Semana Santa

Good Friday involves many solomn processions with men and women robed in black and purple.
Easter sunday involves colors and happy music in celebration of our Lord's resurrection

Amazing Race - Day 4

Okay so I'm not going to say anything about day 4, some things have to remain confidential!
But I will say the final race day was amazzzazing and the winning team was...
THE NINJA MONKEY'S
Sasha, Dan, Jasmine, Ceilidh and Tracy

congratulations guys
(photo of the winning team and their prize to come)

Amazing Race - Day 3

We began day 3 with team cheers, followed by mind benders. To end we had a miniture triatholon - a swim, a three legged race and then a sprint.

The three legged race

the swim

anticipating the passing of the baton
Jasmine and Shay

Ninja Monkey's sharing their team cheer
Jasmine, Sasha, Dan, Ceilidh, and Tracy

Team Oos! sharing their cheer - are they doing the "worm?"
Delacey, Charity, Elanor, and Jennifer

Amazing Race - Day 2

Day 2 began with kayak races - Anna, Joel and Shawna

Sasha, Kelsey and Jennifer
Oh and then to Poptun for the beans and tortilla eating contest...

Shay, Shawna, Andrea, Tim and Lynelle

Great facial expressions guys!
Charity

yes... she ate it all!

Amazing Race - Day 1

Day 1's race began in Tikal and ended in Flores... with stuff in between...which is confidential!

Steve with the finish line mat

Tikal

Shay with a tarantula

All the guys - Stephen, Dan, Joel, Brad, Ben, Sasha, Tim, Delacey, and Justin

Charity, Tracy, Anna, Leah and Shay modeling in the "ball court" - the ball game was a gruesome sport usually involving a sacrifice at the end

No we didn't see any jaguars - too bad
Temple I from the top of Temple V
The whole group in the Grand Plaza in front of Temple I
Lynelle and Jasmine on top of Temple II looking at Temple I

Semuc Chempey - God's Waterpark

Rob Cahill our fearless guide through the cloud forest of Alta Verapaz and Semuc Chempey - here jumping from the tree branch

Ceilidh

Mukbil ~Ha

Tubing down a river through caves with huge windows above

Semesche

In Semesche we were able to spend a couple of hours playing with the children. After that we moved into host families! The remainder of our time there we helped with the reforestation project - filling bags with dirt.

Joanna

Kelsey, Jasmine, Elanor, Anna, Joanna and Charity

Jennifer

Last week in San Juan del Obispo

The whole group in front of the San Juan welcome sign

Canada vs. Guate - chicas vs professoras

chicos vs. professores

writing the final test

Joel, Charity and Anna giving a speech at the graduation

Volcan Pacaya

Whoa lava!! and fire! what's the fire from?

Carolina roasting a marshmellow

the chubby bunny contestants - Charity, Ben and Steve

the cone of Pacaya

the fire... was the gnome! the birthday gnome is gone!!

Knowing Yourself - Xocomil

Xocomil - the water park where we learned how tough we were!

the mat race - 136 steps up and down in a matter of seconds!

Jasmine, Ceilidh, Elanor and Lynelle

Joel and Tim on the half pipe!

Candice, Tim, Kelly Sam and Heidi on our way down the raft slide

Shay, Justin, Anna , Delacey and Ben

Ummmm.... hold on!

Knowing Yourself - Finca

Antonio - the Finca owner showing us the ornamental leaves he exports to Europe and America

Lynelle and Candice in the ornamental plant greenhouse

Delacey climbing the ichy bamboo!

Joanna and Jackie in the bamboo forest

the ladies sorting macadamia nuts

Rio Hondo - Habitat

Charity

Kelly, Ceilidh, Jackie, Sasha, Kelsey, Charity and Brad

Heidi and Kelsey moved almost the whole pile... not really!
Charity and Sasha
Carolina sleeping during lunch...shortly after she got soaked in water!

Leah flexing her muscles with some boys at the worksite.

Dan in the act of mixing cemento!
Delacey, Carolina, Lynelle, Cassandra, Leah and Dan!

