Where feet may fail.

Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen! I hope you all take time this weekend to reflect on Jesus' death and resurrection that brought us freedom.

This song has been on my heart lately and I wanted to share it with you all. A couple of my favourite lines are:
"Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me.
You've never failed and You won't start now."

Blessings!
Carly

Meet the guys!

Hey everybody!
I hope wherever you are that it is sunny like it is here and that you're enjoying the sunshine! Today we had our second training day. All of the summer teams got together to talk about medical things, sharing our faith, eat lunch together, fellowship, and pray. It's so cool to see all of the students in one place who desire to serve God and who are doing that practically this summer through these missions trips.
And now it's time to introduce the rest of the guys on the team:

Dave Gariepy
Year: 2
Major: Nursing
Why Israel? "I have always been interested in Middle East and Arabic culture and Israel is melting pot of a wide diversity of different cultures, and traditions. I am extremely excited and feel privileged to witness and be a part of the work God is already doing in this land through his church. When one recognizes the nature of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis Christ-like values such as: forgiveness, reconciliation, showing love to one's neighbour, loving the widow and the orphan must be pure and necessary to bring stability to the region. I am thrilled and heartwarmed to see how God is working in this area of the world.
Verse: "But seek first his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself." - Matthew 6:33-34 "I have a tendency to get anxious about things. These verses remind me to seek God first, make him my top priority in life, and with him I have no reason to worry about circumstances in my life."
Random fact: "Food is my love language."
What we've learned about Dave in the last few months: Dave's heritage is French, and he can speak it pretty well. Dave sometimes gets people's names wrong. Dave is from Calgary. Dave's girlfriend is going to Cambodia this summer with Global Projects. Dave has a kind and gentle spirit.

Stephen Porter
Year: 4
Major: International Studies
Why Israel? "I have been drawn to the Middle East for some time. Why Israel and Palestine? Well, I want to get a sense of the true humanity of Palestinians and Israelis. With all the attention the conflict itself receives, I want to see first hand the reality on the ground. Though our time in Israel and Palestine is short, I have little doubt we will return with confidence that reconciliation and forgiveness is possible." 
Verse: "Matthew 25:34-40 speaks volumes about the compassion we as Christians must show."
Random Fact: "Before I was born, my father had some terribly unfortunate names that he wished to give me. I'm quite pleased to be a Stephen, as opposed to a Rupert, Perciforth, or various other absurd names he wished to give me."
What we've learned about Stephen in the past few months: Stephen spent last semester at the Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa. Stephen speaks in hilarious voices sometimes. Stephen is from Coquitlam. Stephen is quite knowledgeable about politics and international affairs. 

Colin Weeres
Year: 4
Major: Political Studies
Why Israel? "I have been interested in Israel for a number of years, and as both a Christian and a student of politics, there is something I find fascinating about the religious conflict in the region, and specifically the complexities between the Israelis and Palestinians. On a more personal note, it has been about five years since I have been on a dedicated missions trip, and I have been looking for the right opportunity to re-engage for just over a year." 
Verse: "Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens." - Exodus 18:21. "This was given to me recently in an entirely unrelated context and it struck me that it related well to the situation into which we are going."
Random Fact: "I absolutely love basketball!"
What we've learned about Colin in the past week or so: Colin has a very light course load this semester. Colin is the vice-president of TWUSA, our student association. Colin lives right by Nita's church. Colin is from... the interior? Not sure on that one. 

Our team doesn't know much about Colin yet because he is our newest team member! He joined us just over a week ago, and we're really excited to have him on the team. This is also the reason that you will not find Colin in the team picture that I posted earlier or that you may have gotten in the mail. 

As you can tell by reading just a little bit about my team members, I am going to be travelling with some pretty incredible people this summer! I am so looking forward to getting to know them even better and to become more united in our vision and purpose for this trip. 

I can't tell you enough how much your prayers and support mean to all of us. We couldn't pull this off without God or all of you. Please continue to pray that people will give generously and that all of our finances come in for this trip! 

Blessings on your weekend, 
Carly

God answers prayer.

This morning our team met, all EIGHT of us (more on that in a moment). Each time we are together I get more excited to spend six weeks with an amazing group of students who are passionate about this trip. Every time that we meet it is more of a confirmation that God put us all on this team for a reason. We are all very different and yet I can already see how our talents and gifting complement each other.

I am also overwhelmed by the number of people who are praying for us. Thank-you again! God has already been answering your prayers and our prayers!

- Nita's Canadian visa came earlier than she was expecting which is so great because now she can start the process of applying for a visa for Israel and possibly one for the UK.

- As I mentioned above, there are now eight members of our team instead of seven! Colin joined us just in the last week. It is wonderful to have an even number of team members and to have an even ratio of guys/girls. This will make things easier for homestays in Bethlehem, as well as other factors, some of which we're probably not even aware of! God works in amazing, mysterious ways.

God is so good! Have a wonderful weekend!

Carly

Faithful.

Hey family and friends,

Isn't it great how faithful God is?! He never ceases to amaze me. I love seeing his goodness in every area of my life, especially in the smallest details. I was reading these verses this morning: 

"But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath." 

- Deuteronomy 4:29-31

"'Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord." 

