Following The Way

The Beauty of Congo

2012-03-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

Well we have officially passed our 5 month anniversary ofbeing ‘official’ missionaries in the DR Congo. (I know 6 is the usual one but5’s a good number too :-P)

In those 5 months we have done many new things and manythings that I would probably do in some fashion or another if I was still inCanada. But the majority of ‘unofficial’ time has been spent trying to figureout where we fit in this big world of aviation and of missions. We have mademany mistakes and I hope I can say with the agreement of others that we havehad successes as well.

As we live in Kinshasa DRC, which is a city of approx 8-12million people (big spread I know) because this is such a big centre there is avery large international community we have had to privilege of getting involvedin a international youth group which includes kids from all over the world aswell as from here in Congo.

Every year they do a youth retreat for the youth group hereso to choose a place to do it so a couple of weeks ago us and a fellow youthleader took a drive out of Kinshasa into the country side! Now Nick gets outall the time and is able to visit little villages but this was my first trip outside of the crazy city ofKinshasa and how it was wonderful it was. The Congo is really a very beautifulplace. Nick gets out all the time and is able to visit little villages

We drove 2 hours and arrived at our first destination a WWFfunded botanical gardens and it was HUGE! I have heard that anything will growin the Congo but I was quite amazed they have brought almost every type of treefrom around the world and planted them here and I’m not to sure if any failedto grow.

Then on we went to ‘les grottes’, which are some cavesystems that apparently run on for hundreds and hundreds of miles. It was quitethe off roading adventure to finally arrive at the mouth of the caves where wewere greeted by several men and were informed that it was going to be 100$ forus to take a tour of the caves and 10$ for every camera you bring inside…100$!!!! Whatttt, Nick tried to negotiate and found out that no matter how manypeople you bring it is 100$, so if you bring 40 or just 3 its 100$ (which isgood to know for our youth retreat) But no matter how hard we tried we did notget the price down, the man even had a document saying that it was 100$ accordingto the government or something like that. Haha so we told him we would payafterward and off we went for our 100$ cave adventure, we hiked about 1kilometer into this cave… which reminded me a little bit of a under groundkingdom, it was HUGE, high ceilings and hundreds of kids names written all overthe walls (its not a very preserved cave.)

To be able to make it back to town before midnight westarted to make our way back to Kinshasa, the drive was beautiful… up until wegot into Kinshasa, where we hit traffic… and lots of it.

Drivers here are crazy! Well I guess there just really arntany rules and no one really listens to the police. So if people here see anystretch of road that does not have a car on it they feel like it is their rightto drive there, even if it on the other side of the road, or a side walk… or aditch really anywhere you can fit you car…

So this evening the problem was thatthere was a box truck that must have gotten a flat tire facing the wrongdirection in the middle of the lane, with all the tires taken off. If your carbreaks down here, you just leave it right were it broke down, no need to pushit off to the side or something. So anyways this is a major road, which is theonly road out of Kinshasa in this direction, so there are lots of semis andother vehicles as well and it was down to one lane of traffic. However usvehicles 5km back had no idea about this issue, and because of the felt need tofill up all road space when people driving into town saw there was not trafficleaving town they would drive down the other side of the road so that at thisone area beside the box truck was suddenly the conversion of 2 lanes on eachside of ‘one way’ traffic… needless to say no one was going to move first… Soafter sitting in the car for about an hour Nick and our friend (who are bothvery tall men) decided that they would go and help direct traffic.

So off they went to find this wonderful situation happeningand everyone just standing around looking at each other. They then recruited 4police, 1 army general in a suit and a young teenage boy that came up and askNick and our friend if they were ‘experts’ and was very surprised and excitedwhen they told him that he would help if he wanted to. During that time theypushed several cars out of the way and push started several others. By the timeI got to them they were having the time of their lives and stated that they nowknow what to do on a Saturday night if they are bored. One of the things that our friendrealized was that when he was first trying to direct traffic he was justtelling people what to do but then had this God thought of thanking them fortheir cooperation and telling them how much he appreciated them and he saidthat the responses from people changed immediately, it was like they didn’tknow what to do with being thanked but they stopped yelling as much and didwhat they were asking them to do… We are interesting, humans I mean, arn’t we? When we truly put intopractice, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ how even the most belligerent peoplestop and recognize that a need deep in their soul as been fulfilled.

So now the youth retreat finally tomorrow, hopefully we havebetter traffic :-)

Why Canada!?

2012-02-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

So I always read lots of different peoples blogs, and they post their decisions about why they are doing things and what happened, and me the curious person that I am says to myself... "Well why did you decide that!?" Not that its usually bad things, I just like to know... well... why.

And many of you are probably wondering that now. "Why have you decided to go back to Canada to have Ninja other then stay in Africa like you said you were going to?"

Well that is a very good question and I will try my best to answer it for you.

We had thought that we would probably have children during the time that we are here in Africa, and before we left I thought to myself that it would be much easier and cheaper if we just stay in Africa to have the third addition to our family. So that was what we were going to do, we were looking at South Africa and Kenya or even Belgium and felt very confident in all 3 of these places, they all have excellent medical care and I was not worried at all that I would not receive adequate care. So off I went looking into the different places, and I thought to myself if I am going to one of these awesome places I want to be able to go around and see stuff. (because I must fly about a month and a half before the due date) So I just didn't want to sit around and do nothing, then I came to the full realization that Nick would only be able to come 2 weeks before I'm due so where ever I went I would be hanging out by myself or with other people friends for a month! Even if I am in a cool place its not very fun if I don't get to go and see it with someone else!

(Nick during this time was silently hoping that we could just stay in Kinshasa, so that we wouldn't have to travel and just have our baby here, until our Doctor that did all of her schooling said she was also going out of country to have her baby, then he thought maybe it was a good idea)

Its always funner with someone else. *sigh* Also then I would have to pay for a place to stay for about 2 1/2 months, owwwwweee even if I stayed in a hostel of some sort it would incur quite the cost. Then of course paying for food and hospital bills. So I was at a loss, what shall I do, I said to myself. I wanted this to be a fun relaxing time to enjoy having our first child. But none of these options felt right, no matter how glamorous.

Then was the moment where God gave me a big kick in the butt and said "Hey, what about the option that you said that you would never do... stop being so selfish" Pfffft me selfish... ok maybe sometimes. But the hassle of going ALL the way back to Canada to... hang out with my family, spend some time with friends, be able to show off our new born child... maybe go to Jasper... wait a minute... This actually sounds like lots of fun! (God always knows best doesn't he.) So God had the last word as he usually does, he knew all the prayers being prayed, and how much it would mean to our families to meet their first grandchild, how much fun and enjoyable it would be for us, and really... it ends up being cheaper. (Well maybe not after I bring back a bunch of good ol' Ontario maple syrup for all of my co-workers :-P)

So we are not coming back because we were worried about citizenship, or healthcare, lions eating our child or because I wouldn't be able to handle giving birth in a different country. But because God said so, he knew just how important it is for a family to experience the first grand child being born and how I would appreciate their love and support, of who no one else can replace.

As to where we are going, what we are doing or how you can help if you wish. That will have to wait for next time. We will be finding out in 19 days if Ninja will have a pink lil touque or a blue one.

Until then! Thank you for all your prayers, and those who prayed we would come back to Canada, whatever your reasons, or those just praying we would do what was right for us; God heard and answered.

new year, new baby; nouvelle année, nouveau bébé

2012-02-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

Hello, (français en bas)

Nick playing soccer in the Stad!

Yup, for those who haven't heard we are starting off this year expecting! We discovered God had blessed us with a child just before Christmas and after confirming with a doctors appointment we broke the news to our family on new years eve. Jocelyn is doing well and we continue monthly appointments with a wonderful doctor here in Congo. The due date is June 30 and we plan on having the baby in Canada!


Serenity and Ninja hanging out!

After the holidays we've gotten back into the full swing of work, school, church, youth group, etc. Jocelyn has decided to change Universities to continue her psychology degree due to logistical details with the former school. She continues now, one course at a time with Grand Canyon University and hopes to handle the lighter course load throughout pregnancy and infancy :)

Interesting flights for me in the last month have included: flying monkey researchers to the jungle and back (people researching monkey's, not the other way round :), bringing sick mothers/children to receive care in the city, delivering bibles and missionaries to there jungle posts, and more! MAF's link and networking capabilities continues to astound me as we meet more people and organisations here.

God continues to open doors for us and we are eager to explore what He has in store. Lately this has been things like: soccer in the national stadium, preaching in french and english churches, visiting a botanical gardens, venturing through underground caves, getting our youth to hang out with a local Congolese church, and much more!!! Check out the blog and facebook for more info on these and other adventures!!

Keep the faith, and may the faith keep you...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Salut,

Yup its real!

C'est vrai! Nous allons mettre au monde un enfant cette année. On a découvert la bénédiction de Dieu avant Noël et après l'avoir confirmé, nous avons informé nos familles la nuit de nouvel an. Jocelyne va bien et elle continue des rendez-vous chez le médecin ici à Kinshasa une fois par mois. La date en question sera le 30 juin et nous avons décidé d'aller au Canada pour l'accouchement!

Après les temps des fêtes nous avons pleinement redémarré la vie de travail, d'école, d'église, de la jeunesse, etc. Jocelyn a changé l'université avec laquelle elle étudiait à cause des problèmes logistiques. Elle continue ses études de psychologie maintenant avec Grand Canyon University. C'est toujours par correspondance mais ce sera une course à la fois pendant cette periode des bébés :)

Les voles intéressants que j'ai fait ce mois consiste de: transporter jusqu'au jungle des chercheurs des singes, amener les mama's malades ainsi que leurs enfants en ville pour soins de santé, livrer des bibles ainsi que des missionnaires aux petits villages et beaucoup plus! Les liens de MAF m'étonnent au fur et à mèsure que je rencontres des organisations et des personnes avec lesquelles nous travaillons.

In the caves... the darkness makes you a little crazy o_O

Dieu ouvre continuellement des portes et nous les entrons avec anticipation pour ce qu'il a caché là dedans. Recémment ça comprend des choses comme: jouer au soccer au stade national, prêcher dans les église anglophone et francophone, visiter un jardins botanique, parcourir dans les grottes sous-terrain, mettre ensemble notre groupe de jeunesse avec une groupe locale, et plus! Venez voir notre blog ou facebook afin d'y connaître davantage!

Gardons la foi, et que la foi nous garde...

Water

2012-01-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you that I LOVE to shower! I love it, sooo much. I have very fond memories of falling asleep in a Hot shower at 6:30 in the morning in the middle of winter as I was supposed to be getting ready for school. Also while I was in the slower I would have my clothes sitting over the furnace to warm them up and if I had thought ahead I would have ran and quickly (without my mom seeing :-P ) turn the thermostat up so that they would be extra warm.
Then when I went to live in a warmer climate in Oklahoma, I still loved showers, I would marvel at my roommate who could have the shortest humanly possible shower time in the world, I promise 2 min flat her hair/body could be washed and even legs shaved! I just could neverr do it, I love standing under that shower too much.

So now that you realize how much I love to shower you probably cringe to think about the amount of water that I have wasted just standing or sleeping underneath it. I have no idea about how much that would be, but its alot.

Our water filter

This is something that I have known for a long time, so before I came to Africa I thought to myself, maybe living in Africa will teach me how to better manage my water usage. But the idea sort of slipped my mind over the past couple months as we have had awesome water coming to our house, and also that we live about 2 km away from the second largest river in the world, we should never be out of water... Right? Well I'm the newbie, you can forgive me for my ignorant thoughts.

About a week ago I vaguely heard from our landlord we were low on water, but there was really nothing said to conserve water or anything like that, so I go on like my normal self, continue to take my Jocelyn length showers and I'm as happy as can be, until IT happens, the thing that I had no worry about happening... We ran out of water... and I am terribly unprepared, very very unprepared.

I had been doing a little bit of cleaning before it happened, and we usually have this bucket in the shower that if the power is out (Because we are on the second story we don't have gravity water pressure so if the power goes out then we don't have water coming through the pipes but our land lords usually turn the generator enough so we can fill up our filter) then we can flush the toilet. However since the bucket sits in the shower it gets soap it in and other dust stuff, so I had just dumped it out to clean it out.

We have a cooler of water in our room and also our water filter in the kitchen, I sometimes leave the filling of the filter to Nick since it gets heavy when it is full of water and if I don't want to sit there and transfer water from a pitcher. So the water filter was pretty much empty and our cooler in our room was also almost empty cause I usually fill up water to drink at night from there...

Everyone that was at the soccer game!

Now we probably could have dealt with this quite well other then the next day, while we still had no water, we had planned a soccer game. It was our outreach event with the youth group. So we were playing a Congolese youth group and we were supposed to provide the water. MAF owns a house here in the Congo and because of water distribution issues we dug a well at the property that we own, which is super awesome but also not super cheap because of where we are, they had to dug very deep to strike that liquid gold. But they did it and off Nick went on a adventure to get water, it took about 2 hours to transfer everything over, then once we finally had water we have to filter it, which take about 1-2 hours for 10 liters to filter through... We were able to fill up our one cooler and the Congolese group was only supposed to bring like 20 people so it will be alright. But then we get the school where we are playing and they had brought about 60 people and we had about 25 youth so that is 85 people that I have to provide water for... Now I will also mention that it was about 35 degrees and we were playing on a field in direct sunlight; I may have freaked out a little bit.

