Welcome

Welcome to onSite Central. All of the onSite students blogs are linked on the right side of this website. Please enjoy navigating through their stories. If you have any questions about onSite or want to get in touch with one of the students then you can e-mail Matt at onsite@ambrose.edu

Each month we will feature one of the onSite students blogs, this month it is Lindsey. Lindsey is working at an international church in Bali, Indonesia doing children's ministry with the ex-pats who attend the church. This is a story from Lindsey getting out of the city to visit a village, just so readers aren't confused Lindsey, the onSite student, has a friend named Lindsay in this story:

Friday, Lindsay, a couple that Lindsay works with, and me headed out to a village past Tabanan to visit a friend of theirs. It was about a two hour drive. Their friend, 'Pak', grew up in this village, and has an amazing story:

Pak's older brother had gone to school on Sumatra, another Indonesian island, and hadd become a Chr'stian there. When he came back he shared about his beliefs to his family, and his brothers also became C's. (I guess to understand this story you have to know that cnverting like that is a really big deal, especially in a village. The other families believe that it will displease the gods and that bad things will happen from the village, and other things like that, so its not exactly an accepted change.) This was about the time of the attempted Communist coup in Indonesia, and anyone who was suspected of being a Communist was killed. Apparently about 100,000 people on Bali were killed. Some leaders in Pak's village (Pak was away at school) used this as an opportunity to get rid of Pak's two C brothers, and they were murdered.

Pak went to school in New Zealand after High School, and did some other things, lived in other places in Indonesia, and then got a job with World Vision because he has incredibly innovative ways of pumping water to remote villages and stuff like that.

Eventually, with full knowledge of who murdered his brothers and what was awaiting him, Pak returned to his village, and was told that if there was an opportunity, he would also be killed. But, Pak stayed and has transformed this village- paved roads, helped give opportunities to the kids, built water pumps and invented easier ways to thresh rice and other things like those that have greatly aided this and surrounding villages. Now, after maybe 10-15 years Pak is a respected member of the community. He travels all over the world (has been to Winnipeg and he couldn't believe how cold it was there) and aids alot of villages in getting access to clean water. Its such a beautiful story of forgiveness and mercy, and I feel privelged for being able to meet him.

We spent the night there, and got the chance to eat some amazing village food, meet some beautiful people (who work harder than I ever will for $4 a day- seriously, women carrying buckets of dirt and also rocks on their heads) and look around at the absolutely stunning landscape. My pictures do not do justice to this place and the things I saw there.

The afternoon we got there, there was a flash flood in the river:

This is the next morning, after the flood was done:

THANKS LINDSEY FOR THE USE OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL PICTURES AND GREAT STORY

Donations

To donate to an onSite student go to www.ambrose.edu/giving in section 4 "Select Your Gift Designation" please select onSite and then type the name of the student you wish to support. All donations to the onSite program qualify for charitable receipts.

onSite QuickBits

Nathan & Kara – Mexico City

It is shaping up to be a very busy year; more so than last year. We are going to be involved with a Mexican established church about 2 hours from where we live, and involved with a cell group in total about every other week. We will be under Mexican leadership working alongside Mexican pastors. We have been asked to start and help out with a worship training group for the particular church we are going to be involved with. Which means we need to learn Spanish a whole lot more. Other than this we are still involved heavily with fusion ministry in Coyoacan area, and are equally excited about what God has in store for this ministry. We started at a new Spanish school which is turning out to be a really good challenge and just what we needed to learn Spanish more quickly. Furthermore, of most recent changes we have also just moved into a new place where we have our own apartment, and a place which is considerably closer then our last home stay with a Mexican family. So there is just a brief update for those of you who wanted to know, and is the first of many more to come. With such a busy schedule this New Year, I am forced to become better with how I managed my time.

