Thunder Bay Serve - 2008

SERVE 2009

2009-01-11T13:38:00.006-05:00

Well, the new year has arrived, and the organizing committee is preparing for another SERVE project. The Serve 2009 blog site can be found HERE. Check it out, and see what we're planning for this year!

Thank You All

2008-07-13T13:46:00.008-04:00

As Thunder Bay SERVE is over, and as everyone arrives back home, I want to first of all acknowledge that it is our loving Lord who provided the Spirit led week. God's blessings were abundantly evident and we are thankful to all who made it possible ...our speaker, Dawn Geschiere, musicians Troy Kooima and Dawn Ryswyk, the supportive and dedicated Adult Leaders, the prayer partners, the many donors from First, Hope and Bethlehem Christian Reformed Churches, to the Thunder Bay Christian School and First CRC for the generous use of their facilities, to the volunteers who helped on site as well as the superb members of the Thunder Bay Host Team, and last but not least, all the young SERVants that demonstrated the heart of God to the Thunder Bay community.
We know that God will continue to nurture the "seeds" planted in the hearts and minds of the "servers". It is our prayer that God will use these young people to "right the wrongs" in this world beginning in their own spheres of influence. God bless you. Maybe we can do this again next year.
Herb Bax, on behalf of the Thunder Bay Host Team.

Still more pictures...

2008-07-13T00:45:00.002-04:00

We've added another 45 never before seen pictures to the Thursday, July 10 slide-show. FYI, we collected over 1200 pictures over the week, and a total of 723 appear in the daily slide-shows. Enjoy! Apparently there are still more coming.

Back to Summer

2008-07-12T20:58:00.003-04:00

As you know, summer took a day off around here yesterday, but it's back into the mid 20's today. We hope you've had an enjoyable journey home. If you and/or your travel group arrived home safely, please drop us a short email to tbserve@gmail.com We'd love to hear confirmation that you made it back OK. If you have any travel stories to tell that we could share on this blog, we'd be happy to do that as well. It was great to have you with us in Thunder Bay.

After the Storm

2008-07-12T08:56:00.006-04:00

The first group hit the road at the crack of dawn. We woke up to a crisp, clear morning sky. Traveling conditions should be beautiful along the spectacular shores of Lake Superior, as they take in the awesome sights of God's creation.

Time to go home...

2008-07-12T00:46:00.004-04:00

Well, everyone made it back safely from their day at the park, all be it, a bit early. The planned wiener roast by the bonfire was overpowered by rain. So it was decided to finish off the day back at the school, where they enjoyed their hot-dogs. Bedtime is a little later tonight. Those that are sleep deprived, can catch up on the road home today. The day ended with a thunder storm accompanied by a heavy downpour, late in the evening. It just wouldn't be right to send our guests on their way without experiencing a Thunder Bay thunder storm. We pray for a safe journey home for all the travelers. Pictures will begin populating Friday's slide-show throughout today.

Another Movie

2008-07-11T18:11:00.002-04:00

Everyone seems to love videos, so here's another clip from Wednesday evening's session.

Global Warming?

2008-07-11T11:04:00.007-04:00

Wow, the bottom just fell out of summer here. It dropped to 8c overnight, and we'll be doing good to reach the predicted high of 14c. Anyway, everyone had a super day at Dorion Bible Camp yesterday. As you can see by the pictures, a lot of work was accomplished, and the conditions were ideal. Everyone arrived safely back at home base around 9:30 last night. After checking their mailboxes, they played a few games, had some snacks and then off to bed. Today is play-day at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on the Sibley Peninsula directly behind the Sleeping Giant. The weather should be great for those taking in the Bike & Hike. The park is also the site of this area's nicest sandy beach. Beach volleyball, or a nice bonfire will keep you warm, but swimming?? We'll see how that goes. A wiener roast around the campfire is planned for this evening, but if it rains, there's a park museum with a large fireplace, and a dining area that could be used as well. It even has an indoor theater. The park has it's own unique weather system, so it's hard to predict what might happen.