I went running around to all the houses around TASOK to ask anyone that I knew if they had filtered water to be able to help us out so I didn't have people passing out on the soccer field. I took me about a hour and a half to finally find about 10 gallons of filtered water to give to everyone. Wow, I never thought that would have been such a issue, if I was a home I would have grabbed a hose and told them just to drink from there... but that is not exactly possible here. Did you know that "In the DRC, the state water utility does not have the ability to improve its water pumping system, because they lack the funds to undertake the project. Instead, they continue to pump water to needy areas through rusty, decaying pipes." Ref link So I can not exactly just hand over the hose.

5 gallons of water

Water... What do we think about water... I knew that there were water issues in the world, but you know it never really impacted me before. It never had a impact on me before...

Did you know that out of 16 peer countries of most water consumption Canada is 15... Just right behind the US. Canada has a tenth of the population of the US and we are just right behind them on water consumption. Ref link I am ashamed. I know for a fact that my Jocelyn length showers don't out a huge dent in that but it is just down right irresponsible. Yeah we still have lots of water, and we use it for lots of different types of industry and agriculture but is there not a way to conserve just a bit?

Did you know that "The UN suggests that each person needs 20-50 litres of safe freshwater a day to ensure their basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning." Ref link So if we look at the min of that... that 20 litres, 5 gallons. Can you do everything that you need to do with 5 gallons of water? oh Jocelyn... do you love your showers that much to dump all 5 gallons over yourself when you need to cook and drink as well... or will you save it after you clean yourself and drink it after... wow... could I do that... Can I imagine that...

Did you know that "93% of the urbanization occurs in poor or developing countries, and nearly 40% of the world's urban expansion is growing slums." Ref link That means people are moving to places like Kinshasa with their decaying pipes, away from fresh water sources maybe in the middle of nowhere, so maybe get a job in a city of 10 million people, and they can not afford filters...

Back up drinking water

We need water, when we were without I realized that you can't use the toilet, brush your teeth, do your dishes, wash yourself, drink anything and cook most things...

Sometimes the bible comes alive to me, like in John when Jesus says that he is the living water. Now that we realize just how much we need water, it is in us and without it we could not exist. Jesus says he is the living water, without him we would not be here and with out him we can not continue to be. I think to understand the true significance of Jesus saying that he is the Living water can only really come from a true understanding of just how much we need water, good, clean living water.

^{john 13} Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

He is He! The hope! The source of our living water.

Baby bump!

2012-01-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

So I believe that it is time for a update on Ninja! (Which is the baby growing inside of me) I am currently 17 weeks pregnant and due June 30th! I found out about a month after I got pregnant but wanted to wait to announce it to the world until I had the chance to go to the doctor which because of elections here in Congo we did not get to go until right after Christmas.

13 weeks

Ninja is doing well, I didn't have too much morning sickness, I did have some evening sickness randomly but nothing really too terrible. All the things I read say that this is the point where I will be getting bigger much faster so maybe I will look really pregnant one of these days.
We are going to a Dr Bila, and she is a SUPER nice lady. She lived and went to school in Belgium for 16 years but is Congolese. She is also pregnant and going back to Belgium to have her baby.
We will not be have our baby her in the Congo. Nick was hoping that we could for some reason make it work then we wouldn't have to leave but our Doctor and many other people have said that its Okay to have a baby here as long as everything goes perfect, but if anything doesn't go perfect then there really isn't any medical services for the baby or I.

17 weeks

We have several different options on the go at the moment, but nothing has been decided for sure but I think for ease sake we might be looking more toward South Africa. But I donnnno maybe somewhere in Europe, Olympics are going on you know :-P

But other then that I have another appointment next week sometime where I think we will get to hear its little heart beat which should be fun! Let me know if you have any questions or if you have any suggestions about where the little one should makes it's first debut!

2012-01-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

My Wonderful Wife

Jocelyn loves cooking. She really does lose herself amidst therecipe, flour, oven, music, and kitchen accessories. I love seeing her happy in whatever she isdoing and just knowing that something brings her joy warms my very soul.

She can become entranced while taking aphotograph. Like nothing else in theworld exists except her specimen and the eventual amazing snapshot of it.

Knowing that God brought us togetherthrough a series of rather interesting events, solidifies the fact that she isindeed a gift from above.

I will love her the rest of my life. Even when I clean up after her ‘explosion’ inthe kitchen or listen to her rants. ForI love her warts, her beauty, her mistakes, her wisdom, her misunderstandings,her faith and all.

Does Congo have Christmas too?!?!

2012-01-03T03:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas! Without snow, and tons for family events or traveling for hours and hours to see everyone! I did not think that I was going to make it! This was officially my first year of not seeing my family for some sort of family event, most of the ladies that I talked to said that their first Christmas on the Mission Field was the most difficult. I had thought that I had mostly got myself to a point in my life were I was totally Okay with being uncomfortable and that I didn't have toooo many traditions that I relied on, but OH was I wrong. I realized how much I LOVE and appreciate Christmas with my family, they are so much fun and anyone is welcome, friends, family, extended family, extended extended family. So as Christmas approached how was I supposed to duplicate the fun and amazing times that I have had with all my family over the years; then I figured out, I cant.
There is no way to replace the wonderful times and the family that I have, but what I can start to do is learn from their love and care and try to make some of my own traditions that I love just as much but do not replace the wonderful experiences that I have had.
So we decided that a now traditional Christmas dinner includes BBQ'd steak and no turkey! And Christmas morning we have Crepes! We also got our kitty a Chrismas present which was soooo funny.

So that is all of the new Christmas traditions that we implemented into our lives this year but as we grow as a couple and a family I hope that we can emanate the love and care that I grew up with our family's and use that to love on other people around the world!

But other then that we were able to do many fun things during the Christmas season! We were able to host a Youth Christmas party which was tons of fun! I have never worked with such an amazing group of Kids. We even found a dead Rat..... :-S hahaha it was gross.

I also got to go to the TASOK (The American School Of Kinshasa)'s Christmas assembly which one of our MAF coworkers is the music teacher and she did a awesome job of putting to together last minute because there were lots of canceled school days because of elections.

Every year MAF does a outreach in the hanger at the Airport for all of the officials and workers there. We had some songs sung, people to pray and a message shared. we gave out about 200 bibles and coke and bread to everyone.

Christmas eve we went to some WONDERFUL Canadian friends and had a awesome turkey dinner which I made perogies for and they were a hit! They are probably one of the most time consuming things to make but they are sooooo worth it!
Then we spend Christmas day at our place calling our families, we even woke up at 6am to call my family on their Christmas eve!
So over all it was a awesome Christmas season even though I love and miss both of our families and there is nothing that will ever replace them.

I hope that everyone also had a wonderful Christmas season no matter where you were or who you are with!

Elections

2011-12-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

Nick got to be an election observer supervisor on election day, and with his fancy little badge he got to take pictures as much as he wanted and no one said a thing. Which is pretty much awesome. So him and 3 others traveled around to about a dozen election stations to check on observers that were trained through the ECC. (The Church of Christ of Congo) There were many issues with people being able to find their names, every person running for any type of office was aloud to have a 'witness' at every election station if they wanted, so some stations had about 100 witnesses and some had none.
It started to rain about half way through the day, and here in Congo when it rains, everything just sorta stops, even if its inside. So when it started to rain, (and Congo rains aren't really a light sprinkle) they just sorta stopped taking people to vote and it was something that everyone sorta expected, even though it makes no sense to us.
Some places around the Congo did not get to Vote on the official voting day because they had not received the ballots, so they got to continue to vote 2 or even 3 days after.

This is what Nick wrote about his election experience

"It was an amazing opportunity to learn about DRC culture,politics, society, and history. Only the 2^nd chance these people have had to vote and I gotto be there as an official observer!

For a country that is really just discovering its identityin this world, I thought the Election Day was a success. Many people were able to vote and over50% of the population showed up eager to have their say in who leads them inthe global arena.

It is difficult to describe the details of the day withoutunderstanding the context in which these elections took place. The past of this country is paintedwith so many diverse events that all shed light on what will happen in itsfuture.

As the day began the storm was building. The rain has a way of making time standstill in Congo. It’s not so muchthat time stands still but it causes all creation here to stop. It is as if God organizes a rest forthe land and provides it with refreshing perspective. Weather changes moods, and during the voting the rain deliveredpatience and peace.

Many will remember the day they voted but now everyone ismore focused on looking to what the results of the 2^nd election willshow."

So now the election results came out a couple days late, but they were announced as Kabila having won (Not official now until the 20th of Dec. They have until that date to dispute the result.) In between the election and the results nothing was really going on in Kinshasa, no taxis running, so no one going to work, since no one going to work, the bread factories were not running, the markets were mostly closed. So all in all there was not much food being sold. So after a couple days people were going hungry (most people here do not have fridges.) And hunger and anger together are not a very good mix. So luckly after the results were announced the weekend was a little tense but then Monday rolled around and taxis were running, markets were selling and there was bread being made. So from our little eyes it looks like Kinshasa is back to its old self, bad traffic and all.

We are not exactly too sure about what happen next week there are many irregularities

"Then there are the suspicious turnout figures. In several districts, turnout was almost 100%, rates the Carter Center finds "impossibly high." This was the case in several territories of northern Katanga, Joseph Kabila's home turf (or, to be more precise, that of his father). The problem was not just the high turnout, but the fact that it coincided with almost 100% support for Kabila. In the territory of Malemba Nkulu, for example, turnout was 99,46%, with not a single one of the 266,866 votes going to anyone but the incumbent. In Kabongo territory, Kabila also received a perfect score (turnout was 91%), while in Manono, where Kabila received 99,98% of the vote, turnout was 100,14%...

Finally, the process was flawed. Ballots were seen transported by private means - in several cases even by candidates - and in some cases ballot bags were opened and altered in violation of official procedures. The Carter Center suggested that in 15% of the compilation centers, security personnel could have influenced compilation; they also pointed out that some election official obstructed access for observers, including in the National Results Center in Kinshasa. In one flagrant case in the capital, the compilation center was closed and when it re-opened a large number of ballots had gone missing...

I should emphasize that none of the observers I have spoken with has weighed in on what he or she thinks the real results were. Tshisekedi would have to win 1,5 million votes and Kabila lose the same number for the final results to change." -Written by Jason Stearns from the Blog Congo Siasa

Now I do not know much about politics, especially Congolese politics, but one of the opposition candidates is taking the legal route for disputing the results which is very exciting, and the other doesn't trust the system so will not.

So we would love your prayers, to pray for the powers at be, that are making all of the decisions in offices and meeting that I have no idea what is happening. It is easy just to say I would like them just to declare something and let it be over with so life will return as normal, but I do not want that to be the Goal. I would like the goal to be a free and fair Congo, so even if things are a little tense it is just the birthing pains of a New DR Congo. I know that the Lord has a plan for this place and is calling people in high positions to himself, to be fair and just. I believe it is much harder here to be a honest person then not, because if you are honest you are much easier taken advantage of, but that it what we long for, Love, Honesty, Justice. I do believe it is possible. Yes, yes I do. Who will believe with me?

Not here to save the Congo...

2011-11-23T10:53:00.001-08:00

The world is a interesting place is it not? Well here in Kinshasa, Congo it is much more different then I have experienced. But the most interesting thing and probably the things that everyone that may be following news of the DRC is that in approx 5 days there is the second ever democratic election.

Fishing boat

Now this makes for a very interesting life style, and as you probably also have heard the last election was just a little bit rough, but this time around the Congo has had lots of time to think about what to do... well sorta.

Pepe our driver bargaining the price for us to be able to take pics

I have to remember that this is a country that has been through alot and I'm not to sure it knows how to get out of it. Modern convinces of the western world have given this place the North American idea that when I want something now I can get it now, but the problem is that here there is tons of work to be done and it is going to take a really long time.

Making gravel

Also imagine living in a culture that you are raised that you do any job that comes up and you are the perfect Jack of all trades, but never to specialize in anything, cause why pay money to learn something else when right now I can have 5 dollars from doing this little job. Now we as north American can see the flaw in that thinking, because we are future thinkers, but I believe because of all the uncertainty that this country has experenced, you never know what will happen tomorrow let alone a year from now.

Election posters

I had someone tell me this, and I have passed it on to many people but I think it is something important to understand about the people here. If you were to ask a normal run of the mill Congolese person on the street what they would be doing in 5 years, it would be like asking us what our great-great-great-great grandchild will be when they grow up. It just doesn't make sense.

All banners for different people running this election

So now for the election you drive around and see TONS of people running for something or other, and I have heard that the election ballet is 57 pages long.... 57 PAGES! Thousands upon thousands of people running for some sort of office. Who wants to go and vote and look through 57 pages... wow... So like I said not really thinking ahead.

Burning garbage

I have also heard that it takes 8 times of doing something to make a habit but like 10 times that much to break it. So over the last 100 years this country has never known what is going to happen next, how do you teach a one person, let alone a generation that they are able to think and invent and plan for themselves, that they don't have to wait for someone else they themselves can make a change.
Wow sometimes the task ahead just looks to big doesn't it...
Now I am not here to save the Congo, I'm not really even here to change the Congo. All the NGO's in the world can not change the Congo into what we believe is a functioning fair truly democratic country.
But like all habits, it is going to take a very long time, to get where? I'm not really sure. The goal isn't to make them into another north America...
I do believe (I know that some will disagree with me) but I do believe that the bible really does give some very strong advice on how to live a fulfilled and satisfied life. We can start as simple as, don't steal, don't lie, don't murder, treat others as yourself and Love the Lord your God will all your heart soul and mind.

