Week 2

               As promised last Week, I plan to give a short synopsis of each Team’s Week as they progress through their various itineraries.

 Team 1&2- (No that is not a typo!) Brenda, Dilon, Stacy, Keisha & Benjamin, Teams 1&2 combined,have spent the past week together, as one big Team, due to  the last minute cancellations of 2 Day Camps.
However Team 1&2, led by Brenda, who came down from London ON. to lead them (and stayed with me!) ended up by having a very special week at the Montreal Chinese Alliance Church, in nearby Hampstead.
They had close to 30 children (all at less than a week’s notice!!) half of whom were 4-5 year old Scramblers. They were blessed with a number of Helpers and Joanne did a fab job as Coordinator.

I got to hear firsthand stories every afternoon when Brenda got home from Camp, so I have felt well connected with the Team.

Team 3- Jillian, Amudha and William, have spent Week 2 at Daystar First Nation, again, near Regina.

They did a lot of calling around and thought they had found an alternative location but, sadly, that plan did not work out so they were unable to complete the Week. Here is a quote from Jillian’s reflections on those events…..

“At suppertime last night, we got a call that the church was actually unavailable, because there’s a daycare going on all day.After a lot of deliberation, our final day and Closing Service were cancelled. No goodbyes to the kids, no final words, nothing.At first, the three of us were extremely upset. Vicki told us that we
could only let it go, but it seemed unfair that we didn’t get any
closure with this particular camp.Finally, God showed us that really, it’s okay. As I mentioned above,
we had so many good conversations and such that if anything, it seemed
as though we had finished His work on Wednesday without even knowing it.This morning, we moved
out all our supplies and the food from the church, and repacked
everything. I’m still a bit sad that we didn’t get our last day, but in
the end, I think God is happy with the seeds we planted there.”

Team 4- David, Desirae and Michael, held their Day Camp in Arborfield this week. They were very pleased to have 18 Campers, as it is the first time that this community has hosted our Program. It sounds as if everyone really enjoyed their time. David especially asked for prayer that he might have the wisdom to know when to challenge and stretch his Team  beyond their comfort levels and when to give them some space, as next week they will be holding Camp at Cumberland House where they will  be working in a different context and with a LOT more Campers!!!
I just had an email letting me know that their Closing Service went well. Despite a small turnout of Campers, a large number of people from the wider community attended which really made the Team feel that they had made an impact in the Town.

Team 5- Andrew and Angela (aka the “A TEAM”!!) have been having an excellent week, given the news they received 10 days ago of the cancellation of ALL their other Day Camp Weeks. They have so enjoyed working alongside the Youth Group from St. Paul’s helping with a wide variety of Community Outreach projects from painting fences to cooking hot dogs!!

I have spoken twice with Andrew and know that the Team felt welcome and valued as they worked with the Group from St. Paul’s.
On Thursday we received the FABULOUS news that host churches have stepped forward to hold Day Camps for BOTH of the coming 2 weeks, Praise God!!!!!

     The Team spent some time on Thursday visiting a local park near their Week 3 Church and, with the help of Lamb, handing out invitations and balloons to children, in the hopes of finding a goodly number of Campers! It is such a blessing to know that the A Team will be able to implement the Program for which they were trained and commissioned .
We are so thankful for the amazing support given to all of us by the people of St. Paul’s and now from those at Holy Trinity and St. Timothy’s.

Team 6- Janice and Josiah spent their Week 2 at St. Mary’s Hillsborough. For this 2nd week they once again had only 6 Campers but Janice felt that they were specially called to work with this small group since they were a challenging bunch!. At the beginning of the week the Team found  it hard to cope with some unsuitable behaviours and language but by Wednesday they were really encouraged as the children began responding, reading the Scripture passages aloud and entering into some good discussions. Janice reported that the short Closing Service they held yesterday was even attend by some parents and that the atmosphere was truly worshipful. Way to go Team 6!

         And at home the week has certainly been jam-packed. I seemed to have lived in a whirlwind of quantity cooking ( dinner for 12 on Monday!) and LAUNDRY ( a total of 9 different people living here at various times during the week) while trying to squeeze in Office work, garden chores, feeding of friends’ cats, baking, sewing knitting etc. etc. etc.

 
On Monday the Senior Youth Camp Staff held a meeting( hence the dinner for 12) and on Wednesday a small group from the Day Camp Committee held an evaluation meeting to reflect on the recent Training Retreat.

Haloumi Kebabs

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp .dried thyme OR 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 8 cups assorted vegetables ( eg.-new potatoes, onions, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, whole cherry tomatoes) cut into chunks
• 500grams Haloumi Cheese (a goat cheese available at Middle Eastern shops)

In a large,lidded, container mix together first 4 ingredients, add vegetables, close lid and shake to coat with marinade. Marinate for 8-24 hours in the fridge.

When ready to cook, cut Haloumi into chunks and thread vegetables and cheese onto metal kebab skewers.

Barbecue, or broil at medium temp. turning once or twice ,until vegs. are tender and cheese is browned.

Serve in warm pita pockets.

Serves 4