Science Rules

A perpetual favorite of campers the world over, nobody forgets the flashy tricks and sparks found in every Science Station.

Here, experiments in motion, energy and chemistry bring alive the theme of G-Force. Kids can remember MOVING as a dyed-water tornado, or FOLLOWING as a chain-reaction of popsicle sticks much more easily; the only difficulty is translating that memory into understanding. 

This year, the science station also shares a space with the main hall; as a result, the keen viewer will spot many prepared and exhausted experiments and supplies in worship photos, discreetly placed behind a story teller or a worship leader.

Mission Unstoppable

The newest addition to the traditional summer camp stations, the Missions station is all about actually putting into practice the lessons of the day into practical activities that benefit the community outside of the camp.

Although the station does have overlaps with the crafts station, missions is unique in that it's activities can go beyond art, and become activism.

For instance, for FOLLOW, G-Force navigators helped pack and prepare food hampers for local families. Other days have seen gift flip-flops for people in need of footwear, alongside encouragement cards and prayer journals.

(By the way, G-Force Veterans in Calgary, I have only one thing to say about your missions station and it's contributions; SOON. You know what I'm talking about.)

FOLLOW!

"Come, follow me."

Matthew 4:19a, CEB

MOVING and CARING is all good, but it all becomes pointless if the MOVING and CARING person isn't following Jesus.

Even when he was still blind, Bartimaeus's faith in Jesus was so strong that he called out to Christ to save him even when others around him tried to silence him. Bartimaeus even ran after Jesus right after he was healed, praising God and FOLLOWING his savior.

Campers came to realize that Christ's life and love stands as an incredible path to FOLLOW God's will by. Don`t just stand there! Let`s go!

CARE!

Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2, CEB

After learning to MOVE in Christ, campers then learned about CARING for other people.

Kids learned about the five friends, one of whom was paralyzed. The five friends CARED about their paralyzed friend so much that they broke through a roof just to lower their friend to Jesus and ask Jesus to heal him. (Mark 2:1-12)

Remember the CARE bracelet the kids made in the crafts station? The bracelet, along with other station activities that day, taught kids about being aware of other people's difficulties and deciding to help others. For instance, the CARE bracelet was to be given away as a gift to someone the camper CARED about!

Games Galore

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHjX6-GyJ80&w=560&h=315]

No camp is complete without outdoor games, and the same holds true for G-Force at the House of Mercy!

In addition to hosting station games for camp groups, the games field is also home to big group games - the activities that involve all campers at the same time.

Crafting a Camp

With every project a unique exercise in creativity, the crafts station gives campers the opportunity to flex their imagination. 

We drop in on them with the current day's project, a wristband to be given away (more on that later...).

The MOVING craft for Day 1, bagged and checked to be handed out to their creators before the kids go home!

MOVE!

I'll show you my faith by putting it into practice in faithful action.

James 2:18b, CEB

For our first day of G-Force, we taught what it's like to MOVE for God!

If you're a G-Force veteran, you'll remember that Moses became God's MOVING man, to help God MOVE the Israelite people out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:7-12)

MOVING for God is all about getting out of your seat and getting into the action. God has a plan for you, so the faster you learn about it, the faster you can become a living part of it. Let's go!

The Calm Before the Storm

Main hall ready!

Craft station, ready!

Games area is all good to go! All that's left is the missions station...

Wait---

Oh no, the kids are already here!

EVERYONE TO THEIR PLACES!

Teen training

Like in previous years, we plan to lead the camp G-Force with local leadership, and with us mission members as support rather than necessary staff. 

To do this, we focus on equipping the local teens and House of Mercy older kids with biblical leadership, so that they are prepared to serve in their community. 

In addition to assigning roles, we spoke to them about the qualities of leadership and how leaders are servants. 

We also washed the feet of the teens. The activity surprised the teens, and allowed us to talk about how Jesus served the disciples, and how Peter reacted to being served in this manner.

Settling In Before Camp

Dinner with Vasya and Valery

Going to the market to buy additional supplies before camp.

Watching local soccer teams play, and cheering for members from the House of Mercy

A final group picture after being assigned rooms. Time to start unpacking and organizing!

Church Service in Ukraine

We were invited to Sunday church service after we arrived.

I really liked the service closure; the pastor and the congregation were comfortable enough that at the end the pastor asked the congregation for their prayer requests. Until now this was something I had only seen in small group fellowship. 

As well, after praying for the prayer requests, the pastor also lead the congregation in the Lord's Prayer. This reminded me of our own church's call to worship at the beginning of service. 

This Is Like a Dream

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8af4mGPKlQ4&w=560&h=315]

The (Physical) Road to Ukraine

Leaving the chapel after an emotional prayer and farewell

Waiting for the first leg of the flight to Frankfurt.

Taking the bus to the Frankfurt terminals after a soft landing

What a walk...

Checkers seems excited about being in Germany!

Don't forget to say goodbye to Lufthansa for bringing us from Frankfurt, Germany to Budapest, Hungary!

...Why did they put the welcome sign next to the washrooms?

Almost there! It's the final leg of the journey with a Norwegian mission team over the Ukraine-Hungary border via bus!

