Day 7: Last Day

Last update from SK STM 2024

Dear Faithful Prayer Warriors,

Praise God we completed our mission trip at Turning Point Youth Centre today. We started off the day helping out at the annual fundraiser BBQ at the Home Hardware, we served over 120 hamburgers and raised $1,200 for the youth centre. God is an amazing Father and provider, He always provides more than enough for us.

In the afternoon, some of the youths at TPYC taught us how to make bannock (traditional Indigenous bread). Charlie, who is an aspiring baker, baked us some delicious cinnamon buns. Jean again cooked up a scrumptious meal of Malaysian curry chicken, char siu and spring rolls for our cultural exchange dinner.

The youths got together one last time to play some board games, Dutch blitz and video games.

After dinner we had the privilege of talking to Jeralee who was one of the ministry workers at TPYC until mid of July. Since then she and her husband Dylan had moved away to Nipawin, SK to further his studies at the bible college to become a Pastor. She shared her testimony with us and enlightened us about the Indigenous cultural belief, which can be a barrier for the First Nations People to accept Christ.

We said our last goodbyes to Belinda, Matt and Nick. We are very blessed to have this opportunity to work alongside them and see what amazing and much needed work they are carrying out here at Meadow Lake. We continue to pray for God’s provision and guidance as they continue to serve the youths in Meadow Lake.

Once again, we thank each one of you for your continuous faithful prayers for us. Without your dedicated support, we would not be able to complete our mission this week.

Pray requests :

•  Pray for the teens and locals in Meadow Lake that they will get a chance to come to know Christ

• Pray for Flying Dust Nation they would choose a chief that would be making choices that are for the betterment of their residents

• Pray for Waterhen Lake Nation as they continue to make plans for how to run their school for the children in the Fall.

• Pray for a safe drive back to Calgary and a restful weekend to prepare ourselves for returning back to work on Tuesday.

Signing off one last time from Meadow Lake, SK.

In Him,

SCCEFC SK STM Team.

Day 6:

Dear Prayer Warriors,

We wanted to share an update on our activities today and ask for your continued prayers.

Today at the youth centre, we organized a scavenger hunt with the teens. They had a wonderful time searching for objects that symbolize different aspects of the Christian faith. It was a fun and educational experience that helped them connect with their beliefs in a new and engaging way. Also some teens taught us how to make indigenous beading popsockets and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the volunteers and the board members from TPYC, it is for sure great to see the amazing leaders and volunteers that He had brought to the youth centre.

Additionally, we visited Flying Dust to see the reserve. It was an enlightening visit, and we had the opportunity to learn more about the community and its needs.

We have a few specific prayer requests:

1. Please pray for stronger relationships with the teens we are working with.

2. Pray that the BBQ fundraiser tomorrow goes smoothly and is a success.

3. Pray for the individuals on the reserve, especially for good leadership from the council and that God will work within the community.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We are grateful for your partnership in this mission.

Blessings,

SCCEFC Sask STM

Day 5:

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Thank you for praying for us this past week! We have very much appreciated all the prayers and support from you guys. Today was our second day helping out at the youth centre, as well as Door of Hope. We started our day early, cooking and cleaning at Door of Hope. Auntie Jean, our very good cook, was leading us to cook cheesy chicken rice with a creamy sauce for the people in Door of Hope to eat! It was delicious, and it went well. In the youth centre we did a tie dye shirt and sock activity that the teens seemed to really enjoy. That took up most of our time, so we just spent time having conversations with the youth and playing games. 

Please continue to pray for deeper conversations and a time where we can share the gospel with them without seeming to be uncomfortable. Please pray for our visit to the Flying Dust Indigenous Reserve, for good conversations and just being and showing God’s love.

Thank you all again for praying for us.

Blessings,
Sask STM team

Day 4:

Dear Prayer Warriors,

We wanted to share a quick update on our activities today at the youth centre. While there, we had the privilege of spending quality time with the teens, getting to know them and engaging in various activities. One of the highlights was our cooking session where we taught the teens how to make wontons and musubi. It was a great opportunity to learn new skills, cultures and also enjoy the delicious food together. We also had a sharing time where both Izzy and Jean were able to share their testimony. Their stories were powerful and it was a wonderful time that we spent with youth.

We kindly ask for your prayers for our continued interactions with the youth. Please pray that our efforts will be fruitful, that we will be able to build trust with the teens and that we can have meaningful conversations that touch their hearts. We hope to be a positive influence and a source of encouragement for them.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We are truly blessed to have you alongside us in this mission.

Blessings,

SCCEFC Sask STM 2024

Day 3:

This morning we attended The Door of Hope (the local food bank and a Christian organization that provides breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the locals that need help).

Praise the Lord, the first thing when we arrived at the door we met one of the board members (Bob) and he showed us around and we asked him how we can pray for them?

Here are the prayer items for Door of Hope:

1) Air conditioning - currently there is no air conditioning at Door of Hope and they are hoping to install air conditioning. (During the Summer, the building can get very hot for the staff and volunteers). And their kitchen also needs some renovation as well.

