Link to the area we are ministering to... HOJ
Kinda cool huh!
Link to where I am from... North Vancouver
www.dawicks.blogspot.com
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
A Day in the Life
Well my Dad asked me to give a "day in the life" for me. So here is a brief outline of a normal day.
4:00 am - Get up for 2 hour run.... kidding. It's only an hour run... ha.
8:00 am - 1 hour worship and devotional time. I share something quite often.
9:00 am - Do some office work, administration, you know... TCB (Takin care of business). These days most of my desk work involves preparing for the YWAM team visit and working on sponsorship profiles.
10:30 am - Tabitha feeding starts at about this time, so I usually sneak out of the office to hang out with the kids a bit.
12:00 pm - Lunch
1:00 pm - Sometimes have a staff meeting, do some banking, prepare for a bible study, meet with somebody about something... etc.
4:00 pm - By this time the heat has worn you out, so I try and head outside and meet/hang out with people in the community. This is probably the thing I enjoy most.
6:00 pm - Supper
7:00 pm - Bible study, some kind of teaching, a youth night etc...
Evening - Relax a bit and maybe type up a memo or schedule and answer some emails.
Well that is it I guess. That is a pretty typical day.
the blog
4:00 am - Get up for 2 hour run.... kidding. It's only an hour run... ha.
8:00 am - 1 hour worship and devotional time. I share something quite often.
9:00 am - Do some office work, administration, you know... TCB (Takin care of business). These days most of my desk work involves preparing for the YWAM team visit and working on sponsorship profiles.
10:30 am - Tabitha feeding starts at about this time, so I usually sneak out of the office to hang out with the kids a bit.
12:00 pm - Lunch
1:00 pm - Sometimes have a staff meeting, do some banking, prepare for a bible study, meet with somebody about something... etc.
4:00 pm - By this time the heat has worn you out, so I try and head outside and meet/hang out with people in the community. This is probably the thing I enjoy most.
6:00 pm - Supper
7:00 pm - Bible study, some kind of teaching, a youth night etc...
Evening - Relax a bit and maybe type up a memo or schedule and answer some emails.
Well that is it I guess. That is a pretty typical day.
the blog
Saturday, December 09, 2006
And then there were none...
Well Inneke is heading back to Canada tomorrow. Going to drop her and the kids off in the Jeepne very early... yikes, you know how I love early mornings. Very exciting time for me as I am facing the challenge of cross cultural communication and leadership in a ministry situation. When I worked for a company it was much different... people did their jobs because they enjoyed it, but also because they were obligated... if they did not do it you could find someone new. Not so easy in ministry. My vision is not to just maintain things here while Patrick and Inneke are away, but also to move things forward and bring Christ and freedom to more people.
Situations make you realize your true character and areas of your life that you have not allowed Christ to crucify. Hit home again those verses in Romans about not doing what you want and doing the things that you don't want to do. Who is this other man living inside me? Also considering how careful one needs to be when bringing "biblical" principles. Are you bringing God's ways or your cultures ways which you erroneously think are superior. Sometimes feel scared to move or do anything because you are worried that you won't do the right thing... but I guess you just have to trust that God will use you because you are yielded to Him and it is not just you.
For those who have missed the video posts, here they are...
Check em out!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Monica
Hey Monica, you left a comment for me about bringing a team, but you did not leave any contact info so I can send you some info. Email me at dawicks@gmail.com.
That gives me an idea for a post. I'll give some thoughts about how people could be involved if they wanted to.
That gives me an idea for a post. I'll give some thoughts about how people could be involved if they wanted to.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Article in the Kindersley Clarion
Following is an article as it appears in the local newspaper where I am from. Thanks for the great article Wayne (WAYNE GIBSON of The Press Review).
=====
An Eston graduate is using his knowledge of numbers to help out-of-school
youth halfway around the world.
David Wicks departed for Davao, Philippines in mid-September and has been
enjoying his new role as an inner-city math teacher so much he plans to
upgrade his stay from six months to maybe two years. Wicks is working with
Hope for the Nations, an international organization that focuses on
community development and areas of the world where poverty is severely
impacting children.
In Davao, he tutors youth at the Hope Education Centre where they can
complete their high school equivalency exams. Many of the children have been
abandoned, from as early as pre-school age and are recruited from the
streets or a nearby orphanage. Without family and financial support, they
would not receive schooling of any kind otherwise. The centre is neither an
official public or private school, however, as the legalities for both are
too complex, Wicks said.
Davao is located on the island of Mindanao. Hope for the Nations also
provides primary health care, leadership training, and shelter for abandoned
kids and orphans.
Since arriving in September, Wicks has also become an administrator,
improving the centre's website, hoping to enhance promotion of a sponsorship
program, and participating in other activities like Bible studies. Through
the sponsorship program, older students can be financed to attend university
for far less money than what western post-secondary students are accustomed
to paying.
Wicks, the son of former Eston Full Gospel Church pastor Dave Wicks and his
wife Pat, graduated Eston Composite School in 1995. After two years of
attending Bible college, he went on to complete an honours degree in
biochemistry and chemistry from Simon Fraser University.
But he always felt a pulling toward some kind of missions work, and found
the avenue to do so after meeting a pair of Hope for the Nations directors.
"I used to live with the program directors that are here now when they
lived in North Vancouver. I wanted to go and do missions somewhere, and I
figured that since I already knew them and had a contact here, that it would
just make sense to just come here," he said in a recent email.
