more pictures from the week.

some pictures of the various projects we did over the week, payton with one of the campers and the kitchen crew. There is also a group photo of the individuals staying in the matthew house currently and another group photo taken right before we said out good-byes today!

Sports Camp

The first day of the sports camp was a bit of a rude awakening for us. Managing thirty kids turned out to be harder than expected. But, as the days went on, things got easier. The first day was soccer, and the kids seemed to know more about it than we did! And most everybody participated. The second day was football, and we actually had to teach most of the kids the rules of the game. The younger campers ended up playing their own version of football: everybody running after whoever had the ball! We played basketball on the third day, but we didn't realize that the hoops were wayyyyy too tall for the younger ones. All the kids that were too little to shoot the ball ended up going to the playground. By now, the heat and crazy kids had started to really affect us counselors. But, we stuck it out for the last day and had a ton of fun. The fourth and final day consisted of letting the kids choose what they wanted to play, and you could probably guess what they wanted to play: soccer! As the last day came to a close, it finally sank in that we would not see these kids again. We all had a fantastic time at the sports camp ministering to kids from all over the world. We will never forget them! :)

Ps: Saturday is Remy's birthday... he has received the best birthday present ever. He got news yesterday that they have found his parents! Remy's father was taken in the airport when they were on their way here, they had no idea where he was headed but got on the airplane anyways. It has been about 3 years since he has seen them.

Picnic time!

Today we had the picnic for all the campers and their families. Betsy and I spent all day in the kitchen with some wonderful helpers, Ruth, dominique and sergio. The youth got the church bright and early for the sports camp and today the sport was basketball. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The temperature was much warmer today. Betsy and I headed off to the grocery store as soon as they opened this morning and did all of our shopping in less than an hour and a half! We we to Sobey's for the majority of the groceries and then back to the wonderful No Frills. We even made 25 cents by returning the Cart in the parking lot.. (someone had left their quarter in the basket we grabbed in the parkin lot so I locked it up and out popped a quarter! easy money i'd say!)

After camp today, Joe finally got the youth's t shirt's washed... you can imagine how badly this was needed! All the work at the matthew house was accomplished today. the siding looks great along with the new counter top, light, and range hood over the stove.

The menu for the picnic consisted of hamburgers, Hot dogs, pasta salad, veggie tray, baked beans, rice and beans ( made by dominique) and watermelon. For dessert, we had mini powdered doughnuts, brownies and cookies baked by sergio. The pasta salad was not such a hit, but tomorrow is left over friday and we will be using up all our left overs with the campers for lunch!

After eating the youth did the skit from today for the families and Ali-Kat explained briefly about the purpose of the week and the skits. After that Rosemary, Jim and Shirley thanked all of us for our hard work and our continued dedication to the Matthew house. Each of us received a Thank you card which hard a picture on the front with some of the campers or matthew house members. We each got a canadian water bottle full of candies with a "team canada" official olympic bracelet attached. Carlos' mom also thanked us for everything we did and gave us each a goody back stating that "it was not much but a token of their appreciation."

Rosemary had also prepared several games for the kids to play. They enjoyed 3 legged races, Sponge races and Fishing for Ducks in a swimming pool. Betsy, really enjoyed playing with the kids. They got a little carried away with the fishing for ducks game and she came in the kitchen soakin wet!

Everyone was so exhausted today! The heat has really taken it out of the youth each day, and today was especially long! Tomorrow will be a bitter sweet day I am sure. We are exciting for sports camp, but sad it is the last day!

I am doing my best to add as many photos as possible tonight!

10 Things Joe can use his Bandaged Finger for....

1. Use it to clean the windows
2. Big Q-tip-in case he needs to clean a Gorillas ears
3. No need for a napkin at dinner
4. Bingo Marker
5. Use it for a toilet bowl cleaner, get into all those nooks and crannies
6. He will always have a Kleenex On Hand
7. Comes in handy in pointing the team in the right direction
8. Check the oil in the Vans
9. Now he doesn’t need a paintbrush
10. Cell Phone Antenna; he get's the best signal around!

