Christmas holidays were good to us.
We pre-luded the holiday with a fantastic Dessert Night held at the Power to Change building. Thank you to the so many of you who came out to help make that night a success. Even for those of us who have the “inside” scoop on the shape of AIA Volleyball, it was inspiring to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
Christmas holidays were a wonderful time of rest, family, and remembering the incredible gift of Christ, on Whom this ministry is centered. We are blessed.
The scoop since then:
Christmas Camp:
The high school girls team who are going to Paraguay this March ran a 3-day volleyball camp as a fundraiser for the trip. We’ll have much more to share about the trip in future blogging… but you can already be praying for the impact of this team on the Paraguay community and on their own spiritual journeys.
Harold:
On that note, AIA Canada invited Harold to come visit for a couple weeks. He is a 20-year old young man with a heart for ministry who is part of “Jesus Responds,” a Power to Change branch in Paraguay. Through them, he also ministers with Athletes in Action to help bring sports & Jesus to more than 100 nutrition stations throughout Paraguay. As you can imagine, this can be a daunting task for one person. He came to meet our Canadian staff, and to gain some more tools for his ministry back home.
Checking out Fort Langley one of his first days here:
Checking out Fort Langley one of his first days here:
When Ryan took the TWU girls team to Paraguay last April, he got to know Harold, so Harold stayed with us for a good portion of the time he was here. We enjoyed great “attempts” at conversation (Ryan actually holds his own pretty well in modified Espanol!), Harold’s guitar playing, and late-night X-Box games.
Harold also came to AIA Summit…
He's the guy in the red shirt, white scarf, front and centre
AIA Summit:
This is the annual conference for the 40+ AIA staff across Canada. We go out to Camp Stillwood for 3 days of ministry updates, prayer for God’s infusion of His Holy Spirit into all avenues of the ministry, and encouragement for one another. Also, there are usually numerous competitive games… which, as you can imagine, pack some heat when you get that many past and current athletes in one setting J.
Here's a view of the setting:
This year in particular, we were impacted by the sessions with Pastor Sam Owusu from the Calvary Worship Centre in New Westminster. He spoke on prayer, and led us into powerful prayer times together.
The following day, Neil and Sharol Josephson brought sessions on practical tools and guards for life in ministry. We all walked away with a clearer perspective on where we are and where we want to be going… and, thankfully, ideas for how to get there.
Relationships, New & Old:
One of the most meaningful parts of January has been having people around. We love community, and when people are okay with crashing on your couch or on a mattress on the floor, it makes for some meaningful late-night and early-morning visits together. These visits inspired us towards starting 2012 off on the right foot in ministry and friendship.
We met a few of those people back when we both (Ryan and Deb) were involved with AIA in Regina. The 2 girls seen here, Emily and Chelsa, were part of that original U of R group; Emily is on staff in Toronto, and Chelsa is just joining staff in Regina. Rodd (far right) was Deb's original AIA connection/boss in Regina from 2003-06:
Check back for updates on the vision and happenings of AIA Volleyball, 2012!