Shaunna – Quito

Life in Quito is as amazing as ever. I am SO in love with this beautiful country. I will never forget this past New Years. Ecuador celebrates this day like no one else! Some of their traditions seem strange at first but can be quite an experience when you really get into it. Many Ecuadorians make an almost life size man stuffed with sawdust, dress it up, put a mask on it, and burn it at midnight in the middle of the streets. All around the city you see fire after fire of burning dummies. They set off firecrackers in the main roads and ride double decker busses while throwing candy at pedestrians. These interesting traditions were so much fun to experience for the first time. I felt more Ecuadorian then ever on New Years Eve!

Jon & Kristen - Poland

Just a note for all our faithful readers to say we're home in Canada and currently waiting to hear back from the Embassy in Vancouver on what documents they need from us for our visa applications. We've seen many of you already and have been so blessed by all the love we received coming home. It's sounding hopeful that we will be able to return to Poland with a three month visa so we are waiting and praying that God's Will be done. While we are here we have been visiting with family and friends and sharing about our adventures in Poland. We have been so blessed by family while we are home who have been so generous in providing for our needs- THANK YOU!!We felt very encouraged as we had the opportunity to meet with the Ladies Prayer group from our church to share about our ministry in Poland and pray with them. We were telling them that their prayers have been so important to us and have been used in mighty ways to help us through the difficulties we have had in Poland. As a testimony to their effective prayers, the day after we met with them we got through to the Embassy in Vancouver to an agent that was helpful in telling us what we needed to send him about our paper work. We had been calling the Embassy for several days without any response and sure enough the day after the Ladies prayed, we got through! Coincidence? I think not. In short, thank you Ladies for your prayers and know that you truly move mountains through your ministry.We will email any updates we get on our visa situation as soon as we know of them. In the mean time, we look forward to visiting with as many of you as possible while we are home and thank you for your continued prayer and support as we wait on the fate of our visas...

Will – Quebec

Hey everyone, I know I haven't blogged for a couple of days, so I just want to let you know that I have safely arrived to Calgary, my 2nd "home". I left Quebec City on the 29th @ 610AM and I arrived here in Calgary at around 1110AM. The flight was pretty uneventful, it was actually surprising a smooth ride from Quebec to Calgary. I got all my luggage and everything went alright. The only thing that was a little odd was that the Calgary airport had put my plane on a dual citizenship gate that lets in both Canada and the US, and usually it would not have been a big deal. However, somehow there was a lack of communication and we ended up being stuck in the bridge that was between the airplane and the actual airport. I took a taxi to the rez, and that is where I am currently staying.

onSite Quickbit

Cheri in Egypt

The funniest thing about Arabic is that I feel like I am cussing sooo much. This past week in my Arabic class we have been learning negations. For some reason all the swear words have been coming out this past week in EVERTHING we have been learning to say! Now I don't know about you but when I am learning to say a word and it greatly resembles the F word..... I find it most difficult to keep a straight face, especially when the other people in class are already laughing about it! Our poor teacher just laughs at us and we then proceed to explain why this is so funny. In talking with friends from Liverpool it has been really funny learning the different ways we say things and the different words we use for the same meaning! I have also run into people here who laugh at me when I say "eh”. Well I guess that is going to happen!

Eric in Mexico

Our schedules have begun to get a rhythm with language in the mornings at the University of Mexico, meetings and activities with our mentors three or four days a week in the afternoons, and "hang out time" any evening we are free. Today was a day of rest for me and my companero Ben, we went to see the famed painting of Diego Riveras, a national hero of art here in Mexico. My time here has been full but I have been so struck by how straight my path has been made. No hitches, no falls, not one of us has gotten sick yet. It is incredible to see the hand of God moving ahead of us, and clearing the path of all obstacles that would truly impede. I know that so much of this is due to all of you who offer up a prayer from time to time for us, without that support we couldn’t be here.

