Well this is the last blog before I see most of you in person, as I'm coming home on Wednesday night! I'll be home until the 2nd of January, and inbetween that time is a mad scramble to do Christmas things, see people, work, and hang out with family...along with reading the Pentateuch I might add.
This past week at Warmland has been very stress-free, as on Wednesday night we had a New York missions meeting, where Kim (our team leader) got permission from Stevie (youth leader) to let me miss a night of youth. At the meeting we watched a slideshow/video of last year's trip and kindof got a glimpse as to what the area is like and what the trip will actually consist of. It was also a good time to hang out, discuss fundraising, and chill. The next day we rose bright and early to head up to Mt. Washington for snowboarding! It was my first time ever, and the next day I experienced extreme soreness, but it was a great time, so much fun. Friday night youth was cancelled, so we hung out again.
Saturday night was another power outage night, seems to be happening more and more frequently, so we fired up the grill and ate burgers, played games and, when the power came back on, had our first ever talent show. Needless to say, I was not a participant because of my lack of talent, but good times were had. Sunday morning we woke up to snow, and headed out to church where, again, I was in the Sunday School portion of church, helping the kids act out the Christmas story for the rest of the group. Fun times. As much as I complain about how different Warmland is from Ross Road back home, it is encouraging how much the kids adn I are getting along, as well as the teens in youth.
Anyways, home in a couple days! See ya then...
Monday, December 10, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
almost home!
good evening from a landscape with rapidly diminishing snow...so sad! ahh yes this past weekend has been one filled with snow, and just when it got to a good amount, turned to rain and washed it all away.
Last week was Church Ministries class, the first time we've had a class in a long time. The week was somewhat hard to pay attention to the prof, David Lee, pastor of Sardis fellowship baptist church, had interesting content, but the delivery and way he talked made things boring to me. Not that he's a terrible guy, I loved him, he's awesome, but yeah that's just how i felt. This week was also my first week of (yes it's hard to believe, even for me) having a girlfriend. In case you haven't heard, I'm dating a girl named Kelsey Poetker from Edmonton (seen in the picture at teh Ladysmith Festival of Lights). She's a pretty awesome girl and we've been getting to know each other; it's kindof exciting!
Youth last week was somewhat hectic. On Wednesday night we had four leaders including me (also the youth pastor, and two people who work at camp) and a ton of kids, and they just were not in teh mood for listening, or respecting for that matter. Bit of a gongshow,and when we made it through we just kindof looked at each other and went "phew". Friday was somewhat better, only had 5 kids and had more leaders than that. We had somewhat of a Christmas party, watched a movie and pretty much just chilled together which was sweet.
As mentioned, we were in the Ladysmith Festival of Lights this past week, on Thursday. We were perched on a float affiliated with the Ladysmtih Baptist church and sang christmas carols as we paraded down the main street. it seemed like the whole town came out, it was pretty sweet. then there was fireworks, a fight on the street, and we were done for the night. anyways thats a look at the week that was, coming home in 10 days!
Last week was Church Ministries class, the first time we've had a class in a long time. The week was somewhat hard to pay attention to the prof, David Lee, pastor of Sardis fellowship baptist church, had interesting content, but the delivery and way he talked made things boring to me. Not that he's a terrible guy, I loved him, he's awesome, but yeah that's just how i felt. This week was also my first week of (yes it's hard to believe, even for me) having a girlfriend. In case you haven't heard, I'm dating a girl named Kelsey Poetker from Edmonton (seen in the picture at teh Ladysmith Festival of Lights). She's a pretty awesome girl and we've been getting to know each other; it's kindof exciting!
Youth last week was somewhat hectic. On Wednesday night we had four leaders including me (also the youth pastor, and two people who work at camp) and a ton of kids, and they just were not in teh mood for listening, or respecting for that matter. Bit of a gongshow,and when we made it through we just kindof looked at each other and went "phew". Friday was somewhat better, only had 5 kids and had more leaders than that. We had somewhat of a Christmas party, watched a movie and pretty much just chilled together which was sweet.
As mentioned, we were in the Ladysmith Festival of Lights this past week, on Thursday. We were perched on a float affiliated with the Ladysmtih Baptist church and sang christmas carols as we paraded down the main street. it seemed like the whole town came out, it was pretty sweet. then there was fireworks, a fight on the street, and we were done for the night. anyways thats a look at the week that was, coming home in 10 days!
