Days 29 - 31: Performances at Sicamous, Merritt, and Scotch Creek

3 days ago

5 min read

Well I let this one get away on me. Even with six chaperones looking after the kids, I still found a way to not get the blog done on time. Go figure. Anyways...

Something really cool happened the morning we awoke at Revelstoke Alliance Church. Someone from the night before was clearly struck by the story about the kids really wanting snow, so they brought a bin full of snow and left in front of the church. We have no idea who this person was or where they got the snow. Thank you kind stranger, as the kids had their first snowball fight due to your action. Amazingly, there were no tears, as I was confident that someone would take a slush-ball to the face, but it never happened.

As we had time to kill before our arrival at Sicamous, we stopped by a leisure center to use their pool. Shelly surprised everyone with a gift, as she bought everyone swimming goggles. The kids were really enthusiastic about this, as they seemed to think these were something that you could wear outside of swimming. I chuckled at the amount of poses being struck, as the kids apparently thought they were at the height of fashion.

The kids enjoyed the pool, which put to rest my concerns that our time at West Edmonton Mall may have set expectations high for swimming activities. Heang continued to be the star swimmer, as he shed his life jacket rather quickly so that he could swim more freely. My favorite part of the swim was watching the kids use the diving board, since for every flip done, a belly-flop would follow.

Shortly before our arrival at Sicamous Alliance Bible Church, Shelly gave the team an update that was very unusual: there was a chance that nobody would show up for the night's performance. While I don't have the full story (nor am I entitled to it), it appeared that the Sicamous church had great difficulty in finalizing our stop, resulting in uncertainty if any of the church attendees knew we were coming. We decided not to set up the marketplace, and we told the girls that they would not need makeup for the night. We also decided to remove the Lord's Prayer Dance and add the Stick Dance for fun. We did end up getting an attendance of seven people, resulting in our smallest performance of the tour. This created a more relaxed atmosphere, as nobody had stage fright or jitters in front of an audience so small. We took a photo with those who attended after the performance was over, and then ended up getting two new sponsorships, making the performance worth it.

After spending the night at Sicamous Alliance Bible Church, we made the drive out to Merritt. Along the way, the entire team went crazy when we drove into a sleet storm. The Canadians on the team knew that this was not a true snowfall, as it would melt before it hit the ground, but the Cambodians were stoked to finally see snow fall from the sky. Rob found a spot to pull over, and the kids were extremely eager to go outside and feel the sleet come down upon them. One of the boys was actually a little too impatient, resulting in him getting a shout from Rob to not push the driver's buttons (literally and figuratively). Once outside, the team was very cold, but very excited to experience something that is not possible in their homeland.

After our sleet storm escapade, Rob treated the team to ice cream at a dairy farm just before arriving at Merritt. Rob did not have to do this, but he once again went above and beyond what is asked of a bus driver, continuing to build bonds with the kids. There were lots of farm toys around outside, so we took a few minutes to let the kids all play before getting back on the bus.

Our arrival at Crossroads Community Church in Merritt began with them immediately endearing themselves to us, as they had prepared cots, sleeping mats and blankets for our stay at the church that night. While not a requirement, we greatly appreciate it when churches do this for us. The set-up went very smoothly, which allowed the kids to have plenty of time to play with the church's toys and games. The church provided us a spaghetti supper, and then it was time to perform. It was a drama-free, easy night for the kids, the kind that leaves me with very little to write about. After the performance and marketplace sales were finished, the church treated us to a night snack of nachos and cheese. Cheese has gone largely untouched this tour, with the kids frequently removing it from their meals, but it appears it is okay if it is melted. Who knew?

After bidding farewell to the staff at Crossroads, we began the drive to Scotch Creek. Along the way, we stopped by Kamloops, where we went to The Fun Factor, an arcade/entertainment center. We had read that they had bumper cars, but we found out that their bumper cars were quite different: circular vehicles, with only four going at a time, and they would frequently spin in sync with the music that was playing. Everyone loved it. Once everyone got a turn, we all played a round of the center's take on ten pin bowling, which was ... interesting. The bowling setup was meant for faster and easier play, but it had clearly seen better days, as several glitches occurred. We all laughed it off, as it meant that the kids were now able to match the adults' scores. Once we were done at The Fun Factor, Shelly treated us all to Buster Bars from Dairy Queen, which proved to be a hit with the kids.

Our arrival at North Shuswap Christian Fellowship in Scotch Creek was one of slow moving feet and sleepy faces. Everyone had fallen asleep after eating their buster bars, and now it was time to unpack. The entire team was feeling the load of seven consecutive days of performing, and we were all looking forward to the three day break we would get after the performance was over.

The staff at North Shuswap were very helpful, aiding us in our setup and quickly showing us where we were to go. We were served our second spaghetti supper in a row (no complaints from the team), and then it was time for the performance. As it was Saturday night during Thanksgiving weekend, we anticipated a smaller turnout, which is exactly what happened. This ultimately did not matter, as the Scotch Creek community was much more vocal in their support for us, making it feel like there was more people in the audience than there really was. By this point the kids had now become much more comfortable on stage, which led to a humorous moment at the end when a case of the giggles broke out when they were introducing themselves. Afterwards, the audience gave generous donations and helped us lower our market inventory, before we headed off with our billets for the night.