What happens when you get busy? You neglect to Blog!!

Greetings from sadly Winnipeg, MB-

Many faithful followers of the blog have commented that we dropped off the face of the earth half way through our trip- but the truth is that we got really busy with our mission projects, hanging out with our host family, Lynda and Phil and then before you know it we were back on a plane to Canada. (Then on to the Sonshine Festival for Isaya, Veronica, Micheal, Doug and Caroline).

So in our last week in serving in France the following events took place:

Tuesday we worked hard at the school. Demolition of the grade ten classroom floor was continued in the castle. In the end most of the floor needed to be removed and patched and then covered over with treated wood sheets that were glued and screwed into place- this floor is now ready to be covered with the schools preferred flooring. Tiling continued in the bathroom; the first panels of the pattern were completed and we moved into the corner with a blue and gray scheme (this area will have a stall door). Tiling, although rewarding, requires patience and precision- the latter being hard when the tiles are not all identical in size. We learned quickly that 20cm by 20cm does not mean they are all 20cm by 20cm! Painting the textured wallpaper was continued in the big classroom- all white which although is slightly bland makes the room very bright and airy.

Wednesday was Veronica’s 18th birthday and she worked most of the day with her birthday sash and crown- which did not impede her hard work at all! A few more trips to the hardware store to get glue, mortar, grout and then to return some un-used pieces of the treated flooring that we had for the grade ten classroom. Lynda provided very tasty lunch supplies (like she did every work day)- fresh bread, sliced meats, cheese and vegetables. Of course she made sure we got some fruit (watermelon was the favorite) and for our afternoon snack ice cream treats- the most interesting and much loved of which was ice cream bars that look and tasted like chocolate Mars bars but frozen! Late in the afternoon a very familiar face walked across the school yard- Pastor Brett! He was in Europe on his summer vacation and took time out to visit us and see some of the progress we had made. To allow us to get back to work Pastor Brett headed into town to do some architectural touring but he joined us for dinner at Richard and Loretta’s. In honor of Veronica’s very special birthday we had a cherry cake with the smoothest cream cheese icing and a Creamant (the local Alsass champagne) toast.

Thursday was a day off. Pastor Brett joined us for our trip to “The Viel Aland”. This special place is the sight of a large World War I cemetery and World War I trenches for both the German and French sides. This incredible place was sadly beautiful with its mountain vistas yet knowing that many had lost their lives. During the hike, on the top of the hill is a very large white cross, here Brett led us in prayer. Strange how this unflashy, low key place could stir up so much in all of us. We left the Viel Aland and journeyed down the winding road to Colmar. Colmar is a cute little city with many shops, museums and theaters. We enjoyed lunch on the patio, learned what “Formula du Jour” meant- basically the daily lunch or dinner special that include meat, a green vegetable, a carb and dessert. The people watching was enjoyable as was the surrounding- a classic cathedral across the street and a street market with goods from all corners of the earth. After a long day of sight seeing in the warm sun we said wished Brett the best for the rest of his holiday and made our way home for dinner.

Friday we went back to our projects with fresh eyes. Touch up painting was finished on the big classroom! The inside wall of classroom two was insulated and the stucco was started on the outside. The tiling continued to progress although the progress slowed considerably with the strange unevenness of the third wall. It was a long workday in the heat but we trudged through. Shirley Unger (full time GEM missionary at the office in Kanden) came to visit and stayed for a very tasty crêpe dinner. After dinner the team (with exception of Caroline who visited with Shirley) went up to the third floor of the house and helped Richard install and mud some drywall. Richard (and Loretta) were ecstatic that the team would bless them in such a special way. They worked for about 2.5 hours and accomplished what it would take Richard over a month to do on his own. His hope for the space is that it will have two dorm style rooms and a lounge so they can host other groups in the future. Both Richard and Loretta have beautiful servant hearts and are unbelievable hosts- if you are ever in the area look them up.

