An Exciting Update!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are doing well and you had a wonderful summer. I would like to share with you an update on what I have been doing since I have been in Canada and what is coming up next of what God is leading me to do.

At the end of June 2016, God brought me back to Canada for a season before it was time for the next step in the missionary journey that He has on my life. I originally thought my time in Canada would be much shorter than what I had anticipated it to be. Waiting is not easy but God’s timing is much better compared to our timing. The last three years have been quite busy; they have been filled with a lot of life experiences of times of growing as a person and in my walk with God.

The word grateful I believe has been a theme during my time in Canada. My heart is filled with so much gratitude for everything God has done during the last couple of years. I am so very grateful for God giving me different opportunities of learning to grow and develop as a person. In the fall of 2016, I went to the YWAM LA base for a three month leadership training school. In March 2017, I went to the YWAM Montana base for a one week personal debriefing time to reflect on the 10 years I lived overseas. It has also been a real blessing from God to serve on the ladies committee at my church.

I am very grateful for the different job opportunities with children God has given to me over the last few years in the daycare setting, a nanny for a family and to teach English online to children living in China. I am very thankful for the reunions God gave me with friends in Texas, Manitoba and in London (Ontario). Most of all my heart is filled to the overflowing with how grateful I am to God of what He has done in my family. It is truly a beautiful testimony of God’s goodness of how He has restored my parents’ marriage and how He has reunited us to be a family again. Yes, God is good!

Has God ever given you a vision and a dream but you don’t exactly know how it will all unfold or the timing of how it will happen? I can definitely relate to this for sure. In September 2014, God laid the nation of Cambodia on my heart and it was at that moment I started to do some research about the country. This was a key moment God began to open up my eyes to the injustice of human trafficking and He started to direct my heart in this new journey to bring hope and healing to these precious girls who are caught in it. In March 2015, God gave me a prophetic picture when I was in Albania of me sitting around a table where I spoke life and value to girls who had been trafficked.

During the last couple of years I have been praying and waiting on God of what is the next step, He is leading me to do. God has been speaking to me a lot to receive some cross-cultural counseling training in missions to be better prepared and equipped for what He is calling me to do in the future. It is God’s heart to bring hope to the hopeless, freedom to the captive and healing to the broken hearted. This is the deepest passion of my heart to be a part of what God is doing in the nations, to call people into their God given destinies as His sons and daughters.

With great joy I would like to share with you the next step God is leading me to do this fall. On July 2^nd I have been accepted as a student to attend the Foundations for Counselling Ministry (FCM) school that is at the YWAM Perth base in Australia! The theme of the school is “That the lost may be found and the found may be whole”. During the lecture phase I will have classes where I will learn to develop counselling skills and gain biblical insight into issues. I will also be able to put into practice with my class what we will learn through the international two- month outreach phase.

The FCM school is run from October 6, 2019 – March 21, 2020. I will fly out of Toronto, Canada on October 2, and arrive in Perth, Australia on October 3^rd and then I will return to Canada on March 21,’20 (arrive back on the 22^nd). I believe this will be a beautiful time with God as He equips me to step further into my calling as a missionary to bring hope and healing to those who are broken and vulnerable.

Would you prayerfully consider sowing a seed into this counseling training that I will do? I am looking for people who would like to donate any size of one time gifts to help me go to this counseling school. The cost of my lecture phase is $2,915 USD and the outreach fee will be anywhere from $2,700 – $4,060 USD. The lecture fee is due on October 8^th and the outreach fee is due at a later date (I will send out another newsletter when I will know more about it).

Please let me know soon how you would like to partner with me in this. Thank-you so much!

Blessings,

Andrea

P.S. I took part in the A21 Walk for Freedom global event in October 2017. Here is the link if you would like to read about it – https://heart4nations.com/2018/03/16/a21-freedom-walk-2017/

For Financial Support:

Please go to the YWAM Perth website – https://secure.ywamperth.org.au/payments/.  Please select “Student”. There is a box to add in the details where you can write “Andrea Weber FCM fees” – this will help their accounting office to allocate the funds to my FCM school fees.

