Just wanted to send out a quick Thank You! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support. On the ride home I heard one youth say "I think this missions trip was the best trip we've done in the past few years; I learned so much!". I think the Lord really worked through our group and in our hearts. Please continue to pray that the work that has began in us will be brought to completion!
Andy
Monday, April 07, 2014
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Kid City!
Hey! Hopefully everything is going well back on the home front!
We woke up this morning, just like every morning, rushed to Church, ate some breakfast. Then we had a session this morning in which we talked the how the spirit is often willing but the flesh is weak. Lloyd suggested we should train ourselves in the easy times, on the nice flat "plains" per say, than in the hard times, when we are climbing the mountains or trying to get through the low valleys.
After session we headed out to ICYA once again. Once there we had a pretty chill morning playing bump, making sandwiches (we were also informed by Dorian that we should have sore knees by the end of the day if we really gave it our all playing with the kids) until the kids started to arrive at 12 again. The kids started arriving, and we played basketball and tag with them until one. Then we jumped on a bus, the kids ate and we headed down to Kid City.
At Kid City we got very tired, but it was completely worth it. The kids enjoyed it so much, there was a lot of piggy back rides, and some crawling through the narrow passages with the children still riding us. So... there were a lot of sore knees at the end of the day. But it was so worth it, and there are so many stories to tell about the kids today. One of my experiences was a little girl styling my hair all the way home from Kid City with a comb... with her insisting that Hilary take pictures of each new hair style. Then of course when we got back to ICYA there were walk homes and then cleaning. After we were finished cleaning, we had a quick meeting then swiftly returned to NKMB (the church where we eat and have sessions). After showers and Timmies, we had a delicious meal with probably the most food yet due to extra leftovers from yesterday. Then we had some free time (during which some of us fell asleep) until the evening session... In the evening session we had a great worship service, then we had communion along with a message about praying for Winnipeg, other communities and other peoples or places God has put on our hearts.
After the session we went to McDonalds (don't worry, most of us still had the supplied bedtime fruit snack) . We got take out though because we were in a hurry to get back for team time. The roads were quite slippery and we missed our turn off for Douglas Mennonite Church with the fifteen passenger van (where we sleep), however we did a u turn and came back... this time making the turn.
We had a great team time in which all the youth were encouraged by their Mission Trip Small Group leaders, and we closed with prayer.
All the best
Yours Truly,
Reilly
We woke up this morning, just like every morning, rushed to Church, ate some breakfast. Then we had a session this morning in which we talked the how the spirit is often willing but the flesh is weak. Lloyd suggested we should train ourselves in the easy times, on the nice flat "plains" per say, than in the hard times, when we are climbing the mountains or trying to get through the low valleys.
After session we headed out to ICYA once again. Once there we had a pretty chill morning playing bump, making sandwiches (we were also informed by Dorian that we should have sore knees by the end of the day if we really gave it our all playing with the kids) until the kids started to arrive at 12 again. The kids started arriving, and we played basketball and tag with them until one. Then we jumped on a bus, the kids ate and we headed down to Kid City.
At Kid City we got very tired, but it was completely worth it. The kids enjoyed it so much, there was a lot of piggy back rides, and some crawling through the narrow passages with the children still riding us. So... there were a lot of sore knees at the end of the day. But it was so worth it, and there are so many stories to tell about the kids today. One of my experiences was a little girl styling my hair all the way home from Kid City with a comb... with her insisting that Hilary take pictures of each new hair style. Then of course when we got back to ICYA there were walk homes and then cleaning. After we were finished cleaning, we had a quick meeting then swiftly returned to NKMB (the church where we eat and have sessions). After showers and Timmies, we had a delicious meal with probably the most food yet due to extra leftovers from yesterday. Then we had some free time (during which some of us fell asleep) until the evening session... In the evening session we had a great worship service, then we had communion along with a message about praying for Winnipeg, other communities and other peoples or places God has put on our hearts.
After the session we went to McDonalds (don't worry, most of us still had the supplied bedtime fruit snack) . We got take out though because we were in a hurry to get back for team time. The roads were quite slippery and we missed our turn off for Douglas Mennonite Church with the fifteen passenger van (where we sleep), however we did a u turn and came back... this time making the turn.
We had a great team time in which all the youth were encouraged by their Mission Trip Small Group leaders, and we closed with prayer.
All the best
Yours Truly,
Reilly
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
CARNIVAL DAY!