Moving rocks to be crushed

I do not believe that with out God there can be a permanent life giving change. But I can not just tell people all day long just to believe in God, teaching, and school are soo important.
That is why I love maf because we seek to spiritually and physically transform.
So I'm not to sure if I was trying to say a whole lot, or making any sort of point, or just trying to hash out the thoughts that have been going through my mind while I have been here and looking forward to elections.
But at the end of all I have faith, hope and Love for the Congo.
Faith, Hope and Love of these the greatest is Love. For without love, the rest is just clanging on a really annoying Gong.

Eye spy with my little eye a plane...

For more reading about Congo elections from BBC Click here. Do read all the way to the end. It is a good article.

The Pink Throne!

2011-11-11T08:04:00.001-08:00

So I have gotten many questions about why exactly we have a duck taped toilet. And well it's not a super exciting story but it has become the best feature of our new apartment!
When we got here and got used to all of our different areas of of place and as we continued to use the toilet one day I was doing my business and I heard a little bit of a crack, then the next day Nick came out and mentioned that he thinks that he had broke the toilet, until told him that I thought has already broke it. haha So at that point it had broken only once on the left side, then I believe that it was Nick that broke the other side so the entire front was broken off. But for comfort sake we left it there to sort of hold while you sat down. Then at some point I'm not to sure when the front piece also snapped in 2. So then our toilet seat was pretty much unusable.

So then Nick went in one day stating that he was going to Red Green our toilet seat. With the classic silver tape he did quite the good job but it still sorta bent a bit and pinched a little bit lol. Then we had a wonderful friend here that had some awesome pink duct tape. So then it was my turn!
I taped it up nice and good!
We were really just going to buy a new one but now with the improvements we haven't quite had the heart to get rid of it!
Our favorite comment so far was when of one of the Youth boys went to the bathroom, and same out wondering which war our toilet seat had been a part of!
So there you have it! Our pink throne!

Where I live...

2011-11-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Salut, (english on bottom)

Où J'habite...
Il y a des embouteillages partout, et tout le temps. Il n'y a que deux saisons... la pluie et la sèche, mais il fait toujours chaud. Où j'habite, nous parlons français premièrement, et peut-être lingala; mais pas beaucoup de monde parle l'anglais. Les gens sont gentils et presque tout le monde se salue, même s'il y a plus que 10millions de personnes. Nous n'appelerions jamais des policiers où j'habite, parce qu'ils nous demandent de l'argent. Le courant functionne la moitié du temps, alors, il faut profiter quand ça funtionne!

Je pars pour travail à 6 heure le matin et je reviens vers 1500. Où j'habite, nous avons des sentinels que gardent notre maison 24 sur 24 et tout le monde a des murs de 10 pieds autours de leurs maisons pour la securité. Quand je pilote des avions nous transportons des médicements, des malades, des passagers, des ananas, des bananes, des courriels, et toutes sortes de choses. Où j'habite, le soliel se leve à 6h le matin et il se couche à 6h le soir, chaque jour, jour après jour. Nous ne pouvons pas piloter pendant le soir ni la nuit parce qu'il n'y a pas de lumières aux aèroports, ni dans la jungle. Il ne neige jamais où j'habite :) mais il y a des moustiques...

Où j'habite, nous allons à l'èglise dimanche matin... pour environ 4heures. Et nous sommes les seuls blancs :). Nous chantons, nous célèbrons, nous prions et nous écoutons la pasteur qui prêche en français ou lingala (ou tous les deux mélangé :). Presque tout le monde fréquente un église et vous pouvez entendre leurs chansons partout le dimanche matin. Où j'habite, il y a des pauvres et il y a des riches. Tout le monde a un cellulaire, ou deux ou trois; et personne n'a un téléphone chez lui. Dieu est là où j'habite, et comme toujours Il nous benit et Il nous protège. C'est pour Lui et par Lui que nous sommes ici et nous essayons de benir ceux qu'Il met dans nos vies.

J'habite à Kinshasa, RDC.... où donc habitez-vous?????

Where I live...
We speak french first and then lingala, where I live. English is really only spoken among people who aren't from here. Where I live, there are traffic jams everywhere and almost all the times... except when it's really raining hard. It rains about 8 months of the year and is dry the other 4. We have guards who watch our place 24 hours a day and everyone has 10foot walls that surround their property. Driving, feels like being a rat in a rat race because of the walls and getting lost is easy with very little street signs. Where I live, the sun is up at 6am and down at 6pm all year round.

We would never call the police, because they probably wouldn't help us out and would only cost us money. There are power outages almost everyday for an in determined and unannounced amount of time. Internet works about half the time as well and so everyone has cell phones. There really are no landlines where I live. Where I live, there are rich people and poor people and some in between. Everyone is nice and says hello to each other as they pass on the street, even with more than 10million people. It is always hot and so sweating becomes a normal part of your day where I live.

There is an election coming up soon where I live with about 18,000 candidates (try voting for you favourite :). I leave for work at 6am and return around 3pm depending on the day. I fly and work in the hanger and where I live we transport anything from medicine, sick people, passengers, fruit, freight, vaccines, photographers and all kinds of things. Church is about 4hours long and we are often the only white people there. We are very blessed by God here in many ways and so we try to bless others whenever and wherever we can. We live for God and without Him we wouldn't be here.

I live in Kinshasa, DRC... where do you live??????

Fly Fly Fly away into the Heart of Darkness

2011-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures that Nick took when he got to go on his first flight inland! He was pretty excited to see where he will be flying too. he hasn't been able to fly to much because the plane that he is supposed to be trained on was having a new engine shipped in that was stuck in customs for a little while.

But he has been having lots of fun helping around the hanger and learning little bits here and there about airplane maintenance and getting to know our national workers in the hanger.

Nick had the wonderful privilege of flying with a really amazing guy, Luke Abbot. He is the president of a company called Covington Aircraft with his father and last year they offered him a year sabbatical to come and and serve in a mission aviation. So after training and getting them out here, they have been a really awesome encouragement and everyone has loved having them here. So Nick has got to fly with him and has really enjoyed it!

The Congo River!

So on this flight Nick got to fly to 2 places which we fly to quite often. Vanga which is pretty much a hospital town. It is known all over the congo and people even from the big city of Kinshasa fly there to get better medical attention. On this flight we fly quite a few doctors, and important vaccines that have to keep cold. It is possible to drive there from Kinshasa but the vaccines wouldn't make it there cold if taken by road.

On this trip they took a lady that was born here in the Congo but has lived most of her life in the states and was going there for 10 days to be able to volunteer and see the country of which she was born.

And the second place they went to was Kikongo, they have a bible school there that we take many teachers. Inbetween Vanga and kikongo there is a agricultural project that are doing some really awesome work!

And the Kids LOVE to have their pictures taken. And Nick said they also love to pretend like they are Ninjas!

Then of course some of the most important people on our team, are the wonderful guys that are working on the planes back here in Kinshasa! They are such awesome guys and I think it is such a talent to look at a place or really anything with mechanical parts and be able to keep it repaired and working order and that they like to do it!!! So awesome!

So here is a little bit of a into into what Nicks life here! I hope you enjoyed it!

Chez Nous!

2011-10-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Stairs up to our apartment

Our living room and my grandmas beautiful quilt

My little kitchen

View from the balcony

House across the street

Stairs into the Loft ^_^

Loft

Hallway right off from the kitchen

Our second bedroom, now my office

New desk :-)

Bathroom! Awesome shower!

Our bedroom

The red line is how we dry our clothes

Window from the room!

Things I never thought when I was 5

2011-10-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

That I would be sooo excited when the electricity finally came on and have a little cheer to myself even if there was no one to hear it.

That I would not be able to use tap water to rinse my tooth brush (which I forget on those very tired mornings and does not end up well)

That I would get stalked and attempted picked pocketed 3 times. They finally got something on the third time.

That some politician would try to butter Nick up and give him 5$. Thats a big 'tip' around here.

That I would wake up in the middle of the night soooo hot cause the power was off and want to lie on the tile floor cause its cooler.

Try to cook thanksgiving dinner for 20 people with no power! Thank the Lord for neighbours with working generators.

Hear a generator going out side and wish to myself that it was my generator that was running.

That flashing your brights actually means that you have to let that person go in front of you and honking is more just a way of letting others know that you are behind them.

That I would drink powered milk and think to myself 'hmm this isnt to bad'

That I would not be aloud to take pictures with out having to pay a police officer, and most time just not be able to take them.

Be pulled over by the police because I am white and tell me that I have to give them 130$ or else they wont give me my papers back.

That groceries shopping is really a 10 store couple day affair.

That chocolate chips would cost 8$ for a small bag.

That people want to come to my house and sell me veggies and do what every week or so.

That I would have a chauffeur to drive me around (because its soooooo crazy)

That I have to stock up a couple weeks of food justttt incase we have to stay in our houses during elections.

That I would be able to do a Congo line, with Congelese people , in the Congo!

Be given a coke at the end of a church service because we were the only white people there.

That I would find some of the most wonderful people in the world in the DR Congo!

I am sorry that I haven't written more but This is Africa. So out internet has been quite slow and I wanted to be able to show everyone what we have been able to see and experience. Our last 3 weeks have been alot of orientation, learning what it is like to live and to work here. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment above a store that isnt a store just quite yet. There are only 2 apartments and our program director lives in the other apartment. Most of the other MAF families live with in walking distance, with one family just 2 doors down. We got to go around and have suppers with all the families before we figured out how to buy our own food. (which I have been slowly getting down) Then we went shopping with a bunch of ladies and they wanted to show we all the options! Oh wow! There are lots of food items that are about the same price as it is in canada, and then there are some things that are wayyy more expensive, I dont think I have found anything cheaper then at home, other then cellphones. Phones are cheap, minutes are cheap.
The whole team is so amazing! We feel so luckly with the team that God has placed us in, I feel that we have some God given talents that we will be really able to plug in to the team and be of good use to MAF.
We got to go to a Congolese church in Lingala it was a very awesome experience! So other then that we are loving our time here so far! We feel so blessed for all of the opperunities that the Lord has given us. We are trying to get some better internet situation so that I will be able to more easily post pictures for all to see!
Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! We appreciate you e-mail and your encouragements all the time! We are praying for you all and hope you come to visit ;-)

Mbóte

2011-09-29T02:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Congo!
It has been a bit of a struggle to get pictures up on the Blog and you all know how I dont like to do a blog without pictures but I was able to get 3 up for you so I thought I would just share anyways ^_^ We have officially been here for 4 days. Wow what a couple days! It has been alot of learning but lots of fun at the same time. First off we had 3 days of travel time. We flew last friday from Edmonton to Toronto with my family who are in Peru right now! Check out their blog if you would like here. It was very nice to be able to have some good time with my family before we left and they left on their trip. And even had lunch with them before they left on their next flight. Then Nick and I got picked up from our good friends Pam and Ron and they brought all of our stuff to a hotel and we stayed over night in Toronto. I had been sick for a couple days before and it seemed to have just got worse this day. So I wasn't very much help when Nick was finishing up all our totes, but everything got all done. (I love my husband! )
The next day, the 24th we went to the airport 6 hours early, but apparently you cant check your bags more then 4 hours in advance just in case any of you are going to go to the airport really early anytime soon lol. But it was good that we went early, we talked to a lady for a while, when you have 11 pieces of luggage it takes a little while to put you in the system. And this was an amazing lady, she actually gave us about 500$ off what we were paying for extra baggage. So after about 3 hours of being there we got everything checked all the way through to the Congo! Wooooo (Other then I found out not long after I accidentally put my headphones in my suitcase)
So at 4pm Toronto time we left for Brussels, which actually had a layover in Montreal, then we got to Brussels at 8am (Brussels time which was 2 am Toronto time) and then at 10 am we left for Kinshasa, which also had a layover in Angola. So we finally got to Kinshasa at about 9 pm Kinshasa time Sunday the 25th (4pm Toronto) So that was a good 3 days of travel. We got off the airplane visited a little bit with a nice fellow from Ireland, and off we went through customs which was quite friendly, then to the crazyist baggage claim I have ever seen in my life! Everyone off this Airbus was crowded around this TINY carousel with carts and trying to get their bags. Haha it was quite the sight, I stood there with the carts while nick got all our stuff. Which thankfully all came and in one piece! Which is very awesome.
Then the craziness started, as I was struggling to push two carts of luggage out of this place, 4 guys decided that they wanted to take all our cartes with our luggage and I was like oohhhhh No Watttt is this legit!? Then this other guy started telling us to put all our stuff on this thing and I didnt know why, and I am trying to tell these 4 guys that I don't want them to push my carts and trying to figure out why this guy wants our stuff and then telling Nick and he has to get rid of these guys which at this time are white knuckled onto our carts. I then could see Ron (Our program manager) through the window, Oh gosh I wish he could have come inside... but ok so Nick figures out that the guy apparently wants to look in our bags, but after he looked in 2 of them this other guy starts yelling at me telling me to leave, that looking in 2 bags was enough, so these 4 guys that still have ahold of our carts start going outside then another guy starts yelling at the guy that told us to leave cause he wanted to look in more or something and I'm just standing there very confused and I look outside and Ron is trying to tell me to just come outside... So out I go, the guys are well on their way pushing our carts to the car and going quite fast as we are trying to keep up. Nick got out stuff back together and is not to far behind.
We got to the car other then one cart falling over nothing got stolen, Ron informed us that we had 'hired' them to take our stuff and he payed them since we didn't have any Congolese money haha... We got in the van, took a breath and started toward our new apartment.
My first impression was of just how many people there were; everywhere. In cars around us, hanging out of taxis, walking in the road, on the side of the road, just tons of people. About 50min on the beautiful roads of the Congo, we got to our new apartment! It was set up and ready for me to go to bed! We brought everything in, got the tour then everyone graciously let us go to sleep!

