Year End

Year-end Party at the Party

On Tuesday night we had our year end supper and we had 83 kids (a new record, previous high was 54!), over 40 helpers (also a new record!), and we don’t know how many parents/grandparents, approximately 15 who came. In addition, some of the parents/grandparents prepared food but didn’t come. We had good participation from the community.

We were thrilled with the turnout and the evening, it was excellent. We can build on that for the summer for Mission 6:10.

Here are some of the ways we see God working:
• Of course, the number of kids coming is a huge blessing. Many of them don’t have much food at home – some of them coming starving for food. But they also come starving for attention. Some of them, their parents are rather absent. So this is a chance to show them God’s love.
• We are meeting more and more parents and grandparents. Some of them who came Tues night said they would have helped prepare and bring food if they had known about it. We want these events to be community building times, where we do things with the parents and grandparents, not just for them. This was a good start in that direction.
• One of the teachers at Wascana School where we hold the Party is a member at Glen Elm church. She has a wonderful spirit and is a good teacher, her name is Barb Slywka. Some of her students invited her to the Party Tues night and she came. That was a neat connection!
• People of peace – we see the janitor as a person of peace. He had all the tables set up for us when we got there. We also worked hard to keep the food out of the gym and clean up after ourselves. He told me after how pleased he was that we are there, how good of a job we had done cleaning up, and that the school would want to know the next day how it went. Any time there is food, the school is concerned for the clean up, etc. He told me he would give a glowing report of the night, and also said to me that he hoped we would be back next year. This position is an important one because it can influence whether we can continue to use the school or not.
• Spiritual formation of our own people – one of the neatest things about the Party is how this is forming us. We have attracted a lot of students from WCC to help, but also several people from our own church who are new the last year, have really plugged into the party. Some of them shared how much their lives have changed since they started coming to our church, all the people they have met and the way they have gotten involved. Each Tues night, after the kids leave, we gather for a time of prayer with the staff. We go around the circle and discuss how we have seen God working. Then we pray together. This formative time has been a huge blessing.

We are all rejoicing after our event the other night. God is good!

Family Night

We had a celebration for the end of the year and invited families to come out last Tuesday. There were lots of people there. It was hard to get an accurate headcount but:
- there were at least 83 kids. (We counted 77 in the gym and I know at least 5 came in after that.
- there were at least 40 helpers. (We have to keep count of helpers because students get service horus for participating.)
- there were quite a few parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, and siblings.
So, I'm guessing that there was just under 150 people there! That sets several records! A new record for kids attending; a new record for helpers attending, a new record for total bodies there!

There was enough food as well! We had planned to have indian tacos (bannock, hamburger, sour cream, salsa, etc.) and had asked families to bring hamburger meat. We had also cooked up a bunch of hamburger meat ahead of time. The Steiners spent the day making bannock. It all went!

It was chaotic (it always is), and fun. We had a short program to show the parents what we'd been doing all year, and then everyone ate. It was raining or drizzling outside so everyone was inside, but there was room for everyone.

Next week is our final week in the school and then we move to the park for the summer.