Today we got some exciting news. We finally got in touch with the long-term missionary couple in Portugal. After almost a month of trying to get in touch with them, we finally heard something and as a result we finally got some details about Portugal.
We will be living in the city of Portugal. The guys will be billeted out by a Christian Portugese family with 2 teenage boys. Us girls will be living in a 2 bedroom apartment close to the guys (about a 15 min walk away) where our apartment will also function as a meeting place for the team and where we will eat all of our meals. I'm kind of excited about being able to cook our own meals and eating whatever we want. Our apartment is located across the street from a grocery store and we have internet access in our apartment - yahoo!
Temperatures in Portugal are not all that warm. On average between the months of November and June, temperatures range from 10-21 degrees celcius. There is no such thing as indoor heat in our apartment, so it has been recommended that we bring sweaters to wear around the apartment and to bring along slippers. Weather is similar to that of Vancouver, so it's not too bad, but it definitely won't be a shorts and tank top kind of climate.
From what we know at this point, we will be working alongside another missionary couple in Porgtugal in a church plant. Their youth and young adult ministry is big there, so we will be doing stuff in that area. Exact details of that are unknown at this point.
Our first month once we arrive will be focused mostly language training so that we will be able to communicate with the locals more easily. I'm on the hunt this weekend for a Portugese language book.
I think those are all of the details that we know that this point in time. We as a team are definitely getting more excited about going now that we have a bit more information about what life might look like once we get there. It's starting to feel more real. We are pretty much down to 2 weeks until our departure date and we are beaming with excitement - the nervousness might set in just before we leave or once we get there (or at least it might for me). But for the moment, I am just going run with the excitement.
Peace.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Prayer Requests
1. Our entire Trek community has been under the weather these last 2 weeks. Tis the season for colds and coughs. We would appreciate prayer for health and energy. Our days are full to the max and being under the weather creates some obstacles when it comes to soaking in all of the information that is thrown at us.
2. Team Portugal has been meeting on a weekly basis, growing our relationships with each other and getting to know each other better. Please pray for team unity as we prepare to leave for Lisbon in 3 short weeks. We are desiring servant hearts. Pray that God would also be transforming our hearts and stirring up a passion in us for the people and city of Portugal.
3. Community life is challenging at the best of times. Please pray that behaviours of fellow Trekkers would not become irritating and that we would be able to love each other (I know that sounds extremely cheezy, but it's so true).
4. There are some logistics that still need to get worked out in the insurance, visa and immunization department. Please pray that there would be no hiccups in this process.
5. Our days are ridiculously full - all of good things, but full nonetheless. I am struggling to find time to think and absorb what I have taken in throughout the course of the day. I am craving more time to journal and to spend time listening to God.
6. I am realizing how much I need to spend more time knowing the bible and memorizing scripture. This is something I need to be more disciplined in.
7. Please pray for the people of Portugal - that they would be open and receptive to us being there. Pray that their hearts would be softened to hear about Jesus.
2. Team Portugal has been meeting on a weekly basis, growing our relationships with each other and getting to know each other better. Please pray for team unity as we prepare to leave for Lisbon in 3 short weeks. We are desiring servant hearts. Pray that God would also be transforming our hearts and stirring up a passion in us for the people and city of Portugal.
3. Community life is challenging at the best of times. Please pray that behaviours of fellow Trekkers would not become irritating and that we would be able to love each other (I know that sounds extremely cheezy, but it's so true).
4. There are some logistics that still need to get worked out in the insurance, visa and immunization department. Please pray that there would be no hiccups in this process.
5. Our days are ridiculously full - all of good things, but full nonetheless. I am struggling to find time to think and absorb what I have taken in throughout the course of the day. I am craving more time to journal and to spend time listening to God.
6. I am realizing how much I need to spend more time knowing the bible and memorizing scripture. This is something I need to be more disciplined in.
7. Please pray for the people of Portugal - that they would be open and receptive to us being there. Pray that their hearts would be softened to hear about Jesus.
Thank you for committing to keep me and the Trek community in your prayers.They are appreciated so much more than I could say.