- Jeremiah 29:12-14

Thank-you for being faithful in prayer for us. Please continue to pray as our date of departure gets closer! 

Physical Health

Pray that our bodies will stay healthy and strong as we finish the semester. Stress levels are high as the semester comes to an end, and sometimes it can be difficult to remember to take care of ourselves as we take care of assignments and papers. It is really important that we keep our bodies physically healthy so that we can be in our best condition as we travel to Israel. 

Spiritual Health

Please pray also that we would all be making great efforts to stay really close to Jesus in this time. It is so important that we are seeking God's strength and direction daily. If we desire that God will work in and through us on our trip, it is vital that we are preparing our hearts through prayer and reading God's Word. 

ALSO correction on my last blog post: I wrote that we were leaving in less than two WEEKS that that is definitely NOT true. That would be a little bit insane, not to mention that would mean we would miss two weeks of classes and exams! Haha! Sorry for that typo, it is in fact less than two MONTHS until we leave. Which is still a relatively short amount of time. 

Thank-you again for your support, 

God bless! 

Carly 

On my absence, the girls, and prayer.

Family and friends,

This is a much overdue post. I apologize for my absence in writing; however, as most of you know, classes and assignments have a way of taking up so much time that there is none left except for a few hours to sleep, eat, and drink coffee.
But enough about that. It is less than two months until our team boards a plane to Israel! To be honest it doesn't even feel real, which I'm sure has something to do with that pesky schoolwork I mentioned. Our team hasn't met for a few weeks, but soon we will start meeting often, as there is a lot we need to accomplish before we go. Flights have been booked, support letters sent out, one team fundraiser complete and another in the works.

Please continue praying for us!
1. Pray that our meetings will be productive and time well spent in this busy season. That details will come together and we will continue to become united as a team.
2. Pray with us that finances will come in. Thank-you to all who have supported us already! It means so much to me and the rest of our team that you are passionate about the same things that we are and that you are willing to be generous to help make this trip happen!
3. Pray that each of us as students will work unto the Lord, that we would be diligent in our studies so that they may bring glory to God.

And I realize that I only introduced our team leaders to you but failed to introduce the rest of the team. So here are the girls!

Nita Augustin

Year: 4

Major: Psychology

Why Israel? "I want to be more connected to the history of Christianity (oftentimes I have heard people say that it makes the Bible come more alive) and to immerse myself in the life of the locals. I hope we, as a team, can get a more thorough understanding of the life of the people whom we serve. In that way, we are more educated about what is happening down there and not easily manipulated by what's presented in the media."  

Verse: "Romans 5:3-5. Paul admonishes his readers to rejoice in their suffering and to realize that 'suffering produces hope, and hoe does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.' Furthermore, in Romans 12;12, Paul calls us to 'rejoice in [our] hope, be patient in tribulation, [and] be constant in prayer' implying that we should maintain an unceasing conversation with God in times of prosperity as well as in time of trials." 
Random Fact: "We have 5 dogs and 4 cats at home, all of whom live peacefully side by side (surprising, eh?)" 

What our team has learned about Nita in the last couple of months: Nita is from Indonesia. Nita has a VERY joyful, boisterous, loud laugh. Nita does not eat gluten. Nita has a great tea stash, which us girls are very happy about. Nita has a sweet passport. Nita is very encouraging, and sometimes messages the team with an verse from Scripture or a thought about what she has been reading lately in the Bible. 

Dara DeJong

Year: 3
Major: Nursing
Why Israel? "I'm super excited to see what God is doing there, in an area of the world that is so drastically different than our own. I want to see how he's working in people's live, and how he will use me to help. Working with people is my passion, so I'm excited for that too. I also want to go because that's where Jesus lived his whole life! How could you not want to go?"

Verse: Romans 8:28-39
Random Facts: "I've broken my nose twice. I'm 100% Dutch. My last choice of superpower would be being able to fly. My favourite food is pancakes. My favourite colour is red red red."  

What our team has learned about Dara in the last couple of months: Dara is on the track team at Trinity. Dara loves to laugh. Dara has a lovely home that she opened up to the team to make Baklava. Dara lives on campus but her family lives in Abbotsford. Dara is very dutch. Dara can do chin-ups (incredible). 

Carly Lecuyer

Year: 3
Major: Nursing
Why Israel? "I have wanted to go to Israel for sometime, to see where Jesus lived and carried out his ministry. When this opportunity to go on a missions trip came up, I was very excited about the possibility of being able to travel to Israel not just as a tourist, but to be able to meet people living there and hear their stories. I am very excited about the possibility of working in a hospital while we are there, as I am nearing the end of my schooling to become a nurse and welcome any opportunity to use my skills in a practical way to help people."

Verse: "The Lord your God is with you, he is might to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his live, he will rejoice over you with singing."  - Zephaniah 3:27
Random Facts: "I am an only child. I love to sing."

What our team has learned about Carly in the last couple of months: This may be biased because Carly is the one writing this ;) Carly loves cats. It is best not to say mean things about cats when Carly is around. Carly has a hard time with a dirty kitchen. Carly loves to do dishes. Carly has been to Africa before. Carly wants to become a Pediatrics nurse. Carly is from Vancouver Island. 

Oh! And I realize that it's probably easier if you can put a face to these names, so here: 

Blessings,
Carly