onSite Central

Welcome

2008-10-20T10:36:00.012-06:00

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

2008-10-20T10:24:00.004-06:00

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

2008-02-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

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

2007-11-28T09:42:00.001-07:00

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!

2007-11-02T09:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-02T08:48:00.000-06:00

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

2007-10-09T11:33:00.000-06:00

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

2007-06-08T15:21:00.000-06:00

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

2007-03-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

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

onSite QuickBits

2007-02-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the latest

Sarah in Jakarta, Indonesia
Well, let's get some things cleared up! By this point, since we seem to have finally made some international news, you might know about the severe flooding here in Jakarta. I AM OK. My family and I were temporarily evacuated, but just for safety precaution. I spent one morning in a kampung (village) making sure all of the people were ok, and making supply lists for them. It was quite the experience. I was for a short while thrown into a world of emergency relief work, surrounded by waters neck high, stranded people, and issues of health and hunger. Half an hour later I was standing in the nicest, richest, most posh hotel I have ever seen in my life. (Where I was evacuated too. Benefits of living with an oil family!) The incredible contrasts here continue to throw my mind into oblivion in attempt to grasp and comprehend it. But I am OK.

Amanda in Mexico
The Land and People of MexicoDuring the past month I had a number of opportunities to experience cultural customs as well as explore the History of Mexico. I attended a wedding, and a 15 años, both being huge events in the culture. A 15 años is a 15th Birthday party for a female and is a huge event. She wears a cinderella style ball gown, has 6 "gentlemen" escort her and does about 3 choreographed dances for the crowd of friends and family who gather. T experience more of the spiritual side of the nation, I was able to finally see the Basilica de Guadalupe. This "Basilica" is a compound of catholic churches built on the original site where Guadalupe (or the virgin Mary) appeared to a peasant about 500 years ago. It gave me a better understanding of the unique form of Catholicism that is present in Mexico as well as a heart to pray for the Catholic church more. Also this month, I was able to climb the pyramids of the sun and moon, visit the Museum of Anthropology and be marinaded by Mariachi bands at a famous square called Garibaldi.

Laura currently in Senegal usually in Guinea
As of right now my wonderful extended learning experience in Dakar is over. I spent a wonderful 10 days exploring Dakar, Senegal with my professor and with fellow student. Instead of going back and finishing my internship like I had originally planned I am now at a pause because it is not safe to return. I don't know how to write a sentence about my country but it is in the midst of desperation and hopelessness with an unstable government and a shortage of food and fuel let alone the price of anything. I've turned into a sitting duck and have been 2 days waiting to see what is going to happen in my life next. I have been helping at a Alliance guesthouse where over 31 people have come for supper this last night and some of them staying the night.
These last 3 weeks have put one word in my mind. Uncertainty. I am just getting a hint of what it is like to live each day uncertain of what is going to happen the next day. And yet so many people live like that each day of their lives. I'm not sure where I am going to go after this conference this week. There is no way of knowing what will happen in Guinea or what God will lay before me to be apart of. I am sooo glad that I don't have to be uncertain about my life and those close to me in Guinea and that I know and am loved by The One who is above all uncertainties.

Twilia in the PhillipinesCurrently I spend six days a week at Cebu City Alliance church as a "teacher aid" with a Compassion project called Loving My Neighbor Student Centre. There are 560 children connected with the centre and attending after school programs or weekend programs every week. My job description currently is rather unusual one. Over the past four months I have built relationships with the staff and the children. I now have the responsibility to help the centre as a whole serve the children better by evaluating the teachers class by class and the centre’s program as a whole. The leadership feels that they can never get an accurate reading on how the teachers are doing because when it is evaluation day they always will put more effort into teaching that day. I am also continuing my work with the children at the centre who have special needs particularly with a boy know as Michael Bryan. Each week I visit him and his parents to see how he is doing. Pray that this relationship would grow strong so that LMN would be better able to serve children with special needs. I am still involved in the youth group, helping out in whatever area they ask and trying to help them improve the overall running of it, as well as building relationships with the pastor and the students. Pray also that trust would be build and that I might be wise in my choice of words when speaking to this pastor.

onSite QuickBits

2006-11-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a little bit of the latest from our onSiters

Amanda in Mexico
I was attending a conference put on by Exodus Latinoamerica and then yesterday I was at a "celebration" sunday for my church where all the cell groups get together for a full church service. The conference was intense as it started at 10am and went to 9pm every night that it was on. I usually went a little late and left a bit early to make travel by metro a little safer and easier. The topic was about sexuality and sexual healing. I learned a lot about the culture I now live in and how they deal with sensitive issues, but I also learned a lot about healing in general. It was a very well done conference.

