Tuesday May 18, 2010

Tuesday was much the same as Monday as in work. However, today all of the groups were going out to college campuses. My team traveled to Douglas College: The David Lam Campus in Coquitlam, BC, an area what was still uncharted for our entire team. The main Douglas College campus is in New Westminster and was infiltrated by Whitney’s team. Brett and Katie’s teams stayed in Surrey and researched Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Simon Frasier University respectively.
We arrived at the campus at approximately 12 PM and set off to find our lunch. Some of our group ate the lunch packed this morning while others including myself utilized the cheap but good cafeteria food available to us. After lunch, we split up to divide and conquer.
We hoped to do Soularium today, an activity that uses pictures to catch the attention of people passing by and giving us an opening to speak with about spirituality, what they believe, and hopefully what we believe, but we were unable to do so. Seeing as this college is also nonpartisan and non-religious, the administration wouldn’t allow us set it up on campus.
So instead, we continued with our research and such by individually speaking with students around the campus, other administration personnel, and people out in the community.
After returning to PLBC and chilling for a few hours, we had our debriefing time at 9 PM. We spoke about our days, both the good and bad experiences as well our expectations that were or were not met.
We also updated our knowledge about the Haiti team. Whitney and I had the opportunity to talk with Rosie on the phone and she assured us that things were looking up. The entire team was back in the States and most, excluding the four still in Miami, were either home or heading home. It was so good to hear my dear friend’s voice, knowing that she and all of the others were going to be okay. Prayers are still needed for the team as they recover from the physical, mental, and emotional trauma of the accident.
With all that being said, so much of me still wants to be with my friends right now. I want to be able to comfort them, listen to their stories, be a shoulder to cry on. But I know I’m here in Canada for a reason. God has called me to this place just as He called all of them to Haiti.
As I sit here and type, listening to the gentle sound of the rain falling and the occasional call of the peacock in the distance, I am comforted by the fact that even in the farthest corners of the earth I am still and will always be connected with those I love as long as I am doing as our God calls.