Tour Bus

Groundstaff drives around in this sweet beat-up, orange van! There are memories made in that van. Like watching Rhys and AJ blow off stress with an insane game of punch buggy. It is a good chance to chat with the boys of Groundstaff when we get the van full of guys. They're pretty crazy. Sliding door on the side of the van doesn't open from the inside cuz the latch is busted or something, so they just left us in there today and walked inside. They came back a minute later while Rhys and I were jerking on the door and fiddling with the latch. Yeah, good times. Life just seems so much better when you're in a beat-up van full of guys. I doubt girls feel the same way. It's good to be a guy.

Oceans

One windy day, we took a drive to the see the English Channel in Wales. As we drove up, I remember thinking that the water looked incredibly mean and powerful. It actually scared me. When I got out of the car, I found myself in a wind that made it impossible to stand up straight. I can't remember any wind as strong as that ocean gale. As I stood on the edge of a hill that became a cliff above the rough water, not daring to wander too close to the edge in case the wind might suddenly let up and make fall over, I saw the the sunlight reflecting across the water. I wondered how powerful the wind that parted the Red Sea must have been. Even this wind made it hard for me to keep my balance. No wonder the Israelites begged Moses to shield them from God's presence.

The splendour of the King
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice

He wraps Himself in light
Darkness tries to hide
It trembles at His voice

How great is our God!
Sing with me how great is our God!
And all will see how great, how great is our God!

Lancing College Chapel

If Anyone wonders how churchgoers could possibly enjoy singing the old hymns for centuries before we discovered rock music, try singing in one of these chapels/cathedrals. It's amazing. In fact, a full band would sound awful in there because of the echo, but one voice sounds like a thousand.
Next week, Germany. I am feeling really good right now. God had an attitude check with me and things are better for me now. Everyone is tired, of course, but that's a way of life now. In Germany, we are working with a band called Groundstaff. They said they're going to go easier on us than the team last year because they burned them out a bit. Apparently, that didn't work out so well. That seems too obvious to me, but our team is not totally innocent of overworking ourselves either. For the most part, it hasn't been brutal, so I think our team is very fortunate in terms of business.
We have a lot of prep work to do before Germany that won't all get done. We'd like to have some more program items running; some dramas and maybe a few songs, but that's not looking so promising right now. We'll have to play it by ear. Coralie is the scheduler and I feel bad for her. I know how frustrating it is when there is never enough time to do everything and she can be hard on herself when she makes a scheduling error. She does such a good job! Some things just have to be pushed out of the way if we're ever going to take a break. Thanks for your prayers.

A Letter Home

Dear Father,
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not whither. Whatever he does prospers." Psalm 1:1-3
My God, there is nothing I want more than to be in your will. "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 27:4) Lead me. Do not let me go anywhere that you don't want me. Make me do things that make you happy. Destroy my pride. Leave no trace of self-service in me except to enjoy the good things you give me. Let me do even that in complete gratitude, knowing that everything good comes from you. Make me only always for you, my King. For everything you have done, giving me life, rebirth, creation to enjoy, giving Jesus as a sacrifice for my sin, the Holy Spirit to show how to live, give me the ability to live a life of constant gratitude. I trust you. You have my life. Do want you want with it. Help me trust you more.

Your adopted and eternally grateful son,
Bryce

Puppets are taking over!!!!

We've decided that the puppets will do the children's ministry from now because they relate better to kids. However, they get a little out of control on the instruments. We're still ironing out a few bugs.

Pictures

I have been bad at posting pictures this year, so I'll start trying to make up for it now.

Memories are made

This country is beautiful! I can't get tired of the constant smell of spring. The people are incredibly warm and generous! I have found many passionate Christians. It is encouraging because this country has hard soil for the gospel, but we are called to proclaim it. The conviction and work of salvation is God's.
I did the dumbest thing yesterday. We were hanging out with some youth and getting ready to do a program fro them. James and Rhys were jamming beforehand and I quickly picked up a guitar to come in with them at one part of the song. But I picked up the guitar too quickly and as I put the strap over my shoulder I hit myself in the bridge of the nose. I actually cut myself and had to plug it with some kleenex and do a program that way. It made for a good icebreaker, though.
This is the point where the whole team is tired a running on fumes. Some days, I really want to be done with this because it's so exhausting and I miss Dielle. However, God is very faithful in giving rest and supernatural energy when we need it most.
I just realized that my entire time in Russia is this huge fuzz. My mind was numb the whole 2 months because of culture stress, business, normal stress, being around people stress, lack of sleep stress, and miscellaneous stress. I love ministry! Really. I do. It makes life so unusual. I wouldn't have it any other way.
God bless you all! Thanks for your prayers. We are pressed for time but not too, too late. We are exhausted but never unable to move around. We are stressed and feeling overworked but for God's Kingdom. We are not in prison. We are never hungry. In fact, I've never eaten so much glorious food in my life. We are blessed beyond imagination to be part of Christ's Church and in his will.
Bryce