A Little Review
It's been awhile since I've updated you guys on what I have been learning and how I have been growing with God. The last 2 weeks in particular have been especially intense (in a good way though). We just finished a 3 day session time with Keith Martens on Spiritual Authority. Each time I left our sessions I felt inspired and challenged to implement some new practices into my prayer life. My head is still a bit jumbled as I am still trying to sort all of this stuff out, but I'll start things off.
Simply said, we as Christians, have the authority of Jesus Christ within us to do things like heal the sick and cast out demons. I have to admit, that when I first heard these this, I thought these were things that only certain very spiritual people, gifted with this very special spiritual gift. After further exploration through discussion and looking at scripture, I am more convinced and convicted that this is something I need to practice on a more regular basis. Don't worry, I won't be walking around the streets of Winnipeg casting out evil spirits, but I feel more equipped and able to immerse myself in these kind of situations, but there are also some practical ways of making sure that you are protecting yourself when you pray. Over the last few days we had the privelege of learning to practice some of these things on a more hands on basis. It was a pretty neat experience.
Now, you might be wondering (or maybe no one is wondering, but I'll explain this a little more anyway) what makes someone think they have the authority in them to do this kind of work.
Throughout the gospels and in Acts, there are numerous examples and teachings on doing this very thing.
Mark 1:27
"Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders".
Matthew 10:1
"Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness."
Matthew 10:7
"Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received."
Acts 1:8
"But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
These are just a few of the examples that I am talking about. In each of these verses, Jesus is telling His disciples, people like you and me, that because they have the Holy Spirit living and working in them, that they have the same authority as Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but I never really thought about these verses like that before. I always assumed and was brought up to believe that it was Jesus who had the authority to do things like this, not me. My spiritual world was shaken and I'm liked it. I enjoyed the thinking outside of the box. I'm still not so sure I have the lingo down to pray this stuff, but I am learning. This is a work in progress and there is a great freedom in knowing that I have authority through Jesus Christ.
Thoughts anyone???
Simply said, we as Christians, have the authority of Jesus Christ within us to do things like heal the sick and cast out demons. I have to admit, that when I first heard these this, I thought these were things that only certain very spiritual people, gifted with this very special spiritual gift. After further exploration through discussion and looking at scripture, I am more convinced and convicted that this is something I need to practice on a more regular basis. Don't worry, I won't be walking around the streets of Winnipeg casting out evil spirits, but I feel more equipped and able to immerse myself in these kind of situations, but there are also some practical ways of making sure that you are protecting yourself when you pray. Over the last few days we had the privelege of learning to practice some of these things on a more hands on basis. It was a pretty neat experience.
Now, you might be wondering (or maybe no one is wondering, but I'll explain this a little more anyway) what makes someone think they have the authority in them to do this kind of work.
Throughout the gospels and in Acts, there are numerous examples and teachings on doing this very thing.
Mark 1:27
"Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened "What sort of new teaching is this?" they asked excitedly. "It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders".
Matthew 10:1
"Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness."
Matthew 10:7
"Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received."
Acts 1:8
"But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
These are just a few of the examples that I am talking about. In each of these verses, Jesus is telling His disciples, people like you and me, that because they have the Holy Spirit living and working in them, that they have the same authority as Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but I never really thought about these verses like that before. I always assumed and was brought up to believe that it was Jesus who had the authority to do things like this, not me. My spiritual world was shaken and I'm liked it. I enjoyed the thinking outside of the box. I'm still not so sure I have the lingo down to pray this stuff, but I am learning. This is a work in progress and there is a great freedom in knowing that I have authority through Jesus Christ.
Thoughts anyone???
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thanksgiving Weekend
It was a busy and full weekend around here this past weekend. I assumed that since we didn't have family gatherings to attend that our schedule would be full of openness, however, you know what they say when you assume things.
Saturday we had a session on Spiritual Gifts for a good chunk of the day followed by a few hours of beach volleyball out in the rain. Considering our whole Trek group has been sick this past week with colds/coughs, playing out in the rain probably wasn't the best idea, but it sure was fun!
Carla's parents invited our whole group over for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, which was very nice of them. They cooked the turkey and mashed potatoes and we were responsible for everything else. Saturday night was spent cooking and baking. It was nice to be able to do that again. I have missed being in the kitchen.
The day in Victoria rocked. Like I said, it was just nice to get out and do something new and have a change of scenery.