Monday, November 26, 2007
missions!
once again, fresh back from the mainland, seeems like I'm spending more time over there than back here. We went over because the pastor from Metro Ministries in New York, the place where I'm going with a team of 7 others in March, was speaking at CLA in Langley. The stories that he shared were inspiring, encouraging, and absolutely frightening! Just the amount of crime and horrible things that go on in the streets of the bronx, we are all pretty much fearing for our lives right now. Pastor Bill has been shot in the head, been thrown off buildings, been in fights, all sorts of stuff. So while some are apprehensive now, I just totally want to go and leave tomorrow! It sounds like it will be an amazing trip. That's a little bit about what my weekend was like, now I'll take it back to youth last week...
On Wednesday night, we decided to try things a little bit differently. The youth pastor, Steve, thought that maybe the kids would listen more if we did the Bible talk in the beginning instead of the end, and it worked better than it had before, which was good. But the whole session just seemed disjointed and off, maybe it was just me; I guess all that matters is that they hear the message and have a chance to respond in some way. It's also frusterating that I can never seem to get any sort of connection with any of them, it just seems like they come, they go, and we both forget about each other until next week. Something to work on...
Friday night was a chance to just chill and have a party, Steve was out in victoria so we went to his girlfriends house and set up the Wii, put a movie on, played games...with the two kids that showed up. We had a good time, it's just frusterating that there's no regular attendance. It's just a week here, a week there. It's also frusterating that we don't always have the community centre on Friday nights, which is where the church is held, so the times when there actually is youth is more rare than it should be.
Aside from all that, last week was one of relaxing, writing papers, and prayer! We had our 24 hour week of prayer, and it was actually super exciting to be in that room and pray (my shifts were always 4-5 or 5-6 in the morning). It was pretty awesome. This week we begin Church ministry with David Lee, had a good class today. Byyyye for now
On Wednesday night, we decided to try things a little bit differently. The youth pastor, Steve, thought that maybe the kids would listen more if we did the Bible talk in the beginning instead of the end, and it worked better than it had before, which was good. But the whole session just seemed disjointed and off, maybe it was just me; I guess all that matters is that they hear the message and have a chance to respond in some way. It's also frusterating that I can never seem to get any sort of connection with any of them, it just seems like they come, they go, and we both forget about each other until next week. Something to work on...
Friday night was a chance to just chill and have a party, Steve was out in victoria so we went to his girlfriends house and set up the Wii, put a movie on, played games...with the two kids that showed up. We had a good time, it's just frusterating that there's no regular attendance. It's just a week here, a week there. It's also frusterating that we don't always have the community centre on Friday nights, which is where the church is held, so the times when there actually is youth is more rare than it should be.
Aside from all that, last week was one of relaxing, writing papers, and prayer! We had our 24 hour week of prayer, and it was actually super exciting to be in that room and pray (my shifts were always 4-5 or 5-6 in the morning). It was pretty awesome. This week we begin Church ministry with David Lee, had a good class today. Byyyye for now
Monday, November 19, 2007
back to camp!
There's only 3 and a bit more weeks until Christmas! The year has just flown by, it's kindof ridiculous how the time just goes. This past week, we got back to camp from reading break on Thursday night, spent the night chilling and catching up with everyone. All of us can't even imagine being away from each other for a whole three weeks at Christmas! It will be quite difficult. Then it was time to quickly finish (and start I suppose) the 6 page paper due in Hermeneutics before Sunday night. After that we hung out, it was Jahnaya's birthday so we went into Duncan and goofed around for a while.
This past Friday night was perhaps the most enjoyable youth night that I've experienced this year. There was only about 10 kids there, and we hung out, watched a bit of a movie, had a discussion, and just played games and chilled with them. Fun times indeed. Most of the kids that came have been churched in the past, and knew what we were talking about in the discussion and stuff, even though they didn't exactly chime in too often. Sunday morning came, and another chance to help in the children's department arose, so I went on down. The pastor and his wife (his wife helps in the sunday school) were gone on vacation, so they needed 3 kaleo students to help out. I basically just hung out, one of the kids asked me to come over to his house after church to play but I gave him the lame excuse of doing homework (which was true).
This whole week is the 24/7 week of prayer, where somebody is praying in a room downstairs every hour of the day. I signed up in the middle of the night for all of the days, either between 4-5 or 5-6 (yes, by choice). This is an item of prayer that you could be praying for back home. The first two days went great, we have requests and verses plastered all over the walls, but I'm worried that as the week goes on, I'll be more and more tired and won't be able to focus. Just pray for concentration and that our group would see results from this week. Thanks guys!
