Chalo!

“Dana! Daaa-naaa!” This is a sound that has become very familiar to me this past week.

Last night, Nathan and I got back from Saskatoon, Sk with a group of eight of our youth. Dana Berrand was the person organizing the Chalo! experience for us. We got there last Friday and spent the week having our eyes opened to the adjustments that refugees and immigrants to Canada must make. Our goal was to be the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone we came in contact with.

Late Friday afternoon, we arrived in Saskatoon and met up with Dana. We moved into the apartment that we would be staying in and just settled in. In the evening we watched Hotel Rwanda. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is a very eye-opening movie depicting what happened in Rwanda in 1994. Later in the week, we had a chance to listen to a man speak to us who was a refugee from Rwanda. He has gone through such horrible things, but has such joy in life. He told us that while it was all going on, he had been only 500 meters from the hotel, but did not go there to safety because he didn’t know that they were taking refugees. What he saw must have been traumatizing, but God has worked in healing him, and he can talk about it with a smile on his face and praises God for protecting him and blessing him. It was awesome to listen to him, but definitely a challenge for each of us. He encouraged us to do good whenever we have the opportunity, and to never seek revenge. What an inspiring man.

On Saturday, we spent the morning helping the managers of the apartments we were staying in clean up the grounds and catch up on some maintenance. It was good to be an example of Christ by being willing to work for free and with joy. Saturday evening we went to a Spanish church in Saskatoon. Seven of our group of ten were involved in the music. The pastor spoke so outright and said exactly what he thought, even though he knew that people would disagree or be challenged by what he said. Afterward, we hung out and visited with some of the Spanish people. There was a low attendance that night, but it was still a very different atmosphere than what a lot of our youth were used to.

Sunday morning, we went to the MCC office and met with the Spanish church again. There, we helped them with their English. It was a lot of fun…the Spanish just have such a sense of humor (or at least these Spanish people did) so even while they were learning and probably getting confused and frustrated, they still laughed together and kept trying.

Sunday afternoon, we did a lot of prep for a kids carnival later in the week. We made a lot of posters and planned some of the activities. Sunday afternoon/evening, we were invited to play soccer with the Spanish church. It was a pretty intense three hours, but our youth had fun. Nathan got to see his friend, Brad, and play soccer with him, so that was a highlight for him. We had always heard that South Americans are good soccer players, but we got to see it first hand. There was a three (?) year old there, and even he could play some pretty good soccer for his age! I was thinking maybe Nate and I will have to move down to South America so that our kids can be good at soccer. Or we could move to Africa so that they can dance…

Monday to Wednesday mornings were spent at the Open Door Society. This is an organization which helps refugee families get integrated into our culture with as little difficulty as possible. They also teach English classes for adults and have day care for the children. Four from our group helped with child-care while the other six were in classes, helping the adults learn English. It was interesting because this is where Nathan’s mom works (teaching English), so Nathan and I got to be in her class and see her teaching first hand. She is very good at the work that she does. I can see why she loves teaching English so much. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip…I’ve realized again how much I love to teach and help people to learn. I thought I would only like to teach young children (elementary age) but now I’ve realized that teaching English to adults is fun too.

On Monday afternoon, we did an activity called the “Great Race”. We were given different scenarios that a refugee would face and our job was to find different places in the city to answer different questions. One example was, “You have three children and they are on a school break. They have been sitting around the house and are getting bored. You want to take them out to do something, but you don’t have very much money. Where are three places you could take your children, in Sasktoon, for free? Find a brochure from one of these places.” So we would have to figure out three places and make our way to one of them with only one bus pass and 25 cents for one phone call. It was difficult for us, and we knew the culture and where to find answers to many of the questions. I can’t imagine being in a place where you don’t know the language and don’t know how the culture works and have to find your way around and make a life for yourself.

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, some of our team continued to do carnival prep while the rest of the group played outside with the kids. This is where “Dana! Daaa-naaa!” comes in! The kids in the refugee community have a great love and respect for Dana. She is their friend and often they would sit outside the kids club apartment window (which is ground level) and just call her until she would respond to them. She has a lot of patience with those kids and you can tell that she has a lot of love too. It was quite inspiring to see her being Jesus to and being intentional with all the people in the community. Our group always found it amusing that the kids would call Dana that way, so by the end of the week, we would often hear Dana being called, even when there were no kids to be seen. Even on the car ride home, I would occasionally hear from the backseat, “Dana! Daaa-naaa!” You made an impact, Dana!

Wednesday night we had our carnival. We had many different stations set up including face painting, piñata hitting, water gun targets, candy digging, free hot dogs and juice, etc. The kids just loved it and went crazy over all the free candy! I’ve decided that I never want to be in charge of handing out candy to more than ten kids at a time again. Being the size of the majority of the kids didn’t make their respect for me any greater. It was pretty crazy, but I’m glad we could do something like this for kids whose parents don’t necessarily have the money or transportation to take them out all the time to do things like that.

While being out in Saskatchewan, I had a chance to see a few Bethany friends, which was SO good. Dana was the leader…I hadn’t really known her before, but all Bethany alumni have something in common (Bethany) so connection is easier. Dana was wonderful and the whole group loved her. Thanks, Dana, for giving all that time and energy to make it a great experience for our whole group. Thanks for being open to God’s leading and for challenging us to be intentional wherever we are. Erika…a friend from Bethany who I played soccer with and who I’ve seen a number of times since Bethany…she lives with Dana and is also loved by the kids. Sarah-Jane…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with her for two years…is currently in the process of moving in with Dana and Erika. Karis…my sister!...she was out to help with the carnival and we had a chance to talk for quite a while while the kids were all watching a movie…thanks for the talk, Karis, and thanks for making me think…you challenge me (in a good way). Brad Koehn…Nate’s good friend from Bethany. The Sawatzky family…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with them…came out to help with the carnival. Colin…went to Bethany with him. Simon…went to Bethany with him. Tim…went to Bethany with him…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with him. Carrie Sperling…worked at Redberry Bible camp with her. It was so good to see some people with some history, even if I didn’t have that much history with them, and didn’t get to really talk with most of them. It was still good to see everyone.

Overall, this trip was an encouragement to me. I was encouraged in my faith. Encouraged to step out of my comfort zone. Encouraged that friends will come, with time. Encouraged in my role as a youth pastor’s wife. I’ve come home wanting to change some things and wanting to press on in some things that didn’t seem worth it to me before. It’s amazing how God works through different things.

Well, that's a short summary of our trip (yes, believe it or not, that was a short summary!) Have a good last couple weeks of summer!