New Testament – so many ways that we feel God challenged us to live differently, to experience His love for others and for ourselves more and more. Words like humility, unity, love, sacrifice, selflessness, perseverance, comfort & victory come to mind. The journey the last three months has been like starting in a boat at the mouth of a river and experiencing every part until you are thrust into the ocean: the calm slow movement where the river narrows, the rushing rapids over sharp rocks, turns and bends along the way, but what a ride it has been! Thank you to the many who have prayed and encouraged us to stay in the boat and keep going!

But it is not over yet! We are excited to dive into the next 6 months with the same vigour that we came here with! We look forward to sharing our thoughts and experiences with you as we go… Please share yours with us as well- we love mail, email, comments (I’m having a deja-vue, have I said this before?)