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!
Posted By: Rose Williams
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Week 6 is completed! I can hardly believe it. I made it back safely from Estevan, driving from Weyburn to Regina in the car that broke down on the way there. A new battery was put in at Weyburn, so it made it to Regina with no problems. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me during the drive!
Here’s how my clubs finished:
Club 1: This club went from 6 kids to a total of 17! I found it really neat that they kept bringing friends. Not too many of the friends stayed for more than a day, but they heard the gospel message. Nearly all the children were 6 or 7 years old, but they were great listeners and really engaged in the club. Two girls made decisions for Jesus while doing their lessons! One was the hostess’ granddaughter, and the hostess told me she asked her granddaughter is she had asked Jesus in her heart, and she said she had the day before! So I’m pretty sure that counts as a mailbox decision!
I said this club could pie me if they got 20 kids, but they were so close so I let them do it. The kid who was doing it kind of threw the pie and it missed… Oops. Then another kid tried and he got more whipped cream in my hair than on my face!
Club 2: This club was in Bienfait. Unfortunately, neither of the kids I was hoping would come back did… The unchurched boy and the girl from down the street. I may never know what seeds have been planted, I can only pray that God will water them! The other kids in this club were really fun to teach. One girl made a mailbox decision for Jesus! I also let this club pie me. The kid did not miss and whipped cream was all over my face! The hostess had a barbecue after which was fun.
Club 3: The total kids at this club came to 15. It didn’t grow that much, but they brought a few friends on Thursday. One girl who came on Thursday did her lesson and memorized John 1:12 for the Friday club! I was impressed because not many kids try to tackle that verse. Another highlight was a four-year-old girl reciting all of Ephesians 2:8 and 9, even though she only had to memorize part of verse 8! I gave her two pass-it-on cards for that!
There were no decisions in this club, but I am confident seeds were planted and despite being late on the first day, this club was really fun to teach.
This whole summer I have felt as though God’s hand has been upon me in many ways. I wasn’t at training because of quizzing internationals, and then when I got back I had four days with a partner to learn everything, and then it was on my own for the next five weeks. I was more than a little bit nervous! But God has been with me every step of the way, during travels and teaching.
I have felt more than a few times as though an angel’s hand has been on my car. This summer I’ve done far more driving alone than ever before. Psalm 16:1 has been my prayer: “Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.” When I was driving to Estevan (before the car broke down) on the single lane highway, I noticed none too soon that a truck had crossed the center line and was in my lane, heading straight toward me. I slowed down and started moving to the side, and the truck swerved back into its lane just a second before we passed each other. If I was any closer to the truck when he started to wander to my side of the road, it could have easily been a head-on collision, but God kept me safe! Then when my car broke down I was very close to the Ryans, who recused me, lent me a vehicle for teaching in Estevan. I was nervous to drive it because it was a big SUV and very new and shiny, and I was terrified something might happen to it! But I returned it without a scratch, and Mr. Ryan put a new battery in the CEF car so I could make it safely back to Regina last night!
I may never know the seeds that have been planted in these kid’s hearts, but I thank the Lord for the chance He has given me to teach these dear children. As I taught them, I’ve realized now that God wants these kids to know Him, and He’s using me to do that! They may make decisions, they may not, I may never see them again on this earth. But God knows their hearts and that is far more important than the numbers.
Thank you to everyone who has read these blog posts and been praying! I urge you, pray for the children that have heard the Word this summer. Pray that it would take root in their hearts and lead them on a life of following Christ the King. To Him be the glory!
-Rose
Posted By: Sonnie Fellwock
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Good morning Internet! It’s currently 1:33am and I cannot sleep so I thought I would post one last blog in conclusion of this amazing summer!
If God has taught me anything, it’s appreciate the small moments. Those little pockets of happiness that make you smile, or wish you could stay there forever. I have had many of those this summer. Even multiple pocket moments per day, and as much as I’d love to sit there in that one moment forever, I know another one is just around the corner!
My Meyronne club today was great! Now all the kidlets are young gaffers under the age of eight… So as you can probably imagine sitting still is not quite a mastered skill yet. But we worked with it and got through the club! The kids were so good with their verses! They were able to practice with parents, with grandma, and with me throughout each day! I was so proud of them!
My Woodrow club was quite enlightening this week. Having older boys who don’t want to sing songs poses a slight problem when time needs filling. Thankfully they are chatty and have lots of interesting stories to share! Today I learned all about how many different sounds turkeys make! Those guys certainly brightened my day with their wit and good attitudes! I believe we learned a lot from each other! As they schooled me on farm knowledge I was able to share insight into the Bible!
The La Fleche club was rather small today compared to its normal crowd. But what we lacked in numbers we made up for in curiosity! Haha it amazed me all the questions I was asked this week. The kids were just fountains of queries and it was adorable!
I am so thankful for everyone that I met this summer and relationships I was able to develop further from past years. Today I was sitting with one of the kids after club and he was enthused to show me his rock collection. He chatted about it for a few minutes before and his face lit up when we arrived at it! He explained where he found all the rocks, and why some were the shapes they were. He pointed out the his most favourite rocks and explained why they were the best! It was truly fantastic the amount of happiness he was sharing with me. And to make it even better he gave me one of his beloved rocks! I couldn’t believe that he would part with something that was obviously so dear to him! I wish I was able to treat the Gospel the way this boy treated his rocks. With the same amount of enthusiasm and joy, with the willingness to share. What a lesson to learn from a five year old! He doesn’t even know that he taught me such a valuable lesson today! This job is quite a blessing! It’s teaches me new lessons each year I return.
To the people who read my blog (my parents, and my wonderful CeeGee) and maybe the odd random person who stumbles across this page… I thank you for taking the time to read my stories and I hope that you were able to come on some adventures with me, or learn some lessons as I did!