=) We love givin' Joe a hard time, he takes it very well!

Today is 3rd day of sports came and also the picnic which is open to all campers and their families. We will report back with the final count from the picnic and how the day went. There is lots to be done as far as shopping goes and preparing in the kitchen. The sports camp in trying their hand in basketball today which should be lots of fun for the kids! And as far as the work on the Matthew house, we should be finished today! Praise God! The men got the counter top installed yesterday and the siding is up to the bottom of the windows.

Thanks for all your Prayers.! Matthew 25:35!

Man these Kids can EAT!

After day 2 of the sports came, 2 trips to the grocery store and preparing for the cookout tomorrow night. Betsy and I will be back in the grocery store as soon as they open tomorrow morning. Thank God for all of the generous help we have had from so many wonderful ladies who have either been in the matthew house or who are currently staying in the matthew house. We could not have prepared lunch and served all the children and cleaned up as fast and effectively as we have the last 2 days without their help. Today's menu consisted of Egg salad sandwiches, turkey, roast beef sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruit. Boy do those kids love fruit! of course we have chips and some sort of cookie. This year we are having to be very careful what we prepare and check every label; one of the campers has a severe peanut allergy and is not supposed to be around anything that has been prepared with peanut oil or contains peanuts. Our youth were very disappointed we could not have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Today we went through almost 6 loaves of bread, 5 lbs of deli meat, 4 bags of chips, all the waffer cookies we had and all the grapes, apples and strawberries we had were gone! I believe we all the extra we estimated 55 people were fed today for lunch! wow, God is Good!

Tomorrow is the big cookout. We are not sure how many people to expect. Not all of the kids have parents here, but they have many siblings and not everyone RSVP's to the flyer. We had more kids at camp today than yesterday and are estimating for 3 people per camper. All in all we are estimating for about 140 people. The menu consists of burgers, hot dogs, rice and beans (made by our new friend Dominique), pasta salad, baked beans, a veggie tray and some sort of baked goods or a cake. We will be very busy tomorrow but we have recruited lots of helpful hands in the kitchen!

Today Joe sliced his finger as the men were working on the counter top in the kitchen, he went to a clinic here in canada and ended up getting 3 stitches for $75 dollars!

When we woke up today it was very gloomy and over cast, we were afraid it was going to rain but it did as they called for and everything burned off and moved on. The sun came out and it was a hot one! The kids said camp was a little more of a challenge today than yesterday because american football is not something all the kids are familiar with. It is very technical and harder to teach. But i think all in all they had a lot of fun!

Betsy and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today with a woman named Dominique who is from Haiti. She has been in Canada for almost 2 years and has 2 teenage boys who are still in Haiti. She is such an incredible lady and so friendly. (as is everyone here) We learned so much from her. We asked lots of questions about their food, culture, her experience in haiti, etc.

This woman seems to have been very successful in haiti. Working as a teacher and starting a school a year or so before she left. Dominique still has family in haiti her mother and several siblings along with her children. It is so sad, I can not imagine having to leave, not knowing when you will see your kids or family again.

Ruth another lady who is always so eager to help in the kitchen is always so bubbily and excited to see us! She is part of the Columbian family who is currently living in the matthew house... but only for another week! As of yesterday, Ruth and her family signed for an apartment in Niagara Falls and will be moving in next week! What a happy and exciting time for them. The 4 of them have been living in one bedroom and will not be moving into a 3 bedroom one and a half bath apartment. Ruth has a daughter who is excited to start art school soon. She has been helping with the VBS sets the church is working on for next week. Their son is going to help us bake tomorrow; he wants to be a chef of some kind!

Last night we went to dinner with Jim Shirley and Rosemary at Rina's, Very good italian food!

We then went to walmart and back to the hotel, everyone was exhausted! Before we left camp yesterday Shirley informed us that they had received a call they would be picking up 4 Haitian children who had just arrived. These children ranged in age from 11 to 20. They lost their mom a few years ago and the 20 year old has been taking care of them since. I can't begin to imagine how they felt today, as they came into eat lunch; must have been a little overwhelming, but I was glad to see the 11 year old boy joined in the sports camp and should becoming back tomorrow. Because their is no room in the matthew house right now, they will be staying in the Howard Johnson where we are staying!

