I tried to e-mial this out, but it never left :(
Hello!
Attached are 2 separate updates; one from me and one written on behalf of the team!
Thanks for all your support, prayers and encouragement. I love being here, but knowing that you guys are rooting for me back home makes all the difference, I really appreciate it.
God bless
Rosie
From ME:
Dear Friends,
Things have been going great since I last wrote to you! Lots of great things have been happening again with both youth work and with Pais.
I was thrilled to see the KLC website up and running, its great to be able to hear what is happening back home, and be able to listen to some familiar voices.
Below is a schedule of what my Pais week looks like (check out the post):
The schools work is going really well. On Monday and Wednesdays we get the chance to help students at Eric Hambur with their homework, and we are already starting to build relationships with the students! We start a lunch time club in Simon Fraser on Tuesday lunch, and we start in Lord Byng on Thursday after school with a café which is exciting. So far I haven’t been into U-Hill yet, because on a Wednesday I do youth work with Tom and we don’t start on Friday lunchtimes until the New Year.
I have started attending a pastorate every other Tuesday, and home group on the Thursdays that im not at pastorate. Im looking forward, to being able to have the chance to, grow and develop spiritually in these. Its also a great chance to get to know people, as the pastorate is part of Utown and the home group in part of PGCC.
Youth at PGCC is really flowing; we are starting to bring up real practical issues and having some good debates. I can already see growth, in the short time I’ve been here, and im looking forward to doing some childcare duties with some of the girls tomorrow night at the CD release party. On Friday night Tanis, Kris and I shared our testimonies and it was a really special time; I loved watching God work as we spoke! Tanis is organising a penny drive for the youth, so we can do something practical in the community, and its great to see how the youth are getting on board, and hopefully as we get the church involved too, it will highlight the youth and how we can unite with the church body to have an impact on the society around us.
Last week on Wednesday we had a lot of rain, so we woke up on Thursday there was a water advisory and water a dirt brown. The water is still cloudy and the advisory still in place so we are still drinking bottled water. When we boiled filtered water yesterday the bottom of the pan had a thick layer on it, so its looking like it will be in place for a while.
Im getting on really well with Anne and Dennis, and we have some great laughs about the food – they have salad with everything; and by salad I mean lettuce, honey, goats cheese and cranberries! I’ve heard some weird stories about marshmallow, jelly and pine nut salad with turkey, which they eat at Christmas, so im glad to be coming home!
Im looking forward to returning at Christmas, although it looks like im going to be busy, it’s going to be great to catch up. When I return back to Canada in January and Paul Gibbs the director comes up, we will be discussing about who’s staying for the next year on Pais, and jobs will be offered. I’ve been thinking and praying about this, and im strongly feeling that I will return to Canada for another year on Pais.
Prayer Points:
• More favour with the students and the schools
• Denai (she keeps getting sick)
• Youth group as we journey together.
God bless
Rosie Honeywell
From the TEAM:
Good morning!!
I wanted to send out another email to update you all on what has been happening here for us on the Westside.
Before I say anything else too....we just wanted to recognise that all these amazing things and opportunities that have been coming our way have been from the Lord and His building of His Kingdom. It is so so exciting for us to be a part of what is happening here! There are so many things coming our way, and its totally because of Him and what He is doing.
So on Monday saw us at Lord Byng High School for our final planning meeting, and we discussed a start date for our Café. Ms Taddei felt that a lunch club would be another club too many for the students to attend, so she suggested that we shift it to an after school café that runs for just over an hour. The aim of the club is to have a place for students to connect with each other and the outside of the community, which fulfils a part of the schools new growth plan. They want to see more connections with the outside community, and the Principle said that what we were discussing with her to do was perfect. We start Thursday the 30th of November, and our advertising in the school starts this coming Monday.
We had a meeting with Simon Fraser and the Grade 7 Students to find out what it is they want us to do with them on a lunch time. We had many a comical answer, including one that went ‘well not one of us is fundamentally the same, so the diversity means that we cannot find one common ground’ most of the students giggled, and I suggested that he could help co-ordinate the club with us………so we shall wait and see how that one turns out. Some kids suggested skiing, and kicking a can around, but on the whole we should be seeing activities such as hip-hop dancing (anyone know any grooves?) and possibly some movie watching (although I think its quite hard to find decent movies that are suitable anymore….) And a chance for students to get off campus for an hour to have some time to themselves to hang out. We are looking to start next Tuesday lunchtime.
Yesterday was our first homework club at University Hill, and we had a total amount of 0 students. This is a new thing for U Hill to start, and with a turn out like that, Ms Heines, the sponser teacher, suggested we just stick to our games club on a Wednesday and starting a games ‘mini’ in January to get to know the students and then we can go from there in terms of getting the students to a homework class. She also said that there may well be no scope for it at all because the kids generally just want to get out of school, and some go home to a tutor. Their main need may just be some positive role models in their lives.
The mini that starts in January is another afternoon hour of games, the aim being to get to know the students, and in the words of Ms Heines herself shift them over to your place. The teachers and Principle, when they asked us about our social programs we have at Church, loved our Friday Night Café and expressed an interest in inviting their students. They also suggested that we hold the mini in our youth area after getting to know the students well. Which is really quite exciting…………………
Eric Hamber is going really well. We had a cancellation last week due to power failure at the school, but Mondays’ after school session started with a large group of Bio 12 students learning about Cell Structure. And I got down to work with solving some algebraic equations. I was also lent a Math 9 textbook to brush up on my skills…….which I really enjoyed!! And yes, I did spend an hour that evening doing algebra, and I actually loved it. Hehehe…
Anyway. That is where we are at for now. If you would like to join us in prayer, here are a few things we are praying for at the moment:
-Relationship with schools to continue to grow. I’d love to see really good friendships forming with both students and teachers.
-Our team as we desire to continue to grow closer and become more and more united. Unity is so powerful and such a witness to others about God’s love and character….
-For our personal eternal perspectives as we really start getting to know students and have opportunities to speak into their lives.
If you want to talk more about anything, feel free to call or email anytime.
Bless you all so much
Amy, Denai and Rosie.