Wicks' father, Pastor Dave Wicks said it is an adjustment to have his son
so far away, but those feelings are soothed by knowing how much the younger
Wicks is enjoying himself.
"It's been a huge turning point in his life," he said.
Wicks provides regular updates on his daily life in an online blog he
created (www.dawicks.blogspot.com). Recent entries describe how his first
two months have already brought about positive personal growth.
"I am learning a lot about myself, I guess - seeing some gifting that I
thought I never had, and seeing some of the areas of my life that still need
work. The most rewarding is seeing a smile on the kids' faces when they see
you because you have touched their lives somehow or have made a difference."
Many of the youth that frequent the education centre have difficult
circumstances to deal with outside of the classroom. Wicks was light on
specifics, but said troubled youth who opt for stealing and other small
crimes to survive are dealt with very harshly.
Despite this, and the barriers associated with communication to the non
English-speaking youth, Wicks said there is a generally positive attitude
among them. Establishing positive mentor-student relationships is one of his
goals as a teacher at the centre.
"The kids are very open and friendly and desire to learn more, but they
live in an oppressive environment with oppressive attitudes and have a real
poverty mentality," he said. "We are trying to show them that with God's
help, they can rise up and become leaders."
An experience early on also showed Wicks how the Philippines differs from
most communities back home.
"The people are amazing. I was walking home one day and saw through
someone's window the latest Oscar de la Hoya fight. I am a huge boxing fan,
so I just stood there and watched. After only about 30 seconds, they invited
me in and gave me a chair to sit in. After watching three rounds, already
late for lunch, I said I (had) to go. They did not want me to leave and said
come back anytime. Would that happen in Canada with a total stranger? I
doubt it."
Wicks will soon move to his own house for a period of months while other
missionaries return home on furlow. Visa regulations require that he leave
the country temporarily after one year to reapply, but Wicks feels convinced
his time in the Philippines is just beginning.
=====
An Eston graduate is using his knowledge of numbers to help out-of-school
youth halfway around the world.
David Wicks departed for Davao, Philippines in mid-September and has been
enjoying his new role as an inner-city math teacher so much he plans to
upgrade his stay from six months to maybe two years. Wicks is working with
Hope for the Nations, an international organization that focuses on
community development and areas of the world where poverty is severely
impacting children.
In Davao, he tutors youth at the Hope Education Centre where they can
complete their high school equivalency exams. Many of the children have been
abandoned, from as early as pre-school age and are recruited from the
streets or a nearby orphanage. Without family and financial support, they
would not receive schooling of any kind otherwise. The centre is neither an
official public or private school, however, as the legalities for both are
too complex, Wicks said.
Davao is located on the island of Mindanao. Hope for the Nations also
provides primary health care, leadership training, and shelter for abandoned
kids and orphans.
Since arriving in September, Wicks has also become an administrator,
improving the centre's website, hoping to enhance promotion of a sponsorship
program, and participating in other activities like Bible studies. Through
the sponsorship program, older students can be financed to attend university
for far less money than what western post-secondary students are accustomed
to paying.
Wicks, the son of former Eston Full Gospel Church pastor Dave Wicks and his
wife Pat, graduated Eston Composite School in 1995. After two years of
attending Bible college, he went on to complete an honours degree in
biochemistry and chemistry from Simon Fraser University.
But he always felt a pulling toward some kind of missions work, and found
the avenue to do so after meeting a pair of Hope for the Nations directors.
"I used to live with the program directors that are here now when they
lived in North Vancouver. I wanted to go and do missions somewhere, and I
figured that since I already knew them and had a contact here, that it would
just make sense to just come here," he said in a recent email.
Wicks' father, Pastor Dave Wicks said it is an adjustment to have his son
so far away, but those feelings are soothed by knowing how much the younger
Wicks is enjoying himself.
"It's been a huge turning point in his life," he said.
Wicks provides regular updates on his daily life in an online blog he
created (www.dawicks.blogspot.com). Recent entries describe how his first
two months have already brought about positive personal growth.
"I am learning a lot about myself, I guess - seeing some gifting that I
thought I never had, and seeing some of the areas of my life that still need
work. The most rewarding is seeing a smile on the kids' faces when they see
you because you have touched their lives somehow or have made a difference."
Many of the youth that frequent the education centre have difficult
circumstances to deal with outside of the classroom. Wicks was light on
specifics, but said troubled youth who opt for stealing and other small
crimes to survive are dealt with very harshly.
Despite this, and the barriers associated with communication to the non
English-speaking youth, Wicks said there is a generally positive attitude
among them. Establishing positive mentor-student relationships is one of his
goals as a teacher at the centre.
"The kids are very open and friendly and desire to learn more, but they
live in an oppressive environment with oppressive attitudes and have a real
poverty mentality," he said. "We are trying to show them that with God's
help, they can rise up and become leaders."
An experience early on also showed Wicks how the Philippines differs from
most communities back home.
"The people are amazing. I was walking home one day and saw through
someone's window the latest Oscar de la Hoya fight. I am a huge boxing fan,
so I just stood there and watched. After only about 30 seconds, they invited
me in and gave me a chair to sit in. After watching three rounds, already
late for lunch, I said I (had) to go. They did not want me to leave and said
come back anytime. Would that happen in Canada with a total stranger? I
doubt it."
Wicks will soon move to his own house for a period of months while other
missionaries return home on furlow. Visa regulations require that he leave
the country temporarily after one year to reapply, but Wicks feels convinced
his time in the Philippines is just beginning.
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