Nate & Tash

Moving!

2011-10-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

So I've started a website in a group with Nate's family. It is more in line with what we need with ministry updates, so anyone interested in our ministry progress check it out at ennsfamily.info

Just not time

2010-08-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

This blog was great during school, and definately during jungle camp. But right now, we are focusing on partnership development (building a team to hold us up in prayer, or financially) and so all our info will be relayed through our prayer letter. If you wish to receive that letter let us know, and we can mail or email it.

Although time is not in our favor right now, when we embark on our Indonesian adventure I will be planning to post most of our pictures and adventures on here, so stay tuned for our debut in April/may 2011! =)

nateandtash@hotmail.com

3 out of 4 Semesters Done

2009-12-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today was our last day in the live language practibum and we had to say goodbye to Khady. We really became attached to her and will definately plan on visting her next semester.
This is khady in the middle and Darcy, our teacher for this practicum to the left.

I made a cake for the occasion. It says 'thank-you' in Wolof with the senegal flag. It was actually a lot of fun!

We ushered in December with our new tradition (oxymoron) of Gingerbread house making.

Tomorrow we drive to London for the weekend with Nate's sister and then fly to Saskatchewan on Sunday morning!!!!!! Hello -36

Dreaming of a White Christmas

2009-12-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

It has definately been a busy few months, but I'll try and be better at updating on here. That is if anyone is interested. We are... well Nate is more faithful in putting together the monthly 'prayer letters' so if you're not getting one of those and would like to it's definately more frequent =)
We had our first snow today and it stayed for most of the day, but now is gone and no more is coming for a few days. I never fully understood the song 'i'm DREAMING of a white Christmas.

Anyway, we have begun a language and culture learning practicum. For the first two weeks we were in class, with lectures about how to do “Culture and Language Acquisition”. Basically how to live in such a way that you are involved in people’s lives, building relationships, sharing experiences with them, and using those shared experiences to learn language and culture.

This is our language helper Khady and her family as we eat in the traditional senegalese way. Khady is teaching us Wolof which is a trade language in senegal. We've had a blast with here and will miss her when this course is done in a couple weeks.

We are also getting ready to head home to Saskatchewan for Christmas!!! We are quite excited and counting down the days. We also will get to see Steve and Penny (Nate's brother and sister in law) who are in Indonesia as they come back for a short break.

Canoe trip in fall.

Mom & Dad visit! We went to a corn maze and it was much better than you would think! ( sorry mom & Dad, that's the only pic I could find =)

2009-09-23T14:34:00.001-07:00

Summer is still holdin on

2009-09-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

It feels almost lucky to be feeling like 31 degrees outside right now.

Since the Tornado we spent about a week cleaning up the campus and also helping out in town to get it back to near the way it was. Since then our work detail group has been working on rebuilding the bridge at the entrance to New Tribes, which has to be done by the end of September, the extent of our building permit.

In class we are now 3/4 done sounds & symbols or Phonetics. It is a study on different sounds the mouth can make, how we make those sounds, and symbols to represent them. This will be helpful in language learning in a tribe that does not have literacy and therefore we have to make an alphabet for them. It is a difficult but also enjoyable class. Nate and I now know we are not tone deaf!

Next week we will be starting our CLAware (Culture Language Aquisition) program orientation where we learn how to use this software to help us better record the culture and, you guessed it, language of the tribe we will be in.

Next week is also the annual canoe trip for us students. It's an afternoon going down the Saugeen River which is beatiful and really fun.

The latest news about Indonesia for us is that we have started contact with the field. This is the application stage where we send them the evaluations of us from the staff last year and they decide if we fit their field. After some papers are passed around our status will be changed to 'enroute' to Indonesia. They have 3 openings during the year for people to come and start language study, which are April, July, or November. This is an exciting step for us but also a bit scary. Please be praying for us as we move forward, to find our strength and courage in Christ and also for the field to accept us.

I do apologize about the lack of pictures in this one. I will take more for the next update.

We love to hear from you guys, so email us! nateandtash@hotmail.com

A windy day in Durham!

