hey, amman jordan's pretty good. i'm safe and well. we went to petra, one of the 7 wonders of the world, as they carved their trading center city into the rock... it's absolutely amazing. 50 meter tall buildings, carved out of rock, in 1BC... amazing. we also went to a Wadi (valley), by the city called "Wadi Rum" and stayed the night under the desert stars. it's amazing.
i'm off to thailand on the 7th. so soon! thanks for all your prayers and support.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
on the run
hey everyone. first of all, i miss you guys. i hope that school and work and home and play is all going well back in (mainly) canada. anyways, things are pretty good. i'm in tel aviv, israel leaving for jordan tomorrow. the whole thai visa thing is annoying as the visas that i wanted didn't work out. the businness visa has too much red tape behind it to even see it, so i'll just be going on a tourist visa and then, if i take any thai classes i could get a different visa with it. the only thing is that it costs quite a bit of money, and it also depends if it is worth learning thai for the time that i will be there, as it will only be 1/2 a year as things are looking right now. but, anyways, i would love your prayers on clarification of what i should do in that regards, and as i travel jordan for safety and a great time!
love all of you
p.s. i just got facebook, so if you want to look me up, please do!
love all of you
p.s. i just got facebook, so if you want to look me up, please do!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
israel.
israel is amazing. it seems as though i've seen so much and been so busy trying to take everything in... it's been so great. we were in tel aviv for the first couple of days and then since that the rubber has hit the road in jerusalem. we've been to the dead sea, the mount of beatitudes, the (two spots) of Christ crucifiction, down the "via delarosa" (the walk that Jesus took with the cross), shindler's grave (from shindler's list), and so much else. it's just so amazing to be here. everytime i think about it i just can't believe it. it's been a dream and a desire of mine so long, and i never fully thought that it could happen... and now here i am. thank-you Lord. it's just absolutely mindblowing. thank-you all so much for your support throughout this whole time. your prayers have guided and allowed me to come this far. they mean so much to me, and just the thoughts and the cares you have for me are so great. i want to thank-you all from the bottom of my heart. and to remember that my thoughts are with you and i really care about all of you. thanks.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
cambodia down!
hey everyone! things are good out here in Cambodia. we were working with a church, teaching english for the first week. it was good, although i got sick the first couple of days.
the next week we were working with an organization called "Campuse Crusade". We basically would talk to different students about what they beleived and everything. it was probably the most challenging ministry time ever, because i was sick and because i find that ministry kind of frustrating at times.
and today we went to Angkor Wat... it was amazing. it was 6 hrs. drive from Phnom Phen, but it was alright. it was totally worth it!
anyways, i gtg. but, i'm meeting the people that i am going to hopefully stay with in Thailand in 2 days, so that is rather stressful. and, then we are meeting the rest of the school in about a week. so, it's all closing in to an end so fast. so, i kinda am getting nervous about the whole thing, but i know that it'll all work out and be okay.
i actually just bought my ticket for thailand! it is official, i'm actually going.
the next week we were working with an organization called "Campuse Crusade". We basically would talk to different students about what they beleived and everything. it was probably the most challenging ministry time ever, because i was sick and because i find that ministry kind of frustrating at times.
and today we went to Angkor Wat... it was amazing. it was 6 hrs. drive from Phnom Phen, but it was alright. it was totally worth it!
anyways, i gtg. but, i'm meeting the people that i am going to hopefully stay with in Thailand in 2 days, so that is rather stressful. and, then we are meeting the rest of the school in about a week. so, it's all closing in to an end so fast. so, i kinda am getting nervous about the whole thing, but i know that it'll all work out and be okay.
i actually just bought my ticket for thailand! it is official, i'm actually going.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
thailand in a nutshell...
hey everyone.
okay, here's what has happened lately... we've been here for about two and a half weeks right now, and it was so great!
first we were helping with the Thailand YWAM confrence by looking after their children. this was very nice. i loved the children, and fell in love with a couple of them... only to leave them a few days later. there was a girl, named Ann, who was not very impressed to be there in the beginning. she was not participating, and when i tried to talk to her, she would just glare @ me. but, the next day, we actually hit it off. i would hang out with her a lot, because there were quite a bit of workers for the amount of children, so there was time for one on one interaction. we hit it off. she would draw what i would draw. we did everything together, even though she wanted to be very independant.
it was also a nice break as we were in a nice hotel and i met a lot of amazing contact people for thailand. i am almost certain that i will be coming back to thailand now after my DTS. it seems rather intense as the people that i have contacted to work with in thailand still haven't given me the total okay, but it seems rather promising. i am not worried at all about it, i am actually amazingly at peace about it. but, prayers would always be helpful in knowing the certain direction where God is leading me, and that i would be submissive to his calling.
what else? after the confrence in Chaing Rai we went to a neighboring city called Chaing Mai and stayed with our leaders friends. our leaders, nate and wendy green, had stayed in thailand for 1/2 a year a while back, and stayed near this missionary couple. the 3 days that we stayed there were amazing. it was very relaxing as it was our holiday time. we actually had time to go and ride elephants and go river rafting on a bamboo raft! it was something absolutley unreal. i went on the neck of the elephant and guided it for a while... so cool!
after that we were off to a small town called Mea Sau to work with an organization called "Akha Training Center". there are 430 Akha children here. the Akha people are a displaced people group who have no rights anywhere. they can not go to school, get a job, or go to a hospital. because of this they can get into prostiution, or drugs or something else just to make any money. so this organization takes them out of these troubled spots, and allows them to get a better education and real life. the children were amazing. we taught some english as well as did some practical work. i loved all of it, even though the living conditions were quite different... anyways, i love you all and miss you too.