Mavis in Salatiga, Indonesia
One of my fav things to do here is ride the angkota (bus) to my Bahasa Indonesia (lit. language Indonesian) classes at UKSW (oo-ka-s-way). I love just seeing the sights and hearing the sounds and just being surrounded by Indonesia. My actual classes on the other hand are.....interesting. I am becoming quite good at reading Indonesian, but as far as speaking it and remembering what to say, not so much. So I could really use prayer regarding my lack of language learning skills.
And thanks to all of you who have been praying for me, it means so much and I know that God has heard your prayers and is right by my side in all of this. Isn't it wonderful to know that even if you are all alone, God is still your constant companion? I love it!

Sarah in Jakarta, Indonesia
Culture shock...hm. One of my friends put it well the other day. As I was attempting to explain my state, she put it in good words. "It's like you're living two realities. There is the one that is present in Indonesia, adjusting quite well, and managing. Then there is the one, that you forget exists because there is no-one to draw it out. The one that misses home, is feeling exhausted, and cries." It is quite true. I wonder if this is what culture shock is like. Most days I am doing well! I go through my days, try to learn to things, soak up my environment, and somewhat enjoy; somedays love the wonderful ministry I am a part of. Then I get a phone call, or an email, or some contact from home, a beloved friend, and I will start crying! And I didn't even know I was sad or homesick...

Twilia in the Phillipines
There is an area of this city known as Luraga, a squatter community known for drugs, gambling, unemployment, and all around hopeless poverty. Yet things are changing even in this community. Last Sunday I had the privilege of joining a small church plant of 40-50 people that meets in this community. This church is know as the cemetery church because it literary meets in the middle of a cemetery at the centre of the community. Most of these people in this church are squatting on this cemetery.
The church meets in a simple shelter that looks like a hay barn except a little smaller and with a few more ruts in the ground and some chickens that are tied up by my feet at the side. The congregation sits on little wooden benches made of old 2 by 4’s and on the graves behind the little shed.
They sing a number of songs in Cebuano written on pieces of paper hung on nails at the front with just a guitar accompaniment. There are no microphones the pastor simply has to yell over the noise of the children playing with cap guns and the music of the neighbors.
What a privilege to stand with these brothers and sisters, these ones that are overcoming so much and live in such conditions. I am sure if you asked anyone of these new believers what there past has held they would tell of stories of the amazing saving grace of Christ transforming their live and the live of their community.

Kevin & Mindy in Germany (this is from Kevin)

Well we just had a meeting with Phil Peters our mentor and he told us about a very difficult part of our onSite that we will have to do. At the end of February and middle of March there are three, week long camps that the church puts on. We will be going along on these camps to help out and participate in them. This is not the difficult part, the difficult part is that they are ski/snowboard camps, so I have to snowboard for three weeks this winter! I do not know how I will ever handle this! I guess I will just have to bear down and do it!
Other then that news everything else here is going well, we are getting busier with meeting and such. We have started our German lessons and now people speak to me in German and I still don't understand them, I guess I need more then 3 lessons to become fluent! Who would have thought!
Tonight I head to a small group with some guys from the church. It should be a good way to meet some new people and to perhaps learn more German. With that I leave you one of the words I can say though I don't know if I spell it correctly. Tschus! (pronounced choos)

Update From Simon

2006-11-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Simon Martin's update from Kenya - he only has limited internet access - actually I don't even know how he gets this out - so I'll post it for him.

It's time for the big October update. Allow me now to apologize in advance for any apparent randomness in this email, I will most likely just be telling you of events and people in no specific order. I hope you can follow along.

First of all, hi to mom and dad. Mom, I'll be honest, when you bought the peach flavoured vitamin C chewable tablets, I was a little hesitant at first because it was a deviation from the classic orange flavour. However, they are an absolute delight, so good call on the peach. They have kept me scurvy free thus far.