2009-08-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

On Thursday a tornado came through Southern ontario and the North end of NTMC and the East Side of Durham. Damage on Campus was great, but the town got the worst of it with stores and houses that lost roofs, walls, etc. One boy in town was killed and many injured in that area. But I can only tell what I've heard from others about what has happened in town as we have not been allowed to go into town which is the only way out of campus. (FIRST PHOTO BEFORE STORM)On Campus the academy got it worst with all the shingles ripped off the roof and siding on parts taken off. It poured shortly after the tornado came through so they couldn't get much of the roof covered with tarp before which caused damage. Before we weren't able to see into durham from our property but as you can see above the trees between us are down and there are buildings visible in the background. One count was 36 trees down on Campus.

We spent all of Friday cleaning up but were greatly blessed with many who came from the surrounding churches and communities to help. We also had a large work group from ohio who had come for the week to do some maintenance and decided to stay longer to help. We wouldn't be half as far without them. They also supplied us with lunch and another couple from a church nearby supplied supper.

Although there was one staff member's car fallen on, the trees fell every which way but not on people, and only one home slightly damaged. God still had his hand in this disaster.

Baby Birds found scattered along the ground. To the right a building in town.

Summer Break

2009-08-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

For summer my (Tash) parents flew

us home which saved us 34 hours of driving! We spent the first week at a cabin at Emma Lake with my parents and brother, sister-in-law and nephew. My brother Ryan and I were the only ones to catch fish that week.

The next week we went to Nate's parents place for almost a week and then went up with them to Nipawin Bible College's 75th

Anniversary. Nate and his dad went gopher hunting a couple days and nate seemed to be confused what a gopher is =) ... He came back with a jack Rabbit and so we cooked it up for supper. It was quite good. The last two weeks were spent in warman and were pretty full with visiting with friends and family in the area.

Alive after jungle Camp!

2009-07-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a ride since my last update. We were required to move up all we needed for a month on our backs and our time space for that was from midnight until 5 pm. So Nate and I started at midnight on Friday night and got 12 loads done before we were exhausted and went to bed around 4:30am. Below is Nate on our 2nd trip feeling what he figures is the pain of pregnancy. We woke up at 7:30am to get the last of laundry done and finished bringing up the loads at 11:30am. Our food shelf was very full but my nice shelves didnt fall and we had enough food to last the month.
Although everything done in the day takes longer we still had some time to play our beloved Carcassone. We also had a lot of time to connect more with our classmates. Jungle camp atmosphere is very relaxed and open. No email or phones for impersonal conversation. This was my favorite part of the experience. Since we couldnt leave we had our own church services in the bush. We took turns in groups leading in music and a messsage. This photo was of our group music team in the chapel.
We also did a chicken kill one day with a staff guy showing us how to skin it and had a potluck that night with, you guessed it, CHICKEN! ...but I wont show any pictures of that =)

Canada day was a day of festivities in Jungle Camp. Nate and I and a small group planned a morning of activities which included lumberjack contests, waterballon volleyball, and waterballoon catapult. It ended with a potluck where the staff brought ICE-CREAM!!! With no ice or anything cold for a few weeks there was a buzz through the camp.

A highlight of the experience for me was the ladies hike a few days before move down day. We took a two day 22km hike along the Bruce Trail. This photo is at the beginning of the hike and everyone made it to the end. We camped overnight at the cypress lake campground.

Our first day up there Nate and I did a tour for you who couldnt be there to see it. Its not working to upload right now, but I will keep trying.

Men's Hike

2009-06-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple photos of the Men's hike a couple days ago.

Nate is in the middle at the foot of the cave (below)

Now we go pack and move up at midnight!

Day 9 & 10

2009-06-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another long 14 hour day as I wanted to get as much done as I could before Nate got back from the hike. They got in at 9:00 pm and he has very cold and tired, and thoroughly enjoying a warm comfy bed. The first day for them was very wet and cold as was the night. The second day wasn't as wet and the trail was more enjoyable. By the third day it was quite warm. The trail was closed off near the end so they had to walk up highway six to get into tobermory which tires your feet out more with the repetative walking. We hope to have pictures of the hike for you tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from the last 2 days: This was the photo at the end of yesterday.

Our door was originally a hand-me-down from 3 previous years and therefore needed a bit of work. it was saging and wobbly so I rebuilt it while Nate was gone. I took it completely apart and braced it with the two bars across. Unfortunately I put the plastic on the wrong side of the door but it was a quick fix. Today nate remade the hinge with a dowel on either end stuck into holes hand drilled into the top and bottom of the door as well as into the threshold and door frame. It works quite well now and even has a scary squeak when we open it.

