•learning and growing so much with my SD classmates and the GFA family
•learning self-discipline and time management
•spring!
•studying books that draw me closer to Jesus
•encouragement from other people
•to continue to grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus Christ
•to trust God’s promises
•to be an others-centered servant
•to find my confidence and strength
in the Lord
•enough sleep at night and energy during the day
What if time is relative? Wrapping my mind around that concept is difficult. Like trying to comprehend infinity or the size of the universe.
Nevertheless. Time goes faster for me these days – maybe it’s because there is so much to do, and almost every moment of my day is mapped out.
But I’m enjoying this time. Building relationships with wonderful people, learning so much, growing so much.
And enjoying a few donuts while I’m at it.
February 12 was Pancake Tuesday. We made bacon pancakes for supper.
Susan and Sharlena and I went to a social justice event and shared about how Gospel for Asia is bringing hope to children in Asia. And about School of Discipleship.
Eight people make up our School of Discipleship class: Crissy, me, Daniel, Sharlena, Ashley, Abbey, Michelle, and Chris. We don’t always make it to lunch at the same time, but that day we did :)
We eat some delicious food around here.
Three times a week, we have class. Reading, listening, learning, and discussing.
And taking random selfies. Just for fun.
Happy Saturday!
I’m a few days into my second week at Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship here in Stoney Creek, Ontario. So far everything has been fantastic. There have been hard parts, and challenges, and struggles – but God has been so faithful to me so far. He’s not going to stop now.
Last Wednesday my classmates and I finally found out what we were itching to know — where we would be working in the office! My ministry placement is in the Web Department. Trevor is our coordinator, and besides myself, two other students are in Web: Ashley and Crissy. Working together is already such a blessing. Part of my job is writing some posts for the Gospel for Asia Canada blog (blog.gfa.ca). So far I’ve put together posts about our first week at School of Discipleship (read that here,) and what we’re learning in class (read about knowing Jesus more over here,) and then my most recent post was about myGFA (this one has a video too! click here to see it.)
I’ll probably be posting over on that blog more than here. They have us pretty busy as School of Discipleship students. Three times a week we have class; throughout the week we have assignments; we work in the office Monday through Friday; we have morning prayer, evening prayer, and house prayer; we have activities on the weekends.
Last Sunday (January 20) we visited Niagara Falls! This is our class. Left to right: Crissy, Abigail, Michelle, Daniel, Rueben, Ashley, Sharlena, Elicia, Chris, and Barb (Rueben and Barb are our house mentors.)
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried;
And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
And he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life;
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
Who spoke by the prophets;
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
This is what I believe.
2013 is the year that I have dedicated to growing more like Jesus. I’m part of Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. Striving to know Jesus more fully and intimately.
The mission of Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship is to assist men and women to become devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the great commission by enabling them to know Jesus more fully and intimately through the careful study of God’s Word along with practical teaching and training relevant to each individual God given calling.
What I’m studying currently: the core values of Gospel for Asia and the Bible from 30,000 Feet by Pastor Skip Heitzig.
I love my sister and my Mom :)
We match my teddy bear too!
Learning to develop black and white film was one of the best things that’s happened to me. I love shooting film, and have loved it for a while. Learning to develop it on my own made it so much more awesome.
Last semester I took Daniel Rodrigue’s News Photography I at Brookhaven College. I had cool assignments that weren’t really work, because taking photos is awesome and fun. My kind of class, for sure. I made a camera out of a can, I shot with instant film, and spent hours in the school darkroom. Brookhaven has a black and white photo lab, and all of the equipment and space you need for rolling film onto reels, pouring in the chemistry to develop the film, and making enlargements and prints of your photos.
One Thursday I was at the photo lab at Brookhaven, developing film. (Standing at a sink for an hour and shaking a film tank intermittently is not the most interesting thing it the world. It’s a little boring [except that you know that what you're doing is making photos, so it's worth it.] I have small hands, so my fingers cramp up from holding onto the film tank. Then there are chemicals spilling, and dripping onto your hands, and then drying just enough to make it uncomfortable. [I'm making this sound horrible. It's not really this bad.])
So I was at the lab, developing film. I decided that I would instagram the different steps of developing film, just for fun, and for something to do while I wait. I decided that I would hashtag it all #photolabthursday to group all of the photos and tweets together.
And, now I’m going to share the film developing process with you, via my instagram posts. Just a fraction of all the photos that I posted though!
Read about my journey to Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship in my first newsletter:
source for this image: Honestly WTF
Several years ago I heard about Shibori dyeing for the first time. A friend of mine living in Japan discovered an enormous store selling vintage kimonos, and many of them were patterned with this technique. She showed me a post from Honestly WTF about shibori dyeing. Ever since, I had it in the back of my head to try this sometime.
source for this image: Honestly WTF
source for this image: Honestly WTF
Using wood, pipe, stone, and string, you wrap and tie up your fabic (I used shirts) to tie dye it with various patterns. (Go to the Honestly WTF post for more in-depth information.) I used Itajime shibori (a shape resist technique), Kumo shibori (a twist and bind resist technique), and Arashi shibori (a pole wrapping technique). I also did two ombre dip-dye shirts. This post on Cotton and Curls was helpful.
I used Rit navy blue dye, because I couldn’t find an indigo. Wood I found in the garage, stones from the back yard, and cotton yarn were my tools.
I can’t wait to wear my new hand-dyed shirts!
Left to right: arashi shibori, ombre dip dye tee, ombre dip dye button up, kumo shibori, and itajime shibori.
2013 is the year that this adventures begins.
On January 18th I’m going up to Canada for the School of Discipleship program with Gospel for Asia. One year where I’m dedicating my life to listen, obey, and serve Jesus.
I’m excited to see where Jesus takes me this year :)
I have to raise support to cover the cost of this year, $10,200 in total. By God’s grace, 62% is already raised. Would you think about supporting me?