Monterrico

Elanor, Ceilidh, Jackie, Joanna and Candice

Kelly Danae and Cassandra

Kelsey, Charity and Andrea

Kelly on the boat ride to the hotel

The whole group

Dan

Delacey

El Oceano Pacifico!

CASAS

Site 1 - Guatemala in front of the National Palace.

The National Cementery

Sasha and Anna overlooking the garbage dump

The National Palace

The National Cathedral

APPE School in San Juan

Charity on the moutain of stuff

Candice meeting her host family

Tim meeting his host family

The scary walk away from friends to a new family

Charity, Candice and Tracy with their teacher on the first day

Guess who!?! Pinata Fiesta on the first day

Students chill'n during the break

Students playing soccer during the break

Danae, Joanna and Andrea hard at work

Adulam

The guys cabin

Tim flying!

Jennifer Heidi Shawna and Stephen - at Euchre once more

Lynelle, Danae and Elanor

San Juan del Obispo

Hello to all our family and friends!
We have arrived safely in Guate and are very much enjoying the sunshine! We spent the first 3 days locked in a retreat centre compound. We were able to re-connect after the Christmas break over a variety of games - risk, cards and futbol (soccer). Moving in with host families and starting spanish classes have been the latest challenges. Each student has a story of their own regarding ¨their first awkward dinner.¨
Now comes the fun adventure of exploring Antigua, Guatemala - a cobble stone, colorful, and colonial city full of culture!

For these 3 weeks of spanish our schedule looks like this -
8am -12pm Spanish
Lunch
Afternoon activity- monday - small group
tuesday - community service
wednesday/thursday - free
friday - travel for the weekend
Supper
Evening free (except wednesday night worship)

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Hopefully we will be able to get some photos up soon, but it may be a bit tougher here in Guate!
Stay tuned for more!

December 1, 2007

Well the semester is over in less than 24 hrs. It is hard to imagine that three months ago we were all strangers on the front lawn at CMU. We have been to many new places and had crazy, out of this world experiences. These include, but are not limited to: striking up conversations on Hasting Street in Vancouver, challenges presented by speakers, living in tight quarters on a houseboat, and meeting Canada’s First Nations people. With all this learning we still managed to have fun, whether it was canoeing, hiking, bungee jumping, Dutch Blitz or Risk. We have come to appreciate each unique individual for what they have to bring and how we can all live in community.

Now it is time to return home to see family and friends and for Christmas festivities. It will be tough to leave such a close group of people, but there is always next semester… in Guatemala!!!!!

So it is not good-bye but “till next time”.

Stay tuned for more adventures from Site One Guatemala starting in January.

Lake Louise

Nice grab Candice!!

Jennifer, Carolina, Shay taking a break

Getting ready to go...

Shay, Shawna, Leah, Jennifer in the gondola

YMCA again

Christmas Party gingerbread competition & talent show

Cassandra, Leah, Dan building

Justin's small group winning the gingerbread competition!!

Justin NO........................

Candice & Jasmine demonstration that Alberta is the best province?!?

YMCA again

The gorgeous looking ladies...

...and the handsome men!!

Elanor, Danae, Tim, Heather, Lynelle with their Christmas cookies

Charity & Joanna

YMCA again

Campfire

Tim skipping in the kitchen

Playing with the rolling bins we found!!
(Sasha, Kelsey)

What we look at every evening

Cassandra, Charity, Danae, Candice preparing for the Christmas Party

Stillwood & Charis Camps

Entertainment Commitee decorating for the Halloween Party

Candice, Shay, Andrea during the pumpkin carving competition

Jackie, Dan, Elanor, Danae in the toliet paper race

Sasha bobbing for apples

Stillwood & Charis Camps

Halloween Party

Danae, Charity, Elanor, Lynelle, Heather

Anna, Sasha

Delacey, Kelsey

Stillwood & Charis Camps

Danae, Anna, Delacey, Kelly in Abbotsford

Craig Ginn speaking on church history

This last week we had sessions at Charis Camp with Nathan Rieger. He spoke on idolatry, which was an interesting, real, and applicable topic. He talked about idols of value, power and pleasure. His methods made it easy for us to identify some idols in our own lives that need to be dethroned. On Friday night, Nathan came to hang out with our site and gave us the opportunity to speak out which idols were controlling us and how we can rebel against them. A lot of truth came out that night and I took a small step towards a changed life, a long with many others. We all really appreciated Nathan, and the message from God that he gave us. - Jasmine Neufeld

