The Other Side of July

Hello Friends and Family,

Kevin and I are pleased to be in the swing of summertime fun and frivolity after what seemed like the 'miry clay' prelude to the season.

For those of you that have been following, you will know that the past two months have not been smooth sailing due to a sprinkle of different things. However July has come and is on it's way out with a glorious 'Hallelujah!', as God has blessed us with a GOOD month. Not to say there hasn't been hiccups along the way but Kevin and I have both been excited to see the fruit of our labor emerge in July. We have overcome successfully, trials and challenges that before would have seemed monstrous. I have a greater sense of peace, strength and security within myself and with my husband and because of this am increasingly empowered to be myself and face life with courage, rather than fear.

Still in the throws of waiting for my Permanent Residency to clear, I am now unable to work until I get my status, which has been a tough pill to swallow! But, Kev and others keep reminding me it's for a short time and truly a time where I can sink my teeth into finishing our documentary, so desperately overdue in our minds.

So that is indeed on my schedule for the next few weeks, as well as being a spectacular wife and supporting my husband by holding up dry-wall for a current job. I know, it's astounding, and I didn't even break a sweat.

Adding to the excitement this month was a visit from the African Children's Choir to the Life Center, our local church. Kevin and I were among a bunch of families who volunteered to host the 21 children and their chaperones. We had Uncle Tony, a Kenyan native and Jonah and Rogers from Uganda, come and stay with us for two nights while performing in Vancouver. This particular choir is touring North America, and is the 35th African Children's Choir to go abroad. What an honour it was to hear them sing, it reminded Kev and I so much of Africa, and suddenly our hearts were full of love for the brothers and sisters we met in Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa two years ago. We treated the kids and Uncle Tony to a Canadian pancake breakfast cook-up and they enteratined us with their supernatural drumming abilities (on floors, tables, anything!), and Uncle Tony taught Kevin how to play "Stand By Me" on the guitar. God truly puts special people in your path for many reasons and Uncle Tony was one of them. We talked for hours, once the kids were asleep, about his heart for mentoring young men in his nation and how it paralleled with ours. We shared stories of working in the media and the possibilities of uniting forces in the future, bridging nations, building relationships and so forth. It was unbelievably cool!

In the midst of all this Kev and I nabbed a quick 5 days away together to go camping and visit some dear friends, play in the lake and unwind. It was the raw, earthy experience we'd been needing to offer our souls and minds some quiet and rejuvenation. I came back sun-soaked and ready to begin all over again the daily grind we call home in Vancouver.

A surprise visit from the parents in Victoria, blessed us as they passed through on the way to a vacation in the Interior. Kev got to play them his first song on the guitar by U2! And Rax got an abundant smothering from Grandma...spoiled cat.

Angelica is doing astoundingly better fighting Leukaemia, and is powering through chemotherapy. Her hair has fallen out now, but the family made sure she was definitely not alone in this decision, as Mom, sister Xani, brother Josiah and one set of grandparents and two aunties have shaved their head also! Before the Culley Shaving Party began however, I finally got to take Xani, shopping for her birthday and boy did we score some sweet deals! Woot!

Kev and I have also convinced Suseh our worship leader at church and brilliant musician to teach us an instrument every Tuesday morning. The past 4 weeks have been guitar and Kev has blown us away with his au natural abilities. Now we're on to drums, which I can boast comes a little more fluently than guitar for me! And lets just say in ten years Kev and I may be famous in our very own band...yup, "The Friesees". Boom chuk boom chuk boom chuk. Just don't hold your breath too long!

There is also a whisper in the wind of the Friesen's moving east to go to school to become Pastors, listen closely in the weeks to come as more may be revealed.

Also, check out our Flikr Photostream for more monthly pics....you'll get to see Kev making his first pizza dough from scratch!

June in Pictures

Marilyn, chillin' with Rax



Kevin conquers Mt. Seymour!

The PODAH think tank.

Dress up 70's style!

Basketball with the Young Adults down at the river.

Just About June

Hello Everyone!

We began this sixth month of the year with an intense yet very rewarding ministry experience with two of our spiritual parents, Wayne and Marilyn. They traveled up from Olympia Washington in the USA to help another couple through the Restoring the Foundations Ministry and we were invited to observe the process as a step toward training to be RTF Minister’s ourselves. The kicker was that the couple training were Chinese and most of the sessions were in Mandarin! Thankfully there were translations throughout each session, so we could follow along easier. And we also got to pick up on a few words in Chinese as well – 谢谢 (shiay shiay) which is thank you.

This week long training was followed by a weekend training at our church the Life Center, an Issue-Focused Training, in which Kevin and I were certified to minister to others in small doses! One issue at a time! We’re working our way toward the bigger stuff gradually.

This month has also seen us through some more hard hits and storms, I’d say May led into a more intense month, and we’re both hoping July leads us out!

However through out the storms there has been progression toward destiny and steps in the right direction. We are able to see the character being built as we are tested in the storm and I would have to say that we have both become better swimmers.

Sadly June has presented not only trials in our immediate family but in the extended family of our community. Angelica Culley, our 13 year old quasi-niece was diagnosed two weeks ago with Leukemia. Not something any family can prepare for. During this time Patti her mother, also gave birth to the fifth member of the family Judah Zane Culley, and one of the cool things about it, was Gelli got to be in the same hospital as her mom, and was first to see her new baby bro.

Kevin chiming in here for a moment… I’d just like to say that June was not near warm enough for my liking and that if July doesn’t bring summer I may be inclined to uproot my family and move to Australia. I realize that it would be a big move but I mean seriously, have we ever had such a crappy June in Vancouver??? I’d also just like to say that I agree with Amy when she talked about the Month being tough but that we’ve found that we are better swimmers than we were 1 year ago. This is so true… I’ve found that recently we’ve been going through some of the toughest stuff, yet our responses to the tough times have shown me that both Amy and I have grown in our Character immensely. I’m glad that we’ve grown but I’m excited about having a little time off from all the stormy weather… in both our lives and the actual weather!!

Back to you my love…

On other topics of life, Kev and I got our Yellow-Stripes in Tae Kwon Do this month. Yep nearly Yellow Belts which will take us out of the extreme amateur league....finally! For those of you that haven't heard, the Friesens began Tae Kwon Do in March and have diligently been pursuing greater fitness and skill together. It's been a blast and definitely been way cool sparring together, learning new moves and having to do a sickening amount of push-ups, sitting crouches and planks.

We have also begun doing media at our church this past month with varying results, but it's a good step in the right direction. For two reasons - expanding on experience for ourselves in this area and opening up the door to the realm of media within our community, which can be a powerful tool of communication.

Well folks that's a wrap. Not a burrito.

Love Kev and Ames x