This is our shower floor. Luckily the grate was already made and so I just had to dig it into the ground a bit and put some tiles on top. In 3 hours I made this shelving unit. It is 3 shelves for toiletries, clothes, etc. and to the right

of it there is a hanging hanger bar.

So that was yesterday's progress and here are today's photos. We ended up staying until about 9:30 but I wanted to finish the clay on the oven so I was working by flashlight. And this is our prized possession that I found while looking around our lot for rocks. It is a raccoon skull we figure.

Nate did the electrical today and here is the light switch taped to the pole since we can't use nails or screws.

This is our table which is very handy to have somewhere flat to put stuff. Nate also did the chimney today and dug the slop pit. I got the counters fitted with cardboard and with covering and plastic. All we have left is a few small finishing touches so we are doing our fresh food shopping and a few odds and ends . Our last outing for a month! No more internet, phone music, or conveniences. So we won't be replying to emails after tomorrow. Good bye world!...

Day 8

2009-06-09T20:05:00.001-07:00

Another long work day, although the hours seem to go by too quickly. Nate is gone on the men't hike until tomorrow night. Luckily everyone is in very close proximity so we don't get lonely. I realized yesterday that I didn't take pictures of a few of the jungle camp amenities. Above we have the washing machine. A blue barrel cut open at the top. The black handle is attached to bar going the length of the barrell to help stir up the soap and clothes. Next is the oven attached ontop and beside the stove unit. It's just a metal barrel cut into the main metal drum that is the firebox. On the other side of the unit is the hot water which works much the same as the oven only it is upward.

And last but not least, the fridge! A metal bucket in the ground with rocks all around and under it. The lid has styrofoam on the underside for added insulation. It's basically there for keeping food from not getting hot rather that cooling it right down, but it'll help.

And this is my masterpiece. I've been working on it for couple days and finally finished it today. Ok, so it's not straight but it'll hold food. I used a line level and everything. And the other huge project which Nate mostly worked on is the bench. Lots of tieing down and cutting. I also finished that today so it's ready for the foam and material over top.

And here is tomorrow's project. We got a door with the pile of wood on our lot, but it had been through 3 years so it was looking sad. Remembering that we can't use any hinges, nails, or screws, a door become very difficult. So I took it mosltly appart today and I'll rebuild it and keep the frame. Any ideas? =)

And so after today this is what I walked away looking at.

Day 6 & 7

2009-06-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday or day 6 we worked very hard to get the plastic on the house. Sunday is 'day of rest' and today (monday) Nate went on the 3 day men's hike on the Bruce trail (Tobermory). So because of this we wanted plastic as it is a two person job. We worked until 9:30 when we could no longer see anything and had to quite. It was too dark to take pictures that day so I've got more today. It was a bit dark by today too. We only got 2 1/2 sides hung with plastic. So this morning I ended up finishing stapling the plastic on horizontal poles and finish hanging the rest of the plastic by myself. The picture above is of the kitchen; the stove is in the middle and too the right is counter and shelf space and to the left is the sink and counter space with shelving underneath. Below is the bedroom and storage room to the right in the background and in the foreground is the dinning room bench.

To the right is our house from the trail! It actually looks like a house! So the guys get back late Wednesday night and we have thursday friday to work on the table, bench cusions, counter tops, new door and shelving under the bed. Below is the front without the door =) it broke.

Day 5

2009-06-05T19:15:00.001-07:00

The mornings are getting tougher and tougher to get up at 5:00am. This morning we didn't get up there until about 6:00am but accomplished a lot despite the later start. Nate finished building the counter with the sink and while I was lashing it down, Nate got the running water up! It was an exciting occasion as we haven't had running water for the year here. I also got the shelving for our food mostly done while Nate made the shower. He had to dig a hole twice the size of the amount of water we will be putting in at a time and then filling it with rocks. We bought a solar shower or just a black back that heats in the sun and so Nate had to pose with the cap that came with it... He's a little tired =) It's late and another early day tomorrow so until then, good bye.

