Youth from Jobat, India visit Canada for Canada Youth 2009 Conference

On July 13th we were delighted to welcome to our home 4 young adults from the Jobat region in India: Roby and Deepak from Jobat, Sonya from Mendha and Deepika from Amkut. They stayed with us the week before the Canada Youth 2009 conference (http://canadayouth.ca/).

We showed them Niagara Falls and Canada's Wonderland and Square 1 shopping centre and they taught us how to sing Jesus Loves Me in Hindi and how to make chai tea the real Indian way. We miss you guys already and can't wait to see you when we come to India in September!

(Photo: Roby, Sonya, Deepika and Deepak on the steps of Knox church in Oakville on July 19th with Pam Leonard, Sarah Travis and Paul Miller)

Press release on the website of the Presbyterian Church in Canada
Youth from Jobat, India visit Canada for Canada Youth 2009 Conference
in International
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
OTTAWA, ON -- On 6 July 2009, a group of four youth from the Jobat area in India arrived for Canada Youth 2009.

Roby Tomar, Deepak Baghel, Deepika Tomar, and Jaklina (Sonya) Parmar were all a part of the hosting youth group for last year’s Youth in Mission trip to Northern India, with The Presbyterian Church in Canada's historic mission partners in the Vindhya-Satpura mountain range (formerly referred to as the Bhil Fields). Members from last year’s YIM trip, Aisling Boomgaardt together with Rev. Andrew Johnston hosted the youth for their first week in Canada at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Ottawa.

Pictures in the slideshow below are from their time in Ottawa, visiting schools, supermarkets and hospitals and experiencing Canadian wilderness at Camp Gracefield. The youth will spend this week with Sarah Travis in Oakville, Ontario, before heading to the Canada Youth 2009 Conference at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

The youth will finish off their trip to Canada with a visit to MacNab Presbyterian Church in Hamilton, Ontario, and two days in Toronto with members of last year’s Youth In Mission trip, Liz Brewer and Lindsey Hepburn.

slideshow on Flickr of India youth visiting Ottawa

Results from Sam's Day at Ten Thousand Villages

Sam's day Ten Thousand Villages was extended through Mother's Day at the Oakville store and a couple of others as well, so it took a little longer than expected to tally up the figures. I am delighted to announce that we raised over $600 for Sam's fund. That money will make a huge impact to the kids in Jobat.

Thank you to Frieda at the Oakville store who proposed the idea of Sam's day and promoted it within the Ten Thousand Villages organization, and to all the staff and volunteers at stores across Ontario who made Sam's day happen.

Thank you to all of you who talked up Sam's day and all of you that came into the stores and shopped. Not only did you benefit Sam's fund but you also benefited the artisans around the world who sell their handicrafts through the Ten Thousand Villages organization.