Good Evening
We are once again happy to share an update from another great day that we've had here as a team.
The day started earlier for some than others with Bill getting up bright and early to catch a beautiful sunrise -
We gathered to share a devotion time and it we laughed at it being Jackie's turn to lead devotions when the topic was "The Weight of our Words".
The idea of the devotion was to make sure that we recognize the importance of integrity in our words and actions with the Youth - to make sure that we don't commit to things that we can't follow through on. Trust is built one kept promise at a time.
We also thought perhaps the topic of the devotion could maybe be a reminder for me to try to lighten the load on the number of words I'm using in this update daily - ha ha. Before leaving for the Youth Center today we spent time praying over each individual youth that we expected to encounter there today - to be intentional in our connection.
After working on some preparations for the day once we arrived at TPYC, we shared a scripture reading time with the center leaders and then awaited the teens. We knew we would have a smaller group today because of some commitments that a couple of the youth had but we were so pleased to see a student return who had previously graduated from the program - Desi. Desi came to visit the team who had spent time with him in the center in previous years and it was a great reunion - we were even able to pass along some gifts that Margaret and Simon sent for Desi - knowing his passion for martial arts and Bruce Lee!
Desi and the team had some great discussions today and Bill was able to really connect with some of his Tai Chi knowledge!
Lise lead our testimony and teaching time today with her amazing personal account of God's faithfulness in her journey and the roles of people that God places in our lives. Our theme was overcoming today, and Lise was able to connect with the youth surrounding loss and challenge in her life and the importance of understanding God's timing and the power of prayer!
God works in our lives - the sweet, bitter etc. Jesus is at work protecting us and teaching us to trust Him more even when we face difficulties. God works things out for us better than we could ever do ourselves - when we face anything in life we should go to prayer to seek God's wisdom.
Lise reinforced her lesson by having the teens exercise their taste buds - and try to taste Bitter Melon, Lemon, and Ginger and then the impact of dipping each in some sweet sugar - the youth were reluctant for sure and were clearly not fans of some of the items:
We had some great free time this afternoon playing games and visiting with the Youth after the lesson. We were able to play Catopoly - which is a game designed by our very own Sunday School kids last year - it was so well done and we really enjoyed playing it together.
After some gaming and puzzling time, we dug in (and I mean literally) back to our landscape refresh project at the front of the building. We prepared the soil and had a few of the youth help us add in some peat moss to counteract a lot of sand and clay in the flower bed.
To the finished project of our little perennial garden - taking it from weeds and a sad looking fence to a bright welcome to the center!
We had the pleasure of hosting the Turning Point board of directors for supper this evening and had a chance to celebrate with them the ongoing work at the center over some Japanese Curry that Jenny had prepared along with some other delicious pot luck dishes!
We returned back to our host house and as we were doing debriefing today we looked outside to see a really unique cloud formation
It reminded us of God's leading of the Israelites with a pillar of cloud by day - He truly continues to be our focus and has provided us such a rich and fulfilling experience this week. We are looking forward to a great day at the center tomorrow to celebrate the end of the week one group's time there and present the gospel message to the teens!
Thank you for your ongoing prayers,
Week 1 - Meadow Lake Team!
