SNOW!!

Well, as you might have figured out by the straight-forward title of my blog entry for the week, Team 3’s surroundings are finally starting to look a lot like Christmas, we have had our first real snowfall just yesterday. This is Kevin Prada, once more, your goofy blogger from Équipe 3, in this, our last week of ministry before our returning home for the Christmas holidays.

We’ve been keeping quite busy lately, our days, as always, being filled with joy. Earlier, I was asking the team what I should mention this week in the blog, and by far, one of the biggest things that stood out was “AWESOME HOST FAMILIES!” It’s amazing! For those who don’t know, on the road, our teams don’t stay in hotels or youth hostels, but we have the privilege of staying with families, everywhere we go, who volunteer to take us in for a few days, share food, a nice cozy bed, and lots of love. They are so good to us, and to be honest, they spoil us! It’s so amazing to be welcomed into these homes as perfect strangers, and to be accepted as part of their family. The generosity that would have to possess someone to take a perfect stranger like this into their home is amazing! We are so thankful to all the homes that have taken us in through the course of this year; your generosity has truly inspired us!
Did I mention…WE HAVE SNOW! That wonderful white, pure, fluffy goodness that blankets these formerly green grounds, announcing the quick approach of the season of Christ. Wow, there goes my poetic vibe for the day. Anyways, let me tell you, we have been enjoying it a lot more than the random snowstorm we encountered in our first week of ministry back in October. And we were able to sneak in the casual snowball fight and snow angel.

This snow is also announcing the eventual end of the first half of our ministry. I can’t even put into words how thankful I am for every grace we received from the Lord, in the form of those who surround us. Time and time again, we have learned and received so much from the retreatants we minister to; the host families, as I mentioned, have been amazing; and the generosity of all of you back home supporting us makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Now, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to write again before Christmas, so I’m taking this opportunity to wish you and all of your loved ones a very merry and blessed Christmas, as well as a new year full of joy, love, and continuous blessings. May the Lord bring you closer to the beauty found in the birth of Jesus here on earth, through this amazing feast of the Christmas.

Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

God bless you all, see you once more in 2010.
Kevin Prada

P.S. Above is a picture, from right to left , of Evan, Christiana, Kevin and Marise enjoying time together as a team, following our retreat Monday in Orillia, Ontario; on the bottom is Marise and Christiana enjoying our last snowball fight.