This past Friday night was perhaps the most enjoyable youth night that I've experienced this year. There was only about 10 kids there, and we hung out, watched a bit of a movie, had a discussion, and just played games and chilled with them. Fun times indeed. Most of the kids that came have been churched in the past, and knew what we were talking about in the discussion and stuff, even though they didn't exactly chime in too often. Sunday morning came, and another chance to help in the children's department arose, so I went on down. The pastor and his wife (his wife helps in the sunday school) were gone on vacation, so they needed 3 kaleo students to help out. I basically just hung out, one of the kids asked me to come over to his house after church to play but I gave him the lame excuse of doing homework (which was true).
This whole week is the 24/7 week of prayer, where somebody is praying in a room downstairs every hour of the day. I signed up in the middle of the night for all of the days, either between 4-5 or 5-6 (yes, by choice). This is an item of prayer that you could be praying for back home. The first two days went great, we have requests and verses plastered all over the walls, but I'm worried that as the week goes on, I'll be more and more tired and won't be able to focus. Just pray for concentration and that our group would see results from this week. Thanks guys!
Monday, November 12, 2007
home!
It feels great to be home! Sitting in front of the big screen tv with a few of the guys playing video games, watching movies, it just feels so right! It's such a blessing, much needed rest and relaxation.
The week that was in the ministry department imvolved just Wednesday night youth because Friday night was cancelled. Wednesday was incredibly frusterating, it seems that no matter what we do, the kids just don't listen and keep on getting rowdier. So this week was a constant battle for attention and it felt like we lost. Amidst the chaos, it is becoming clearer that I'm creating new friendships with some of the guys. It's also ironic because one of the 'bullies' is looking up to me it seems, and also the kid that he picks on does as well, so I need to use that to my advantage. Other than that aspect, Wednesday, as most are, was frusterating and felt like nobody was listening at all.
Sunday was a bit of a break from the Sunday school department, a much needed break. it was great to just sit back and listen to a sermon. After that was cleanup, and then back to camp for the last meal before the ferry ride home. And here I am! Exhausted after touring around Vancouver for the day. Thanks again for prayers!
The week that was in the ministry department imvolved just Wednesday night youth because Friday night was cancelled. Wednesday was incredibly frusterating, it seems that no matter what we do, the kids just don't listen and keep on getting rowdier. So this week was a constant battle for attention and it felt like we lost. Amidst the chaos, it is becoming clearer that I'm creating new friendships with some of the guys. It's also ironic because one of the 'bullies' is looking up to me it seems, and also the kid that he picks on does as well, so I need to use that to my advantage. Other than that aspect, Wednesday, as most are, was frusterating and felt like nobody was listening at all.
Sunday was a bit of a break from the Sunday school department, a much needed break. it was great to just sit back and listen to a sermon. After that was cleanup, and then back to camp for the last meal before the ferry ride home. And here I am! Exhausted after touring around Vancouver for the day. Thanks again for prayers!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
hello
well, back again after an amazing outtrip to Mystic Beach with the guys (while the girl's went into Victoria), and a sweet paintballing adventure where the two groups met up. I apologize for the lateness, but my plan for doing this on monday was scrapped by our being away. We had an amazing time getting to know each other more, bonding as men around the campfire and around the beach.
Last week we finished off the Hermeneutics course with Merrill Dyck on Wednesday, which happened to be Halloween. The girls wanted to dress up as the boys for the night, so we lent out some of our clothes that were distinctly "me", and the girls showed up at dinner wearing them. Later, we went out to the community centre and helped give out hot chocolate and hot dogs for the halloween program there. We had a blast during that time, which cancelled out youth, if you were wondering. Friday night youth was also cancelled.
Sunday morning came around, and there was assistance required in the sunday school department, so a couple of us went on down to help out with games and such again. It's been somewhat frusterating because it seems like every Sunday I'm helping out with a retreat here at camp or I'm in Sunday school helping out. The amount of sermons that I've actually been hearing is quite small, which is troubling. A schedule is going to be worked out though, setting it up so we only have to help once every three weeks or so.
A cool thing that Merrill introduced to us during the class was the idea of praying through the Psalms in a month, a task that has been somewhat difficult and challenging. First, getting up early every morning to go down to the dock and pray through them, and sometimes I have trouble focussing on doing that. So maybe if you could pray for me during that, I'm also behind on the schedule, so it'll take more than a month. Anywyas, that's where we're at here at Qwanoes. Coming home in a week!
