Timothy Trek

Join us in investing in the future through the young people of today.  Enjoy the fresh air, great food, prizes and community spirit while raising money for Youth Unlimited and Gull Lake Centre.  From casual strollers to race fanatics, we have something for everyone!  Click here to go to the Timothy Trek website for more information on the event on September 18th.
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Kenya Trip Blog

July 22, 2010

We just wanted to send a quick note before we fly and say that we have had a great day and a great time here in Kenya. It was life changing for all!  

See you on Friday and thanks for taking this journey with us.

Jake 

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July 21, 2010

It's hard to believe that this will be my second last blog posting; this has been a very quick trip!  Today has been a very special day because we have seen so much of God's creation here in Kenya.  Along with many other animals, we got to see elephants and what seemed like millions of wildebeasts.

Lunch was a secret to the team and very special for all of us. Just when everyone was getting a little 'over hungry' we pulled into the bush beside the Mara river and there was a beautiful lunch set up for us. It was amazing to dine while being serenaded by hippos and having a security guard armed with a gun watching for wildlife. This was a great last safari!

See you soon.

Jake

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July 20, 2010

Today we decided to take it a bit slower because everyone was getting very tired. We took the morning off and did a little shopping and went to the Talek clinic. Our group had a tour and were able to ask lots of questions about the clinic because it was a slow day.

Later on in the afternoon, we went on safari and stumbled upon something very interesting. The picture you see is not the interesting part... apparently lions are not shy. These two are on their honeymoon (according to our driver).

I also wanted to say thank you so much to all the donors that helped us purchase a cow. The special needs boarding home will be very happy.

Trying to make a big difference in small ways!

Jake 

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July 19, 2010

It was an early start for most of our group (except me) because they all went on a game drive at 6:15am this morning.  It is so amazing to see so many animals in their natural habitat and we have already seen many.  Today we are at Jacob's school here in the Mara and it is a lot different than the rest of Kenya.  The Mara is like walking back in time because it is so traditional.  We participated in classes in the morning and they had a traditional Masai concert for us which was great.  Jacob's school has progressed very quickly from 1999/2000 where Eric Rajah found Jacob teaching 9 students under a tree until today where they have over 300 students with 8 functional classrooms and three more on the way.  It truly is amazing.

This evening we will be visiting a traditional village where we will learn about the culture, and the boys will get to test their jumping skills.  We are all looking forward to it but the team is feeling really tired.  It is amazing how tiring travel really is.

I have heard some response to our desire to purchase a cow for the special needs school we visited just days ago but we are still short - if you are willing to pitch in please call our office.

Jake


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July 18, 2010

Today we left the Kericho area and started our journey to the Mara. It ended up being about a 7 hour trek with half of that being very rough road, but we made it and everyone is very excited to be here.

As I am writing we are already on Safari and have seen hippos, giraffe, zebras, wildabeasts and much more.

Tomorrow we will be heading into Jacob's school which is our last dstination. We all already feel like the end of our trip is coming too fast.

Jake

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July 17, 2010

It has been a very special day here at the Ndanai Small Home. This is a boarding home/institution that has 42 special need students, so it's amazing to see how innovative and creative they can be with so little. It has been a great day for our team that actually lost to the Kenya students at a game of soccer. The beat part of Ndanai and its students it that they are so happy.

We gave them two gift bags and they cheered for everything that came out of the bags. Special thanks to the ladies group and Melissa Kuipers for all the blankets they made - they are a huge hit!

One of the big needs of this little school that is doing so much for the disabled is a cow, so that they can save costs on milk. The cost of one good cow is about $450 (Canadian) and as a group we have gathered just over $100. I am wondering if anyone reading our blog might be interested in helping us make this simple need a reality. If you do feel led to help out please call Tania at our office at 403-755-7825.

Jake 

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July 16, 2010

Well as you can see from the pictures it was a bit of a challenge getting to the Kiprengwe school this morning - what an adventure! We were greeted at the school with beautiful singing and a great welcome. We spent the first part of the morning in their classrooms interacting and doing some teaching but after break it was all fun and games.

After being taught how...our girls were challenged to a game of 'Net Ball'. It was close at first but once our girls got the hang of it they won with ease. It was a lot of fun for the entire school to watch.

Then it was another soccer game and a volleyball game; it's so good to see sport break down the language obstacle.   We gave them a gift bag that they really enjoyed. We gave both their girls and boys soccer uniforms as well as a few supplies for the teachers.

We had to cut our day short because it started to rain and as you can see the roads are not very good.

