Looking back

Wow where can i start. The missions trip was such an awsome experience and it really was eye opening. I was reallly able to understand more when people mean when they say they are rich in Christ. The people here are such good examples of that. Even some of the team members found ourselves up dancing with the ladies in front of the whole church,sommething you would rarely see in Canada. I've found that since i was at that church with worship like that, its almost like i am craving it now. The people is Zambia really had nothing but since they have God in their hearts, thats all they need. I really believe that the people in Africa have touched and blessed us just as much as we did with their orphanage.

The exchange, i thought, was just going to be a hoiday, but i have learned that this is just and extension of the missions trip. It was so neat, yesterday, when we were handing out easter eggs to kids with aids in the hospital, to see how much it meant to them. They were so thankful. It was a great experience for not only me but Elysia and Wells also. Please continue to pray and ask that we will have more opportunities like that to help others.

Miss you all
Love Elyse

left behind......

last weekend Wells, Elyse and myself all found oursleves sitting in our own, south african bedrooms wondering .. "where'd everybody go?" For thouse of you who don't know, we three have been given the oppurtuniy to stay an additonal 3 weeks in south africa. and to the team... ITS NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU HERE! but as much as we miss everyone we are loving it.

all of our adopted families have been taking great care of us and we are really enjoying going to school here... especialy the class that has bean bag charis as seats! Living in South Africa this past week has definatly been eye opening. people here dont have the luxurie of taking strolls down the street here ... when Elyse asked her host sister if she could eat her dinner outside in her back yard her answer was "Elyse, we are in Africa.. you cant do things like that when my mothers not home" we have also been noticing how difficult it is for people to be a Christian here. we were talking with one lady and she seamed to be exausted just explaing to us the difficulty of having non-christian friends who dont 'get it'. we have it so easy in Canada.

yesterday we had the oppurtunity to go to a hospital here in Jo-burg where they deal with mainly HIV children and their mommies. we were easter bunnies for the day, every child had a baggy in their hand full of goodies when the day was through. was that an experiance tho. it was hard to see some of these kids and to hear them cry. its one of thouse things that words cannot describe.

By the end of the missions trip with the group i was realy feeling like God was telling me that mine elsyes and wells missions trip wasnt over. we still have 3 weeks of missions work here in Jo-Burg just going about our day to day buisness with the love of the Holy Sprirt pouring out of us. and hopefully we will have more oppurtuinites like we had yesterday to help the communitie in anyway we can.

all thre of us will be leaving posts along the course of our stay here... so if your intersted...keep checking up

Missing you all greatly! ~Elysia

Back Home

We finished our time in Jeffrey's Bay with a wonderful walk along the beach and time of reflection and "talking with God". As we stood as a group on the shore we shared together some of the lessons that we had learned, and how God had impressed different things on our hearts.

I think that it's pretty much impossible to spend time focussed on serving others without being touched yourself. We really are wonderfully blessed to live in Canada. Yet, there is a richness in the people we met that isn't born in security, or prosperity, but rather in a walk with God, a closeness of family, and a culture of respect.

On Friday morning we left our hotel in J-Bay said our good-byes to Dean and his wife, and began our 45 hour trek home to Canada. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong for a few hours between flights. (Another major cultural change.)

What a wonderful greeting awaited our African garbed team in Kelowna as we entered the arrivals area. Africa was a wonderful experience, but like they say...There's no place like home!!

Africa has captured my heart.

Wow!!! Where do I begin. I guess one big thing here is patience, one must wait and trust that things are going to happen. To trust God, that he knows the bigger picture and it is not up to us. That a smiple hug or a fun song can make a difference. It is amazing how much some of the kids just want love and attention. One child at the nursary giggled and giggled, but when i left he just stared at me with thoes big, brown, sad eyes... I didnt want to leave him. When I came back later, the smile he gave me, I will never forget it. There is so much more, and God is working in all of us. Thank you so much for you love support and prayers. God will do great things through prayer.
Alanna

a thought from Kristal

the question ive been asking myself these few days in J.Bay, is why do people in Canada have it so darn easy
i mean...here, by the age of 16 a girl has been raped and inpregnated numourous times.
whereas in Canada, that hardly happens.
so many times in my life, ive taken it for granted.
but not even known it.
theres so many thoughts going through my head right now, i have no words to match it.
ive had an amazing trip so far, and ive learnt so many different things about myself.
like, i can bathe in completly brown water in a second after not being clean for 2 days
or ill meet people who have absolutly nothing, and are so unclean, and not even care about slappin on the hand san
or me being totally overjoyed to see little children who have the same joy for me a million times more. and all they want to do is just hug you and hold your hand.
but most of all... on this trip, ive learnt that the love of God is so much more powerful than doing a minor act of kindness
but instead showing Gods love through your every action, speech and thought.
sigh... my heart has been captured by those little kids.
God has touched my heart through these little kids, and filled me with such a joy and gratefulness.
going back to Canada might be the hardest thing to do, since ill want to yell at everyone because they dont know how lucky they are.
sorry mom and dad if i get on your case for certin things, its out of love, i mean it.
well... our trip is coming to a stop soon, but ill still take in everyday as if its the last.
i love you family, and friends. and i cant wait to tell you about my life changing exsperience.

from victor

whats up MOM wiens and PAPA wiens AND BEAR AND BEN how is it going. iam home sick but there is only one more day to go. this trip has been so fun with all the playing around with children and painting and digging. when I grad iam moving to J Bay. so I am out talk to you later.
see you in like 3 days love VICTOR WIENS.

A Playground for Kids

What a great last few days we have enjoyed! We have had the opportunity to work on a playground that was built by the church for a public school and all the neighbourhood kids. We've been pulling weeds, picking rocks, and removing a lot of garbage.(Thanks, Mom Maja for the gloves - I didn't even realize the size of the thorns on the weeds we were pulling until about an hour into it!) Some students on our team also worked on fixing some of the playground equipment that had already been broken.... :( We were totally amazed at how much broken glass we took out of the area wondering how could people do that underneath a children's play area.... Also, we were surprised by the amount of garbage that seems to be thrown about without thought.... It was so cool today, when the topsoil came and we were all busy shovelling, spreading, wheeling it around, or flattening it as Mrs. Bishop decided to get the local kids involved (there have been more coming each time we were working at the playground - I think they are excited and just plain curious about these 'whites' in their area). She asked them to help her spread out the piles of soil (not 'dirt' we learned!) and pat them down or flatten them with their feet. We ended up having a crew of a dozen or so kids all working alongside of us! It was lots of fun and so cool to work with, meet, then play with kids who will use the playground regularly. We also took the opportunity to pray for the area and the families around there. There are amazing things happening in that area but only some of them are amazingly good. The people here really need our prayers and help. Our students worked really hard today and I was so happy with how much they accomplished. God is good! :)