Sorry!

I apologize for the complete lack of blog posts for our entire outreach so far!! But, then there's more stories to tell when I get back :)
One thing that I do need help with right now though is with this video contest that I entered.

So, if you can, go to this page :  www.facebook.com/uppernewyork , scroll down on the wall - and press "like" under my video called "With or Without"

(you must first "like" the page in order to see the wall)

But back to outreach - We had been in Rome for the first month, and now we just arrived in Sicily (Catania) 2 days ago! We are currently living on a big pirate ship... pretty much.  And will be for the next 3 and 1/2 weeks! It's really awesome.  Right now we are in "dry dock" meaning the boat is sitting on land as it gets prepared for sailing.... so it's a bit strange being on a boat that's out of water but we should begin the sail in a few days! We'll be visiting an active volcano, and many other beautiful places I'm sure!

Outreach

So, yesterday we left the house in Dunham for the Montreal airport in anticipation of catching our flight to JFK in New York and then getting on our connecting flight to Rome from there.  All was well, we got our bags checked and we boarded the plane on time (at around 3:30pm).  As we sat there for a few minutes they made an announcement that we would be delayed for a few minutes- which kind of worried me because we only had a 45 minute lay over time in New York.  So we kept sitting, and about 20 minutes later we started to move.  Then we stopped.  They told us it would be a little longer.  A little longer passed and then came another announcement: "we've just got to check one more thing so it will be about 20 more minutes."  We waited 20 more minutes - by this time I had fallen asleep more than 3 times... naturally.  Then a final announcement came over the speaker: "It's going to be about an hour and half longer before we can leave because there's a hold up at JFK."  So we got off the plane, had to go get our bags, go through customs all over again, walk all through the airport with our huge backpacks and my guitar... then after all that we find out the flight is just cancelled altogether and there are no more flights going out for the rest of the night.  By this time it's 7 o'clock and we're waiting in line to reschedule our flight.  By 9 we were figuring out where to stay for the night... we ended up getting a deal on a hotel room at the Quality Inn nearby.  So we brought all our stuff, got to our room, spent some time in the hot tub, and enjoyed a nice sleep in some very comfortable beds.  I would have rather been on a plane to Rome but I just have to trust that God's plan is the best.  So that leads me back to the Montreal airport now.  We're sitting in Gate 87 and should be boarding soon... Hopefully my next post will be from Rome.

P.S.  thanks to all who supported our team, we got all the money we needed yesterday, just in time.  So we're all able to travel together, with no one left behind.

Italy!

Happy Easter everyone!! The first of our outreach teams leave at 2am Monday .. basically today! They are going to Thailand and Tahiti! My team as well as the Brazil and Argentina teams don't leave until Wednesday! but it's sooooo close!!! i'm so excited!

With or Without

This is a video I created for a video contest that the United Methodist Church is holding. It gets judged by "likes" on Facebook, starting on May 4th, so please like it!!!

Outreach $

We knew God would provide... we just got a $3,000 check yesterday.  That means we only need around $2,000 now!

PLEASE HELP!

So as the previous post says, I'm going to Italy with my outreach team.  I think i've found us a place to stay just outside of Rome in a camping place but we still have to book it, and we haven't booked flights yet.... because we still don't have enough money.  I know that God will provide somehow.

 If you are interested in being part of His plan and are feeling really generous, you can 
E-MAIL ME AT: nicolemason648@gmail.com  

   We still need a few thousand dollars but any amount you give will help I promise!! 

Outreach!

My outreach team consists of my staff leader Adrienne (myself - I am co-leading with her) and three of my other friends here: Morgan, Angela, and Kimberley.  So far we haven't figured out what we're doing for the first month in Italy, but at the end of May we will be staying on a ship until the end of June! We start off with a 30-something hour sail somewhere around Sicily (i'm so excited) and it is a YWAM base/ship.  We'll be stopping at different places around Sicily from what I know right now, and doing street ministry - hopefully dance parties and playing music, etc.  We also had the idea to make bracelets, and any little things we could hand out to people.  We only have 3 more weeks of lectures and then we begin outreach in a town called "Sherbrooke" about an hour from where we are here in Dunham.  We'll be going around to different schools and churches doing some presentations.  Then, we leave!! Here's a picture of my team dressed as Italian as we could be. (We're spelling Italy)