Rainy Season

Currently here in Kalacha, we are in the short rains season. We've been having lots of cloudy days and it has rained a few times. Rain is just such a huge blessing here and the mood of the whole village brightens. I guess that's what happens when it rains in a place that is still recovering from a year and a half long drought.

Some Special People

Allow me to tell you a little bit about some people in my day to day life here. Feel free to pray for any or all of them when you think of it. Matt and I have watchmen that sort of guard our place (by "guard", I mean they chase away little kids by throwing rocks and swinging sticks). Anyway, we have two of them, one by day and one by night. Our night watchmen is about 80 years old and his name is Ali Migo. He is pretty much the most frail man I've ever seen but his smile just lights up the place and he tries his best to teach us his language. None of our watchmen know English. Our day time watchman is named Akota Raka. He is a ritualistic elder in the Gabra society called a "d'abella", which gives him a pretty high level of authority in the village. He comes over for tea a couple times a week and we all just sit around awkwardly because we cannot really communicate past a few greetings. He is almost 60 years old and is just great fun. Ever watch a 60 year old sprint full speed after children, trying to hit them with a rubber whip? No? You're missing out.

We also have a woman who helps us out around the house and her name is Salo. She comes in two mornings a week to do our laundry, sweep out our place, do the dishes, and sometimes run errands. Don't worry, we pay her, she isn't our slave or anything. She doesn't know English either but she is a very happy lady.

Two of the youths that have really grown on me that I really do strongly ask you to pray for are Adan and Mohammed, both Muslim boys. They are really friendly and a lot of fun, and are open to talking about Jesus and Christianity and all that. Mohammed especially seems to be very interested in hearing about the truth of the Bible.

There are also two little boys that I have become a big fan of. One is Isacko. He is 5 years old and he just wanders over to our house all by himself every now and then. He doesn't know English of course, so he just sits out on our veranda and hangs out. Oh yeah, we have a veranda, it's pretty great. The second little guy I have no idea what his name is. But I have given him the name Mookie. He looks to be about 3 years old and he only ever wears a shirt. Nothing on the bottom half. But really, I can't blame him, it is usually around 40 degrees here or so. In that heat, I'm tempted to take off my pants as well. But alas, that just wouldn't be appropriate, now would it?

Anyway, those are some awesome people, I'm sure I'll tell you about a few in each e-mail.

Day to Day Life

I am enjoying most days here. I say most because everyone has their bad days, if they're honest. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people. I have gotten used to some of the things that at first made me uncomfortable, like kids running around without pants or women openly breast-feeding in public. It's just how things are here. We have children come to our house every day to sell us eggs. We listen every night as herds of goats are brought in from grazing. I give myself an extra few minutes each day to get to class to leave me time to get mobbed by all the 4 year olds in the pre-school class (and yes, ladies, it is just as cute as you are imagining it). We watch lizards crawl around our kitchen as we cook our meals. We have to stop in our tracks as we wait for massive herds of camels to pass us before we can proceed on our way. These are all just parts of living here, and it's awesome.

Some Highlights

Preaching. On Sunday, Oct. 22, I had my first chance to preach during our Sunday service because Brian was away for the weekend. Please pray for this church. It is a mess. It seems like people in Kalacha just view this Africa Inland Church, the Catholic church, and the Mosque as social clubs that all offer different ways of getting to the same heaven. It's a difficult situation, so just pray hard about it please.

The Spring. Because I am living in such a sociable society, we have people at our house almost all the time. It is challenging some times because I am a person who needs some time alone to recharge. However, there are enough places to get away, and a beautiful place to go is called Kalacha Goda, which is a spring that is about a half hour walk from my house. I have gone there twice now and it is simply fantastic. There are usually different types of animals there, like baboons. We followed a troop of about 25 baboons this last trip. Also, this last time there I took my first photos of a hornbill. (Think Zazoo from the Lion King, and yes, I will try to have at least one Lion King reference in each of my updates).

