Olivia Mile
My name is Olivia Mile. I'm from Regina, SK. I'll be 18 in August, and I just finished grade 12. I plan on attending Nipawin Bible College in the fall. This is my 4th summer teaching 5-Day Clubs and I'm very excited for this summer of ministry. Some prayer requests I have for the summer are: 1. Safety on the roads as I drive this summer, and that God would keep my car in good working condition and there would be no issues with any of that 2. That God would make me effective in ministry this summer and that he would speak through me as I teach and that he would receive all the glory 3. That the children in the clubs I teach every week this summer would have soft hearts to hear the gospel and respond
It’s nearly impossible to believe that 6 short weeks ago, I was preparing to embark on a summer of many adventures, and yet here we are, looking back on the memories of the adventures. It’s over for another year.
Before I can officially stop blogging for the summer, there are a few people who need to be thanked.
First off, my Heavenly Father: Thank you so very much for this incredible opportunity to serve you once again. Thank you for the children in my clubs that you revealed yourself to these past weeks and for each child I had the privilege of meeting, whether your child or not.
My fantastic family: Thank you for supporting me in this adventure yet again. Thanks for being here for me on the weekends when I got to come home. Thanks for praying for me and texting me and worrying about me and loving me. You all are actually the best.
My CG, Elfrieda: Thank you once again for committing to praying for me every day. This is the third summer out of my four that I’ve had you as a CG and every year it means even more to me. I pray God blesses you so richly because of your faithful prayers for me and other CYIA this summer.
My billets this summer: Thank you for welcoming me into your home, and making me birthday cakes, and taking me horseback riding, and on other adventures, and making me feel so at home when I was missing my family and my home here in Regina. I feel like I’ve gained 5 different families over the past 6 weeks and all over the province. I hope you all don’t mind if I come visit sometimes.
Mr. D, Kristen, Tyler, and so many more who have given so much to this ministry: Thank you for sharing your vision with us and allowing me to have a part in this ministry too. It’s an amazing blessing.
There are so many other people I’m missing…but basically I want to say thank you so much to each and every one of you who prayed for me, or supported me, or hosted a club, or billeted someone, or anything. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Here’s some fun numbers from my summer if you like that sort of thing:
- 5,766 kilometers driven
- 236 children taught
- 19 children accepted Christ
And I guess, with that, I’m signing off for another year. This was my fourth summer and I’m already looking forward to next year. Yesterday Kendra totaled up how many weeks she’s taught overall so I thought I would too. 22 weeks of teaching kids about Jesus. I am so blessed to have gotten to do this. Lord willing, I’ll see you next summer!
This likely won’t be my last blog post but I just wanted to write a quick update about how my clubs went tonight…
Lebret had one new little boy, so the total registered was 15. The kids had a lot of fun and especially enjoyed the Little Rascal story. The host family kept the hackey sack and they were all super excited about it.
Balcarres had 21 kids today, but the total registered was 23. Much bigger than last year so that was awesome. I’m already hoping I get to go back and teach there again next year. We did a draw for the frisbee/baseball and the little girl picked the baseball, much to the delight of her 11 year old cousin who desperately wanted that baseball for himself, haha. I handed out every single last one of my Meet the King books and had exactly enough, and lots of kids said verses to me tonight too. Also, our prayers for a less-restless-night were answered. They sat and listened well and focused really well almost the entire time, so thank you for that.
Tomorrow when I have more time I have a long list of thank-you’s to go through, so stay tuned š thanks everyone!
This week has been loooooooong, as evidenced by my title. Well actually, for me the week has been going by rather quickly. However, for the kids in my clubs, I can see the week is starting to wear on them. They’re getting tired and restless and it’s showing in their attention spans. Especially in Balcarres, the younger kids are starting to talk a lot throughout the club and roll around on the floor and basically just zone out while I’m trying to teach the stories. I know that a week of activity like this can get really tiring, so please pray for the kids, that God would help them to focus for one more day so they can really get the most out of the club.
The clubs did go pretty well again today. Three boys from my VBS in Balcarres ended up at both my Lebret club and my VBS today, so that was kind of funny. There was also two new kids in Balcarres. Like I said though, a lot of the kids are getting really distracted throughout the entire time. Some kids are coming late and that really throws everything off so please pray specifically for my Balcarres club that the kids would be able to pay attention tomorrow.
