Sarah's ACC Adventure

Canada Day hits the bus!

2009-07-04T20:24:00.000-05:00

I know that it has been entirely too long since a post, so i thought as I sat and watched the celebrations for the 4th of July in DC I should post a little Canadian patriotism too! The office in BC is always so good to us while we are on the road and sends us packages periodically. This time it was a package all for the home and native land . . . CANADA!

We got on the bus and before we knew it there were flags strung up that the children engineered quickly. There were a few prized Canadian headbands that I pulled the Canadian citizenship rank and got to wear for the bus ride and dinner.

As you can see the children became patriotic quickly as they waved their Canadian pencils whatever else they could find in order to celebrate.

It is hard to believe that this marks the beginning of July. The end is near and its hard to even imagine what it will be like in just two months time saying goodbye to them. But I pray that these last few months will be filled with memories that last a life time and lessons that both the children and I never forget.

back in the home and native land

2009-04-05T21:31:00.002-05:00

today we crossed the border into Canada! there was an excitement that filled my heart, but there was also a huge disconnect, I don't think I have ever crossed from Maine into New Brunswick before, unless i was a small child and don't remember. pulling up to a boarder crossing without an extremely long line and wondering which line to pick was a bit foreign as well. so i guess needless to say we made it to Canada quite easily! yeah!

so i guess i have a few memories of living on the east coast, and today as i looked out the bus windows i realized that they were actually quite accurate - lots of trees, completely gray sky, constant drizzling rain, and no sun. i really hope that changes though tomorrow when we head to PEI!

a few humorous incidents happened tonight as we ate dinner, and i just thought i must share them with you.

i guess the stereotype of Canadians being friendly really is true - i always liked to think so, but tonight it was evident. i personally had someone come to the table i was sitting at and welcome me into Canada - i didn't have the heart to tell her I was Canadian. but i talked with another chaperone who had three people welcome her!

one of the children tonight decided he really wanted to try some Canadian cuisine. Auntie Amanda saw Lubega loading up his plate with brussel sprouts - and she asked him if he liked it. he replied he didn't know but he wanted to try Canadian food! i found it just hysterical!

i am off for the night - after playing with the children in the indoor swimming pool equipped with slide i am feeling quite tired even after spending the day on the bus, amazing how that can happen.

much love!

Chocolate Peanut Butter

2009-04-04T20:03:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, there was a girl name Joy. Joy was good, patient, kind and she was a geatle girl. Joy loved God so much and she was faithful to God and she was so thankful for what she had. She had self control. She always read her bible in the morning and night.

Joy lived in a big house and in a peaceful place. Joy lived with her Mom and Dad. Joy has a little brother and a big sister. Joy's family is rich. Joy's Mom works in a chocolate factory. Joy's father works in a bank.

Joy loved chocolate, camol and peanut butter. Joy's mother brought her chocolate cake with camal and peanut butter every day for desert. But one day her mother brought vanilla ice-cream. Joy did not like vanilla ice-cream. But she ate ti. Then her mother said, I thought you would not eat it and her mother was pleased even God was pleased.

Joy had a bicycle. One day she was riding her bicycle and she fell off and broke her leg. Then her all family praed to God every day. But nothing happened. Then they prayed harder and harder. Then one day God answerd ther prays. Joy's all fmaily thanked God for what he had done. Joy was fill with Joy. Joy never tryed to ride her bicycle. Joy saved her bicycle to the poor. Then God was pleased.

