Welcome Home, Barb

It was great to welcome Barb Isbell back to Texas after six months in Aberdeen, Scotland. We went out for dinner at Jason's Deli on Sunday night and started catching up on Scotland, Vancouver, etc. It will probably take us quite a while to talk about everything we've missed the last six months. And, oh, the scrapbooking we have to do...

Leaders in Training (LIT) Recognition Service

July 29th...Sixth grade LIT's were recognized with a certificate and a necklace for completing two years of the program at church. The necklace was a shield, with the verse, Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you?Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Mrs. Tammy Barks

Miss Tricia Jernigan -- Go God!

Mrs. Lisa Owens, Rebecca's Small Group Leader

Brother Clint May

Canadian Kids

Nicholas, Jaime, Kyla


Carolyn, Shanya, Elijah

Robert, Everett, Gino

The best treasure we found in Canada was in Surrey, at Royal Heights Baptist Church. The kids were just so precious. Please continue to pray that God would put Christians in the paths of these little ones.

MUSIC CAMP 2007

Dessert, Eh?

On Friday night we hosted a banquet/concert for the kids and parents who had attended the camps all week. We were asked to create a dessert that was both healthy and fancy. Several of us homemaker types put our heads together and came up with angel food cake with fruit for the adults, and dirt cups with worms for the kids. It took us most of the afternoon on Friday to complete, but they turned out really nice.

It was so funny to see Pam putting pudding in cups with a bread bag. It was all we had! Amy and Suzanne added strawberries and blueberries.


Pretty amazing, eh?

Martha Stewart, watch out!

Red Hot Mamas!

I must mention the van of women who were called the Red Hot Mamas. Pictured above are: Suzanne Potter, me, Rachel Smith, Jeanette McClean, Kim Swain. Jeanette was our driver and an extremely fun person to get to know. Stank! This is probably a case of "What happens on the trip, stays on the trip," so I won't share any stories at this time. Thank you girls for making this a really memorable trip.

Seen Around Canada

As you might have guessed, things in Canada are a little different than in the States. For example, their money: loonies and twonies are their $1 and $2 coins, instead of bills. Their bills are different colors, like blue and purple. The kids in music camp enjoyed looking at our American money and commented that "their" bills were pretty, while ours were kinda boring. It didn't stop them from taking American coins from me when I offered them though.

The trees we saw were huge! Flowers were everywhere and unbelievable colors and sizes. I'm probably now known as "Hydrangea Psycho Flower Woman." I was gasping every time we saw a hydrangea bush. One plant would have 3 different colors of flowers on them. I was never able to stop and get a picture, so I hope that someone else did. Anyone??? I have the memory of them in my head, but when I'm old I want to say..."Remember that year we went to Vancouver and the hydrangeas were as big as bowling balls and 3 colors...wait, I'll get my scrapbook and show you."

The animals we saw were huge, too. Here are a few pics of Kathy Nance and myself with various Canadian animals.

MOOSE

BLACK BEAR

GREY WOLF (This was creepy.)

POLAR BEAR

This blue hydrangea was at the entrance to the

park where we saw the suspension bridge.

This was a funny guy at the Richmond night market.

He was making some type of funnel cake (with flair).

My favorite Canadian store! (NOT!) I was only there about 8 times.

We saw Cousin It at the Fisherman's Wharf. I can't even tell you what Dr. C. said...

McDonald's, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut!
(Ask someone from the music camp.)

Finishing Up and Texas Bound

What an incredible week this has been! Have I said that yet? Today was our last day of music camp. We had four children pray to receive Christ. As Tricia Jernigan says, "GO GOD!"

Prayer requests:
1. Safe travel and ease through customs in the U.S.
2. Royal Heights -- as they follow up with the children who made decisions this week
3. Salvation for Kyle, a young man who assisted us this week

I'll update with more pics when I return home. Thanks for your prayers and support this week.

Day Four of Music Camp

What an incredible week this has been. The most exciting news is that 3 children accepted Christ yesterday at basketball camp. These are children who have also been in music camp in the morning. One little girl, Hannah, told her mother that she had become a Christian. When her mother commented that she had already done that, Hannah replied, "Yes, mom. But then I didn't know about Jesus."

Jenna, Juliehanna, Danica, Shanya, Sadie, Kyla

Jade, one of my favorites She is now our sister in Christ.

