Wow. I only have one-ish week left! I won't give a term wrap-up blog entry because I'll probably do that next week, with some pictures posted from our Christmas party.
Today is Tuesday, but that's obvious, you know that. I've been slightly dreading this day for a long time (pretty well a month). Tonight I'm presenting my very first study project and I'm super nervous. My LTS says that I have no reason to be, but I'm still nervous. It's not the presenting that makes me nervous though because Capernwray Quebec is a very comfortable and familiar place, but it's the material that I'm presenting. I just feel like it's not good enough. But realistically, it doesn't really matter if it's not academically good. Study projects are just sharing with other people what God's been teaching you through a specific passage. There's no right or wrong answer really, but at the same time there is. Because people can right out tell if something is wrong. I'm just nervous because I hold some beliefs that I've found out that people here don't share.
So I'm just gonna keep telling myself this tonight: I'll be fine, if I let God do the talking and not me! Janessa's just gonna have to shut up for a little while and let God speak through her!
I realized today, while being driven around for community help outreach, that I really miss driving in Manitoba. Quebec is so hilly and curvy and twisty (which are all very beautiful things), but Manitoba's flat and straight. And Manitoba driving gets along with my stomach a lot better! I cherish the times when I would be driving without feeling nauseated every time. Oh, good old Manitoba.
Another thing I realized today was that I'm experiencing something totally normal out here. This is my first real adventure away from home. Even though my permanent residential address is my parent's house, I'm still living outside my parent's house. It struck me yesterday that I'm growing up. No more high school, no more junior high, no more being a child, and no more being tolerant to people treating me like a child. I really miss home. The funny thing is: I really thought that I wouldn't. But I do.
I thought that, if I did miss anything, it would only be the people I love. But I've found myself missing everything else, as well as those people. I miss the buildings. I miss the familiar atomsphere. I miss my church. I miss taking trips to go shopping in Winnipeg. I miss hanging out with friends. I miss going to see movies. I miss sitting down on a Saturday night around the television as a family and watching a movie. I miss watching Reba with my dad. I miss hanging around the junior high, bothering my mom while she works. I even miss working at Smitty's.
Something I never thought that I would miss is high school. But I do. Even though I'm at bible school and I'm actually doing something besides working the year after high school, I feel like I'm still experiencing the "post-high school syndrome", as someone I once knew called it. My coming years from now seems rather empty, not because I don't see life in them, but because I don't see new and exciting experiences in them.
Here's another thing that hit me today in the realization that I'm growing up: life's going by at a rapid pace! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in grade 9. It's crazy because I've experienced SO many things since that time. I've experienced hurt, love, broken hearts, wonderful friendships, death, faith, Christ's love, Christ's grace, graduation, leaving home, Europe, and living in another province. All of which are things that I am more than grateful for, even if I wasn't at one point in my life. So this conclusion I have come to and this is my advice to you:
Don't blink. Or else you'll miss it.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Never Been So Sorry
Today was Work Day. I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my work days, which I love. We have three different teams: kitchen, domestics, and maintenance. We usually switch teams every two weeks. For the last four weeks I've been on the maintenance team! Today, we completed our project from last week: digging out a trench for water to drain down in the spring. That consumed the whole morning, then in the afternoon, we stacked wood! Not gonna lie, I feel pretty beefy right now!
I've been on all three work day teams, and not surprisingly, kitchen was my favourite. We got to help cook stuff and do food prep stuff. I was in my zone!
I'm sitting in the designated "laptop room" within our girl's dorm, listening to The Band Perry, and remembering some good times. I'm pretty tired, despite the four cups of coffee I've had today. I usually only have two a day! My roommates are getting concerned about my coffee intake!
Today I was thoroughly disgusted by something I did a couple years ago. I was super close with this guy in grade nine and grade ten, and we had liked each other for a while. Well, you know how Facebook message center now stores all your messages from someone in one thread? Today I came across this thread, and for memory lane sake, I read it. I can't even describe what I read in correct words. I was SO mean to him. I lectured him on the tiniest stupidest little things. And in grade ten when I knew he liked me, I pretty much rubbed it in his face that I was dating someone else...
I know that this blog entry seems very juvenile compared to some others, but I thought I'd share that. I want this blog to be a place where I can be open about my thoughts and feelings. I wish I could go back and be nicer to him, but unfortunately life isn't like that. I can't apologize to him, because I'm fairly certain that he hates me now. (When he stopped talking to me, I was shocked because I didn't understand why. Now I know why...)