THE END

This is a little story that Claire wrote in P3 English class the other day. We had learned about the fruits of the spirit and then given a written assignment to incorporate them into a story. I thought it was so cute how she did it! I hoped you enjoyed.

ps we are on route to Canada - we are crossing into New Brunswick tomorrow. you may not know but i was actually born on the east coast of Canada - Nova Scotia - and haven't been back since i was five. so far my memories of the east coast have been correct - gray, rainy, foggy and lots of trees! but the ocean has been beautiful.

bathroom breaks

2009-03-23T15:30:00.000-05:00

travelling on the bus is always interesting, you get on the bus its cold, next time you get off its hot. you jump states and time zones numerous times every couple of weeks. this has become normal, but yesterday as i took a nap i had never quite had this happen before . . . i fell asleep we were driving along the highway, i woke up to the Washington Monument on my right. and no this was not our end destination. we were on our way from philadelphia to richmond VA and i guess the Lincoln Memorial had the closest most accessible bathrooms, why not. but it was a great excuse to get off the bus and stretch our legs!

so close but yet so far

2009-03-14T14:16:00.000-05:00

the other day we were on route from wisconsin to indiana. our route went right around this beautiful city - CHICAGO! i have been gone now for about 8 months, and i have wondered a bit about life after tour and have been asked if i would move back, my answer is always the same . . . i would love to, but its so hard to know exactly what life will look like after tour. as we drove by the city though i was squished in between two girls reading The Secret Garden. i kept pausing and starring out the windows and they would yank on my arm and say Auntie you stopped here and pick up where i left off. i would give the parental "yes girls" and continue starring and making vague comments about how auntie used to live here.

i couldn't keep from just watching the beautiful skyline drive by and replay hundreds of fond memories that each building and street held. i guess that chicago truly stole my heart and hasn't let it go quite yet, maybe it never will. who knows if i will ever reclaim my area code that i still hold dear to as my phone or return to the 606-- zip. but i do know that chicago has been the closest thing to home and has provided the environment to shape so much of who i am today!

please enjoy the pics, i personally just wanted to go down memory lane.

Long Bus Rides

2009-03-04T19:37:00.002-06:00

Today was one of the longer bus rides, somewhere around the 8 hour mark. Thankfully I was completely exhausted and slept for probably 7 of the hours on and off, very nice. But we have the privilege of traveling on a bus that has a working video machine (as opposed to the last bus that I traveled on). As a treat for both of the chaperones (a little more quiet time without constant requests from the children) and the kids we watched the movie "Prince Caspian". I have to say that watching movies with the children is one of my favourite things, even though it doesn't happen that often. I love watching the facial expressions and hearing the reactions to the scenes.
Even though I did fall asleep for most of it (I previously have watched it, so don't worry I wasn't missing out on anything) I woke up in time for the great fight scene. Of course at this point the children were looking quite distressed and making many expressions of sadness. And then my favourite part of the movie, when it looks like all is going to be lost and they are fighting a loosing battle we watch as Lucy sees Aslan for the first time. The whole bus erupted in cheers of "ASLAN!" and fists raised high with new confidence that the battle would turn around. Of course it does, I hope I don't ruin it for those of you who have not watched it.
I have found the symbolic Christ-figure of Aslan to be very encouraging, even as of late. It is such a good picture of what happens in my own life when the battle seems to be getting the best of me and when I feel like there is no hope - I am suprised to see that "Aslan" has come to my aid. And really He has been there all along but I sometimes forget and think that I have to fight the battles by myself.
Even though I didn't raise my fist with the children in cheer for Aslan, inside I was just as joyful to see His presence recognized again.

You know you are north when . . .

2009-03-03T19:54:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago I was longing for flip-flops and tank tops. From the pictures below you can guess that I am on the other side of the spectrum, wishing I had brought my winter coat and boots I have discarded along the way. The extremes that tour life brings is best noted in the temperature shifts. I just don't think that it is kind or necessary to go from 80 F to - 15 F drastically. I know that you are thinking, BUT you are a Canadian, you shouldn't be cold, this should be a nice spring day for you. However I don't think the body ever gets over the shock of the first blast of cold air in the morning. It literally took my breath away the other morning. After a sleep that was less than satisfying it does wonders to bring you to complete alertness, one of the many benefits I'm sure I just can't think of any more at the moment . . .