The day is over and it was great! God is Great! Today started out with our usual morning session, David was speaking. He spoke about Peter and how the people greeted Jesus with celebrations of great joy and welcomed him. But then a few days later they were shouting crucify him.
Then we played some intense games of bump at ICYA with Dorian. I made the best sandwiches. Then after eating with the kids we walked to the carnival. It was a blast and we saw God's work in so many of the simpler things. We split up into groups and each leader got 2 kids to spend the day with. It helped us pick out 2 kids we wanted to connect with the most and hopefully to solidify a bond with. Lots of good stories came out of today. Like Andy Neufeld tripping and dropping a kid off his shoulders onto to the ground. You can ask him about that lol.
After that we achieved our goal of getting to the front of the supper food line today. Then had a 3 hour break before our next session and it was leaders night out so us youth were alone and had lots of fun ;). The last session was just sharing and an hour worship session, which was fantastic.
Sincerely,
'The Dream Team'
consisting of Dom and Madi :D
Then we played some intense games of bump at ICYA with Dorian. I made the best sandwiches. Then after eating with the kids we walked to the carnival. It was a blast and we saw God's work in so many of the simpler things. We split up into groups and each leader got 2 kids to spend the day with. It helped us pick out 2 kids we wanted to connect with the most and hopefully to solidify a bond with. Lots of good stories came out of today. Like Andy Neufeld tripping and dropping a kid off his shoulders onto to the ground. You can ask him about that lol.
After that we achieved our goal of getting to the front of the supper food line today. Then had a 3 hour break before our next session and it was leaders night out so us youth were alone and had lots of fun ;). The last session was just sharing and an hour worship session, which was fantastic.
Sincerely,
'The Dream Team'
consisting of Dom and Madi :D
VBS day 2! Encouraged
Hello all,
Andy Neufeld here... Late at night and the kids are sleeping... and I am quickly updating the body of Christ. Today was pretty sweet! Were starting to get into a routine now so that feels a lot better as the weekend was very busy with training and sessions. Today we changed a lot of our strategies and I will say yesterday was quite a surprise for a lot of the youth. The kids from the north end of winnipeg were slightly different I think than they were imagining. It can be discouraging at first. We had a really good team time as a group last night where we talked about the day and what we thought well and not so good. We adjusted some of our strategies and tried to place people where the gifting was stronger and I think the Lord blessed our efforts. One quote I heard from Robyn today that I feel really summed up the mood of the day was: "today I feel like the chaos left and that I could actually rest and simply love the kids and enjoy them". I think a lot of the youth showed a lot of leadership in stepping up and discipling some of the kids when they needed to, but also giving piggy back rides and loving kids as well. Our VBS brought out about 35 kids the first day and I think today there was about the same amount. Today we went around the circle in sharing time and most of the group shared that they felt encouraged and the blessed by the day. That was really good to hear. We also had a session about spiritual gifts and what we felt our giftings were in the body of Christ. It was really cool to talk and debrief with them where they felt their spiritual gifts were and to be able to encourage and affirm them from real life situations that we witnessed throughout the day. Also, I was blessed today to talk to Don Harms (John Harms other son) and was just neat to make the connection. (He's currently working at ICYA)
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Today, probably more than any other day it felt like the Lord really blessed our team with strength and courage. I was reminded Jesus' words in Matthew 10:14 when he tells his disciples to be as shrewd as serpents (sometimes that means harsh discipline when a kid is distracting the whole group by coming up to the puppet show and dragging down the curtain), but as innocent as doves (sometimes that means just simply showing relentless love that refuses to show anger, and yell at the kid, but love these kids that are just craving attention and will do anything to get it).
