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."