Ride For Refugees 2009

This year my family participating in Ride For Refugees on October 3!  Steve, Aris and Zane will be riding, while Grace and Kian volunteer.

The kids are particularly interested in getting involved this year, partly because Steve & Grace have been involved for years, but mostly because they have a refugee friend.  One of Aris's class mates last year was a refugee from Eritrea. His daddy was in jail simply because he was a pastor of a non-state-approved church. This little boy was quite fearful much of the time.  It's broken the kids heart's, and given them the desire to help refugees.

We're joining over 1000 other riders and volunteers in Australia, the USA and Canada to help raise over $1,000,000.

And we're glad we are because...

The numbers are staggering - there are 67 million refugees and internally displaced peoples according to a United Nations 2007 report. Over half are women and children, vulnerable and voiceless while they flee war, persecution and tribal violence.

The RIDE is a way that we can personally connect to this crisis, and it's a way for me to make a real difference in a refugee's life.

Please help support us by making a secure online donation using your credit card. Click on the link below:

Steve:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2368728

Aris:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2351356

Zane:
http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=2351351

Of course, a pledge or gift of cash or check would be equally great! Just be sure to email me so I can send you directions, or pick it up personally.

Thanks for your support! It really encourages us!

Steve, Grace, Aris, Zane, Kian

** Follow the RIDE on Twitter and Facebook:

Twitter - http://twitter.com/Rideforrefugees

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4139343828

Ride for Refugees

As in previous years, International Teams is hosting the Ride for Refugees.  And we’re growing again.  We will be holding the ride in roughly 10 locations across Canada.  We anticipate 2000 riders taking part, and raising $500,000 for more than 40 different refugee ministries across Canada and around the world.

What an exciting thing to see this fund raiser grow as it has.  It is enabling both our refugee ministries, and many other partner churches and ministries to make a difference in the lives of Refugees.

I’m planning to take part again this year too.  Would you like to sponsor me?  You can at http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=1983939

Would you like to take part in the ride?  It’s not too late.  Go to www.rideforrefugees.com and register to ride, volunteer, or to get more info.

It's a Boy!

We're excited to announce that we have a new baby boy!Kian Tobias was born today at 12:46pm. He was 8 pounds 4.5 ounces.

Here are a few pictures. There's a bunch more to our photo gallery:
http://gallery.vanbruwaene.ca/index.php/2008/2008_02_23
You can even get the full quality ones too! More details for those of you who care about such things:

• Name: Kian Tobias Van Bruwaene


• The birth date is February 23, 2008 at 12:46pm


• He was 8 pounds 4.5 ounces


• He had some trouble breathing at first so was taken to neo natal. We got him back a couple hours later, and he's doing fine


• His first nurse went really well. He's having a bit more trouble now, but is catching on


• Kian was 11 days pas his due date, and was induced. Since we had midwives, this meant a transfer of care, so we ended up with 2 midwives, a nurse, and an OB, plus pediatrics. So we had really great care. I'm sure Grace would be happy to tell anyone who's interested more about the birth.


• Mom and baby are doing well, and looking forward to a (hopefully) good night sleep.

Thanks for your prayers.

Steve & Grace.

What were they thinking?

We've been leading a youth group in our home this fall, and it's been a lot of fun! At the moment, it's usually just guys that come, which makes for a very interesting dynamic. For some reason, the moose has been a recurring theme. We looked at the parable of the soils (Mark 4), and the kids re-told it. One of the retellings somehow involved moose looking for new places to live. For our church's Christmas service, each cell group will be doing something from the Christmas story. Our guys want to have the 3 wise men riding in on moose.

It's been exciting to see the guys get involved. When we started, we had guys that only seemed able to share silly things, and are now taking part in more serious portions of the bible studies. Some that hardly said anything are now taking part. We've even seen the guys curb their insults to each other, and actually think more about what they're saying.

Please continue to pray for these guys, and for wisdom for Grace, Sarah (the other leader) and I, as we seek to lead them well.

The Ride is over, but there's still lots to be done

Hello again friends!

I completed the Ride for Refugees this past weekend. I think I must have been crazy -- since I graduated from university 9.5 years ago, I've ridden my bike twice -- in last year's ride, and this year's. This year, At the turn-around point for the 25K route, I was feeling good enough that I decided to keep going. The 50K route was a figure 8 with a 36k loop plus a 14k loop that met at home base. So I did 36K. And that's a pretty bad idea for someone who's not in shape. I shutter to think of what most refugees put themselves through to escape. What I did was nothing in comparison.

But I did make it back. Yay!

Not only did I succeed, but the event also did much better than previous years. Between the 3 locations, we had over 600 riders, and have so far raised over $200,000 that will go to more than 35 different ministries working with Refugees. And we're not done yet -- there's still more donations to be entered into the system (lots of volunteers working hard this week), and more coming in. In fact, you can still be a part of helping us reach our goal of $250,000. Just click on
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/StartUp.aspx?SID=1655280
and you can give to this cause with your credit card.

Thanks so much for your interest and help!

Steve.

Ride for Refugees: Will you sponsor me?

Greetings Friends,

As many of you know, I've been working with International Teams in getting all sorts of resources together so we can run the Ride for Refugees this year.  I hadn't decided if I'd actually ride though till, well today.  After several people talked about sponsoring me, I figured maybe I should do it!

I'm emailing you to ask for your help. On October 13th, 2007, I'm going to ride in the fourth annual Ride for Refugees. The event goal is $250,000 and I'm looking to raise my fair share of that good goal.

Would you please sponsor me?

There are over 35 million refugees in the world. Many are coming to Canada and they need support as they adjust to our Canadian way of life. Imagine snow for the first time. Imagine if the letters all ran backwards to what you were familiar with. Imagine being alienated from your friends and family? They need our support.

Please help me reach my goal and help these vulnerable people too.

To give, go online to
https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/StartUp.aspx?SID=1655280
Once there you can donate with any credit card to my personal fundraising goal.

Thank you so much

Stephen Van Bruwaene



International Teams Canada is a registered charity in Canada. Our Audited financial statements are available online at CCRA or www.iteams.ca - for more information about the Ride for Refugees, online giving security, International Teams or any other question concerning this event, please contact Brian Carney, Ride Chairman by email at brian.carney@iteams.org or directly at 519-669-8844 (233).

Exciting Family News

As many of you have already heard, we are expecting our third child. The baby will be due in mid-February. What an exciting time this is for us as we prepare to welcome this new one into the world. Pray for Grace as she carries this baby — pregnancy takes such a toll on a person, both physically and emotionally.

In an email we sent out during the summer, we mentioned that with the arrival of a third child, we would need a new vehicle, as our little car physically did not have space for 3 car seats. Well praise God, we got one last week — a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. It’s in great shape, and was at a great price. Thanks so much to those of you who contributed extra to help make this happen. We feel so blessed.

Upstream Youth

Over the last few years, we’ve been helping out with the youth group of a partner church, as our church, a new plant, hasn’t been ready to run their own youth program.Well this fall, we’ve started our own group — “Upstream”, and Grace and I have the privilege of leading it. What an exciting, and scary thing!

Over the years, I’ve been involved in various leadership capacities, so that’s nothing new. What with marriage and small kids, I have taken a bit of a break in this area though. So this is a pretty new thing for our family.

Pray for our family as we embark on this new adventure, and for the kids we’re working with. We would like to see great things happen in the kids lives, and recognize that our family and marriage need will need extra protection as we step out in this way. Thanks so much!

Exciting New News!

Hello all!

We've got some exciting new news!  Grace and I are expecting!  The due date set for the baby is February 11, 2008.

Grace and I are quite excited about this new addition to our family. Aris is also excited to have baby to help take care of.  Zane seems kidna excited, although We're not quite sure how much he understands about this yet.

The addition of another person to our family will have some impact on our needs.  The place we are currently living in should continue to serve us well for the next few years, if not longer.  The main immediate need is in the area of transportation.  Our car only has space for 2 car seats.  As such, we're going to need to replace it with something bigger before too long. Would you pray for us in this area?

We'll try to get a newsletter out before too long with more info on where we're at, what's going on in our ministry, etc.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Steve & Grace.

