In The City & Free Hot Chocolate!

You're the God of this City

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

Wow, what a city, and what a great start to a Saturday morning taking the SkyTrain up Mount Burnaby to Simon Fraser University where we worked with The Point Church at SFU during their Olymp-Kids event. Victor and Candice Thomas are two people truly blessed and belonged in their university town of Burnaby. What a severe treat to experience their church and the Kingdom work they are employed with. We did a VBS type of morning where there were games, songs, crafts, silliness playing with several children in all ages from many countries ranging from Ecuador to China. I will hold on to their faces. Several leave their parents in their home countries to study here. Others are trying to find their home away from home here. Victor and Candice embrace these families bringing them into the family of God, being a friend, a refuge as well. And while it's a LOT of work for a tiny church, they bathe in the laughter and light from the Father! Just check out those wigs...

Now, I would be terribly remiss not to mention that Burnaby, SFU, was the exact location of the New Battlestar Galactica series filming. I was on Caprica! ^_^ Kara Thrace's apartment, the famous Baltar and Six square, the forest of Cylon engagements, ha ha ha. A sure sci-fi geek fest am glad to say.

Saying so long to Galactica and The Point, we made our way back down to the great city mosaic of Vancouver. Not a melting pot, but a true mosaic of culture where Chinese bank, eat, travel in their neighborhoods all in Mandarin. Or where the Sikh practice their religion, do their business all within their own Punjabi neighborhoods. According to Article I of the "Rehat Maryada" (the Sikh code of conduct and conventions), a Sikh is defined as "any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Sri Guru Gobind Singh; the Sri Guru Granth Sahib; the utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru; and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion".The most common symbol of all Sikhs, because of its simplicity, is uncut hair (including beards for men) and turbans.

The average population that attends church in Vancouver is 2-3% of its 3 million residents; it's a very post-Christian city; one of the (if not the) most unchurched on our continent. Spirtuality is great, but "not necessarily for me".

After de-boarding our favorite SkyTrain, half of our group headed immediately to the downtown Salvation Army Men's Hostel on Robson. There we hiked up six flights of stairs to a kitchen with a lot of history, and learned how to make cambros of hot chocolate. The gallons and gallons of boiling hot chocolate was then poured into backpack canisters, much like Ghostbusters(!), weighing in at 40-lbs of warm goodness. So with cups in mittened hands and canisters strapped to the strongest backs (Randy, Zach, Jonathan, Jerry, Don, etc), from 4pm until midnight, we served up FREE HOT CHOCOLATE to the masses on the street corners.





Millions walking to an fro the stadiums two blocks down. International music blaring. Kids exclaiming. Young men shouting shirtless anthems in pride. Scores of people wearing their flags as superhero capes making them appear and feel heroic of their homelands. And they all loved hot chocolate amazed to find something for free and those willing to serve it. Being in a Red Zone, no evangelism was allowed, but showing service in Christ name will hopefully speak volumes or be those seeds planted in the very process of peoples lives. God does work in mysterious ways is no cliche, His plans are not ours thankfully. And while we firmly believe that our faith saves us, it is truly a huge reminder to stay viligent in our service to His Kingdom.

We boarded our SkyTrain and headed back to Surrey exhausted but smiling!

Hello Vancouver!

We made it to Vancouver Thursday night to an airport of Canadian pageantry and loads of hospitality. There must be a greeter in Vancouver turquoise every 12-feet! Our group of 18 hit the SkyTrain and traveled to Surrey, our home for the next 9 days. Friend and Pastor Rick Chase has opened up his church allowing us and two other groups to camp it out.



Today the group took a tour of downtown. Randy and I got to spend time with Rick, Gerda, and their kiddos. So nice to get to spend time with friends in their home country. Almost makes you want to move here... Although I think the unusual sunshine we're getting has convinced us it's not that cold here! The snow we see on the mountaintops was flown in. Yes, if you want to chase away the snow, just host the Olympics.




It's bliss walking amongst a host of nations. Especially downtown Vancouver on our way to the Germany-Finland Hockey game! Hockey in Canada, the way God made it to be, eh? I could be a real Hockey fan up here. Cries of DEUTCHLAND and FINLANDIA filled the stadium...easy to spot the fans in their flags and reverie. Finland went on to stomp Germany. And we went on to beat the 100's of 1000s to the SkyTrain home at midnight. Makes the New York subways look like ghost towns!


And the people have glee written on their faces, no stoicism here. Everyone is an open book at the games. Wanting to share their pride, their stories. Open to listening to our pride and our stories. Well, that's a perfect segue into the service we were sent here for.

A Day In The Shadow of An Astronaut

Monday was a BIG day in our little family life. We started the day at the sunny beach just mere feet from our porch. Boogie-boards in hand and great wave action made for a super fun day, hooray! Showers and new clothes meant a drive to the local Cocoa Brevard Community College Planetarium to the Astronaut Memorial Center. We attended Dr. John "Danny" Olivas' family reception complete with a movie only seen by astronaut families. An inside look at becoming an astronaut by iWorks. We met Dr. Olivas' previous crew member Dr. Steve Swanson. Took in the sites and then did another wardrobe change for the big launch night which started at 7 pm. We showed up at the Kennedy Space Center fully burdened with umbrella chairs, umbrellas, blankets, jackets, bags of contingency items, etc! From 7pm until midnight we toured around the Center taking in robot shows, shuttle walks, and even a shuttle simulator ride. We took the shuttle to the specially designated viewing area; the closest anyone can get at 6-miles. Yep, got to be that far away to be safe! Alas despite the waiting, the storm clouds rolled in full of lightening. Launch scrubbed at 1:15 a.m. Everyone quickly raced to the waiting buses. Got home at 3 am. Sad but happy experience an amazing, amazing adventure!

Florida Road Trip!

Saturday morning we departed for a very LONG road trip to Cocoa Beach, Florida as guests of the Olivas family to watch John "Danny" Olivas launch with the rest of his crew on the STS-128 Discovery Shuttle Mission. We were so excited! We drove to Mobile, Alabama and stayed the night. We made it easily apart from Rachel's "bathroom" necessities. I know, I know, it IS a blessing she's trained. ^_^ The very next Sunday morning we drove straight to Cocoa Beach and found our resort easily. Ahhhhhh the sounds of the ocean! Having a resort room right on the beach is crazy wonderful. The kiddos ran for the waves on their complimentary boogie-boards. Rachel preferred to play in the sand. We spent the first evening just getting wet waiting for the next day to really take advantage of the Pacific!

Gotcha!

Gotcha Day was a fun day to enjoy lots of Chinese food at PF Changs! It was a super day because all six of us were all smiles...that's hard to do sometimes in a large family!



y!

I Heart Faces Kids: Hats Off to Swine Break 2009!

Passing time with lots of friends this unexpected school break. Caught Elizabeth in a Luigi hat...so posting for I Heart Faces! www.iheartfaces.com

Simon's First PB&J...That He Made

Simon made is first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In fact, he made three...two for him and one for his good friend, Vitaliy. I like my new little master chef!