Bike Riding in Canada

Since yesterday was so beautiful (not extremely warm though) a few of the girls and myself decided to go on a bike ride! We found a bunch of old bikes down in the basement but all of the tires were flat, and they had cobwebs all over them.. regardless, we decided to take on the challenge.  Without a working pump in the house we met our next problem.  We had 6 bikes outside that we had dragged up the basement stairs, through the house, and off the porch, and we were just about to go to the gas station on the corner to find air for our tires! I got on my bike, pressed the breaks, and they didn't work.  I immediately knew this would be a problem.. me on something without breaks would just not work.  Then my friend Morgan's bike wasn't up to par either, so we had to ask one of the families that live at the house if we could borrow a couple. They said yes, but on one condition: we had to wear helmets.  It was fine with us, we already looked ridiculous in the clothes we had chosen to wear that day, and so we were off.

We found a foot pump at the gas station for about $10, got our tires solid and trekked all the way to Cowansville! It's just the next town over where we do all of our grocery shopping since there are actually big stores like Walmart and Super C there.

We made it there, snapping pictures the whole 8 or 9 kilometers, and ended up at Tim Hortons.  I rolled up the rim of my cup to win ANOTHER coffee! Abbie came out with the prize, an XL coffee because apparently she could choose any size.  But we rolled up the rim of that only to be disappointed with the message reading: Play again.  We sat outside and ate our baked goods and candy, then decided to go to Walmart.

The thing is Walmart was not right next door, it was across this somewhat busy street with a traffic light/intersection and the driveway to get in was a little further down past this intersection.  I had my camera strapped around me ( as I had the whole way there ), my back pack on, and my helmet hanging from my other arm.  So the irony begins.  The light was red, but still some cars were approaching the light.  In the gap between the cars sitting at the light and the cars coming toward it were us six girls crossing the 3 lane street.  Most of them were in front of me, and so I thought "oh this would make a cool picture!" Just as I was reaching to get my lens cap off (keeping my other hand on the handlebar) I decided I was moving a little too fast so I automatically rolled my fingers around the break and gave a little pull.  Well, here's the first problem: it was the left break... the front wheel.  Problem 2: I was in the middle lane.  Problem 3: I was wearing my camera, and not my helmet.  Irony: This was the only time I wasn't wearing my helmet, and the breaks that were lacking on the bike I originally had, were working a little too well on this bike.  So within an instant I was launching over the handlebars, only landing on my knees, me and my bike just laying in the middle lane of this road as cars were still coming...  I can only imagine what entertainment I provided them.

 Luckily Abbie was behind me so she helped me get out of the road as I was a little bit shaken up... I was mostly glad that my camera was ok.  It seemed like a miracle to me.  Conveniently we were right in front of a store that sold band-aids and we got a few of those put on right away.  Anyways, we continued to Walmart, printed some pictures from our journey, and then went on our way back.  Everyone was complaining that their butts were sore, as my legs pushed through the pain of just moving in circular motions with the pedals.  At least it made a memorable story... (and scars probably).

Rollercoaster

Here's a song that I wrote Sunday night... I was really sad that I hadn't written any songs while being here... so here is the first one! It's about a roller coaster (representing God) and how I (and many others) go on these short trips or roller coaster rides with Him.  I always get this fear and nervousness while I wait in line to get on a roller coaster, right up until the moment I'm getting on it, yet once it starts I have the time of my life.  I really just had this feeling on my heart that night for some reason... so this song is about that desire to be on a roller coaster ride with Him forever.  ( and a special thanks to Morgan and Brett who helped me with this video )

Agape

We have this thing called "Agape" once a month, and this one was a Masquerade Ball!!  I was so impressed by everyone's masks/outfits.  We had a lot of great food: fruit of all kinds and fondu!! crackers, cheeses, and pizza bread things.  There was a scavenger hunt, and DANCING.  We learned some Scottish dances from Fiona, and then we just had a silly dance party for a few hours.  It was a great time to just celebrate and enjoy life.  Here are some pictures!

We got a LOT of snow...

