Today is...Tuesday

Yesterday, when I asked one of the girls if there were any games she liked at school, she just shook her head. I then asked if she liked any games at all, which she enthusiastically nodded to. She explained that they do not play any games at school, all they do is study (probably why she is so smart and picked up the English very fast). I told her that in Canada we like to play lots of games when learning at school, she was very excited to learn English, but more excited to play games at our "school". And of course you can't have "school" without a school bus. Since a big yellow bus would not fit into any of our suitcases, we used the chairs at the church instead. If you have been to Junior Youth Group at Westwood (which I may be biased but I think everyone should be there, leader or youth, it is so much fun - shoutout to any youth reading this!), you may have played the bus game. 

This game involves seven rows of chairs, set up as the "bus" and each row is assigned a day of the week. We start with sunday at the front and then call a day of the week and all the rows have to reorder according to the order of the week if that new day is at the front of the bus. The last people to sit down in the right row are then eliminated. I was not sure how this would go, it has been a little overwhelming coming up with English activities on the fly as we have been asked to teach more English than we prepped for, but God is good and has been working through the whole team to come up with fun and engaging ideas. As soon as we started playing they got so competitive - chairs and people were flying at some points. When you are rushing against 20 other people to learn the days of the week by switching chairs faster than your friends, you pick up the days of the week pretty fast. Playing together was such a fun way to quickly review and put into action (literally) the English they are learning. 

We got to chat with many of the kids and youth through Google translate - when you see a team member back in Prince George you will have to ask them about their google translate conversations, some of them are hilarious. For me, I was chatting with two of the younger girls, Fami and Phi, at lunch. They wanted to know several things about Canada: If we have beds (maybe we looked very tired to them), what drinks I like to have, and if I have a pet Squirrel. I told them I did not, though I had considered it as a  kid but had not figured out how to get a squirrel into my house (probably a good thing I never figured that out). The connections have been easy and quick, which shows how the Holy Spirit has been at work, in the moment of connection, in preparing the individuals for this trip (the youth on our team are so natural and seek relationship in every spare moment), and in the past relationships that have been built with other members of our church and other teams that we get to leverage now and build upon. 

 

In the afternoon, we took a break from the games that required lots of movement as it got up to 34 degrees here (sorry to those who were shovelling snow in Prince George today - I will say I don't miss that at all). So in the afternoon we tasked the kids and youth with designing at least 10 stickers, using paper, markers, and some creative use of packing tape, we officially had a sticker market. The team had prepped some paper dollar bills in the morning. After reviewing the denominations we handed out the "money" to everyone in the room. We started the market and though shy at first they became shrewd business people very quickly (including some of our team members). 

It was so fun watching even Pastor Jan and Nolan going around trying to get the best deal from the kids - while the kids tried to upcharge them as much as possible. One of the kids, David, charged Faa 50 "dollars" for one sticker, but offered me one for only five. He did very well and ended the fake market with $389 after only starting with about $100 - when I need business advice in the future I will definitely be seeking his advice.

The whole day was filled with laughter; during the games, at some of the mistakes of google translate, at the team eating spicy food at lunch, and during the rush to sell and buy stickers in the afternoon. There is lots of learning, worship, prayer, testimony sharing, and much more, but there is just so much fun and joy in every part of our days. From teaching line dancing to playing a game with the days of the week and all the small moments of connection in between it is evident how powerful and important joy is in the community of the church. As Paul writes to the church in Rome:

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Thank you all for the continued support through words of encouragement and prayer! Here are some things from the last day to be in prayer about:

• For the church member Jeep, she serves the church with her husband Gong, she is recovering from a C-section and is in pain. 
• Please pray for the team today as we are heading out to Jan's village - pray for easy connections.