Entry #1 - Halifax: arrived.

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the (long) delay before my first update on Halifax Project 2007! In summary: it's been great, and it's been busy.

Leading up to Halifax Project:
The time leading up to Halifax Project was actually pretty hectic and busy for me. It was spent moving out of residence at SFU, staying temporarily in various places, and then wrapping up my support raising and getting ready for Halifax - all the while trying to work during the day at my Engineering research at SFU. However, God is gracious (i.e. nice), and I managed to survive it all relatively unscathed!

My flight departing Vancouver was at night on Thursday, May 3rd, and so I spent the day portion finishing some research, eating a donair for lunch (a Halifax innovation [see: Canada]), printing my thank you cards (some of you will be getting them in the mail, soon), getting a haircut, and then racing home to pack and watch the Canucks play Game 5 against the Anaheim Ducks (we lost - I'm still sad about that).

Eating a donair @ SFU / Leaving YVR by night


SFU lights at the centre of Vancouver by night

The Anaheim Ducks actually eliminated the Canucks while I was using the self-serve check in for Air Canada. But enough about the Canucks (*tear*). Anyways, once we got to Halifax, things got busy. Orientation weekend was busy and chock full of great team-building and team-bonding activities. By the end of Orientation (Friday to Sunday), we felt like we'd known each other for like weeks, already - and not all of that feeling was artificial, I believe. I really hope and pray that we will be a powerful, close-knit group of people.

Some pictures of orientation activities:

I've got SO many more photos to upload, but for now, these will suffice. You can see what I've uploaded so far either on Facebook or Flickr:
Facebook - Public Album
Flickr - Orientation - Pt1 (Halifax Project '07)

Project starts for real:
So since Monday, we've basically been looking for jobs by day, and then having our project activities by night. I've been looking for a part-time job, and most of us are still looking for jobs, so this would be a good time to tell you our prayer requests. But before that, let me tell you what we did on Tuesday.

Tuesday was the first time we went out sharing on project. Sharing what, you may ask? Well, we went to Saint Mary's University, Dalhousie University, and downtown Halifax in groups (and then pairs) and saw who might be interested in spending a few minutes talking about spiritual things and answering a few questions we had written down in a survey-type format. Basically, this was a great opportunity to see what people thought about God and Jesus, and perhaps even tell them about Jesus and why He came to Earth.

Regardless of how effective such a method is, I am happy to report that 2 people prayed to receive Christ that night (Vivy and Denise), and they are being followed up (i.e. we are making sure they continue to grow in their relationship with God and learn more about Him). I, myself, was privileged to go out sharing with Amber, a student from the U of Saskatchewan, and we got to talk to 4 people about their spiritual beliefs and what they thought about God and Jesus. But I will probably write about that more some other time.

For now, I will leave you with a list of prayer requests:
- Please pray for Vivy and Denise, as they grow as new Christians
- Please pray for our job searching (above all, that our efforts will be God-pleasing, and that he would provide us with awesome jobs where we can make non-Christian friends)

I am currently applying to such places as Staples, camera stores, and even the regulatory body here in Nova Scotia for engineers (just for an admin/clerical-type job)

Thanks everyone! By the way, you can reach me here in Halifax by cell phone at (902) 441-7187 or by mail:

803 Rice Residence
Saint Mary's University
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 3C3

Till the next update, I'll leave you all with a group shot of (almost all of) Halifax Project 2007: