April Adventures

Hello! I have been lacking in updates and I can only offer my apologies for it. I cannot BELIEVE how FAST this month of April has gone! I can still remember it being April Fools and trying to think of some good pranks to pull (every year I try to think of good ones and never end up trying any of them though). But this month has proved to be full of God stories and revelations! And plenty of adventures and good times!

I will just give you a few highlights of this month:

- 30 Hour Famine at the Hub went well! We starved ourselves with about 45 youth and raised $1,000 to go toward children that suffer hunger and lack clean water every day. It was a sweet time to connect on a different level with the youth at the centre and just have a ton of fun with them while working toward a cause. There is just a feeling of purpose and helping others.

- PlayZone started another session. We have a whole new group of youngin's that are so precious. Parents can't rave enough about how wonderful the program is and how much it's helping their child develop and grow social skills. We had a mom tell us that her little girl couldn't stop talking about the Biblical lesson she learned at PlayZone (her parents aren't Christian). It's so awesome that a preschooler can be a testimony to her parents. God uses us for His purpose at every age!

- Volunteer Appreciation Night was this past weekend for CrossTrainers. It was a sweet time of fellowship and testimony with many of the volunteers that help in the different ministry arms.

- Summer planning is underway! I met the other 3 girls that will be travelling with Jodi, Patti, Kelsey, and I for the second half of summer camp ministry. We are praying for provision for a 12 passenger van and financial needs to be met. If you could keep that in prayer, or if you know of anyone that has a van, we couldn't thank you enough!! Another exciting addition to our summer missions will be at the end of August. After our last camp, Kelsey's old youth group from Boston, MA, will be coming to Bradford to help us fix up Bradford Manor - a low-income housing complex located next to the youth centre. We have many people come to the Connection Centre from the Manor and they are all very excited to have the place worked on! We are hoping to not only brighten their spirits, but shine the light of Christ in that place!!! It's amazing the changes we're already seeing in the owner's heart of the Manor and we are just keeping that whole place in prayer.

- Connections Cafe has been a sweet time for me this month. It is awesome to have relationships and conversations deepen with the people that come in.

- Mercy House is gaining another resident this month. Please pray for a smooth transition into the House and that she would feel welcomed with Christ's love!

- The CrossTrainers team took a "staff retreat" this past Monday and went to the Red Sox vs. Blue Jays game! It was my first Red Sox game and a fulfilled dream of mine. It is awesome serving with these people in ministry, but it was also an awesome time just to be able to relax and do something fun together as friends too. Oh and the Red Sox won, which was an added bonus :)

- On a day that I was feeling everything going wrong, I was reminded how faithful our God is! It's amazing the support I receive from dear loved ones back home. Answered prayer! Thank you for how God is using you in my life!

- On a personal note, I had very dear friends of mine from Camp come visit me this past weekend! It is always a refreshing time spent with them and it's exciting to show them the places God is at work here!


Please keep in prayer the people that are affected every day by every ministry arm. It is exciting for me to volunteer in so many of the different ministries under CrossTrainers. I feel deeply blessed and humbled that God would even use me to speak to others about Him or just to love others! I am learning and growing so much in my relationship with God here, and in turn, I just feel like I want to share how Good and Awesome and Loving my God is!!! The more I learn the less I feel that I know about Him. He is always refreshing and new and He never ceases to amaze and surprise me. Our God is so great!

I hope that this month was as blessed for you as it was for me! Thank you for all of your prayers and continued support! It means more than you know.

Love, Leesh