Sorry for miscommunication!

Hello parents and friends,

I am sorry that we have been unable to communicate with you via this blog as we had originally anticipated. I had honestly thought we would have had more of an opportunity/time to do so, but it has not worked quite like that. (God's plan, not mine, right!?) Also, the internet service up here has been somewhat unreliable.

Thanks for your patience/understanding. Parents, hopefully you've been able to touch base with your student a few times by now. If you need anything, do not hesitate to contact me via email: nienhuis.aaron@gmail.com or my cell phone.

I will also try to update the facebook page once in awhile. Find the link here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Bentheim-Youth-Ministries/150868215834

Thank you! -Aaron

Nursing Home

On tuesday afternoon me and my group went to a nursing home. We helped them make drums. We had to put leather around a tin can and it was held by rubber bands. I had two little old ladies one named Flo and the other Gale. Gale was so hilarious! She grabbed the rubber band and pretended like she was going to shoot it at me! Then the whole time she would joke around about shooting the old people with the rubber bands as they walked by. She was adorable! And when ever i messed up she would say "Well if they don't like it, they should do it them selves, they are gonna have to deal with it!" I had so much fun helping them out and it was a good day because i got to talk to them and they made me laugh.I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go there and visit.

~Taryn

Well, The trip is almost done and i must say it has been a great time. There are lots of storys to tell when we get home. We were at he soup kitchen today and i was handing out fruit and this lovely man gave me a rose from his pocket so that was really cute. But then i had to carry it all day which was a pain but the rose managed to survive and is currently upstairs in the girls room sitting in a coffee can. Now my goal is to bring it all the way back home alive.

messin around

well before this trip i was told i wouldnt be able to as much walk alone in the basement that we were staying in or i recieved threats from the counselers (aaron) that there would be no wrestling or pranks but like all rules they are just ment to be broken. well as the first night came the guys had a little fun by who ever fell asleep would be flipped off of their mattress which are only 2 inches thick so some people did get some air time on this event. and in the morning the original jumping on the last one sleeping joke happened every morning until aaron decided we should be more like brothers. that was his first and biggest mistake of all because as everyone knows brothers love to wrestle and especiall on a bunch of mattresses so it was pretty much wwf bentheim style. and there are plenty more fun things that happened but some of these things were asked to keep untold for variouse reasons

trouble maker

We worked at The Church of the Redeemer in the morning serving lunch. We got know alot of the clients there. We ate at the Redeemer for lunch. In the afternoon we went to Booth Industries where we helped disabled clients work in the factory. Ask Phil if he ever wins in 3-5-7. Anthony was unbeatable. We went to India Cuisine. The kids have been great about trying stuff at every restaurant. Nobody is starving! We have a few picky eaters but they at least try. Most even tried sushi! Driving in Toronto has been exciting. Phil and Aaron are loving it! After dinner we went to a park near the church and had a final challenge from our hosts. They have been awesome! We cleaned the church, even the washrooms! The kids have been awesome! We look forward to coming home Sat. Thank you for all of your support!
Paula

Alyssa's veiw point of the day.

Today we started out the morning going to the Good Shepard where we aso went on tuesday. We start off there in the cafe and talk to the homeless or people who are just there not tech. homeless, but yeah, anyways... It was very interesting listening to some of the people's stories and where they grew up and what not. After we hung out with them we went up stairs where they have beds for people to sleep in at night to get them off the streets, and we made beds. There is like 50 upstairs and 16 downstairs. FUN FUN. haha. And today we also had to mop the floors and disinfect the rooms. Then we also ate lunch there.

After the Good Shepard we went and tutored again, like we have done everyday. We were able to take photos of the kids as long as we asked their parents first. Well my little girl wasnt home so i never got pictures of her or got to say good bye :( But I got to sit with a different family i've seen a few times this week and take pictures with them..so that was pretty cool.

Then we went to an Indian restrant and after we ate we had a group activitie just closing the week up and we came back here to the church and cleaned, thats pretty much the day. :D

Alyssa Berens

Last Day at the CSM Church

We had A really Nice Week , and we met alot of people , today thursday we went to a factory and helped the people from booth, it was a good week and was tough at some points and really easy at others , we had fun exploring the city and helping out , the meals that we had the whole week were pretty sweet , the real jerk was the best. im looking forward to comming home to see everyone .

Written by Nick D. (ps.dad u could never beat me in ufc lol)