The one thing that really bothers me is this: I could've totally turned him away from Christ. I told him I was a Christian, we had amazing talks about Christ back in the day, but I wasn't living it. How I treated him could've been a factor in how he views Christ now. He wasn't entirely fond of Christ back then, imagine what he thinks now? After a supposed "Christian" treated him like dirt?
This whole thought process seems very selfish, but I'm just being honest.
I hope he knows that I'm truly sorry. If I wasn't actually sorry the thousand times I apologized to him, I am sorry now. I've been convicted. And I don't even think there'd be a 0.1% chance of him reading this blog, telling him how sorry I am. I feel horrible about this situation.
I pray that I'm not ever as mean to anyone ever again.
Sorry for the rather downer blog entry, but I needed to let out some built up emotion.
Thank you for reading, if you even made it through!
Love,
Janessa
I've been on all three work day teams, and not surprisingly, kitchen was my favourite. We got to help cook stuff and do food prep stuff. I was in my zone!
I'm sitting in the designated "laptop room" within our girl's dorm, listening to The Band Perry, and remembering some good times. I'm pretty tired, despite the four cups of coffee I've had today. I usually only have two a day! My roommates are getting concerned about my coffee intake!
Today I was thoroughly disgusted by something I did a couple years ago. I was super close with this guy in grade nine and grade ten, and we had liked each other for a while. Well, you know how Facebook message center now stores all your messages from someone in one thread? Today I came across this thread, and for memory lane sake, I read it. I can't even describe what I read in correct words. I was SO mean to him. I lectured him on the tiniest stupidest little things. And in grade ten when I knew he liked me, I pretty much rubbed it in his face that I was dating someone else...
I know that this blog entry seems very juvenile compared to some others, but I thought I'd share that. I want this blog to be a place where I can be open about my thoughts and feelings. I wish I could go back and be nicer to him, but unfortunately life isn't like that. I can't apologize to him, because I'm fairly certain that he hates me now. (When he stopped talking to me, I was shocked because I didn't understand why. Now I know why...)
The one thing that really bothers me is this: I could've totally turned him away from Christ. I told him I was a Christian, we had amazing talks about Christ back in the day, but I wasn't living it. How I treated him could've been a factor in how he views Christ now. He wasn't entirely fond of Christ back then, imagine what he thinks now? After a supposed "Christian" treated him like dirt?
This whole thought process seems very selfish, but I'm just being honest.
I hope he knows that I'm truly sorry. If I wasn't actually sorry the thousand times I apologized to him, I am sorry now. I've been convicted. And I don't even think there'd be a 0.1% chance of him reading this blog, telling him how sorry I am. I feel horrible about this situation.
I pray that I'm not ever as mean to anyone ever again.
Sorry for the rather downer blog entry, but I needed to let out some built up emotion.
Thank you for reading, if you even made it through!
Love,
Janessa
Monday, November 21, 2011
We Fall Down & All In-Betweens
We fall down, we lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
Lately, I've found myself thinking about this worship song. And by lately, I mean for the past couple months, not just at Capernwray. The first time the lyrics of this song really popped out to me was while I was working at Smitty's. I often sang quietly to myself at work when things were slow and I was alone in the back cleaning or whatever. And I had this song stuck in my head.
And this hit me: what does it mean to "lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus"? What struck me is the word used in the song: crowns. Crowns are worn by kings, queens, and individuals of royalty. Crowns distinguish superiority and authority. When we sing this song, we're singing something quite heavy. We're singing about laying down our crowns, the things that make us feel superior and authoritative, at the feet of Jesus. We're laying down our pride.
I really felt like I should share that with you folks. Anyway, what's been going on at Capernwray lately? Not really that much... this past week we had Wayne Lee come teach us about the book of Job. Which is a rather heavy book. My perspective of Job's life has certainly changed now. The book of Job isn't a story about extreme suffering, but of extreme faith.
This week at Capernwray, the LTS (Leadership Training Students) are gone to Urban Promise in Toronto, so the dorms seem a little emptier. Also, Steve is teaching on 1 Corinthians for the first half of the week, then around Thursday good ol' Charlie Fordham is coming to teach us about the Holy Spirit, interesting week if I do say so myself. I've heard tons about Charlie Fordham... from Ethan and Missy. I remember once after church, I think it was in March, the three of us were having a discussion about Charlie Fordham and his teaching. So I heard lots. I am looking forward to what he has to say though. I look forward to all the speakers. Ultimately it's not about the teacher, but about what he's teaching us... which is Christ.