Nathan Rieger

Anna, Sasha, Ceilidh, Lynelle, Joanna raking & bagging leaves on our service day

Pretty Picture - Cultus Lake

Native Culture Week

Sasquatch Tour on Harrison River

Joanna, Elanor, Jackie, Candice, Jasmine

Lynelle, Kelsey, Danae, Tim, Shay, Tracy, Charity, Anna, Heather

Native Culture Week

Anna with pounded cedar bark

Sasha, Ben, Tracy, Kelly, Jackie, Jasmine in a wooden canoe

Anna, Shawna, Candice, Jennifer, Leah twisting cedar braclets

Steve modeling a pelt

Carolina trying her hand at weaving

Native Culture Week

Tracy & Kelly at the UBC Museum of Anthropology

Bill Reed's famous carving (check your $20 bill)

Candice & Dan overlooking Mission BC

Bungee Jumping

Shay

Kelsey
Leah
Jennifer

Bungee Jumping

Shawna, Leah, Jennifer, Sasha, Kelly

Danae, before the jump...
Heather, Kelsey, Tracy, Shay, Shawna with their survival shirts!!
The Canyon

Bungee Jumping

Sasha (2nd jumper) getting excited!

Ben... and his scream music!

Heather and Lynelle

Perhaps there were many diverse emotions - Jackie, Carolina, Joanna and Elanor.

Vancouver

Delacey, Steve, Jennifer, Heidi enjoying some Indian cuisine.

YWAM staff treated us to many ethnic meals - Cassandra here with Ethiopian food!

Sasha, Jackie, Jasmine and Brad during our walk of Commercial Drive - all the students were taken out for coffee by YWAM staff and then told to walk the Drive and observe the needs and the culture that exists.

Impact Vancouver Day
The students, in groups, were given the opportunity to use their own resources to impact Vancouver.
Here Lynelle, Kelsey, Jasmine and Sasha impacted the city by writing Bible verses on the sidewalks of the city.

Vancouver

The entrance to the Buddist Temple gardens - Jasmine, Jackie, Elanor, Cassandra and Joanna.

During our Urban Plunge we had the opportunity to visit a Buddist Temple and a Muslim Mosk. Here is a group of girls demonstrating cultural sensitivity by wearing head coverings - Joanna, Elanor, Jackie, Jasmine, Tracy and Cassandra

Leah

While we were in Vancouver, we had a great opportunity to work with YWAM Missions Adventures to see the beauty of Vancouver. Before the week started I had a lot of hesitation and was very nervous. We started off the week walking around East Hastings area and seeing first hand the community that was established there. The second part of the day we walked around the upper class streets. Two totally different worlds exist just blocks away from each other. It started off that we were more comfortable walking down the upper class streets than on Hastings, but as the week went on our views totally changed. The people we met on Hastings touched our lives and our hearts in ways we never thought possible. Some of the activities we got to do were: a rose prayer walk, street church missions and sharing a lunch with a stranger. The rose prayer walk was extremely challenging for most and it definitely opened our eyes to the sex trade in Vancouver. Street church was an amazing opportunity for us. Our group got to plan a service for a soup kitchen/church. We all had a role to play and it allowed us to see the gifts and abilities we each offer the group. We were able to just sit with people and talk with them over dinner. We got the chance to hear about their lives and stories. It was a cool time just forming friendships and having the chance to understand another lifestyle. The last day was my favourite out of all the activities. We had the day, in small groups, to try and change Vancouver. We could do anything we wanted. My group decided to see how hard it is to get off the streets and to get things like a health card, social insurance, birth certificate, etc. We ended up running into a guy that I had met the night before at street church. Our group spent the day with him and he showed us all the “ins and outs” of the down town. It was a really impacting day because we saw things through new eyes.