Here is the link if you would like to check out the website for the school I will go to:

https://www.ywamperth.org.au/further-accredited-training/foundations-for-counselling-ministry

Reunion Trip in London

I met my friend Christina when we were in youth group together at church during the years we were in high school. We kept in touch throughout the years we have known each other but we haven’t seen each other in quite a long time maybe at least 10 years or more. Christina got married on July 23, 2011 and shortly after that moved to London, Ontario which is a 3 hour drive from where I live in Canada. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend Christina’s wedding when she got married because I was living in Romania at that time.

I always thought it was really sweet of Christina to invite me to go to London to see her whenever I visited Canada throughout the years I lived in Romania. It just was not possible though to make the trip to London to see her with my finances and the short time I had when I came to Canada. Christina extended the invitation to me again to visit her this summer. Finally on July 12, 2019, I made the decision to take a trip to London by train and visit Christina and meet her family.

On Friday August 9^th, at 11:16am, I boarded the VIA rail train at the Oshawa train station for my reunion trip to London. I had two trains to travel to London. My first train was only a 29 minute ride to the Toronto Union station and my second train to London was around 2 hours. When I arrived in London I was quite tired from the long trip and I also worked before I left as well but it was really great to see Christina again after many years of not seeing her. I also finally got to meet her husband David and her daughters FaithAnn and Lydia as well. Their daughters are adorable! Faithanne is 6 years old and Lydia is 5 years old.

On Friday for dinner we all went out to the Swiss Chalet restaurant to celebrate Christina’s birthday. Four ladies joined us that are good friends with Christina. It was really great to meet the ladies Christina knows and spend a bit more time with the them. On Saturday we had a pretty relaxing day at their house and did a shopping errand. In the evening we went to a park and had a barbecue with a refugee family from Africa. It was really great to meet the family and have dinner with them. I am really glad FaithAnn and Lydia were able to play with the children in their family.

One of my highlights during my weekend visit to London was when we went to Grand Bend beach on Sunday for the day. We took a bus to Grand Bend from London in the morning and we returned at 5:00pm. I was a bit surprised when we got there how touristy it was there and how packed it was at the beach. I had a really great time spending some time with Christina’s daughters FaithAnn and Lydia as we swam in the water and played with the sand together. Both of the girls are really sweet and it was a real blessing to spend some time with them during the weekend. In the evening we enjoyed eating pizza and watching a movie together.

The weekend went quite fast but we had a great time. It was hard to say good-bye to Christina and her family. It was a real blessing to have this reunion trip with Christina and reconnect with her after many years. I returned home again by train on Monday August 12^th at 11:00am and arrived home in the afternoon. I would like to end this blog by thanking God for all of the friends He has brought into my life and how they have all been a real blessing to me.

