Fall Fun

About once a month we have some sort of social with our students. Last night was a 1st and 2nd year student and staff family social. We started off the evening with a hot dog supper along with chips and cookies and squares. Then we moved on to playing a lot of games. Many of our students and staff worked on putting different booths together that were set up all over the gym. There was bobbing for apples, balloon darts, a candy toss, face painting and several other booths. Throughout the evening I was heading up what I called "Take the challenge". I worked on getting some different challenges together where couples, adults, or teens competed against each other. There was a jell-o challenge of finding marbles with your feet and using your toes to dish them out, sculpturing a dog with bubble gum, picking up Q-tips with your toes and putting them in a pop bottle, and several more challenges. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the evening a success. It was a fun filled evening where many great memories were made together.

Behind the Wheel

A couple of weeks ago Ruth finished her classroom time of the Young Driver's Course she is taking. Yesterday she had her first in car driving lesson with an instructor. Although she has been driving for awhile she found the lesson very helpful. I think there are around ten in car driving lessons through the course and the last one is very close to what the actual driving test will be like. Although taking a drivers education course is not mandatory here it does make ones car insurance so much cheaper if you take it.

Voting Day

Yesterday was voting day here in Ontario so Vern and I were out at the polls. The election did not turn out how I had hoped but it is awesome to be in a free country and to be able to have the privilege of casting a vote.

Windy City

We have three great churches in the Windy City that have been behind us in our ministry. This past Sunday Vern had the opportunity to speak at one of them, Windy City Community Church. (It was very special for us that all of our children were able to join us for the service. ) We had a very good time with the folks at WCCC. After the service the missions committee along with others from the church treated us to a great pizza buffet. There were about 35 of us and it was so good to enjoy the fellowship of old friends and new.

Canadian Thanksgiving

It was very neat that it worked out for us to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with all our children, something that hasn't happened for a number of years. Seth and Zachary were able to make it into Chicago for the weekend. Kristina worked very hard and put a wonderful meal for us with a couple of very delicious pies. Of course we all enjoyed the left overs the next day.

Road Trip

Within the hour we will be taking off for Chicago. Vern will be speaking at one of our supporting churches, Windy City Community Church. This church has been an encouragement to us in our ministry both in Venezuela and here in at the training center. We look forward to our time with them. Please pray for safety on the roads as this is a big holiday weekend here in Canada with it being Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and lots of people will be out traveling.

A Bit of History

This week we have a very dear couple here on the campus. Les & Lorraine Peterson have been missionaries with the mission since a year after the mission began. Therefore they knew personally all the leaders that started the mission and were involved in some of those beginning events. They have been sharing every day in the first year class and have been in our homes for meals. We all have our own stories of how we have seen God faithful in our lives but we have really enjoyed hearing from Les and Lorraine of just a little of their story and how God brought them through many difficult situations. If you would talk to Les he would tell you how God uses ordinary people to do His work. Praise the Lord for that, because we are all just ordinary people!

Sitting in the Hot Seat

A few days ago part of one of my back molars cracked off. So today I had to go to one of my least favorite places, the dentist office. I think my dislike of going to the dentists began when I was in third grade. I had a cavity in one of my baby teeth and so the dentist felt it was better to just pull the tooth. But the dentist didn't do any freezing. He just had his assistant come and hold me down while they pulled the tooth. So there was not a whole lot of excitement as I made my way to the dentist. I was VERY happy, however, that the dentist was able to put a filling on the side of the tooth as I feared I would need a cap. Although there were a few tense moments as I felt the drill on some tender spots, today was one of my better dental visit experiences.

Chocolate Explosion

Last night Ruth and I had to run a few errands. Ruth also decided to treated me to supper. As we were sitting there looking at the menu we saw this "Too Die For" dessert. The dessert was called"Chocolate Explosion". So Ruth and I split a piece and it was every bit as good as the description on the menu. It was worth going there just for the dessert. We probably ate 1000 calories alone on this delicious Chocolate Explosion. But if you are going to throw the diet plan out the window what better way to go. (Yum)

Go Blue Team!

For the past three weeks the 3rd-8th graders have been playing a soccer tournament. Titus was on the blue team. Today was the last games of the tournament. All the players went away with a can or bottle of pop depending on whether their team got first, second, or third place. Titus' team came in first place so he came won a big bottle of pop. Each team did an awesome job. It was good to see how the kids worked together as a team and showed good sportsmanlike conduct. Way to go kids!