Last week we finished off the Hermeneutics course with Merrill Dyck on Wednesday, which happened to be Halloween. The girls wanted to dress up as the boys for the night, so we lent out some of our clothes that were distinctly "me", and the girls showed up at dinner wearing them. Later, we went out to the community centre and helped give out hot chocolate and hot dogs for the halloween program there. We had a blast during that time, which cancelled out youth, if you were wondering. Friday night youth was also cancelled.
Sunday morning came around, and there was assistance required in the sunday school department, so a couple of us went on down to help out with games and such again. It's been somewhat frusterating because it seems like every Sunday I'm helping out with a retreat here at camp or I'm in Sunday school helping out. The amount of sermons that I've actually been hearing is quite small, which is troubling. A schedule is going to be worked out though, setting it up so we only have to help once every three weeks or so.
A cool thing that Merrill introduced to us during the class was the idea of praying through the Psalms in a month, a task that has been somewhat difficult and challenging. First, getting up early every morning to go down to the dock and pray through them, and sometimes I have trouble focussing on doing that. So maybe if you could pray for me during that, I'm also behind on the schedule, so it'll take more than a month. Anywyas, that's where we're at here at Qwanoes. Coming home in a week!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Good evening, I'm managing to squeeze this in between homework and a late night slurpee run (and then I'm going to bed mom! haha). This week has probably been the toughest one here at Qwanoes, partially because I was sick for a good portion of it, and am still getting over it (all the more reason to get a slurpee, makes my throat feel SO much better)! But yeah, it was hard to be around people all day and be happy and talkative all the time when I felt like crap...I suppose it was still my decision to be around people but nevermind that. The first few days of the week, if I remember correctly, was an opportunity to do homework and hang out wiht the exception of the Camp Ministry course on Tuesday. Needless to say, more homework could have been done, but it all got done eventually.
Wednesday night I pulled a no-show at youth because I felt like crap, with the assumption that I'd go on Friday night, but that wasn't meant to be, I was still feeling super sick. So for ministry this week, an opportunity came up to lead most of the Sunday School (with the exception of crafts) for this morning. The three girls planned the lesson, and I was in charge of games for the morning. The games were supposed to involve teamwork, so I tried to incorporate that in the games, with the exception of duck duck goose which went surprisingly well. The games went on for about 20 minutes with the older kids, grade 2-5 I believe, and then another 20 minutes for the younger, the k-1 group I think. All in all, it went surprisingly well and the kids had a super fun time, not to mention us.
Another super awesome thing that happened today was that the kaleo students who attend Warmland got invited over to one families house for dinner, and they kindof want to adopt us for the year, provide a place where we can just hang out. So we went today, I plopped on the couch, Deb put a pillow under my head and a blanket over me and I chilled for the afternoon, then ate pizza! Very fun times. So that's kindof an update of where we're at for now...reading break is coming up! Looking forward to seeing you guys and bringing home a few people for you to meet!
Wednesday night I pulled a no-show at youth because I felt like crap, with the assumption that I'd go on Friday night, but that wasn't meant to be, I was still feeling super sick. So for ministry this week, an opportunity came up to lead most of the Sunday School (with the exception of crafts) for this morning. The three girls planned the lesson, and I was in charge of games for the morning. The games were supposed to involve teamwork, so I tried to incorporate that in the games, with the exception of duck duck goose which went surprisingly well. The games went on for about 20 minutes with the older kids, grade 2-5 I believe, and then another 20 minutes for the younger, the k-1 group I think. All in all, it went surprisingly well and the kids had a super fun time, not to mention us.
Another super awesome thing that happened today was that the kaleo students who attend Warmland got invited over to one families house for dinner, and they kindof want to adopt us for the year, provide a place where we can just hang out. So we went today, I plopped on the couch, Deb put a pillow under my head and a blanket over me and I chilled for the afternoon, then ate pizza! Very fun times. So that's kindof an update of where we're at for now...reading break is coming up! Looking forward to seeing you guys and bringing home a few people for you to meet!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Good morning!
