STM 2006 HIGH LEVEL/BUSHE ALBERTA!!!!
Wooooooooo!!! This past week was possibly the best ever. Going into this week was insane.. and I mean insane! We weren't ready at all and our plans were completely off. We thought we would be going to run seminars on being a youth worker, and do some short vbs on the side, perhaps a visitation or two on the side. Uh nope. Seminars were not in the agenda (since no one showed up), but instead God used the preparation for the seminars in a way to equip us. It's funny, because we prayed before going to High Level for God to equip us for the trip. And of course He did.

Anyway... who went: this may make no sense...
Auntie YY or YY: our chosen leader, master of story telling and rapping.
Joel: Games man. Aka Joel Jerkface. Driver number 2
Aaron: Oh man.. aaron chow, you crack me up. Who else would suggest sleeping bag jenga?
Jordan: oh those still frame violent movies are the best...:) And who else could fit in the trunk.
Nate: Driver number 3... x about a billion. what would we all do without you? and your knitting?
Eliora: thankgoodness you came!! Besides calling Nathan weaksauce, she is suspect of wearing snowpants for pjs.
Naomi: who would be me.
Chris aka Moos: John's adopted brother, driver number 1. Black fingernails ... *flick flick, flick flick*

Well the plan was to do seminars each morning, but that was quickly thrown out the window.. so each morning we either hung around the house, drove out to assumption, went on a prayer walk.. pretty cool stuff. next comes lunch.. then comes VBS!!! My Favourite!! This is what you need energy for oh man. Each day we would drive around the Bushe reserve and pick up kids, say 15-20? and pack them as much as possible into the astro van, courtesy of Nate and Jordan. Drive back to the Bushe youth center, and play games (do you love your neighbor was a favourite), sing insane songs with nate and chris moos (he would jump around on one foot, while spinning, playing guitar and singing, and sometimes throwing in an action or two), have a story with Auntie YY, and then do crafts!! It's funny how much the kids love to bead. It was really cool to get to know those kids, and to see some of them accept Christ at the end of the week!

After VBS, it was back to the women's shelter where we stayed in High Level. Cook, eat, and then head out again to pick up the kids again and take them to the park or watch a movie. I have never enjoyed playing in a park as much as I did that week. After the park, drive them all home again, and go home and stay up till 2am fooling around and laughing.

Thats just the surface of our week, though. It was a powerful week...I saw so much of God working that week, it was insane. Answered prayers flowing in, meeting awesome people that God provided for us for encouragement (and also so we wouldnt starve..) I think the biggest thing that I saw happen this week was the JOY that we all found. Our team of 8 was a truely joyful team.. there was hardly a moment where one of us wasn't laughing our heads off, and like auntie yy said, I don't think I've ever laughed so much in one week. Auntie YY also mentioned that she doesnt think she has ever prayed so much in one week, and our team saw how powerful prayer really was.
One story: We decided to go on a prayer walk, and we prayed for the homeless of High Level. After a couple of minutes, we look around and see 4 homeless people. We say hi, start chatting and find out that one of the women's sons just got out of prison. We pray for her and ask her to come back with us to the Women's shelter for lunch and to use the phone. She agrees and we stop off at a playground to meet up with the rest of our team. We sit and she starts to tell us about her life... the hardships and struggles that shocked me.. we get a chance to really pray hard for her and with her. Through that, she experienced the power of prayer. God is good!

It's sad to be back home. I miss the kids; I think everyone does. I think we all want to go back too. Next summer.