Posted 1:42 AM by Robert
It's happened again. I've fallen for a girl with whom I have no future.

I'm going to leave you in suspense for a while with that. For this post, I'm going focus on my trip to Canada. I had a great time, and I kind of wish it didn't end.

The journey got off to a great start. Before we left the school, I found out that the church we were going to stay at Friday night was none other than my home church of Naperville Christian Church. It was quite a pleasant surprise -- it's not like I was scared or worried, but it just felt like God was saying, "Relax, I've got this under control. I'm taking care of you." After the two hour drive, we arrived at the church around 8:30 PM, and I got to meet the new youth minister and see a bunch of my friends (you people know who you are). Those of us who didn't go to bed super-early played a card game, and then turned in around 10:30 PM. That's probably the earliest I've gone to sleep in the last 5 years, but we had to wake up at 5 AM. Saturday morning, we went from the church to O'Hare, and after circling the airport 3 times because we kept missing the terminal, we finally made it. Our plane left at 9:10 AM, and we arrived in Montreal around noon eastern time. Getting through customs was relatively easy, but it took us over an hour to find the car rental agency and the person who was picking us up (we needed two vehicles, but we were able to rent only one). After getting a bite to eat at Wendy's (the ones in Canada give you 6 nuggets instead of 5), we headed over to Station 7, a drop-in center for teens in the suburb of Chateauguay. It's a really cool concept -- a place for teenagers to just hang out, listen to music, play pool, air hockey, or board games, and just be with people who care about them. The people who manage it, Teddy and Linda Hoare (Teddy's the one that met us at the airport), are very godly people, and they don't necessarily preach at the kids who come to the Station, but they will talk to them and use it as tool to invite them to church. They're amazing people who have a huge heart for people, specifically youth.

We were taken to the homes we'd be staying at to drop off our luggage, and then we relaxed at the Station for a couple of hours, before the kids started coming at 7 PM, and spent the rest of the night hanging out with them. You wouldn't think that Canada is that bad, but the town of Chateauguay is a very dark community -- in some ways, Satan himself has a tight grip on the area. There are only two churches of Christ in the whole province of Quebec, and for the one we went to on Sunday (which was a baptist church), 150 people at a service was a lot. By comparison, my home church averages close to 300 people on Sundays, and that's less than other churches in the area. The kids come from unloving homes, which leads them to look for affection in other places. As a result, Teddy and Linda opened a crisis pregnancy center at the Station called Options. The whole ministry that they have is awesome, and the town certainly needs it.

Most of the kids in Chateauguay are into punk music, and their fashion matches it. The general style reminds me of what I saw here in the States during my junior and senior years in high school. Almost everyone I met had dyed their hair, and something besides their ears pierced (I'm not saying that's bad, I'm just trying to paint a picture). And the smoking -- seriously, everybody smokes, including some of the kids. The only people who didn't smoke were Teddy and Linda, and our host families. Even though the area is predominantly French, English seemed to be the language of choice. Most of the people could speak both, but they appeared to be more fluent in English. All the street signs, stores, and food labels were in French, but you wouldn't hear it very often, at least not in casual conversation. I was amazed to hear the kids talk about how much they hated French -- it was one of the few times I've heard someone promote the English language. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that you weren't in America.

Saturday was a long and tiring day for us, but after the kids went home at 11 PM, we were able to go back to our host homes. I stayed with a family of four, including two boys, whose ages I think were 13 and 11, or something like that. I know, it sounds terrible, because I don't know their ages. But I got to know the whole family, and I really enjoyed staying with them. And they loved having me. I thought I'd be nervous about being with people I didn't know, but I was comfortable the whole time. All in all, it was a very positive experience. Sunday morning, we got up and went to church, where our group, in teams of two, led the Sunday school classes. I taught the high school group with the only other guy on the trip, Tim, and discussed the story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery but later became the second most powerful man in Egypt. During the church service, which was completely led by Teddy, Linda, and all the teens, we sang two songs ("Open the Eyes of my Heart" and "Shout to the Lord"). After that, we went back to the Station for what they called the "Sleepyhead Service." It's kind of like church, but for kids who just don't want to get up that early. We ate hot dogs, played some games, and then watched part of a video called "Quest," in which a guy talks to various people on the streets, asking them questions (i.e., what was so significant about Jesus dying on the cross), and then explains it. We had the night to ourselves, so we stayed at the Station, ordered a pizza, and rented "Finding Nemo" (which I enjoyed).