So what are Blogs, and why should I care?

Between my newsletters, listening to the news, etc, most of you have probably heard the term “Blog”. Some of you even have your own. Others of you have never used a computer, let alone seen a blog. So what’s the big deal?

Blog (Short for web Log) is a special sort of web site that’s set up a bit like a journal, where people are able to write stories, articles, etc. about what ever they like. They can even post pictures and videos to blogs. Another useful thing about a blog is it’s ability to deliver it’s contents in a standard way (RSS) that other computers can read.

For our purposes, they’re an exciting way to publish stories, prayer letters, etc. that our friends, family, supporters, etc might be interested in reading. All of our news letters are also posted to our blog (www.vanbruwaene.ca) with an archive back to the original one. In addition to this, we have other articles there that don’t make it into our newsletters for one reason or another. We’ve even got videos of our kids on our blog.

A number of other missionaries in International Teams are also starting to use blogs. Since those blogs all publish their contents in a standard way, International Teams is pulling the articles into our centralized news page. The result is a great place you, and anyone else interested in IT, can go to read about current happenings.

In addition to our blog, we now also have an extensive photo gallery that’s kept up to date with all our latest pictures, shots from our travels, etc.

If you haven’t checked our blog out yet, I encourage you to do so! And if you’re a computer savy person who uses an rss reader to stay up on news, or even a “my yahoo” homepage, you can add our site, and IT Canada’s news page too (news.iteams.ca). I think you’ll enjoy the news you get there better than all the other bad news generally read on CNN!

Our Blog can be found at:

www.vanbruwaene.ca

Traveling on the horizon?

While my primary role with International Teams is working here in the office, Grace and I have also dreamed of leading short term teams periodically. This excites us on many levels. It’s an opportunity to better understand the missionaries and ministries we serve. It’s a chance to benefit them in more ways. And it’s also a great opportunity to serve our churches and friends here in Canada.

In the coming years, we’re hoping to take teams from our church, as well as teams of friends & supporters.

Would you pray with us as we seek guidance from our church leaders and colleagues here at IT about what our next steps would be in moving towards this dream?

Family

Both Steve and I come from close families. We have been blessed not only with parents that live in the city, but also with families that have become friends.  As a result, we have a special christmas eve tradition that involves both families. We spend Christmas Eve Day opening presents with Steve's family, and then both families attend a Christmas Eve service together. After the service, we all go back to my parents' house for a party.  This year we're stretching Christmas out over three days that will be full of family events.

Christmas Decorations

This year we have a tree for the first time. This is a very special tree. It was my father-in-law's first artificial tree when he was a child, and then the tree that my husband grew up with. Now this tree is a part of a third generation of Van Bruwaene Christmas. 

Zane and Aris are loving having a tree. They are fascinated by the lights. Currently my tree is decorated rather uniquely as the children have been decorating the tree with the contents of their toy box. The decorations get moved around the tree many times a day, and the tree itself has been moved slightly.

This tree is a survivor which is good considering that it has fallen over twice so far this season. Fortunately, Zane was ok after tree landed on him.

Steve’s Ramblings

As part of our youth ministry, we’re mentoring a couple of the older kids. This past week, we talked with them about spending time with God.

It was not only a good challenge for them, but for me as well. From the time I was their age till I had kids, I was quite faithful in spending time with God every morning. But small children have a way of disrupting any semblance of routine. But can I challenge the teens we’re working with to spend time with God when I find it hard at times to do so myself?

Or perhaps that’s the point. Being Christ’s Disciples is something we’re all working at together. And sometimes, working at it together makes all the difference.

Ride For Refugees 2006

International Teams Canada hosts the “Ride for Refugees” every year. This event raises money to support the work we do with Refugees in Canada and around the world.

This year, we had over 140 riders who have raised $73,000 so far.

For the first time, I decided to ride. What an experience it was! As I haven’t ridden in about 8 years, and haven’t gotten much exercise recently, I decided to “just” do 25K this year.

Unfortunately, we had abnormally cold weather this year, and had a snow storm during the ride! What an experience that was. I finished up with cold hands & feet, and a sore rear, but I made it! And I know that what I suffered through is nothing compared to the refugees I was able to help.

