Keep-in-touch (Fall 2007, Part 2)

[What we have so far...]
Andrea, Becky, Ben T., Ekua, John, Katherine, Lynnette, Myriam, Olga, Ricky, Steve, Tabitha

Andrea: Hi everyone! Wow, summer is going by so fast. After I arrived in Calgary, I had about a week off just relaxing and adjusting back to home life. Then I began to work at Heritage Park as a cashier and hostess for a sit-down kind of restaurant. I met this really nice girl there, she is so gentle. She went to Israel for a month of the summer and is Jewish so it is very interesting to get to know her.

Tomorrow I am going to Disneyland and Sandiego for the first time with my family for a week so that is exciting! Then, in the fall, I will be attending my Bible college again now called Ambrose university College and I will stay there until I finish my behavioral science degree. From there, I will probably go into teaching either elementary or special needs. But that is still a long ways off.
Since I've been home, I have attended two C4C Summer Bible studies so that has been good. I hope to attend other C4C things throughout the year and that I will continue to learn and grow closer to God through all that He will teach me this coming year!! That is exciting to think about!! I hope you will all continue to grow closer to God throughout the year and that God will continue to amaze you!

Becky: I hesitated writing this for a while because at this present time I am still unsure of what I am up to this year! I am planning on staying in Oakville for the year- I am currently looking for a job. I will be helping out with the youth group , joining a small group and being part of a new young adults group at my church which I am really excited about. Since I have been home I have been up to my cottage and just spending time with the family. Its been nice but I miss you all very much!

Ben T.: I am going in my third (but fortunately not last) year of my B.A.Sc. program at University of Toronto. Hopefully by the end of the coming term, I will be able to have the type of community and accountability available to me during project and subsequently extend a positive influence into my program, UT Engineering Faculty, UTc4C, my church, and my community. If time and classes allows, I may even make the epic pilgrimage uptown to attend York's Weeking Meeting! To the people of the Pseudo-West (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) and WC non-attendees, I will surely regret not seeing you post-project.

Ekua:August has gone by really fast. I didn't do much when I got back from Halifax, most of the time I was either sleeping or going for long walks. And some days I tried to read but that didn't work out too well either never finished any of the books I started and some days I baked. Yea seems I have been pretty lazy. But I miss you all dear ones. I think of you almost everyday. Hope you are all doing great. Well hmmm......... I leave for Australia in 6 days. I will be studying at a University there for quite a while. But for now I am taking it one day at a time. I don't know what clubs I will be involved in since there is no C4C on my campus so we'll see what happens. I am in the middle of packing and saying goodbye to friends. So I am here with my roomie sorry I didn't know what else to add but I think thats a good point to make. At least it will encourage you all to get together with your roomies sometime in the near future. Oh I am almost done Corinthians, take a look at chapter 13 if you haven't already its really good. Anyways I will keep you all updated as much as I can. Will be praying for you all. Nikkie (hope I spelt that right) I miss your hugs send me one soon.
God bless.
Ekua

John: I'm entering into my last year of Finance and will be taking mostly finance courses and some electives (Quebec Culture [VIVE LE QUEBEC LIBRE!], Business French, & Hispanic Culture). I'll still be working at the radio station, but will be working from 6am-8:30am Mon-Fri from home, on my computer. I plan on focusing on my courses, studying and trying to get the best GPA I've ever had! I have no clue what I'll be doing in a year from now nor where I'll be in this world. I'll continue to be involved with C4C, passing the batton to the younger students. I'll be going to the SMU C4C leadership retreat this weekend, but don't know exactly what I'll be doing or how much time I'll be investing in C4C, as I'll be concentrating on graduating and finding a job.

