Amazing TREK Race!

If you have seen the TV show "The Amazing Race", you will have an idea of what my Saturday was like last week. TREK leadership organized an epic all-day "Amazing TREK". My Philippines team raced the Ukraine team all through Abbotsford in the snow, rain, and hail. We used a GPS to track down bandanas hidden in the woods, completed obstacle courses, ate at a Sikh temple, exercised our brains by memorizing a passage of Scripture as fast as possible, dunked our heads in chocolate pudding, built fire in the rain, and much more. The race started at 6 am and we limped across the finish line at 7 pm.

Needless to say, it was intense! By the end of the day, we had walked/ran at least 15 km and were dead tired. The hardest part was the "missionary breakfast", where our team had to eat a huge meal of really unique foods from around the world before moving on. If you clicked on the link in my last blog, you will know what balut is. And yes, that was on the menu! Most of the other food wasn't much better. Before we went in, one person had to volunteer to eat a "special meal". Knowing that I have a fairly strong stomach, I volunteered. Unbeknownst to me, the special meal was Cheerios, and I was unable to help my team eat the rest. You may think that was lucky for me, but it was actually very difficult! My team, despite a valiant effort, had a tough time keeping the food down, and I felt so useless and so badly wanted to help out.

Through the whole experience, our team learned a lot about each other and we discovered how well we work as a team. I am really excited to be travelling to the Philippines with such awesome people.

Here is a team photo:

From left to right: Jonas, Ashley, me, Tejal, Charis

And now a picture I took today of a park nearby the MARK Centre. As you can see, it is nice here.

Tomorrow, we are heading out to Pender Island (a small island close to Vancouver Island) for a four day retreat. I am quite excited. I will be sure to post some pictures and stories when we get back.

I am still learning lots; it is like drinking from a fire hose. It is great though. Today, we heard from Jamie Munday about holistic mission and how the Kingdom of God is not just about our own relationship with God but about being involved in His work of reconciliation with others, the community around us, and His creation. Good stuff!

I hope you enjoyed reading this. As always, I would love to hear from you, so comment away!