Camp Hill Outreach

This morning we were able to get some sleep - we didn't have our normal routine. So we went and got some shopping done - I am sure you all are now experiencing your stuff. Hope they shopped well.
But the afternoon was dedicated to sharing Jesus very publicly to this crowd. It was a day where the kids we hung out with all week were able to bring their parent/guardian so it was deemed a family day. Lots of people showed up. We were doing a program. So Taylor lead the songs, we did 4 dramas, we had Jazmyne and Candra share their testimonies and once again did very well. There were games, and food - we made poutine (which none of them had ever had) they were a hit. Huge thanks to Torry and Holly. Also Jarius a friend of mine from Spain came and joined us, a chef from Spain, he helped out in the kitchen.
But this day was about Jesus, and leaving that message. The amazing part was that our students led kids to Jesus personally, I think this was a big deal. Josh personally led this boy to Jesus - Cory - an amazing kid. Our last 2 days, we were seeing people giving their lives to Jesus. WOW.
The kids even made us a gift, which we will hang in the church. A banner to remind us of ministry in Camp Hill. Walking in there at the beginning of the week, it was different and difficult. But Jesus really opened the doors and we saw some amazing results.
After this event we were officially done our ministry aspect of England. We went to Ronnie and Janelle's house for one last team dinner - so good. Then everyone went home early that night to pack, and hang out with host families. We had an early morning the next day heading to London.

AWAKEN

Well our whole week has been geared for this day. Sorry it took me so long to get this but our last few days in England were very busy and internet free. But I will do my best to fill in the blanks.
Anyway, this was our last day for Create (Dance/Drama) and sports ministry. We had an awesome last day. Janelle shared her testimony with the sports crew and shared on her deathly allergies and how it relates to her relationship with God - very impressed. We were preparing everyone for the night event Awaken - done at the church - evangelistic in style. In the afternoon, although not in our original schedule was a trip to Warrick Castle - they convinced Ronnie to find us a driver to take us. So we spent the afternoon there checking our something older than our nation. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. History is very intriguing and this was no shortfall.
Then it was showtime - All of our relationship building through the week was directed to this night where we could speak Jesus with no hindrances. As a leadership team we chose Joselyne to host the night in an MC format with Chris the youth pastor from the church. We also chose Letitia to be the one student to share her testimony with the whole crowd. Her story we felt was the one that could reach a non-Christian crowd - and she speaks very well. Needless to say she did amazing. Got a great response from those who were there. She was fantastic on the trip, I am glad we chose her for this chance. From here our team did a dance they were working on all week. Preparations for this dance didn't go as planned but the team committed the night before to get it accomplished and they delivered so well, very proud of them. You can even see Shawnee in this picture, boy was I impressed with her. She was strecthed tons in this process.
Our team also performed a couple of other dramas, and then Matt and Janelle did the Heart Drama for me at the end of my message. As you can see the theme of the night was LOVE. So as far as the heart was concerned, it was a fitting drama for them to do.So much hard work really paid of for us as a team on this night. We had a tremdous result that night as teenagers made decisions for Jesus for the very first time. This is what it is all about. I cannot express how I felt at the end of this night. A year of accomplishment, study and desire came down to this. And they brought it!! The comments I received from their leadership, volunteer base, and students was overwhelming. Everyone loved our team and what we were able to bring. I just love that we saw salvation and incredible growth in our own students. Praise God. We needed to take a team picture, so we did. But there is still one more day to go.

Hi Everyone! Its Holly here today -- just filling in for Pastor Shawn on the blog today.

We had a truly fantastic day yesterday. As far as activities go, the morning started off as per usual -- half the team went to the sports camp in the morning, while the rest of us stayed for drama and dance at the church. The difference today, was the time we spent as a team prior to breaking off into our groups. The Lord met with us as a team. Through his word and prayer, the Lord challenged us to be strengthened and renewed and to take the opportunities He'll provide to share His love with others. We were especially challenged to do this, not just through our actions but through our words. And with this, we started our day...


DANCE SESSION:
The vision of the dance sessions this week was to host a dance camp for unchurched kids and put on a big production at the end of the week where friends and family could attend. The students have been working hard all week to prepare for the production. I have personally watched Carly, Ashton, Jocelyn, Latitia, Taylor, and Candra through each day of dance. They have been stretched, and sweated -- and taken the opportunities to share the love of Christ as they work alongside other students to create this dance production. Its awesome! Props to Jocelyn for stepping up and teaching dance for a portion of the morning.

Its hard to believe its already Friday and the production is happening tonight. Pastor Shawn will have the opportunity to share the gospel message with all the families who attend. Please be praying for him today!

SPORTS CAMP:
The team working the sports camp this week have been fantastic. They've played relentlessly all week. I had no idea playing could be so hard! Actually, they've had to be very creative with their sports because they haven't had all the right equipment. In addition, the heat in the school hasn't been on due to underground construction in the area -- but they have been troopers and it has paid off. They have built great relationships with kids, teenagers, and even some moms in the area. This is exciting because they have been building a bridge between the community and the church.