This past week and weekend have been super hectic! Although we don't have class, there is tons of homework and such for us to do. On Wednesday we, 15 of us, went to S.A.L.T.S, which is the group we went sailing with, and helped "put the boat to bed" for the winter, taking down sails and scrubbing and cleaning. It was extremely good to see the crew again, they're awesome people. Then on Thursday, that same group of us went caving in the Horne Lake caves. It was definately a good experience, being in all sorts of tight spaces and figuring out how to get through tiny holes and such. I did shed some blood that day, fell and was saved from a tumble only by my butt, but generally we had a super fun day. After that, we hit the wave pool in Nanaimo for a good time of relaxing in the hot tub and fooling around in the pool.
Wednesday night was, again, our junior youth night, filled with a bunch of crazy kids, Some frustration for me comes during the small group times that we have. Generally we split up into guys and girls, and in the guys section we started out with 15 guys roughly, and ended up with about 3 at the end. It was frusterating, because the rest of them were just going crazy in the big room around us, and they generally have a mind of their own, just running wild. Meanwhile, of course, the girls group is still totally together, listening quietly, with the exception of the three that hid out in the bathroom. Continue to pray for this, that our guys would be willing to sit and listen to what we're trying to say.
This weekend was a blast, I was a counsellor for eight 8 and 9 year olds. It was the Qwanoes Juniors Retreat, and a bunch of us had signed up for the weekend to be counsellors. Although there was some rough spots, trying to get them to bed and such, we had an amazing time. The discussion times were not bad, but they definately wanted to have pillow fights more than they wanted to chat. We ended up having the sweetest pillow fight of my life one of the mornings, and they definately left happy. While it was challenging to have them running all over and, one guy especially, being clingy, it was very much worth it. It was extremely funny to see on Saturday morning, after everyone had been there less than 12 hours, they were all rushing for the pay phones to call their parents.
Anyways, there is work to be done and lots of it! So thankyou for prayers and support, I will see you in November! God bless.
This past week and weekend have been super hectic! Although we don't have class, there is tons of homework and such for us to do. On Wednesday we, 15 of us, went to S.A.L.T.S, which is the group we went sailing with, and helped "put the boat to bed" for the winter, taking down sails and scrubbing and cleaning. It was extremely good to see the crew again, they're awesome people. Then on Thursday, that same group of us went caving in the Horne Lake caves. It was definately a good experience, being in all sorts of tight spaces and figuring out how to get through tiny holes and such. I did shed some blood that day, fell and was saved from a tumble only by my butt, but generally we had a super fun day. After that, we hit the wave pool in Nanaimo for a good time of relaxing in the hot tub and fooling around in the pool.
Wednesday night was, again, our junior youth night, filled with a bunch of crazy kids, Some frustration for me comes during the small group times that we have. Generally we split up into guys and girls, and in the guys section we started out with 15 guys roughly, and ended up with about 3 at the end. It was frusterating, because the rest of them were just going crazy in the big room around us, and they generally have a mind of their own, just running wild. Meanwhile, of course, the girls group is still totally together, listening quietly, with the exception of the three that hid out in the bathroom. Continue to pray for this, that our guys would be willing to sit and listen to what we're trying to say.
This weekend was a blast, I was a counsellor for eight 8 and 9 year olds. It was the Qwanoes Juniors Retreat, and a bunch of us had signed up for the weekend to be counsellors. Although there was some rough spots, trying to get them to bed and such, we had an amazing time. The discussion times were not bad, but they definately wanted to have pillow fights more than they wanted to chat. We ended up having the sweetest pillow fight of my life one of the mornings, and they definately left happy. While it was challenging to have them running all over and, one guy especially, being clingy, it was very much worth it. It was extremely funny to see on Saturday morning, after everyone had been there less than 12 hours, they were all rushing for the pay phones to call their parents.
Anyways, there is work to be done and lots of it! So thankyou for prayers and support, I will see you in November! God bless.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Greetings from the pro surfer!
haha yes, we did get to go surfing this past week, Monday until Wednesday. It was super amazing, even with the storm that moved through on Tuesday that didn't let us surf. Altogether we only had a few hours of surfing time on the Monday (and yes, I did manage to stand up...once), but we had a great time camping and bonding, playing games on the beach and finally being able to sleep in!
This week in ministry was a busy one with Junior youth on Wednesday, and Senior youth on Friday. One of the things that our youth pastor, Steve, is trying to do is incorporate secular movies or tv shows that we can draw morals out from - it helps keep the kids interested and focussed for that time. For junior youth we watched an episode of the Simpsons and focussed on family for the discussion. It was amazing when Steve asked what a normal family looked like, how different their answers were than what I'm used to back home. Normally there isn't a father figure present, and there's chaos everywhere. That was definately an eye opener to what these kids have been through.