Katherine: Hello my wonderful wonderful friends...
I'M STILL IN HALIFAX!!! I have been to Rice Res a few times this month...
Walking down the hallways, palms sweaty, pulse racing, i was bashed in the head AND stabbed in the heart: premature nostalgia attacked me. It struck me (yeah, i'm a little slow) that we would NEVER experience life in Rice Res together again... Hani and Kenny say they miss us. Ike says everytime he sees a group of people he thinks of us projectiles ("cuz u always travelled in groups")! oooooohhhhhhhhhhh, life goes on... the Buskers were great... flame-throwing, sword-swallowing, bucket-drumming madness... it has been busy at work... my mother came to visit. we had a blast... Ike's boss dragged us onto a late-night cruise one evening and we danced the night away to good ol' eighties noise. just 4 the record, my mom is amazing. she called me the night she got back to Montreal: " Kass, I miss Halifax!!!" ... my sister, brother-in-law,and niece came 2 visit also. what a blessing. every blood vessel is tightening now as i prepare to pull out the roots that have been so deeply embedded here on Halifax soil... my heart aches already for all the friends & co-workers I will be saying goodbye to. God has truly blessed me and has assured me that He will give me the strength I need to survive this... but thick damaged roots are a beautiful thing. Mirka will drive me to the airport on the 31st, and then the 4th I will resume my Education studies at Concordia. My appartment, job, and C4C frosh events will keep me busy enough to postpone my aching heart 4 the Haligonian culture... shopping carts, foghorns, bad hair days, pan-handlers, granola bars, amber, theodore, friendly bus-drivers, friendly EVERYONE, crab cakes, cooks with cigarettes in alleys, donairs, uncommon grounds, ice cream... yeah, it's all about the food i guess. no, seriously, i am going to miss the lives i've bonded with. i know God loves them more than me, but HOLY PEPPERCORN is it hard to let them go!!! miss yall sooooooo much. u've all touched my life in positive ways. thankyou for your faithfulness to our King. i can't wait 4 WC to see some of u again and sigh & reminisce about Halifax 2007... hugs & kisses,
in Christ,

Katherine

Lynnette: Hello everyone! The rest of this summer has really flown by. My mom was here for a few weeks and it was SO great to spend time together. She has left but we are left with the task of finishing up our kitchen (we are redoing it all!) My brother and I spend the whole day putting together cabinets. We will see how they hold up!
I am starting back at school next Thursday and the first year orientation is on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was really great we had a prayer time with all the christian groups and some churches in the city confessing some sins from the University's past so we can begin again. Such an uplifting time! I am heading into my 2 and 1/2 (ish) year of school and am looking forward to all the wonderful History courses. (You guys should give them a chance you'll like them, REALLY!) I am going to be either leading or co-leading a DG this year with C4C. I am back at the job which I had before going on project and blessed with great hours.
I really enjoyed spending my summer with everyone. What a blessing to have served with you. God Bless!

Myriam: Hello everyone! Well life has been crazy since Halifax, well it never stopped being crazy. In the week I got home I unpacked and repacked to move to Lennoxville. Now that I’m in Lennoxville I’ve been cleaning and painting my new apartment. I also started school last Monday the 20th. So my first week of school is over... It’s ok. I have classes only in the morning and I also have Tuesday off. This year I will also be part of the comity that is in charge of IVCF (Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship) at Bishop’s. That will start when Bishop starts, in the beginning of September. As I’m still in boxes do to painting I have not tock the time to reflect on Halifax yet. It is on my do to list that never ends… ;) It’s was as great time that I know for such!!!

Olga: As I look back on the months in Halifax, I am excited because I know God has so much more in store! I'm looking forward to going back to school and to see how God can use me back on my own campus. I really hope that we will be able to start up a drime team at York this year as well. This weekend I'm going away to a cottage to do some more planning with people from my campus. August has been great! It was a lot of fun driving back home from Halifax and seeing other parts of Nova Scotia. Since I came back, I had the chance to catch up with some friends, do a bit of packing for our move and plan some things for my sister's upcoming wedding. There will be a lot of change this year but it's exciting!

Ricky: If there’s one thing I’ve learned since August 1st, it is a particular way of looking at saving grace that has not occurred to me before (and I got this from reading the “How People Grow” book). Before project, grace was simply an undeserved gift – like a pay cheque before I even start my job. But what that fails to illustrate is dependence – the fact that we NEED to depend on grace to live as Christ-followers. We cannot do it any other way. I could still live without that free pay cheque, but I cannot live a life that is pleasing to God without grace. So, maybe grace should be something like a bottle of water handed to me by an enemy soldier in the middle of the Sahara desert - his bottle of water, to be more precise. Anyways, life after project, to be honest, hasn’t been productive at all. It’s hard because I have no church nor close friends here in Hong Kong. But the past few weeks, especially after going to a few very vibrant Christian youth events here, has changed the way I look at Hong Kong. I realized that until the day I start a family elsewhere, Hong Kong is still my home. I still have a heart for this place. As for the coming semester, as some of you already know, I’ll be the vice-KSL on my campus, and it’ll also be my final year of my undergraduate studies. I am really looking forward to it, and I know for sure that it will not be struggle-free, especially after the lessons I’ve learned on project. Anyways, until next time, keep fit and have fun friends!!