PS We apologize for the lack of communication outside of this blog but the time just isn't there right now =)

Day 3 & 4

2009-06-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the hard long days were catching up to us so we slept a bit longer and started around 7:30am. Half way down at the end of the day we realized we had not taken any pics for you guys, so we are catching up today. The work we did yesterday kinda took a long time with little

to show for it. The bed was the project of the day as we had 4 posts to dig in 2 feet deep and 5 more to dig in 1 foot deep. So the picture above is the pic from today but you can see the bed to the right. Yes, it's really high, but we really wanted a high bed as we've never had one and this way we have LOTS of storage space. It's so high we'll probably have to make a ladder or something to be able to get in. And we did little projects along the way, but the day just didn't feel as productive as usual.

So today We got a lot more done. The picture on the right is what we saw on our way up to jungle camp. It got down to 2 degrees celsius over night and was 3 at 6:00am. A very cold morning. I finished smoothing the top of the bed so it doesn't poke a hole in our air mattress, and the rest of my day was spent with my hands in clay covering the stove 2" thick. Nate got a lot more to show by the end of the day.

He put in the posts for our benches around the table, ....

and he made the frame for our one counter...

and he started on our sink counter and window frames. We've got friday and saturday to work, and Sunday is our day of rest. Then monday to wednesday the guys are on their hike around tobermory area. Then we have Thurday Friday of next week and Saturday is move up day! The week is going by really quick and so we are starting at 5:30 tomorrow to ensure we have walls up before Nate goes on the hike=)

On that note, good night to all!

2009-06-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Day 2

Today started a little later as we were a bit tired from the day before. We got up at 5:00 and made it up to jungle camp by 6:00am. Though we were productive today, things just don't seem to go as fast as the first day when you start with nothing and get to the entire frame. But we got our stove frame built as you can see below.

And this is the mostly finished product with dirt below and around the drum and clay on the top and sides. And below is the inside of the oven where Nate clayed and built up a hill for less draft.

And this is the door Nate worked tirelessly on. It was already made from last year and so he had to make a frame and threshold.

Jungle Camp! Day 1

2009-06-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of 11!

This morning at 5:00 am Nate & I were heading up to Jungle camp to start a long process of building a house that we can live in for a month. For those of you who don't know about this program, we are given a lot and cedar poles, duck tape, plastic and we take 2 weeks to build ourselves a house to live in for 4 weeks. It's supposed to teach us to plan ahead as we cannot leave the bush for the full 4 weeks. This means lots of canned food and scratch cooking. No fridges, microwaves or fresh foods.

So this below is the ground breaking ceremony. Still a touch dark, but we got the holes dug.

This is what we started with this morning. We were allowed to square our lot and mark where our poles were going so that is all the little sticks in the ground. Bewlow Nate is taping up the rafters.

I did a lot of tamping the poles into the ground after Nate dug the 2 foot deep holes.

We've got the cross poles on and ready for the rafter's.

The rafters are on and nate's happy about it=) (below)

And the most exciting part of the day! We got our roof plastic on! Since it had been raining all morning we were very happy to get our plastic on by 2:30

That's our progress today, and needless to say we are ready for bed. I'll try and upload a few pics every day or two.

Visitors Weekend!

2009-04-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend at our church we are having a missions conference. The church is putting more emphasis on missions durin thesse next two weeks and so we have missionary speakers and a reading contest on missions, etc. So Mike, Nate's brother, was invited to speak this first weekend and him and his wife Marie-Eve and 3 kids under the age of 5 came as well. They luckily were able to squeeze into the guest house and therefore we don't have to fit everyone into this little apartment. So last night Gena, nate's sister drove up from London to visit them as her 3 kid haven't seen them in a long time. We spent the whole day together today hiking, playing frisbee golf and eating. I'm not used to feeding this many so it was a chance for some learning. Needless to say, it's been a tad busy. the lack of running water definately doesn't help matters!=)
I'm supper excited as It's just been confirmed that My mom & Dad are coming up on May 2nd and will be here for my birthday! Best news ever! So that's my life in the last week in a nutshell.

Cold Snap

2009-04-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day of 10 degrees, with sun shining, all the snow melted and wearing t-shirts outside, then this morning we woke up to this...

Today is our last day of prayer for this year. It usually consists of 2 country field presentations that we as students take turns researching, and after that we got to a staff couples house and pray about other pre-assigned countries. The afternoon is free for us to write letters to our supporters and churches. Whether we've made this publically known or not, we are aiming for the field of Indonesia. Today was the Indonesian presentation and it was a confirmation for us that this is where God is leading us. Pray for the political situation there right now as there is an election coming up that could cause problems for the missionaries if a new leader comes in. Right now the government is giving NTM an open door to all tribes that have not been reached or influenced by muslims. If you think of it, be praying for us as we continue to discern whether Indo is where God is leading us. Please let us know your prayer requests and life updates as well!