The first full day here we just hung out and got to know our apartment and unpacked a little bit and then God gave us this beautiful welcome to the Congo.

This is Africa.

How could I not be excited

The day we have all been waiting for...

2011-09-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well everyone we are almost packed up and ready to go. I don't know if I will have a change to put a post up before we get to Africa so I just wanted to let you all know that tomorrow our official travel to the Congo will begin, and we will get there Sunday evening.

This has been a long time coming, we were just talking about that we have officially been with MAF for 2 years and we are so excited to be in the Congo. Most people do their language training in country so our time at home has been a little longer then usual. But I know that everyone is also excited to see us go... it seems like we have been talking about it for so long, I'm still not to sure its quite real that this Sunday we will be in our little 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of Kinshasa, DR Congo.

We have had so many people encouraging us over the last couple days, letting us know how much they love us from the family that is with us and even with the passing of Nicks mentor Laurence Frey, just a couple of days ago, we felt much love from him, as many people have told us how much Nick meant to Laurence, and Nick thinking about how much Laurence meant to him. He was quite the amazing man and we are so excited for him to be in the presence of the Lord know, he lived such a wonderful life and touched many lives for the glory of God. We hope one to to have the impact that he had on people around him.

Now it is our turn to continue on with this Adventure that the Lord has blessed us with, to also touch lives as Nicks mentor did for many years, as he touched our lives it is only fair that we touch others hearts in the same manner. So my friends, please pray for us, and we thank the Lord Daily for all of you our friends and family! Be blessed! Smile! God is so Good. I am so excited one day to join Laurence eternally in the presence of our Savior! How his graces overwhelms me. Even to be a part of his glorious plan. So do not forget to thank him... thank him... thank him... How could we not.

Romans 1:20

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁰ For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Windmills and Weddings

2011-09-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

So I think I have made it to a little over a month ago when we got back from Oshkosh (Haha its taking me a little longer to catch up then anticipated!) We got to spend a much needed time with Nicks family, visiting, eating looking at pictures and talking about the future.

It was a good time to visit with everyone! We even got to go to the beach! For 2 days we went out to the annual Frey family vacation spot at Wasaga beach.

Nick was also a groomsmen in Joel and Ashley's wedding, which took up a good chunk of our week in Ontario, but it was worth it! All of the guys had an awesome time hanging out, as it had been a while since they had a chance to do so, I believe that they were all refreshed and encouraged from their times together. And the wedding was just a blast!

After our time in Ontario, I got to spend a week with my roomie Kayla St. Cyr as she was getting married! I got the privilege of taking pictures for her wedding, I love going to Maine mostly because I love Kayla's family, whenever I get there I feel so much a part of the family it is a home away from home. So I helped out a couple days before the wedding, just running around, picking up stuff, (I even got to pick up the dress with Kayla :-) then lots of decorating and then rehearsal. It was a quick trip but I am so glad that I was able to go and spend some good time with her, and she was a BEAUTIFUL bride!

Now for a small aside... ^_^

I found out as we were driving back from the beach that Charity (Nicks sister) LOVES windmills! I think they are quite pretty, but even better was to see her excitement as we drove along about 20km of windmills! Now, I believe there is a old quote that says that "One persons trash is another persons treasure", I say this because I have heard lots of people that really just do not like windmills, they say they are ugly and noisy. But as we were driving with Charity, you didn't hear any of those things, only words of admiration and excitement.
This is quite interesting to me, as we are going to the Congo, and we have met people that do not have a good opinion of the DRC and others that are overly ecstatic that we get to go and visit this beautiful country. Yes it has it's issues, as I'm sure windmills do also. So I wonder what has impacted peoples lives to much to hate these things or what other people have decided to look past to see the beauty that lies within.
I believe that the Congo is going to be a hard place, but in my prayers over the last couple months there have been a couple things that I keep asking the Lord. One, is to be able to always keep my joy. And the second I believe is inseparable, is that the Lord would give me the eyes to see the Congo and the Congolese people as he see's them and as he see's me. Because I believe the essence of the Gospel is that, we humans are not the best looking people, sometimes inside as well as out, but God looks past all of our garbage and all of the ways that we have hurt him and he LOVES, Oh how he loves, He loves us. So I want to love the Congo, as Charity loves windmills, and how God loves me.

Update from Nick

2011-09-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn's Sister and Mom missing Nick at Supper

Hey, Salut (français en bas)

Hope you're doing well as August rushes to an end. It's seemed like a rush for us as we have been from Québec to Wisconsin to Ontario to Idaho and Alberta! We're trying to hold on and take one day at a time as we continue to prepare for our arrival into Kinshasa, DR Congo in under 30days!!

Going...

We left Ontario and Jocelyn and I parted ways as I went to Idaho to commence MAF US flight standardization and Jocelyn helped out at Kayla and Tyler's wedding in Maine. As my ground school started, Jocelyn made it to Grande Prairie to visit her parents and then their whole family had a camping trip in Jasper, AB. It was a special trip for Jocelyn's sister Nicole who got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Jason!!!! We had a similar time spent with my family in Wasaga Beach, ON before departing. We love our families very much and try to appreciate everyday we have with them :) Thanks to technology we can keep in touch with them as we travel!

...going...

Hike in Jasper

As my flight training progressed, Jocelyn did a little training course of her own in standard first aid while in Edmonton. She also set up her distance education with Athabasca University and is pretty well set to begin her 4year degree in psychology. Our days have been full, but we still find time to chat with each other daily and we're looking forward to being reunited this weekend as my training finishes up by the end of next week!!

...gone!

And just like that we are here before we know it! September is around the corner and Kinshasa awaits us. Thank you sooo much for all your help, support, laughter, tears, and love during our journey thus far. We pray our journey has only just begun ;)

Flying in the Mountains in Idaho

On s'en va

C'est presque impossible de réaliser que nous serons à Kinshasa, RDC bientôt. Moins de 30 jours, Dieu voulant!! Ces dernières quelques semaines ont été très occupé. Nous étions en Ontario pour rendre visit à ma famille, puis Jocelyn est allée en Maine pour un mariage d'un ami lorsque je suis allé en Idaho pour une formation de pilotage avec MAF. Jocelyn est maintenant en Alberta pour rendre visit à sa famille et pour préparer ses cours de psychologue (lequel elle va faire pendant notre séjour de 3.5 ans au Congo).

Nick doing a check of the plane

On continue

Jocelyn est supposé d'arriver ici cette fin de semaine pour passer du temps avec moi pendant que je termine mon entraînement. On continue à s'appuyer sur Dieu pour sa direction. On continue à remercier Dieu pour vous, dans nos prières! On continue, bien sûr, à parler français :) Je sais que l'on fait des erreurs mais j'espère que vous nous comprenez. Nous avons hâte d'apprendre l'accent congolais ainse que leur culture. On continue un jour à la fois, par la foi.

Owen and Steph

2011-08-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

So I have these amazing friends named Owen and Steph Fuller, and they have been on a really really tough journey raising support. They are going to be coming to the Congo, however only if their support comes in. So I usually wouldn't do this but I would like to get their need out, please go to their Blog, read their post, and if God puts it on your heart to help them, to be a part of Gods amazing grace then respond. Click here to go to their Blog. Thanks so much.

This is their youngest boy, Omri!

Oshkosh

2011-08-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

So I know its been a while and I have TONS of Pictures to share with you so Im just going to do one chunk at a time so Ill hopefully put up quite a few blog posts in the next little while.
So the last time I talked to you all we had just left Quebec! WOW! Does that seem like forever ago! We dearly miss all of our Quebec family!
But after we left Quebec we went for a 2 week long holiday!! Wooooo I know it was very exciting. So we went camping;
with the intent of making it to Oshkosh, Mi, which is the world largest Airshow.
But to get there we spend a night in a town about a hour north of Montreal, at our friend, Nick Friesens house! He and his house mates where at a race in BC (If you remember a couple of weeks ago I had a post up about a bike race they did in Quebec City)
The next night we went to Ottawa and visited our friend Jeremie Raimbault, he showed us around and he took us to see the light show that was on the Parliament building.

It was an AMAZING show! It was soo neat to be able to see it. The next morning we also went to the Art museum, which I think we could have spend like 16 hours there, but we didnt have time. So after about 4 we called it quits and continued on our trip. Next we went to Hawkesville On, where Nicks sister and father had bought us a night at a bed and breakfast. It was nice to have a shower and sleep in a nice bed.

Next we made it to a camp ground somewhere on Lake Ontario which was HUGE! Ok so I have never seen the great lakes before and well they are pretty great!
Then the next day was a pretty long hike about 10 hours almost right to Oshkosh where we stayed at a camp ground for 2 nights where they have a phenomenal thing called a Jumping Pillow!!

I Know awesome right!! It was so much fun! And whenever there wernt tons of kids on it (which wasn't to often) Nick and I got to play on it :-) So we hung out there for 2 days and played in the pool, went for ice cream, cooked ravioli in a can in the fire... You know good camping things! Then we made our way to our host familys house about 30 mins away from Oshkosh! They were an awesome family, we felt so blessed to be at their house and able to get to know them.

We helped 2 of the 3 days that we were there at the MAF booth. I wasnt to sure about spending our holiday working an MAF booth; but you know what it was so much fun. We got to meet so many amazing people that are doing the same type of thing that we are and tons of people that just really like airplanes. I asked Nick to many questions so I had to rotate around the pilots and ask them nerdy plane questions.

There were about 5 air shows a day! And they were pretty cool. I probably cant even explain very well how many people and airplanes where there. But it was mind boggling.

So after our couple of days there, we stopped one night on the way back on Ontario and made it there a little stinky as we didn't do laundry the whole time, but over all we had a very good holiday.

More updates to come!!

Stages

2011-07-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

This should be a quick blog post I am currently skipping out on a run to the park with the Barbers and Nick to catch up on some photo editing and e-mails. Today make its officially 70 days until we leave for Congo... EEEEEEEEEEEEE... ok sorry just a little bit of a freak out there... But just until this time there we have been finishing up our tutors basement packing out totes for Africa which both take lots of different stages.
Doing the basement started off with a empty basement with nothing but drywall on the walls and I started packing for Africa with a sort of ambiguous list and instructions that said bring whatever will make you feel like home... So were to start.
Well nick constructed a few walls covering up the large wholes in the floor where a bathroom could have gone but now there is just a closet and I started sorting through the list trying to figure out what things I believed that I really needed and what things I would be able to do with out. Then it was my expertise to mud and tape the walls, I got to teach Suzanne how to do that and she was very excited to learn and felt very accomplished to be able to help finish the basement, and Nick searched for just the right totes to put all of our stuff in.

They had to be JUST strong enough to make to to Congo and JUST cheap enough so we didn't have to spend a fortune. Then it was painting time which Nick and I left that to Suzanne and Jaques which they did quite a good job, while we went shopping! (The lady at shoppers drug mart asked us if we were starting our own pharmacy) Then for the suspended ceiling! We had some friends Chole and Benjamin come and help us with that and it went by quite quickly. And finally was the packing of the totes and the finishing of the floor! What a adventure putting everything in each tote; but you have to spread everything out so that JUST in case on gets stolen or lost you didn't have say all your kitchen things in one tote. So putting in all in there and writing what is in each box and ooOoOOoOOoOO will it alll fit!!!
Then putting the floor in, each piece put in just the right place, cause you cant have any cracks and be careful cause if you hit it tooo hard you move to WHOLE floor! But we finished... We got the basement finished (minus the trim) and our totes packed and shipped in Ontairo (minus 2 that we are using for camping)... woooo Im tired. But just to help the next missionaries get settled in and knowing everyone, they have 4 children, it was hard for us I can only imagine how hard it will be for them. But they are in good spirits and could use your prayers. Then camping, family, fly, wedding, fly, training, take pics for a wedding, fly, set up online schooling, family, fly, training, family, fly, pick up our stuff, fly, fly, fly... Congo.

Always lots of stages, no matter what we do.

Learning French... Check!

2011-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

We have been a little crazy for the last couple weeks. Nickwent to Ontario to bring a van here to Quebec for the next missionaries and gotto visit with his family and go to a friends wedding. He has an awesome timebeing able to spend some one on one time with his family and friends. We dohave a week in Ontario but it seems already packed with lots of things to do.

Then on June 12th (and the 19th) it was our one-yearanniversary! It still feels like we just got married last month! It’s crazy tothing that it was now over a year ago! Nick and I went hiking in the morning,which we never found the trail but we found a lake and a little boat and so wetook it for a spin around the lake... lol it was lots of fun. Then Nick spoiledme with a night at a bed and breakfast on L'ile d'orleans. My favorite placehere in Quebec. It was fun time to get away and hang out.

Ensuite, we had some new friends come and stay here for anevening, they were here in Quebec participating in the Tour de Beauce, which islike the Tour de France but here in Quebec. They rode 6 days in a row with about140km a day! I couldn’t do it that’s for sure, it was inspiring to see all ofthe hard work and dedication they put into something that they just love! Then we had awonderful visit from Nick’s aunt and uncle Gary and Mel!! We had such a funtime with them and got to see lots of awesome things around Quebec. They werehere for 4 days and we did the tour of Old Quebec, saw Montmorency fallsclimbed a whole bunch of stairs, toured around the island and went to theaquarium! It was a packed couple of days but it was so fun to have them hereand be able to show them where and how we live!

