Fruits of Our VBS - Our Pride and Joy!

Our volunteers for the VBS camp this year

August 8, 2015

I have been organizing a church summer camp for years since the late 1990's. It has brought me lots of joy and satisfaction seeing kids having fun each summer.

The most rewarding part for me is watching our young campers coming through the camp years after years and maturing into responsible young adults.

Training volunteers in our song preparation for the camp

Some of the campers like the experience so much that they start volunteering in the camp when they get older. Consequently,  he/ she becomes a camp leader followed by finding a paid summer job as a camp counselor a few years later!

Eventually,  some young people progress to becoming the assistant directors or director of the camp helping to train other volunteers.

This process has repeated a number of times. There have been a number of young people coming through the camp and pursuing a profession in teaching due to the experiences they have gained over the previous camp years.

J. is one of the fruits of our VBS camp

Beside Y., J. is my proudest student from all the Vacation Bible School camps we have organized in the Greater Toronto Area over the years!  J. was one of my campers when I organized the first VBS in Waterloo. He was not a willing participant at the beginning.

 But somehow after the first week of camp, he liked it and continued to attend our VBS year after year. There was one year when his family planned a vacation during the VBS time period. He refused to go on the family holiday and stayed to help out in the camp instead!

Trying the games on the Volunteer Training Day

J. has been coming to our VBS since 2008.  He just graduated from university in May and already landed a teaching job in South Korea!

Before he left Canada, I asked him to help me to train this year's volunteers for camp. He gladly accepted and did a really good job sharing his experience and training the next generation of VBS helpers.

Seeing young people benefiting from the VBS camp experience and maturing to responsible young adults and helping others - that was one of the proudest moments in my teaching life!

R.T.
Director  - TECA
Toronto Education &
Communications Associates
Conducting
VBS Training Camp
Waterloo, Ontario
p.s. Both young people gained a lot of teaching experience from teaching VBS.
       J. is leaving Canada for S. Korea on Sunday, Aug 16, 2015
      Y. is leaving S. Korea for China on the same day! They just missed each other!

Audience Participatory Games Played in Para Pan Am Games!

Mattamy Athletic Centre, Ryerson University located in downtown Toronto

Though we enjoy outdoor activities. We are not great sports fan.

We were there to cheer on our para athletes

 Our ideal kind of weekend activities are hiking on beautiful trails and relaxing in front of our waterfront cabin with a great book.

The Mexican Para Pan Am Wheel Chair Team

Consequently, we rarely attend any live sports event save for some very special playoff games.

Some of the wheel chair athletes representing Canada!

This time we wanted to show our support and cheer on the para Pan Am athletes, therefore, we attended a couple of games at the
Mattamy Athletic Centre located inside the renovated Maple Leaf Garden.

We enjoyed those games tremendously!!!

Wheel chair basketball game -A great game!

The para Pan Am athletes really worked hard to perform their best.

Watching the game was an inspiring experience!

We were absolutely inspired by the athletes' handwork, determination and positive attitude towards the sporting events in which they were representing their countries.

Fans cheering for their para athletes loudly and enthusiastically!

We found the live games were a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

There was hardly any dull moment throughout the entire game!

The DJ and volunteers working hard to encourage spectator participation

The DJ and the Pan Am volunteers worked very hard keeping the fans entertained and involved from the beginning till the end.

Whenever the game had to stop due to various reasons, the DJ sprang to his feet, along with his crew, came up with some interesting activities or games to have the spectators,  young and old, engaged.

Lots of fun watching the game

The audiences responded with enthusiasm, participating in these games, doing what was asked of them.

There was a lot of spectator participation!

 Audiences were involved in playing numerous games throughout the wheel chair quarter finals. Some of them were:

Playing air guitar

1. Playing air guitar to the music being played over the PA system 

Flexing your muscles

 2. Playing air drums to the beat of the music being played








 3. Flexing your muscles and matching your face and arms to the muscular biceps showing on the screen.

Playing Head and Tail

4. Playing head and tail

This was my most favorite game of all the games played with the fans.

The elimination rounds for the Head and Tail game

It was amazing how this one game could involve everyone in that huge stadium!

The lively DJ had a coin in his hand. He asked people to choose either head or tail. Everyone stood up and put their hands on their heads if they chose head while those chose tail putting their hands on their behinds.

Only a few people remained after the first eliminating rounds

As people were eliminated, the number of spectators remained standing got smaller.

Eventually, a small group was asked to go down to the floor and played the eliminating rounds there.

After a few rounds, a child remained and was the winner winning a prize at the end!

A fantastic experience at the Para Pan Am games!

It was a fantastic experience attending the para Wheel Chair basketball games!

Hats off and a big thank you to the Toronto Pan Am / Para Pan Am Organizing Committee and all the volunteers for making the Pan Am games such a safe and an enjoyable experience!

