Our son Nathan is on a one year internship with Urban Promise, a ministry “that exists to proclaim the love of Jesus, and to express it through the spiritual, social and educational development of children, youth and families living in government housing.”
November 17, 2010
Hello Everyone, I just have to say that I have continued to be blown away by the support I have received. It really is such a blessing to hear about all the people who are praying for me and supporting me financially. Receiving letters and email of encouragement is always amazing. I thank you so much.
In the past few weeks it really has been amazing to see God’s provision. There have been so many times where our camp has needed something, and suddenly it turns up seemingly out of nowhere.
The kids I have the opportunity to work with are awesome. One thing that has really been amazing was just the other day, my supervisor asked for volunteers to pray for our meal. One of the girls from our camp put up her hand, even though for the first few days of camp she was quite vocal in that she didn’t share our beliefs or believe in God. She wasn’t picked but it was still awesome to see.
The afterschool program I help run takes place in a church a few blocks north of the Jane and Finch intersection. We run Tuesdays through Fridays, and officially it goes 4-6, but the kids come right from school so we just play games with the kids from about 3:15 until 4 o’clock, and then afterwards we walk the kids home which takes about half an hour. At 4 we go to the classrooms and do WordUP which is a Bible lesson. Right now we are talking about who we are in Christ (Free, Forgiven, Loved, etc.) with a new topic every week. At around 4:40 we have a snack (usually cookies, granola bars, fruit, or something similar to that which is almost all donated) and then after that we help the kids with their homework. When they are done that we just play games with them and hangout.
We have kids between the ages of 5-10, and I specifically work with the 5/6 year olds, and they are super cute and super funny, though they definitely test my patience. They love to play tag (which usually consists of my catching them, them catching me, and then me being to tired to play anymore), hide and seek, I Spy, and to colour. There are on good days 10 of them and only 2 leaders, so I would compare keeping them seated and listening akin to one of those plate spinning acts where you are constantly running to whichever plate is beginning to slow (or climb onto the table) but twice in the past week I have noticed that all of the kids were sitting quietly focussing on what they had to work on. It truly was amazing too see.
It would be awesome if you could pray for the girl I mentioned before and her little brother, that they would continue to be open to hearing about Jesus, and continue to want to pray with us. He is 7 and she is 9, and they live with their Mom who is a refugee from Thailand, and cannot speak English very well.
I also have 2 kids in my class that could use prayer. They are both 5 year old boys. One of them has a lot of energy, and can rarely sit still. I think every single day he comes, I have had to send him to speak to my supervisor because he just will not listen to me. He really should have been suspended by now, but we really don’t want to have to do that, because we love that he is coming to camp, and don’t want to deal with a problem by sending it away. I would love if he could become a little bit of a better listener, but God has his plans for him, and really I just want to see him grow into his full potential that God has for him, and not change him based upon what would make running the program easier for me.
The other boy in my class doesn’t have a very good grasp of the English language, and it is difficult to understand him, and for him to understand me. Because of his troubles understanding, he doesn’t like to listen to the Bible lesson (which is understandable) or do his homework. Please pray that despite these boundaries, that he will learn something from his time here.
If you decide to email (nathansennema@live.ca) me or send me mail, I really do appreciate it. I always read it, but I often forget to respond. I will do my best to work on that though.
Again, thank you so much, and God bless,
Nathan Sennema
Nathan, How amazing it is to read your updates. You have turned into a fine young man and seem to have a real understanding of others. Keep doing what your doing and remember, the love of god you impress upon others will always be remembered by those children and maybe their families as well…may God Bless you and your work.Mike May