Saturday, our last official work day. While most of the team was steadily working in the heat on the outside of classroom two, Caroline, Isaya, David and Mike continued to tile and grout the seemingly endless bathroom. Being our last work day we wrapped up at about 3pm to clean tools and load the truck. All hands were put on deck (or at least all that could fit) to finish the tiling in the bathroom- which we did complete! Lynda returned the “Refector” (where we had team meetings, devotions and ate lunch every day) to normal and when all was cleaned up we returned to the house to relax and get ready for the appreciation dinner. Now a lesson that we all learned in France is that not all public spaces and restaurants have air conditioning- including the restaurant that our appreciation dinner was at. The whole time we were in France we were blessed with warm sunny weather- some days even a little too hot and Saturday was one of those days were the mercury soared to about 35*C. Sitting in the hotel restaurant not even the open windows provided a breeze and our “good” cloths quickly became wet with perspiration. The heat, however, did not change the festive mood of the evening as the team was presented with Euro Team completion certificates from Phil and Lynda and thank you notes from the school’s founder Manuella- even a few tears were shed.

Sunday we loaded up and went to church at the Black Forest Academy in Kanden, Germany. The academy is home to many missionary children during the school year and the towns surrounding Kanden have many residents who are full time missionaries. The service was all English and the message was very powerful. After church we went back to the GEM Barn- which is the head office in for GEM in Europe. Shirley gave us the tour of the 200 year old barn which has been transformed into offices and apartments. We had the opportunity to call home- but it was 5am in Winnipeg so most didn’t want to wake up their families. We unloaded the tools into the basement and then split up for lunch. Some enjoyed Chinese and other Italian- you would think we would opt for schnitzel! Phil led a hike up the mountain but most of us relaxed in the town square (and ate Ice cream!). On our way back to France Phil took a short detour to show us where he and Lynda had come before our arrival to pray for each of us. This was very special… leading to a few more tears! When we got home we set to work packing our bags and loading them into the truck for our early morning departure to the Mulhouse train station.

Monday- we were up with the birds- or maybe before! We said our goodbyes to Richard and Loretta and traveled for the last time the road between Buhl and Guebwiller before heading on to Mulhouse to catch our train to Paris. The high speed train took us all the way into Paris and from there we caught the metro to another station and then the RER (a commuter train) to the hotel at the airport. We quickly learned the value of packing light as the stations and turnstiles are not made for luggage! We checked into the hotel, freshened up and then headed back to the city center by RER and metro. Richard and Phil had both suggested the “hop on-hop off bus” to see the sights so that is what we did. This allowed us to see some of the beauty and architecture of Paris including the Louve, the Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, and of course the Tour de Eiffel (Eiffel Tower)! After the bus we caught a boat that went around the island of Paris- giving a neat view of Notre Dame and Parisian life, as well as 21 unique bridges. We had a lovely dinner at “the weekend restaurant” and then traveled back to the hotel by metro and RER (again). Full, exhausted and all packed up we fell into bed.

Tuesday was departure day. Again we were up early as our shuttle to the airport left at 5am. We were sailing over France to London at 7:30 then after bidding goodbye to Charissa and Nicole and a short layover we were Toronto bound. Back on Canadian soil we cleared customs (with no problems) and checked in for the final leg of our trip to Winnipeg. Exhausted we got to Winnipeg at about 8:40pm (which for us was 3:40am) and were greeted by family, friends, and Pastor Ken!

Home:

We had an unbelievable 16 days in France. We worked hard, learned lots and came home changed. We saw first hand the grace, faithfulness, and passion of people who serve Christ with their whole hearts and blessings that have been poured out on them. We fellowshipped with people wise beyond their years who blessed us with kind words, encouragement, and prayer and we saw what God has done and is doing in France and know that His steady hand is there.

This experience would not have been possible without the love, support and prayers of our families, friends and Church family and for this we are so grateful. Thank you for allowing us to serve, for pushing us forward and for believing in what God had called us to do- you are very much a part of the team.




The next blog update will be in mid -September and October when we will have reflections from the members of the team. If you are in the Winnipeg area we will be speaking about our trip on October 17th at St. Aidan’s 8:30am and 10am service.