Steve: Hey everybody!

So I'm here in Edmonton right now! I'm now excited to be starting school again in less than two weeks! I'll be entering my fourth year of my Education/Math Degree at the University of Alberta. . . Oh, how I wish I could just push to my Masters! So this coming year I am the MDA coordinator at the UofA, and as well and leading a first year DG. Thankfully, I can use all of the skills and experience that God gave me in Halifax! I am excited to say that I have now found a place in Edmonton! Praise God! This coming fall is going to be a lot of God, ministry, school, and work! But He can easily guide me through it! :D Blessings everybody!

In Him,
Steve

Tabitha: I'm in Toronto and constantly travelling to Waterloo and Kingston to visit my boyfriend. Boys are trouble! I asked Nate "who ARE you?" and he said "trouble", then he asked me "who are YOU?" and I responded "trouble's girlfriend". I had a great August! I came home for just a little bit and then went to Waterloo for a week. I hung out with a lot of friends, went to my fave Christian bookstore (Gospel Lighthouse), and surprised my boyfriend (which went well by the way... it would've been better if he could stop talking!). I then headed to Kingston for a week and hung out with my boyfriend's mom and family friends. It was really relaxing because they basically live in a cottage! I just got back from a weekend trip to Mont Tremblant, Quebec with my family. Next weekend I'll go see some friends and the boy in Waterloo and then school will start (hello reunion with Erin, Liz, Ver and Olga~). Okay, I was told to keep this short, and I doubt I'm doing a good job. I miss many of you! Official shout outs to my roomies (Miss Becky, Colleen and Andrea) and Shalom. Peace out yo.

****************

Here's something Erin said (not quite verbatim) during our Candlight debrief time that really struck me:

"I get chills looking around this room and thinking that there are thirty amazing people going back to campus across Canada this year....
God is going to use each and everyone one of you, and we have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow, but we have such hope, and such joy knowing that we are loved and He saved each one of us, even though we don't deserve it.
...and I hope that everybody at least can take something away from this and put it towards something in the future. It just astounds me, what He has done and what He will do."

Keep-in-touch (Fall 2007, Part 1)

[This is what we have so far...]
Amber, Ben H., Colleen, Erin, Jessica, Joanna, Johnson, Joyce, K____*, Paulman, Sarah, Veronika (*name removed)
(we're officially 40% of the way there!)

Amber: The end is in sight and I'm heading back to the U of S for my last semester of Pharmacy classes - my 5th year! I'm renting a house with my good friend Amber Reed and 4 other roomates in Saskatoon and anticipate God doing some very cool things with this group. I'm very excited to see how God is going to work on our campus this year and I hope I'll be God-focused through all the busyness. I want to continue to be involved in C4C leadership/planning/serving and I want to help others to become spiritual leaders in the coming years as my time on campus is fast coming to an end. Oh, and a special prayer request - I need to make some big decisions about what I'm doing the next year or two after I graduate and really need God's guidance. Hugs to everyone! God bless.

Ben H.: I have the privilege of continuing to be part of God's ministry at UWO this year. I am filled with anticipation to see how God is going to work this year on campuses across the world, including my own. As a begin my MA in Library and Information Studies (three more terms of school!), I am praying for increased enthusiasm for my academic studies and to have God use me to win one person to Christ in this faculty this year.

God has blessed me with having this month away from school and work. It has been nice to see family, to visit with some students headed out on STINT this year, and to encourage other students from Western at a retreat on Lake Huron. The most encouraging times of this August have been the multiple occasions where I have either met with supporters or shared at church how God is working in Halifax. I see how project has been a blessing for me as well as to those who supported the project through prayer and finances. I realize how many prayers were lifted up to God for the city of Halifax, and how people continue to pray for revival there.