Saturday we had a session on Spiritual Gifts for a good chunk of the day followed by a few hours of beach volleyball out in the rain. Considering our whole Trek group has been sick this past week with colds/coughs, playing out in the rain probably wasn't the best idea, but it sure was fun!
Carla's parents invited our whole group over for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, which was very nice of them. They cooked the turkey and mashed potatoes and we were responsible for everything else. Saturday night was spent cooking and baking. It was nice to be able to do that again. I have missed being in the kitchen.
my Pumpkin Cheesecake before
my Pumpkin Cheesecake after Carla's dogs attacket it :(
No thanksgiving day is complete without a game of touch football. It unfortunately did not go over as well as we thought. Things got a little too intense/competitive (even for me) and I think it was decided that football will not be played as a large group anymore. At least, not if we want to remain friends :)
Monday we spent the day in Victoria walking around and enjoying being out of Abbotsford and the Mark Centre. We caught the 8am ferry off the mainland, which meant we were up and in cars by 6am. Thank goodness for Starbucks at the ferry terminal.
Friends.
enjoying a round of drinks at a very cool irish pub
Brad & Carla decided to scoot around Victoria for a bit. I should clarify that Brad REALLY wanted to go, but Carla was a little unsure. She finally gave in and I think enjoyed herself. She wasn't overly impressed when first getting on the scooter. She sure looked good though :)
Heidi, Rachael and I decided to do an impromptu photo shoot while Brad & Carla were off on their scooter adventure. We found some pretty neat places to take pictures around the harbour. Can you say America's Next Top Model????
To end off our time in Victoria, we had a BBQ in the park before heading off to the ferries to catch a ride back to the mainland.
stay tuned for an update on how God has been moving and working in my life and what I have been learning. I'm hoping to have that post done in the next day or so.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The Amazing Trek
It has now been appoximately 5 days since we endured an 18 hour day of pure exhaustion. I no longer feel as though I am walking with a 10 foot board between my legs, so I feel as though I can finally share about this ridiculous, yet intense, yet amazingly fun day. Every year, the Trek leadership/interns plan an Amazing Trek, which is just like the Amazing Race. We are divided up into our mission teams and we compete against the other ones. This year's teams were: Team Portugal (the best team), Team Thailand and the Global Servants (the global servants are sort of like Trekkers, but they are doing this year's mission trip as an internship for school, so it's sort of the same, but different). The day can be summed up into 1 word...INTENSE.
The day started off at 4am. The night before, staff told us that we needed to be up and ready to go for 4am. At this god-forsaken hour of the day (who knew there was a 4:00 in the morning???), teams made their way into the Great Room where we waited for approximately 2 hours before staff finally showed up. Apparently this was to illustrate and get us accustomed to other cultures where time doesn't mean as much. Point proven.
We were given various clues that made us run across the city of Abbotsford. And when I say we ran, we litterally ran. I have never run so much in my entire life.
Clue #1 - we had to go find our team bandana's in a park, which surprisingly turned out to be one of the more difficult tasks considering it was still pitch black outside when we were looking for them in a very wooded area. For example, one of our bandanas was hidden in a swampy area, where we had to trudge through the most disgusting and raunchy smelling water I have ever smelled. No one dared to put on this particular bandana. In fact, we put it in a ziplock baggie so we wouldn't have to smell it all day long. However, because we went through the water, we ended up smelly just as bad as the bandana and we smelled like this All. Day. Long.
Clue #2 We headed back to the Mark Centre (this is where we live) for a 'missionary breakfast'. We needed to select 1 member of our team to eat a 'special' breakfast. I'm not a picky eater, so I thought I might as well give this challenge a go, but to my delight I ended up getting to eat the good breakfast...corn flakes and coffee. The other members of my team were forced to eat Balout (partially developed duck embryo eggs), seaweed, a can of gluton, a can of spam, hot peppers, gross fish and some weird looking prunes. It has never been so hard for me to eat a bowl of cornflakes as I was surrounded by people vomitting at the table and outside the door. Talk about gross. I would never wish this experience on my worst enemy. In the end, we decided to take the 20min time delay in order to not finish our breakfast. That was probably the best decision we made all day!