Another Week Begins

After a wonderful weekend we are back at the work again. Well...when I say weekend I actually mean we worked a full day on Saturday wallpapering, sanding, cutting, and evven tiling. Then we enjoyed an evening of relaxing around the house with Richard and Lorette( our hosts). On Sunday we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a local church which happens to be the church of our hosts and many staff/faculty at Collage Daniel where we are serving. Although a very charismatic with constant dancing, music, and very much spirit led we all enjoyed it greatly. With Sunday being a beautiful day here we all headed out to a nearby village for a flea market. Nobody really seemed to find anything too interesting but wandering through the tiny streets of a Small French village is unforgettable.
Which once again brings us to today...Monday. We continued to wallpaper and sand the main classroom we have been working on. In fact, had we not run out of wallpaper, we would have finished with wallpapering today. Nonetheless, with a lack of wallpaper many of us moved on to paint the classroom where the walls were otherwise done. Michael, Caroline, and Isaya began tiling a small bathroom and did a great job on the first of 4 walls in there. Pictures of both the classsroom and the tiling are below. Veronica, Nicole, and Phil (EuroTeam Leader) tackled another task we have undertaken here which is fixing up a rotten floor. They began by doing some good ol' fashion demolishion today. It sounded like alot of fun.
Tomorrow looks to be much of the same for us. However, we are all looking forward to a visit from Pastor Brett on Wednesday and Thursday. It is wierd how way over in Guebweller, France we have found connections and see people we know.
Most importantly of all of this. We are doing great. Thank you again for all your prayers and support. We miss Winnipeg but we must be honest - a few of us are thinking of moving to France already - half way done and we've already grown fond of the place. It is hard for your heart not to go out to these people who are stepping out in a dark world to make a difference. just that we can be a part in this no matter how small is amazing.

First Picture: Isaya and Michael at work tiling the bathroom wall.
Second Picture: Veronica working on painting and wallpapering.
Third Picture: The boys wallpapering the roof.

July 2- the paper hits the wall and we become prince & princess

Pic one the castle Pic 2 at the festival pic 3 Doug and david nearing the end of the sanding
Today was another amazing day. We worked, and went to two wonderful places that we did not want to leave!! Working was great, as usual, and we got to start putting up wallpaper! It's looking awesome, and the team has taken to each task like ducks to water. New supplies have come along with the wallpaper, so that Isaya and company can keep hard at work on the siding of room 2. The bathroom that Doug and company have been insulating is ready to be tiled, which seems to be an exciting task because everyone wants a chance to try it! God has definitely put excitement in our hearts along with a zest for service on this trip. After working, we drove very long up a mountain to a castle called Haut-Koenigsbourg, and went on a guided tour inside. We took lots of pictures and even climbed on cannons! It's really amazing how God has woven such fun things into this trip for us. After the castle, we drove to a village within our district called Riquewihr, and Veronica says she found her home there. It is beautifully coloured and landscaped with cobblestone roads, blue, pink, yellow and green houses and ancient narrow roads. One building we saw was from 1694! Yesterday was also great because we went to a festival after work in our town of Guebwiller, with street venders and a traditional band with dancers built in. We all tried head cheese...and we think it's safe to say it's not Andrew's favourite! Tomorrow is a full work day, and we will be attending a church in our district on Sunday. Much hard work and fun to come!

Signing off, Veronica and the boys. God bless sunscreen and waterbottles.

Day 3- Sand and Sand a Little More

Happy Canada Day!! The sun is shining again today! After our normal French breakfast it was back to the site to continue work on the classroom, room 2 and the washroom. At this point the classroom is being mudded again and sanded again... homefully overnight it will dry well and our wall paper comes in so we can start hanging it tomorrow morning. Veronica has found her calling in mudding and can make it very very smooth = less sanding for the rest of us! Charissa, Isaya and I continued work on the outside of classroom 2, and we are waiting for our next shippment of borads. We have been able to start on the inside of the outside wall with insulation and dry wall. Andrew and Doug have worked on the bathroom insulation but are now sanding in the classroom. We had a great on-sight lunch today; French sausage, Fench bread, vegetables and a bean salad. During our lunch the school teachers and staff were haing their afternoon lunch, home made pizza baked in a wood oven, and a glass of wine. To us this was a little strange... but there is this amazing sence of comunity and felowship amongst the staff here. We get to stop early today as we are off to a festival in town this eveing. The posted pictures are of the wood stove that the pizza was made in, Isaya and Charissa cutting a board for classroom 2 and the video is of Veronica and David talking about one of the many spiders that we have seen in the classroom. Ah!

