Chapel Review Weekending September 19th

Faith & Life

Patrick Preheim, pastor of Nutana Park Mennonite Church, visited chapel on Friday September 25.  He preached on the chapel theme “Seek First the Kingdom of God”, and related stories, complete with a slideshow, from his neighbourhood in Saskatoon. 

Patrick Preheim

Spiritual Retreats September 2014

The entire student body mobilized on September 14-16 to leave on 3 separate Spiritual class retreats.  Each retreat was grade and topic specific.

The grade 10's travelled 1 1/2 hours north to Camp Kadesh on Christopher Lake.  The grade 10's spent two days exploring the theme of 'Risking New Beginnings.'  Jim Epp lead the 4 sessions exploring the theme through the story of Esther and Moses.  Time was also dedicated to getting to know one another and having fun.  Monday morning was spent doing cooperative activities on Kadesh's adventure course. Monday afternoon was spent playing in the water and on the beach.  Thankfully the weather cooperated and the sun shone and the temperature was very pleasant.  However the water remained a chilly 54º!  Everyone gamely went tubing and many more than once despite  being dipped into the cold water!  Thank you again to John and Kathy Ayres and Uncle Duane for bringing the boat and driving all day.  Also a big thank you to Pat Hildebrandt for coming out and taking care of the kitchen and feeding us so well.

Kadesh

Risking New Beginnings

Crokinole Challenge!

Meals by Pat

Tori on ropes challenge

Robyn flies to safety

Brody balances on the tightrope

Vesley and Ivan work together

Water Fun!

Staying on was sometimes a challenge....

.... a challenge that was sometime lost!

We even had time for Austin to do a little skiing

Sharing meals together

Learning to work cooperatively

Madi, Ariane and Robyn leading singing by the campfire

Grade 10 Class

The Grade 11's spent their time at Camp Kinesao also on Christopher Lake.  The theme of the retreat was 'Solitude'.  Ryan Wood explored the theme with the students.    He suggested that it is important to set aside time to work on our personal relationship with God so that we can share God with others.  The students participated in a photo scavenger hunt.  The groups had to take pictures in different locations and in  different configurations They also spent time on and in the water.  The beach side sauna helped to take the edge off the cold water !  Great fun was had by all!

Duck Duck Goose!

Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Alexa, Jocelyn, Bailey and Amy chillin by the water

Game time

Session singing

Canoeing

Kayaking

Reanne, Erika and Katie prepare to brave the water

Weiner Roast!

Grade 11 Class

The grade 12's travelled the other directions to Beaver Creek just on the other side of Saskatoon.  The theme of their retreat was 'Relationships'.  Pastor Patrick Preheim ( Nutana Park) and Pastor Craig Neufeld ( RMC) lead 3 sessions.  The first explored our relationship with God, the second with community and the 3rd centered on personal relationships.  Activities for the retreat included hiking to a sacred burial ground, glow in the dark ultimate frisbee and a coffee house.

Pastor Craig and Pastor Patrick

Affirmation activity

Let's play ball!

Coffee House

Adam shares his talent

Hiking in the sunshine

Play time!

Never to old!

Glow in the dark frisbee

The Grade 12 Class

Final Blog Entry

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ALSO Alabama 2014 - Final Post

Just a few final words to sum up the rest of our trip.  We spent the final morning all working on the 3rd house on Roslyn Crescent.  It was a sight to behold.  All 28 students and 10 chaperones swarmed the house and began siding the exterior from every direction trying to cover every square inch before it was time to go.  We made impressive progress and managed to almost complete the job in 3 1/2 hours!  Only a portion of one of the front wall remained. 

One of the three houses our group worked on in the same area.

Students worked from every side of the house.  Some measured(sometimes twice), some cut (sometimes more than twice!), some used the power nailer, while others caulked and painted the siding.

Carefully measuring using the imperial system of feet and inches.

Katie and her dad work on a section of the house.

The nailer works better if you squeeze yours eyes shut at the same time!

Wayne and his crew kicked up a lot of dust!

Measuring and cutting siding.

Preparing the roof for drywall.

We tore ourselves away from the house at noon to return to Camp Christian to quickly shower and clean the camp in preparation for our long trip home.  It was an awesome week.  We had so many fantastic experiences and interactions with others and within our group as well.  On our trip we presented Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church, Camp Christian, and Habitat for Humanity with a portion of the funds raised in our 'Have a Heart' fundraiser.  We benefit so much from all three of these groups that it was very fulfilling to be able to give back to them as well.  

As you may have heard we had some mechanical troubles with the bus on the way home and got delayed in small town Iowa for several hours. The people there were patient with our group and were very accommodating.  Our bus driver managed to locate the part we needed only 25 miles away!  After we got on the way again we decided to drive through a second night to arrive home safely and just slightly ahead of schedule.

A special thank you to all that made the trip not only possible but such a great learning experience for our students.  These people are too numerous to begin to name!  Thank you for following our blog and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as we travelled, learned and served.

ALSO Alabama 2014