Thanks so much everybody!
I don’t know why, but I’ve always just really liked reaching the halfway point of things. I guess it just helps me to see measurable progress through a task. Like the end of week 2, I was happy because with the two weeks of training before teaching, that got us halfway through the entire summer. And then with the end of week 3, that got us halfway through the 6 weeks of actual teaching. And Wednesdays were always good days because that’s the halfway point at each week. This halfway point is sort of sad though. It really is the most bittersweet feeling as we wrap up this summer. I’m going to miss teaching so much.
My clubs today were basically the exact same as yesterday. The same kids came and they listened almost as well as yesterday. The Little Rascal story got a bit long for their attention spans in both clubs today so please pray that tomorrow they’d be able to focus the entire time. Actually, I’ve noticed by the end of the club, a lot of the kids are getting really restless, even if they’re still sitting quietly. So yeah I guess prayer for tomorrow would just be that they would be able to listen to the whole thing and I could make it exciting so they won’t be bored.
Thanks again for all the prayer as the summer gets closer to ending!
Hey everyone, I hope the rest of you teachers had a great day teaching. My clubs were good, with 11 in Lebret (1 new friend) and 20 in Balcarres (4 new friends). Again the clubs went well with kids who listened and participated. There’s not much different from yesterday.
It’s kind of sad to think I won’t be teaching the bible story again this summer. I love today’s bible story, of how King David showed kindness to Mephibosheth by basically adopting him into his family, although the majority of kings would never have done that. Our memory verse shows that God has done the same for us, by showing us kindness and love and actually giving us the opportunity to become his children. I often marvel at the fact that God would love me. I look at myself and sometimes I think “what person could possibly stand me, never mind the king of the universe?” I know my thoughts and what a terrible attitude I have, and how I am often distracted and, honestly in many ways, how I’m spiritually unprepared for the job I have teaching these precious children.
Yet God knows my heart even more than I do. He created it and he knows it better than anyone else. But when he looks at me, somehow he does so with love. Love, and kindness, and forgiveness. The thought brings tears to my eyes…he loves me and wants me to love him back. That he loves me so incredibly much that he would send his own son to die, for me, a sinner. Someone who was living in blatant rebellion to him. God loves me enough, that not only did he send his son to die for me, but he also invites me into his family. Adopts me as his own daughter, beloved and cherished. He looks at me and says, “Olivia Theresa Mile, my precious daughter, I love you and I want you to be with me.”
It’s shocking how he chooses to love me. I am far from deserving of such love. But I am grateful. So, so grateful. I have failed him over and over, but every time, he invites me back with open arms. In fact, there is not one single thingĀ that can separate me from God’s love or take it away from me.Ā The least I can do is try, with my skewed view of love, to love him back and to do my best to spread his love to others.
That’s why I love teaching this story so much. This is honestly probably my favourite story to teach out of the five we have, because even coming from a solid, Christian home where I have two loving earthly parents already, the idea that God would literally adopt me as his own daughter has always amazed me, and I see my amazement mirrored on the faces of the kids I teach, every week. God’s love is so amazing, and getting to tell kids about it is probably my favourite thing to do.
Every year I hit this point in the summer. I usually end week 5 tired, kinda grouchy, and ready for a week off (it sounds terrible, but it’s true). But then once I actually start teaching week 6, I realize, “this is the last time I get to do this for an entire year…” and it’s heartbreaking. I’m so glad that I still have 3 more days with these kids.
A lot of the kids in my clubs this week are churched, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve made a decision yet. Just today I saw on one lesson that a little girl who’s mom is helping at the VBS decided to follow Christ last night while she was doing her lesson. Please pray for these kids. They are all so sweet and they all desperately need Jesus. So pray that he would soften their hearts to him, and if they already have, then I would be able to encourage them farther in their walks with him. Thank you so much.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.Ā For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37-39)
(Funny story real quick, behind the title: The 10th song on the 5 day clubs CD is called “Finishing Strong”, and I don’t know, I just can’t stand the sound of it. But it has a good message about fighting the battle to the very end and so here we are on our last week and so I thought it would be an appropriate song for the week)
I can hardly believe it, it’s the last week of teaching! This summer has gone by so fast and God has done some incredible things…entering this last week is exciting and kind of sad at the same time.