The Chow Line

2008-07-10T17:42:00.002-04:00

Everyone is always ready for a good feeding.

Cool Morning

2008-07-10T10:24:00.009-04:00

We woke up to a pretty cool morning, today. The temperature dropped to 10c overnight, but it should make it to 18c this afternoon. Even for us, that's pretty nippy for the middle of July. Since all the work at the camp is outdoors, conditions are great. Although it was mostly overcast earlier on, the sun is now winning the day, and there's no rain in the forecast. If anyone wants to get wet, they'll have to jump in the lake. Not hard to do there. Pictures of today's activities won't be collected until they arrive back at home base this evening, so the slide-show won't be updated until tomorrow. We should have a real variety of snapshots, as the job list is quite extensive. Yesterday's slide-show is now done. Unfortunately, we have over 2 dozen great images that we cannot post at this time. The Cedar, Oak, and Spruce crews were visiting at a seniors home, but their privacy policy does not allow us to show any of the pictures without specific permission. We're working on obtaining that approval.

Dorion Bible Camp

2008-07-10T02:00:00.005-04:00

Today, everyone is spending the whole day at Dorion Bible Camp, located 80 km. east of Thunder Bay. Here is a satellite view of Dorion Bible Camp. You can zoom out to see exactly where they are. Google map controls are available for this on the image. The SERVants will be kept busy all day, as this is a large camp that sees a lot of activity. There is no lack of work to be done. A little swim in Black Bay on Lake Superior will certainly be part of the day's happenings.

Message Delivery

2008-07-09T20:07:00.007-04:00

FYI...all messages received to date have been delivered. Due to tomorrow's schedule, all SERVants will be away until 10:30 Thursday evening. Therefore any messages received from now until that time will be waiting for them when they return.

Workday #3

2008-07-09T16:30:00.000-04:00

Well, all of yesterday's 120+ pictures are finally available on the slide-show. Today is turning out to be mostly cloudy, with some sunny periods, and a bit cooler. No rain so far, and the work groups are returning from another day of service and adventure. Pictures for today's slide-show will begin appearing in the late evening.

Down Time

2008-07-09T14:54:00.001-04:00

Hockey At It's Best

2008-07-08T23:30:00.004-04:00

It's not everyday you have a chance to play
floor hockey with NHL players on your team.

Talk about a dream team, eh!

Workday #2

2008-07-08T10:02:00.011-04:00

It's been another beautiful summer day in Thunder Bay. Sunny with just a few clouds and achieving the expected high of 24C, and no rain. It's turning out to be a full time job delivering messages received on tbserve@gmail.com and the recipients really love it. Please remember to be clear about who they should be directed to. Message delivery is actually causing the delay in getting the pictures on line, but they're coming. Here's one of the surprises of the day. A visit by non other than the Staal brothers. If you're a hockey fan, we need say no more.

They spent some time signing autographs and posing for pictures, and then joined in on a game of floor hockey. We have some video of that as well. It'll be posted when we get a chance. The Staal's come from Thunder Bay, and spent time on SERVE themselves in the not so distant past.

Workday #1

2008-07-07T11:03:00.008-04:00

Today is the first work day, and the weather looks great. Sunny with an expected high of 21 degrees C. For those groups with outdoor projects, conditions are ideal.
FYI...as a rule, email messages sent to tbserve@gmail.com are delivered to personal mailboxes mid afternoon throughout the week, so they'll receive them when they return from their work experiences.
A lot of pictures came in from today's work sites. They are first used for the slide-show, as everyone gathers for evening praise and worship time. Many of those pictures are then processed for the online slide-show. We keep adding them throughout the evening, so every time you view it, there will probably be more shots you haven't seen before.