Clue #3 Fishing gummy worms out of a bowl of chocolate pudding and rice krispies with our mouths. You can imagine what our faces looked like.
Clue #4 Running to the mall to buy some things from the dollar store.
Clue #5 Running to the librairy to search for a book containing our next clue, which led us to the Fire Station.
Clue #6 This was probably my favorite clue/event. We were required to put on all the firefighting gear, go through an obstacle coarse carrying a heavy jug of liquid, unroll a hose while attempting to knock over a pylon (which is a lot harder than it sounds, just so you know) followed by running with a hose to the end of the parking lot where we had to use the hose to knock over a stop sign with the water. Lastly, we had to run up 3 flights of stairs for a picture (keep in mind we are wearing a few extra pounds of gear while doing all of this). Like I said, this was a fun event.
Clue #7 Go to a U-Catch Fishery and catch a trout. Had it not be for getting lost/going to the wrong U-Catch place, we would have been in good shape at this point in the race, however it ended up putting us back about an hour or so. The fish we we caught, we had to carry around with us in a plastic baggie for the remainder of the day. Gross.
Clue #8 Eat lunch at a Sikh Temple. Talk about an interesting experience. The food was less than desirable, but I always knew I didn't like Indian food. However, the culture and the experience was pretty cool.
Clue #9 Road Block. We were so thankful to have a road block because it gave us a chance to catch up with the other teams. We were all given about 20 verses of Psalm 119 to memorize before we could get our next clue. Our team was successful and within 10 min we were on our way again.
Clue #10 We had to find a needle in a Haystack. Seriously. Thankfully we came across it pretty quickly.
Clue #11 We made our way to a Hazelnut Farm and had to pick a pail of hazelnuts before we got our next clue. The trick was that no 2 people could be touching a hazelnut at the same time.
Clue #12 This is where the trout we caught earlier in the day was put to use. We had to make a fire out of sawdust and a flint, gut and fillet the fish, cook it and eat it. The fire had to get big enough in order for it to burn through a rope, which then let a bag of cooking utensils fall down from a tree before we could even start to cook the fish. This was also a surprisingly fun task and where our team finally took the lead for the first time.
Clue #13 We had to search Mill Lake for a "Trek Official" (we had no idea who this was) and had to perfrom a bible story skit in attempt to draw a crowd. We acted out the Christmas Story and we definitely drew a crowd and we were rewarded with Chocolate Chip Cookies. Finally something normal to eat.
Clue #14 This was the last clue of the day. Nothing like ending off an extremely long day with a corn maze in Chilliwack. We ran solidly through the corn maze looking for various clues before running through the finish line.
Sadly we did not finish first, but we did come in 2nd, so we were pretty pumped about that. The purpose of this activity was to help us prepare for working as a team and experiencing various things that we will most likely encounter while in a foreign country such as unappealling food and time differences. This was also meant to stretch us and stress us so that we could see how each of our team members respond under stressful situations. Our team worked amazingly well together - I'm not saying we are perfect, but we worked well together.
The day started off at 4am. The night before, staff told us that we needed to be up and ready to go for 4am. At this god-forsaken hour of the day (who knew there was a 4:00 in the morning???), teams made their way into the Great Room where we waited for approximately 2 hours before staff finally showed up. Apparently this was to illustrate and get us accustomed to other cultures where time doesn't mean as much. Point proven.
We were given various clues that made us run across the city of Abbotsford. And when I say we ran, we litterally ran. I have never run so much in my entire life.
Clue #1 - we had to go find our team bandana's in a park, which surprisingly turned out to be one of the more difficult tasks considering it was still pitch black outside when we were looking for them in a very wooded area. For example, one of our bandanas was hidden in a swampy area, where we had to trudge through the most disgusting and raunchy smelling water I have ever smelled. No one dared to put on this particular bandana. In fact, we put it in a ziplock baggie so we wouldn't have to smell it all day long. However, because we went through the water, we ended up smelly just as bad as the bandana and we smelled like this All. Day. Long.
