Support

Hello Everybody,

For the past four summers, Nyssa and I have been volunteering with Pioneer Camp's leadership training program. The L.I.T. (Leaders in Training) program is for 16 & 17 year old who are looking at being councilors in the camp, and who want to develop as leaders and maturing Christian as they return home.
The LIT program runs in month long sessions, and builds into the teens through intentional teaching, discipleship, growth experiences, and staff & peer relationships. I have seen many teens be significantly transformed as they move through the program; moving toward deeper discipleship in Christ. Nyssa and I both agree that seeing this process in youth's lives year after is is what makes LIT important to us, and what keeps drawing us back.

This summer Nyssa and I are raising support to cover rent in Toronto while we are up at camp. If you are interested in helping us out with this, there are a few ways which donations can be processed, the most direct can be used via this link. You may also browse through pioneercamp.ca by following the links: Support Us -> Financial Support -> Staff Summer Missions -> Donate Online -> Chris Clements.
Nyssa and I hope to be in personal contact with all who support us. If you are sending support, but we have not talked face to face, please drop us a line so we may do so!

Thanks everybody,
Chris & Nyssa Clements.

On White Noise

   As this blog entry is being made, Nyssa is watching "So you think you can dance", and I am trying to refine liturgies for next Sunday's service. The conflict comes in that I need these liturgies to make sense, as well as lead people to God.

    I remember that my former room-mate Al had tried to use an inverted noise program to cancel unwanted after-hours hallway commotion. I also recall that this did not work as planned. However, building on this inspiration, I have found a website which hosts a variety of white noise tracks from University of Utah. (accessible via this link)

    Below is is a screenshot of these tracks in action:


    My favorite is Harsha_Rao.mp3
    Enjoy!

   -C.D. Clements.   

A glimpse into Real Life.

"Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Facts don't stain the furniture
Facts go out and slam the door
Facts are written all over your face
Facts continue to change their shape"

Talking Heads on Youtube: 1
Writing a Sermon: 0

-C.D. Clements

On Studying the Bible

About once a month the youth group will come over to my home for a manuscript bible study. I have come to believe that the doodles left of each youth's scripture manuscript indicates something of the relevance of the topic, or perhaps the preparedness of the leader (myself). Tonight I have found these following doodles left on the manuscripts, at the end of the event:

A) A seal-like bird yelling "Salut"
B) A snake holding a grenade, a clock, and an arrow.
C) A tent and a tree with the word "Christmas" arching over both.
D) A pig, under a tree, under a cloud, which contains the word "cbad".
E) A spider, in a cup, collecting a bunch of small circles.

I would say it was an average study.

-C.D. Clements

On Recent Events

I thought I might like to bring you (whoever you are) up to speed on a few events in my recent life. Some are of no consequence, while others are of much.

In chronological order, I have recently:

A) Discovered a green mailbox in a remote location between Cornwall and Ottawa. This discovery was made before lunch, and halfway through a medium long walk on country roads.


B) Graduated from Seminary, and then posed as family members took pictures of me by an orange traffic cone in a parking lot.


C) Ate some oddly textured food. The texture pictured at left is an eggplant curry dish, and the right is a tofu stir fry where the tofu crumbled. Nyssa believes that the eggplant curry resembles diarrhea, and the tofu stir fry resembles baby barf.


D) I have recently made my first call to the Mike Gordon Hotline. Upon calling, you will hear a lengthy pre-recored message by Mike, and then you are invited to leave a message according to specific guidelines. These guidelines can be found at http://media.mike-gordon.com/hotline.html I recommend calling this number on Skype to avoid long distance charges.

- C.D. Clements, M.Div.

On things I would buy, if I had lots of money.

1. A Hyundai Accent: I have come to believe it would be useful to own a car. One case in point would be that I am always arriving at meetings out of breath, and with dirty pants.

2. A good touring bike for Nyssa: In the mean time (re:Hyundai Accent) I went to bike store today to try and get some kinks worked out of my drive train. The mechanic was a great conversation.

3. Phish Tickets for this summer's tour. Preferably for "The Gorge" shows: So much fun. Perhaps Nyssa and I could bike there. Below is someone's shot from last time Phish played there.

4. Support an Inter-varsity Ministry, probably Pioneer Camp: I am a big fan of almost everything they do. Nyssa and I are greatly anticipating taking the summer off of city based responsibility, and volunteering at L.I.T.!



If you are feeling rich and charitable, just let me know!

-C.D. Clements

Gun O'Clock