Praise & Worship

2008-07-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a sampling of Praise and Worship time

End of Day

2008-07-06T23:47:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy one. The major activities for the day included the morning commissioning service. Then, after lunch, "The Amazing Mercy Experience" took place. Getting wet was part of the experience, but a somewhat welcome relief from the heat, with the temperature soaring to 31 degrees C in the afternoon. After a barbecue supper, everyone made their way to the evening praise and worship time, and small group sessions. Be sure to check back to the slide shows now and then, since new pictures are added throughout the day as they become available.

The Group

2008-07-06T13:44:00.006-04:00

The whole gang's here!

The rain ended this morning,
just in time to take this group shot.
Click on the image to get the BIG picture.

A Stormy Start

2008-07-06T12:02:00.002-04:00

Thunder Bay lived up to it's name today, as we woke up to a booming thunder storm this morning. It ended before the commissioning service, and we're looking at another hot day of around 27 degrees C under mostly sunny skies. Stay tuned for today's slide show coming soon. Right now it's lunch time.

Concerning email messages

2008-07-06T01:03:00.002-04:00

Email messages are beginning to arrive, but in a few cases, there is no indication of who it's for. Please indicate clearly, who the message is intended for, so we can pass it on.

Registration Day

2008-07-05T14:37:00.006-04:00

Thunder Bay Christian School

This is home for the next week.
Check out our daily slide shows.

We're ready for you...

2008-07-04T21:39:00.002-04:00

Everything is in place, and we're ready for the arrival of the first SERVants. For family and friends, you can send a message from home to tbserve@gmail.com and we'll drop a printed copy into the designated mailbox. Please be clear to whom the message should be directed, and of course, who it's from.

Summer has arrived!

2008-06-06T01:23:00.002-04:00

It won't be much longer now. Thunder Bay is ready to greet our SERVE guests. For the benefit of family and friends back home, this is where we'll be providing a summary of each day's activities, along with some pictures. An email address will also be made available to pass on messages. Stay tuned for details.

Speakers & Music

2008-01-24T23:54:00.001-05:00

Thunder Bay Serve 2008 is happy to introduce to you our featured
guests for this summer.

Dawn Geschiere is a Jesus-follower, wife and Mom of 5 wonderful children and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She loves connecting with people of any age and SERVE speaking is one of her favorite things to do. Dawn has been to Thunder Bay three times and can’t wait to come back again and use her Moose Spit Soap!

Troy Kooima leads us in the musical side of our praise and worship. To learn more about Troy, CLICK HERE

Please take note

2008-01-23T00:29:00.000-05:00

Home base for Serve participants is the Thunder Bay Christian School. This is a "Nut Free Zone" to protect those that have serious allergic reactions to food products containing nuts, such as peanut butter, choclate bars with nuts, etc. Please keep this in mind, especially when choosing any snack foods.

Busy Beavers

2008-01-05T14:28:00.000-05:00

The "Serve 2008" team is hard at work to make your Thunder Bay SERVE experience both fun and unique.
Dates: July 5 - 12, 2008 (Saturday to Saturday)

The Dream Team

2008-01-04T16:45:00.033-05:00

This is our fearless leader, Herb Bax.
He's in charge - period.

This is Hannelies, our food coordinator and your new best friend.

Pastor Harold DeJong is our Spiritual Coordinator.

Harry Prenger is in charge of recreation. He'll make sure you have lots of fun stuff to do.

Peter Wassenaar is part of the Community Living crew. He'll be staying up late each night to make sure everyone is tucked safely in bed. So make sure he gets his coffee in the morning.

Joanne Wassenaar will be tucking the girls in at night as well as looking after your needs during the day. She's also our treasurer.

Cathy and Art Blekkenhorst are going to be finding you the absolute best places to spend your workdays.

Here is the Bellin team. Kevin will be assisting with worksites. Nancy is our organizational guru. She'll be assigning you to your small groups and sleeping quarters and making your registration as easy as possible once you arrive in Thunder Bay. She's also in charge of keeping Herb organized.