It was an amazing week and we are all taking away a lot from the week. We had a lot of cool experiences; we even got to try a lot of different ethnic foods that we wouldn’t normally get the opportunity too. This week taught us a lot about who we are and it brought out different gifts and abilities we never knew we had. After this week I no longer look at Hastings as the poorest postal code in Canada but as somewhere I could call home.

Shawna Leighton

Vancouver

The City

Group Bonding - Shawna carries Shay and Anna across a river of lava (section of grass) with her "magic shoes" before the green goblins (YWAM facilitators) attack.

Vancouver

Just hanging out during dinner - Cassandra, Tracy, Delacey, Kelsey, Dan, Lynelle, Danae, and Heather

Peer Mentoring Group day in the city - Cassandra, Heather and Lynelle having breakfast at a bakery.

Another PMG exploring the Vancouver Aquarium - Anna, Kelsey and Charity

Tracy at Science World

YMCA

Welcome to the Rockies!

Candice

Ben

Danae and Lynelle enjoying the sunshine.

I think Heidi and Steve lost another Euchre game against Jennifer and Shawna

The break during class.

Oh there they are again...



Shawna

A group of girls - Cassandra, Charity, Jasmine, Lynelle, Danae, Shawna, Tracy and Heidi - hiking Heart Creek Trail.

Kelly, Anna, Carolina, Delacey, Justin, Steve, Ceilidh, Tim and Kelsey enjoying an ice cream castle - Anna what did you sit in?

Calgary Flames (2) vs Colorado Avalanche (3) in OT


The girls made the guys a huge pan of crisp, chocolate pudding cake and Justin's mom's peacan pie - Dig in boys!

Shay

Justin, Delacey, Kelly, Kelsey, Anna and Tim sporting the lastest in European fashion - or maybe they are just renting bathing suits at the Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Chineman's Peak

Ceilidh, Joel, Andrea, Carolyn and Brad at the summit of Chinamen's Peak

Carolyn at the summit

Notes

Just a quick update to all the Guatemala fans out there! Thank you for being so patient with our crazy schedule. Here's a quick run down of what we've done since houseboats (we are madly sorting through thousands of photos, so those will come soon):

Following houseboats we drove back to Canmore and settled into the Rocky Mountain YMCA. During our first week there we listened and learnt about peace and justice from Jarem Sawatsky. Our second week of classes got us digging into the Old Testament with Jodie Smith.
During some of our free time we were able to enjoy the Rockies, even climbing a few! We also got to spend time just enjoying coffee in Camore and shopping in fun and unique stores.
Leaving Alberta we drove straight to Vancouver BC. There we spent time learning about life on East Hastings vs. Robson. We learnt about Buddism and Islam during our temple tour and had an opportunity to use our gifts and talents during Impact Vancouver Day.
Just before leaving Vancouver we travelled up to Whistler to do a special adventure activity!!!! Perhaps the photos will do a better job explaining it than words!

Stay tuned for more...
- HP

Houseboats

We are all so grateful we got the opportunity to go on house boats this year, seeing as now we have many great memories. We were split into one larger and one smaller boat. Our captains were our awesome leaders.
Both Anna and I were on the smaller boat which was named Michael Scott. The disadvantage to this was that all the food was on the main boat. One lunch, after we finished the scarce amount of food allotted, we all decided peanut butter would be a great asset to our boat. The only way to get to the peanut butter was to swim across the icy cold shark infested waters of Shushwap Lake, to Mi Amor, the main boat. Of course Anna and I were up for the challenge. As we hit the water we gasped for air as it was sooo cold, but we did not surrender. Our plan of attack was now in action.
To our surprise Mi Amor had planned an attack as well. They had spent their free time painting their faces with war paint. Their plan was to steal our pirate flag which waved proudly off the top deck of Michael Scott.
Because of the surprise attack and the small size of our crew we lost the flag quickly. Feelings of defeat surfaced as we watched the flag being passed up to the upper deck of Mi Amor where it once again flew tall and strong. This called for back up forces. Ben courageously retrieved the peanut butter which was hidden in the dish washer. Our mission was now to retrieve what was rightfully ours, the pirate flag. As the Mi Amor guards turned their backs for one second Tracy snatched the flag and went down the slide retreating to home base. She quickly called for back up forces as Steve and Shawna came out to attack. So with the help of her faithful crew the flag was put back in its rightful place. We then had a victory party of hot tubing and a feast of peanut butter.

