Girls Week

October 16-21
(Written on Monday, October 21st)

Currently I'm sipping on some Tim Horton's steeped tea and looking out at the beautiful Alberta rockies watching the sun rise higher as we road trip to Hope, B.C. This is going to be a beautiful drive.

So last weekend I was home for Thanksgiving and had a chance to rest a bit and get ready for our next couple months.

On Tuesday the 15th I got my cast taken off and now I have a walking cast which is great!

Wednesday I met back up with the girls from my site and Guatemala at Pioneer Camp near Sundre, Alberta where we spent a week together learning about our bodies and minds as women. We also looked at different women in the Bible and learned how we can be women of valour. It definitely empowered me and made me proud to be a woman - Girl Power!

We had a trip to Banff on Thursday. Those who didn't have a broken foot had a chance to hike at Lake Louise, while I sat in a dining room drinking a cappuccino and looking out onto the beautiful scenery. That evening we had dinner in Banff with our mentor groups. My group went to a Greek restaurant and it was so much fun!

On the Friday we went to Laser Quest in Calgary where we played some laser tag, which was a blast! It was so weird being back in Calgary with people I didn't even know two months ago.

Saturday we did a question swap with the boys where they gave us a bunch of questions to answer and then we gave them the answers back and they did the same. It gave us a chance to anonymously ask questions to each other to get to know the opposite sex a bit better and to gain a better understanding of the crazy things each other does.

Sunday was just a chill day. We had a short session in the morning and then a few of us did a little worship. I had a three hour nap and then we ended the day with a massive bonfire and s'mores.

This morning we woke up at six, finished packing, had our reunion with the boys, and were on the road by eight.

I'm so excited for the rest of our semester and spending time in B.C. I'm honestly in love with the mountains and I'm pretty happy we aren't in flat Manitoba any longer. We are headed to Camp Kawkawa where we are going to have a session week.


























(The girls at Lake Louise)

Nathan Rieger

October 7-11
(Written on Friday, October 11th)


So I'm sitting in the Winnipeg airport right now with my leader Jon waiting for our flights home and drinking some Starbucks. It's awesome. He's been trucking me around in a wheel chair. It's kind of awesome.

Man. This has been a heavy and very educational week.

Monday was our first day of classes with Nathan Rieger. He taught about idolatry and how we can all find idols of pleasure, value, and power in our lives. As the week went on he told us stories about these idols and how to overcome. He rocked my world. I learned so much about myself and where I need to say to hell to certain idols in my life and know that they are not the real and true Lord and they do not have a hold on my life. It's going to be a long process of overcoming them, but naming them is the first step and this is the perfect place to begin to work through my problems especially having this great, loving family supporting me as I deal with my past.

Tuesday we had a day of silence and I went to the hospital to get more x-rays. That evening we had a month-iversary party to celebrate our first month together. We made presents for each other and danced and swam and just hung out. It was a great night.

Wednesday we had session during the day and for the evening we had small groups. My group went into town where we got slurpees, candy, and donuts.

Thursday was another session day and in the evening we had a night of worship. We sang together, played instruments made out of recycling, spent time sharing what we are thankful for, and went around telling people what we appreciate about them. Jessica Lupson was missing her graduation that day so we put together a mini ceremony for her where we sang "The Best Time of Our Lives" by Green Day. And I just started crying from all the joy I was experiencing. It was so overwhelming, especially with all that we were learning during the week from Nathan I was just feeling really emotional. Honestly, I am having the "best time of my life" here. These people are amazing and I love them so much and I know that I am loved by them. They are just such a beautiful group of people and I am already dreading the day we have to say goodbye. Even going home this weekend I know I'm going to miss them like crazy. 

Today we had more sessions with Nathan and spent time confiding with one another. Then we packed up and headed out. I'm going to miss Camp Arnes and all the people there. It's such a great camp, but I definitely am ready to go home and have a different change of pace.

Girls week next week in Alberta! Woo!

(Selenna and I)

 

Winnipeg Urban Plunge and Arnes Service Days

September 30 - October 4
(Written on Saturday, October 5th)

Wow. Day 28.

This week seemed so long. It was our first urban plunge in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Our first day we did a "scavenger hunt" around the inner city and were given different places to go, people to talk to, and things to do. We went to organizations whose purpose was to help refugees, gangs, those exploited, or on the verge of homelessness. It was amazing to see those people living their lives 100% committed to serving God and helping the poor, orphans, foreigners and widows. They have truly died to themselves and are living for Christ. It's so beautiful how with everything they do, they love. I'd like to see more of that around the world, but first I must change myself.

On Tuesday, I went to an organization called Flatlanders. It is a community living place for people on the verge of homelessness and on certain days, it is a drop in centre. That morning I hung out with some of the people at the drop in and we just talked and had lunch together. The rest of the day was filled with dusting, cutting vegetables, and talking to people who live there. It was cool to see their experiences, where they were in life and what brought them to Flatlanders. For some, it was a way of getting back on their feet, for others they wanted to see what Flatlanders was all about and moved in as a student (some were even Outtatown alumni). It was such a blessing to spend the day there.

 

Wednesday I went to a place called Siloam Missions. It is a soup kitchen, emergency shelter and also has transitional housing. Since I couldn't work in the kitchen because of my leg, Luke (another guy on my site who has crutches) and I spent the day with the people in the drop in. I met some pretty amazing people. This one guy, James, could shuffle cards like nobody's business. A local artist, who has done some murals for the city of Winnipeg, drew an eagle on my cast. And I had lunch with two guys, one from Nova Scotia, the other from West Africa. It was another beautiful day were I got to just learn new things about the world without even having to stand up. There is so much diversity in our country, I don't think we even realize it. We can just go to our next door neighbour or the homeless man living on the streets and learn about their experiences and in turn learn so much about the world and The Lord.

 

Wednesday evening we headed back to Camp Arnes in Gimli and Thursday and Friday were service days here. Luke and I, the gimps, spent our two days in the kitchen. The kitchen staff is awesome here so it was a fun couple of days. We rolled cutlery, made cookies and lots of other food. 

Last night we had a worship night around the campfire which was lots of fun.

Today has been our free day and I had a two hour nap. It was fantastic. My leader Jon is AMAZING!!! (he edited my blog for me and added this)

This up coming week we are having Nathan Rieger come in to speak to us. I'm really looking forward to it. This is my last week before Thanksgiving Homestay Weekend. I can't wait to go home. But I feel like I'm going to miss my new family so much! 
 

(My small group out for some Thai)





























(Nap time for the two gimps)