Wednesday May 26, 2010

The morning of May 26th proved to be an interesting and patience practicing morning for many people on our trip. Our entire group, yes all 27 of us, travelled together to UBC, University of British Columbia due to the simple fact that the campus is HUGE! During the regular schooling year, the university enrolls approximately 45-50,000 students. Needless to say, all 27 members of our group were greatly needed and appreciated.
As excited as we were to see the campus we had heard so much about, the trip there made many want to turn around and go back home. We missed three buses due to an array of issues such as not knowing where the bus stop was to having half of our group missing (on two different occasions) when the bus arrived.
Nevertheless, we managed to arrive via the Canada Line (a newer version of the SkyTrain) and the 99 B-Line bus straight into the campus of UBC. Pretty crazy that it has its own bus. Well, more like 10.
We finally met up with Pastor Craig O’Brien, the main person involved in the UBC campus ministries, Suzanne, and Rich to talk about the campus and begin our research and outreach for the day. After lunch we split into our normal four groups and headed out to conquer the campus.
My group and I headed toward Region 3 which turned out to be the Engineering and Sciences section of the campus. After settling down in one of the buildings and setting up Soularium, Callie, Jonny, and I set out to prayer walk half of the region.
We headed back to the building that temporarily housed the other three and switched off. Just like them, we had many people stare at our table and the pictures as they passed by, but no one would stop to take the survey. We headed back over to the cafeteria area for a time of debriefing around 3:30 PM.
After that, we essentially split into two groups for our free evening. On our way to the Canada line station, I sat next to a man on the bus who, after a bit of conversation, revealed that he was involved in the program at UBC that trained Baptist pastors. It’s wonderful to find fellow believers amidst the vast lost-ness that encompasses most of Vancouver.
The group I was with headed towards Olympic Village and we weren’t sure what to expect when we arrived. We didn’t necessarily see what was so Olympic (or village-y) about the place, but alas, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. It’s all about the journey! :)
Our supper was at a small restaurant that served both Chinese and Western (hamburgers and such) dishes. The role of greeter, waiter, and cook were all fulfilled by one small Chinese man. Our orders were quickly taken and quickly served despite the large number (ten) of our group. Most of us ordered some kind of hamburger while Liesl tried to order beef stew. However, he didn’t have beef stew and so she agreed to accept his substitute of minced beef. Liesl didn’t really know what she ordered, and to be honest, it wasn’t any clearer when the plate of food arrived. We all enjoyed our food, save Liesl, who ate mostly just the mushrooms mixed throughout her food and the French fries from the plates of others.
On our way back to PLBC we stopped off at Metrotown Mall for a taste of frozen yogurt. We arrived back at base and essentially wound down from then on until our heads hit our pillows for a much needed and desired night of slumber.