Day 2 - Break out your working boots

Pic one Our Transporation, Pic 2 Morning Meeting and worship Pic 3 work on the classroom
Today we headed out to Collage Daniel to begin our work there. Collage Daniel is located in Guibweller, France and is the ONLY Christian school in France. So we are among an elite group of Christians in France. Now why go were the Christians are? Well our French is shaky at best, but we have manual labour to help those that can speak and minister to Christians. With only about 1% of France's population being Christians this is vitally important.
Our days begin with a short devotional and worship time together. Afterwhich we get straight to work. We have begun by sanding and prepping a room for its transformation into a classroom. So far drywall is up and the rest is up to us (Should be fun). We also did some work on the exterior of the buildings and Doug and David began a bathroom renovation.
We were also fortunate to have a tour today and the main building or "Chateau" is a beautiful old castle of sorts converted into classrooms, offices, and everything else they need (though finances have prevented them from completely renovating even after 25 years of owning the place).
Lunch included us meeting some teaching staff at the Collage as can be seen in the previous picture.
We miss you all and appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers.

In France Day One recap

In France...Finally. We arrived in France today after 3 planes and over 13 hours of flight time. I think we are all a little tired. Luckily we have such an amazing landscape and fantastic hosts to help us settle in. It has been non-stop action since we arrived. After dealing with some minor luggage issues we were swept away to our host's house. As we travelled through the quiet little French towns, vineyards, and beautiful scenery i could not help but smile as i thought - we are actually here, we are in France, and it is B-E-A-UTIFUL.
Our hosts are just the most wonderful and caring people The have already gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and accomodate our every need. I think we all agree that we are feeling a little bit spoiled with such amazing people sharing their home with us. In the heart of little Buhl, France we have settled into our "maison" for the next two weeks. Now we must all toddle off to bed to get some much needed sleep.
Pic one Lunch at the castel at Collage Daniel with the teachers and staff; Pic 2 Our new home. Pic 3 the Boys on our Calgary to london flight.

More soon ...

DEPARTURE DAY

As often happens the day you are ready to leave on a trip you wake up early... so the time is 7:30 .... and I have been up for about 1.5 hours already!

Our bags are all packed and we are ready to embark on the trip. I would say mission trip, but someone pointed out to me this week that really this whole time of preparation for the trip has been a mission and I couldn't agree more. All the events that we have had, meets and get together have been part of the mission!

Hopefully I am not the only one ready this morning- and I hope that you come back and visit often as we will try and keep this page current with information.

~Caroline

WOW

I just realized that the blog was long over due for an update- and with about 19 days till departure I best get on it so here it goes: Since the last post in April much has happened, we have had out last fundraising event, Isaya wrote his article for the Window, we challenged ourselves to write letters to family and friends outside our parish for support and of course we continued to meet regularly to pray and prepare.

The Spring tea and fashion show was a wonderful celebration all who attended had a great time, ate well and enjoyed the fashions provided by Redeemed. The event raised approximately 800$ a real blessing as we edged towards departure day.

The challenge to write to our friends and family outside the parish was a great task and true lesson for some. The art of how to post a letter may be lost but it was revived for the occasion. Each of us had to write five letters, as mentioned outside our parish and they had to go the old fashioned way- Canada Post! One of the mission moms helped write a very nice, professional letter that we had to add a personal note to. For some this challenge was truly that- a challenge but the letters that were sent out have received a great response. The letters also helped the team grow more comfortable talking about our mission and the the time we will spend serving.

Now words from Isaya:

This will be the last instalment of articles from the Youth Missions team before we leave for France. We have thrown our hearts, souls, time, and energy into preparing for our trip; which is now less than 30 days away (June 28-July 12). If you have been reading our articles every month in the Window you have gotten know the team (if you missed a few check out the Window online). But until you have seen the group work, grow, and meet together like I have over the last year you really do not know how amazing they really are. One year, many fundraisers, plenty of meetings, and meals together and I know God has put this team together for His service and we are ready. I have been on a few short term missions trips over the years and although I cannot say for sure, I know our team is equipped to and will do amazing things in France.
I have been attending St. Aidan’s for about five years. We first came to St. Aidan’s because Caroline did her youth internship with Chelsea Halstead and now 4 years later I am still active with the youth group (my wife after all, is the youth director). It makes me so excited that St. Aidan’s views its youth and children as the future of the church and provides avenues for them to be a central part of the faith family. This mission trip is one of the amazing avenues.
The team have been working through a book called “Before You Pack Your Bag Prepare Your Heart” reading ourselves for our trip. The book has allowed us drawn closer together and have united our expectations and mindset creating a stronger team. We have studied scripture, learnt about French culture from Allison Moore, worked together planning fundraisers, shared our hopes, concerns, and outright fears. This pre-trip work and study has been encouraging, challenging and has fortified the team. Our study book will continue through our time in France as we server and extend to debriefing when we return.
So as we finish off our pre-trip preparation and get ready to depart I and the entire team ask for your continued thoughts and prayers. Please pray for continued team unity, for safety, God’s provision of wisdom, energy and for our openness to let God use us for whatever his purpose may be. Thank you for all your support and continued prayer and support.