okay, here's what has happened lately... we've been here for about two and a half weeks right now, and it was so great!
first we were helping with the Thailand YWAM confrence by looking after their children. this was very nice. i loved the children, and fell in love with a couple of them... only to leave them a few days later. there was a girl, named Ann, who was not very impressed to be there in the beginning. she was not participating, and when i tried to talk to her, she would just glare @ me. but, the next day, we actually hit it off. i would hang out with her a lot, because there were quite a bit of workers for the amount of children, so there was time for one on one interaction. we hit it off. she would draw what i would draw. we did everything together, even though she wanted to be very independant.
it was also a nice break as we were in a nice hotel and i met a lot of amazing contact people for thailand. i am almost certain that i will be coming back to thailand now after my DTS. it seems rather intense as the people that i have contacted to work with in thailand still haven't given me the total okay, but it seems rather promising. i am not worried at all about it, i am actually amazingly at peace about it. but, prayers would always be helpful in knowing the certain direction where God is leading me, and that i would be submissive to his calling.
what else? after the confrence in Chaing Rai we went to a neighboring city called Chaing Mai and stayed with our leaders friends. our leaders, nate and wendy green, had stayed in thailand for 1/2 a year a while back, and stayed near this missionary couple. the 3 days that we stayed there were amazing. it was very relaxing as it was our holiday time. we actually had time to go and ride elephants and go river rafting on a bamboo raft! it was something absolutley unreal. i went on the neck of the elephant and guided it for a while... so cool!
after that we were off to a small town called Mea Sau to work with an organization called "Akha Training Center". there are 430 Akha children here. the Akha people are a displaced people group who have no rights anywhere. they can not go to school, get a job, or go to a hospital. because of this they can get into prostiution, or drugs or something else just to make any money. so this organization takes them out of these troubled spots, and allows them to get a better education and real life. the children were amazing. we taught some english as well as did some practical work. i loved all of it, even though the living conditions were quite different... anyways, i love you all and miss you too.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
flippin islands!
hey everyone! things are pretty good here in the philippian islands. we are about to leave tomorrow, so we had to cram a couple of cultural things in before we went.
first things first, we just came back from being on a small island, in a "town" called Cawilan (which had electricity, amazingly enough!). it was awesome. we stayed with a couple (Arnel and his wife Dandan) and their 2 children (Davie and Daniel). we helped them with ministry times that they had, which included going to a neighboring town (on a different island) called Opong. here they are trying to reach out to the town as they do not have any biblical base. they actually have a lot in the area for a church eventually. they have been reaching to the Opong town for 2 years now, making significant progress. there is a lot of spritual warfare in the area, and this was probably the most challenging time spiritually so far.
the time in the islands was very challenging, but amazing to experience. the first day i was there i became rather sick, and i am almost back up to par now. there was no running water in the house, and also no fans. we were in the heat of the day, and the heat of the night. i slept on the ground (on my sleeping mat)... it was just really different then the other places we have been now. but, we were really able to become apart of the culture through the family experience as well as the food and such. it was really an amazing time.
anyways, back to our recent cultural experiences... i ate balut yesturday. if you don't know what balut is, i will try to explain without almost puking! it is a baby duck or chicken (duck in this case) which, in filipino culture, is cooked before hatched and eaten like this. i ate half of it... but i did it! it was so intense. that's about as far as i can go culturally man! we also had some halahala today which is some type of crushed ice with jellys and other fruit and vegetables and powdered milk... it's a filipino dessert, which is very different... but good to experience.
the time here was very good, but hard at the same time. it was spritually challenging and physically challenging, but very productive. thank-you all so much for your prayers.
first things first, we just came back from being on a small island, in a "town" called Cawilan (which had electricity, amazingly enough!). it was awesome. we stayed with a couple (Arnel and his wife Dandan) and their 2 children (Davie and Daniel). we helped them with ministry times that they had, which included going to a neighboring town (on a different island) called Opong. here they are trying to reach out to the town as they do not have any biblical base. they actually have a lot in the area for a church eventually. they have been reaching to the Opong town for 2 years now, making significant progress. there is a lot of spritual warfare in the area, and this was probably the most challenging time spiritually so far.
the time in the islands was very challenging, but amazing to experience. the first day i was there i became rather sick, and i am almost back up to par now. there was no running water in the house, and also no fans. we were in the heat of the day, and the heat of the night. i slept on the ground (on my sleeping mat)... it was just really different then the other places we have been now. but, we were really able to become apart of the culture through the family experience as well as the food and such. it was really an amazing time.
anyways, back to our recent cultural experiences... i ate balut yesturday. if you don't know what balut is, i will try to explain without almost puking! it is a baby duck or chicken (duck in this case) which, in filipino culture, is cooked before hatched and eaten like this. i ate half of it... but i did it! it was so intense. that's about as far as i can go culturally man! we also had some halahala today which is some type of crushed ice with jellys and other fruit and vegetables and powdered milk... it's a filipino dessert, which is very different... but good to experience.
the time here was very good, but hard at the same time. it was spritually challenging and physically challenging, but very productive. thank-you all so much for your prayers.
Friday, July 20, 2007
missing you
hi everyone. i just wanted to say hi. i hope that you are all doing well. i miss you a lot. although things are going well out here, my heart still reaches across the oceans to all of you. especially the family. i hope that you're enjoying the strawberry milkshakes and long days on the fields... the pizza fridays and the numerous family gatherings. and for the friends... i hope that you're enjoying the concerts (no matter how awkward they may be), the new adventures, and the long summer days. miss you guys!
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