List of 25 Things of Gratitude

1. I am thankful to God who is my Heavenly Father, for His unconditional love and His faithfulness.
2. I am thankful for my family God has given to me especially for the joy of how He brought restoration to my parents and uniting us together as a family again.
3. I am thankful to God for all of the life lessons He has given me even the painful mistakes that I have made because I believe He has helped me to grow and depend on Him a lot more through those times.
4. I am thankful for God giving me my cat Minnie who has been a real companion to me over the 10 years she has been a part of my life.
5. I am thankful to God of how He has been so faithful to always provide for all of my needs whether it is for school, mission trips, a job, rent or whatever it is He is such a good Father of how He always takes care of me.
6. I am thankful to God for all of the friends and the people that He has brought into my life over the years who all have been so encouraging to me with their prayers and their support.
7. I am thankful to God to be able to always have access to a Bible so I can read it anytime and hear what God is saying to me through His word.
8. I am thankful to God to be able to go to a local church to be able to fellowship, worship, pray and hear God’s word together with other believers.
9. I am thankful to God to be born and raised in Canada especially to have the freedom to be able to go to church with other Christians freely.
10. I am thankful to God that I have free medical care where I live in Ontario, Canada so I do not have to pay to see the doctor or if I have to go to the hospital.
11. I am thankful to God for all of the education He has given to me – my ECE (Early Childhood Education) at Durham College, a general Bible certificate at Tyndale College, Cross-cultural Missionary Training in British Columbia, Canada, my Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies and my TESOL certificate at Providence College, Iris Harvest Mission School in Pemba, Mozambique, my DTS (Discipleship Training School) certificate  at the YWAM Târgu Mureş and Cluj bases in Romania, the Shine Seminar (on human trafficking) at the YWAM Amsterdam base and the SOMD (School of Ministry Development) at the YWAM LA base.
12. I am thankful to God for all He continues to reveal His heart to me for the nations and for giving me many opportunities to go to different countries that He has sent me to on mission trips, work or training of some sort: Romania, Russia, South Korea, Mozambique, Uganda, Albania, Czech Republic, The Netherlands (Holland) and the United States.
13. I am thankful to God for giving me clothes to wear every day.
14. I am thankful to God for giving me food to eat every day.
15. I am thankful to God for giving me a home to live in, a bedroom to have as my own space and a bed to sleep on every night.
16. I am thankful to God to have access to clean fresh water to drink, take a shower, cook, and wash dishes and for many other things.
17. I am thankful to God to have my own cell phone so I can call people, send text messages and do other things with it.
18. I am thankful to God for giving me my own laptop to write e-mails, write blogs, and do my online teaching English job right now and for other things.
19. I am thankful to God for giving people to me in different seasons of my life to mentor and counsel me over the years.
20. I am thankful to God for giving me a healthy body.
21.  I am thankful to God for His beautiful creation – the mountains, the oceans, the rivers, flowers, animals and many other things.
22.  I am thankful to God for giving me fun and enjoyable things to do like when I went on different vacations with my family growing up, I especially enjoyed the two cruises we went on, going on a safari in Texas with my friends Christopher and Sarah, the reunion I had with my college friend Erin last summer or simply watching a movie at the movie theatre.
23.  I am thankful to God to be able to go to the Kingdom Bound festival at Darien Lake every summer since I was young (except for when I was overseas) which has been a real blessing to be able to go to Christian concerts, hear great speakers, worship with thousands of Christians and enjoy the rides too.
24.  I am thankful to God for His continual protection over my life especially when   I travel in the car, bus, train or air plane.
25.  I am thankful to God for the ability to read and write.

This is just a short list I am thankful for the many things God has blessed me with. What are the things you are thankful for?

Minnie is 10 Years Old Now!

Kitten Minnie

It’s hard to believe it has been ten years since I had my cat Minnie. On June 16, 2009, God brought Minnie into my life as a tiny kitten. I am so very thankful for God blessing me with my cat who has been such a gift to me. I always wanted my own cat but I didn’t know it would be possible to get my own cat when I lived in Romania.  I am so very grateful that God sees every desire of our heart, He made it possible for me to get my own cat and she has become such a big part of my life over the years.

I am very thankful for my friends Cristina and Evelyne agreeing to me wanting a cat and for them welcoming Minnie into our apartment when she was a kitten. It was also a real blessing to live with my friend Miriam in Romania for 3 years especially to see how much she loved Minnie and took such good care of her too. My heart is filled with so much gratitude for all of the cat sitters that God brought into my life over the years of having Minnie in my life which has been such a blessing to me because without them it wouldn’t have been possible to go on trips like camps, visits to Canada going to Mozambique for the Harvest Mission school and other times.

Minnie drinking from the sink

I think it is a pretty special thing to have a pet in your life especially for the companionship they give to you. There were times when I lived in Romania that I struggled with homesickness but having Minnie a part of my life brought a lot of joy and comfort to me. I just love Minnie’s personality of how she wants to be around people. It always gives me a good laugh when I watch her carry this sock toy around and put it in places claiming it is her space. I find it quite unique that she enjoys drinking fresh water from the bathroom sink and how she has trained herself to adjust to different sinks since I had her. She also enjoys being on her window bed looking outside or just having a nap on it.

