Zambia Trip 2012

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You Are Needed, Just As You Are

Now if the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should sau, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them. to be.

1 Corinthians 12:15-18

   One of the biggest problems in our society today, even within christian culture, is comparison. There is a feeling of inadequacy that is overwhelming. We aren't good enough. Not strong enough, thin enough, smart enough, determined enough. When we look in the scripture Paul is addressing this issue reminding us that we are just as Christ wants us to be. We are strung together with specific talents and strengths that are just as important in the body of Christ as any other. When we wish to have another's gift, we are forsaking the gift we ourselves were given by God to use. The body is lacking because we are focused on other people's accomplishments and neglecting to cherish and take hold of our own. You are a child of God, you are needed, as part of the body of Christ; YOU are needed to fulfill something no one else could. If that were the case, God would have made replicas.  "If they were all one part, where would the body be?" v19

"Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" v29-30

I think the proper response is "nope."

 Remember that today as you go about your day. You are made whole in Christ, and he is moulding you to be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Don't focus on someone else's accomplishments because "those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable." v22 YOU are indispensable, your talents, your strengths, who YOU are is indispensable. 

You are loved. Have a great day.

Psalm 30 Thoughts

My wailing has turned into dancing. 

Psalm 30:9

Quite fed up, I sat on my bed and didn't know what to do. I was restless, but lazy. I figured I should open God's Word because I hadn't done so in a while. I really had no idea where to turn in the book, but then I remembered that it was the 30th so I went to Psalm 30. This is what I do when I can't decide on what book to read in the Bible. 

The first verses that came to my attention were:

"What is gained if I am silenced,

if I go down to the pit?"

I had have been job searching for the past month, and for those of you who have done this, you know how infuriating the process can be. I have been straining and straining, spending money to apply to places, most of which don't even call back. Either I am a crummy prospect or job searching sucks extraordinarily. Why am I so fixed on getting a job? So I can pay for rent, so I can live here and go to school. But this verse really grounded me and it as if God was saying "Remember if you aren't striving for the right reasons, all of this effort is for nothing." When we get to heaven, Jesus isn't going to be like, so while you were searching for a job, did you get one? No. He's going to ask "Were you honouring me in the process? Were your efforts for a righteous end?". 

The second verses that came to my attention were:

"You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will praise you forever."

God really brought shook me up and said "Remember when I delivered you before? Why wouldn't I do this now?" Job or no job, God will always have me where he wants me. He has turned my wailing into dancing. Whether its a silly job search, or the suffering of losing a loved one. He's there, and turning ashes into beauty! Look at us! 

I know it wasn't much. Just a simple reminder of how God provides. God bless.

Bliss

Catch me, reel me in and clothe me,
I have been swimming naked and cold, in these waters for too long.
They've stripped me, taken all I have and now I'm caught in the rapids.

But You will not abandon me to the grave,
Your words are sweet and Your saving hand is gentle.
You are quick to save me. Because you knew.
Rising from the ashes with eyes of fire, You opened the Kingdom for sinners

I ran, scared, my heart continues to jump endlessly.
Who Am I?
Who Am I?

You met me at my hiding place.
Your mercy held me down, Your love consumed me, and I was set free.

This new creation I am, free to dance on your hilltops.
Free to be embraced by the Creator of the Heavens.
I laugh; joy has spread to my heart and sorrow will not overtake me.

Teen Pursuit Week

Hey everyone! It has been an eventful week at TBC!

The campers came in on Monday morning. We had about 40 (ages 16-19). This was the day I was sick so I wasn't really aware of much that was going on that day. But in between pukage I snuck a peek out the window, and when I was done being sick I walked around the camp to see what was going on. The campers were all very lively and many of them are long-coming TBCers who knew what to expect for the most part and were eager to get started. Some were shy and needed encouragement to join in the fun.
We have had many chapels this week (which a lot of the campers love the most, praise God!) and introduced our speaker for the week James O'Lawby (I hope I spelled that right). He did an amazing job. As mentioned before the theme is IDENTITY, so this week James has been saying 2 sermons a day, one at morning chapel, and one at evening chapel. So far the topics have been: Recognizing Lies, Forgiveness, Who is God?, Interpretating Scripture, Not of the World... etc. At each chapel we also have Praise & Worship, as well as a testimony shared by one of the staff/counsellors, followed by a game of some sort.
Like I said, my job was on work/kitchen crew this week, so I've cleaned my share of dirty dishes, and scrubbed my share of dirty toilets where everyone has been sick in. Yes. I was in yellow rubber gloves, germicide in one hand, toilet brush in the other. It was quite hilarious. We clean all the bathrooms twice a day, and the cabin who fails cabin inspection has to clean the bathrooms again. We also work outside doing landscape, gardening, trash burning, raking, etc etc. This Sunday I will be a Counsellor for the following week and I am looking forward to that! This week has been very good, even though the jobs weren't my first choice, God really taught me a lot about humbling myself to serve others, doing the jobs that may not be recognized or seem as 'important'. Plus kitchen staff get to eat first. Kidding.
We spent the entire day across the lake yesterday. All of us are red lobsters. We swam, got pulled on a water tube, went ropelling down the side of a cliff (IT WAS SO FUN AND I HOPE I SPELLED RAPELLING RIGHT!), the activity was Survivor where each team had to build a shelter out of nature and have an active fire, boiling water, and a the ability to cook an egg using limited resources. (basically a bucket). Today was TAC (Team Adventure Challenge). Each team had to build their own shelters, and then there was a paintball war. The first shelter to go down and have all the opponents shot won. I can't wait to play that next week when I am a counsellor.
Tomorrow the teens head off for Trail Camp, where they camp out in the wilderness with the bears for 3 days while work/kitchen crew stays behind to ready the camp for newcomers on Monday. On Saturday we will hike the mountain which takes about 12 hours total. I will be exhausted but I am so excited for this opportunity!