Blessings,
Isaya Woytowich

This weekend we will be commissioned at both the 8:30am and 10am services at St. Aidan's. (and we also have our last team meeting) In one way this is a very special and exciting event but it also marks the beginning of a very long time before the whole team is worshiping together again at St. Aidan's. the following weekends 2 members of the team will be away in Toronto then a pre-trip in the UK. Upon return 5 of us will repack for the Sonshine festival and then some of the team is of to serve a camp and of course some have summer jobs. Your prayers and thoughts are valued during this time. Prayerfully we can continue to keep the blog more up to date over the coming weeks and during the trip.

~Caroline

TEA TIME

The mission team is full steam ahead on plans for the SPRING TEA & FASHION SHOW. The tea is Saturday May 8th, at 2pm in the St. Aidan's Parish Hall. The event has been a sell out in the past and the mission team is hoping for the same this year. Tickets are available from members of the mission tea or by calling the church (489-3390) and are 10$ each or a table of 8 for 75$.

In case you missed last year here are some photo high lights, Doug in his blue suit, some of the models in their gear and Pastor Brett ready to jet-set on his Sabbatical.

All funds raised at the tea will be in suport of the 2010 Mission Team who are working hard to raise funds for airfare and GEM fees; to date we have rasied about 7500$ but are working towards a goal of 13000$.

Bonjour Lecteurs,

This is Michael . You might recognize me as the bass player in Broken Royalty. Then again, I am tucked away on the side so you might not see me. I’ve been attending St. Aidan’s almost all my life and I’m glad to have grown in such a nice environment.

So the missions trip is coming up fast and I’m quite excited. This will be quite a big summer for me seeing as how I graduate and get my diploma only a few hours before our flight takes off. France is a beautiful place and I’m incredibly excited to serve God so far from home. It’s truly sad to know that France, once prosperous in its faith, has now become without hope. I hope to help awaken the lost love for God in at least one person during my time there. I hope to learn a little about myself from this missions trip as well. I want to know just how far I can go before I’m completely drained of all energy. I know that God will help me and guide me to do what needs to be done.

Thank you all for being very generous thus far in our fundraising. It’s great to know that the congregation is supporting us in our attempt to serve God in another country and I thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

- Michael

Pinching our way to France!

Only 73 days to Guebwiller, France and our work at College Daniel!

Friday evening the Team joined the youth at St. Aidan's to pinch perogies. Perogie making has been a great fundraiser, thanks to the support of all! We particularly enjoy these evenings of pinching (there have been many!) because of the lively conversations around the pinching island in the St. Aidan's Church kitchen. We get caught up on what each person has been up to, what they are looking forward to in the weeks ahead, and throughout the evening we all quiz Caroline on various aspects of the trip. Which airport are we flying into? Where are we staying when we arrive? How are we travelling from Switzerland to France? Yesterday, we even got to see Andrew's new steel toed shoes!

Normally, we end our evening with goodbyes and head home, but this evening was special - we got to make our own sundae's!

If you happen to be at St. Aidan's on Sunday, April 18th you will be able to taste our latest batch of perogies! We are serving them for the lunch after the 10:00 am service. If you are in Winnipeg, please join us for lunch (it only costs a toonie!).

St. Patrick's Karaoke- Pub Night

With just about 123 days until we leave (gulp) we are working hard on our next big fundraising project the ST. PATRICK'S KARAOKE-PUB NIGHT happening March 20th in the parish hall. We are thrilled to announce that include as one of our silent action items available for bid are 2 round trip tickets on Via rail from Winnipeg to Jasper. What a trip that will be be and what a great blessing for the mission team.