Heather in LAN

The teacher training that is my main focus has taken an interesting turn. Mary and I have now visited all 5 schools and taught an introduction class on teaching. As I mentioned in my last letter, the metaphor of baking a cake by memorizing the ingredients was compared to the teaching in Pakistan. A couple of weeks ago, Mary attended a teacher training session in Karachi (without me.) The organization that was running this session has started schools in villages and cities, and have trained and supervised the teachers in each school. Mary brought home videos of well-behaved children in colorful classrooms who were having fun learning! We both sat and watched these videos, practically drooling over what we long for in this part of the country. Mary brought a lot of ideas and materials back with her, and we taught our first four-hour teacher training course at the Abbottabad Christian Girls High School (ACGHS) on Saturday. I was feeling very nervous at having such a role of authority, but we had such a good time. For me it is such a blessing to bring my knowledge and skills from teaching English in Japan. Saturday was focused mostly on how to teach English phonics and teaching math using manipulatives, like beads and straws. The teachers were excited to receive the supplies we’d brought for them, and seemed to soak up the knowledge we were imparting. We will be doing the same kind of program in the other 4 schools, but each school is completely different from the other.

Will in Quebec

Yesterday, I also got a chance to attend the young adults group (18-35). In Quebec City at least, people emphasize on recycling and reusing materials, people make a big deal of saving the environment. And the questions are basically asking what more can we do, because God has given us such a blessing? Alright, afterwards I was talking to people who I met early. Conversation skills are getting better, I mean, compared with even a month ago I know I am speaking better. I have finished a rough translation of my testimony in French, getting it corrected and pronouncing the words are my next step.

New Logo

It's time for an updated look! We have a new onSite logo that better reflects our Ambrose home (with Black and Gold) while maintaining a focus on the world. So here it is.

18 Accepted!

After some full weeks of interviews we now have an unprecedented 18 students accepted for onSite 2008-2009. Students are now in the last weeks of decision whether they will go now that they are accepted are wait another year. However, with 18 we are sure to have the largest year ever surpassing the previous high of 11 by leaps and bounds.

onSite QuickBits

Heather Woon (LAN)

Yesterday we went to Chattar Plain school to do teacher training and for Mary to teach the high-schoolers a biology lesson. Her lesson took the entire school day. She did lots of experiments and projects with them the whole day. I watched for a while and then visited with the headmistress and those that had tagged along. At one point I decided to observe some classes, so I entered the tiny 2nd grade room and asked if I could come in. Well, the teacher said yes. And left. SOOO...I'm left with about 50 hyper 7 year olds and I only know a couple sentences of Urdu. But we had a blast-we did head and shoulders, knees and toes, our ABCs, and counting. Then school was over and all of a sudden there were 50 kids on top of me wanting to shake my hand. They were so adorable! They were outta there! After school, I got to know the teachers, and they were so sweet. They all got my cell phone number and we chatted for a while. I tried my Urdu and one said she had no clue what I was saying! It was hilarious! and humbling.

Jon & Kristin Young (Poland)

We'd like to share about a friend we've meet here in Poland. We've chosen not to share her name or picture because we want to be sensitive to her privacy. Many people don't know about the sacrifices people make to follow Jesus in a nation that doesn't support it. These are some memories of her and the day we spent in her company:

The sadness in her life is that only three years ago she had a normal happy family. It was then that her husband left her and she saw her two sons and grandsons for the last time. Her entire family has cut her off since she was baptized into new life in Christ. Her family is devout Catholic and will not associate with her because she has left the Catholic Church. She now lives alone. She has incredible hope for her family and a joy that sustains her and refreshes those around her.

Will Yee (Quebec)

I got a chance to talk with the pastor of Sainte-Foy today. It was pretty neat, I got to ask him about his ministry, how he reacts to cross-culturalism, etc. One thing that he stressed was that before graduating from BIble college, was that students need to know if they are called into ministry, because it is a very difficult road, for the leader. As we talked, he also pointed out how spiritually dark this place is. Christians make up around 1%. There is a mentality of "if you are a Protestant Christian, we dislike you because you conquered us." No wonder this place is a missions field

Cheri Ross (Egypt)

There has been a lot to adjust to in this culture – gender equality, crazy taxi drivers, ridiculous amounts of street cats, call to prayer, the shear number of people in Cairo, and the pollution! God is so faithful and I find myself claiming that verse “I can do everything through him who gives me strength”. What a promise we can claim!

onSite QuickBits

QuickBits: small excerpts from various onSite blogs.