And as of yesterday we have officially finished our Frenchclasses!!! I can’t even believe that it has been almost a year since we havebeen here learning! So now that we have finished ever one is probably wonderingif it is enough, will be able to get by... Well I think that we have learntquite a lot, Nick got to a point with our teacher that she didn’t really havemuch else to teach him. And just like anything else that we learn now is thetime to put it into practice. (Not that we haven't been practicing :P) But thatnow to use it everyday life, in our work and our play I believe is going to beour true test. Are we ready... well if God got us this far I'm sure he willhelp us the rest. Also as of yesterday marks the 3-month mark till we leave forthe Congo! We are moving our of our apartment next week and moving into anotherone just for 2 weeks until the next missionaries that are coming here to learn Frenchwill be here, so we will be packing up and preparing to go until they get here!

So please keep us in your prayers as there are lots ofthings to do and I'm sure we don't even realize the half of it :-)(sorry that the font and pictures are a little messed up in this post I dont think I have ever had to must trouble trying to format it... haha hopefully the next one will be better for me)

The Count Down has Started

2011-06-05T17:34:00.000-07:00

2 Weeks ago we went to Montreal for a Air show and we filmed this for you!!!

Hello From Us! from Jocelyn Frey on Vimeo.

The last couple weeks have been quite full! 2 Weeks ago we went to Montreal for a youth conference with the youth group here in Quebec that we help out with every Friday. It was tons of fun and I really believe that the youth were impacted by the preacher Elijah Waters. He is a youth pastor from Seattle, but probably the best thing was that because we were in Montreal he had to have a translator. And well they were Hilarious together. Whenever the preacher would make some movement the translator would do the the same movement which out missing a beat and the translation was amazing. Also everyone the pastor would say something about Starbucks the translator would change it to Tim Hortons. It was cool for Nick and I because now we are able to understand both the French and English so it was interesting listing the the words in French the translator would would from the English.

The youth pastor asked me to make a video of the pictures that I took from the weekend to give the youth a recap so here it is!

CJYC Recap from Jocelyn Frey on Vimeo.

Our french tutor for the last couple months has been packing up their house because they were moving, so finally last friday we got to help them move to their new house! It has been really exciting for them and fun for us to be able to help them move and set everything up!

Now this weekend Nick has gone to Ontario to pick up a van for the next missionaries and bring it here to Quebec for when they come in july. So I am holding down the fort here tout seul (all alone) but Its a good time for me to have a couple friends over and I have been quite busy. And I know Nick was very excited to be able to go and spend some time with his family and friends and be able to go to the wedding of Laura Brubacher! (Which im quite sad I dont get to go) But Nick said he would take lots of pics so I will post them later!

And as for the countdown we are planning to leave Canada Sept 23 so that means that it is offically 109 days untill we leave to go to the Congo!

4 Year Long Summer

2011-05-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

I have realized that starting about a month ago that I have now started my 4 year long summer! We will be leaving Canada around mid-september... In a little over 4 months from now.
Now this makes for some interesting things as we think about what to bring with us to Africa, what to leave here and were to put it! Like, I have a whole bunch of winter clothes... and well I like them! So what to do with them all, I can leave them here, give them away, drag them across the country and leave them at my sisters house! And then what about my beautiful 30$ picture that I bought at HomeSense. Then to buy any new things that we may need while we are in Africa. So its a bit of a switch up trying to figure out what a place that I have never been to is going to be like, what I will need, and the heart breaking need that we are going to face.
I am so excited to go to the Congo, but many people ask me if I am scared to go... I am not scared to go to the Congo, every Congolese person that I have met has been wonderful, they are always so kind and always so excited that we are going to their country. But even in those Congolese people there is a sorrow that is almost unexplainable, they all speak about how beautiful their country is, and also about the terrible things that are going on there that and they have no idea what to do about it, other then to just pray... to pray for their country and the people still there. Over and over again I continue to read that DRC is the most dangerous place in the world for woman... and that was even before 2 days ago when I report came out stating that it was even worse then they thought.

Photo cred. Nick Czernkovich

"A new study released Wednesday shows that it's even worse than previously thought: 1,152 women are raped every day in the African nation, a rate equal to 48 per hour. That rate is 26 times more than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the United Nations."
Click for CBC Article
Click for BBC Article

Now if I am scared I would have to say that is what I am scared about. I am scared that I am going to meet these people that I have already come to love as my own, and see their pain and agony and the only thing that I can do is pray.
But that is why we are going, because here in North America we do not understand that pain, we do not understand living in a country that is groaning in agony from years of war, rape and abuse. I don't expect to change the country, but the bible says to take care of the widows and orphans and well, Congo needs people to just hold out their arms to them and say that we love you so much, and that there is hope! Oh, there is hope!
But I am not that hope, Jesus is that hope, oh my heart cries for the hope and healing that he offers the world that people just push away and say they don't want that hope! They blame him for allowing all this to happen in the first place...
And in part they have reason for thinking this way, but we must understand that God created us and gave us the best, and he also gave us the ability to choose and when presented with the option of Good and Evil, we choose evil, and because God is the essence of Good, the payment of that evil is death.* But Jesus came and he said that he would take that penalty of death that we owe. Even though he never committed an evil act or thought an evil thought, he died that death for us. He died that death for Congo. But he still gives all off humanity the choice to choose if we will accept that payment for our dept. But he not only gives us the option to choose to accept that gift or not, but also to choose the steps we walk and the amount of evil we commit. So people all over the world not only in Congo have chosen the amout of evil that is ok for them, but the hope, the hope is in the choice of saying yes to that gift that Jesus offers us.

Nate Saints Plane

"And we know that God causes everything to work togetherfor the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them... And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."
Romans 8:28-37

Do not to miss the first line where it says that "Of those who love God", that choice we are offered is one that makes all the difference. The option for us to Love God.

Now I may be biasd because I am a Christian,** that this hope that God offers is something that is really worth it. However here is a bit from a article written by a atheist:

"Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good..." -Matthew Parris Click for full Article

So I do not know what Congo is going to be like, I don't really know what to bring, what I will need or how I will react when confronted with some of the most terrible evils in our world, but what I do know for sure is that for the next 4 years for me it will be summer.

*I am shorting a very long explanation if you are interested in a detailed explanation please read The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis or Cries of the Heart by Ravi Zacharias

**I acknowledge and apologize for all of the terrible things that have been done in the name of "Christianity", please do not blame God for those things, it was not God who did them, but man who made that choice of evil.

Famous Potatoes

2011-05-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

We have been in Idaho for a week now and it has been an amazing time to reconnect with Old friends and meet some new ones. Jon and Amee Chin and Katie and Aaron Hoffmann are 2 of the couples that were with us when we were in Orientation with us last August. They are still fundraising, they are both about 70-80 percent however they are both expecting babies!!! So after this 2 weeks of orientation they will be staying for about another month while their husbands go though standardization. Jon for mechanics, and Aaron for pilot/mechanic. So they can defiantly use your prayers as they are here not only going over seas to Indonesia, but having a new addition to their family!

We have had some amazing classes over the last couple days, a lot of the topics revolve around culture / culture shock / and how to keep our marriage and family strong through all of the changes we are about to go through (Not that fundraising and learning a language hasn't been quite the changes in it self)
Tomorrow and Tuesday we get to go camping for a marriage seminar! In our little one bedroom apartment in Quebec we haven't had a porch let alone some grass, so we are sooo excited to go camping and have some good open spaces!
After this next week we will return to Quebec City to finish off our last 2 months of language training. Thats right! Only 2 months! So we appreciate you prayers as this adventure is just beginning!

Photos from our time so far in Idaho

Nick sharing with the Class

Aaron at dinner with us

Katie and I

Kids playing!

Ask, Seek, Knock

2011-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

What's happened?

Red Bull Crashed Ice

March was a fantastic and challenging month for us here in Québec. Fantastic, because we had even more visitors and fun events to attend here in the city. Challenging, because we continue to progress in French, but not without hard work. Jocelyn said last night that she can now speak enough French to get her in trouble :) That's because we're starting to get into those deeper more profound conversations...but sometimes having difficulty expressing ourselves or explaining ourselves to find our way out of them! And so we continue to search. Searching to improve.

What's happening?

A few things on our plate lately have been: finding an apartment for the next MAF missionaries (the Barbers) arriving here mid July, celebrating with our tutor at the sale of their house and beginning to help them move/plan/build our new classroom, organize our 2 week cross cultural/relational training session at MAF US headquarters in Nampa Idaho at the end of April, setting up and preparing to complete my US pilots licence while in Nampa, researching how Jocelyn can complete her psychology degree online over the next 4 years, getting ready for DR Congo by getting Jocelyn her passport, getting us more vaccinations and thinking about the things we'll be taking/sending. All that in the midst of our "regular" lives here. Searching for guidance.

What will happen?

Maple Taffy time!

We will continue classes until the end of June, and then stay in Québec to help get the Barbers settled in here in July. Once they're set up, we plan to go camping for a week or some sort of similar vacation. Then we want to either go to Oshkosh (a giant aviation congregation/air show) or the beautiful east coast of Canada. For the first week of August we'll be in Ontario visiting friends and family one last time, and also going to a friends wedding. The second week of August we'll be in Alberta doing visiting. Then my 4 weeks of pilot training begins in Nampa and once that's complete we hope to be in Kinshasa, DR Congo mid September. Searching for God's will to be done and for His kingdom to come.

Those who search will find....but those who don't search, find nothing. May you keep searching as well.

peace,

Nick Frey

Broken Snowmobiles

2011-03-31T16:26:00.000-07:00

Some exciting news! If you look to your right hand of the screen there is a option where you can CHOOSE THE LANGUAGE! Now I know its still Goggle translate so its not perfect by any means however it means that all of our wonderful friends that speak other languages can read our blog... with out me having to write all the posts in both french and english.

And just for your entertainment!!
As I said in the last post, while my sister was here her boyfriend broke his leg/ankle and they got some pretty sweet x-ray pics from it so I thought I would share. He's living the hard life now as they are in Mexico for the week ^_^

Before

After

Old Friends and New Ones.

2011-03-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks have been amazingly fun with visits from some amazing old friends and meeting some awesome new ones! My sister came ti visit us here in Quebec City for 6 days! I thought to myself it was longer then anyone else had come to visit so we had lots of time! However the time went by sooooo fast. It was so awesome to have that visit with my sister before we leave to Africa but I do not doubt that before long she will be visiting us there as well. The weekend she came up Quebec City was hosting the Red Bull Crashed Ice event, we did not go on the finals night but we did go on the friday and got to see alot of the placing rounds. It was tons of fun to be able to walk the entire course and watch these guys go down just a mind blowing difficult course and not finish at the end bleeding! My Birthday had just passed before my sister came but I wanted to wait for her to get here and we had a little birthday party for me with some ladies from the church. So Nicole was able to get to know some ladies that have become good friends of mine while we have been here. But while she was here we found out that her boyfriend Jason who has been snowmobiling broke his ankle and had to be air lifted off the mountain. But other then that we had a amazing time and I think that she enjoyed our time here. The night we were at the red bull event a man behind us in a Australian accent asked us if we knew who was winning... we didnt know to much but we got talking and him and his sister were here for a week on business and he was leaving the next day but she was staying to enjoy the sights so we invited her to come along with us because we were going to be showing Nicole around. So one day we met up with here and felt super blessed to get to know her and meet a awesome new friend!

And then this past weekend a friend of mine from when I lived in Oklahoma, Kayla came to visit for a day. We talked into the wee hours in the morning and had a full day of fun touring around. We got invited to come to a "cabane a sucre" at a friends house with was pretty much breakfast with everything... and I mean everything made with maple syrup! And Kayla came along with us and enjoyed her first fully french (In food and in language) meal. We then went back across the river on the ferry because we thought it would be a wonderful view... nick had went to the bathroom and came back down and said "Hey I just met some people that seem to do the same thing that you guys did in Oklahoma" So up we went and met up with this awesome group of young people that do school assemblies all across Canada, they said they were gong to be in Quebec City for 4 hours just looking at the sights so we asked if they wanted to come with us, so we had the amazing opportunity to hang out with some talent people with a heart to see this generation live to their highest potential. The Absolute Team website. So we have felt so blessed lately with all of our amazing friends from our past and the new ones that we have been able to make.

In a Fog

2011-03-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had those times where you are driving and you hit this huge patch of Fog and you cant see ANYTHING I was the other day, it was a snow storm and I couldn't see anything in front of me and all my windows were fogged up so I couldn't see anything behind or beside me either... well since I have arrived in Quebec I have felt like I have been living in a huge cloud of fog every time that I walk out my door. More and more the fog beings to lift but even when I can understand what they are saying I feel like I don't REALLY understand what they are saying and the fog continues. I have no better way to explain to you how french learning have been for me since we have got here but I do have hope that the fog is slowly lifting and the sun will be shining. But will I ever really be able to express myself in french as I do in English or be really able to understand what others are saying to be in a deep heart sort of place...