I cannot tell you how precious this little girl has been. She is the Hannah from the story above.

Carolyn, with Charlie, the singing dog -- hilarious!

I'm eating with chopsticks. Well, only one bite actually, but I did it. We are at the mall having lunch. It was fun to get out today. Most days I've been on kitchen duty, cooking dinner in the afternoons when music camp is finished. I'm off duty tonight -- yea! We are all starting to look a little ragged around the edges. But, it's a good tired. I actually got almost 7 hours of sleep last night. Thanks for your prayers (and Benadryl) about that.

Tomorrow is our last day of camp. It will be a busy day of preparation for the concert we are giving tomorrow night. The music and basketball camps will give prizes/awards to the kids and the music kids will present to the parents what we've worked on all week. I pray the parents will be touched by the words we sing and what is said. Pray for Pastor Alan as he listens to what God would have him share. And, may we all come home saying, "To God be the glory, great things HE has done."

A Little R & R

A wonderful evening...cool temps...beautiful sunset...mountains on one side...ocean on the other. I don't even know the name of the area where we were tonight, but it was so nice.

Pajo's on the Water

Fish and chips in newspaper -- soooooo good!

Third Day of Camp

Today was another great day for us. I don't have any pics because my batteries ran out. We had a total of 34 kids between the two music groups. The kids have really picked up the songs and the motions. They are very bright and seem to love everything we are doing. Bonnie Winton has done some wonderful devotions with art. The kids here seem to know about God, but most don't seem to understand who Jesus is. Pray that would become more clear as the week goes on.

Tonight we're hoping to go one of two places: towards the mountains or to an area with a beach and seafood. Yum! We've heard you can pick your fish right off the boat and have it prepared any way you choose. We'll see...

I've decided that God has chosen for me to be a pray-er on this trip instead of a sleeper. Last night I got about 3 hours total of sleep due to a weird allergy attack. So, while I'm lying in bed awake, I just pray. So far I've been able to do all I needed to do with little sleep. Praise for that.

Keep reading the Wedgworship Blog for the latest reports. And, keep praying...

Second Day of Music Camp

We had another great day today. Actually, it was a little better because we knew what to expect more than Monday. We made some changes to our schedule that would adapt to the needs of the kids. These kids are so precious -- some of them from terrible family situations, different religious backgrounds (Hindu, Muslim, Indian, Sikh). Many of the little girls wear tattoos and henna on their arms and necks. We asked them today to tell us some of the things they've learned at music camp. One little boy, Nicholas, said, "I learned about Jesus!" I could barely stop the tears from just popping out. These little ones are in so much need of God. I hope we're planting seeds that will one day be a harvest for someone.

This adorable little girl is Bree.

The sun is so bright. We're not used to it! We were so thankful for the sun so that we could go outside today and play with the parachute.

Last night all the teams reported on their activities that occurred during the day. For a full report, go to the Wedgworship Blog link on the right. Continue to pray for us each day. There are so many people here who need the Lord. Specifically for me, pray for rest. I'm not sleeping well at night.

First Day of Music Camp

Today was pretty wild and crazy -- first days of anything usually are. We were so excited to find out that we had 28 kids signed up for our camp, ages 3 years to 4th grade. Our team really learned the definition of flexibility. The kids seemed to respond well to what we had planned -- for the most part. Many of them seemed unfamiliar to the concept of God. Please pray that we would be able to touch their little hearts this week. We so desire to show/teach them that God loves them and wants a relationship with them.

Sadie, Carolyn, Hannah

Tomorrow we are supposed to have 33 kids. Pray for unity for our team, adaptability to God's plans -- not ours, and God to be glorified.

Sunday Sightseeing

Sunday afternoon we went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. There is absolutely no way to describe the beauty and majesty of the trees in this area of Vancouver. They were massive, some reaching so high we couldn't see the tops of them. The bridge was a little scary to cross, especially since it rained the whole time we were there and parts of it felt a little slippery.

Some of us drying out and having fudge and hot tea

After leaving the bridge, we went to the Richmond Night Market -- supposedly a local hotspot for really good deals and food. It was still raining, so I think that took a little of the fun out of it, since we had pretty much been walking in the rain all day. I had to have my picture made with the Wii Car = so cute! Also, I'm pretty sure that Amy Bartley and I had octopus won ton soup. Interesting.

There are so many more pics, but I just don't have time to share more at this time. More to come when I get a chance.