Time for Training

This past week we were at the ABWE  head office in Pennsylvania for three days of training.  It was a great three days of classes, workshops, eating, laughing and learning.

When Nate went to Togo at Christmas, he met John, who quickly became a friend and kindred spirit.  John is also returning to Togo this year for a short term stay, so he attended training with us.  It was so great to meet him after all the stories I'd heard about this guy.  These two are two peas in a pod.

Here he is with Nate, and their new friend:

We had three days of intense classes on everything from finances, health/safety, moral purity, language acquisition, personality types, etc.  All of our teachers/staff of ABWE were excellent.  They were all such high quality people.

Here are two of my new buddies, Deb and Terry, who work with short termers to get them on the field:

We sat at the same table every day with other short-termers who were headed to Africa.  By far, our table was the loudest and had the most fun.  Here's a couple of pics of our group:

And here's me and Dr. Jim -- such a great man and fantastic teacher:

We even had time for some fun outside of the training!  Here we are at the Hershey Chocolate World:

(I had to hang out with these two!!)

(Nate LOVES having his picture taken.)

And look where the cocoa beans were from:

Nate and I had a great time.  It was so much information that we're still processing all that we learned.  I think, for me, it made this whole thing seem really.....real.  We're actually doing this.  It's really going to happen!  Which is fantastic and scary all at the same time. 

In fact, it's overwhelming.  The last morning we were all praying together and it hit me.  I know that I knew it before, but it really just hit me that we have a huge task ahead and an overwhelming feeling of humility and unworthiness came over me.  My biggest fear is that we would fail and bring disgrace to the name of our Saviour.  I so don't want that to happen. 

It's going to be hard.  It's going to test us and try us in ways we cannot even imagine.  But my goal is that we would cling so hard to God that when we complete the task and return home, the only explanation would be that God carried us through.  And that all the glory for anything that happens there would be His. 

Sole Sisters

When we moved to Coldstream about a year and a half ago, I was in need of a running buddy.  Thankfully and providentially, God provided me with a neighbour, right across the road, who was eager to run with somebody too.  (I know she'll laugh as soon as she reads "eager"!)

And so we ran.   A few months in, she invited another friend, and so two became three.  And it has been the three of us for months and months now.

I love running with Alyson and Crystal.  These two are my sole sisters.

On Saturday night, our three families got together for a bbq.  It was funny to finally meet the people I've heard so much about.
Alyson and her husband have four boys.  
Crystal and her husband have four boys.
We have four boys and one girl.
Alyson has a dog named Bailey.
Crystal has a dog named Bailey.
We don't have a dog named Bailey, or a dog at all, BUT we might get one in Africa (for protection) and so, it would only seem appropriate if we named it Bailey.

We meet at 6:30 in the morning and run.  But we don't just run.  We laugh.  We share.  We solve most of the world's problems (and some of our own) by 7:15 am.  We've even had a few tears. We are NOT quiet (sorry, neighbours!).  Sometimes we almost get hit by minivans that drive too fast down Quaker Lane. 

These are my sole sisters.  I am so going to miss them.

I took my camera to the bbq to get a good picture of us. (You don't want me to post a photo of us at 6:30 am in our running gear!)

So hear we are, this is the only pic I got before my camera died, and we were laughing because Alyson thought we were being too touchy for the pic:

It really hit me that we're leaving soon when at the end of the bbq, we talked about our next run.  It would typically be Monday morning.  But Crystal's away, and then I'm away Tuesday and then Alyson works and by the time we figured out vacation time, work schedules etc, it turns out that in the next six weeks before we leave, we will only have two weeks where the three of us can all run together.

Two weeks.  Ten runs.
Oh, man.  This leaving business is beginning to get hard already.

I'm so thankful for the months of time spent together, running, chatting, laughing, and getting to know these two wonderful friends that I love.

I will so so miss them.  (And they will miss me, because I run nearest to the road.)

Garage Sale

Yesterday, two sweet women from our homeschool group held a garage sale to raise money for our family.

This is Paula and Gabrielle, showing off some of the fantastic items people donated:

Gabrielle hosted the sale at her house and by the night before, she could no longer get into her living room because of the bags & boxes of donations.   Gabrielle is crazy fun.  And on top of that, she's someone you don't want to mess with, because she's practically a black belt in karate. 

Here she is with one of her trophies (which she threw in the "free bin" at the sale)!