God is truly an amazing being! There is so much to learn from Him and I am thankful for the lessons and opportunities I was given this 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 🙂 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!
Posted By: Crystal Durell
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Today was a super awesome day! Two decisions, and I gave both kids bibles! One girl, her and her sister have been coming the whole week. On Monday they said they weren’t sure if they were coming back, but they’ve made it back every day since! But they never got to hear the end of Zacchaeus’s story… until today! They finally got to hear it! (Praise the Lord) And the oldest one asked Jesus into her heart. She’s from an unchurched family and I gave her a bible. It was so wonderful to see her make that decision. I think she’s wanted to do it all week, and we finally got to do it today!
Another boy in my second club also asked Jesus into his heart. (Woot woot!)
Its sort of sad to think that tomorrow is the last day of clubs… but I’m glad God has let me see him in action. This was such a good summer. Tough, but very rewarding. The best part about being a summer missionary, is being able to see God’s hand at work, and I can’t wait to see and to hear about what God will do on the last day, and I’m very greatful. I can’t do anything without God, with out Him, this would be impossible, but all things are possible through Christ! I can say honestly that it was none of my work, I just obeyed, and God gave me the best steats in the house!
God Bless!
Kids Quotes:
Me: does anyone know what Romans is?Girl: romance? Is like when you’re in a relationship?
Boy: (insert name here) and I promised eachother that we will never EVER get married!… (hostess and I were kinda laughing at this one)
Me: Maybe one day you won’t mind so much. :3
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 thing that can separate me from God’s love or take it away from me. 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. 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)
Posted By: Sonnie Fellwock
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Well all three of my clubs had kids today! Praise the Lord!!!
My first club is at my billets house and we jumped from 6 kids to 9 today. Its pretty great. The kids are quite young but are doing well at the memory verses. It probably helps that they are my billets grand kids and that they live so close. They hangout here a lot and so we can practice the memory verse in our free time!
My second club that contained 0 kids, and 3 adults for a bit yesterday, had 4 boys and 0 adults today. The boys are all within the ages of 10-14 so we skipped the songs today. They were real good though. I was a little nervous when I pulled up and noticed I would have an older club. I thought it was going to be hard to relate to them but they were great. It was a little awkward but I do hope they come again tomorrow!
So my lunches are spent with the Pastor in Woodrow and his wife. Yesterday we ate a meatloaf with moose meat. I had never had it before and it was surprisingly quite good! Well today to keep the ball rolling of exotic food we had duck eggs! Also something I had not eaten before and I really enjoyed them! SO many new experiences this summer!
My third club had 13 kids in it today! It was great. I had a roaring headache all through the day so my 3rd club hostess was able to spare so Tylenol. I was grateful as our club was inside and the kids were quite loud. I would love to be able to have club outside this week but the mosquitoes are dreadful. You have to run from your car to the house, and if you have club supplies you just try to walk as fast as possible. But mosquitoes and headache aside we were able to get through the club rather well.
I have greatly enjoyed this summer and cannot wait to see what this next year brings, but I am pretty sad to have the summer done already. I love being able to travel around and meet people. I have met so many interesting people throughout the summer whether it was at clubs during the week, or just around town. I love the people God places in my path daily. I am so thankful for this summer. It has been challenging with my being tired so often but I am glad I was able to sneak in naps and extra sleep where needed as well. And I have had understanding billets all summer which was fantastic! So thankful for each person that allowed me to stay in their home this summer. Everyone has been such a blessing.
Well that’s all for now. Tomorrow is another day!
Posted By: Crystal Durell
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So first of all, I’m teaching with God this week, he’s my only partner… and I’ve come to learn a few things about myself. That I can do actions good, and I can turn the pages of visuals good… BUT WHEN EXPECTED TO DO BOTH AT THE SAME TIME BOTH SUFFER TERRIBLY!!!!
So please, pray for some extra help in that area.
Second- CLUBS!
Club 1: it’s a really fun club, we have some hindu kids coming, and today a group of aunt’s and a grandfather came today. The grandfather didn’t look very impressed, and they wanted to check out the club. I’m a bit nervous as they are going to be sitting in on the club tomorrow, but the kids seem to be really into learning about Jesus. Even if they aren’t happy just pray that the kids will keep coming and that God will take care of them. Also, some unchurched kids have been coming and they are having some problems listening to the stories, and they don’t want to do the songs. (In the middle of ‘let’s get started’ I said, “if you dont stand up you don’t get prizes.” To which they immediately stood up) Not just them, everyone seems to have some problems listening especially at the end. Pray for listening ears!
Club 2: up a few more kids! Most of them younger kids. But they really like the songs *so refreshing from my first club* also they seem really interested in the stories, just pray for these guys to open their hearts up to God.
Club 3: we had more kids! A few a really rambunctious… some who genuinely want to listen. Some churched, some unchurched, its a pretty healthy mix. We had a girl who went to a club last week, but she loves clubs so much, she came back this week! (For stories I swore her to secrecy, so anytime that I have to pause she smiles and says “I know what happens! But I can’t tell anyone.” So cute XD ) Not only, but the unchurched girls came back! Praise! They really want to know how Zacchaeus’s story ends, but every time I get to it, their mom comes and picks them up to go! Please pray that there will be time to tell this story! (And for listening ears)
That’s it for clubs, but also some stuff that’s going on that can best be described as ‘some serious personal biz’. I’m trying my best to keep it from interfering with my job, but it’s difficult because my job is not just the 3 hours a day, in my clubs, it’s all the time after when I spend it with brothers and sisters in christ, and when I am playing with the kids before or after a club. I dont want anything to get in the way of what God wants me to do.
For those who pray, thank you for your prayers.
Over and out! God bless.
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