Thanks to those who sponsored me!

Xtreme Youth

For the last couple of years, Grace and I have been working with the “Xtreme Youth” (grades 6-8) that go to our church and our parent church.  (Our church is still too small to have it’s own youth group).

Our kick-off for the year was attending a big camping weekend called Jr. Pitch.  It included a great speaker, music, fun activities, and over 900 kids!  We had lots of fun, and didn’t get too wet!

This year, we’re going through a video series with the kids every week, and spend lots of time in smaller groups discussing ideas raised by the video.  It’s been cool to see the kids begin to think about their faith, and how it relates to the world around them.

Please pray for us as we continue to invest in the lives of these kids.  We need wisdom, patience, and lots of energy!

We’ve Moved!

In our last newsletter, we told you all about how we were hoping to move. Well guess what? We did! In September, we moved into to a small townhouse in Waterloo.

It’s a 15 minute drive from the office, closer to our parents, and in a nice community. We have several friends living in our complex, beautiful surroundings and space for the kids to play.

We’ve been enjoying a real kitchen, a small office in the laundry room for myself, space to entertain, and a price that’s within our reach.

What a blessing this is for us. Thanks so much for praying for us as we looked for a new place.

Please pray for us as we get to know our new neighbors, and that God would be glorified in our time here.

Moving?

No, we’re not moving yet, but we want to. There’s lots of reasons for this — rising gas prices, a growing family, tight living conditions. We would love to move to Elmira. This would enable me to walk to work, and give Grace greater access to the car.

But there’s a big challenge. The place we’re in currently has been a real blessing — we’re living in a friend’s basement, and the rent we’ve been paying has been really low. The challenge is that with really tight finances, we currently can’t afford much.

Please pray for us about this:

• That God would give us wisdom in where we should go, and


• That those God has called to help with this financially would respond.

RSVP Due Soon!

Greetings friends!



As you've hopefully heard by now, Grace and I are getting married on July 10.



It's an open invitation to both the ceremony and the reception.



There is just one catch -- we need to know what to expect for the reception, so we can plan for it appropriately.  As such we're asking for an RSVP by June 26 from everyone expecting to be there -- names too.  As part of our planning, knowing how many main courses, salads, and deserts to expect will also be very helpful.  If you're not sure what you're going to bring yet, if you could pick one of those 3 categories to tell us, and figure out the details later, that would be quite helpful for us.



We want to share our special day with everyone.  But if we don't know you're coming to the reception, we won't be prepared for you, so please let us know soon.



To RSVP, please send an email to steve_grace_wedding@yahoo.ca or call (519) 884-6163


Have a great week!  We look forward to seeing you soon.



Steve and Grace.



PS: If you've received this email directly in addition to this one through my prayer mailing list, I apologize for the duplicate.  If you've already RSVP'd, I apologize for bothering you again.

Wedding Invitation

(I know this is a departure from what I usually send to this mailing list, but I trust you'll allow the exception this once...)





Greetings friends!

As many of you have heard, Grace and I are planning to be married on July 10, 2004!  We're getting married at 10:00am, followed by the reception at 2:00pm, all at Lincoln Road Chapel. (145 Lincoln Road, Waterloo, ON)

We want to share this special day with everyone who’s interested – all our friends and family are welcome. And children are welcome too!

In order to make this feasible, we’ve decided to make the reception pot-luck.

That means that you are welcome.  All we ask is that you bring your favourite main course, salad, and/or dessert – at least enough food to feed everyone that’s coming with you.

Please RSVP by June 26, 2004 by sending an email to steve_grace_wedding@yahoo.ca or calling (519) 884-6163.  Indicate who’s coming (names of all guests), and what food you’re bringing along.

We've attached an invitation you can print out that has a map showing where the church is, and hotels in the area.  If you have Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4 or above, you should be able to open it without difficulty.  If not, you can get a copy of Acrobat Reader for free at
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html


Thanks for your interest!  We look forward to seeing you at the wedding!



Your friends,

Steve & Grace.



PS: For those interested, we’re registered at The Bay.