So as we made our trek to the great north, Houghton MI actually, and if you are a little rusty on your geography that would be the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which we are all wondering why it even belongs to Michigan when we had to go through Wisconsin to get to it. It was fun to watch sparse snow turn into a complete blanket of snow. Also the snowmobile world intrigued me as I saw little roads for them alongside the actual roads, complete with their own road signs. When we stopped for gas, of course there were snowmobiles stopping for gas, like it was their sole mode of transportation. And then what put me over the edge yesterday was discovering this parking lot, just for snowmobiles, located at Michigan Tech where our show has been for the last two nights.

I just couldn't resist sneaking a pic on one of the wonders!

Tomorrow we are heading south . . . Nebraska, oh how it is all relative.

Kids are Kids

2009-02-26T20:16:00.004-06:00

The other day as I found myself on another long bus ride (this new choir tour does a lot of bus travelling!) I looked up to the front of the bus. I was having a conversation with another chaperone an then got so distracted that I had to stop my conversation - I was watching Rebbecca wrap a nap blanket (each child has a blanket that they nap with) around her head in some sort of head dress. It totally cracked me up because it was so random. Finally I had to figure out what was going on, so I took my camera and found out who Rebbecca had become . . . the evil stepmother in Cinderella. It all made sense now . . . well not really for my western mind, but I was able to see an African portrayal of the story.

The above picture is Joshua B in blue shirt (the fairy-god-mother, and yes don't worry he had a pencil for a wand) and Godfrey in red shirt ( the King/evil step-sister).

Below we have the narrators Florence (L) and Susan (R) - Susan I am sure did most of the narrating as Florence gets motion sick, so I'm sure Florence was just monitoring the acting and providing any sort of instruction she saw fit!

And drum roll please we have the two main stars of the show. I am sure you can take a guess at who is who. Fiona (L) is Cinderella and Rebbecca (R) is yes you are right the evil step-mother! She was taking her job seriously.

And again we have Fiona working her magic even if she just has an African Children's Choir bandanna to work with!

These are just a few of my new 26 boys and girls a part of choir 31. It is times like these that make my heart grow with love - it is so funny how you can never run out of room to love. Even when you feel like you have loved like never before something happens and a smiling face with a blanket wrapped around a head makes me explode!

Some Christmas Memories

2008-12-27T23:35:00.006-06:00

I have just a moment to update this, but I wanted you to get a glimpse of what my Christmas looked like . . . Thankfully it was a fun day filled with a new family that I have grown to love deeply. I did miss my family and familiar Christmas traditions, but the transition of getting to giving to all of the children was wonderful! I hope you can see some of the new Christmas memories I tried to capture.

Here are some pics from the Christmas Eve Service that we all dressed up for.

Christmas morning . . . mitts and Bibles for presents!

Laura eating some delicious turkey that we made for the Christmas diner!

I wish I had the energy to blog more, I will try to update again soon. We are starting back at concerts tomorrow morning. It is hard to believe that our week of Christmas camp is now a memory and we are back on the road. It was very relaxing and restful. I hope your Christmas season has brought you joy and peace.

Merry Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T14:55:00.013-06:00

Here are some pics of the past few days at camp!

(Peace, Patrick, and Hannington assisting in the decorating)

Last night we had a birthday party for all of the kids who had birthdays since tour started. The party hats were a big hit and of course a dance party began immediately. At breakfast this morning I saw all of the party hats again!

Here are a few pics I took this morning of Christmas Eve - thankfully the sun is shinning and the kids are able to play as much as they want outside. The last few days have been rainy and cold so they have been stuck inside.

Hannington and Rachel enjoying the lovely sunny morning!

Sarah and Gilbert small were taking a break from the big football game this morning to pose for a pic.

Apparently we are staying at a reunion centre - but I was excited to see us on the sign, at least I noticed three days after we got here!

Tonight we are going to attend a Christmas Eve service at the church that is hosting us at camp and then finish off the Christmas story with the kids after church. And the only thing left for the Aunties and Uncles is wrapping christmas presents . . . yeah!

Merry Christmas and much love to you all!