I am eager to resume my role as a prayer meeting leader at Western. Please know that I will continue to lift up all of you before God as you seek to serve Him wherever He takes you. Please pray for me as I seek God's direction in regards to applying to join staff with Campus for Christ in some capacity next fall.

Colleen: Hey! It’s Colleen! Right now I’m finishing packing for Choral Camp! It’s a camp composed of babies through seniors where we spend 6 hours of day singing (dream come true!!!) some old spirituals, some Mozart, some newer ditties as well as the occasional liturgy. Upon returning to school I’ll be helping to lead the Nursing MDA and continue discipling a few of my girls! I’ll also be helping with the Sr. Highs at church and learning to wrap sprained ankles in sports injuries class. I’m still digesting what I’ve learned on project, every day realizing more and more things. It’s exciting! Let’s keep praying for Halifax-the city as well as SMU and Dal.

Erin: I'm two weeks away from entering my 4th year in Design, and I'm happily buried under a pile of things to do (oh, come on, would any of you expect any less from your resident stress-ball?) Actually, the return to Ontario was quite smooth and stress-free. I was thankfully given almost full-time work at the tea room, I was trained as a shop manager, and recently got asked to redesign a number of items like menus and tea guides. I've been visiting with friends and helping out here and there around the community. Project has definitely taught me that busyness doesn't have to equal stress, and that it's okay to take time out. Also, I've found that I'm much more conscious of how I use my time. All this leaves me very optimistic for the upcoming school year!

(I'm also helping co-head the design team for York's C4C, and generally helping out where I can!)

Jessica: I had an awesome time driving home from Halifax with my mom. We got home on the 9th, and then I volunteered at a camp from Aug. 12-16. I'll probably head back to London around Aug. 28. This year I'm going to be on the servant team for C4C, and I'll lead a discipleship group. I'm also planning on getting more involved at my church, maybe in the nursery. I'll let you know how that goes in the next update. Keep it real!

Joanna: Hey everyone!
I miss you all like crazy! What a great 3 months! My August has been really nice and I'm so thankful for the transition home. I spent a week at a cottage with my parents which was a great chance to wind down and catch up with them. And after that I was camp nurse for a week at Camp Cherith. It was a refreshing and fun week. This Sunday I'm leaving London again and helping lead the youth group canoe trip to Temagami with my church. There's 19 of us going hardcore into the woods, so pray for safety! And if you could also pray for me as I give my testimony on Sunday night. Speaking to a group in general is always a little nervewracking, so pray that I would speak Christ's words in confidence to these high school students!
This year, I'm heading into my fourth and final year of nursing at Western! My clinical placement in the fall is in labour & delivery and I'm really excited (and slightly scared) for that - I'm sure I'll have lots of stories to share!

And with C4C stuff, I'm on the servant team (or Central Action Group as Western is calling it) focussing on reaching out to first years. We've got some great things planned and I'm looking forward to it. And I'm also leading my nursing DG and reaching out to nurses. It will be a busy year, but I'm really excited to get to put into practice the things God has been teaching me this summer. Pray for time management and that my heart would be in the right place as I serve.
I hope you all enjoy the remaining days of summer! Be blessed!

Johnson: I will be starting my 2nd year of graduate studies at Simon Fraser University. I will be taking 2 courses, and possibly TA'ing as well. Paulman and I will be living on campus residence, hopefully as roommates (we won't find out until move-in date). This coming year at C4C, I will be serving as web admin and also helping out with the planning of IGNITE, our C4C weekly meetings.

I think this Fall semester will be very exciting in all aspects of my life. As I get more involved with C4C and serve God and His people, I want to make sure that I am leaving lots of time for myself as well, so I won't get stressed out.

Joyce: I am going to be entering my 3rd year as a Linguisitics major at the University of Alberta. As for Campus for Christ, myself and another girl are co-coordinating the Weekly Meeting. SCARY as this is on a much larger scale than what I have been doing. But, I know that as long as I surrender daily to God, the Holy Spirit will enable me to do the things which I cannot do on my own strength.

K____*: I keep thinking I see people from Halifax here in Saskatoon and it makes me want to go back just to see every one.

I am entering into my second year of International Development Studies. I am finally getting excited about school. I am also going to be volunteering with our International Student Office in the Buddy Program, like some of us did with the TESL center in Halifax. I am definitely looking forward to studying the Bible in a DG and just being involved with C4C.