The youth have been given the afternoon off. Betsy and I are taken them to the beach after we get ice cream and then getting mcd's and off to see fireworks to at the falls tonight!

Stay tuned for an updated from a youth's point of view on the sports camp!

continue from Yesterday

Well needless to say yesterday's shopping trip was eventful and we learned a lot including bulk in canada does NOT mean large quantity... it means scoop from a bucket and put in a bag.... the Bulk Barn was a very interesting store indeed.

A Taco bar was prepared for lunch with the help of our new Columbian Friends Ruth and Sergio. With 12 hard tacos and 30 soft taco's we had 2 hard tacos left, and 4 soft tacos left... man this bunch can put away some food!

Back to work we went; finishing up the painting, drywall, etc. and for dinner we ate in at the church with a homemade baked spaghetti meal Betsy prepared. It was wonderful. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to shower up and relax. Everyone was so tired we couldn't really decided what to do. We ended up driving down to the beach to check it out. After taking a few pictures, playing on the playground and including the chaperone's in a game of ninja we headed back to the hotel to rest up for tuesday's sports camp!

we're very excited to meet all the kids and get more work done around the Matthew house today! Thank you all for your continued prayers and for reading our blog!

Day 2- Monday = Work Day!!!

After a Tim Hortons Breakfast, we headed over to the Matthew house to start working around 9. We unloaded all the vans, Betsy and Myself checked out the kitchen situation, and off to the store we went. The rest of the gang got busy cleaning out/organizing sheds, tearing out a wall in the first bedroom upstairs to later put up new dry wall, and after lunch, we started painting. All in all we got a lot of work done today yet there is a lot left to do.

Now, if I learned anything today, it was that shopping in Canada is not like shopping in the United States. First, lets start with the shopping cards at the grocery store called No Frills: YOU HAVE TO PAY! yup that's right, all the stopping carts are chained together and in order to get a cart you must insert a quarter to unlock it from the next cart! well this just blew our mind right from the get go.. so what did we do, we found a straggler in the parking lot because we had no canadian money. Second, Shopping can be a real pain when it comes to converting measurements. If there are two different languages on EVERY item in the store, I would assume there would be two different measurements. HA! wishful thinking i know! Here are a few things we had trouble finding: Shredded cheddar cheese, deli meat in a decent amount, apparently chicken and turkey aren't very common here; roast beef and ham are the cheapest!

we are headin to the beach now.. there is MUCH MORE TO COME LATER.... SO STAY TUNED!

Sunday

Our day started off with a traditional breakfast at Tim Horton's ( as will, EVERY morning this week.) We went to First Baptist Church, Fort Erie; next to the matthew house this morning and the youth sang "Here I am to Worship." Everyone was very welcoming and exciting for the work we will be providing this week. We saw lots of kids that had attended the camp last year or in previous years and will also have the help of those older teens, such as Carlos. Carlos is a boy from Columbia who is here with his family. He attended the camp the very first year our church came up to Canada and has been coming back each year to either attend or help with the camp.

After church we met the people staying in the Matthew house; there is family from Columbia, along with 4 boys from Afghanistan. The boys will be attending summer school during the day but the daughter of the columbian family is very exciting to help with the soccer portion of the sports camp.

For lunch we stopped in McDonald's and got everything to go. It was by far the largest order that McD's has EVER had. Did you know that canadian McD's do NOT have sweet tea.. YES that is correct... it upset several people in our group. BUT what they do have.. is a Double Big Mac. yes that is 4 pieces of break and 4 beef patties plus all the toppings. Take a guess which group member ordered that... PEYTON! and yes. he finished it, and some of ali-kates burger!