2008-12-21T19:44:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-21T15:54:00.007-06:00

Friends, Family, and whoever reads this blog . . . I want to send my sincerest Christmas wishes to you all (or y'all, I am in Texas but I refuse to say it, I am from Canada after all).

I may have a chance to update this before Christmas, but just in case the wireless isn't available, I thought I would do it now.

We just arrived at Christmas Camp yesterday and this morning we did a performance and tonight will be our last performance until December 27th! We were welcomed by Uncle Brother Doug in Laguna Park, Texas, which consists of 1 traffic light. Now you have to understand, if you have been in the ACC family for the last two years you would have met or heard of Uncle Brother Doug, and I have been hearing about him long before tour started. His church in Laguna Park has welcomed the choir this year for Christmas. We have been overwhelmed with the welcome we have received - even before we arrived we called ahead to see if we could get a tree, of course when we saw our accomadations a tree was up lite, and a train around the base.

Yesterday the huge grocery shop for 32 mouths over the span of 7 days was done by some wonderful aunties (I stayed behind to setup) and Uncle Brother Doug. I just got to hear some of the stories but let me pass them onto you - Angela was looking for coffee but didn't really know what kind would be suitable, no sooner was the request made and he was on his phone to a friend at a Starbucks making sure that there would be coffee ground and ready for the chaperones. As you can imagine after 3 months of the children jumping around and dancing in the same costumes - they smell to say the least - this was mentioned in passing and he told us it would be taken care of by the time we leave (they have to be dry cleaned, 22 children x 2 different costumes = 44 costumes!). Needless to say this man and his church eminates generosity, another quick example, he makes breakfast every Sunday morning before preaching to them. We walked into a room wafting of homemade english muffin (who knew you could make them?), french toast, and homemade cinnamon roll smells this morning. It was wonderful!! He was there flipping french toast in his camo apron.

(One of the fridges nice and full!)

I am sorry that my time has run out, at the moment the children are sound checking for the concert that will start soon. So I will hopefully be able to in contact with you one way or the other over the next few days.

On a personal note, it is hard to believe, even though its only 4 days away, that Christmas is here. Last year I somewhat knew that I would be doing this, but it was so vague it was hard to really picture. But I am missing my dear family and wishing that I could just have a taste of Christmas past with them. I think though that we (chaperones) are all trying to recreate Christmas with touches of home through recipes and traditions. We all know that it will not be Christmas as we once knew it, we are excited to share this holiday with our kids, but I know that I will have moments of homesickness and moments that I would just like to see and touch those that I love. I know that if I continue to surround myself with these wonderful 22 children and 9 new brothers and sisters I have adopted I will feel the love of Jesus on the day we celebrate his birth.
(Racheal - Mary and Patrick - Joseph looking for the stable)

I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

TOMS for All!

2008-12-15T22:13:00.007-06:00

So many churches, so many hosts, so many opportunities = so many blessings!

Tour life is all about flexibility and different is normal. Meaning our stays at churches can vary from 1 night to 5 nights (not the norm). This is that time - 5 night stay.

I have been so blessed by this church and by my hosts, and I know I speak for all of my fellow chaperones.

One of the ways that this particular church blessed us is with . . . SHOES! The kids received shoes when we first came to America, and that has been their only pair they wear. You can imagine that after three months of wear and tear and growth, it is time for new shoes.

As we ventured to this new church it was evident that they had partnered with a shoe organization TOMS (http://www.tomsshoes.com/) - for every shoe purchased a shoe is donated to children in need in Africa and South America.

The children performed during their church services and after the first performance they came out and announced that the children would be receiving new shoes! I was sitting at my product table with Auntie Lindsey and watching the tv screen of the service and all the sudden we were rejoicing with the news.

Today we were all (yes even the auntie and uncles!!) fitted with our own TOMS. It was great to watch as the church staff sat putting shoes on the kids and then receiving numerous hugs and thank yous. It is such a timely gift as we will be able to wrap them and give them to the kids for Christmas - approaching so fast!