That is all I guess to update for now..... I will see all of you lovely folks in 2 weeks! God Bless!

Urgent Prayer Request!

Hey everyone, so some of you may know the flu that has hit the community here. We really need prayer, it has just been passed around like crazy. Almost all of our staff has been affected, and if the campers start getting sick too it could be quite a disaster. The flu consists of throwing up, diarrhea, exhaustion, body aches, and insomnia. It lasts for about 24-48 hours. Not so long but they are the worst 24-48 hours ever!! Anyways if you all could be praying about it, that would be great!

Our First Week in Alaska

Hey everyone! So sorry I haven't been able to post anything for the past week. We didn't think that we would be able to have wifi at all, but it is such a blessing that the camp has set up a computer for us to use occasionally.

Hello Gentle Shepherd, Family, & Friends !

This has been an amazing first week in Alaska. I would love to go over everything but there is just so much to say! All of our flights went very smoothly, we first flew from Toronto to Vancouver, BC. Then we flew from BC to Anchorage, AK. From Anchorage we took a charter plane right through the mountains to Port Alsworth, Alaska where are staying now. The charter plane was VERY VERY small. I was terrified as we were taking off, but it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It did shake and move with every wind so that was sort of scary. I can't even describe how amazing it is to see mountains and the bright blue water. It just goes to show how amazing our God is. Something like that couldn't have just happened by accident. So clearly designed. Anyways, after a few short flights we arrived a little tired but excited.

We met the camp director Mark McGee, and his assistant James Bodolosky. James has a wife named Jennifer and 9 children. All of which who are lovely. Every day we talk about how unbelievable it is that all 9 children are so polite, and act so maturely at such a young age. They are a missionary family, all of them great at remembering names and eager to meet new people. The youngest is 7 months old and the oldest is 17. Jennifer,  the mother to all these children, is one of the most godly women I have ever met. We were blessed by hearing their testimonies as well as Mark's and his wife Andrea. Mark has 3 kids and they are great too. We met all the young adults we would be working with, so far there are about 25 of us in total, more to come by Monday. It has been great but very overwhelming to meet so many people at one time. Being able to have an hour or two break every day just have some relaxation and prayer has been a huge blessing. There are many people who just stop by TBC (the camp) and to see everyone it is a very small, but tight community. About a 3 min walk down the gravel road from the camp is Port A's first general store where there are few items the citizens can buy without having to worry about ordering them in themselves. Everything here has to be flown here so it is a huge blessing to have this store. It also has coffee, and will start having a variety of restaurant food/beverage items.

Our days are pretty routine, breakfast at 8am, then we have chapel. Usually following we work outside or do some sort of team building activity with everyone.This usually happens until lunch, then we go outside and work around the camp, have more discussion about what we will be teaching the campers when they come, and more training for our responsibilities for next weeks.
The past couple of days we have practised riflry, archery, variety of games,  canoeing, and were taught how to teach the campers these activities. Then we also discussed how to approach the gospel with different age groups.

It has been cold and rainy the past 3 days, but surprisingly we all sort of enjoy it. Yesterday we sat back and all watched a movie together. All of the kids here are so loving, they just jump on your lap and tell you about their day or ask you about yours. So we were surrounded by kids, babies, adults, youth, you name it and just had a relaxing day together after days of hard work. There have been many laughs. 

God has been amazing. I had been praying about my identity before I came. I wanted God to show me who I was and what I was supposed to be. Then as soon as we got here the Camp Director announced that the theme for the camp this summer would be IDENTITY in Christ. Crazy right? I couldnt even comprehend it. I just sat there stunned. It was one of those , "Whoa God is real!" moments. God knew exactly what I was going to go through and exactly what I needed. I love it here in Alaska and would stay here all summer if I could. So not only will the campers be learning about who they are in Christ and developing a deeper relationship with him, us as staff will learn a lot too.

Here at camp we rotate responsibilities, this first week I will be on Kitchen Crew, the second week I will be counselling highschool girls, and our final week I will be helping run the outdoor activities (paintball, gaga ball,basketball (omigoodness there is an outdoor basket ball court that has a perfect view of the mountains!), riflry, canoeing, hiking trail, kayaking, water tubing/skiing etc etc.).

There has been a 10hour bug going around, thankfully I havent gotten it but it has taken many of our staff down. We have had to quarantine the sick ones in separate cabins hahha. Prayers for health will be great!


Thank you all so much for your prayers! I will update when I can. Love you all so much! xoxox