G-Force came to pray for us and see us off!

  Our church's VBS camp: G-Force came to the airport to sent us off! We are bless to have all these children pray for us before we depart!

All the team members - Crystal, Daniel, Calvin, Colin, Uncle Tomson, and I - got a package. Crystal and Daniel even got signed G-Force t-shirts to wear to the House of Mercy. We were so happy and surprised by everyone's support!

Thank you! 

Come pray with us on our departure!

We will be leaving for Ukraine on Friday, July 17, 2015, shortly after 2 PM local time! We encourage you if you are available to come to the Calgary Airport's public chapel from 12:30 PM to 1:15 PM. We would love to pray with all of you as we begin our journey! 

Packing Night Pictures!

With thanks to Uncle Tomson, and without further ado!

Instructions being given out oh what needs to be packed

Preparing magnets, memory verse cards, and laminating

Assembling pre-organized craft sets (to be assembled elsewhere!)

Working craft foam into useful sizes. Even the young ones are pitching in~

The beginning of The Mess. Note the blank lists sitting on each case, waiting to be filled in...

Putting Thanksgiving skills to the test, by stuffing a suitcase instead of a turkey

As the final bags are packed, finished suitcases stand ready to undergo the final trial - the scales.

What a fun and beautiful night! A great thanks to all the Prayer Warriors that came out tonight to assist with packing and craft material preparation!

Remember to follow the website during the mission! God bless and protect!

Materials Board Deadline & Commissioning Prayer

Our deadline has come and gone!

To all the congregations of SCCEFC, to all the visitors who saw and participated, and to you, dear reader: we couldn't have done it without you.

Due to your generous contributions, we have completely met and exceeded sixteen unique material needs important to the mission with the House of Mercy, and partially 

fulfilled another seven material needs. Piles of craft paper, glue, tape, coloring markers and pencil crayons, ziplock bags, shirts, scissors, and even traffic cones and 

disposable chopsticks stand testimony to your outpouring.

Acceptance of public material donations is now closed. If you still have outstanding or late pledges that you wish to fulfill, please get in contact immediately with or 

deliver in person the donations to any member of the Ukraine Short Term Mission. That's Crystal, Calvin, Colin, Tomson, Dan, or me, Andrew.

Finally, the Mandarin Congregation will be having their commissioning prayer for the Ukraine Short Term Mission in this week's service on July 5. The Cantonese Congregation 

and the Chinese Congregation will be having their comissioing prayers on the July 12 services.

We encourage you to attend a service on one of the above dates, to come in fellowship and offer these efforts to God together.

Materials Board Update

Thank you so much guys!

We've received dozens of donations and pledges over the past few weeks for the materials we will need to run G-Force with the House of Mercy. Thank you!

We are currently taking stock of what has been received, but we are well aware that a majority of our material needs have still not yet been met.

Accordingly, we will be extending our original deadline (June 14) to a new one, JUNE 30.

Finally, we also want to extend our gratitude to the families and individuals who have picked up a prayer card and "adopted" a House of Mercy family, child, or community group to pray for.

In the coming days there will be many spiritual battles waged, and praying will be the most important thing we can do to prepare for them. God will not let down the people who have been praying for us and for the House of Mercy. Please continue to pray for us.

Learning Ukranian, Slowly But Surely

добрий день!

As part of our weekly meetings, the Ukraine team is also going through a refresher on speaking Ukrainian!

Colin has been doing a great job of passing on the many words we will use. Each meeting, we review the previous words we learned, and also add a few more that Colin prepares from past material collected in previous mission trips to Ukraine.

Take, for instance, "Good day" - doh-breh-dan. добрий день. Cool, huh?

The rest of the team is doing great with the refresher; I am still working on my the pronunciation, though. On my last time over in Ukraine, I remember making kids smile or giggle just by talking in broken Ukranian. I like making people laugh, but I like impressing them even more. Wish me luck!

Calling All Prayer Warriors!

5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:5-7

Though we have been given an opportunity to glorify God through this short term mission, we cannot take for granted everything going exactly as planned, or pretend that our great enemy is not interested in us. Most importantly, we can't let our busy mindset stop us from talking with the Lord, who called us to this mission in the first place.

Please pray for us.

• Pray for our team, which consists of only six people, that we will have the power and the strength to go the distance for God

• Pray for clarity of purpose and communication, that the team would be attentive to God's voice, and that our Heavenly Father will make His will known to us as we take part in this mission.

• Pray for Ukraine; pray that Christ will bring peace and prosperity to a troubled realm, beset by violence and turbulence on one side, and material poverty on the other. Pray that this nation would come to trust more and more in the Lord.

• Pray for the House of Mercy, who will be hosting us for the short term mission. Pray that we will cooperate well with the House of Mercy during the mission, and that the hearts and minds of the children and the staff will be prepared for God's work.

• Pray for the Roma people. Ask that God continue to meet the needs of the Roma in all matters, and that they be abundant in all things, being first abundant in faith in Jesus.

• Pray for all the people supporting us. Praise God that He has raised up servants who would work in the harvest! Request that in all preparations for the short term mission, that all actions taken will bring respect and dignity to the name of Jesus Christ.