Good-bye Russia!

Hello everyone! It’s been so long since I’ve posted anything new. Russia has treated us well and we are packing up to go. The lessons we have learned will stick with us for a lifetime.
Cool answer to prayer: we’ve been all worried about getting our luggage to England inexpensively. When got to Russia we found out that weight restrictions on Russian flights are less than North American flights. We managed to bargain down the overweight charges (the airport official likely pocketed some extra cash in the exchange) when me flew from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk where we were ministering for the first month, but we didn’t know how we would get our stuff back to Moscow from Ulan Ude where we are now. The missionaries have been looking for cheaper ways to move our equipment, but couldn’t find any. We resigned ourselves to the ridiculous overweight charges. Then, earlier this evening, we found a cheap way of getting our luggage to Moscow along with us. Praise God!
I am sad to say good-bye to our Russian friends here. We got the greatest encouragement today. One girl in told us that she could feel the peace in us despite the chaos we are often in. She also said there is great unity on our team. I am happy to hear that. Praise God for keeping our team unified and shining the light of the Gospel through our love as Jesus commanded us. It is not our own hard work that accomplishes this, but the power of God. If God is for us, who can be against us?
I have had the blessing of having access to phone and internet as long as I share with the guys, although I forgot my username for my blog, so I have been unable to use it or post anything until now. Thank-you for telling me my own name, Dielle. I feel a little silly now. I am SO computer savvy.
Pray that God continues bless our team. Pray for the growth of His Church in Russia and that leaders are raised up for the Church. There is much to be done here, but God is changing lives and that is AWESOME. Live for His glory. It’s not just the best way; it’s the only way.

The Holidays, Russian style.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

We have 3 days of rest. We got the great news before we left that some of the girls who had handed in follow-up sheets to the Church in Dubinina accepted Christ. That was great news to drive home with. Thank-you God! Last night we wandered around Krasnoyarsk . We saw some of the partially finished ice sculptures. They already look great. We slid down a few ice slides. We went church in Krasnoyarsk again. After church, we went to Dan, Joanne, Jenny, and Abbey’s house for lunch and sledding. The people we had lunch with are a missionary couple from California . But they’ve been in Nepal before. Sledding was awesome. I finally mastered that syanki-ladyanki-thing and got to try another sled that you steer with you feet or your hands if you go down on your belly. I didn’t even hurt myself. I did spray much snow in my face from steering with my feet, though. It was a blast! James and I had shoving battles on the way down the hill AND I WON!!!!!!! OH YEAH!!!!!! I’m not proud or anything. I’m just basking in my victory over the syanki-ladyanki-thing and the Russian sled-of-death.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

We went to Colleen’s (a missionary here) house for Christmas lunch yesterday. Mike and Fran (an engaged English couple we met in church on Sunday) were there. We played Russian Uno. It’s a crazy game. They have some interesting rules. When anyone plays a 7, the last one to slap the pile picks up a card. If someone plays a 4, anyone who talks has to pick up a card for every word they said until the 4 is covered. When a 2 is played, the first one to put 2 fingers on the pile gets to give out two cards to any two players. Not only that, but if you have the same color and number as the card just played, youi can jump in out of turn. And if you play 0, you can trade hands with anyone if you want. You get pretty lost in the flow sometimes, BUT I WON!!! despite having my inexperience taken advantage of. Russians aren’t compassionate gamers. ”. Rhys, James, and I fought on the couch in a giant tickle war. Good times! We got back the apartment and did some group stuff. We all told each other about a Christmas present God had given us. I talked about Lamentations 3:22-23. The other present I got ON CHRISTMAS was discovering a little note from Dielle in the back of my quote-book. What a great day to find it! Thank-you God! Thank-you Dielle!

