July 28 Sunshine Coast

Funny how quickly time flies by! I have already been serving in Vancouver for two months now. My days are packed with bible studies, coaching, group meals, work projects (serving local community-houses by helping them garden and clean), meeting various ministries, and of course becoming an well-oiled community that intentionally seeks to reach people in our neighborhood. 

This past weekend, we took a ferry to Sunshine Coast. (There are so many islands around here, we never go to the same place twice!) We called it our "Listening Retreat" which concludes our first section of Nieu Communities. The goal was to get away from the city and take the time to process what God has been saying to us.

 

I think all of us would love the chance to spend a few days journaling, worshiping, and just being with God, right? I found it extremely helpful to be out of the city and to have nothing but God-time on my agenda. 

(This is me with Gray)

Of course, there were a few funny incidents we encountered. For one, the place was a zen-buddhist retreat center, so we were joined by all kinds of laughing buddhas in every room. My room offered the memoirs of Ghandi for evening reading. 

On Saturday afternoon, I wanted to use the kayak the center had, so I suckered Anjali and Emmanuel into taking the canoe out with me. Unfortunately, the canoe tipped within the first two minutes of their (first) canoeing experience (quite the funny sight!), 

so Emmanuel was left alone to row the canoe. It was a beautiful feeling sliding through the water in my kayak and I was immensely thankful we got to come here. 

When we got back to Vancouver, we immediately went in to party mode. It was Anjali's 34th birthday and the guests were coming in two hours. We hustled through preparing all the food and then the guests came. I wanted to mention this last event, since it was a great example of friends, neighbors, Christians, and non-Christians being welcomed in to our community. 

Our neighbors, Ron and Leslia, are atheists but are always eager to join in any event Nieu Communities hosts. Ron even wears the Nieu Communities baseball cap we gave him. 

Now, I am beginning the "Submerge" phase. I have chosen a ministry and will report more about that later. Cheers!