Nick read a article the other day and it was about memory and how you can train your self to do things like... memorize the order of a deck of cards in less then a min and a half. Crazy stuff I know, but what was really interesting was that to be able to do this you must never reach what is called the "OK plateau" that is where you get to a point and you say... yeah.. I am Ok here! You must go back below that place fix what you don't have perfect yet and then do your best to continue on from there. Always striving for excellence as if you were doing it for God himself... and well he asks that we would be perfect. Not that we ever will but I think that's the point, you don't ever reach that Ok plateau you never reach the place where you are perfect but you are always going always striving there is always something to work on, something you can do to better yourself or to better the way that you do things. And there will always be a way for me to better my french.. and even my English for that matter... To be honest I paid no attention to English when I was in school. I didn't like it... I I found out a little while ago I am a little dyslectic which might explain that, but I have learned so much about English while learning french its crazy ha ha.

But will I ever reach perfection... no... will my french ever be perfect... no... will I ever be the person I strive to be... no. But that does not mean that I stop. That I reach a place where I go.. yeah I am Ok here. No matter when I am or how lazy I feel... days like today.. where I did not feel I had a purpose, that I didn't have anything meaningful to do. But that is a lie! And I wasted time sitting there thinking that. Is that the last time I think that. Nope. But I pray that Lord will help me to continue in this fog, the fog of french, the fog of becoming perfect. And I pray he would help you to get off that Ok plateau and remember there is always something to be done until we get to sit in glory with our Lord, who is the only one that can make the fog go away.

1 Col 3: 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

A Hockey tourny put on by one of the local soup kitchens

Free Time!

2011-02-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

Ben and Lisa

We have been quite busy ever since we came home from Christmas. Our teacher Suzanne was sick for pretty much our entire first week back and so we had an extra few days to enjoy and adjust that we did not plan for. However that meant that we've had lots of make up classes to do... So usually we have every Monday off for class butttttt ever since Christmas we have had classes 5 days a week... I know I know there are lots of students that do that, so let me explain a little. We have tried, since we've arrived here, to have the most amount of French exposure as we could. So pretty much every night we are out doing something or talking to someone in French to be able to continue to use the French that we are learning. So we had just got ourselves to a full schedule and then BAM monday classes haha... feels like punishment or something. But no, just trying to get all the french in that we can. So that extra day of class has made it seem like everything is getting a little bit busier! But we have also had the blessing of people coming to visit! We had Ben and Lisa Herbert come and visit for the weekend and it seemed like a short time but we had tons of fun on the last weekend of Carnaval. It was an encouraging time to be able to talk and pray with them and just do life for a weekend!

Julia and Alian who run HaloCAREbure

I have also had an opportunity to work with a couple here from our church just doing some media stuff for HaloCAREbure in my "Free Time" and I am just trying to get them set up so they they will be able to grow and expand like they are wanting. It is TONS of fun to finally be able to do something creative, it has been a while since I have made a flier or brochure so its good to get my brain back into it a little bit and trying some new things that I was never able to try before! We have also been able to make very good friends with the people that run the company and it has been some awesome times of being able to minister with them and also be able to encourage them as well!


Bobby and Johanna, other french students

Nick has been trying to help out as much as he can at the local soup kitchen, he loves it so much there and goes whenever he can. However he can tell he is picking up more of the Quebecois slang than the French our teacher is teaching us haha. so he just has to slowdown and think more with our tutor.

The other students that are studying with Suzanne are leaving at the end of this week and they are heading out to Madagascar with a Baptist Mission. We have enjoyed their friendship and will continue to pray for them after they leave.

Today we had a nice surprise of not having any class so we have been catching up on lots of different things. We do continue to ask for your prayers for us in that we would really be able to learn French well, quickly and have the courage to speak it. Also that we would be able to be an encouragement to the people here that we meet and know. God is good and he is continuing to work in our lives. Thank you for walking along side us! We miss you all. Remember to stay in contact! ^_^

Anyone wanna roll in the snow?

Bonhomme

A float shooting fireworks

You could go for a dog sled ride!

Balloons in the Parade

Crazy Pirate

January Recap

2011-02-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hey,

I was just talking with my dad and realized it`s already been a month since we we're in Ontario celebrating Christmas and New Years. Although time fly's by, I continue to not fly :) However, our French classes are in full swing and we are really trying to make the most of our time here in Québec.

Notre Retour

Returning from our '3 provinces in 3 weeks tour' we enjoyed a day of rest and then jumped back into routine. Our tutor had been sick for a few days, as was I; which has us making up for missed classes on Monday's (our usually "day off"). Our church started having 'hockey night in Québec' every Sunday evening which has been a fun way to fellowship, stay in shape, and meet others who join us at the public outdoor rink. Jocelyn and I checked out L'Hôtel de Glace (the ice hotel) which was really cool...literally ;) During the last weekend we had our apartment jammed with 4 visitors from Conrad Grebel University College who came to check out Carnival. Carnival is a massive winter festival here and will last for 3 weeks.

More and More

Our studies have been going well and we are both happy with our progress. Our opportunities to practice French have been increasing as well, having us out between 5 and 7 nights a week. Please pray as we seek balance and try to determine what "work" looks like when everything requires us to think and process in another language. We had the opportunity to teach the young adult class at our church 2 weeks ago, which went well. Friday nights we spend time with the young adults as well in worship, discussions, games and prayer.

Coming Up

We start receiving our vaccinations for DR Congo in 3 doses beginning next week. We're also planning out how our last month in Canada will look, as we finalize flight training dates with MAF US. So stay tuned to here about our next visiting time near you in July. We have more friends coming to visit us in the near future with Ben and Lisa next weekend and Jocelyn's sister Nicole in March!!!! Just like the Kingdom of God, all are welcome here :)

peace of Christ to you and yours,

--
Nick Frey

2011

2011-01-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and happy new year. We had a wonderful time traveling around the country visiting all of our friends and family! I am sorry that we didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to. We started off by staying in Quebec city for a couple days and finishing off all of our Christmas shopping and then making sure everything would fit into our suit cases. We then drove to Toronto and stayed with a awesome friend, Nick. We also went up the CN tower which was awesome! We flew out the next morning and got to spend some time with the VanBooms and their wonderful children.

We spent a couple days at my sisters house visiting lots of friends and spoke at once church in Edmonton. Then we had a Christmas/Chinese take out dinner with my moms extended family! They all drove to Edmonton so we could so something with them it was so awesome to have everyone there! Then we drove to Athabasca, to the farm! We did some chores, tobogganed, went snowmobiling and even played pond hockey on a pond. It was a awesome Canadian Christmas! Of course there was lots of food!

We then flew out and made our way to Ontario to visit Nick's family and friends! We were there for about 10 days had a late Christmas dinner in London and had some amazing visits with friends that we miss dearly! We are so thankful for all of the amazing support from family and friends as we continue on our way to Africa! We did some official things like dentist appointments and a visit at the MAF office.

We were able to talk about what our plan is for the next couple months and when it looks like we will be leaving. We still do not while city we will be going to in the Congo but hopefully we will be able to find that out soon. We will be here in Quebec city until June 30th 2011 and then will come through Ontario to say goodbye to our friends and Family and will do the same thing in Alberta. Then Nick has a month of standardization in Boise Idaho, and we will hopefully be leaving for Africa right from there. Now we are back in Quebec city and getting ready to start tutoring again tomorrow with a renewed strength to learn French! Hope you are all doing well!

P.S. The Tiger Won ^_^

Mes amis. Je t'aime. Je vous demande, aimez les autres.

2010-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Ferry's crossing the St. Lawrence

Well my friends it looks like today brings us to 11 days until Christmas! Nick and I finished our french classes for the Christmas break last Friday and we are really enjoying a little bit of a break from learning... now that doesn't mean that we get a break from french. Or else I would get back to class and have forgotten everything! We are still watching french TV and writing a journal in French tous les jours.

Petit Champlain

As for our language learning, it is going very well, Nick is starting to have deeper conversations and I am understand more and more which is very exciting. As we have been here learning french, there have been quite a few difficulties and more then just how to learn the language. We have found that there are actually quite a few missionaries that come through Quebec to learn french, mostly people from Canada and the States; and in Quebec there is only about 1% of the population are Christians so that means that the choice for the missionaries for what church to go to means you go to the church that you can find. That also means a lot of these churches have a missionary couple coming through about every year, which is not something that you would see in a Anglophone church. Because of all this, making friends has proved to be a little difficult.

Canons

For me at least when I find a friend that I really love and invest in that relationship, I would like that to continue, but in Quebec there are so many missionaries that come through and then just leave the next year, many people are hesitant about investing so much into a relationship with you because well they don't want you to leave; and the fact is losing a good friend hurts. Then there is most importantly the language barrier, you understand nothing they are saying to you and they sure don't understand you and for a while this is really quite devastating. Something my teacher and I laugh often about, is that when you are learning a new language you feel like a baby... I don't remember being a baby or learning English but I now have a new appreciation for all the 2-3 year olds out there when their parents don't understand them... No wonder they cry all the time... So for us this makes for short, sweet and simple conversations until your vocabulary has build up enough to have a good conversation...

Joy at her book signing

I was marveling at a little child one day about 5 years old who was speaking and understanding more french then I can, and it made me rather discouraged but someone reminded me very quickly that they have had 5 years of learning french and I have only had about 3 months... So I'm not doing to bad after all. Way to be patient Jocelyn!

So the hesitation of others to become quick friends with you is completely understandable and please do not get me wrong we have met some amazing people and now amazing friends and they have already expressed their sadness at our leaving in over 6 months. But its just not something that you think about... maybe its more something that has hit me, because I am loud and like to talk I can usually find some friends rather easily... but since I have been learning french I am neither loud or talkative... Shocking ... I know ...

Elyssa at her Concert

(I just take out my built up craziness on Nick when we get home)

So I say all of this of encourage you, if you find someone new, someone who does not speak the language very well... feel like a baby with them... befriend them... even it is just for a little while...

Because they probably feel

something

like

that.

Date Night

Making Sushi

And a Ginger bread house

The Majestic, and The Wonderful Chateau Frontenac

Update

2010-12-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this link [ MAF Life Link ] to see the newest addition of MAFs Life Link where there is a picture of the Canadian Candidacy we took part in Last April.

On the Road

We had a great few weekends of visiting during November (or 'movember' for my mustache sporting friends ;) The first weekend away was in Montreal during the mission's conference 'Mission Globales.' We chatted with those interested in MAF, missions or us. Making some new friends, we also got to visit old ones (Hey Al and Raina!) at the wind tunnel in Montreal. The following weekend had us heading to Maine (bonjour St Cyr's!) Our temporary 'family' made us feel at home and showed us around the big city. Returning to Montreal the weekend after was to visit Jocelyn's sister (NiCoLE :) and good friend, with a great name, (Nick). Last Friday night we trekked out again to meet up with friends in Trois Rivieres (thanks again Charlie and Cindy!)

Life as "Usual"

Amidst the travelling we continue to study and learn French. It's not your average 9-5 job, and sometimes it seems like 'work' and other times it doesn't. Conversations are coming along and we are greatful for friends who practice with us. We are continually amazed at the diversity and unity of what God is doing in the world through people. The broad spectrum of church's and people we've seen in our short lives, leaves us very blessed. From Montreal to Enfield to Charlesbourg, life is anything but normal, yet God is the same. He speaks our language and knows our hearts. And every time we get to a new a place it seems like we can't escape God's presence or God's people. And thank the Lord for that!

On the Road....Again!

We'll be getting around to more places and visiting more people with Christmas coming up. Our 'tour' consists of Edmonton, Athabasca, Kitchener, Hawkesville, and a few other places in proximity to those. This will be our last Christmas and winter in Canada, God willing, for a while anyway. So we hope to make the most of it and enjoy family, food, fellowship, Christmas carols and celebrating Christ as Lord.

May you have fulfilling December. Shalom

--
Nick and Jocelyn Frey

Flying car!

2010-11-18T09:03:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

Hey,

After a Halloween night November is here! We had a total of 5 trick-or-treater's, which basically means more candy for us and guests who come visit ;) We continue to wave and say 'bonjour' as we pass each other and every now and then we exchange chats about weather, work or winter.

Our fellow citizens have us questioning what this winter will be like. We see more and more people prepare, for what seems like war, as they install temporary tents/garages for their cars, driveways and walkways. My quick research shows that Québec City receives an average of about 10-14 feet of snow in a winter.

Praise God that French lessons are going well and our language is increasing as is our opportunity to practice it. We get a variety of lessons from friends at the church, soup kitchen, grocery store, youth group, video rental place, prayer meetings, and other interactions in our French immersed lives. God is teaching us about humility and the importance of relationships based on love in actions as well as in words. It's also been amazing to pray and read the bible in another language!

Funny interactions include:
Jocelyn getting her haircut by un coiffeur (hair dresser) who only spoke French, me having car talks with le mécanicien (mechanic) who installed our tires, to un vendeur (salesman) trying to sell Jocelyn something in the grocery store. Not to mention the daily jokes that come from translation with our tutor Suzanne.

Upcoming we have a missions conference in Montréal this weekend, visiting friends in Maine next weekend, and hanging out with Jocelyn's sister in Montréal the following weekend.

Merci (thank you) for your continued support of us on this journey through so many ways! We have many other stories and moments that God continues to bless us with we'd love to share with you.

peace,
--
Nick n Jocelyn Frey

P.S. Vote on who would win between a Tiger and a Gorilla!

Tiger Vs. Gorilla

2010-10-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

So Nick and I have been having this argument since well we found out we are going to the Congo... Who would win in a flight between a Gorilla and a Tiger?