Friday, December 29, 2006

Yesterday we had an incredible team prayer time. We asked God to do something we didn’t understand, but show us part of what He was doing. We had two programs in a school. The school psychologist didn’t want us there. She even tried to stop a few of us with a security guard on the way in. Praise God that didn’t work. There was only one security guard and he didn’t know how to block 3 people who couild understand him anyways fomr walking in. We found out later that our being in that school for the reasons we were there is actually illegal. Good to know! During our program, the psychologist was writing a letter of complaint to the local judge. Roma talked to her. The vice principle of education in the school told Roma the program was great and Roma said what the psychologist was doing. The VP said, “If she does that, I’ll fire her”. Praise God. While Roma and the psychologist were arguing, some of the students showed up and told the psychologist that they like it too and, “Why should we listen you and not them?”

Saturday, December 30, 2006

We had two hard programs today. Tough crowds. We met Pastor Valera. He has had a very difficult ministry here. There has been very little fruit. He often feels discouraged and, when he wants to give up, God sends someone to encourage him. My heart hurts for him. He has such perseverance. I wish we could have stayed longer and at least done one more program. Word I learned tonight: Slozhna (difficult) and Schodit (will go). As in, Ohn schodit toilet.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Snovom Godom!!!! Happy New Year!!! And what a new year it was! My sleeping habit were really weird because of all the driving we’ve done. We got drove to Sevra Yenisesk, did 2 programs, and drove back to Brianka all in the same day so it was an early morning and a long day. Then we woke up early Sunday morning so we could cross the ferry at 10:00. We slept during the day on Sunday and then went to the New Year’s celebration in the evening. We did a program there and talked to folks for a while. We left the party at 4:30ish and went back to Igor’s for about 5 hours of sleep before embarking on the trip back to Krasnoyarsk we are now on.

I'm a Canadian teapot!

The biggest surprise I've had so far in Russia is that it's not all that cold! It's been a mild winter for them. That could all change when we train to Ulan Ude in a few weeks.

Tuesday, December 12 - We went to an orphanage with a lot of really shy kids in Bogotol. Our usual translator wasn’t there because she was sick, so Pastor Andrey read the train story for us and James and Molly translated for us. It was interesting. The kids were still scared of us when we started making balloon art. We had to go to them with them. They loved the balloon art and they gave us all thank-you cards. I got 4. I don’t if that means anything, but it was pretty special. We were running behind already, but they asked us to stay for chai, so we did. So we were even later for our next program. We were going to eat before we went, but we got about two bites down and then left. On the way to the program, we saw some people in the ditch. We stopped and pushed them out. It was very cold, the snow was very deep, and I was in my dress shoes. My feet were cold. We couldn’t budge the car, but a Uaz showed up and got it out eventually. I got to see a Uaz!!! It looks like a jeep. Our little interruption made it later yet.
It seems that, in Russia , when you show up 40 minutes or so late for a program in a community centre, they don’t care if you get there a little later than you already are. We got all our stuff inside and I was inwardly bemoaning the immense quantities of melted snow in my shoes from pushing out the aforementioned car when we were told to have some chai to warm up before we set up. I love this country! The program was fun. There is no church in that community as of yet, so many people heard the gospel for the first time.

Sunday, December 17 - Life is good. We had a day off yesterday. We went into a little village on the edge of the lake and stayed in Ernst’s cabin. Ernst is an African guy who speak English too. We also went on a hike and had a competition to see who could slide the furthest on the lake ice with a running start. AJ won. We also saw the hill that Ghengis Kahn apparently stood on to survey the surrounding area. The town we were in was once called “God’s town” and the lake beside it was “God’s lake” because of a miracle worker saint who lived there. The communist government changed the name and martyred the saint. They say all the officials who had a part in that died strange deaths. There’s a stream there and a picture of the saint beside it. The Orthodox church does baptisms in the stream. Kinda neat. Kinda sad too, though.