As I go to bed tonight I realize again at how the body of Christ is so beautiful - it has been a joy to get to know many different members doing their important jobs that are custom tailored to their giftings.

ps check out the toms website - very cool

Choir 32 unites with Choir 31

2008-11-29T22:35:00.002-06:00

The pictures that follow are of meeting up with Choir 31 . . . the story goes something like this.

Andrew (tour leader) tells the kids and chaperones that the church who is hosting our stay at the gym has planned an afternoon activity for us. Of course he adds that it has been approved and that it will be good. I however was a little doubtful, I wasn't exactly sure what activity I would be super excited about, we weren't leaving the building and there was no sort of activity being set up for us. So at a certain time we all get called outside to wait for the surprise to enter the parking lot. We begin watching cement trucks pass and cars . . . but then to all of our surprise it was an African Children's Choir bus!!!! It had to loop around a few times because the bus driver was trying to give their kids the excitement of seeing our bus sitting in the parking lot. So our kids had much time to anticipate the arrival of a fellow choir on the road.

Choir 31 was on route from Texas to Chicago and had to drive right through Little Rock AR; we had the perfect accommodations for them to ALL spend the night (an entire gym floor)! It was so much fun to watch the kids greet their friends and for the chaperones to reunite. We have been told that this rarely happens, to see other choirs on the road, but this is the second time we have seen Choir 31 - the first time was within the first week of being in the States with the kids. So we were excited to see them all once again and share lots of laughs and stories.

The pictures that follow are in reverse order, so if you start at the bottom and work your way up you will see the kids getting excited about the choir, then their arrival, the aunties having a little too much fun with the rummage sale (the uncles and boys left us for a football game that we won!) and then a picture of both choirs together!

At the moment we are in Louisiana and at the Barksdale Airforce Base. We are singing at the chapel in the morning and then a church tomorrow night. In other words I must go to bed before a busy day tomorrow.

2008-11-29T22:31:00.000-06:00

2008-11-29T22:28:00.000-06:00

Choir 32 meets Choir 31

2008-11-29T22:21:00.000-06:00

Sleepover Hangover

2008-11-25T22:45:00.002-06:00

Do you remember that feeling when you would stumble home in a fog of irritation, nausea, and exhaustion from a sleepover mid-Saturday morning? I had the privilege of vividly remembering childhood "funtimes" when I awoke from a restless sleep Monday morning.

Let me take a moment and explain - sometimes on tour we have the joy of having a giant sleepover in a church, like the last entry, or in this case a gym. We had a gracious church accept our last minute booking and they decided it best to put us up in a gym of a local Christian school who is on their American Thanksgiving break. We rejoiced when we found out that it was not a hardwood floor but carpeted, but lets remember a basketball still needs to bounce on it so it can't be that plush.

After making all of the bedtime preparations and finding my sleeping bag I settled in for a nice rest. I would like to say that I was awoken at 2am, but I had not yet fallen asleep, to a fire alarm and strobe light. This continued for the next 20 mins, no do not worry no fire brigade came and the rain coming heavily down convinced us all that it was just a false alarm and there was no need to get the children wet. So as we waited patiently for a kind soul to come and turn it off, we spotted a few creatures running across the floor, right by our heads, yes that is right - Cockroaches!! Lets say that even after the fire alarm was turned off I was a little uneasy, thinking every brush of breeze on my toes were more friends!

So the next morning, I stumbled around Walmart on my day off and around noon realized I could no longer put a sentence together. At that point the gym floor and my noise-cancelling headphones lulled me to sleep.

Movie Night

2008-11-20T21:25:00.004-06:00

Yes we are back on the road in Little Rock AR, we arrived early this morning to a nice carpeted church floor to welcome our weary bodies. Thankfully the aunties scoured the church for any sort of cushion to sleep on, and yes the Youth Room proved faithful! So we did sleep in somewhat comfort - actually I can't complain I did not wake up once and felt actually rested in many days.