Now I think that a tiger is going to win, but Nick is pretty convinced of a Gorilla (I think its because he wants to be Tarzan) Nevertheless we thought that we would leave it to you to see who you think would win a flight between the two.

The poll is on the left hand side of the screen! Please feel free to vote, comment and explain why you voted the way that you did!

The outcome of this poll might be the deciding factor of which we should get to protect our home in the Congo (jk)

Action de Grâce

2010-10-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

This past month has probably been the BEST fall I have ever had!!!

Oh my, the beauty of Gods creation in the time of change... Quebec city is so beautiful and I have been going photography crazy!!! Now everyone must understand that I grew up in Grande Prairie Alberta, where the seasons went straight from summer (AKA construction) to winter... we did have a little bit of spring, but fall wasn't really anything to be spoken of. Which I now see what I have been missing all of these years! Grande Prairie's winter was to impatient to move on that it missed the BEAUTY of fall, the leaves, the colours, pumpkins and halloween costumes without your winter jacket underneath... Now Quebec's weather is not in a hurry at all to get through any season... And it has been awesome!!!

Now me on the other hand would have like to have skipped right over the little season of language learning... it at times seemed so HARD and insignificant to what seemed like Gods main goal... DRC... and it only lasts for such a short time (Much like Autumn), by the time you make friends and relationships and really love and enjoy where you are... its time to pick up and move again.

However as this season progresses I am so thankful for this time and the gifts that God has given us in accepting this time. This place is so beautiful, I LOVE our French teacher, we have made so many wonderful friends since we have been here (we were even invited to 3 [Action de Grâce] Thanksgiving dinners), we would have missed out on SOO much if we were just so impatient and just wanted this season to end and thought it was just a waste of time. Instead we have taken to ourselves to enjoy every minute of this season of language learning.

   So here's to the leaving of one season
   accepting the one and hand
   and looking forward to the next!

Side note... last week nick and got the privilege of taking care of a girl named Elyssa! Wow does taking care of a 8 year old take lots of time! (I know all you mom's out there are laughing at me...) But it was quite the chance going from our own relaxed schedule to really being at the whim of a little girl. Also we were quite different from her parents that cause it was only our first week of parenthood we were her full time "players" and we sure played a lot! I mostly did the mom thing and picked her up from school, help with homework and made dinner, Nick did the morning schedule (cause no one likes me in the morning) and was often sent outside to play before dinner! It was so much though and now life seems a little less busy with out being asked to play all the time!

égoïste

2010-09-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

Well it is official we have been in Quebec for almost 8 weeks! Wow how times flies. The time here has been able to bring us lots of adventures some arguments and moments of being cross eyed after coming home from class. But I would have to say so far that I love Quebec, all of its beauty and most of all its people.

I just want to talk a little bit about what the Lord has been teaching... so bear with me ^_^

Now some of you may know this but when you are doing 'something' in your life... by something I mean something out of the norm, something that everyone wishes they could do or wish that some one else would do and are really excited when they meet something that is doing it. But the fact is that we are doing 'something' if that something is doing the will of God, moving to Quebec to learn french, or going to Africa or well just getting married. People want to talk to you, they want to pick your brain be around and I love it I want to talk about how God has brought me to where I am and why we are here and share my love for Christ, but a big part of me wants to dig into that person but you cant just switch topics to something that deep that fast... and as everyone knows we have moved around quite a bit in the last year so we have had to say goodbye to a lot of really good friends and move on to make new ones (But thank the Lord for Skype) so all of this unless disciplined turns you into yourself and makes you think... well that your interesting.

Inside St.Anne Basillica

But I guess to get to the point of what I am talking about, in our struggles in moving here and the situations that life and the Lord bring to the surface I have found my self being quite selfish...

Asking myself questions like "What will I do about this?" "How is this going to effect me?" " What can I do to fix this and make it better?" "This language is so dang hard, how can I continue to do this?" And the fact is that all of those questions have a 'I' in it and ALL of those situations have other people in it other then myself! The Lord brought this to my attention when I was listening to a sermon on Jonah by Afshin Ziafat (awesome speaker if anyone wants to look him up) and well Jonah was being quite a selfish guy... and the Lord just turned me inward and asked me to look at my own heart, that in all of my questioning and developing of lots of plan "B"s (Which most of us are quite good at. Saying well if God doesn't come through.. or doesn't do what he promised; I'll do this!) I was not trusting him, I was lead to think of this verse:

Basement Chapel

Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves." - The Bible

Looking back and seeing all of those questions and seeing that I was only caring for myself and not for others showed me, that for a bit I had completely lost sight of the gospel (and that is a scary thing for ANYONE to do). For Jesus came and not caring for himself but giving HIMSELF up to wipe us clean of our sins so that we can spend eternity with him! And like one of my favorite verses says "Be Holy as I am Holy" 1 Peter 1:16 and its not that we can be holy on our own! No! We need to trust on Jesus and when we are thinking of only ourselves we are not only not thinking about others better then ourselves but we are also not trusting and leaning on the Lord!

Reminder of
Gods Promise

So really JESUS is the interesting one, if you are doing 'something' and that something is for Jesus, the people want to dig into your life and my life because of the Jesus in me! Praise the Lord that he has grace and mercy in me to still want to live in me!

And really this isn't something that i decided and its all over with, I have to realize every selfish thought take it and give it right to Jesus, and tell him that I am his; and I do this over and over and over again. All I can do is pray that one day he will bless me with the discipline and a heart like his to never think that way again.

Amen

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight.

Sept Newsletter

2010-09-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Parlez-vous français?

2010-09-14T16:19:00.000-07:00

Oh dear I know it seems like I have been slacking on keeping everyone up to date however if I may be aloud to have some excuses...

My computer decided to have a mini seizure, so a new one is one the way as we speak... Which is why there are no pictures involves in this little post! :-( Its sad I know.

But the last 2 weeks have been FULL of tutoring! YAY for French! Our Tutor Suzanne is an amazing lady that combines learning French with being able to read the French bible, pray in French and say all of those "Christianeze" things that you wouldn't really be able to learn in a regular French class. Just kind of a time line for you, we got to Suzanne's house at 1:30 and I have the first hour and a half and Nick goes off to McDonald's to do Homework. Then at 3:00 Nick comes back and its his turn. Then off I go to look over my lesson. Then we go home make dinner and do some of our homework, and what we don't finish we do in the morning before our class the next day. I really enjoy the set up because it gives a good break to my homework.

I would have to say that for myself the first week of class was a lot of information! I'm pretty sure I went home crossed eyed. However as we have continued the week after that, I would have to say that this next year is really going to be a enjoyable experience. Every day I get to see how many more things that I understand and church is quite a text to what I have learnt that week. Nick has been doing awesome, its conversation skill have been improving daily.

So that is what we have been up to for the last 2 weeks!

We would love to see all of you! So if you are coming through Quebec City or would like to come this way let us know! We have a air mattress :-)

Silence of the Lambs

2010-08-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

Now I know that is has been FOREVER.. or what seems like it since my last post. We have been in Quebec for 3 weeks now!!! Some times it went by quite quickly and other times it was a little bit slow. I am so glad that we have had the last 3 weeks to be able to explore and get to know our new city.
I have been waiting to post because I wanted to show everyone our finished apartment! However there are just so many other things and pictures with them that have happened... So I will go through a little bit of a picture montage of our last 3 weeks :-)

Now the first couple days that we were here, we explored on our own and one of the things we did was go to a FREE cirque du Soleil (only in Quebec city) and while we were standing there waiting we saw these three wonderful girls. Megan, Megan and Alicia. We were able to hang out with them for a couple days and see the sights. (seeing that they had their entire week already planned out.. why not tag along)

Together with them we went a saw this awesome firework competition. 5 different counties were competing and we went on the final night where they all did about a 10 min show each with music. It was the best fireworks Ive ever seen!

Then we went to a place called ile d'Orleans.
Its a island in the middle of the St. Lawrence 33km long and 8 km wide.

We rented bikes for a couple hours and biked around one side of the island.

After our adventure on the island they came over to our apartment and were our first guests!

While we were walking around Old Quebec, we got a text from Phil (Our wedding photographer in Ontario) He was also there on holidays so we met up with him and his mom and walked around with them for a while... (I forgot to take a pic of Phill through :S)

This is a canon ball in a tree...

The Notre Dame in old Quebec.

Inside the Notre Dame

Annica and Andrew (A couple that we met at the engagement workshop we did before we got married) Were taking their honeymoon in Quebec city. So we arranged to hang out with them for a evening.

We met up with them and proceeded to go and check out the Chateau Frontenac.

We made it, through a couple set of stairs and some different elevators to the 17th floor! This was the view from the hallway... so beautiful... No wonder the cheapest room in the place is 400$ a night.

We went for a beautiful dinner!

Then to the image mill. They project the history of Quebec on these HUGE grain silo's. With music and everything.

Then last weekend we went back to Ontario for a surprise wedding (Pics not available yet) But Justin was sharing at Hawkesville Mennonite so we got to hear him.

And it was Murrys (Nicks Dad) 52 birthday! So it was a awesome weekend to be home and hang out with family and friends.

This picture is for Aunt Mel! We have got a clear tea pot and can now enjoy flowering tea!

Then we came back to our new home... stopped a Ikea along the way and was able to finally buy a bed!!! And some other odds and ends.

We were able to go to Expo Quebec which is a Carnival of sorts with lots of Animals and rides.

This lamb was funny... Nick said it looks like the lamb they used to have? (is that correct Charity?)


Silence of the Lambs! Enough said.

Then the best event yet at the carnival! They had a Sand castle competition. I have always seen pictures but it was so awesome to be able to see them in person. This one was my favorite

Nick "That is the coolest sand castle EVER"

The entire middle section was all Alice in Wonderland... it was very very awesome.

As you can see I have lots of things to share!

We start tutoring today! So I will post some more pics of our finished apartment and talk about what we are doing in our french schooling! Love you alll!!!

Je me souviens (I Remember)

2010-08-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

We have officially been here for 2 days now and there has been this question as we have been driving around about what really does "Je me souviens" mean and with my very little french I was able to find in my little french dictionary that 'souviens' means 'Remember'. So I left it... for about a afternoon... but then we were able to walk around the Old City for a little while and saw the Parliament buildings which I would have to say took my breath away. And there it was again below the coat of arms... "Je me souviens"... and again under a statue of a cross and a sword "Je me souviens"... Remember, Remember, Remember... But what are we remembering? I am officially hooked; I need to find out.

It seems that in 1883, Eugène-Étienne Taché, architect and Assistant Commissioner for Crown lands, had the motto carved in stone below the coat of arms of Quebec however Taché does not appear to have left any document explicitly stating the intended meaning of the motto. (He apparently thought it was self explanatory, but not to the generations following)

That Quebecers had adopted Taché’s motto since the late 19th century is shown in a speech by historian, politician and member of the legislative council Thomas Chapais, in 1895:

The province of Québec has a motto which it is proud of, and likes to engrave on the pediments of its monuments and palaces. This motto has only three words: Je me souviens, but these three words in their simple laconicism equal the most eloquent of speeches. Yes, we remember. We remember the past and its lessons, the past and its misfortunes, the past and its glory.

It is also said that it is only the beginning of a longer poem saying:

Je me souviens / Que né sous le ly s/ Je croîs sous la rose.

I remember / That born under the lily / I grow under the rose.

The lily and the rose were referring to the floral emblems of the kingdoms of France and England.

So now my quest to know is a little bit satisfied, part of me would like to know what was in the mind of Taché when he first put it on the coat of arms and if he really knew that saying would be such huge part of Quebec's future.

So today with all of Quebec, as I learn and as I grow to understand and love the culture of Quebec; I will remember with them; I will learn what it is to remember and remember it well. Even as I remember my own past; the past God has brought me through to be at the place I am today. To remember that even though things seem concrete God can turn then upside down in just a year. I remember the friends that have helped me to grow and pushed me forward... I will remember the past and it's lessons, the past and its misfortunes, the past and its glory...

Pics of setting up our apartment

2010-08-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

What you see as you walk in the door

Our inspiration and new coat hanger!

Kitchen

Living room

My Mess

Our awesome Air Mattress

July Newsletter

2010-08-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

To Download the PDF please look to the left side of the screen and click on the link that says July 2010 Newsletter and it will take you to a GoogleDocs sheet!

Intro of our Candidacy class!

2010-07-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

As a part of our Candidacy we had to do a chapel service last Wednesday for everyone that works at the MAF head office. So as we got together our first day we figured out we were a pretty energetic group and thought that doing a video would be lots of fun. So these are the videos that we put together to introduce all of the candidates.

We split it into two parts we played the first part at the beginning of the chapel and the second one at the end.

The first video is 5 min and the second is 15min. They are lots of fun to watch!

MAF Cand Video July 2010 Part 1 from Jocelyn Frey on Vimeo.

MAF Cand Video July 2010 Part 2 from Jocelyn Frey on Vimeo.

iDaHo

2010-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Well here we go! We've been in Idaho for about a week and a half now and it has really been a awesome time so far to be able to meet some amazing new people and get to know more about the organization that we are going to be serving with. We still do not know which city in DRC we are going to be in, because well the director in the Congo doesn't know either. We got the privilege of talking to him via Skype yesterday and he sounds very excited to have us there (Probably not as excited as we are to be there though :-)

So far we have been doing alot of classroom work, from learning about the different programs to getting a list of what we need to pack. But I just thought I would give you a quick tour of where we are staying. I would have to say at the moment it feels like home... well at least for another 2 weeks ^_^

This is the front of the MAF Office Building.