Jake 

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July 15, 2010

It is a teaching day here at the Ringa school and I have heard nothing but glowing reports from all of our team. We did everything from singing to Bible to ocean life in Canada, so there was a broad range of subjects for the Ringa students to learn about.

In the afternoon the Ringa students put on a concert in appreciation for us coming and it was a lot of fun. Along with some beautiful singing, poetry and drama they had our entire team up singing and dancing with them. Soon it started to rain and believe it or not we fit the entire school into one classroom. They appreciated our gifts for them and also gave our team gifts as well. It was a great experience for everyone.

Jake 

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July 14, 2010

Jambo everyone!  It's hard to believe that we are already on our 6th day in Kenya, our time is going so fast. We have all settled into the Tea Hotel in Kericho and we are really enjoying it; the endless fields of tea are just too beautiful.

Today we began our day with a tea processing plant tour and it was really interesting. It is like a co-op where the farmers harvest their tea (all by hand) and sell it to the co-op and then it is marketed to the world. This particular plant sells the majority of its' tea to Lipton, so the next time you have Lipton ice tea you know that it was all hand picked.

After our tea experience we took the 40 minute drive to Ringa, and they sang and clapped as we drove into the school yard. It was wonderful! They are a very welcoming school, especially to people from Lacombe because of our community's huge generosity to them. It was a great feeling for all of us to know that we have made a difference in their lives, in addition to the washrooms, gutters and massive rain container that we built.

After the tour, our students headed straight for the classrooms, and Tara, Miranda, Glenn and I joined some of the parent council in digging a trench. The trench will go from their water well down to the new primary school to our water containers.


Jake

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July 13, 2010

AM - I hope you are all well at home. Today is our first day in the classroom and everything is going well. We are still here at EAMO so it's a nice place for our students to get their start. They are teaching everything from math to science to singing about snowmen and its all going great.

This afternoon we will heading to Karich with a quick visit at Ringa so it will be very hard for all of us to leave these kids that we have bonded with. Please pray for safe travels.

Just another quick note to let you know what kind of a difference our students are making... I had two orphans come to me today and ask about Jordan Graber who was on our last trip two years ago. They wrote letters to him for me to take back to him and still cherish the two hockey sticks we gave them.  
 

PM - Today was another good day - we started out by packing up and heading off to EAMO.  Today was our students' first opportunity to teach and we couldn't have picked a better place to get started.  All of them were involved in different ways from painting faces to teaching science; it was great to see them coming out of there comfort zone and doing so well with it.  After yet another late morning soccer challenge won by Kenya and some lunch, it was time to say good bye and that was not easy.  it is always amazing to me to see how close our students get to the kids in Kenya - there were tears and lots of love letters exchanged.
 
So, after a long drive it was off to Kericho and the Tea Hotel.  What beautiful country this is with rolling hills that are full of tea crops, and what an experience to see it all being picked by hand.  We have the rest of our day to rest us before we head to Ringa tomorrow to start our schools program and pitch in with some of the construction project that we have sponsored.
 
Jake
 
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July12, 2010

We are doing incredibly well here - I am quite impressed with our group.  We have already shared many incredible experience and lots of laughter together.  Last night was our first "interesting" experience with the food as we all ordered straight from the menu of the hotel.  Most of us were quite surprised with what ended up in front of us, but despite the challenge of eating something you are afraid of... we had a really good time.  I am happy to say that all of us are happy and healthy thus far.

Today we stopped at the markets again before heading to EAMO and I have to say... they are getting pretty good at this bartering thing!  It is so much fun for me to get to know the vendors and coach both our students and the vendors.  So after the purchase of a few scarves, a drum and a cool knife we were off to see the kids and do some more painting.  When we arrived at the orphanage they were all in school so we made short work of finishing up our painting responsibilities so we could hang out with the kids.  After a short lunch we had an epic rematch Canada (with some help) against Kenya, I am happy to say that today even with help we lost but had a great time.   Tomorrow we will be teaching at EAMO; it will be our students' first time teaching so we would appreciate your prayers. 

We also fit in a play with the kids at St Ann's today which is always fun.  We let half the group go to an internet place while the other half went to Ann's and then switched, and it is amazing to see how much our students miss technology!  I think you would agree that this trip is good in so many ways.  You will probably get messages from them online before you read this so I am sure its not a surprise.

After teaching at the orphanage (EAMO) in the morning we will be heading to our next location so we would appreciate your prayers as we travel.

Thanks and take care.

Jake

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July 11, 2010

We are doing very well today with the effects of jetlag finally wearing off. Today we started with some trinket shopping that was fun and entertaining for everyone. It was not all fun and games though, our students and leaders did a great job putting on two coats of paint on the new secondary classrooms at EAMO. Some paint got on the walls and some on us but all was good.