As a treat for the kids and all of their hard work as they prepared for Uncle Desmond Tutu - we suprised them with Movie Night . . . Madagascar!

Of course we were planning this before we even knew what type of a church we were in, and this morning as Andrew was talking to the staff and telling them our plans they said, oh well we have a children's movie theatre upstairs. Seriously, of all the churches I have been in at this point I have never seen a theatre room!

The children got burgers and fries and had dinner and a movie!

And then of course POPCORN followed! It was so fun to hear the children (and Auntie Lindsey's) reaction to the movie.

Now they are soundly sleeping!!!! I should go and do the same - good night

Boston!

2008-11-19T09:59:00.002-06:00

Yes the great city of Boston . . .

Yesterday morning our day started at 3am and we arrived via two flights from Little Rock AR to Boston MA to sing at the Greenbuild International Conference (http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/). You are probably wondering what the African Children's Choir has to do with building "green" but the correlation was to the keynote speaker of this morning's main session. With every seat full the room of 10,000 watched as the children sang to introduce Archbishop Desmond Tutu and sang again once he finished.

During sound check yesterday it struck me again how wonderful it is to be a part of this organization. I was chatting with a few of the guys who were setting up the stage. They had just torn down Tina Turner's show the night previous and were commenting that these kids have much more talent than half the shows they set-up. I just sat back and thought to myself, if you had any idea where they came from you would have thought these were hopeless children that would just become another statistic. But I thought back to how innovative Ray Barnett - our founder - was when he decided, during one of the most volatile times for Uganda, to bring Africa to the West. I daily witness how this goal is still continuing to be meet 24 years later.

This morning after the children came off the stage they were greeted by Uncle Tutu and smiled for some pictures. After more greetings by VIP's of the conference and many thanks the kids headed to their change room. As I was leaving one of the ladies with Desmond Tutu casually asked how long the tour was. After being shocked at the 15 month length she asked one of the most common questions "Don't their families miss them?" I responded saying that the families were so delighted that these children had the opportunity of a life-time. And these children are some of the most vulnerable children in Africa, you would not believe where they come from. At that point she lost control of her emotions and said thank you so much!

Even though the conversation was no longer than a minute, the impact the children had on her and many others was incredible! Auntie Laura and I were just discussing how we sit back at times look at how this opporunity is so much bigger than we could possibly imagine.

In just a few hours we will be back on a plane to Little Rock AR to continue on with "normal" tour life!

(The girls, Sarah and Scovia, enjoying a lovely bed at the Westin!)

Girls Night Out!

2008-11-05T20:16:00.007-06:00

I can’t believe the role reversal that has taken place in the last few months. Just four months ago I was living the life of nanny – taking care of other people’s children so that they could go out for “adult” time. Last night was the first time that I experienced the flip side to this.

It is Auntie Laura’s birthday on Thursday and Auntie Angela had a most giving host the last few days and gave her free reign of the car – this does not happen often. So we had to strike while the iron was hot and celebrate a little early for Laura’s birthday. Tuesday night was soon announced “Girls Night Out”! Our jobs as Aunties though were still needed. After our kids were feed, showered, and in pj’s ready to jump in bed, we were ready to escape for a few short hours of freedom.

I told my two girls, Peace and Esther, that I would be going out and that I would be back in a little while. Once they understood I would be eating cake and coming back to sleep in the house that night, Peace offered to go in my place and I could just have the luxury of staying home. Esther promptly busted her out and said “Peace just wants to eat cake!” I told Peace I would make the sacrifice and go out and she could stay in while I ate cake. It was strange to be giving the girls hugs goodbye and telling them to be good and go bed promptly.

After all meeting up we headed to the cutest part of St. Charles MO – old town. On a Tuesday night at 8pm it was not the most happening place in town, but it was the cutest and I think we caused enough noise to create a bit of a scene. After ordering a round of waters and a few desserts we enjoyed much more laughter and conversation that didn’t include “excuse me auntie” every 2 minutes. I guess this is a good introduction to parenting. 14 months to go . . . !