First, I’ll apologize for not blogging much last week. My laptop was having trouble connecting to the internet at my billets so it wasn’t always working properly.
Last week was awesome. I stayed with my billets from week 2 again, and that was lots of fun, to spend more time getting to know them. We went on lots of adventures and had a lot of fun. As for clubs, my first club ended with 25 kids, my second club had 26, and my VBS had 5 registered by the end of the week. Needless to say it was a pretty crazy morning with 51 kids, but it was lots of fun, and both hostesses were encouraged by the good turnout we had.
This week I have a club in Lebret and a VBS in Balcarres. It’s a bit of a slower week than what I’ve had so it’s nice to have some time in the morning to relax and have some time off. The club is at the house of some friends of ours, at 3:00. This afternoon we had 10 kids, 7 of which were my hostess’ children (and that’s a mix of biological, adopted, and foster kids. They’ve got a really neat story.) The kids listened pretty well…actually I hardly heard a word from them the entire hour. So that was nice, they were really well behaved.
I was super excited for the VBS in Balcarres, because I taught it last year, and they requested me back this year again, so I was just so happy that I get to teach it again. It was just as awesome as I had hoped it would be. I think last year we had like 15 by the end of the week and today we already had 17, and they’re expecting more later this week. And the kids kinda remembered me and I remembered most of them so it was just so much fun to reconnect with them.
I’m really happy with how this last week has started out, and even though it’s bittersweet, I’m excited to finish out this summer really well, so please pray that I would do that. That I could stay strong to finish off my last two clubs with enthusiasm and strength and I wouldn’t start relying on my own strength now, but that I would allow God to carry me to the end. Thank you so much everyone!
Hey everyone! This week I’m teaching 2 clubs and VBS in Melfort. It’s kinda halfway between Tisdale and Kinistino so this is the third week I’ve been up here, so I’m getting to know the area pretty well.
My first club is from 9:00-10:00. Yesterday we had 9 kids, and today we had 15. The kids seem to be pretty into it, and I know this hostess has been hosting for quite a few years now so lots of the kids have come in previous years, so they’re excited to be back and having a good time.
At my second club there was 15 kids yesterday, and 7 new ones today, so a total of 22 registered. Yesterday it was kind of rough because the club was really hot, and it was super sunny, but today was a little better because we were able to go into the shade and so it that was nice. It was really fun today, because some of my kids from my club in Valparaiso two weeks ago came today, and so they remembered me and were excited to come back, so that was fun.
The VBS didn’t have any kids yesterday, but I was so glad when one little boy came this afternoon. It was kind of weird, because he really didn’t talk at all, so it was interesting trying to get him to engage and participate, but he did seem like he was listening and having a good time, so I’m hoping he comes back tomorrow, but I’m also hoping he brings some friends too.
So far, this week has been pretty awesome, and it’s been lots of fun. I’m excited to see what God has for the rest of this week. Thanks for praying for me!
If I said something like “I almost crashed my car” again, my mom would get really mad š so I have to stick to something a little less stressful I guess.
My first club today was Indian Head (because the kids from Vibank joined my Montmartre club). We had three new kids, bringing our total to 11 registered. They were super excited about earning the hackey sack. I was kind of disappointed though, because the two boys who came for the first time today didn’t really seem to enjoy themselves and one of them even refused the first day package. So pray that maybe they will change their minds and come back tomorrow.
My second club, in Montmartre, had four new kids today so we’re at 22 registered. This is one of my biggest clubs all summer (the biggest so far being 27) so this is pretty exciting. The kids love it and most of them listen pretty well. We had some troublemakers today but we’ll have to see how it goes tomorrow.
This evening in Glenavon my club had two little girls (who actually came in Montmartre on Tuesday), so that was nice. They were a lot calmer than the kids last night and they are probably coming back to Montmartre tomorrow. So it’s kinda funny because I’m not sure if we’ll have any kids in Glenavon tomorrow but at least they’re coming to a club.
This week has had it’s ups and downs but I am ready for tomorrow and excited to finish off this week well. Thanks for praying for me!
