BC journey!

Hi everyone!! I'm back safe and sound from my whirlwind trip to BC.
I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Young Life Staff Conference in Princeton, BC.


First, My mom flew out to Vancouver from Toronto to meet me off the plane from Korea and we spent a day together going to the Metropolis Mall in Burnaby!! It was HUGE! We shopped till I dropped for sure. It was kinda overwhelming for one afternoon. Despite getting woke up at 6:10am by the guy next to us having a crazy medical crisis, we had a good time together.(There were police and paramedics and the guy couldn't unlock the deadbolt so they started trying to bust down the metal hotel door...talk about scary!)


We left the hotel Saturday and then drove up to Rockridge, The Young Life camp of Canada. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Vancouver. This place is like a second home for me now and I feel so privileged to have been invited to attend the conference as potential staff of this wonderful organization. Along the way we stopped to visit Ashley Loewen(Ymker), a good friend from high school who's now teaching at the Abbosford Christian Middle School in BC. Oma and Opa called while we were here too! It was so nice to here their voices!

We got to Rockridge, the YL camp, around 4pm. The new lake dedication was happening right then, so it was really exciting to be there. Before they dammed the lake and brought the water closer to the camp, it was a 15 min walk away! Now the water comes right up to the camp lodges. It's so beautiful. I'm so glad mom got to see a bit of the camp where we take teenagers every summer. It's really an incredible place.

Here's a view from the 'cabin' where I stayed.
After that though we had some terrible news that cast a dark shadow on the rest of the week. Julian Dabbagh, a great young man and Young Life area director, was killed in a single-vehicle car accident as him and his family were on their way to the conference. I was thankful that the whole community was together during this sad time, but it was still really difficult to process.
The Dabbagh family is still in need of all our prayers. Kathy (the wife and mother) is experiencing a lot of pain and hurt over the whole ordeal. She is also pregnant and due in October/November, but health wise the doctors say her and the baby are fine. Everett (2) is fine and really is a joy to the rest of the family through this time. Ella (4) is still in the hospital and had to have surgery for her intestinal tract, but everything was fine. She has now developed a fever though and doctors are being overly cautious and careful with everything surrounding Ella's condition. The visitation and funeral for Julian are Saturday and Sunday. When Kathy had the opportunity to tell Ella about Julian's death on Tuesday Ella said, "but mommy if daddy's in heaven, who's going to tell all the kids about Jesus?"

So it was an emotional time with the Young Life community. I did have a chance to talk with Dave and I feel led to become a part of this ministry. I will be starting October first and I am going to be in the Waterloo area. I'm scared and excited and feel very blessed and humbled to be undertaking this kind of work with mentoring teenagers. Their mission statement is, "We are a Christian organization, loving teens in their world and encouraging them to know Jesus Christ." I'm excited to be a part of the YL team in the fall and see what God has planned for me in this new adventure. YIKES! HAHA



Here's the Ontario Young Life team. I got to hang out here with great friends and play with Kaden, my friends Marla and Brent's little boy. What a joy he is!



IT was sad to say goodbye to everyone and to Canada. I enjoyed some Timmy's though for sure!!!
I also had a stopover in Tokyo for about an hour, so I took a few pictures and I even got to go to a little oragami museum in the airport by my gate. So cool!!