A great big thanks to Rick and Jennifer and Tracy from Texas for
leading two youth groups from their churches to partner with Genesis
Church in Airdrie from July 1st to July 4th.
A group of
38 adults and youth drove 2800 km, all the way from Big Spring and
Stanton, Texas to Cochrane, Alberta in order to help out 3 different
churches in the area, including Big Rock Baptist Church in Okotoks,
Southwinds Church in Calgary and Genesis Church in Airdrie.
Their trip to Canada was an eventful one as the alternator
on their bus failed. After spending 7 hours trying to get it changed a
team member suggested that they swap batteries with the other vehicle
they were driving whenever the battery on the bus was ran down. They had
to do this every 70 miles for the last part of the trip. They arrived
in Cochrane at 2am on July 1st.
CANADA DAY PARADE
The
Airdrie crew consisting of Rick, Jennifer, Tracy and 8 youth were real
troopers. They woke up a few hours later and made it to Airdrie where
Rob had volunteered them to help man barricades at the Airdrie Canada
Day Parade. Genesis Church was able to supply13 volunteers out of the 70
that helped at the parade. It was a great parade and they got a front
row seat.
BOTTLE DRIVE
After a good night's rest the team came back the
next day to help Genesis collect bottles to raise money for the Ecole
Airdrie Middle School sports program. They don't have deposits on
bottles in Texas so this was all new to them. The people in Airdrie were
very generous. We raised $795!!! Our neighbor's children and Elijah, Ethan and Joshie were the keys to our success. Who could refuse a little kid asking for
bottles?
RE-SHINGLING A ROOF
I didn't want our friends to be bored so
the next day we set out to my friend Tom's house to re-shingle a portion
of the roof on his tractor shed, help cut the grass and paint the
fence. Armed with minutes of training from YouTube and with the roofing
knowledge that comes with looking at roofs we set off to help Tom.
Luckily Rick and Tom had some knowledge and a lot of good sense. After a
good day's work the section of the roof we were working on was done and
it looked great. Thanks guys. Not bad for a worship team! That night
the group was kind enough to bless my family, Bryan and the neighbors
with an evening of worship music. They inspired and encouraged us with
their voices, guitars and djambe.
SIGHTSEEING IN BANFF AND MEADOWBROOK PARK PARTY
Wednesday
morning Savannah and Rebeccah joined the team as they headed to Banff
for some sightseeing. The girls and the youth had a lot of fun. Then in
the afternoon they headed back to Airdrie to help us put on a party in
the park behind my house.
We had a huge inflatable slide that Southwinds
Church lent us. We served hotdogs and popcorn and other treats. The
youth played kickball and built human pyramids and played with the
neighborhood kids. We had a great turn out and were able to meet some
new neighbors and help them meet one another
.
GOODBYES
The
team left around 8pm. Leigh and the girls joined them at Timmys for
some authentic Canadian culture before they returned to Cochrane. They
left the next morning at 4:30am for the long drive back to Texas. Thank
you guys sooo much for the help and encouragement. Your help has made a
lasting impact on Airdrie, on Genesis and on my family. We love you and
miss you and hope to see yall again someday.
DAY 3 - Time to switch gears again. This time volunteering along with my
girls and I to serve lunch to the folks at Propak to celebrate a
safety milestone. Josh from Smittys was hired to cater the meal and the 8
of us were there to lend a hand. Queen Savannah made a guest appearance
and spent some time visiting with Lionel, the man who is supplying Hank
for her to ride in the rodeos and parades.
