Making up for lost time

Hi Everyone,

Well This has been a long time in coming, I am finally starting a blog to keep all of you lovely people updated on Tim and I.

I want to start right back in January as I feel it's been that long since I have written.

January was an Interesting Month for us, My friend and Coworker Beth had to move home for three Months to take care of her parents so Tim and I were left with Theresa and Dave (our director) to run Global Youth Netowk, Needless to say we were very busy sending out over 20 teams this year, our biggest year yet. We did have help from Tim's brother who came to live with us for three months and actually became my personal assistant, although I'm not sure he liked the job very much, but I certainly loved having an assistant!!

Also at the end of Februaury we decided to Move, we had been thinking about it for a while as the place we were in was very smokey and we were not having good health because of it.

An opportunity came up from a friend to move into the top part of there house which is amazing and we decided to take it. It is more expensive than the place we were renting, but in a better neighbourhood and with no smoke, a deck and a really awesome garden. We are really happy there!

In March We had three teams going out on March Break, one to do Hurricane Relief work in New Orleans, and then two teams to Mexico. All went really well.
Even though New Orleans is not in the news very much anymore, there is still so much devastation there that you can see from the picture and one of the reasons that we still believe how important it is to keep helping the people down there. March also saw Christopher Tim's brother go back to California, (we miss him alot!!)

In April we got right down to getting our trips ready for the University students, as this year was so big. The camp we usually rent for Orientation wasn't big enough to hold all of us so we even had to have people sleeping on the floor and some in Non winterized cabins, it was pretty wild. Tim and I were actually only there for a day as I was unwell for quite a while over that time and needed to take some time to recuperate.

In May we actually had to do quite a lot of crisis management for our teams as some were having difficulties. For example, one of our students didn't have a passport valid for 6 months after he returned so wasn't able to fly with his team. He had to come back to apply for a new passport and then buy another ticket!! There were also some team dynamic issues that kept us and the phones pretty busy. Also this month Beth and I were involved with Teaching on God's heart for Justice at a DTS just outside of Toronto which was really fun. I love to teach and we will actaully be going back in November teaching on the same subject for another DTS. Also in May, Tim and I were able to change the status of our Visas. This was a really big deal espscially as Tim is now able to work and got a Job pretty quickly at Casa Rugantino an Italian restaurant where he makes Pizzas, and if you know Tim then you will know that its a perfect job for him.

In June all the teams arrived back and we had a debriefing time at the airport, they all had a really great time. It's really inspiring when you hear of the stories and things that have happened while they were away. It's a privilege that we are able to make that happen. What has really encouraged me too is that these students are so on excited to help others, they care so much about the world and what happens and they do things to make a difference and many of these students are not even Christians, but have a heart to help people that are not as fortunate as themselves. One guy came back from being in India and since he has come back, has started a child sponsorship program for families in India.

I honestly feel privileged to be a part of Global and all that it does to educate people and make a difference all over the world.

In July (as it is our down time), I actually went on a girl's vacation to Europe, there were four of us and we rented a car and toured around France, Italy and Switzerland. We also went to England and I was able to spend a couple nights in the house I grew up in before my parents moved to Spain. It was a well needed rest and a good time to catch up with some of you in Liverpool.

The begining of August saw us having out first Leadership retreat for Global. This year we have really expanded and are now working in Alberta, Ontario (we have also added a few more locations in Ontario too) Quebec and hopefully this year British Columbia. It was a great time to get together and talk about how we can expand and how Global can grow and sustain itself. It's exciting to see it changing especially from where it was 5 years ago when I first came here.

In the middle of August, Tim and I also went to California to visit Tim's family as we hadn't seen them in a year. It was a really great time, Tim's mum and dad took care of us well and even took us to the Napa Valley. It's really beautiful there and obviously there's lots of wine to drink!!

Here we are now in September. Sorry to take you on a whirlwind tour of the year so far. We are excited about what Global is going to do this year, it looks as if we might have 28 teams so we are growing again which means lots of work. I also have the teaching this year in November and The Internship Program that I am in charge of.

We are both looking forward to the year and all that it holds!

We wanted to Thank you so much for all your encouragement, support and prayers, we appreciate you all!

We would love to hear from you too, please drop us a line and let us know whats going on with you all,

Thanks,

Sharon and Tim.