Minnie and her sock toy

I am very thankful Minnie has also been my traveling companion, as well throughout the years I had her part of my life. Minnie has already moved with me three times since I had her. The first move was in March 2010, when I moved from Târgu Mureş to Oradea in Romania which was a 5 hour drive in a car. This is when I started serving with Pathway to Joy Ministries. The second move was in May 2013, when I moved back to Târgu Mureş, Romania which was another 5 hour drive but in a truck this time. This was when I joined YWAM. The third move was when I flew back to Canada with Minnie in June 2016.

I will never forget when I was at the YWAM Amsterdam base in the spring of 2016, for a 6 week course on human trafficking.  I had a huge struggle and question in my heart if God ever called me out of Romania what would happen to Minnie. One evening during one of my weekly small group meetings God gave one of the girls a vision for me that blew me

Minnie’s passport

away to tears. Laura from my small group saw me get up on this big eagle, it took me to different nations and she told me that the eagle represented God. What brought me to tears is when she told me that my cat is sitting on one of my shoulders. Laura told me that God knows I love my cat and I can take her with me too.

It is blows me away to think how personal God is and how He sees every desire of our heart.  I am incredibility grateful of how God worked everything out for me to take Minnie with me when He spoke to me about returning to Canada for a season. I am so very thankful I was able to get the pet passport, her vaccinations done and getting her carrier on time to leave Romania which was a miracle itself. Minnie wasn’t too thrilled about doing the overnight bus ride from Târgu Mureş, Romania to the Budapest airport but she did amazing on our 9 hour flight to Toronto, Canada and pretty much slept the whole time.

I am not exactly sure of how the details will unfold yet of where God is sending me next in missions but I am confident that God is going to take care of everything including bringing Minnie with me. I will like to end this blog by thanking God for giving Minnie to me ten years ago and what a blessing she has been in my life. What about you? How has your pet been a blessing to you?

Raptors Winning Their First NBA

The Raptors is the Toronto basketball team in the NBA (National Basketball Association). The Raptors does not only represent just Toronto but the team also represents Canada because it is the only NBA team in Canada. I am not personally a basketball or even a sports fan but when I heard the Raptors had made it to the finals I suddenly got interested to watch them play.

I ended up watching five out of the six games the Raptors played in the finals, though I kept checking the score during the first game.  I didn’t know I could watch the first game because I don’t have a sports channel but then afterwards I found out I could watch the games on TV.

The Raptors competed against the Warriors (from Oakland, California) from May 30 – June 13, 2019.  The Raptors won four games out of the six against the Warriors.  Canada was hungry to win the NBA championship title because we have won very few sports championship titles. Canada’s first sports championship was when the Toronto Maple Leafs won the NHL (National Hockey League) Stanley Cup back in 1967. Then the Toronto Blue Jays won back to back World Series in baseball in 1992 and 1993.

During the time the Raptors were in the finals there were thousands and probably millions of people all across Canada who watched the games. People watched the games at home, at sports bars or at the biggest cheering place in Toronto which was at the Jurassic Park where people could watch it on a large screen outside. Every time the Raptors won a game there were huge parties outside Toronto and across the country as people sang Canada’s national anthem and cheered “We the North”.

The last game the Raptors played in the finals against the Warriors was on Thursday June 13^th. The game was pretty intense especially towards the end of it and it could have gone either way.  The Raptors ended up winning 114 to 110. Toronto won the series by 4 – 2. It was quite the celebration all over Canada when the Raptors won the NBA championship. It is really such a historic moment for Canada because this is the first time we have ever won a NBA championship for basketball in the country.

The Toronto Raptors had a victory parade in downtown Toronto on June 17^th.  I decided to go to Toronto with my brother Jonathan for the parade and it was just insane with the amount of people that were there. It was estimated there were 1.5 – 2 million people that went to the parade. I would like to end this blog by giving my congratulations to the Toronto Raptors team for winning the NBA championship title.