Thank you so much for your support. Tomorrow we have a Carnival to look forward to. It is similar to a "kids club carnival" but its outside in a church parking lot with a lot of kids! Looking forward to it. Pray for nice weather :)
Andy
Andy Neufeld here... Late at night and the kids are sleeping... and I am quickly updating the body of Christ. Today was pretty sweet! Were starting to get into a routine now so that feels a lot better as the weekend was very busy with training and sessions. Today we changed a lot of our strategies and I will say yesterday was quite a surprise for a lot of the youth. The kids from the north end of winnipeg were slightly different I think than they were imagining. It can be discouraging at first. We had a really good team time as a group last night where we talked about the day and what we thought well and not so good. We adjusted some of our strategies and tried to place people where the gifting was stronger and I think the Lord blessed our efforts. One quote I heard from Robyn today that I feel really summed up the mood of the day was: "today I feel like the chaos left and that I could actually rest and simply love the kids and enjoy them". I think a lot of the youth showed a lot of leadership in stepping up and discipling some of the kids when they needed to, but also giving piggy back rides and loving kids as well. Our VBS brought out about 35 kids the first day and I think today there was about the same amount. Today we went around the circle in sharing time and most of the group shared that they felt encouraged and the blessed by the day. That was really good to hear. We also had a session about spiritual gifts and what we felt our giftings were in the body of Christ. It was really cool to talk and debrief with them where they felt their spiritual gifts were and to be able to encourage and affirm them from real life situations that we witnessed throughout the day. Also, I was blessed today to talk to Don Harms (John Harms other son) and was just neat to make the connection. (He's currently working at ICYA)
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Today, probably more than any other day it felt like the Lord really blessed our team with strength and courage. I was reminded Jesus' words in Matthew 10:14 when he tells his disciples to be as shrewd as serpents (sometimes that means harsh discipline when a kid is distracting the whole group by coming up to the puppet show and dragging down the curtain), but as innocent as doves (sometimes that means just simply showing relentless love that refuses to show anger, and yell at the kid, but love these kids that are just craving attention and will do anything to get it).
Thank you so much for your support. Tomorrow we have a Carnival to look forward to. It is similar to a "kids club carnival" but its outside in a church parking lot with a lot of kids! Looking forward to it. Pray for nice weather :)
Andy
Monday, March 31, 2014
Greetings, fellow Cornerstonians.
Well, in the morning, we woke up to shining lights from a phone. :( Then we ate breakfast :) that made us feel amazing. Following breakfast, we had morning worship, and a session with a man named David (the speaker). We were prepared to head into our ministry.
We had our first day with all the kids at ICYA, and oh boy are those kids a joy. 35 inner city young kids showed up. If you ask anyone in our group about their opinions on what the kids were like, I'm sure you would hear a lot of different opinions and thoughts. Some of us thoroughly enjoyed the kids quirky behaviour and hanging with them all day, while others had tests of their tolerance or patience from the kids. But overall we can all agree that the day was tiring, but awesome as we had a great opportunity to help out all the kids and staff and just love on them. A lot of us could all make easy bonds with a lot of the kids such as Dominic and Dominik, and some of them really bonded themselves to us (as in never letting go of us and riding on our backs 24/7). Even walking the kids home was a thrill. I know all of us are all looking forward to the next day though.
On the ride home, we stopped for Timmy's. Andy had a medium black coffee, and Tyler had the world's most delicious cheddar cheese bagel. Later Andy returned to Timmy's with Sydney, Myles Tiessen, and two other guys, and he had another medium black coffee. He also learned how to use his debit card. (As you can probably tell, he has a lot of energy, and its almost 11.) We returned to the church for supper and evening worship, as well as a session led by Darlene.
Farewell, from T-Remps and Andy K.
Well, in the morning, we woke up to shining lights from a phone. :( Then we ate breakfast :) that made us feel amazing. Following breakfast, we had morning worship, and a session with a man named David (the speaker). We were prepared to head into our ministry.
We had our first day with all the kids at ICYA, and oh boy are those kids a joy. 35 inner city young kids showed up. If you ask anyone in our group about their opinions on what the kids were like, I'm sure you would hear a lot of different opinions and thoughts. Some of us thoroughly enjoyed the kids quirky behaviour and hanging with them all day, while others had tests of their tolerance or patience from the kids. But overall we can all agree that the day was tiring, but awesome as we had a great opportunity to help out all the kids and staff and just love on them. A lot of us could all make easy bonds with a lot of the kids such as Dominic and Dominik, and some of them really bonded themselves to us (as in never letting go of us and riding on our backs 24/7). Even walking the kids home was a thrill. I know all of us are all looking forward to the next day though.
On the ride home, we stopped for Timmy's. Andy had a medium black coffee, and Tyler had the world's most delicious cheddar cheese bagel. Later Andy returned to Timmy's with Sydney, Myles Tiessen, and two other guys, and he had another medium black coffee. He also learned how to use his debit card. (As you can probably tell, he has a lot of energy, and its almost 11.) We returned to the church for supper and evening worship, as well as a session led by Darlene.
Farewell, from T-Remps and Andy K.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
SOAR - Mar. 29th
Hello Church!