Pressure Canning!

2009-04-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Jungle camp is quickly creeping upon us and weekends are looking more and more full until then so we decided to get our meat canning over with. Contrary to the smiles on our faces, it wasn't the most fun, but rather confusing and scary. But we finished canning 14 jars of ground beef, stew meat, and pepperoni. So far only one didn't process and 'pop' but still waiting on a few as we just pulled them out! We bought canned chicken and salmon as they are cheaper and lighter that way. Everything has to be hauled up to jungle camp on foot... packing light has more meaning now.

Quebec Spring Break

2009-03-23T14:41:00.001-07:00

March 13-22 was Spring Break for us here at school and so we decided to go and visit Nate's Brother as I previously mentioned. So here are the pictures and I'll try to explain the ones that need explaining.

This one definately needs explaining. Nate has a thing for camels and they will randomly come up in conversation where I learn about what the 2 humped and 1 humped camels are called. So we saw a camel in some farmers field as we were driving to Quebec and as we got out to take pictures it came over to see us and make wierd noises.

Nate is so similar to his brother; his voice and walk and build will throw anyone off. So the first day we were there the youngest and shyest one clung to Nate right away, following him around asking him to read to her. It took me the entire week to get to that point!

So the youngest on nate's lap is Kelly, and Katrina is beside them, then Landon is the boy who shows up in the next photo.

This is a huge Catholic Church in Sherbrooke(Where Mike & Marie-Eve live). There were confession booths and some sorta prayer candles you pay $4 for.

Nate & kelly(Left) Marie-Eve, Katrina and Landon on our way to Quebec City. A bit squishy

Kelly on the way to Quebec city

We found a huge truck! In a lot of Dinosaurs...

here is Old Town Quebec City. It was built in the early 1600's. Very Steep and narrow streets.

This (below right)was the Military armoury or something (sign was french) and they just recently had a fire in there. you can see the burnt brick on the far peak.

The picture above is us on the castle wall that you see below. It took a bit of climbing, but beautiful view as you can see below.

Old Town Street

(Right)Nate & Mike paid to sled down this hill.

Maple Syrup that cools on the snow and you roll it on to a stick

(Right) Famous 'Quebecan' poutine

Quebec

2009-03-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

This week is Spring break, and not a day too soon! Nate and I have gone to Sherbrooke, Quebec to visit his brother and sister-in-law. They have 3 kids, 15months, 4 years and 5years. Mike works for Parole de vie (Word of Life) Here in Sherbrooke. We are having a very enjoyable and relaxing time here with plenty to see and do. The kids keep things very fun and interesting! Sherbrooke is 9 hours from Durham and so we plan on heading back Saturday Morning to have a day to relaxe from our vacation=) Pictures will be coming soon as the internet connection doesn't allow for it here. There is much to see and so we have taken many pictures already. We are also hoping to head to Quebec City in the next day or two! I hope this finds all of you well and we do love to hear from you too! Our email if any have forgotten is nateandtash@hotmail.com .

Nate & Tash

And Life Goes on

2009-02-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I apologize that this wasn't at the beginning of February as promised. So Here is a quick update for you...

Lately we’ve been learning about teamwork dynamics and talking things out with your team-mates before you go into isolated situations so that there will be fewer stresses caused by surprises. However, knowing what people are like, we’ve also been learning about conflict resolution, both during class room discussion and during PTC (Practical Training Class). The other class we have been doing since we got back here is a continuation of Foundations class. Right now the topic we are discussing is attitudes -- wrong attitudes so far, and what the Bible says about them. During PTC Nate has been doing drywall mostly, and Tash has been painting, hauling wood, and sorting donated goods for the Mission Barrel (a sort of free thrift "store" where we can get used clothes and household items). Before Christmas we started going to Faith Baptist Church’s youth group (the church Nate grew up in), and since Christmas Nate started teaching the guys who are 15 and older. Tash is sitting in with the girls who are 14 and younger, and teaching when the other leader is gone. We are only going to be here for two years (as far as we know) and already a quarter of the time is gone. It won’t be too long until we see you all this summer, but before that there are some other things Tash and I are looking forward to. In March, we are hoping to drive out to Sherbrooke, Quebec to visit my brother Mike and his family. Tash’s parents are planning on visiting again in April sometime, and starting in June and going into July is the much anticipated "Jungle Camp" which we are already beginning to prepare for. When we get to that we’ll make sure we take some pictures. And there is an open house so if any of you will be in the area come and visit….