Since I haven't said anything yet, allow me to mention this now: there was a total of 10 people on this trip, and only 2 of us were guys. Our leader was Julie Jackson, who had been to Chateauguay before on her internship, so she knew Teddy, Linda, and most of the kids pretty well. Her husband, Michael, who had also been there for his internship, couldn't make it, so his mother, Janet, came along as well (if you're wondering, yes, that would make them Michael and Janet Jackson). Then there was me, Tim, and six other girls. Nice odds, indeed.

We spent Monday cleaning up the Station and repainting one of the rooms. It was hard work, but I loved it -- it was a reminder what happens when God's people come together and work in service to Him. Then we went food shopping, ate dinner back at the Station, and then went to Teddy and Linda's house to watch a DVD of Julie's wedding (her and Michael were only engaged when they were working there last year, so everyone was excited to see the wedding, which was pretty recent). Did you know that in Canada, they have milk in bags? I know this seems out of place, but I just mentioned that we went food shopping, so this seemed like a good place to talk about it. I think they also sold it in plastic cartons, but nobody seemed to use them. Apparently, you would cut the corner off a bag, place it in a pitcher specfically designed to hold the bag, and then keep the whole unit in the refrigerator. I'm sorry, but that just seems so inefficient. And liquids in a bag? They didn't have any other liquids in a bag. If we start putting milk in a bag, where do we draw the line? Where does the madness end? Seriously!!! Where's the logic? Liquids go in solids!!!

Moving right along . . . we went to an area of Montreal called West Island on Tuesday (in fact, all of Montreal is an island), where we helped with the renovation of an old church building. The Montreal chapter of Youth for Christ had bought the building and was converting it to a youth center. That night, some members of our group taught Kings Club, which consisted of 3-9 year olds, and the rest of us did what we could to help out. Afterwards, we ate at Wendy's, and then spent time with our host families. I got home just in time to catch the last half-hour of Smallville, which was kind of cool, because it was the same episode I had seen the week before. After that, we played Monopoly until 10:30, and a good time was had by all of five of us. On Wednesday, we went to the Station to sit in on a meeting for Options. That afternoon, we did some more work at the Station, including a second coat of paint. Following dinner, the girls went to a weekly Bible study, and the two guys went to a prayer meeting at the church. Again, I got home early, but everyone was either out or asleep, except for my host dad, so I watched TV. Even in Canada, most of the shows I saw were American, including "The King of Queens," "Scrubs," and "M*A*S*H."

Thursday was spent touring Montreal. We visited some of the Catholic churches, which were simply breathtaking from an artistic and architectual standpoint. But it was quite intriguing to watch the people as they lit various candles, went through their rituals, and prayed to different saints. They were honestly seeking God, but their were so many obstacles in their way. All the churches we visited had a museum and gift shop attached to them -- it was almost as if they were trying to sell salvation, in the form of crosses, rosary beads, and tiny statues. I'm not trying to condemn them, but it was a shame to see such a misguided view of the Christian faith. However, the rest of our visit to Montreal was enjoyable. Despite the ridiculous traffic, we viewed the city from Mount Royal, drove past the Forum (the hockey arena where the Canadiens used to play), and the Bell Centre (where they play now). We also ate at a restaurant called Movenpick -- a buffet while you wait, if you will -- where my dad and I ate when we visited Montreal 3 years ago. After that, we walked through part of Montreal's complex and intricate system of underground shops. It's a like a giant mall, spread out underneath the city. Some of us took a ride on the metro, which is their subway system, and then we went to Old Montreal and bought some souvenirs. Thursday night, we taught the Young Peoples group (ages 9-13), for which I gave the lesson. Then we went back to the Station to hang out with some of the kids that we had gotten to know from the previous Saturday night.

On Friday, we cooked breakfast at the Station, then finished cleaning. We went out to the mall, and picked up some supplies for the Station, like cleaning products and towels. Before spending Friday night at the Station with the kids, our group went to one of the church members' house for tea and cookies, after which we prepared dinner for the staff at the Station. We went out for breakfast Saturday morning, packed up and said goodbye to our host families, had lunch at the Station, and then left for the airport. Customs was actually more complicated to return to the States, but we all made it through. Our flight left at 5:30 PM, and we returned to Chicago at 7:30 central time. Julie's husband, Michael, picked us up, and we eventually stopped for dinner at Wendy's yet again (if you're reading this Tim, it was the Wendy's on route 53, by your house, just so you know). It was a nice, quick, rainy drive home, and we got back to the campus at 10:30 PM.

So that was my trip to Canada. It really didn't go that fast, which was nice, because I had a blast. By the end of the week, I'd say I was ready to leave, but I didn't want to come back to school, partly because I didn't want to do homework again, but mainly because I really enjoyed being around the people in our group. But there will be more about that in my next post . . .