I've been thinking a lot about God's will lately. Mainly because I've been starting to worry about what my next year is going to look like. Right now, I don't have too many options. I could go to university, no idea what for, but hey, I could just take U1. I've been considering Providence, like I was considering before Capernwray came up last year. I could just work for a year. Or I could even go back to Smitty's, which I don't particularly want to do. For some reason Smitty's has been on my heart lately. There's been a lot of things and people who have been on my heart lately. There are also some other things that I've been considering, but I'm not going to list those out because I don't want to make a big deal out of them. That was confusing, haha, sorry.
I'm going to share with you an excerpt of the book we're reading as a student body at Capernwray, which has been on my heart lately, concerning God's will:
I suppose that one of the frequent questions I am asked, by young Christians in particular, is, "How do I know the will of God?" If we are concerned to be surrendered to the will of God, He doesn't always seem to cooperate by letting us know clearly what His will is! Is that how you feel somtimes? You ask for guidance and direction but appear to receive little. However, if God's greatest desire for you is that you fulfill His will, and your greatest desire is to do His will, there shouldn't be any difficulty. If there is difficulty, somewhere along the line you have created it.
The specific will of God for us will only be found within the general will of God for all His people. There are four things the New Testament states as being God's will for you and me, and it will be within obedience to these specific instructions that His will for us individually will be found.
1. That we be holy. "It is God's will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)
2. That we be thankful. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
3. That we are good. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted amongst men... For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15)
4. That we suffer. "Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
Solomon wrote, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6). We are not told to pray for guidance but to acknowledge Him, and in response He will direct our paths. Directing our paths is God's responsibility... What is more, in the process of guiding us, God is under no obligation to explain what He is doing.
© "Christ for Real" by Charles W. Price, 2011, Pg 61-63
Now, I know that everyone might not completely agree with that, and no one should believe just anything that they read, because it's not the Bible, so we need to line up what this says with Scripture. But, for the most part, I agree with what he's saying here. The Bible does state some things that are the will of God. And yes, the will of God could get messy in some circumstances, like if God's will is that I go back to Smitty's because I wasn't a good witness of Christ the first time I was there, then so be it. That situation would be particularly messy, because I wouldn't like it. Plus I made some mistakes while I was leaving there that I would have to own up to if I went back.
Something I've been learning lately: God's will isn't always what we want. In fact, often it's not what we want because our hearts are wicked and deceitful, and our hearts want things that don't line up with Christ. God's will isn't about us, it's about God and His work.
I apologize for the incredibly long blog post, but there was a lot on my mind. Also, I've just been learning so much! The awesome thing is that what I've been learning is way more than what I share in my blog! I could write a 1000 page book about all the things I've been learning. (I have to make this joke: there already has been a 1000-ish page book written about everything I've been learning, it's called the BIBLE lol). I commend all of you who actually made it through this whole post. My thoughts are running a mile a minute right now, so I should stop typing before I continue on a rampage of my thoughts, plus it's past curfew!
Bonne nuit, mes amis.
Love you all,
Janessa
P.S. I was inspired to clean up my portion of the room after posting the pictures of it! Just thought I'd let you all know, haha.
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
Lately, I've found myself thinking about this worship song. And by lately, I mean for the past couple months, not just at Capernwray. The first time the lyrics of this song really popped out to me was while I was working at Smitty's. I often sang quietly to myself at work when things were slow and I was alone in the back cleaning or whatever. And I had this song stuck in my head.
And this hit me: what does it mean to "lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus"? What struck me is the word used in the song: crowns. Crowns are worn by kings, queens, and individuals of royalty. Crowns distinguish superiority and authority. When we sing this song, we're singing something quite heavy. We're singing about laying down our crowns, the things that make us feel superior and authoritative, at the feet of Jesus. We're laying down our pride.
I really felt like I should share that with you folks. Anyway, what's been going on at Capernwray lately? Not really that much... this past week we had Wayne Lee come teach us about the book of Job. Which is a rather heavy book. My perspective of Job's life has certainly changed now. The book of Job isn't a story about extreme suffering, but of extreme faith.
