Joint Short-Term Missions: Tuesday July 22

It's Tuesday!
I am getting wifi in a local McDonald's here in Chibougamau. Here is the update since we last left off!

On Sunday afternoon, the majority of the team had the opportunity to make the 1 hour 10 minute drive to Mistissini to see where we would be having our pre-teens and children's ministry as well as a mini tour of the place - it's beautiful in Mistissini!

The majority of the team outside the church in Mistissini.

Here come the Chinese tourists!

At the lake front, catching the end of a fishing tournament!

Children's Team
Monday July 21
Monday was Day 1 of our 5 day program. Our theme for the week is "Egypt Files" and the focus on Monday was learning the Truth About Life. Through drama, songs and a lesson - the children learned that we were created by God and He made us in His image. With the help of our Detectives, Russel and Valiant, the children uncovered clues to find out that we did not come from monkeys like some people say - they learned the catch phrase "you can't make a monkey out of me!" Beka had them listening for clues in Genesis to hear the story of creation. The craft for the day was making their names out of Egyptian hieroglyphics - so fun! We ended with a snack and a very fun game led by Simon and Leo, Traffic Light! Lots of fun, lots of running.

Children's team prepping the night before - factory line!

Detective Russel and Investigator Valiant!

Beka teaching the children that we're not from monkeys, God created us!

Russel and Valiant having fun during crafts.

Erin helping make a hieroglyphic name tag!

Chelsia and Giya getting their craft on with the girls!

Grace decoding the hieroglyphics and having fun!

All done!

We looooove snack time!

Simon and Leo led a game of "Traffic Light."

GO!

Tuesday July 22
Tuesday was Day 2 of our program and the children focused on learning about the Wonder of Life. Through drama, songs and a very interactive lesson, the children learned about the wonders of the human body and how God created us so wonderfully. Detective Jonathan and Investigator Jeff opened up with a skit where the children (aka sleuths) had to help do a puzzle to find out about the Egyptians. They found out that there were doctors back then and they knew a lot about the human body. Vanissa then took over with a very interactive lesson that had the children rotate between three stations: 1. Smelling 2. Tasting and 3. Seeing. They got to eat pretzels, sour candies and marshmallows, look for all the things they could see in two pictures and smell different scented bags to discover our senses - they loved it! The catch phrase for today was "God thought of everything!" Our bodies are wonderfully made. We ended with snack and games - a really fun day!

Welcoming our first child for the day - surrounded by purple shirts!

Simon doing his thing - game leader extraordinaire!

Name game.

Singing songs - the children get so into it!

Detective Jonathan and Investigator Jeff!

Seeing Station.

Tasting Station.

Smelling Station.

That was sour!

"I can see..."

That was REALLY sour!

The children using their sense of smell to decode the scent!

Vanissa led an incredibly interactive lesson on all the amazing things about our body.

Valiant and Vanissa going over the answers to the Smelling Station.

Carol loves the children of the world :)

Pre-Teens Team
Monday July 21
On Monday, the Teens (10-13 year olds) focused on building community and a warm atmosphere. Through different name games and activities, they were able to get to know each other a little bit more. One of the teens taught the group "the Cup Song" and had them all flipping and tapping their snack cups to a beat! Ada led a time of worship that led to a sharing time at the end. Both the Teens team and teens shared very openly about themselves. They also introduced that they will be working on a drama for the remaining 4 days and the teens are looking forward to it!

Pre-Teens Team prepping and planning the night before.

Getting to know each other.

Name Game! Don't worry, Keith is nice. He is being gentle.

Worship with the pre-teens led by Ada.

A time of sharing.

Tuesday July 22
On Tuesday the teens started by playing outside - they played soccer and frisbee and some more neighbourhood teens joined in. Once they were too hot, they came back inside the church to play some more community building games. There were double the teens today so once everyone knew each other a bit better, Ada led a time of worship. They introduced the first of four skits today - Creation. Through powerpoint, actions, ribbons and other props, they acted out the creation story. The teens reflected on the ways to take care of the Earth God created for us. They talked about the small ways they can make a difference in the world and be thankful for the things our Earth provides - always!

Name game!

Frozen Ninja game - too fun!

Worship led by Ada with the pre-teens.

Let the drama begin! Props and ribbons to act out Creation.

Worship Team
Every year there is a new team and this year they team is so thankful to be working together. Even though it's the first time working and worshipping together, they feel very connected. Continue to pray for their hearts to spread the message through song, not just focusing on how good the worship is, but as them as worshippers. Valiant, the youngest member on the worship team this year shared that even though it's his first time ever being a part of a worship team, and he sometimes feels uneasy, he's has been enjoying it and learning a lot. Because he knows both Cantonese and English, he feels comfortable singing and leading in both languages. It's beautiful that worshipping God crosses language and age and many other areas.

Nelson and Peter presenting Pastor Hall with a gift.

Peter and Carina presenting Pastor Hall and Freida with some classical CD's.

Worship with the whole JSTM Team at the Bible College.

Kitchen Team
The Kitchen Team continues to minister with their gifts and talents in the kitchen. Today (Tuesday) the Kitchen Team led the sharing during worship time and each member shared a bit about their ministry so far. The members are Peter, John, Marine, Austen, Rosita, Lilian and Joanna. Marine shared that she feels privileged to be a part of a team that gets to cook for and help to nourish the bodies of a 47 member team. Ever part of the team is essential - we work as a body and if we didn't have good, healthy team, we wouldn't be able to perform and have the energy we need to do our tasks. Thank you to the kitchen team for keeping us fed so we have the energies to do good works!

Look at this beautiful, delicious food...

Reno Team
On Sunday, the Reno team took two gallons of tar in order to patch the leaking roof of the Bible College. The roof is now better off than when we arrived! They also removed an old water tank that was damaged from the cold winter. They are continuing to work on replacing the water tank - reusing parts that can be reused and replacing some parts with brand new, shiny parts. On Monday afternoon they put new support posts in the basement. Because the building is old, the existing posts were damaged and the basement was lacking a firm foundation. With their masks on, they cleared out unnecessary items, took down the old posts and replaced them with metal posts. They are continuing to work on the water tank, rewiring where necessary and replacing what needs replacing. This building is used by many groups throughout the year - just this past summer there has been both a teens and children's camp held right at the Bible College hosted by other groups that have come up. If the Reno Team didn't do what they did every year, the Building would not be in a condition to be used as it is now. Thank you Reno team!