Wednesday, December 20 - We did programs in Sharipeva today. We had a tough program in a school/orphanage. The kids were really quiet and suppressed. It was disheartening. We did an impromptu program for the church this evening. I am so tired!!!!! I need sleep tonight. We all do. The program was fun though. We did “We Choose to Stand” and James and Janelle were hilarious. So hilarious that Bruce and Olga started laughing. Then the rest of us started to laugh and we lost our place. AAAAAAAA!!!!!! Good times. There was a few non-churched youth there too. That’s great because they got the FULL gospel out of the program tonight. It was tiring, but ministry is.

Praise God! Slava Bogo! It’s a saying I’m getting used to saying and hearing.

Live from Russia (not quite)

Well, this post is to tell you that the owner and proprietor of this blog is safely landed in Krasnayarsk (sp?), Russia. He is well, except for that slight cold that he is catching, and his team seems to be doing fine. That's what they're telling the outside world, anyway. The team had a jolly good time sledding Russian style the other day. And the owner and proprietor of this blog loves to be awakened by phone calls in the morning, which are actually in the evening for the person on the other end. We have this on good authority. For those interested, the owner and proprietor is 13 hours ahead of Central Standard Time at the present moment.


More details will be forthcoming in the future, possibly even from the owner and proprietor himself. Possibly.


~e~

NBI HO!!!!!!!!

I'm at Nipawin Bible Institute!!!! It's good to be back. Our team got here Saturday and we leave tomorrow morning at an insanely early hour. Life on the road is hard. On the plus side, I have the day off today and can spend it entirely with Dielle. I stayed up late last night catching up with some of the guys. I'm enjoying my stay here. The team definitely needs the day off. We haven't had one in a week and a half and we're all pretty tired. We have a long drive tomorrow all the way to Drumheller. Over 8 hours. We'll likely listen to some Chronicles of Narnia on cd and read lots and listen to a new cd I got from Dielle. She is also being kind enough to lend me her discman for the duration of the rest of the year. She's nice. I like her.

We got some news yesterday. The father of a VTI staff member was just killed in a car crash. The staff member and here husband are in the Philippines right now with VTI's 4 month team, so they will be taking a flight back. Pray for Gary and Beverly (it was Beverly's Dad) and for the 4 month team as they will be operating without a staff member for a little while.

Fall Tour

Well, tour is here and it's going well. We've had some interesting programs. It's hard to flexible, but we do what we can. It takes a bit of extra effort to do part programs as opposed to full programs because we know how a full program will run because we've done it several times. I'm doint a lot of reading on the road. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker is an amazing series. I highly recommend them. This weekend we will end up in Nipawin for 5 days. There will be much catching up with family, old friends, and seeing Dielle. I am very happy about that. I may have a hard time going to bed while staying in the in the dorm though ( I hear that's the plan). It'll be wonderful!

We're visiting some awesome Churches. It's so exciting to see what God is doing in different communities here. It's a privilege to join for one morning or evening. God Bless you all.

(Insert Creative Heading Here)

We get a whole day and a half off this week! I'm thrilled beyond imagining. We told Janelle that she can't do any work tomorrow because she'll get burned out. She works very hard. I'm going to break my own rule. It's okay. I take some time to chill everyday. I force my mind off work after 9:30. It's a good rule. Then I can do some work on Monday.

Today was our last Sunday in our home church. I'm gonna miss it. We did a program there and I got to preach. It was cool. I like preaching. Although I do need to do a bit more research on Oliver Cromwell before we get to England (he was English and they'll know all about him). He's one of my sermon illustrations.

I'm excited for fall tour. Partly because I want to get going and partly because we're going to NBI for 4-5 days!!! I get to stay in the dorm, see Dielle... it will be a jolly good time. We leave this Friday. One more week of training camp!

Timely Answers to Prayer

A little while ago, our team had a great answer to prayer. We meet to pray every morning. One of our requests this particular day was for spiritual renewal. We were tired and needed some spiritual and physical rest. At breakfast, we got some great news.

We had been praying for a Christian school in Uganda that was under threat of being shut down. A group of Muslims were planning on buying the land surrounding the school and making the property inaccessible. The missions organization sent out a request for money to buy the land first. VTI responded by contacting some of their alumni and requesting money for this on behalf of the school. As the deadline for purchasing the land approached, the Muslims were celebrating, saying, "Muhammed is greater than Jesus". Two days before the deadline, God proved them wrong. The money made it and the school stayed open. Praise God!