This week at Capernwray, the LTS (Leadership Training Students) are gone to Urban Promise in Toronto, so the dorms seem a little emptier. Also, Steve is teaching on 1 Corinthians for the first half of the week, then around Thursday good ol' Charlie Fordham is coming to teach us about the Holy Spirit, interesting week if I do say so myself. I've heard tons about Charlie Fordham... from Ethan and Missy. I remember once after church, I think it was in March, the three of us were having a discussion about Charlie Fordham and his teaching. So I heard lots. I am looking forward to what he has to say though. I look forward to all the speakers. Ultimately it's not about the teacher, but about what he's teaching us... which is Christ.
I've been thinking a lot about God's will lately. Mainly because I've been starting to worry about what my next year is going to look like. Right now, I don't have too many options. I could go to university, no idea what for, but hey, I could just take U1. I've been considering Providence, like I was considering before Capernwray came up last year. I could just work for a year. Or I could even go back to Smitty's, which I don't particularly want to do. For some reason Smitty's has been on my heart lately. There's been a lot of things and people who have been on my heart lately. There are also some other things that I've been considering, but I'm not going to list those out because I don't want to make a big deal out of them. That was confusing, haha, sorry.
I'm going to share with you an excerpt of the book we're reading as a student body at Capernwray, which has been on my heart lately, concerning God's will:
I suppose that one of the frequent questions I am asked, by young Christians in particular, is, "How do I know the will of God?" If we are concerned to be surrendered to the will of God, He doesn't always seem to cooperate by letting us know clearly what His will is! Is that how you feel somtimes? You ask for guidance and direction but appear to receive little. However, if God's greatest desire for you is that you fulfill His will, and your greatest desire is to do His will, there shouldn't be any difficulty. If there is difficulty, somewhere along the line you have created it.
The specific will of God for us will only be found within the general will of God for all His people. There are four things the New Testament states as being God's will for you and me, and it will be within obedience to these specific instructions that His will for us individually will be found.
1. That we be holy. "It is God's will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)
2. That we be thankful. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
3. That we are good. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted amongst men... For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15)
4. That we suffer. "Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
Solomon wrote, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6). We are not told to pray for guidance but to acknowledge Him, and in response He will direct our paths. Directing our paths is God's responsibility... What is more, in the process of guiding us, God is under no obligation to explain what He is doing.
© "Christ for Real" by Charles W. Price, 2011, Pg 61-63
Now, I know that everyone might not completely agree with that, and no one should believe just anything that they read, because it's not the Bible, so we need to line up what this says with Scripture. But, for the most part, I agree with what he's saying here. The Bible does state some things that are the will of God. And yes, the will of God could get messy in some circumstances, like if God's will is that I go back to Smitty's because I wasn't a good witness of Christ the first time I was there, then so be it. That situation would be particularly messy, because I wouldn't like it. Plus I made some mistakes while I was leaving there that I would have to own up to if I went back.
Something I've been learning lately: God's will isn't always what we want. In fact, often it's not what we want because our hearts are wicked and deceitful, and our hearts want things that don't line up with Christ. God's will isn't about us, it's about God and His work.
I apologize for the incredibly long blog post, but there was a lot on my mind. Also, I've just been learning so much! The awesome thing is that what I've been learning is way more than what I share in my blog! I could write a 1000 page book about all the things I've been learning. (I have to make this joke: there already has been a 1000-ish page book written about everything I've been learning, it's called the BIBLE lol). I commend all of you who actually made it through this whole post. My thoughts are running a mile a minute right now, so I should stop typing before I continue on a rampage of my thoughts, plus it's past curfew!
Bonne nuit, mes amis.
Love you all,
Janessa
P.S. I was inspired to clean up my portion of the room after posting the pictures of it! Just thought I'd let you all know, haha.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!
I just took a picture of the map my mother and I had for getting to the school. Capernwray is about 6 kms south-east of Chertsey. The church I'm attending is in Rawdon.
I just had to add this picture! My mother and I were driving through a town called St. Espirit, and we were behind this truck that had tons of bags of carrots! It was awesome!
This is this front of the girls dorm! There's about seven available dorm rooms in there, but only four of them are being used right now. 13 girls live here, at the moment.
These lovely ladies are my roommates. On the left with her hands in the air, picture taken at High Point, is Stephanie. She's from Ottawa, Ontario. She's 22. In the second photo, is Yemima and Megan. Yemima is on the left, she's 17, from Terrebonne, Quebec (a suburb of Montreal). Megan is on the right, she's almost 19, from Okotoks, Alberta (I hope I spelt that right).