The End
Tracy Klassen and Anna Bshouty


Captian Carolina proud of Tracy's dedication to the pirate's of Michael Scott.

Mi Amor preparing for the surprise attack!
Steve, Shawna, Shay, Tim, and Justin

It's a hard enough life, for us... living in a small houseboat...it's a hard enough life!
...each boat with it's own hot tub.

Houseboats

The guys wanted to show their appreciation for the ladies by making Thanksgiving Dinner.

Houseboats

Dan, Delacey, Andrea

Kelly, Lynelle, Shay, Cassandra

The whole group on Mi Amor

Just hanging out!

Girl/Guy Week

Some good old fashion floor hockey.

Guys travel to Calgary to watch the Calgary Hitmen take on Medicine Hat Tigers winning 5-1!

Your guess is as good as mine... oh it's a scavenger hunt.

Dan just hanging around ...and around... and around... are you dry yet?

The guy’s week was AWESOME!!! Just getting together with a group of guys with an open week of discussion has been refreshing and simply amazing. The way all the guys got along from all three sites was awesome! One of the things that will stick with me is how blunt, straight forward and comforting the discussions were. Knowing I’m not alone with my struggles as a male is the best thing to come out of this week. Oh yah, the floor hockey, dodgeball, Johnson’s Canyon hike, soccer game, and Hitmen hockey game were amazing, painful and a lot of fun!

Dan Koenig

Girl/Guy Week

Guys at Johnson's Canyon

Delacey

Where's Waldo? .... Oops where's Justin?

Ben and Sasha

Girl/Guy Week

What a blast! All the girls from the three sites combined for a week in Calgary, AB. We stayed at the Days Inn where we slept and attended lessons from our speaker Sharon Peters. The week focused around what it meant to be a woman of character and faith. Sharon spoke on self-image and sexuality, providing scripture and thoughtful points while provoking us to think during group activities.
A highlight from the lessons was the opportunity to send some questions for the guys to answer and answering questions we received from them. It was interesting to see which questions they asked and the answers they gave us.
Outside of lessons the week was packed full of activities. The first day included a trip to play Laser Tag and Go-Karting. Another day included a trip into Banff National Park where we hiked Johnson’s Canyon, visited the town of Banff and ended the day with a stop at the Upper Hot Springs. Other exciting activities included a spa night and a hip hop dance class. All in all it was a great week with some interesting classes and tons of fun!

Jennifer Taves

Just Hanging Out

Shawna...?

Kelly and Tracy

Elanor sporting a new look during spa night!

Look at those fancy fingers and toes!

Girl/Guy Week

Hip Hop Classes

Andrea, Charity, Tracy, Kelly, Jennifer

Kesley, Anna, Shay, Danae, and Carolyn embracing the 80's

The girls show off their hip hop moves!

Girl/Guy Week

Hiking Johnson's Canyon

Candice and Leah and Ceiledh

Jasmine, Cassandra, Joanna, Jackie, Elanor

Danae

Tracy, Candice, Andrea, and Leah

Girl/Guy Week

Girls Week!!!!!
First we went to Kart World for lazer tag, mini golf and go-karting!

Jackie looks like she might be a bit nervous of the dark! Check out those cool glow stick earings!

Candice, Anna, Kelsey, and Shay mini-golfing.

All the girls ready to hit the race track!

Winnipeg Urban Plunge

Whoa!!! Van rides!
Andrea, Jasmine, Delacey, Leah, Joel, and Shawna

Winnipeg Urban Plunge

Just hanging out at the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard during our urban plunge.