Well, I didn’t actually, but I thought it would make an exciting title. AndĀ driving on the grid roads today was pretty interesting, with all the rain, it was pretty muddy. There was some scary moments (and I wasn’t even driving that fast…) but God was watching over me, and I think I’m getting to be a semi-decent driver on gravel š
My first club today had just the two same host kids, so we’re going to be joining up with Montmartre tomorrow. So that’s nice for me because it cuts back the amount of driving I have to do, and I can actually be at my VBS in Indian Head for the first hour too.
At Indian Head, there wasn’t any new kids but almost all of the kids from yesterday came back. I got lessons handed in to me and verses were said so the kids are participating and enjoying themselves. The Pastor and his wife are just lots of fun too, so that’s great.
In Montmartre, we had a bunch of new kids. I think we’re at 18 registered, and it turns out that my cousins who used to live there in Montmartre were camping close by and are friends with my hostess, so they came and that was fun to see them.
I went back to the church in Glenavon at 3:00, even though we changed the time of the club to 6:30, just to make sure that any kids we forgot to tell about the time change didn’t show up. So there was no kids then, but I’ll probably go back just to make sure tomorrow. If kids show up then and in the evening, I guess I’ll just run the club twice. So I also went at 6:30 and 7 kids came then! So that was lots of fun, they were pretty rowdy but a few of them listened really well and I’m hoping they can come back tomorrow.
I don’t really have any specific prayer requests today, just patience and energy as this is a busy busy week for me, and that the kids at each club would listen and learn something from the stories, regardless of if they are three or thirteen.
Thanks so much everyone, and again, especially to my CG Elfrieda. You are a huge blessing!! Thank you so much!
After a fantastic long weekend off with my family, I’m back to work with four clubs in Vibank, Indian Head, Montmartre, and Glenavon.
My first club is in Vibank, from 9:30-10:30. They’re on aĀ farm and they said they did some advertising but we only had the hostess’ two kids so far. This is their first year hosting, but they seemed to love the club and said they might call some more people tonight. We decided that if there aren’t more kids tomorrow then they might just join up with my Montmartre club later, since they’re at swimming lessons there, right before that club. So we shall see how the week goes.
The second club is a VBS in Indian Head. This one starts at 10:00 so I don’t get there til 11:00 for the teaching hour. They had 8 kids there today. They were all pretty good except some of the kids kept complaining about being tired, and not wanting to stand to sing the songs, etc.
Next is my club at a farm just outside of Montmartre. It’s from 1:00-2:00 and we had 14 kids there today! The hostess has been doing clubs now for about 6 years she said, so they usually have a pretty good turnout. This one was super fun except for some minor distractions from some of the younger ones.
Lastly I have a club in Glenavon at The Church on the Hill. I got there around 3:00 for the club but unfortunately we didn’t have any kids come. So the Pastor and I drove around a bit and reminded some people and through talking to the people in town, we decided that 6:30-7:30 would be a better time, so we moved the club up. So I went back there today at 6:30 but there was still no kids. I think a lot of them are on holidays or camping or whatever this week, so that’s too bad. But I think there will for sure be kids on Thursday, so we’re going to stick this week out and see how we can do. We’ll have a 2 day club if necessary! š
So far my week has gone pretty well. I do have some prayer requests:
- Safe travels. I have a lot of driving to do this week, so please pray that I will be able to make it to and from all my clubs in good time and safely.
- More kids at my Vibank club! The hostess is really enthusiastic so pray that some more kids show up. And if not, we’ll combine with the Montmartre club and I think that will work out just fine too.
- Energy for the kids in Indian Head. They seemed pretty tired today and they kept complaining so pray that God will give them energy and enthusiasm to participate.
- Less distractions for my kids in Montmartre.Ā Some of the littlerĀ ones (3-4 yrs)Ā are just a bit distractingĀ to some of the older ones.
- Kids!! š we need kids here in Glenavon. My host told me they had about 19 last year so it’s kind of oddĀ that there aren’t any so far. So please pray that kids will come and I’ll be able to adjust all my storiesĀ and everything well to fit into 2 or 3 days instead of the 4.
Thank you so much for praying for me! This is looking like it will be a good week out here. Pretty busy, but lots of fun. So thank you! Your prayers are certainly felt and much appreciated.
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