We're still here!

Yep... we're still in Toronto. You gotta love waiting on immigration papers! But God is good. We've got a place to stay, we've got some temporary work (that means grocery money!), and we actually have some peace (which is AWESOME because we didn't have much peace for a while....)

 

And there are good things about still being here. We got to do the international Gulu Walk, we got to go to an African mass, we got to go to a mosque, we got to eat sushi a few more times, we're able to keep seeing friends and family...

 

And we are learning lessons - like patience, and relying on each other to stay sane, and how wonderful it is to have people who understand you, and what it feels like to be somewhere but not to really be there...

 

OK, that's probably enough dot-dot-dots for one blog. Hoping you are well... :)

Fund-raiser a big success

Tonight was a great night!

 

My choir (the University of Toronto Gospel Choir) teamed up with The Salvation Army North Toronto band for a concert. We made music, glorified God and fund-raised just under $3500. The money will go to the Howard Hospital - a Salvation Army hospital in Zimbabwe caring for people living with HIV/AIDS (by the way - did you know that 1 in 4 Zimbabweans is HIV+?).

 

I love my choir so much (ayyyy!) They have meant so much to me as my extended family for the last 6 years. Props to sopranos (of course), but also altos and tenors. I love you guys!

 

**

P.S. Happy Birthday to my beautiful friend Anita! Anita is a godly, fun, compassionate and creative person. She is also a very dear friend of mine. Anita and Bram (also an amazing person and good friend) are in Salvation Army training college - meaning that they're being trained to be Salvation Army officers (pastors). They're going to be awesome at this!!! Having good friends has to be one of life's most wonderful treasures.

Mission prep

Rochelle's been bugging me to make a post, so here goes...

We had two wonderful weeks of holiday this October, the first with
Rochelle's parents and the second with mine. Sadly, the second week
was interrupted with a phone call to let us know that our departure to
Zimbabwe could be delayed another four to six months. Not the best
news, given that we've already left work and our apartment. Things
will work themselves out, but we'd appreciate prayer support over the
situation. We're learning a lot about patience and trusting in God...
haven't totally mastered the lesson, however.

We're currently participating in a two-week mission preparation
training course... we're praying for my survival, but we have learned
a few interesting things already. Looking forward to visiting a mosque
and meeting with the Imam.

Trust all is well with you. Drop us a line and let us know.

Grace and peace.

3 good things to do

It's Friday and I'm on holiday, but I've been searching the net a bit today and have found 3 good, easy things to do (note: obviously there are many more, but I don't like really long blogs!)

 

1. Donate money to the relief effort in Pakistan (and Kashmir, India and Afghanistan). The death toll is already over 20,000, and expected to rise to 70,000 as more bodies are cleared from the rubble. 4 million people have been left homeless. I have a friend (Sadaf) doing some social work in Pakistan. She suggests giving money to a) The International Development and Refugee Foundation ( www.idrf.ca) or b) The Red Cross (www.redcross.ca)

 

2. Trick-or-treat for UNICEF, raising money for schools in Africa (www.unicef.ca). If you're too old to trick-or-treat, get your kids to do it, or kids in your neighbourhood. Canada has accepted the challenge to: build/rehabilitate 1100 schools, provide safe water and sanitation for 300 schools, donate desks and blackboards to 600 schools, and contruct 50 teacher training centres to train 6000 African teachers. Get the boxes, collect money, see African kids getting an education.

 

3. Write a letter in support of human rights. Amnesty International has campaigns you can join, or you can just take on an individual's cause. It's easy and doesn't take much time -  www.amnesty.ca/take_action/

 

Sometimes we're led to believe that there's nothing we can do about the world's terrible state of affairs. Not true! But it will take (at least) a few minutes, and maybe a few dollars...

Happy 80th Grandma!

Happy 80th Birthday to my beautiful Grandma. She is a great example to me, and I love her very much.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I must say that being grateful greatly improves my quality of life.

 

Here are some things I'm thankful for... God's love, grace, faithfulness, patience and wisdom; John; hot showers; Africa; so many good, fun, kind friends; freedom; godly grandparents; babies being born every minute; parents who knew/know how to love me and take care of me; Joel, Kirsten and Josh; Sherri, Grace and Johnny; living in Toronto with people from all nations; turkey and chocolate (but not together); clean clothes; sight and hearing; good family (including in-laws!); my choir; my church; my education; music that makes me feel alive; movies that make me cry; peace; smiles from strangers; forgiveness; that aching feeling of loving someone; clean, running water; the hope that I have; my past and my future.

 

There are so many more, but it's ok - this isn't the only day I can give thanks. God is good.

Death

It's been a rough few days. A friend of Mine (Matt Truesdale) died in a car crash. I sang at his funeral Tuesday. He was 27 - my age. His parents were really thankful that I came, but it was hard. So many of his friends were there, and they all just looked shell shocked. 27 year olds usually aren't that used to attending funerals, I guess.

 

Tuesday and Wednesday I visited Bram & Anita, and that was really hard too, because Bram's dad has just passed away. He's obviously really broken up about it because they were really close.

 

Matt and Bram's dad are in a better place - I believe that. And I admire people whose faith keeps them smiling at times like this, but I find death hard. I've heard we'll be attending a lot of funerals in Zimbabwe... I guess we'll get more used to it. God is good.