stopover.ca

I finally got around to updating a bunch of old links, check out the page ‘a full suitcase’ for a number of interesting/helpful/timewasting links to cross-cultural and team training materials …

Andrew Rennie, sent this in to the Resonate listserve I often check out:

The Canadian Government has a program for funding Community Groups who are putting on events to celebrate Canada Day, National Aboriginal Day, and Canadian Multiculturalism Day — community celebrations that take place between June 21-July 1.

I know some churches are engaged in community events, barbecues, etc., in the summer months — this might be another source of funding for your future events. Here is the website for 2006, from which you can get information, and consider applying for 2007.

http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/special/canada/invitation/funding_e.cfm

I just dropped this post on resonate, a list-serve looking at postmodern church issues that I have been enjoying over the last couple of months.

I have recently been thinking about the distinct Canadian voice.

I was just part of a 3 day conversation with the author Leonard Sweet, and he was asked that question … what is one of the negative or limiting Canadian distinctives.

Although the conversation began to range widely, at one point he suggested that Canadians need more heroes. We have a bit of an apathy issue, that could be solved by emulating the others who are larger than life. He suggested that this was a bit of the tallest poppy syndrome – chinese metaphor – meaning that we do not want to separate ourselves from the herd.

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My brother just returned to Canada from language learning in Costa Rica, he brought his girlfriend Mary home with him. As Mary is Korean American, My wife Supriya and I thought that we should greet her in Korean. (her english is natural, as she was brought up in America) … We just thought that it would be fun to poke fun at the very common detail that she frequently deals with.

After looking at her, “Wow, your english is great”

Her response … “So is yours!”

Anyways click through to check out how to say hello, or “Do you speak English?” in over 325 languages …

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Check out this site for a quick primer on one step t-shirt folding …

T-SHIRT FOLD

I think it may take 30 seconds or so to load, but it is worth it!

Ever wonder how far you are going to go?

here is a great link to discover the distance between where I am and you are. This tool determines the distance between major points on the globe (based on airport codes).

What I find interesting is that many common far off missions destinations (ie Central America) are actually closer to me in Calgary than my birthplace Corner Brook, Newfoundland is. We tend to think of travelling across the world in terms of distance travelled, but there is something more to crossing culture than kilometres.

I just had to translate some documents from French in order to find some information for one of my latest missions projects … i searched through some translation sites and came up with the Google translation service. So far it seems to be the best for my purposes …

Want to try it out? Cut and paste this text Este Web site é útil into the translate text box at this site. Choose translate from Portugese to English for a secret message!

I found this article a couple of days ago, it tends to paint a very bleak picture of the efficacy of Short Term Missions. Although I do not completely agree with the authors conclusions, I do think that it raises some extremely valid points – it definitely reveals what a poorly unpacked STM mission trip can look like, here is the full article.

Study Questions Whether Short-Term Missions Make a Difference
Missionaries don’t keep giving after they return; hosts prefer money to guests, Calvin sociologist finds.

Specifically, about packing very little. Here are some great hints and techniques to help in determining how much to bring, what to bring it in, and how to get it all in …