This answer prayer answered the request we made that very morning: spiritual renewal. We had a morning of prayer that day. God is good! He Loves to answer our prayers.

I currently have more than enough support for this month. We'll see what happens in the months to come. God will bring in the money as I need it.

Beauty in insanity

My teammates have discovered a new way to torment me. The other day, while we were doing dishes, I was scrubbing the pots and pans and silverware. I always try to finish the silverware first for no apparent reason and I don't like to miss any because it's easier if we do it all in one bunch. After I wash the silverware, it goes through the sanitizer and then to the dryers. It is this bunch of people who are my tormentors. You see, I missed some silverware and and bemoaned the fact loudly. After taking what I missed to the sanitizer, I came back to discover more silverware in the sink. I KNEW that this silveware had not been there when I had left and, seeing that there was a rack of silverware currently being dried by suspiciously smiling people, I began to make accusations. They were justified and correct, but they didn't help except to seal for myself a fate of silverware randomly appearing in the sink well after I washed the rest of it. I, began freaking out this particular time and drew the attention of a staff member. When he asked what I was ranting about, James replied, "Silverware". I like it here.
BJ

leaving the nest

This has been a big weekend for the team! It was our first weekend away from training camp. We were billeted out to different families in our home church and we led singing on Sunday morning. We did not have a staff member along to guide us. I suppose you could say we were trying our wings or something like that. It was a wonderful weekend and we still love each other. In fact, we're getting tighter every day. God is really blessing us. We had a team day off today. We were told to go into Calgary and have fun together. So we did some shopping for a few necessities and we stopped in at a Christian bookstore (Blessings) and bought some books and cds. It's always so hard for me to look through book stores and only buy one book. However, I was sucessful, as usual, in limiting my spending to $23: a cd and a book. It has a been a jolly good time, but I am tired. Sleep is good.

First Program

Friends and Followers just did their forst program. We took over the Sunday School for our home church this Sunday. It was a little hectic getting ready for the program. We learned a puppet script in two days. We're still just getting used to our puppets, too. The program went well, though. The kids enjoyed (so did we). It is very tiring to sing and jump around at the same time. It's not really good singing technique to be using your diaphram as a pivot point for swinging your upper body around. I'm starting to think that recreation time isn't actually there because we won't get enough exercise, but ot get us in shape for Children's Programs. It's a lot of fun.

Puppets are another thing. Our team has four puppeteers (I'm the puppet coordinator and a puppeteer) and only James has used puppets before. We have literally made up a personality for our puppets, including a life story, family, quirks, pet peeves, etc... Puppets are fun. There are rules about our puppets. They cannot accept Christ (they don't have a soul) and they can't get away with being bad (though they can be bad). Puppets are very realistic to kids, so we need to treat them as though they are real characters. No one puts on someone else's puppet. It's actually quite fun. The realistic part of it just adds to the puppet experience. It also set a standard of excellence for the puppeteers. Puppets are such an amazing teaching tool! They need to be used wisely.

Praying

I'm feeling excited and stressed all at the same time. Sunday night was a night of prayer and fasting. That means we skipped supper and prayed form 6-12. It was great. God spoke to us. Today is our day off, so I slept 'till 9 to make up for staying up so late.

The guys have made a pact to be in bed by 11 every night because we're all getting really tired. This should help us get our rest. We also read a chapter from a book called Siberian Shivers every night. It's a collection of funny missionary stories from Russia. We're enjoying a lot. It's good to laugh before going to bed.

I have a lot to do today. It doesn't feel that much like a day off because my to-do list is so long. I guess I'll just have to see how much I get done. I have to remind myself that it's not worth stressing over. That's my life for now.

Things are underway.

Training camp is about to get a little busier. We are now starting to get into the program planning part. We have to write our own dramas, puppet plays, and that sort of thing so it will be much work. It will also be fun. In 10 minutes, I'll be going to a preaching class with James. We are the two preachers on team. The rest will be creative teachers and chalk artists.

I feel like I'm constantly tired. I always wanted to nap after lunch and for the rest of the day. Mornings are great! I love walking outside and smelling the fresh, rainy, mountain air.

Training camp seems to be flying by. At the same time, time goes by very slowly too. It feels like I've been here forever and that it went by quickly. Time doesn't make much sense, really. These are the ponderings of my tired mind for the day.