Nathan & Kara Rautenberg

So we are in count down mode as we speak, 13 more days to go and then we head off to Mexico. Kara and I have been working hard on our spanish, and so far we are picking it up really quickly. God is blessing us tremendously in our language studies; and the speed in which we are picking up the language is just another confirmation that he is calling us to Mexico at this time. God always has more in store than we think, and this is just one reason we think our role in ministry down in Mexico will be more then we originally thought. Please continue to pray for us as our finances are not all there yet for this trip. Please consider supporting us financially as this trip would not be possible with out all of your support. Also, please continue to pray for us, as there are still many things that need we need to do before we can go. Pray for a smooth transition and that God's hand would be upon as we travel.
Jon & Kristen Young

Hey y'all I thought I'd share a scary story with you- not like the ones you tell around a campfire late at night, but the kind that has potential to make your skin crawl ;) I was walking to my language tutor's place on wednesday morning and my passport fell out of my pocket onto the road on the way there. Now, most of you know what horrible troubles we had getting my passport in the first place so in retrospect this was a terrible dissaster to occur right before we need to leave the country again to renew our visas. Also in retrospect I think God must have had a big smile on his face watching that passport fall onto the road because he knows I would be hooped without him!So after my language appointment, I get a call from Jon asking where my passport is...and I now realize it is missing and start to panic (this is the part where your skin crawls). But, Jon then goes on to tell me a lady was walking by and found my passport. She went out of her way to bring it back to our apartment for me. Some might say she must have been an angel sent by God because this was devine intervention. No matter how you explain it, you can't deny that either way God's got my back and no matter what I do he's looking out for me. That thought gives me warm tingly feelings all over :)


Wilbert Yee
I had a dream last week, and it was in French! yay! The situation was that I was in the Rez at my school and I was writing a letter in French to the Residence Director. Then I ran up to random people in rez saying désolé (formal way of apologizing). It was a very strange dream.


Cheri Ross

Although the heat was the biggest thing for me it is getting a lot cooler now so that has been really nice! I never thought i would say this (especially being from Saskatchewan) but i am looking forward to winter! God is so good and it is so neat to see the way he is working through people here! This past weekend was amazing! I had an opportunity to go to one of the prisons here in Cairo. Wow! I must admit i was very unsure of how this visit would turn out. There is a really neat ministry set up that is basically to visit the Christian prisoners in prison and encourage them. Wow what an amazing time! There is a group of Christian men that lead and are involved in cell groups in the prison. I was blown away by this godly men!

Heather Woon

O, the places you’ll go…
Every time I see something amazing while I'm here, I can't help remembering the evening that Chris Bolecke (our RD) came to 5th floor and read us the book by Dr. Seuss: "Oh, the places you'll go..." While I'm looking at the mountains at 7 in the morning or watching women balance water jugs on their head, I hear this phrase. It's been an adventure. This past week was our conference, when all of us m's were able to get together and be refreshed and refresh. It was really fun for me to get to know some more people, and we had an excellent speaker. The first morning we got up at 4:30 to go hiking up a mountain that was close to our retreat centre. I couldn't believe the pace we started off and thought I would keel over. However, we made it to the top: and what a majestic sight it was! I'll never get sick of seeing God's beauty in this place-it is just breathtaking; the mountains, the flowers, the people and all the culture....Oh, the places you'll go and the things that you'll see.

Changing of the Guard

Welcome home to the 06/07 onSiters. It is so exciting to see those who have completed their year (hang in there for those who are not yet done). We can't wait to see all of you back again in September, hint hint Simon.

I also want to give a send off to those who are about to leave. Wilbert will be going to Quebec in a week and others will continue to leave until Nathan, Kara and Eric fly to Mexico in October. Look forward to hearing from all of you it was wonderful getting to know you better this year. Remember not to cheat too much at card games (Emma added the too much)

We're online

Just wanted to let you know that info about onSite is now posted on the AUC-NUC website. There are Bios of all our onSite students and information as well.

www.auc-nuc.ca/travel/onsite