(K____* also says that she's trying to get her old lifeguard job back and is hoping to join the rec soccer team when school starts)

Paulman: I'm going to be doing my third and last year of my M.A.Sc program at Simon Fraser University. I'm going to be living in Townhouses in residence, hopefully as Johnson's roommate, so I'm looking forward to that! I have no idea what it's going to be like on campus in my last year here (I'm Promotions Coordinator with C4C), but my goal is going to be to spend quality time with God each day - so that God will change me, and bless others through me. I will also be slowing down a bit and focusing my time and effort on fewer things. However, keeping disciplined with my time and not wasting any of it is proving more of a struggle than I'd thought - keep me in your prayers!

Looking forward to seeing a bunch of you at Winter Conference, and for you Easterners... I'll miss you! At least we'll always have Facebook/blogs/Internet! (right?)

Sarah: ¡hola mis amigos!
The month of August is counting down and it's been a good time catching up with a lot of people back at home. I'm going into my last year at Waterloo, but in a different program (Social Work), so I'm not really sure what to expect. I'm looking forward to being with the exact same class of people the whole year and getting to know my classmates well. I'm really looking forward to my practicum where I'll be working with immigrants and new Canadians- it looks like I'll be interacting with internationals again! I'm still figuring out what my role will be in C4C- this needs prayer. But I know that no matter what, I anticipate the great things that God will be doing on my campus! I'll be moving into my final and 5th Waterloo home in early September and I'm really excited to hit the ice again to shape up for hockey. Maybe I'll be able to practice my Spanish again, too. But above all, as we learned in Halifax, I hope to make God my focus over busyness, ministry and stuff. I want to love God more through quality time with him. That's all for now friends!

[Little addendum from Sarah:] For the Toronto ppl, a heads up, there's a whole bunch of TESL students who'll be going through Toronto in the next month- Marilyn (Aug 25-30), Sang Won and Sang Yoon (Sept 2 or 3), Jung (Sept 6-11), Vivi and Lu Wen (Sept 10ish). If you're free, make time to hang out with them and show them the sights; if you have space at your house, it'll really help if you let them stay at your place. Thanks!

Veronika: Helloooooo Friends!!!
I'm still in Halifax and will be here till the 31st. I'm not looking forward to this Fall as I still don't know what I'm doing with my degree :( and I really want to know what God wants me to do. The mass sign up emails from C4C are already filling my inbox :|. The transition out of project was kinda difficult but at least I still have Nicky to keep me accountable. Love you all !!!!

Official Halifax Project 2007 - Fortune Cookie ;P

Countdown to launch...

Hello again,

I’m e-mailing to announce the start of the Projectile Follow-up Program (PFP). This is something us DG leaders and Ben and Joanna have talked about as a way of keeping in touch and seeing where God is leading each of us now that we’ve left project.

What we decided was that at periodic times over this year, EVERYONE will be asked to send a little blurb about what’s going on in your life now (i.e. where you are, what you’re doing). It just needs to be a few sentences (see my example at the bottom).

WHAT I'LL NEED: Please send me several sentences about where you are, what you'll be up to over the next while (i.e. Fall), etc., by August 24th or earlier. If we don't hear from you, whoever did PD/discipleship with you will CHASE YOU DOWN!

WHAT will it look like?
We’ll compile everything and send out a big e-mail. We'll also post it up to this blog – http://hp-2007.blogspot.com – and you'll be able to leave comments on the blog!

WHEN will it be?
We’re planning on doing at least THREE updates over the next year.

Update #1: We’ll be collecting your short blurb by August 24th, right before everyone starts the Fall.

Update #2: Around November/December, right before a lot of us go off to Winter Conference

Update #3: Maybe around March. I’m curious to see who God will lead to go on summer project this year, or do something completely different, and this is probably a good time to hear about it :P

After that, who knows. I’d like to keep in touch at least once a year (or maybe more), but I guess we’ll have to see how it goes.

NOTE:
We can post interesting things on the blog throughout the year, as well. If you’d like to be able to post, just talk to me and I'll get you set up.

That's all for now! Grace and peace to you :)

Example:
[see next blog post for examples]