So..... I got to go snowboarding IN Canada  FINALLY!!! It was sooo cool.  I don't think the mountain was as tall as the one in Vermont, but it was harder!! (Probably because there was SO much powder) It was so awesome though.  I learned a lot more control (going through the woods - and not even on flat terrain - it was hilly, there were jumps everywhere, and you never really knew what was going to be ahead of you)  That's also why there are no pictures :/...  It was a great experience and I hope I get to go again!!

One More Thing

A few weeks ago we took an offering for the base because they are in desperate need of new ovens in the kitchen.  They estimated the cost to be about $9,000.  We ended up raising about $7,000 among our DTS through our offerings.  Some people gave just a few dollars, some gave everything they had, and I decided to give $70 - the amount that I still owed to pay for my lecture phase here.  Though I'm not expecting much, because I didn't take a HUGE leap of faith, I'm still waiting to see what happens with that because God always provides.  I know that, especially because of what one of the other students just shared.  HE GAVE ALL THAT HE HAD IN HIS BANK ACCOUNT.  YESTERDAY HIS PARENTS CALLED TO TELL HIM THAT 4 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT HAD BEEN IN HIS BANK ACCOUNT WAS NOW THERE.  That is God.  I really want to see miracles like that happen in my life, but it is a difficult thing to hand over, especially since I am so young - I felt it wouldn't be very wise to give away all that I had with college and everything... but I hope that someday I would be able to do it, and see how God works in that way.

It's been a while!

I have not been keeping up with this very well, I've been sick for a few days, and we've been busy busy busy.  Let's see... I went to another Hardcore/Screamo concert of "Haste the Day" on Tuesday, had small group on Wednesday night (we went out to Med Pizza - so good!!) Wednesday and Thursday nights I was up until the morning hours working on a video project for our week on "Justice".  My group's topic was Modern Slavery.  It was our job to do the research on the topic and manage to create a video from our own imaginations.  We somehow managed to do all of that in 2 days.  

  So this week has been packed - even right on through the weekend.  Yesterday (Saturday) 3 of the guys and myself got up at 5:30am and headed out the door at 6am for a road trip to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont! (Where the school ski trip is).  It's about 1 1/2 hours away from where I'm living here in Dunham, Quebec!  So we got there around 7:30, and eventually we found the condo that my friends were staying in... I ran up, so excited to see everyone - only to find a huge pile of snow and ice right in front of the door of the condo. My first thought... ok, maybe Ashley told me the wrong address... It looks like no one is even living here.  So I walked around, knocked on a few other doors... and then a man walking down the sidewalk!! I asked him if he knew of any groups from Buffalo, and he directed me to where he knew they had been staying.  I ended up standing outside of the guys' condo, and to my surprise I heard my name.  Standing in the window was Mr. Hycner doing the dishes in the kitchen.  So I ran up to the door and Steve Potter let me in.  He reassured me that the condo I went to in order to find the girls was correct - they had pranked the girls with the nice pile of snow that prevented me from running in to surprise them all.  After all that trouble though, it was an awesome day!  Seeing everyone for the first time in a couple of months, AND getting to go snowboarding on a real mountain... I can't ask for much more than that. 

 So we headed back to Dunham around 3 o'clock because we had to then leave at 5pm for Montreal! It was the 25th anniversary of YWAM Montreal, so we had to attend the event.  It was a fun time, and we ended up getting home around midnight.  Talk about a long day.  And these are some photos from a photo shoot my friend did.

Psalm Project

If Church Was Like a Screamo Concert...

 The Breaker's Commission by For Today - one of their less "hard core" songs, yet still powerful.

