Much to be thankful for

Hmmm, where to begin...

Last week, one of the American students accused Canada of copying the US by celebrating Thanksgiving. Naturally, I couldn't let him get away with such foolishness so I rounded up the Canadians on the base and we've come up with a little jingle that explains the history of our turkey feast. We're going to sing it to the tune of that old Clementine song and Paul will play the guitar. We also peeled a wackload of potatoes for tomorrow's meal and some of the girls and I baked pies yesterday. I felt slightly defeated when I got my knife stuck in the pumpkin but one of the guys managed to pull it out for me. The pumpkins here are green and white and more oblong than the ones back home but they taste just the same in pies.

I am truly thankful to be a part of the dts staff this season. It's a 24/7 position and I'm usually very tired by the end of the week but I'm ejoying it and I feel quite privileged to get to know these students and encourage them on their journies. There are 23 students in all from 5 different nations: Jamaica, Canada, USA, Germany, and Belize. They range in age from 17-33 and there's a couple with a 6yr-old and a mom with a 4yr-old. It's amazing how God can bring people together from various parts of the world at differing stages in their lives and somehow they all fit together and relate to eachother. They are fun. I am honestly impressed with this group as they embrace one another and strive for a deeper relationship with God. It's been an intense couple of weeks (I remember how my first 2 weeks in DTS smacked me in the face) but they are doing well.

The office work I've been doing isn't real exciting to write about, getting immigration papers ready for the students, contacting speakers for the school, etc. John (he's a dts leader, too) and I are working on the local community outreach with 8 students on Fridays. Right now we're getting to know the kids as they come to play football (soccer for us North Americans) and we're praying about where to go from there. Most of the kids in this area live with their mother and no father. Their moms work all day so they are often looked after by an aunt or grandmother. As you can imagine, all this instability in their lives doesn't leave much room for discipline.

I wish I could describe to you what I think about when I spend time with these kids. How often do they get hugged? Do they believe that they are valuable? If they don't really have a family, where are they going to find their sense of belonging? What can I possibly do today that is going to make any difference tomorrow?

I'm trying not to impose my own cultural values on the dire circumstances I see but some things are universal. Kids need families and families are supposed to protect kids. Sometimes the thought of how many wandering children there are in Jamaica alone overwhelms me and I have no doubt that it breaks God's heart a million times more.

Whatever the situation is, God does not change and He says He is able to do abundantly more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), so I'm asking Him to change things here, maybe you could, too.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. I am thankful for you.