Christmas Break

2009-01-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

This past year we have felt so blessed by you for your support and interest in our lives. Life away from home is much easier knowing you guys are supportive of our decision to go into missions to reach those who have never had the chance to hear.

Looking back on this year, God has instilled into us more and more the passion for tribal people who have never heard. It encourages us to continue on, when at times it seems it would be easier just to come home and live a 'normal' life. But our relationship with God enriches our lives so greatly, ... and to think that there are still people groups all over the world who have yet to hear anything about our awesome God. It is really very sad and also motivating.

I do apologize for the delay in posting again, as we were out to Saskatchewan for Christmas and then we got back and got sick. So for an update, on Dec.12th we had a last pizza party with our classmates and teachers(pic to Left), and then headed off to Toronto for the night. We stayed with Nate's friends family and then flew out saturday morning. All travels were uneventful and we had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. We tried to see you all, but with only a couple weeks it just wasn't possible, so we do apologize for that and hope we can see you in the summer when we plan to head back for a bit. We've been working this past week around campus and having one scratch cooking class every day for 2 hours. The women teach us how to make a whole bunch of stuff that will most likely be unattainable on the field. We've made tortillas, english muffins (on the stove!), bread, pies, quiche, and all got to be sampled! Next week the regular schedule starts again which will be nice. Nate and I have a review class to teach on monday or tuesday which I'm not excited about, and Nate has a few speaking engagements this next week so it'll be a stressful week. We could really use your prayers for this coming week with all that it holds.

We will now be sending out an 'official' prayer letter =) of sorts to our church, so if you would like to receive one please give us your mailing address and we will put you on our mailing list.

Oh, and here's Nate's Birthday picture from Dec. 26th.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-03T12:17:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

It's really feeling like christmas here in Durham as the snow is quite deep. There is less wind than in Saskatchewan, so the trees look like this until it melts. It makes for a beautiful winter wonderland! One Sunday it snowed so hard that they advised us to stay home from Church, so Nate and I went for a walk around camp. Nate decided to make his own snowfall (right) by shaking the tree. Luckily I caught him in the act and got a picture=) We now have 7 days of school left and are all getting a bit ansy in class, but trying hard to focus. We have now been freed of PTC (work detail) next Friday so that we can take off for home a bit earlier. Nate and I are driving up to Toronto, about a 2 hour drive, and staying at the Sharp's (Nate's best man's family) for the night. We fly out from there Saturday morning at 10:00am, jump on another plane in calgary and will hopefully be back home by 3:00pm! I'm excited just talking about it! Then on Sunday we drive up to Pambrun to visit Nate's parents for 8 days, and head back to Mom&Dad's on the 22nd for the rest of our Christmas vacation. We hope to catch up with all of you, but the time is limited so we will do what we can. We have to fly out again on Jan 1st.

So we're just praying for safe driving up to Toronto as more snow is coming, as well as a safe flight out (preferably without delays=) and also that we will finish this semester strong as I'm sure God still has more to teach us this next week. Again, we greatly appreciate you all and you're prayers and support on this adventure of life=) Thanx

Nate & Tash

PS.

Nate plays hockey every couple weeks with the guys here. It's rather humorous to watch 30 grown men wobling and falling all over the place as they chase after a piece of rubber=)

Looking Forward to Christmas!!

2008-10-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Christmas is coming! Nate and I love it here and definately have come to call it home, but we are looking forward to going to see all you guys.

(Right) this is a common view in our area, a church of old-order mennonites. There are rows of horse and buggy all around this church. Last sunday we went to a couple from the church for lunch, and on the way we past an old-order mennonite church that had just let out. The road was packed with carts. The couple's house we were going to grew up in that church and all their extended family are still in that church! He had a lot of interesting things to say about growing up and eventually leaving that church.

Mom! You wouldn't believe what we saw. It's this timmies that was under construction so they were working out of this trailer ish thing. It looked so weird down main street.