Every Tuesday and Thursday mornings for an hour or so we have what is called intercession; we split up into small groups and pray for a specific artist or group of artists.  This past Tuesday we prayed for the band "For Today".  They are a very hardcore Christian band spreading the word of Jesus Christ all around at each show they play.  They played in Montreal last night so a group of about 10 of us decided to go.  At intercession we always take notes of images, verses or just words of encouragement that we feel on our hearts and then share all together as a group.  Since we were going to their concert we decided to make a booklet full of all of our prayers and what we received from those prayers for them.  We were able to hand it to them personally after the show and talk with the main singer/screamer. (ha ha) He is so straight forward with the message of Jesus and it is really inspiring to see this group of musicians so passionate and willing to tell everyone at the shows about God.  They stop in between songs and just say "We're not here to convince you to buy our CD's or buy our merch but we come to preach Jesus".  A feeling of great power and unity came over me each time he would speak.  Suddenly it didn't matter how tightly packed everyones sweaty bodies were in this dimly lit, tight space, up a few flights of stairs, inside a sketchy building in downtown Montreal; everyone was raising their hands to our God and worshipping Him.  It is so energizing to feel the music that our God created in my bones and so often many people judge the Hardcore/Metal scene, thinking it's just rebellious teenagers.  A thought occurred to me though.  What if our churches were like these concerts?  Full of life, dancing, jumping, passion, movement, even screaming.  Isn't that what God wants from us? We have watered down the times we worship to standing in pews and clapping our hands (occasionally).  Imagine if you hadn't seen someone really close to you ( a parent, a sibling, a best friend ) in a really long time, and when you finally got to see them again they just stood there and clapped as you came to them.  Wouldn't you want them to be running, jumping, and yelling about how excited they are to see you?  I think we do that to God.  We simply stand and clap at Him.

More Than A Birthday Party

As part of the school we do community service once a week (every Wednesday).  I was put into the group for the "Old Folks' Home" and I was pretty happy with that because I used to go to the nursing home in town (at home) with my youth group.  The first day of community service, Evanne, Jessica, Fiona, and I arrived right on time and we didn't know what to expect at all.  Well... we were expecting an English speaking lady to be in charge, but we very quickly found out she spoke French.  There wasn't really anything planned for us to do but that was what led us to meeting Christine.  

In the midst of all the elderly people sitting in their beds or chairs, we finally found someone that we could spend some time with - talking and making puzzles.  Fiona and I were sitting with her at her desk trying to help her with her puzzle (I think we got about 8 pieces together) and chatting about various things, but I kept wondering how old she was because she was clearly not an old person.  So finally I asked, "How old are you?" We were both shocked when she said 17.  I'm 17.  I couldn't imagine being stuck in a nursing home at my age.  Right at that moment I had a huge heart for Christine.  She spent her days in this dark room, in her wheelchair, with no one her age to talk to or hang out with.  That's the last thing a teenage girl would want.  To our surprise once more, she told us that her birthday was February 10th.  How perfect! We would throw her a birthday party when we came the day before, on the 9th.  We found out her favorite kind of cake (chocolate of course) and made cupcakes, got her a few little gifts, and performed a birthday song for her.  We set up balloons and decorations around a table for her, and played pin the tail on the donkey.

I discovered one thing from this experience: that I'm really bad at pin the tail on the donkey.  Just kidding, I really got a lot out of it.  It made me realize how simple it is to show someone that you care.  I could see it in her eyes as I took a picture of her; she felt special.  A little goes a long way.  In just an hour and a half we had given Christine an experience that she may not have had in a long time, or ever.  It didn't take a lot of money and effort, just a little time and compassion.  I think we can all find a way to help people more often - whether it be a friend or family member, or someone that we just met.

Outreach!!

So I haven't blogged in a number of days .. we've been very busy around here, but, today we found out the options for our outreach!!! It was a total surprise.  They've split it up so the French speakers will go together and the English speakers will go together (2 French teams, and 3 English teams) so our groups are going to be about 5 people each. so......... The options for me are Brazil, Thailand, or Italy!!! I am feeling very uncertain right now but I'm going to spend this day praying since we need to tell them tomorrow morning where we want to go! Please keep me in your prayers!!

Birthdays

So there have been three birthdays this week, two of my friends, Fiona and Nicole, and then a little girl who lives with one of the families here.  Fiona turned 18 and Nicole turned 19.  Birthdays are very special here.. the whole day people have to do nice things for the birthday person and the staff performed a song for them as well.  (Me, Evanne, and Emily made cupcakes).  Their table in the dining room is dressed up nicely with a table cloth and glitter and candles, and then a card from everyone, and a special  chair.  They both had multiple cakes too.  The best part though is what they do after/during lunch.  The staff takes them and throws them up in the air (body surfing style) and  the number of times is equivalent to the age they are turning.  (they of course had to shorten it by saying 1, 2, 15, 16, 17, 18, etc.) because we are getting to old and their body strength can't keep up with the number of throws necessary.  So birthdays are entertaining for both the birthday person and the rest of us.  We will be on outreach for mine so I'm not sure what to expect, and I'm surprisingly the only May birthday.