Ole! Como estas! Lol nevermind. Today, after a lovely breakfast from a cooler shared on the floor, our teams headed off to Canadian Mennonite University for a morning of workshops. Once we reached CMU, the girls and guys were separated for a worship service. The guys learned the importance of the 'power position' and how to listen to God for cues, whilst the girls focused on the importance of seeing themselves through the eyes of God. After the services, everyone split up to enjoy the workshops they had chosen. They included; worship through dance, musics, journaling, attentive prayer, and many more. For the most part, everyone really enjoyed both their sessions and learned something! All like, 500 of us youth and leaders gathered in the gymnasium of CMU for pizza! Amazing pizza. We ate and visited together in clusters, then we were off to swim for our free time!
Our free time started with a fun trip to the swimming pool, which had a huge 18 foot diving board. Unfortunately Scott didn't have swim trunks and Quinn had a swollen ankle, so Jordan and Reilly kept them company for the couple of hours we were there. Once we dried ourselves and hopped in the vans and trucks, we headed to the golf dome and hit up the mini putt.
Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement, we're all having an amazing time and learning so much!
Our evening entailed getting commissioned for ministry. We had a rather intense session followed by a praying over of all the teams that would be sent out... and then we were commissioned off to go spread Jesus' love through Winnipeg! Our group came back for a team time that fired us all up to go and meet the kids in the north end. Can hardly wait till tomorrow!
By a rather sleep deprived yet high on sugar and life and adrenalin Corbin and Jordan
Ole! Como estas! Lol nevermind. Today, after a lovely breakfast from a cooler shared on the floor, our teams headed off to Canadian Mennonite University for a morning of workshops. Once we reached CMU, the girls and guys were separated for a worship service. The guys learned the importance of the 'power position' and how to listen to God for cues, whilst the girls focused on the importance of seeing themselves through the eyes of God. After the services, everyone split up to enjoy the workshops they had chosen. They included; worship through dance, musics, journaling, attentive prayer, and many more. For the most part, everyone really enjoyed both their sessions and learned something! All like, 500 of us youth and leaders gathered in the gymnasium of CMU for pizza! Amazing pizza. We ate and visited together in clusters, then we were off to swim for our free time!
Our free time started with a fun trip to the swimming pool, which had a huge 18 foot diving board. Unfortunately Scott didn't have swim trunks and Quinn had a swollen ankle, so Jordan and Reilly kept them company for the couple of hours we were there. Once we dried ourselves and hopped in the vans and trucks, we headed to the golf dome and hit up the mini putt.
Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement, we're all having an amazing time and learning so much!
Our evening entailed getting commissioned for ministry. We had a rather intense session followed by a praying over of all the teams that would be sent out... and then we were commissioned off to go spread Jesus' love through Winnipeg! Our group came back for a team time that fired us all up to go and meet the kids in the north end. Can hardly wait till tomorrow!
By a rather sleep deprived yet high on sugar and life and adrenalin Corbin and Jordan
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Hello again!
Another day down and wow are they flying by! Today soar brought us through a journey of focusing on our team. We started off the day by having morning session and then heading over to inner city youth alive to meet our hosts there (Dorian funk, Matt mackloskie). Dorian told us about the ministry and prepared us for the weeks events. I think as we left there we all had mixed feelings as he told us some pretty crazy stories about how chaotic sole drop in nights are; but also very excited to partner with them in ministry and to show love to the kids in this community. We went for lunch with Dorian and then headed back to home base. (North kildonan mb). Here we had an afternoon planned of team development activities. We all had a real good time with these activities. I especially enjoyed the one where we put a 15 passenger van in neutral and the youth pushed me through this obstacle course on the parking lot. In the evening we had another session from Lloyd (executive director of soar heartland). We were all challenged to split off and have a foot washing experience where we take some time to encourage and pray for each student and leader in our group. Our group left very fulfilled and united. I loved seeing all the youth taking turns sharing words of encouragement and laying hands and praying for one another. You' leave just feeling pumped; like a true family and body of Christ.
Please keep praying ! Tomorrow we are taking more of a sabbath day off with sessions, some fun, and resting up for a busy week of ministry at ICYA. (Were going to the pool tomorrow; my last experience with the youth and a pool ended out in surgery, lol)
Andy
Another day down and wow are they flying by! Today soar brought us through a journey of focusing on our team. We started off the day by having morning session and then heading over to inner city youth alive to meet our hosts there (Dorian funk, Matt mackloskie). Dorian told us about the ministry and prepared us for the weeks events. I think as we left there we all had mixed feelings as he told us some pretty crazy stories about how chaotic sole drop in nights are; but also very excited to partner with them in ministry and to show love to the kids in this community. We went for lunch with Dorian and then headed back to home base. (North kildonan mb). Here we had an afternoon planned of team development activities. We all had a real good time with these activities. I especially enjoyed the one where we put a 15 passenger van in neutral and the youth pushed me through this obstacle course on the parking lot. In the evening we had another session from Lloyd (executive director of soar heartland). We were all challenged to split off and have a foot washing experience where we take some time to encourage and pray for each student and leader in our group. Our group left very fulfilled and united. I loved seeing all the youth taking turns sharing words of encouragement and laying hands and praying for one another. You' leave just feeling pumped; like a true family and body of Christ.
