Mission 6:10 windup

OK, to start with, here are some links about what's been happening:
From CTV: a news clip

From CBC: a news clip

From CJME: a news clip

We finished up last night. We had the last night of VBS, wound up the various construction projects that had been going on and everyone ended up at the mural for a time of prayer and dedication. The group from Greenville Oaks flew back to Texas leaving at 6:20 this morning.

It has been a very busy and intense week. A lot of good has been accomplished. There are some really great photos out there of the various projects, but I'm not great at taking pictures so you'll have to look elsewhere for them. If you're friends with Carla C on Facebook, she has a lot of pictures. I'll try to get some links from the group at Greenville Oaks as well and post that when I get them.

Some of the highlights for me:

• Spending the afternoon with my sister, Glenda and visiting with her.
• Being on a mission trip with my sister and her family; listening to Glenda's testimony.
• Getting to meet the East Indian family in the park and making a new connection there.
• Visiting with many of the group from Greenville Oaks and sharing stories.
• Not having to plan meals for nearly a full week!
• Listening to Oscar's testimony.
• Being able to do many small things, like picking up snack for VBS each day- that made the week run more smoothly.

Yesterday

It was threatening rain and the wind was blowing really strongly all day yesterday. The forecast was 70% probability of rain and it looked really threatening. I was praying to the God who controls the wind and the rain because if it rained it would affect the mural as well as most of the construction sites and the VBS in the park. The strong wind would also affect the VBS in the park as it would be very difficult to hold the VBS and the kids wouldn't come out for it.

So it didn't rain all day, aside from a few windblown sprinkles.

When I drove over to Glen Elm to pick up things to bring to the park, the wind was still blowing very strongly - in fact I could feel it buffet my van on my way back to the park. However at the park the wind was calm, even though we could see the tops of the trees bending over in the wind. We had a good session - about 45 kids, and we weren't disrupted by the wind at all. Now there was a bit of disruption by the film crew. Apparently they were filming a horror movie just down the street 1/2 a block from the park and they had the big trailers and the film crew out - so there was a big distraction; and the kids were really hyper last night, but things went well regardless. The Lord continues to answer prayer.

Mission 6:10

It is the week for Mission 6:10. It has been extremely hot - 33 yesterday and Monday, and although it's cooled down to 21 today, it's still extremely humid. This has hampered things a little, but things have been going well.

There is a group up from Greenville Oaks church from Allen, TX up for it; joined by a smaller group from Canada, and a few from Arlington, TX. This year we are running three VBS's - one at Glen Elm, one in North Central in the park at 7th and Pasqua, and a middle school group running in the city core. I'm the coordinator for the VBS in the park - but all the planning, etc. was done by the group from Greenville Oaks. Monday night was our first night, and we had 65 kids! Last night the number was down to 42 - however with the extreme heat, we're still thankful for all the kids who attended.

In addition to the VBS, there are several other projects on the go. There's a group painting a mural on the side of the Jolly Roger (the notorious bar in North Central) - this is preventing it from being a site for graffiti - and creating a positive presence in the community. In addition, there's another group doing construction and fixing up of several homes in the community for residents who needed some assistance. The teens are painting dumpsters, going on a prayer walk, meeting kids in the community and helping in a community garden for their service projects. It's all been very hectic, quite inspiring, and way too hot out.

Tomorrow is the last day. It's hard to think that it will end so soon, but it has been and continues to be a great time for all of us.

Monday, again

OK, Mission 6:10 started Friday night and I immediately got very busy. Last year it was hosted at Western; everyone slept in the dorms, and it was very close to where I live. This year it's hosted by Glen Elm, the teens are sleeping there and the adults are sleeping in a hotel right by there, and I get to drive across town 2-3 times a day. I find it makes a big difference. However, things are going well.

We had the carnival last night, which was our way of advertising the VBS for this week. It was very hot, but things went very well. Ashley R (Tate's girlfriend) organized the carnival, and she borrowed a farm truck with a water tank on the back from her sister, and so we were able to have a massive water fight (with sponges and pails) as part of the fun at the carnival (after the face painting, the clowns, and the other games had grown a little stale) and everyone had fun. We had one teen who I think likely had a little heat stroke by the end of things, but everyone seemed to do very well. The VBS starts this evening.

Both NW and Glen Elm congregations had potlucks yesterday to welcome the crew from Texas that were up for Mission 6:10. NW had theirs as a bbq, with members bringing salads and desserts. I brought salads (of course) - the ones we had made the day before. We had made: coleslaw forever, vegetable pecan salad (had both broccoli and cauliflower in it), cauliflower salad, nutty wild rice salad, and potato salad. We had also made a diabetic jello salad with strawberries in it. Then I ran errands the rest of the day, up until time for the carnival. I'll do the same thing this morning - try to be over a Glen Elm for the leader's meeting at 8:30 - then hopefully I'll have a little down time for a bit.

Last night after I got home (around 9 pm) I phoned Rose and had a bit of a visit with her but collapsed into bed by 9:30. Rose likes phone calls and e-mails; if you email me, I'll give you her phone number or if you know my cell number, her's is the same only the last digit is 3 instead of 2.

I open my windows at night to allow things to cool off a bit - it didn't do much cooling off last night; it was still 76 in the house when I got up this morning. However I've closed the windows again because it can only get hotter outside.

Time to go pick up things before I head over to Glen Elm.

Wednesday

It's been a quiet, lazy day. I'm enjoying it. I went downtown to pay some bills that I needed to do in person; checked out the farmer's market and the library while I was there came home and haven't done much else. It's kind of nice to do that sometimes. I have the Pradzynski's over for supper as usual for Wednesday, but I checked through my freezer and found a premade meal to toss into the oven for that. Oh yeah, I reread a book that I've read before and enjoyed, and bagged up some clothing to take to Value Village. This evening there's a Prayer Walk for North Central. I'll enjoy that.

Tuesday

I woke up at 3 am this morning and wasn't able to go back to sleep, so got up and worked on some of the stuff I promised I'd get ready for Mission 6:10 - the summer youth mission camp that will start this weekend. Got three prayer walks done (two totally done; one well started) - was only asked for one, but that's the way it goes. I'm feeling a little wonky - could be from turning my night and day around. I've tried an afternoon nap, but it's not the same.

I hear Daryl and Kristen have a new baby girl born last night, but that's all I've heard. When I have more info, I'll share it.

Rose and Bram received their report cards yesterday. They did extremely well! Bram has a 90% average and Rose's is in the high 80's. Bram received credit for 12 classes over two semesters! That's pretty impressive in and of itself, not to mention that his lowest mark was an 84. Rose took five classes second semester, three of them 30 level courses, on top of working just about full time at Safeway.

Monday

It feels like the first day of my holidays today. Actually last week was - but I was at camp, cooking; which was fun, but I had my time scheduled for me, so to speak. Today I'm (sort of) free. This doesn't, of course, mean that I'm actually free - I have things I need to do, but I can choose when and how to do them. I slept in this morning until 6 and didn't actually get up until after 8 (I love to luxuriate in bed in the mornings).

Bram has the week off before Mission 6:10 next week. I'm sending him off to see if he can find work for this week. (Probably not, but there's no point in not asking).