Clue #2 We headed back to the Mark Centre (this is where we live) for a 'missionary breakfast'. We needed to select 1 member of our team to eat a 'special' breakfast. I'm not a picky eater, so I thought I might as well give this challenge a go, but to my delight I ended up getting to eat the good breakfast...corn flakes and coffee. The other members of my team were forced to eat Balout (partially developed duck embryo eggs), seaweed, a can of gluton, a can of spam, hot peppers, gross fish and some weird looking prunes. It has never been so hard for me to eat a bowl of cornflakes as I was surrounded by people vomitting at the table and outside the door. Talk about gross. I would never wish this experience on my worst enemy. In the end, we decided to take the 20min time delay in order to not finish our breakfast. That was probably the best decision we made all day!
Clue #3 Fishing gummy worms out of a bowl of chocolate pudding and rice krispies with our mouths. You can imagine what our faces looked like.
Clue #4 Running to the mall to buy some things from the dollar store.
Clue #5 Running to the librairy to search for a book containing our next clue, which led us to the Fire Station.
Clue #6 This was probably my favorite clue/event. We were required to put on all the firefighting gear, go through an obstacle coarse carrying a heavy jug of liquid, unroll a hose while attempting to knock over a pylon (which is a lot harder than it sounds, just so you know) followed by running with a hose to the end of the parking lot where we had to use the hose to knock over a stop sign with the water. Lastly, we had to run up 3 flights of stairs for a picture (keep in mind we are wearing a few extra pounds of gear while doing all of this). Like I said, this was a fun event.
Rachael & Aleah sporting their gear
running through the obstacle course
Clue #7 Go to a U-Catch Fishery and catch a trout. Had it not be for getting lost/going to the wrong U-Catch place, we would have been in good shape at this point in the race, however it ended up putting us back about an hour or so. The fish we we caught, we had to carry around with us in a plastic baggie for the remainder of the day. Gross.
Clue #8 Eat lunch at a Sikh Temple. Talk about an interesting experience. The food was less than desirable, but I always knew I didn't like Indian food. However, the culture and the experience was pretty cool.
Clue #9 Road Block. We were so thankful to have a road block because it gave us a chance to catch up with the other teams. We were all given about 20 verses of Psalm 119 to memorize before we could get our next clue. Our team was successful and within 10 min we were on our way again.
Clue #10 We had to find a needle in a Haystack. Seriously. Thankfully we came across it pretty quickly.
Clue #11 We made our way to a Hazelnut Farm and had to pick a pail of hazelnuts before we got our next clue. The trick was that no 2 people could be touching a hazelnut at the same time.
Clue #12 This is where the trout we caught earlier in the day was put to use. We had to make a fire out of sawdust and a flint, gut and fillet the fish, cook it and eat it. The fire had to get big enough in order for it to burn through a rope, which then let a bag of cooking utensils fall down from a tree before we could even start to cook the fish. This was also a surprisingly fun task and where our team finally took the lead for the first time.
That's right, I'm gutting a fish! Who would have ever thought???
Rachael and I stepping WAY out of our comfort zones.
Jacob making our fire out of a flint and sawdust.
Team Thailand was having a little more difficulty with their fire.
Clue #13 We had to search Mill Lake for a "Trek Official" (we had no idea who this was) and had to perfrom a bible story skit in attempt to draw a crowd. We acted out the Christmas Story and we definitely drew a crowd and we were rewarded with Chocolate Chip Cookies. Finally something normal to eat.
Clue #14 This was the last clue of the day. Nothing like ending off an extremely long day with a corn maze in Chilliwack. We ran solidly through the corn maze looking for various clues before running through the finish line.
our lovely interns Jess and Sarah who put together this crazy day. Nice work ladies.
Sadly we did not finish first, but we did come in 2nd, so we were pretty pumped about that. The purpose of this activity was to help us prepare for working as a team and experiencing various things that we will most likely encounter while in a foreign country such as unappealling food and time differences. This was also meant to stretch us and stress us so that we could see how each of our team members respond under stressful situations. Our team worked amazingly well together - I'm not saying we are perfect, but we worked well together.
Team Portugal
Team Thailand
Global Servants
(although Heidi has since changed to Team Portugal - horray!)
Fall Trek 2010
When I got into my bed that night, I think I fell asleep in record time. My body has never felt so sore and I don't recall ever feeling that exhausted in my entire life. I don't think this is something I want to repeat any time soon, but it was a lot of fun.
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