So I was given all of these kinda frost bitten but still usable tomatoes, so I made salsa last week! All the vegetation and flowers and such last about a month longer outside than there. It turned out a bit too mild for us so I 'm adding more jalepenos as we open the jars, but still good i think. I thought the pot of stuff looked so pretty I had to take a picture. =)

Myself and a second year student teach Gr. K-2 gym class twice a week, which can be fun and also challenging. We made a snowball fight for them one day out of cruched up paper, which was a blast! Then, of all coincidences, it started to hail outside and we had all this tiny 'snow' to eat and play with. It was great fun, and I've attached a video of it if you want to see the fun we have!

Thanks so much for all your support! We've heard from some of you but would love to hear more! Please write us! nateandtash@hotmail.com

Nate & Tash

Canoe Trip and other fun stuff

2008-10-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

It seemed like a while since I updated you all, so I thought I'd write a quick letter before we head off to Youth group.

Earlier this month the entire student body went on a canoe trip. There were 3 groups as we don't have that many canoes. We went down the saugeen river I believe, which is pretty calm minus a few 'rapids'. The group before us had 3 canoes tip, which made us all nervous but we came out dry!
(unfortunately I didn't get any pics as we didn't want to drop our camera in the river if we did tip=)

This month has been another busy month, but we are really enjoying it and taking in as much as we can. We've connected with most of our class and have gotten even closer to one couple. It is great to have someone to play 'settlers' with=)

The ladies went on a retreat on Wednesday to Owen Sound were we did a sort of picture scavenger hunt thing in groups to get to know each other a bit better. It was quit fun.

This past weekend we went to London to visit Nate's sister Gena and her 3 kids. The Video is of Isaiah and Nate playing Wii. We all squeezed into a 3 bedroom townhouse and had a great weekend of shopping, eating, and playing wii.

We are on our way to Youth group now, but will update more later. We also love to hear from you guys! We feel quit out of the loop here and hardly hear from anyone back home. Please send us updates as well!

Nate & Tash

Mom & Dad's visit East

2008-09-30T18:46:00.001-07:00

Hi All!

Nate and I are quickly fitting into NTMC life on camp. It's very busy, and the weeks are flying by. It's hard to believe that we have been here for 7 weeks already! Our Week looks something like this:

Monday: Chapel, Mentoring with the Bakers, guys soccer

Tuesday: teaching Phys. Ed. for me, Tuesday night meeting, girls volleyball

Wednesday: No work detail for me, men's soccer

Thursday: teaching Phys. Ed for me, tv show night at challinors, ladies sharing, ladies soccer Friday: Men's soccer, help out at youth group, grill supper with everyone

Saturday: FREEDOM!!! (well, minus homework, cleanup, groceries, etc catching up from the week)

Sunday: Church

Neways, sorry if that was boring, but had to flesh it out for myself anyways=)

Early this month Nate and I toured around Owen Sound and stopped in at Indian Falls and a few other falls.

Ontario is truly beautiful!

So this video is at Indian falls. We made it down into the valley below the falls and were able to walk right behind the falls! It was so wonderful; something i always wanted to do.

My Mom & Dad finally made a trip out here to see us! They got in around 8:0apm on Friday the 26th after some 'detours' around Toronto airport. GPS only works if the user works I suppose=) So we spent Saturday at Niagara falls which was amazing. God's creation is so breathtaking! Sunday was spent at Church and then we headed further to Kitchener/Waterloo for some much needed Shopping! Mom and I found some great deals while the guys tried to tolerate the hussle and bussle of a huge mall. (Christmas shopping has officially started!) This week mom and dad have been touring around while we are in class and then relaxing with us in the evenings. Tomorrow they will be joining class with us to get the full experience.

Flowers are still blooming!

I will start trying to write more often, to avoid long drawn out emails! Thanks for reading!

Nate & Tash

You Gotta go there to get milk in a bag

2008-08-31T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Life in Durham, ON is most definately different than rural Saskatchewan! Life on NTMC Campus is probably the most different, but I'll start off with Ontario in general. It's amazing how much you get used to being able to see everything for miles around you. I feel as though I don't know the area very well because of the hills and curving roads. There are also crazy things here such as milk in bags, which makes the product seem questionable, as well as the flashing green traffic lights which means you get an advanced green to turn left.

But all the crazy changes outside of campus is nothing compared to the things we are trying to get used to here at NTMC.

When people I know move out of reach I always want to see their living arrangements, so I've put together somes pics.