CAMP HILL:
In the afternoon, we were off to Camp Hill to spend time with the local kids and serve the finest in Canadian Cuisine -- Hot Dogs grilled on the George Foreman! Before heading to Camp Hill we stopped for lunch at a Chinese Buffet! The food was awesome -- and we took full advantage of the 'all you can eat.' We were stuffed -- except for Matt who seems to have a hollow leg. He was first in line for Hot Dogs upon arriving at Camp Hill.


We were in Camp Hill for only a few hours, but God opened many doors for our student team to be a witness. Taylor shared her testimony -- it was very moving and it set the tone for the rest of the evening. I've heard stories from Josh, Jasmine, and Candra about opportunities they had to share about Jesus -- I'm sure there were many more.


Its obvious that God is working in the lives of each person on our team! Please keep praying for us. We still have a few that are struggling with cold and flu. Taylor stayed home again today to rest; Carly is spending a lot of time resting; and a few others are extremely tired and suffering from cold symptoms. We know that the enemy wants to hinder the work that God has given us to do, so please pray along with us for health and strength to make every day count!

Villa, Villa, Villa

Another day has come and gone now. And our routine is very similar every day, but different stories evolve in them. But the great part is that our whole team was back together again. Taylor and Carly joined us. Holly joined us later in the day. Shawnee and Letitia brought the testimonies today to the students, and like everyone else did a great job. I really love how attentive these students are when listening to their stories. The cool part is that our students are doing their testimonies non-verbatum. They are leaving their notes behind and just flowing with whatever God brings back to mind with what they wrote in the beginning.
Our morning sessions are developing quite nicely. We even had a mom from the community come and play football with us. The best part is she was so aggressive, not backing down to any male on the floor. She would be knocked down, but would get back up. She even scored the game tying goal on Micah. Please ask him about that. The cool part is that her son was playing with us - a mother/son tandem.
This afternoon we went back into Camp Hill to distribute the last of the flyers. This is our bus ride getting over there. You can see you noticed.This picture shows the land scape but it is only a minor part. This area is much more larger. We had some time doing acts of service for their community. We picked up garbage and kids who we have made relationship with showed up to help us do this. That is very unique.
I was able to get the camera out today, but still need to be discreet in it. It is sensitive especially when children are around because of legalities within families.
The Chess Center is where our home base is when it comes to Camp Hill. It is where we play sports, make food, and hang out. A multi-million dollar facility, which is barely touched by the community - very weird situation. But this is where we spend our afternoons.
And then it was off to Brimingham in the evening where we would all witness one of the most amazing events in our lives - a European Football Match. This blew the doors off of any Canadian hockey team and its fans. 40,000 people, all singing, cursing everything under the sun when the play didn't go their way. It was sensory overload - I loved it and so did all of our students. The funny part was all of their singing was to church hymns, nursery rythmes and holiday songs. They of course create their own lyrics, we even had the song When the Villa Go Marching In. The team was Aston Villa - the only Premiereship Team that sponsors a Christain organization (very unheard of). Anyway our team decided to buy lots of Villa sports stuff.
We then headed home to bed.
Pray: We are past day 4 which means we should be losing our fatigue factor, so they say. So everyone seems to be coming around. But pray for attitude and attack of the enemy. We recognized our defenses were down yesterday - and it showed in us. We have been walking through the armor of God in church, maybe pray along those lines. Have a great day, talk to you tomorrow.

Best Day of Ministry so far . . . . .

Today was an amazing day of ministry. We went on with our normal routine in the morning, doing dance/drama and sports. Today was stronger in numbers for sports, which was a real encouragement to those involved. But us Canadians were introduced to the game the English call Football - the game where actually use your feet, not arms!! We call it soccer. But these guys are good. We would rule at hockey, well they rule at football. It is funny when an 8 year old kid is running circles around us.
It was lots of fun. We look forward to playing, it is growing on us. Meanwhile back at the church our dance/drama team was in form. We were minus Carly and Taylor as they took the day off to sleep and recover. As I write this, they are back with us this morning. Still not 100% but feeling better. Our students are having lots of fun with the dance component, which I am glad for.
Joselyne and Jazmyne shared their testimonies today and did a fantastic job. Students are very attentive when they talk and enjoy their stories.
In the afternoon session we went back to Camp Hill - we rented a center in this project where we had a gym a games room of sorts and a kitchen. As soon as we arrived their were students waiting for us because of our advertisement the day before. They were lined up at the doors, trying t break in which is a big NO-NO there. Anyway, when we get ready to go, kids just stream in. The idea for this day was to have a football game, other gym games. We would teach dance, do crafts and cook a Canadian meal - which was pancakes. Everyone loved it, the staff at the center encouraged us not to get our hopes high, and saying that no respect would be given. You should have seen their demeanor after we were done, they couldn't believe what they witnessed. It was awesome. And the staff even liked the pancakes. As well as the kids, they came back several times for more. Thanks to Holly and Torry for prepping everything.
But throughout the afternoon we played with the kids, got to know them. Several of our students shared testimonies to the crowds, and they sat their with full attention. It really was great. Students hung around until we had to kick them out. We go back Thursday to do a similar day, we can't wait to go back.
And then tonight we were all taken to a Pub to eat our meal. We would liken it to a local restaurant so hopefully Charmaine didn't just fall off her chair. The meal was great. Many of our students went with the staple meal of Cheeseburger - something familiar.
Prayer: Still strength. Couple more people not feeling well this morning. Fatigue and jet lag aren't helping.