Fall Fun

2008-10-20T18:26:00.005-05:00

It's always a treat to enjoy a host family with another chaperone. Friday night after the concert I had the pleasant surprise of sharing a host family with Angela and four girls. We made the trek out to the country from Springfield IL and were greeted by some friendly dogs, horses, and cows. Some of the girls thought it would be a good idea to ride the cows, apparently what they do at home but they were persuaded to ride the horses instead.

Peace and Rachael were not afraid at all to hop onto the horse. We were able to enjoy a lazy Saturday morning on the farm. There was even time for a little rehearsal.

The Auntie and Uncle lent us the appropriate attire for a day at the farm! The girls loved wearing the cowboy hats.

We have been in Springfield since Saturday and are heading out tomorrow morning. We will have a bit of a crazy schedule for the next couple of days. On Tuesday night we will have a concert and drive directly to Indianapolis to spend a very short night in a hotel. I will then wave goodbye to the choir and six of the chaperones very early in the morning as they head to San Fransisco. While they back up Josh Groban at a OnexOne benefit I will be on a mini vacation in Chicago. Once Saturday morning hits we will all be on the road together heading to Evansville, IN for a Sunday morning concert. Tour life never gets boring and there are always new places to see. I'm hoping though to enjoy some familiar sites and people over a few days in Chicago!

Child-like Faith

2008-10-14T22:20:00.012-05:00

Daily I am struck by the children's words, whether it is their vocabulary that cracks me up . . . "Auntie are you wearing a braid in your hair because it was disturbing you?" or their hysteria as they see a Chicago Train go underground. But over the last few days I have been watching as their words demonstrate how God is working in their lives.

I had the opportunity to stay in the middle of a cornfield with farmers last week. The two girls I was with absolutely loved it, it reminded them of home, all of the maize surrounding the house. One afternoon the girls asked what the tractor was so our lovely host auntie took us to a corn field and we had the opportunity to go inside a brand new combine and see how it all worked. As we were driving along the combine had to dump the corn into the trailer so I was commenting to the Uncle about how much the tractor would hold. Out of the blue Peace chimed in, "Auntie, God knows how many pieces of corn, he can count them one by one." I just sat there and said yes, He definitely knows. It struck me how quickly and innocently Peace acknowledged the omniscience of God.

Again tonight as I was tucking in three boys, we sat around with the host family and each one prayed. It was Gilbert's (small) turn to pray and told the Lord that we did not have anything to give to this host family, but he asked God to reward them. I just sat again in amazement as this little 10 year old recognized his limitations, but knew that God was able to bless those who serve Him.

It is truly a joyful experience to be surrounded by these children. Even when, on the bus, I have my ipod in (Jackson has started calling it my applesauce because it has an Apple sticker on the back) and my eyes are closed and Jackson continues to ask questions and talk as if we were having a conversation. I get greeted with 22 smiling faces and warm hugs every morning and they fight to tell me their latest adventure with their host families. When I become weary and doubtful of why I have chosen to live out of a suitcase for 15 months, I am quickly reminded that I have the amazing opportunity to somehow teach these children lasting lessons that will grow them into people who are changing Africa!

little Christopher enjoying some ice cream and watching a personal fireworks show, compliments of wonderful hosts!

Just a little pic from Africa

2008-09-24T11:40:00.002-05:00

I thought I should at least add one pic from Africa - a bus ride to watch cultural dancing to inspire the children. It did work and we were invited to have a big dance party with people from all over the world. The kids were a hit to say the least. Definately a highlight!

Tour Life

2008-09-24T11:20:00.002-05:00

Its hard to believe that today we are getting ready to head to our third church to have our third concert and meet our third host families.

So far the concerts have been going well. Actually since I am the merchendise person I get the privalege of staying by my table full of product for the entire concert. I only get to hear the concerts from a distance and the raving reviews as people purchase their cds.