Today we visiting Niagra Falls, 7 of us road the Maid of the Mist and man what an experience. The Falls being one of the 7 natural wonders are incredible. It is amazing to see how forceful and how much power the water creates rushing over the rocks. It is also amazing to see the melting pot of people that congregate at the falls. I think you could hear every language you wanted to hear spoken as you walked up and down the sidewalks. As we left the Maid of the Mist we found out the Spain won the World Cup, It was awesome to see all of the soccer fans carrying their spanish flags around and everyone cheering as they walked by or running out in the middle of the street to high five people in cars with other spanish flags.

We also took a very scenic ride up to Niagra on the Lake and walked around for little. We ate at the barrel and are now back at the hotel relaxing. Tomorrow we will be shopping for lunches and dinners throughout the week, doing lots of work on the matthew house, enjoying a home cooked meal and possibly headin to the beach.

Stay tuned for details from tomorrows activities! thanks again for your prayers and warm thoughts as we continue Christ's mission this week!

We Have Arrived!!!!

After almost exactly 12 hours of travel, including our stops, we have arrived with two uneventful stops at the boarder. Our ride up started out pretty dreary, it poured the rain until we got off 95, then the rain cleared up and we could actually see (HA) Joe, myself, ryan, peyton, and ali-kate were in one van. The second van include Betsey, steve, henry, james, tommy, katie and taylor. It was to my knowledge that that 2nd van was pretty quiet the whole way with lots of sleeping. As for our van, we each got maybe an hour of sleep except for peyton and joe. The trip passed pretty quickly i thought, we stopped at wendy's for lunch and then again at a tacobell/ kfc for dinner and of course several places for gas and potty breaks. Staying awake on this trip proved to be very beneficial for myself. I freshened up on some states and geography, (bc as everyone knows in my family maps, and states are NOT my strong point.) I learned about valley forge. But best of all I learned the game "Sheep-Bong" and when we got here i learned the game NINJA.. if you don't know either of these, talk to a youth!

I am not good at either one but they prove to make you known.

After arrival we got our room assignments (which to my understanding are the same exact rooms as last year) and met with Jim and Shirley McNair. The youth practiced the song they will be singing in church tomorrow and we made a VERY quick trip to wal-mart. The wamarts in canada do not stay open 24 hours. We had 30 minutes to get in, find snacks and get out. (apparently the whole place shuts down at 10) After getting back to the howard johnson, the youth went over to the wendy's next door for frosty's and a few rounds of SHEEP-BONG. The girl working behind the counter remembered us from last year and called us the "Sheep game people"

There is lots of work to be done at the matthew house and we have more children enrolled in the camp than any year before. (33) We are extremely excited to be here and even more so to begin the journey God called us on this week. We ask for your continued prayers for strength, dignity, patients, and love as we embrace the tasks and kids that come our way!

-Erica

Friday July 9th 2010

Hello to all of our followers!

As we continue to prepare for the journey to Canada tomorrow, we ask for your continued prayer and support in all aspects. There are some of us, like myself and maybe Joe, who have not unpacked fully from the last trip in order to pack for this trip (and yes we load the van at 8pm tonight! HA) Others have probably been packed since monday, ready to get the show on the road, and share God's word. Regardless of how or when we finish packing we will leave Tomahawk Baptist Church at 7:30 tomorrow morning and ask for your prayers of safe travels, and an uneventful stop crossing the boarder.

The group had a meeting last Wed. and everyone was extremely excited about the sports camp and being able to help out around the Matthew House again this year. We have many returnees this year and a few new comers as well.

Our Team Includes:

Joe Savarie

Henry Swope

Betsy Harrel

Scott Hartman

Me( Erica Skinner)

Ryan Gryder

AliKate Thompson

Tommy Savarie

Peyton Gryder

Katie Harrell

Taylor Hartman

James Swope

We will worship with First Baptist, Ft Erie on Sunday and I was informed that the youth have volunteered to sing in church again this year. What a wonderful gift to share!

Monday will be a prep day along with doing some work on the Matthew House and our sports camp will begin Tuesday and end on Friday. We will return Saturday the 15th.

Please Keep us in your prayers and Check back daily for pictures, stories, adventures and prayer requests!

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