Tickets to this great evening should go on sale this weekend- don't miss out- they are priced to at 4$ each.

From Nicole

The 2010 Missions Trip seemed like a million years away when we began planning last year. Now that we are well into 2010, we are nearing the time or our departure at what seems like a snowballing pace. We continue to pray that God will be with us and that 'with God's help' we will be well prepared for the challenge and adventure that this trip offers each member of our team. You have gotten to know a number of us already. I am Nicole, wife to Wayne, mom to Charissa, and although I refer to myself as the team 'elder' I am not as mature as you might believe. I can get pretty silly after six hours of pinching pyrogies! I like to think I have a good sense of humor, and working with the team (many of whom I have watched grow up during my 13 years at St. Aidan's) keeps me active and certainly feeling youthful. They are a great group, and seeing everyone work together as often as we have the past months, it has been an eye opening experience to see the maturity and the relationships that each person has with each other and with God already. I can imagine that this trip will have a lifelong effect on each of us. God has changed our plans from what we thought they would originally be. It has been difficult giving up a good deal of the planning to Him. In that respect this journey has already deepened my relationship with God. Having to trust Him more that my 'planning' nature and financial administrator background would normally be comfortable with. Where can our team be the most effective as missionaries? It has been the question we have all been asking and praying about. Our prayers were answered as we received packages in the mail last week explaining in great detail where we would be, what we would be doing, and most importantly what will be expected of us. It was difficult all of those months not knowing, so now that those details are in hand, we can focus on being the light that Christ wants us to be, to do the best that we can, and be respectful of the people of France. Allison Moore who is also with GEM on an year long mission was kind enough to meet with us and share some of her experience regarding the culture and people of France where she grew up. "It's not wrong, it's just different" is the phrase we have been asked to remind ourselves of in the mission preparation guide we have been studying at our Team meetings. The same guide also says, "positive life-change occurs in direct proportion to how prepared you are. No doubt you have a lot to do before you go, but a prepared heart should be the number one priority on your list.". Please continue to pray for us to be as prepared as possible and our sincere thanks for your tremendous support for the Missions Team thus far. ~ Nicole

Family Fun Bowl

Thank you everyone who came out to our Family Fun Bowl. It was a huge success and we all feel so blessed to have such strong support from our church family and friends. We sold out on our ticket sales and if we do this event again we'll have to get more lanes I think. 60 people came out and from the remarks I heard everyone had a blast. With bottomless soda pops, bottomless popcorn, and some quality bowling who wouldn't have fun, though. Under the blacklights the competition was steep and as I wandered around I couldn't help notice that each game was very tight. I think the high score for the evening was a 209; a score I wish I could achieve. No matter what your skill or score, though, we all finished the evening off with some tasty cake.



Thanks again for all your continuing support and we hope to see you all at our next event - Karaoke Pub Night on March 20.





















- Isaya

Greetings... as winter has finally arrived in Winnipeg we are counting down to our "Bowling is FUN" family bowling fundraiser. We are thrilled that there are only a limited number of tickets still available, Hopefully we will sell out.

Give the church a call before Friday to have your ticket put aside. (489-3390)

Note on Change of Placement

In Charissa's writings she mentioned Metz France, which was meant to be our mission posting. This however has changed. We will still be working with GEM and EuroTeam construction but are planning on being in Guebwiller, France at College Daniel.

Word from Charissa

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained”
-Late 14th century proverb

This quote was originally derived from the late thirteenth century proverb “Qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'achieva” (he who never undertook anything, never achieved anything). With all of us taking a step outside of our comfort zone as the 2010 missions team plans to head to France, there is no doubt that this is going to be a challenge. With the team embarking on this adventure I believe that it will help us to experience the Lord in a way that will open our eyes to new people, a new culture, and a different way of life that will encourage us to try new things and take risks. We have decided to head just north of Metz to do construction work with Euroteam and can trust that it will surely cause all of us to grow and mature in the light of God.