There are 3 Apartment building with 3 different sized rooms in each.

This is what all of the candidate pilots start flying on .

Another view of the park and apartment buildings.

This is the front of our room on the left.

Our desk/dining table.

Bathroom.

Bed and Dining room.

Washing Machine and Dish washer!!! ^_^

Well thats the short tour of our digs at the moment! I hope everyone is doing well and you will hear from me soon!!!

Nick & Jocelyn Frey

Come and gone...

2010-06-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Wow... Talk about time going by fast...

Our Ontario wedding came and went like a blur... I was actually really excited to be able to have another one so that maybe this time I would be able to pay more attention to what is going on... However this was not the case at all. In Hawkesville there were lots of new friends for me and old ones for Nick however in Alberta it was the opposite. Needless to say I was lucky if I got to have a couple of minutes with everyone which I know didn't happen; and I'm very sorry for that. I wish I could have had a good long chat with everyone there. There were so many people that I hadn't seen in years that came out and had been such an important part of my life. It was overwhelming remembering these amazing people that have graced me with being able to know them.

But no matter how busy and crazy the day was; it was so much fun 'again'... and we loved every minute of it. After that had finished and we said all of our goodbye's we were off with our rented RV for a week of peace and quiet in beautiful Jasper. It was an awesome week and we even got to stay at the Jasper Park Lodge for a night which was quite amazing... but we felt a little under class haha... But felt very blessed and loved for the gift to stay there.

So thank you so much for everyone that helped us with all of the wedding planning; there was so much to be done and there was no way that we could have done it all ourselves. God has blessed us so much with amazing family and friends.

Now we are back in the swing of things and have landed running. We are in Edmonton for about 10 days with lots of people already scheduled in to visit before we are off to Idaho for 3 weeks for non-technical training. We are looking forward to this time to help prepare us to be able to adjust with the most amount of ease to the cultural differences when we get to DRC.

We ask that everyone would continue to pray for us as we start our marriage and jump right back into MAF preparation. We need your prayers so that we are able to succeed in the perfect plan that the Lord has for us. Thank you so much!

Officially: Nick and Jocelyn Frey!

Wedding #1

2010-06-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Well just a quick update as Nick and I are sitting in the Airport waiting to get to Edmonton for wedding number two!...

The wedding (Number one) in Hawkesville was everything that we had hoped for and so much more. The Lord blessed us so much, it was 87% chance for thundershowers and all it did was sprinkle all day. It was like God just has a mister pointed right at us... it was so cool!
There were so many people that help to make the day go off without a hitch and we couldn't have done it without them. We both feel so blessed from each and every person that the Lord has put into our lives and are blown away but the love shown to us.

I believe that everyone had so much fun and here are some peek preview pics taken by Mel Ziegler! Hope you enjoy and will post again soon!

9 Days and Counting!

2010-06-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well we are in the single digit countdown! It is 9 days today until the big day! I think that we have everything mostly planned... ha ha to be honest I sure hope that I do and hopefully everything will go off without a hitch and the Lord will bless us with some beautiful weather. Its calling for scattered showers at the moment... Maybe they will just be really scattered!

The next 9 days I think are going to be filled with lots of last minute visiting, planning and some awesome family festivities!
8- We are getting to go to a tap dancing show which I am pretty excited about!
7- A band practice for the ceremony; and having a special time to hang out with Nicks sister.
6 - Last sunday at hawkesville church
5 - Hair appointment
4- Finishing up the party favors, making sure that everyone knows what they are doing so I don't try and take control of everything!
3 - Then my family gets in and that will be full time showing them all the wonders that I have found in the Hawkesville area since I have been here!
2- Sort of a rehearsal; then the official Bradfield-Frey/Ziegler meetings to make sure that everyone likes each other!
1 - The day before.. wow already.. this day my sister has planned a entire day of festivities that I'm not aloud to know what it is... I'm sure I will let you know after!

0 - Then there it is... after all the waiting... and the planning... it is finally here... the wedding... (until the second wedding of course!)

Stay tuned for all the pictures and wonderful details...

Newsletter Number 3!!

2010-05-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture to see it bigger!

Blood Donor

2010-05-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

So Nick and I have taken upon ourselves since Nick is not flying at the moment and we have not been to Africa and contracted malaria to give blood every 56 days; which has been quite a fun date for the 2 of us. So we went the other day to go and give blood; while Nick had been a little sick for the last couple days and I was feeling good I went in thinking that he was going to get rejected as soon as they say his running nose.

However when I go up to the lady to get my Iron checked she looks at my card, pokes my finger and drops my blood into the little blue container of liquid.

At first it looks like it is dropping quite well but then it gets about half way down and like a puppet on a string starts back for the top... rather quickly...

The lady goes 'oh dear' and I explain that the same thing happened to me last time but when they tested it on the machine it turned out quite fine. So she squishes my finger a little bit more to get some more blood out and puts it in the machine as she laughs and tells me she has never seen blood float up quite that fast. Then the thing beeps and she tells me that my iron is to low and Im not aloud to give blood; she sends me off with a nurse who gives me a thing that tells me to eat more steak.

However then Nick goes through and is approved just fine (other then I think he streached the truth on Question #1 where it asks you if you are feeling well today!!)

So my expectations going in were turned upside down and I was the one that ended up sitting there reading Macleans about how Canadians use to much water!

AIM In the Congo

2010-05-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

Move Against the Fear from AIM On-Field Media on Vimeo.

Jesus Loves Me

2010-05-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

Some fun with Helium after the Stag and Doe...

Duck & Bride

2010-05-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

Well as promised...

We have been relatively busy lately with WEDDING stuff... Just in case you wanted to know it is 32 days until Wedding number 1 and the plans are going well... or I am just forgetting to do a whole bunch of stuff... Who knows it could be a mix of both.

Both sides of the family are very excited for both weddings; the Bradfield crew is excited to have an excuse for a family reunion and it should be tons of fun. I have had so much help from some awesomely creative ladies that are helping me decorate for the wedding in Ontario.

So I guess the couple of things that happened wedding wise over the last little while would be the wonderful ladies of Hawkesville threw me a bridal shower with games (they tried to see how well I REALLY knew Nick; which I would have to say I passed with flying colours) a chocolate fountain which I believe was the favorite of the guests under 15; ate some jelly bellys (Some tasted like ear wax... some like marshmallows) and just had some good time to hang out and visit with all of the amazing ladies that I have got to know over the last 4 months.

Then Charity (Nicks sister) and Dad threw us what they call in Ontario a 'Stag and Doe' which purpose was to help raise money for the wedding; which it did do that! They had rented the bottom part of a bowling ally in Waterloo and bowled the night away with a raffle; 50 50 and at the end of the night through some scheming of some uncles Nick and I Pied each other...

So it has been a pretty fun couple weeks and we thank everyone that was involved. We feel so blessed by the family and friends around to support us.

The count down continues!

2010-05-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hope you're getting shorts, t-shirts and sandals ready! Here's a quick what's happening in our lives.

First off, Jocelyn's an official MAF employee! The long process was completed after last weeks orientation. Now that we are both MAF pre-field missionary's we're one step closer to taking flight to Democratic Republic of Congo where we hope to be by summer of 2011.

Backing up a bit, we kicked off the month by sending out our 2nd official MAF newsletter which I hope you enjoyed. We went to a thought provoking dinner theater at Floradale Mennonite Church about peace and peacemakers. It was well done and we enjoyed seeing familiar faces at Floradale where we'll be
speaking during the service on May 23. I had the opportunity to lead a boys bible study again and also to preach at our home church of Hawkesville Mennonite. We also took part in a one day church retreat with fellow Hawkesville Menno members.

The Out of the Cold program we help out with on saturday nights at Bethany Evangelical Church is taking it's usual summer break; so we attended a volunteer appreciation dinner where Jocelyn and I shared a bit about what the program means to us. I also spoke at Bethany Church on Apr 17 to a group of approx 70 men about our ministry and what God has done in my life. Another appreciation dinner we attended was at Woodside Church for helping with the tuesday night kids club program. Jocelyn and I will be speaking at Woodside on May 9 during 2 adult sunday sessions.

A friday night and all day saturday "Engagement Workshop" we took part in gave us great tips on communicating and making our marriage last. We recommend this or similar workshops for anyone whose engaged or married. Also on the marriage front, Jocelyn had a bridal shower thrown for her which she really enjoyed. And last saturday night we had a stag and doe with bowling, prizes and Jocelyn and I pieing each other in the face :)

Amidst these major events we continue fund raising for our ministry with MAF and plan for both weddings. We didn't meet our goal of 83% ongoing support by the end of April so we continue to ask for regular support to reach our 100% goal by the first wedding (June 12). The need is there for those who are still considering support. That being said we have been receiving many one-time gifts and are overwhelmed how much is coming in. Thank you all so much!!!

May you be blessed as summer approaches!!

Love,

--
Nick and Jocelyn

Missions Fest Toronto

Article

2010-04-14T07:39:00.000-07:00

As we have been able to do some research into the DRC where we will be heading with MAF; there are many articles that I think really shows the need of the country.

This is one of them;

Africa's great riddle

The bleak calculus of Congo’s war without end

"After more than a decade, Congo's death toll is greater than that of Afghanistan and Iraq combined – and the UN's biggest peacekeeping force seems unable to stop the suffering..."

To Continue to read please visit:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/the-bleak-calculus-of-congos-war-without-end/article1513795/

Please read and be in prayer with us for this country.

2010-04-07T08:55:00.001-07:00

Please click on each individual picture to see the newsletter full size. Thanks!

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T08:53:00.001-07:00

I have been waiting a little while to put a new post up because we should be posting our newsletter here very soon! However it has not happened quite yet so I just wanted to say Happy Easter to everyone and I hope you all had a wonderful season celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! (and Bunnies... that lay eggs... I still don't quite get that)

Some exciting news that has been going on in our life, we are right on schedule for our fundraising and are officially at 70%! We are right on to be able to get to 100% by our wedding. We have been able to visit with lots of people and even had Hawkesville Mennonite Church; which is our home church right now; have a fundraiser for us Easter Sunday morning! So thank you so much for everyone that participated in that!

Also! I (Jocelyn) was able to be a part of my first 'Maple Syrup Festival'! There was lots of food... some rides and TONS of people, I was able to walk through the sugar shacks and see how maple syrup is made and I found out I'm quite good at selling pop corn! It was a fun weekend to see people from all over the place come out to the tiny little town Elmira!

So I think that is all our updates at the moment! Our news letter will be coming out soon for everyone to read!
[We were able to attend a sunrise service on Easter Sunday, it was a beautiful reminder of the 'Son Rising']

Tires rolling down the street

2010-03-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update, it was 3 months the other day until we get hitched!! Which also means we have 3 months to finish up all of our fundraising.

We would just like to thank everyone that has supported us so far; we could not do this without you. We are having so much fun just being able to go around and visit with friends and family and get to know them in a way that we would have never had the chance if we were not doing it. It has been such a blessing and God has just shown himself so faithful over and over again to us. He keeps on blowing our expectations away and when we think that we are so behind he just comes up right in his timing (which always seems last minute for us), but he always comes through!

Fun story before I go, the other day when we were driving downtown Elmira, going to shoppers to pick up some things, we hear this HUGE *clunk* and the car goes down on the left side and we are skidding down the road. However with Nicks far superior driving skills we make it to the side of the road as I comment on the fact that we had to get a flat tire at some point... As Nick jumps out of the car and gets on his phone he quickly corrects me that our tire it just fine... it is just no longer connected to the car! (Well that's how I interpreted it anyway.

Luckily I had my camera for this monumental
occasion so I could share it all with you...

Update!

2010-03-06T13:12:00.001-08:00

Hey, hope you're doing well.

We're plugging along with support raising and wedding planning. It's been keeping us busy, but it's been very worth it in many aspects. Firstly, God has blessed us with many new friends and getting to know old friends much better. Getting to actually know who people are and building relationships is such a cool experience. So many great stories about what's happening in peoples lives.

I have been doing a bit of unofficial MAF recruiting as I meet with a few guys working on joining MAF as pilots. We have also been MAF representatives at a couple missions conferences. A few weeks ago I led a guys bible study which was a great time with many interesting questions being asked. On Valentines Day I preached at a church retreat about love, athletes and Christians; which was also a great time of fellowship. Jocelyn led the children's time during that service and also led a children's bible study a few weeks ago. She spent a few days in the States visiting friends and buying a wedding dress, which left me alone (very different as we usually spend everyday together). I used the time to catch up on paperwork, set-up and go to some appointments, get some wedding plans in order, and also start a possible project of a theology/missions course for future MAF applicants. Jocelyn had her medical and completed her psych evaluation paperwork, so her application process is coming right along. When we're not fund raising we attend marriage counseling once a month, we continue to help out at the Out of the Cold program (soup kitchen/overnight stay service in Kitchener) every Sat night, we help out every few weeks at the tuesday night kids club program at Woodside Church in Elmria and, almost every monday night we practice/learn a bit of francais with a french family from Hawkesville Mennonite Church.

This week we had many meetings and visits with people. We also had a goal of getting to 50% of our monthly support by weeks end. After just finishing the numbers we're at...(drum roll)....57%!!!!!!! It is a very happy day! and SUCH an answer to prayer for us. We live on God's timing and that is more and more evident.

enjoy the day!

love,

--
Nick and Jocelyn
www.mafc.org

First Newsletter!

2010-03-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

Click on the Images to see them full sized!