Parties. We continue to be asked to many parties and gatherings here. Part of the reason for that is because Matt and I are both teachers here, and teachers get invited to everything. The parties usually consist of eating lots of goat meat and rice off a big communal plate using only your hands. Some times there is dancing, and often there are speeches too if the party is for a certain purpose or cause. In this I have learned something about myself: I will sit through countless speeches spoken in a language I don't understand if it means that I will be given the opportunity to eat an obscene amount of goat meat with my bare hands.

Table Tennis. Table tennis (or "Kong-Kong" as many of them call it) has just taken off here. Every day we have youths that play from the time they get out of school until the time the sun goes down. Last weekend we held a ping-pong tournament that saw 16 players competing for the title of Kalacha's Kong-Kong Champion. Matt took an opportunity to share a few words from the Bible during this time as well, which was well listened to.

I would like to say thank you very quickly to the Helping Hands children and also the Robertson family kids, for giving money towards buying equipment for the kids here. Every day, kids and youths use sports equipment and other things that your money purchased for them. Hopefully in November I will be able to send some pictures of people here using some of the stuff.

Prayer Requests

1. For this church here, as explained above.

2. Praise God for all the opportunities Matt and I have to share about Jesus and about the Bible here. Pray that God would begin to change lives here through his Word.

3. I have not told any of you this until now, but Matt is only here until the end of this term. I had been preparing myself to go the rest of the year by myself, but we received news this week that another chap from England is coming to replace Matt for the remainder of my time here. Thank God that Matt and I have gotten along so well and pray that this new guy and I would develop a good friendship as well.

4. Learning the language. It's a hard language to learn, because it is not a written language. We do have a lot of chances to practice it though, which is nice, and lots of people who are willing to help us.

5. The Hoffman family (if you remember, they are the missionaries here) are leaving in June. This means that unless another missionary couple/family arrive here to replace them, I will be leaving Kalacha at the same time. A couple things to pray for here: First, that God would lead some missionaries to come here, because this place needs faithful workers. Second, that if I do end up leaving in June, God would provide me with good opportunities for the rest of my time here in Africa.

I think that's good for now. On the 16th of November, we head back down to Nairobi, which will be a nice break, as I'll be able to check my e-mail and reply to all 5 of them. I will fly back up here on the 8th of December, in time for a youth camp that we will hopefully be doing. In that time down country, we have a 5 day conference as well, which I'm sure will be extremely refreshing.

I hope this e-mail finds you all well. It is hard to believe I've already been here for 2 months. I'll see you in no time.

Love you all very much (especially the ones that fed and raised me into such a fine young man),

Simon "Dub" Martin*

*"Dub" refers back to an earlier update, see September issue

It Starts Again

2006-10-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since I have updated you on our 06/07 onSiters - sadly it will be a while longer till I get to that - though check out their blogs as they mostly have been updated lately.

However, the point of this post is to say that onsite interviews for the last batch of folks have just been completed! All 13 people who applied have been accepted by the onSite program! Some have a few academic things to work out to be approved to go on internship period, but hoping that works out we will have a full line up of 13. Previously 11 was the largest group, so its very exciting. Though more exciting then the number of people is the quality of the individuals. Emma and I are both looking forward to working with this great group. Congrats to all of you that applied!

onSite Information Session

2006-09-19T22:05:00.000-06:00

Friday, September 22 @ 12:30-1:00 in the 6th floor board room at Alliance University College there will be an information session for all those 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year students interested in going on onSite for the 06/07 year. If you would like to attend please let Matt Russell or Emma Emgard know.

Thanks

onSite Quick Bits

2006-09-18T11:42:00.000-06:00

Regularly I will be pulling some highlights from the onSiters blogs to give you a quick look at what is happening with them. This week is mostly discoveries about their destinations as they adjust to a whole new world.

From Laura in Guinea
There is plenty of food to eat here! Cheese does cost 110,000 francs though. The Canadian dollar is 4500 francs so you can figure out the Canadian amount on your own. I just had my first guava and was it amazing. Just think of the shampoos that you have with it and think how much better a real one can be. I also had my first chocolate milk this morning. A friend helped me put in the powder for the milk part and the chocolate. I think I'm going to miss real milk, good thing I don't like it too much. Otherwise I can buy chocolate or eat the chocolate given to me at one of the few grocery stores. There is a Lebanese man that was at the store and loved the chocolate so much that he shared it with everyone from the store! Ha!