After painting, believe it or not, we beat the kids at their own game... soccer!  It was quite amazing and I think we are all still in shock that we won but their teacher assured me that we would not win tomorrow.

In the late afternoon we went to Ann's Baby home to have some fun with the kids and help with supper. All in all it was a great day.

Jake

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July 10, 2010

Yes we have arrived and are safe and sound. After an overnight flight and a quick tour of downtown London, all of us were ready for the overnight flight to Nairobi. By the time we finally landed we had a good balance of excitement and exhaustion. It was great for all the students to finally see what we had been talking about for a year.

We were travelling most of our first day with a few stops at the Rift Valley. It is always interesting to see the students' reactions to the culture, the sights and... bartering. I am not going to lie...I had to rescue a few of them.

We stopped just for a moment at Ann's Baby home, and we all instantly fell in love. We ended our evening with a nice supper and an early bed time. We have great things in store.

Jake

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Mexicali 2010 Blog

March 25, 2010

It is the end of day two and we have covered a lot of ground!  I have been driving the entire time and although I am really tired the trip has gone wonderfully.  This is our second night and we are already in St George Utah and looking forward to doing a prayer walk in Las Vegas tomorrow morning.  Ya... I know what you are thinking... "a prayer walk in Vegas".  Most people go to gamble or to see the lights but we will be praying and I am really looking forward to it.  We appriciate your prayers and look forward to reaching the border tomorrow night. - Jake

 
Vancouver 2010 Blog

April 2, 2010

Can you turn off the heat Greg?

A big lesson that we have been learning as we drive home is the inconsistency of the A/C in a 15-passenger van. The youth however have begun to cope by eating junk food and lots of Tim Hortons.

We have all leaerned alot on this trip and as the lifeteamers led us in a candle lit moment to remember just that, I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes. These 24 youth are my heroes. The way they entered into situations that have been scary and oozed compassion and love into them, gives me hope. These youth are going to make a difference in our world and if they can take what they shared last night and bring it into thier communities - Central Alberta will never be the same.

Yesterday was just so perfect.  In the morning we went to east Hastings and Main, and gave out free clothing and the 1220 pair of socks that we were able to collect through the sock drive.  I could explain it to you myself, but I think Ashton, a grade ten student from Lacombe, says it well:

It was really an amazing feeling to be able to give something so simple as a pair of socks or a t-shirt to someone and have it make such an impact!  I really enjoyed being able to ask people what they were looking for and helping them to find it.  It was kind of cool to think that what we think is just common courtesy for store employees to practice was something that these people seldom experience and maybe something so simple as a kind greeting and a smile could make their entire day!

After the free store, the youth got to experience a bit of the city I used to call home.  we travelled on the sea bus to Lonsdale Quay and had a scavenger hunt, went shopping in downtown Vancouver and got to see the Olympic couldron.  It was a perfect ending to this chapter of their journeys with God.  I am so excited to what is coming next.

We just passed Kamloops and this iPhone is hard to type with, so I'll say so long.  Get ready Alberta - we are on our way home. - Tara Davidson

 

 

March 31, 2010

Tuesday was a full day. The teams went to union gospel mission, the Vancouver food bank, and one team was toured around the downtown area by a man who was an Olympic torch bearer, and is transitioning from homelessness and poverty in the downtown east side. We all went to Lynn Valley Canyon, where we had a picnic lunch in the rain, and went for a hike to walk across the suspension bridge and enjoy the scenery. We also had an Easter egg hunt and talked about poverty and homelessness. - Jerel Peters

 

March 29, 2010

We split up into three groups today; Union gospel mission, life skills center and fransciscan sisters! Plenty of opportunities to serve and demonstrate compassion in places of poverty and homelessness.

Jenna's thoughts: It was actully very rewarding to serve them food; they weren't selfish or greedy about it at all.

Darcy's thoughts: Washing 70 windows was SOOO much fun!!!

 

March 28, 2010

Image After a long day of travelling we arrived in Abbotsford at the Lifehouse! After 13 hours it was so great to get out of the van. We  spent a few hours in the evening getting to know our team members and the Lifeteams students. We played a fun game of cops and "squatters" -  an exciting wide game that got us thinking about homelessness.

Sunday we had the luxury of sleeping in as breakfast wasn't until 8:30. After breakfast we went to Yarrow Alliance church - the pastor did a great monologue about Peter as a glimpse into his experience the week Jesus was crucified.

This afternoon we will have some small group time and watch a movie called "the small blue lens" - a documentary about the downtown eastside where we will have our free store later this week.  - Jerel Peters