This is our apartment on the left with Nate there BBQing. This is not quit half of the building, which has three doors and holds 4 families and a freezer/water room. We share the door/patio inside with another couple and our appt is on the left side. And from the door our bathroom is...........

That building on the otherside of the field a bit to the left with the red roof is where our bathroom is with showers. It is also the 1st year classroom/coffee room/library/food room/mission barrel.

This is inside our house from the front door. This house has lots of space; it feels like more room than our trailer in Osler. We have 3 bedrooms and this kitchen dining area, as well as a living room space. (below)
The couches are kinda nasty for color, but really comfortable! Give and take i suppose. All of the furniture was donated by NTMC and supporters I suppose. It was all here for us when we got here; bed included! It's amazing how generous people are with NTMC. We've been invited to almost every staff members home for supper or lunch and there's been numerous food items and other stuff just donated to the school for us students. God's doing amazing things at this school and people know it an want to do anything to help out.

I know, so far it doesn't look that bizarre or weird on this campus, but here is exhibit A. This is our Plumbing situation. Our running water is a Blue Goose which we fill up in the water room beside our apartment; our drain empties into a large pail, and once that's full (if you notice=) you must take it down the sidewalk a ways to dump it. No hot water, so when you do dishes or anything with hot water you must boil it. One really cool perk is that we get our drinking water from a spring. It's across a little bridge over a stream. Very good water.

All this to say that there is much to get used to, but we are doing it and enjoying our time here so far. We've had one week of orientation, which is overwhelming as there is much on our plates, but it keeps us busy.

Prayer Requests:

Diligents in our assignments and homework

Adjustment with going back to school

being able to adjust to a busier schedule

connecting with fellow classmates

'Fun' Travels

2008-08-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

As many of you may have already heard, Nate and I had some car troubles on our second day of travels to Durham, On. We made it to Steinbach the first day with absolutely no troubles. We stayed there over night at some friends of Nate's and took off bright and early to read our second destination which was to be White River, On. by early evening. About 7 hours into our day Nate shifted down to pass as semi on the side of the road, and as he shifted up there was horrible clanking, so we pulled to car over and popped the hood. (not that either of us know squat about cars, but that's the thing to do =) We were extremely blessed to have landed about 2 km from a gas station so we walked back and called CAA. Praise God that we got that as it saved us about $35o in the end.

We got towed to Kakabeka falls and dropped off our car at a mechanic who said that it was a spark plug problem that could take over a week to fix. After talking to my parents and Nate's parents, it was decided that his parents would come pick us up with the truck and a trailer. They happened to be in Sudbury, On. which is over 2o hours away but they came anyway while we waited at some past NTMC peoples house for the night. So they drove straight through the night and then we went straight back, a 17 hour drive.

It is so awesome to see how the Lord works, though. He pulled so much together for us in those few days like I've never seen. What a wonderful God we serve!

So we are know here in Durham all settled in and spending some time with Nate's parents, sister and her kids. The car was fixed here in a matter of 2 hours for a mere $261! God is good!

Mom, We took this just for you. Actually we tried to take all the Ontario ones but didnt want to put them all on.

We thank you so much for your prayers, as you can see that God answers.

I will still update more on the 1st of next month as I'm sure that this is enough info for a bit!

These pics are just some of the trip and below are some sight seeing we've been doing around Durham.

He was so embarassed of these tiny short carts so I had to take a picture!

Beautiful rocky trails beside a huge waterfall

If you can't see it the sign says 'do not stand in front of driveway'.

That's it for now as its late but I'll try to get up some pics of the campus and our housing and such!

We want to hear from you! And if you really don't want to remember to check this for our letter please let us know and we will copy and paste it to an email for you.

Nate & Tash

Starting Off

2008-08-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone

This blog is here so that you can keep up with us, see pictures, read prayer requests, etc. (and if you are techno savvy we'd love to hear from you via the comment options).

So tomorrow we are starting our long trek to Durham, Ontario where we will be taking the two year missionary training with New Tribes Mission. We will be leaving at around 7:00am and staying in Steinbach, MB for the night. We hope to arrive in Durham on Saturday, and spend time with Nate's parents, sister, niece and nephews. Orientation starts August 25th and classes start September 8.

Please pray for:

safety while we travel

that our car would continue to work

patience while we travel for 30 hours

We would appreciate your prayers and would love to hear from you as well!