There are a TON of kids running around the school campus. Steve Thiessen, the director, has 4 kids; Joshua, Anna, Mary, and Timothy. And Matt McLean, the principal, has 4 kids also; Milly, Catherine, Theo, and Adalynne. This picture is of Catherine, she took a walk up to High Point with us.
This is a picture I took of the trees, the first week I arrived. My camera just doesn't do the beauty of Quebec justice. God certainly knew about He was doing, because it's beautiful. Red leaves on the maple trees are so pretty, even if I may be allergic to them.
This is Stephanie and Yemima's half of our room.
And this is my bed. Megan's is above mine, but the camera didn't get it. I know, I know, quite disorganized... I feel not-so-much like a #2 over here, ladies. My stuff is EVERYWHERE lol.
The second snow came last night. The first snow didn't last very long, maybe an hour. But this snow managed to stay overnight. The snow here is interesting... it's little pellets, not flakes.
This is essentially where I live. The building on the left is the main building, with the dining room, fireplace, kitchen, and home-y living room upstairs, and the laundry room, classroom, and student lounge downstairs. The brown building on the top right of the picture is the guy's dorm. There are only 3 guys here this year. Beside the white tree at the right, is the house of Andrew & Lisa, the head maintenance guy and the head cook. Behind Andrew & Lisa's is our girl's dorm.
This blog entry is specifically just for some pictures, because people have asked. I apologize if these pictures are really small. The Internet here can't really handle uploading tons of large pictures. Later on in the weekend, I will post another entry of what God been teaching me this week, and what I've been learning.
Love,
Janessa (:
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Dream Conviction
I'm terribly sorry that I haven't written anything on this blog lately, but Capernwray life has gotten really busy! Things are really starting to pick up now… with study project preparations, lecturers, and just having personal devotions. It's really starting to feel like reading God's Word is all I ever do! Which isn't a bad thing at all. I could get used to this kind of lifestyle (:
I just can't get over this dream I had last night. It's so weird, yet so cool. I dreamed that I went to heaven. I was waiting in a line of lots of people to go into this building to get judged by God. When I got into this building, there was God and two doors. One door said "heaven" above it, and the other said "hell" above it. I went up to God and He read out to me EVERYTHING I'd done in my life, good and bad, excellent and evil. Then He told me I was good to go and pointed me towards the "heaven" door. Now the rest of the dream is kind of a blur. Basically, heaven was just like earth in my dream, except better. But it essentially looked the same. And I remember my good friend Elijah was in heaven with me. But there's this one part that totally stuck out to me: I was hanging out with Jesus, looking down at the people on earth, and you know, watching them. Then someone on earth said, "oh my word" (in replacement for 'oh my god' or likewise), and Jesus said, "there they go. Talking about my Bible again." Now, the reason why this stuck out to me so much was because I often say that as a replacement for 'oh my god' or 'oh my gosh' or likewise. It's like God was convicting me in my sleep! Anyway, something to ponder for me. It was really strange, but kinda cool at the same time.
What's been going on at Capernwray, you might be wondering? Well, since I last wrote, we've had three full weeks. The week of October 24-29, we had Bill Hall come teach us on Joshua. That was pretty great. He has lots of interesting stories and whatnot about how God's provided in his life. I have to admit though that he wasn't my favourite speaker. Then the week of October 31-November 4, we had Lawrence Jensen from Capernwray Harbour come teach us on the first half of Acts (just Peter & the other apostle's ministry). We'll be getting the second half (Paul's ministry stuff) later in the year. Lawrence has been my favourite speaker so far this year. He did a whole class on baptism and what it really is and what it really means to be saved. It was really cool and reassuring. This past week, our very own Steve Thiessen started teaching us on 1 Corinthians, which was also super cool. Steve is definitely one of my favourites, and it's not because I'm biased, he's just that good (:
Last weekend, November 4-6, Capernwray shipped us out to volunteer at Missions Globales! Now, I wasn't very excited about this because my French is incredibly lacking! I was at the Info Center all evening on the Friday. Thankfully, I had another woman with me who spoke French and a little bit of English. Smart, because I speak English and a little bit of French. We complimented each other! She took care of the French people and I took care of the English people. And seeing as it's in Montreal, I sat there most of the time with simply a smile on my face!