2) Beside The Door of Hope  there is a subsidized apartment for low income families called the Hope Center. Please pray for the 9 single families (who are supported by the supportive apartment family education (SAFE) program) to keep them away from substance addiction and help mentor them on how to take care of their kids and get back on their feet. After our tour, we started to help out with cleaning the kitchen and serving lunch to about 30 locals.

After we finished serving at Door of Hope we went to Waterhen First Nation and this week is their cultural camp where they teach the kids and teens about their own culture.

And praise the Lord we got to meet Lina, Dean and other residents. Dean is one of the council members and he has taught us a lot about their history and  culture.

Afterwards we had the opportunity to help out with food preparations and  cooking dinner. This was a great opportunity for us to have a good bonding and fellowship time together. At the end we also asked Dean how we can pray for them.

Here are Waterhen prayer requests:

1) Everyone in this community is safe.

2) Continue to keep this community's culture alive.

3) Pray for people who are suffering from addictions and growing up in broken families so that they will not get lost.

4) Pray for kids and teens growing up to know their direction.

5) Please pray for Dean. He has trouble sleeping and he wants quality sleep and wisdom in leading his community.

Thank you for all your prayers. It is through your dedicated prayers that God has opened the doors for us today. We had so many in-depth conversations with the local people.

Please find our prayer requests below:

• Pray that God's work in preparing and opening the hearts of those who will enter the Turning Point Centre;

• Pray for fruitful interaction and fellowship with the teens;

• Pray for team unity, safety and protection from Satan’s attack;

• Pray that we can be an encouragement and a support to the brothers and sisters in Meadow Lake.

• We appreciate all of your support and prayers on this STM journey.

Blessings,

SCCEFC Sask STM 2024

Day 2:

Day 2 - This morning we attended  our denomination church (Evangelical Free Church). We met lots of brothers and sisters, Belinda prepared lunch for us to have with them and Pastor Curtis prayed for us.  

- After church, Belinda, Matt (Belinda's husband) and Nick took us on a tour to Bethel Camp which is a kids camp that 4 Meadow Lake churches held together for the last 76 years tour and the girls also enjoy a short time of canoeing 

- At dinner time, we took all of the TPYC team out for dinner and got to know the background of Turning Point youth centre and we had a great conversation. Praise the Lord.

Please find our prayer requests below:

• Pray that God's work in preparing and opening the hearts of those who will enter the Turning Point Centre;

• Pray for fruitful interaction and fellowship with the teens;

• Pray for team unity, safety and protection from Satan’s attack;

• Pray that we can be an encouragement and a support to the brothers and sisters in Meadow Lake.

We appreciate all of your support and prayers on this STM journey.

Blessings,

SCCEFC Sask STM 2024

Day 1:

Dear Faithful Prayer Warriors,

Praise God we have arrived in Meadow Lake.

We received much support from our church. All three pastors from the different congregations along with mission committee member Cecilia, children’s ministry leader Crystal came to pray over us for the sending off of our team.

God was good and blessed our 7 hour drive. Thank you to Jean who drove us all safely here.

We met Belinda at Turning Point  Youth Centre and unloaded our items. Then we headed off to Judy and Tim’s house. This lovely couple have graciously opened up their home to host us for the week.

Turning Point Short Term Mission Team

We had a delicious dinner at Boston pizza and did some grocery shopping at Coop.
Looking forward to a good night’s rest and worship at the local evangelical free church tomorrow morning.

Thank you again for praying for us.

In Him,
Sask STM Team

2024 Short Term Mission: Turning Point Youth Center, Saskatchewan

July 21, 2024 Update

Dear Families & Friends,

Hope this email finds you well. 

It is coming sooo…..  soon 6 more days until we go on our short term mission trip! Thank you for your continuous prayers and support!

We continue to praise God as He continues to provide and open doors for the team each week! 

Last week we completed our training with Pastor Calvin and it was awesome. And we will continue to discuss and reflect on it during our trip. Today we also went to all 3 congregations for our commission prayer. We felt all the warmth and support from all the brothers and sisters~!

And here are the prayer request for this week:

Praise Items: 

God’s provision, our designated fund donation exceeds what we need. For the STM designated fund, we have received $4,964 and for the donation board we received  $305.60 for STM and $729.75 for TPYC. We give thanks to God and the generosity of the brothers and sisters.God’s answer to prayers and open doors. Earlier in the week I received the news that we will not be able to visit the Indigenous community and we will be serving at the door of hope which is great too. But God really answers prayers. On Wednesday I received the news from Belinda that one of the indigenous communities, Waterhen Lake First Nation, has invited us to their Culture Camp and also have dinner with them on July 29. Praise God for this exciting opportunity!

Prayer Items:

Pray that God would grant our team wisdom as we enter an unfamiliar community. Pray that He would give us sensitivity to opportunities to effectively bless the people we met.Pray for our safety as we are driving up to Meadow Lake. Pray for Jean & Beatrice as they will be driving the team. Pray that God will open the hearts of the teens at Turning Point Youth Centre, the locals at Meadow Lake, and the people from Waterhen Lake First Nation and Flying Dust First Nation for us to have the opportunity to build relationships with them.

Thank you very much for all your prayers! 

If you would like more information or have any questions, please feel free to contact [email protected]!