From Sarah in Jakarta, Indo
It's crazy here. I hear roosters crowing every hour of the day. I hear the "cousin" call to prayer blasted over the loud speakers of every mosque in the city at 4:30am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 7pm. It's kind of cool, kind of annoying at 4am. Life here is fast. And hot. The humidity is crazy. Every time I step outside I'm overwhelmed by it and feel exhausted. Part of it still may be the jet lag.
I see people everywhere. I live in a very ex-pat part of the city, and as soon as I step outside of my house security there are chickens on the street and Warung EVERYWHERE. (street venders) and people everywhere. I also hear motor bikes at all hours.

From Twila in Philippines
Somewhere around 17 hours later after I wrote my last post I arrived in Cebu City, Philippines. It was not as big of shock getting out of the airplane as I was thought it would be. I was trying to prepare myself for stepping off the airplane into mayhem of people yelling at me in Cebuano and sticking bunches of vegetables in my face trying to make a peso off of me. However, it was not like that at all it felt like a normal airport maybe a little smaller than I expected but there wasn’t any vegetable in my face.

From Mavis in Salatiga, Indo
Though I have been here not even three full days, I have had too many adventures to name. Between being woken at 4 in the morning for the call to prayer, seeing 20 or so chickens tied upside down to the handle bars of a bike, going to a place with a driver who does not speak english and where only one lady that i know of speaks english and trying to figure out my visa, being taken on a bus by this sort of english speaking woman and having to pay in rupiah, and many, many other things, I feel I am off to a good start.

A New Year

2006-09-18T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well, September has come and so has the return of all our 05/06 onSite students. So once again a big welcome home to Cindy, Ryan and most recently Jacquie. And now our 06/07 students have begun to leave - in fact only John and Amanda remain in North America. Those who are out are still in the getting settled stage adjusting to whichever culture they are now in.

Welcome Home

2006-08-02T14:57:00.000-06:00

Two of our Three onSiters from this year have returned home with Ryan having arrived this past weekend. This leaves Jacquie as our lone onSiter on the field for now as she arrived in New Zealand in January she will be continuing on there past the summer. Our new crop will be leaving on various dates in September, except for Kristin who is getting married in September and hoping to head out with a hubby in May. So if you see Ryan or Cindy now that they are back ask about their onsite - but only ask if you mean it.

Update on Jacquie she will be home in September.

News, News, News

2006-06-22T22:30:00.000-06:00

Here is some of the latest from the onsite group.

1) CONGRATS to Kristen. She is engaged and getting married in September. We decided that she would focus on her man for the first couple of months of married life, thus she will not be going to Argentina in September. Together they might go in May or they might opt for September next year.

2): Horray! We know that Simon is going to Kenya. He'll be teaching in a school in northern Kenya.

3): The Erickson's are going to Germany! Thank goodness they finally have a location. Please continue to pray for them since there are still details to be worked out.

4) Some onsiters have been doing well with fundraising, others are just getting off the ground.

5) Emma is off to China!

Welcome

2006-04-19T10:55:00.000-06:00

This blog will hopefully in the future serve as a sort of central distribution for all web-realted onSite activity. This is a picture of next year's fantastic onSite participants. Most of them are planning on having a blog themselves while on onSite next year, so once they do I will put up some links. Right now Ryan, Jacquie, and Cindy are out on the field in Egypt, New Zealand and Guinea respectively.

What is onSite?

2006-04-19T10:41:00.000-06:00

onSite is the overseas internship program of Ambrose University College. It is 7 - 10 months of ministry and study in a foreign nation. It satisfies the internship requirements of the Bachelor of Ministry and Bachelor of Theology programs, but is also an option for Arts & Science students in any of Ambrose's programs.

While on onSite students can earn 12 credits for internship (ministry students only) as well as an additional 9 credits that can be applied to almost any program. These credits include 6 credits of language study and 3 credits for onSite History and Culture.

Students may apply to onSite at the beginning of their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year to go the following year. All students in the Intercultural Studies concentration must apply to onSite. Students must complete Cultural Anthropology and Team Dynamics (aka the onSite course) before going onSite.

If you are interested in the onSite program and would like more information contact Emma Emgard at mailto:onsite@auc-nuc.ca