There were lots of interesting kiosks and stuff set up there. There were actually 3 kiosks from Manitoban organizations. I only recognized one of them though… Canadian Mennonite University! They were advertising their Outtatown program. One of my friends is actually doing that program this year. So I thought that was kinda cool. The lady at that kiosk was actually the same lady that came to the SR on Options Day to talk about CMU. Funny to see a familiar face in a foreign province!
I'm quite looking forward to this week in classes because Wayne Lee is coming to teach! My brother says that he's the best. And everyone else I've talked to always talks super positive about him. Many lecturers just stay in their room the whole week, except for some meals and while teaching, but apparently Wayne Lee's the kinda guy that will pick up a tea towel and dry dishes with you! I think that's pretty great!
I suppose that's it for this blog entry. It's less than a month until I come home for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to being in Manitoba with everyone I love so dearly again! For those wondering, I'll be flying home on December 8th. And for those EFCers: I will be in church that Sunday, the 11th!
Love,
Janessa (:
I just can't get over this dream I had last night. It's so weird, yet so cool. I dreamed that I went to heaven. I was waiting in a line of lots of people to go into this building to get judged by God. When I got into this building, there was God and two doors. One door said "heaven" above it, and the other said "hell" above it. I went up to God and He read out to me EVERYTHING I'd done in my life, good and bad, excellent and evil. Then He told me I was good to go and pointed me towards the "heaven" door. Now the rest of the dream is kind of a blur. Basically, heaven was just like earth in my dream, except better. But it essentially looked the same. And I remember my good friend Elijah was in heaven with me. But there's this one part that totally stuck out to me: I was hanging out with Jesus, looking down at the people on earth, and you know, watching them. Then someone on earth said, "oh my word" (in replacement for 'oh my god' or likewise), and Jesus said, "there they go. Talking about my Bible again." Now, the reason why this stuck out to me so much was because I often say that as a replacement for 'oh my god' or 'oh my gosh' or likewise. It's like God was convicting me in my sleep! Anyway, something to ponder for me. It was really strange, but kinda cool at the same time.
What's been going on at Capernwray, you might be wondering? Well, since I last wrote, we've had three full weeks. The week of October 24-29, we had Bill Hall come teach us on Joshua. That was pretty great. He has lots of interesting stories and whatnot about how God's provided in his life. I have to admit though that he wasn't my favourite speaker. Then the week of October 31-November 4, we had Lawrence Jensen from Capernwray Harbour come teach us on the first half of Acts (just Peter & the other apostle's ministry). We'll be getting the second half (Paul's ministry stuff) later in the year. Lawrence has been my favourite speaker so far this year. He did a whole class on baptism and what it really is and what it really means to be saved. It was really cool and reassuring. This past week, our very own Steve Thiessen started teaching us on 1 Corinthians, which was also super cool. Steve is definitely one of my favourites, and it's not because I'm biased, he's just that good (:
Last weekend, November 4-6, Capernwray shipped us out to volunteer at Missions Globales! Now, I wasn't very excited about this because my French is incredibly lacking! I was at the Info Center all evening on the Friday. Thankfully, I had another woman with me who spoke French and a little bit of English. Smart, because I speak English and a little bit of French. We complimented each other! She took care of the French people and I took care of the English people. And seeing as it's in Montreal, I sat there most of the time with simply a smile on my face!
There were lots of interesting kiosks and stuff set up there. There were actually 3 kiosks from Manitoban organizations. I only recognized one of them though… Canadian Mennonite University! They were advertising their Outtatown program. One of my friends is actually doing that program this year. So I thought that was kinda cool. The lady at that kiosk was actually the same lady that came to the SR on Options Day to talk about CMU. Funny to see a familiar face in a foreign province!
I'm quite looking forward to this week in classes because Wayne Lee is coming to teach! My brother says that he's the best. And everyone else I've talked to always talks super positive about him. Many lecturers just stay in their room the whole week, except for some meals and while teaching, but apparently Wayne Lee's the kinda guy that will pick up a tea towel and dry dishes with you! I think that's pretty great!
I suppose that's it for this blog entry. It's less than a month until I come home for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to being in Manitoba with everyone I love so dearly again! For those wondering, I'll be flying home on December 8th. And for those EFCers: I will be in church that Sunday, the 11th!
Love,
Janessa (:
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