Create and Camp Hill

Day 3 - This is the heart of our opportunity here. Every morning we have linked with a ministry called Create. They work in the local school system teaching dance and drama. So 8 of our team are helping in making Create work. The end goal is an event that happens this Friday called Awaken. It is an event where all the students who have participated through the week come and participate in the spiritual end of things. It is a service where I will speak, and our team will perform their dramas and share testimonies.
So for 3 hours in the morning they are in rigorous training in dance and drama. We have partnered with their leadership, and Torry is taking the lead on our part. Ashton is the only guy involved with dance, and all the girls from England are enjoying that!!
The other half of the team is just down the road running a sports camp of sorts. Micah is our key leader on this one. Students from church and community are coming to play the Canadians in sports, it is a great chance to build relationships. This is a branch of Create that they have never done before. Again the goal is to push students towards the Friday event. Everett and Jazmyne went and canvassed the area with Ronnie which is why I don't have a specific picture of them today.
Carly and Josh each shared their testimony to the the crowds in both events. They did an awesome job sharing where they have come from, what God has done with them, and what He means to them. I was very proud of them for what they did.
In the afternoons we are going to a community 10 minutes away called Camp Hill. It is what we would call a Project. Run down, lower income, and alcohol and drugs everywhere. A picture you typically wouldn't think of in England (for the most part). We were instructed not to take cameras to this location yesterday, but that tomorrow we would talk further on it, so sorry for no pictures on this.
But what we did to start in Camp Hill was walking around picking garbage for a couple of hours. People everywhere were inquisitive on what was going on, who we were, so it opened many chances for us to talk. We encountered several children and students yesterday and they just wanted to hang out. So we told them all about the Canadians who will be in Camp Hill all week, to come out tomorrow and eat some Canadian food and maybe challenge us to some football (soccer).
Then in the evening we did a prayer walk around the community and distributed flyers with Christian content into several hundred homes. When evening struck the demeanor of the area changed. Spiritually speaking, it just became unruly, rude, it was an eye opener to say the least.
We finished the night by having a staple English meal - fish and chips. It was awesome.
Please pray - Taylor is pretty sick, run down - today she is taking the day off to sleep, drink fluids and relax. The home she is in - they are doctors, so she is in good care. But we also have 3 other girls in there, Carly has not been feeling well also. So pray for health, we need it. And sleep, the adjustment is has been harder than I think for our students.
And pray for our involvement in Camp Hill, like I said it really is unlike anything we have in Saskatoon, even when compared to the Westside. Will report tomorrow!!

First 2 Days in England

Well we arrived in England after a very long day. Several of our students lead the way by not choosing to sleep - especially Carly and Letitia. And boy were they giddy!! It was a great flight, no problems whatsoever. We were able to eat, sleep, and relax.
We arrived in London at 10:30am on Feb.14th - Valentine's Day. Never thought I would share Valentine's with 12 students, but I did. When we arrived we had some lunch, then started our training session lead by Ronnie and Chris (local youth pastor). During this time, we were getting sleepy, so they decided to stop and take us for a walk. It was very much needed. The temp had been around 10 degrees, warmer than home. Great to be outside walking. We went into downtown Bedworth. We came back to the church and finished our debriefing. Our schedule is very full!!
That night we had Valentine's supper together - we were taken to an Indian restaurant and had a fantastic meal. The senior pastor and his wife from the church came with us, so it was great getting to speak with him. But through the course of the dinner our team was all fading fast. It was kinda funny to see. Needless to say, sleep was needed, so we called it a night because Sunday was coming.
Sunday was jam packed with stuff. Our team lead all the kids ministry that morning, 2 different groups. Taylor lead worship and did fantastic. Other team members helped with teaching and games. These kids from England are so well behaved Candra said, we just wanted one of them to be naughty for a moment. Funny. As they lead with kids, Torry and I had the opportunity to be in the main service. Torry lead some worship with their team - as he did a special and then continued with them. I was able to bring some thoughts to the congregation, it was a great service for sure.
After this, our host families came and joined us for lunch, a smorgasbord, good to meet with them and get to know them better. Ashton and Everett love their host home, they were fed bacon and eggs and bragged to everyone.
Then we practised the afternoon away - because that night I lead worship with some of our team and others from the church. We lead a youth/young adult service. Micah brought the Word, and did amazing. Our students performed dramas, ministered at the altar, and sang. Then to conclude the night, we ate pizza and drank soda, and ate crisps (chips).
But we are tired, still adjusting, but having a great time. Will log in later with more report.