     I'm helping to lead worship at the church I go to on Sundays and once in a while here at the school.  We also started our community service that we do once a week; I'm working at the nursing home with a few of the other girls every Wednesday afternoon.  Then I am babysitting Eloise and Caleb every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a few hours, and helping out with Hospitality on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  So, we are kept pretty busy around here but it's a lot of fun.  It seems like I've been here way  longer than just nearly 2 weeks.  Tonight we're going to the Pub around the corner for "Accendo" which is where the speaker for the week tells us stories for a couple hours while we enjoy some drinks and snacks.

Just a couple pictures out of the hundreds...

 Home :)

Me, Emily (Montreal), Fiona (Scotland), and Kimberley (New Zealand)
... Etienne is creeping in the background. He is a staff who pretty much only speaks French but he's hilarious and always smiling.

Friday!

So we went bowling the other night... not normal bowling though.  We used little balls and pins... I was miraculously good at it.  I got the nickname "Striker" for the night.  Oh and it also wasn't normal because of the way we dressed...  Very fun.  I felt bad for the professional league that was going on next to us though.. Oh well.  We went ice skating last night at the rink that is literally 5 minutes away walking.  Of course it was "hockey night" so we had to have sticks on the ice and pretend we were playing... you don't want to get in the way of Canadian hockey players... it's scary.  Today we started out by getting in our groups for cleaning the house! At 8:00 am we did that, and then at 8:30 our lecture started.  It was a short one today, woo! We have a snack each morning at 10:45 which usually consists of muffins (fresh baked, yum) and fruit.  Then we finish our lecture/announcements for the day.  Today we found out the theme of the school: "Holy Circus".  You're probably thinking what have those 2 words got to do with each other... well, actually quite a bit.  We did some word association games to get our minds going and then we got into groups to talk about it.  We decided that Circus performers have to concentrate and practice constantly to get good at what they do, just as Christians have to do to achieve a better relationship with God.  They are also constantly watched, and people are attracted to them and their performances.  Once again, just like Christians.  Our actions show other people what we have been practicing and concentrating on (God mostly) and His light which shines through us attracts them.  There were a lot more explanations but I think those were a couple of the best.  We also were informed of our "house projects", community service opportunities, and what churches are available to us.  My house project is babysitting! There's a lot of cute kids running around this huge house all the time.  We will do community service once a week for a couple of hours in the community and go to church each Sunday.  So the first week is almost over! I can't believe how close all of us are already.  It's like living with a huge, loving family.

Walmart

We are going on a little shopping trip at 3:30 to Walmart! It's in Cowansville which is about 15 minutes away, but we better get there quick since I believe it  closes at 5 o'clock.... very different from the U.S.

Arrival!

I made it to Dunham! After waiting 2 hours in the train station last night, then a couple more at the airport, then a 2 hour drive through the unplowed highways/streets of Montreal in a van where we could only get in the driver's door and out the passenger's door; neither of the sliding doors opened. Good fun packing 6 of us in, each with about 3 large bags each.  So we got in around midnight. We've basically had free time here today, I played guitar with a few of the guys who came from the Cayman Islands.. they're awesome, one plays bass, one plays drums, and the other plays guitar and keyboard.  We had lunch, which the French actually call dinner, and dinner is called supper or supe.  Some of the staff only speak French, but most are fluent in both French and English.  They're all very interesting though.  The students are from all over.. the Cayman Islands as I mentioned, Switzerland, Germany, France, Vancouver, Scotland (two of my roommates are Scottish) then there are some girls from Michigan, Indiana, and Maryland so we've got a pretty good variety.  Tonight we are having a welcome "supper" which I guess is called "the love feast", can't wait!

Canada

I left at around 6am this morning to drive to Toronto, and now I've been on the train for about an hour... On my way to Dorval, the stop right before Montreal.  It's my first experience traveling on a train and traveling alone so it's interesting.  Hopefully I can carry everything when I get there. Packing for 6 months results in many bags. I'll be getting picked up by someone from the school at the train station in a few hours.. probably around 5 pm and from there we are going to pick up more students from the airport - can't wait to meet them.

Some of my DTS Staff Members!

The Countdown

Only about 16 days left until I leave- 9 more days of school. Wow.