Pictures from our Thunder Bay team

My Site Director Jenn trying to kill me with a plastic knife and me calling my Area Director Lisa in despair while waiting at Toronto airportMe and my roomie Steven Timothy Dykstra

Our awesome team shot on the docks in T-Bay

Our team sitting on the docks contemplating an exciting summer about to happen. (LtR - Willem, Jenn, Rachel, Steve, Shannon)

One of the empty grain elevators in T-bay, they are really big...

Moving into T-bay

T-what? - T-Bay!

Yes I have arrived in Thunder Bay, actually I have been in Thunder Bay since Friday night (saturday morning) 1:30 am already. So, last week on the monday morning (after Rach called me at about 3:00 am) I went to Toronto, for 5 days of training just north of Denver in Broomfield. The church all the Canadians and the Western region of Youthworks stayed at was awesome. That Monday was exhausting. Between waking up at 2:30 am , 2 hour of time difference, about 6 hours of travelling, and doing our first information sessions. I was exhausted. I wasn't really catching the vision quite yet, but as the week proceded, and I learned more about my role as Urban staff, I got challenged more and more. And even more than being challenged I realized what an amazing privilege it is that God gave me this opportunity to serve with Youthworks this summer. So training was cool there were a bunch of cool Americans out there. And during the poverty simulation we as Canadians didn't have to worry about paying healthcare.

Friday morning we got up early to travel to T-Bay, to most better known as Thunder Bay. After about 14 hours of travelling, 3 flights, starbucks, Quiznos, 3 hour delay, amazing conversations with Jenn, Rachel (from Youthworks), and Shannon. We arrived in Thunder Bay. We packed all the stuff in a cab and slept at the hotel. The next morning we went to the church which I will call home for the rest of the summer, because not only do I attend and serve there, I sleep there as well - Elim Community Christian Centre. The first days we spend a lot of time with the team (Jenn, Steve, Rachel, and Shannon). Having fun and getting a bit familiar with the city of Thunder Bay.

Since Sunday I have been very busy with establishing relationships with my community contacts. As the urban staff, I have to coordinate all the volunteer opportunitites of the youth that come for the mission trips. And so my last two days I have been busy with making appointments for meetings, going to meetings, filling in charts, and trying to work out this logistical bonanza.

It is really cool what God is doing, is has been really hard at times to stay at ease and not be scared by the amount of work that I still need to do. I have been blessed by an amazing team, and in fact, I have already been challenged to change many of the things that I have always considered normal in my life. This experience is changing my life. As Shane Claiborne has put it, I think "Jesus is wrecking my life".

Also, I am reading a childrens biography about D.L. Moody

Denver, Thunder Bay, Toronto

Well, currently I am still getting ready, finishing my packing and tomorrow I am flying from YYZ (Toronto) to Denver for a week of training with youthworks. Then on Friday I am heading out to Thunder Bay to lead mission trips for 8 weeks after 2 weeks of preperations which we will start with in Thunder Bay when we arrive there. And when the mission trips start is going to be 8 weeks of craziness, I can't wait. I am working with 4 other people in Thunder Bay. Steve Dijkstra will be roomie for the summer which is super cool because, it is somebody I know and I have lead the Hamilton mission trip with him before. The other people on our team our my site director Jen Troelstra, Rachel Dunn, and Shannon Kelly. I don't really have an idea who these people are yet, but I am sure I will know them a bit better by the end of this adventure.

During my Youthworks experiene I'll try to keep this blog updated. I'll try to tell you stories of what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. At the end of the Thunder Bay adventure we are going back to Toronto for a debrief (exit-ramp).

This summer is going to be different again, I am quite positive that I will miss people, Rachel for example. But, I get to serve God in a way that excites every inch of my body (sounds like Kuyper, that's scary). So I am excited about this adventure.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." - Numbers 6:24-26

Please come visit me

Well, I know that I am often far away from my family and friends in Holland and other people are far away from their family and friends. But, just come visit me, here are the directions, it is not that expensive. Although step 41 might take a bit of time, but that's all.

Honestly

Honestly, I don't know how well I will continue to update this blog, but today I will at least update it. I am halfway done my undergrad, which I guess is a really cool thing. I have enjoyed many of the courses I have taken, but have been even more enriched and challenged by some of the activites outside the classroom. This year, was completely different from anything that I expected it to be. I expected my second year to be first year part II. However, there were new people, new struggles, and new brokeness and beauty.

After first semester I was not doing that great, I struggled a lot with my faith, in the way that I did not care about it that much. I can't do things on my own, I can't...
"you can’t do this alone! you can’t work/grind hard enough to make this happen, to pull this off. this i will do great things through you, but you must walk, stand, run, hide, jump, fly with me. it is all through me. don’t go it alone or you will fall and you will fall hard. it will be violent and bloody (spiritually). please trust my word, i am telling you now."
That is what God told me and some of the people that mean a lot to me at the beginning of this school year. I think it took me a while to listen to that.

It is a slow process growing from brokeness to healing, from insecurity to trust, from earthly to spiritually, from me to God. But, then there are people helpingme people caring for me. People learning to challenge me, and I try to challenge others in the same way.

I was set on working in Barrie this summer, living in Barrie, making the money, living at home... I am happy I am not going to do that, although I would love to spend more time with my mother and some family. I am excited about what God has told me through people around about, community, my summer, God's plans, and something called Youth Works. So, this summer I will be leading mission trips, where I don't know yet, I know it will be in Thunder Bay, Vancouver, or Toronto, but I don't know where. Please pray that God will use me as his servant, that I can influences the teens I will be hanging out with in a Christ-like way. That's it for now.