You have made us proud of being Canadians!

R.T.
A Proud Toronto Resident
Toronto

Salute to the Canadian Wheel Chair Basketball Team - A Great Performance at the Para Pan Am Game!

Being out of town while the Pan Am games were on in Toronto,  we missed the opportunity of attending many of the games and events.

In order to show our support for the athletes, we made sure we got tickets and watched at least a couple of the para Pan Am games.

Introducing the para athletes from Brazil and Mexico at the Quarter Final game

Para athletes from both teams playing hard!

I heard a lot of the para games, but never watched one in person.

We bought tickets online for the wheel chair basket ball games. However, we had no idea which country would be playing.


We  watched two quarter finals.
The first game was Brazil vs Mexico.

Para Pan Am Wheel Chair Basketball Quarter final - Brazil vs Mexico 

Both games we watched were held at the beautiful and modern sports facility at the Ryerson Sports Centre at the Maple Leaf Garden in downtown Toronto.

The Wheel Chair Basketball Quarter Finals - held at the modern and beautiful Ryerson Athletic Centre

Team Mexico had good spirit and fought well in the game

At the end, Mexico lost to Brazil.

The players from the Brazilian Team worked really well as a team. They coordinated well and obviously had good strategies.

 I noticed that there was always someone from the Brazilian Team waiting under the net and ready to catch the ball passed by one of his teammates and shot the ball into the basket.

The timing and the precision was awesome!
 It was a pleasure to watch!

Brazil has won one hundred and seven gold medals so far in this competition, topping all other countries while Canada is second in the medal standing.








After the Brazil vs Mexico game, we watched the quarter final with Canada playing against Puerto Rico!

Team Canada entering the stadium for the quarter final

There was a lot of excitement in the air as the athletes from the Canadian Wheel Chair Basketball Team entered the arena !

Fans decking out to cheer for Team Canada!

Lots of Canadian fans showed up wrapping themselves with Canadian flags or wearing them on their heads to cheer on our team.

Cheering for Team Canada

 

Audience cheered for our athletes.
We were very proud of them and Canada!
We all enjoyed the games and had a great time.

The Wheelchair basketball game was exciting and fast paced!

Our first time watching a wheel chair basketball game.















These games were just as exciting and fast paced as the regular basketball games!

Sometimes, wheelchairs collided and athletes fell to the ground.

Helping the fallen athlete to get back up

 If the athlete could, he would turn around and quickly got up on his own.

If not, others rushed up and helped the fallen athlete to get back into the wheel chair.



 

The fans were applauding, screaming and cheering throughout the games supporting the athletes

It was inspiring to see the para athletes putting their tremendous efforts, enthusiasm and dedication to these games!

We have so much to learn from the athletes' courage and positive attitude!

R.T.
Para Pan Am Games
Maple Leaf Garden
Toronto

Soaking Up the Pan AM Games Fever in Nathan Philip Square, Toronto

Counting down the days to the Pan Am Games in Nathan Philip Square

The 2015 Pan Am games took place in July, 2015 while the Para Pan Am games will be finished tomorrow.

It was the largest international sporting event Toronto has ever hosted!

Panamania Fever of the games in Toronto!

Toronto bid the game in 2009 and after more than six years of planning, building and organizing, the games were finally here.

The Pan Am games brought together over seven thousand athletes competing in fifty- one sports.

Panamania was here!

Pachi, the Pan Am mascot, perching on a street corner near Dundas Square in downtown Toronto

Before the games started, there were both negative and positive feelings about the games.

 Many Torontonians felt excited and pride ready to welcome visitors and athletes from around the Americas. However, there were also many negative talks about the huge cost and the inconveniences brought by the games.

For example - the HOV lanes (High Occupancy Vehicle)  - special driving lanes reserved on major highways for game vehicles, taxis, vehicles with three or more people were in effect during the Pan Am games.

With one less lane on the highways, it has caused traffic backup and much frustration among drivers.

People of Toronto and visitors to the city enjoying the festivities in the square 

But as the opening day of the games drew closer, anticipation started to build and excitement filled the air in the city!

Nathan Philip Square - the hub of  musical and cultural performances during the Pan Am games, Toronto

The games organizers, together with the City of Toronto and the province of Ontario collaborated and brought to the city of Toronto thirty five days for music, performances and cultural events in various parts of the Greater Toronto Area!

There was no better place to hang out than the Nathan Philip Square during the Pan Am games!

Soaking up the atmosphere - watching fireworks at City Hall, Toronto

 There was something every night at the Square!

 People sitting, talking; visitors strolling around; families with kids, moms, dads, grandparents soaking up the festive and celebratory atmosphere!

It was fantastic being a part of this wonderful experience!

R.T.
Soaking up the Pan Am Games Atmosphere
Nathan Philips Square - The Pan Am Square
Toronto, Ontario