For those of you who might only know my face my name is Charissa Bruce. This past June I graduated from Gordon Bell High School and had the time of my life at the graduation dinner and dance. I spent some time in the summer volunteering at a ranch and learned a whole lot about the dedication and commitment that it takes to run one and also had a chance to better my own riding skills during my lessons. Then August came and I took a temporary full-time position as a receptionist at an aquatic environmental consulting firm called “North/South Consultants”, I really enjoyed working with the people there but the job itself was not for me. Since my term concluded I have been working at two church nurseries (St. Aidan’s on Tuesday mornings and Church of the Rock on Wednesday mornings) as well as at the MTS Centre and the Stadium. I have been blessed with this gap year because I am waiting to get into Red River College for the Carpentry Apprenticeship program which it is not estimated that I will have a spot in until August of next year but I am extremely thrilled about starting.

By the end of this mission I really hope that we have all made memories that will last a lifetime and that this experience will broaden our minds and the knowledge that we acquire will stay with us. For me personally I aspire to get closer to God and to open my heart to him as wide as possible but also to gain more experience working in construction. With an entire gifted team I am more than convinced that as we venture forth to France we will represent God and that we will all gain from this trip and return with a much deeper understanding of his will, and his ways.

Words from.... Veronica

Hello everyone!My name is Veronica Smith. Many of you may know me as the little blonde Smith girl from church. Yes, that is often my identity around St. Aidan's. However, I am not so little anymore and am one ninth of your very own Missions Team! When Caroline came to us with the idea of going on a short-term missions trip, to France no less, I was thinking, "this is so exciting!" of course, like everyone was, but I was also thinking, "wow, this is big. I guess we really are growing up!". That's been the main thing going through my mind lately as we all put so much time and effort into this exciting project. Fundraising and planning has so far and will continue to be such a bonding experience for us all, right when we thought we could never get any closer! Going through this experience (and this is just the beginning) at one of my very favourite places, our St. Aidan's Church, has been unreal. This is where I grew up, this is where I feel safe and at home, and this is where my heart will always be. I am so inexplicably excited to represent my home, and our country as I go to France to spread the Word of the Lord and the joy I have in Christ. Thank you everyone for showing our team such support and love as we prepare for this amazing expedition. Always,the now growing up little blonde Smith girl,Veronica

Words from.... Doug

Hey everyone, know you are all enjoying this wintery weather that has been approaching on us over the past couple weeks. (I’m not sure if there’s actually any snow on the group at the time you are reading this, but hopefully not!). So in case you didn’t know me, my name is Doug Thompson, and I have been attending St Aidan’s Sunday service on a regular basis now for just over 20 months, and the youth group for a few months more. Through this time I have really been getting more in touch with my spiritual side, whether it is through personal prayer, Sunday service, or through lyrics from a few of my favourite bands I listen to.
As I am sure you are aware, there will be seven youth members, and three leaders going to France on a mission trip for 2 weeks next June/July. The purpose of this trip is to bring light and the word of the Lord to a dark and troubled country. Nearly one third of France’s population is atheist, and about another third is sceptical of God’s existence. During our time over there, it is not for sure yet what we will be doing, but for sure one thing we will be doing is spreading the word of God and hopefully inspiring others. The time seems so short until we will be leave (just over nine months) and all of us are excited for this trip and what we will learn about ourselves, others and the impact we hope to make. Hopefully you can continue to pray for us during these times of preparation and up until our arrival back in mid July. In advance we thank you and have a good November. ~ Doug
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Words from... David

Hey guys, hope you guys are having a great day so far. My name is Xi Chen and most people call me David. I am 18 years old, currently attending University of Manitoba and working part time as a guitar teacher. Music is a big part of my life and I always enjoy a good tune. Next year I am going to France on a missionary trip with 9 other parish members of our church and I am definitely looking forward to it. I lived in Norway from the age of 6 until the age of 12 and that was where I got involved with the church. When I moved to Canada I found my way to the St. Aidan’s Anglican church and I am loving it here, I have also seen the different lifestyles Christians live around the world, every time I do I discover something different and learn new things about Christ, hopefully this trip will let me meet and see other Christians and hear about how they became followers of Christ. Personally I also hope that this trip will bring me closer to God and show us how different people around the world can come together and act like a family as we help each other out and show each other Gods love. I am definitely looking forward to this trip and looking forward to get even closer to God. Thanks for taking out your time to read this and hope that you have a great day.
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We are all in a flury of preparations as the day of departure is coming quickly. As of right now we have only a few short months left- 164 days in total I believe. Please continue to pray for the entire team as we prepare, grow, and train together for our trip.