Please keep praying ! Tomorrow we are taking more of a sabbath day off with sessions, some fun, and resting up for a busy week of ministry at ICYA. (Were going to the pool tomorrow; my last experience with the youth and a pool ended out in surgery, lol)
Andy
Friday, March 28, 2014
Soar 2014
Hello cornerstone!
We are here in winnipeg safe and sound. We managed to get to north kildonan mb right in time for registration last night and were blasted straight into an amazing time of worship and spent time in session with about 10-20 other youth groups that are all here in winnipeg to serve and partner with different ministries for the week! I think our group was all really surprised as to how organized and big this soar heartland actually is! It's really neat to see so many youth that are passionate about helping out and serving ministries in Winnipeg. Throughout the week we will be sleeping at Douglas Mennonite and eating our meals and having our sessions at North Kildonan MB.
Today we awoke and it was right at er at 7am. We had breakfast and a morning session and then we were all sent out with lunches in groups of 3 to go on a "treasure hunt". The hunt lead us by foot, bus, etc on a tour of the north end of Winnipeg. Our hearts broke as we saw the homeless line up to get a meal at Siloam mission, hearing the testimony of a prostitute who was now off the streets and helping other girls get off the streets as well, stopping at some landmarks in the city and hearing stories from ministers who are visiting prisons and helping teenagers see a different way then always resorting to the gang life. That 'hunt' took up our while day until 5. We returned for some evening sessions, worship, and team time (which seems to be our evening tradition). And hit beds at 11 as we are all very tired from a long day.
Thank you so much for your prayers! We have felt them and is leaders have noticed that it hasn't taken long and the students are all really opening up and committing to giving God their best this spring break! Their have been many funny stories and good memories, and I'm already looking forward to coming home and sharing them with friends.
Please continue to pray for:
Health (low sleep, busy schedule, piles of kids packed into one church)
God to speak and reveal himself to students (sessions are very intense with huge opportunity for growth)
God to continue to lead our group to those he wants us to meet (those on the street, a simple hi, a prayer for those who need it, Etc)
Teachable attitudes
Humility
Andy
We are here in winnipeg safe and sound. We managed to get to north kildonan mb right in time for registration last night and were blasted straight into an amazing time of worship and spent time in session with about 10-20 other youth groups that are all here in winnipeg to serve and partner with different ministries for the week! I think our group was all really surprised as to how organized and big this soar heartland actually is! It's really neat to see so many youth that are passionate about helping out and serving ministries in Winnipeg. Throughout the week we will be sleeping at Douglas Mennonite and eating our meals and having our sessions at North Kildonan MB.
Today we awoke and it was right at er at 7am. We had breakfast and a morning session and then we were all sent out with lunches in groups of 3 to go on a "treasure hunt". The hunt lead us by foot, bus, etc on a tour of the north end of Winnipeg. Our hearts broke as we saw the homeless line up to get a meal at Siloam mission, hearing the testimony of a prostitute who was now off the streets and helping other girls get off the streets as well, stopping at some landmarks in the city and hearing stories from ministers who are visiting prisons and helping teenagers see a different way then always resorting to the gang life. That 'hunt' took up our while day until 5. We returned for some evening sessions, worship, and team time (which seems to be our evening tradition). And hit beds at 11 as we are all very tired from a long day.
Thank you so much for your prayers! We have felt them and is leaders have noticed that it hasn't taken long and the students are all really opening up and committing to giving God their best this spring break! Their have been many funny stories and good memories, and I'm already looking forward to coming home and sharing them with friends.
Please continue to pray for:
Health (low sleep, busy schedule, piles of kids packed into one church)
God to speak and reveal himself to students (sessions are very intense with huge opportunity for growth)
God to continue to lead our group to those he wants us to meet (those on the street, a simple hi, a prayer for those who need it, Etc)
Teachable attitudes
Humility
Andy
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