Winnipeg Urban Plunge

Elanor, Tracey, and Jasmine helping restock Siloam Misssion's clothing closet.

Jennifer, Kelsey, Carolyn, and Shawna helping sort clothing at a clothing closet.

Brad helping clean at Siloam Mission.

Shay and Ben chilling with kids.

Ceiledh and Jackie hard at work sorting stuff!

Winnipeg Urban Plunge

The students did an Amazing Race through parts of Winnipeg part of which involved finding grafitti.
Ben, Jasmine and Joanna

Tracy, Lynelle, and Heather

Dan

Camp Arnes

Our time at Camp Arnes was great! We started our time with Ray van der Zaag speaking to us about poverty and the causes of poverty.

Following Ray we were given the opportunity to explore the New Testament with Brian Larmour. Brian focused on the NT as a work of art and gave us new ways to read it as such.

Camp Arnes staff also treated us to a wonderful couple hours swinging high from the tree tops of the ropes course!

Delacey shocked us all by running the 30 ft 'balance beam' in a mere 5 seconds!

We all got to practice our "spiderman" while we were lowered down from each high ropes element.

We ended our time at Arnes with a couple days of service... painting garbage cans, chopping wood, pulling unwanted grass, and other random odd jobs!

All in all it was a great time to connect and get to know everyone before heading off for the urban plunge in Winnipeg. -HP

Delacey and Shay

Jackie and Joanna

Heather, Jackie, Kelly, Lynelle, and Danae

Anna and Delacey

High Ropes at Arnes

Cassandra

Steve

Candice

Anna

Camp Arnes

Waterpolo in the pool at Arnes

Candice and Anna with King Tim

The tallest spaghetti tower! Ceiledh, Elanor, Jasmine, Sasha, and Anna

Our first ANCHOR (team) meeting with the students. Steve, Heidi Justin and Carolina.

Camp Arnes

Playing Soccer

Kelsey, Shay, Tracy, Charity, Lynelle, Ceiledh

Cassandra

Sasha

Canoe Trip Pics

Carolyn the Pirate! What is a pirates favorite letter of the alphabet?

A 'P' because it's an RRRR that is missing a leg!

Playing with sparklers on trip

Canoe Lake

Canoe Trip Pics

Sasha taking it easy

Steve and Candice

Floatillaaaaaa!

Working hard in God's beautiful creation

Canoe Trip Pics

Anna

Leah and Delacey

Candice and Anna

Carolyn and Danae

Canoe Trip Pics

Ceiledh and Heidi

Jaclyn and Janelle (our trip guide)

Canoe Trip Pics

Cassandra and Heather

Canoe Trip Pics

Candice, Steve, Ben

Canoe Trip Pics

Carolyn, Cassandra, Danae, Andrea, Elanor, Jasmine, Shawna, Kelsey, Joanna, Jennifer, Lynelle

Canoe Trip Pics

Jennifer and Jasmine

Canoe Trip Pics

Elanor and Lynelle

Canoe Trip Pics

Delacey, Kelsey, Shay, Tim and Anna arrive at Pioneer Camp.

The Food

Definitely a unique, but unforgettable moment was the food! For some the food was the highlight of our trip. Being able to cook over a fire and having the freedom to eat with our hands. - HP

The Stars

I had such an awesome time on canoe trip. It was a great bonding time for our group. A great memory for me was lying on the rocks with my friends and looking up at the stars. I have never seen stars like that in my life. It made me realize how vast the universe is and how amazing God is to be able to create it.

Elanor Nigh

Canoe Lake

The most surreal moment for me on the canoe trip this year would definitely be at our campsite on Canoe Lake. It was the second day into the trip and God had blessed us with a beautiful afternoon followed by an amazing sunset. God painted a beautiful picture in the sky for us, silhouetting the trees on the opposite shore and the lake, as smooth as glass. Our group just watched; some paddling canoes in the calm water, some snapping pictures and others just standing in awe, watching until the stars came out. We got a real sense of God and his amazing beauty and creativity.

Jaclyn Borkowski

site leaders spend time bonding at the beach :D