As I get ready to board the bus, I am overwhelmed at how the days fly by. I look at my schedule for the day and see that the children are rehearsing all morning, that means that I get to use the fabulous wireless signal here at the church to catch up on bills, emails, and friends - but all the sudden the time has flown by. This pattern has seemed to repeat numerous times already.

But before I go let me just tell you about my host experience these last few days. I had two girls - Scovia and Lydia and we stayed with some lovely grandparents. They were so thrilled to have us in their home and their grandchildren were even more excited. When we got picked up from the church the next day there was a crowd of children with the grandma to escort us to a grandson's baseball. After the girls were treated to popcorn, soon girls and their new friends headed off hand in hand to go and do some dancing (the new friends were dying to learn some "new moves") and a friendly game of duck-duck goose (still a novelty, even for the 10 yr old boys). The goodbye at Wendy's later that night was not enough time with the grandchildren so the party continued the next night with chinese food take-out, and even more and more friends and family. It was completely thrilling to see the impact the children make in just a short time. We have talked with the children about "letting their light shine" and I definately saw that in just a few days. The way the children live their day to day lives of thankfulness and faith is so apparent to the host families, I can't wait to see how it continues!

I must got because I know if I wait any longer I will be met by a stampede of children. Continue to pray for stength and unity among the entire team!

How I know I am in Africa!

2008-08-31T03:45:00.002-05:00

1. no hot showers
2. sleeping under a mosquito net (and taking malaria meds daily:)
3. red dirt everywhere!
4. pointing and yelling "Muzung00" (white person) at us
5. jams - that is traffic jams - perfectly normal and looks like chaos
6. children who fight to take my plate away from the table
7. listening to drumming and singing every morning
8. and so many more

But I am loving it here, but I also know that I am not in North America anymore. Have you every tried to explain to a child that they will go on an airplane, when the only time they have seen one is in the sky? Its tricky - personal tv's, washrooms, food - all of these things become difficult, but they love asking. We are trying to prepare them for what life will be like for them for the next year of their life.

I thought I would just let you know what our daily life looks like at Makydee centre.
7am children wake up
- chores
- wash their sandals that have gotten dirty from the chores
8am breakfast
- dishes are done
-devotions
9am rehearsal
12:30 play time
1:00 lunch
1:30 nap
2:30 school
5:00 playtime
6:00 dinner
7:30 devotions
8:30 bedtime

My schedule consists of watching this fine tuned routine daily and while they are in rehearsals or school the chaperones are in sessions. We have learned so much and seen a lot, but there is so much more in store, I can't wait to see and learn more!

Living the Dream!

2008-08-23T21:31:00.002-05:00

Sitting in my parents Jeep, suitcase packed and ready to start my 2 day journey to Uganda, I am filled with excitement and relief. Finally the never ending list of things is done and I can fully relax and enjoy back-to-back red eye flights, if that is possible.
To begin the journey from Chatham to Toronto I will stop in to have a quick dinner with my Grandparents and maybe one last shower before getting on my 11:15 pm flight.

The last few days have been filled with phone calls and visits of farewell. I wish I could have had time with each one of you, but as I’m sure you know time slips away so quickly. I have been able to steal a few moments of reflection and think back to the first memories I have of the African Children’s Choir. I was just 8 years old when I ventured with a family friend to their concert. I fell in love with those children immediately and wanted to adopt one as a brother or sister. The impact they left on my young heart has transcended all of these years and I am pinching myself that I am now “living the dream”. I not only get to “adopt” 1, but all 22 girls and boys!

Even though there are many uncertainties about next year, I know without a doubt that it will be a life changing experience, for the better. I catch myself fantasizing about what the year will hold and the stories that will become mine. Somehow I know though that my expectations will be blown out of the water. I can’t wait to share them with you.

Thank you all for your support in my life, I do not take it for granted. I will try to update you as soon as I can with my first impressions and experiences in Uganda, Africa!!!

8 till Uganda!

2008-08-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to begin final preparations as the continent of Africa gets closer and closer.