Paula is adorable ~ she is sensitive to people and their needs.  I have no idea how many people at the garage sale ended up talking to Paula and sharing their troubles.   She spent a lot of time listening, sharing (and chastising Gabrielle & I for dropping the prices on items)!

We had lots of good stuff -- and if you are one of the kind people who donated your unwanted items, THANK YOU!  Here's a few pics of some of the loot we sold and some very VERY happy customers!

 French IS fun!

Someone got the deal of the CENTURY!

This particular outfit was chosen for me to put on.  Call me crazy, but I think I deserve "Missionary of the Year" in this little number:

And LOOK!  How practical is that - - they're culottes!

Last, but certainly not least, this is Gabrielle's lovely daughter, Deanna.  Deanna worked her little tail off, putting out items, bringing us glasses of ice cold water, and helping out in various other ways.  At the end of the morning, she was so excited to hand me a little wallet filled with money totaling $328.80!! 

 

Thank you to Gabrielle and her family for allowing all the stuff to mess up their home and lives for several days.  Thanks for opening your home and your heart to us.  You know I love you, crazy sister!

Thank you to Paula for coming up with the idea and making it happen! Thanks, too, to her family for letting us have her for the better part of Saturday.  Every time Paula told someone that the garage sale was to support us building a hospital in Africa, she would get all tear-y!  I love that about you, Paula. You are so tender hearted.

Thank you, my friends!

Milana

Last Friday, Nate came home with an adorable pair of earrings for me and a little bit of unexpected news.

Friends of ours have a daughter, Milana, and she thought it would be a good idea to do something nice for us.  So she decided to make homemade earrings, sell them at school, to her neighbours, to raise money for us to go to Africa.

I had no idea she was doing this!  She made over 100 pairs of adorable earrings and sent home a pair for me.

On Sunday, when we went to church, I grabbed my camera hoping to get a picture of Milana at church.  I was so glad I thought to grab my camera, because she brought all the earrings and sold them at church too.

Here she is, with her display (including flowers, Togolese flag, and her ipod pumping out tunes):

Here's her display, surrounded by "Sunday shoppers":

Some VERY happy customers:

 

 Each pair came in a cute little bag with a tag attached "Earrings for Africa by Milana" and only $5!

 Me, Milana, Kylie, and Milana's younger brother, Dylan:

I cannot tell you how blown away Nate and I (and the kids) were by Milana.  The fact that a 12 year-old girl thought of us, wanted to help and came up with an awesome idea is amazing to us.

How do you say thanks for this kind of stuff?  How do you explain what it feels like to be supported and encouraged by the kind things people do?  There just aren't words.  But each time it happens, it seems like a moment of confirmation that we're doing the right thing, that God has shown us (again) that it is not just us going alone.

We are sent.  We are supported.

And us going to Africa is less about us and more about Him doing what He wants in the hearts of people.

Thank you, Milana (and family!)

Ask and You Shall Receive

Last night we were invited to friends (Mark and Yvonne's) for dinner.  It was an impromptu party, planned at the last minute.  They were providing dinner and we were bringing dessert. When I walked in their home, the aroma of roasting potatoes and barbeque greeted me.

Turns out, Mark had read my previous blog post, and there was a surprise on the grill. A STEAK!  A big steak.  A steak bigger than my head....all for me!  There was steak and chicken for everyone else, but they were much much smaller.

Here's a photo of me with my steak:

Yvonne took another picture of Mark and me and the steak, but there was a strange glow around Mark.

 I'd like to think that the photo was of Mark, me, the steak and the Holy Spirit, (blessing Mark for his kindness) but I'm not sure Mark's theology could permit my idea.  Still, I'm pretty certain.

How was the steak??  Incredible delicious, juicy, and perfectly grilled.

Thank you, sweet friends! 

Things I Want To Do Before We Go....

Here's the beginning of a list of things I want to do before we leave....this list is just as much for me as it is for you, so I'll remember what I want to get accomplished.

1.  I want to eat a big steak.  I think there won't be big juicy steaks in Africa. 

2. I want to make a Family Time Capsule.  My grade 2 teacher did this with our class in the September of that year and we opened them in June.  It was so fun.  I think we'll weigh and measure ourselves, write down what we're most looking forward to and most afraid of, and a bunch of other silly stuff.  Then we'll open them when we get home and see how we've grown (or shrunk) and how ridiculous our pre-Africa ideals were.

Tonight, that's all I can think of.  I know there's more but I can't recall right now.  Hence the list!