In the Senior youth, we watched a short scene from the newest version of Batman and focussed on how our actions show who we truly are. In the discussion group, only three or four of the group had ever heard of Camp Qwanoes, and practically none of them had been to church. The discussion went fairly well, I didn't lead it, I was pretty much watching and learning how to draw them in. Relationships are being built, I'm starting to remember some names, and I even saw a couple of them at church today!
Once again thanks for the prayers, and specifically if you could pray for me as I try to interact with them and make them curious about learning more. Also for the problem kids, that they would settle down and enjoy the nights. Thanks guys!
haha yes, we did get to go surfing this past week, Monday until Wednesday. It was super amazing, even with the storm that moved through on Tuesday that didn't let us surf. Altogether we only had a few hours of surfing time on the Monday (and yes, I did manage to stand up...once), but we had a great time camping and bonding, playing games on the beach and finally being able to sleep in!
This week in ministry was a busy one with Junior youth on Wednesday, and Senior youth on Friday. One of the things that our youth pastor, Steve, is trying to do is incorporate secular movies or tv shows that we can draw morals out from - it helps keep the kids interested and focussed for that time. For junior youth we watched an episode of the Simpsons and focussed on family for the discussion. It was amazing when Steve asked what a normal family looked like, how different their answers were than what I'm used to back home. Normally there isn't a father figure present, and there's chaos everywhere. That was definately an eye opener to what these kids have been through.
In the Senior youth, we watched a short scene from the newest version of Batman and focussed on how our actions show who we truly are. In the discussion group, only three or four of the group had ever heard of Camp Qwanoes, and practically none of them had been to church. The discussion went fairly well, I didn't lead it, I was pretty much watching and learning how to draw them in. Relationships are being built, I'm starting to remember some names, and I even saw a couple of them at church today!
Once again thanks for the prayers, and specifically if you could pray for me as I try to interact with them and make them curious about learning more. Also for the problem kids, that they would settle down and enjoy the nights. Thanks guys!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Hello again everyone.
It's been another busy week with classes starting up and such, but overall it's been a good week. Just quickly, the course went super well, with Friday being a couple hours of solitude with God, and then just before lunch we had a communion service on the dock which was awesome.
Youth on wednesday night wasn't too bad, we'd been scared off with stories of fighting and people getting kicked out, but it was good. The kids are extremely energetic and wild, but it's all good. One thing I'm seeing in myself that is pleasing is the leadership qualities that are coming out. Back home, leading a small group was challenging at times, and I had two older guys with me, but I was all alone on Wednesday, talking to unchurched kids, and it was a good time, they were fairly open to talking. That was encouraging. And we had been praying that there wouldn't be fights and rough housing and such, and there wasn't!
This past Friday/Saturday a few of us had the opportunity to visit the mainland to do some painting for an elderly foster parent. We stayed at my roomates house in Delta and painted for 5 hours on Saturday before catching the ferry back. It was an awesome experience, painting with the ohter 6 students, getting to know them, and even when we put paint on first instead of primer, we laughed at our mistake and corrected it. That was also encouraging, and especially since we hadn't had much sleep, it's amazing that we still got along great, aside from the paint fight in the picture haha.
Today at church I also helped out in Sunday school. The grades 1-5 were in a big room, had a talk, then me and our intern and another guy from kaleo helped out with the games. It was a good time getting to know them and the talk was on teamwork, so it was good to be encouraging, and hear the other encouragment going on around us. Afterwards came the usual "let's jump on the leaders and tackle them to the ground and dogpile on them" game. All in all, it's been a good week! and we head off to tofino to go surfing tomorrow, although apparently theres 35 foot waves rolling in and the weather might not be good. pray for safety and a fun time!
It's been another busy week with classes starting up and such, but overall it's been a good week. Just quickly, the course went super well, with Friday being a couple hours of solitude with God, and then just before lunch we had a communion service on the dock which was awesome.
Youth on wednesday night wasn't too bad, we'd been scared off with stories of fighting and people getting kicked out, but it was good. The kids are extremely energetic and wild, but it's all good. One thing I'm seeing in myself that is pleasing is the leadership qualities that are coming out. Back home, leading a small group was challenging at times, and I had two older guys with me, but I was all alone on Wednesday, talking to unchurched kids, and it was a good time, they were fairly open to talking. That was encouraging. And we had been praying that there wouldn't be fights and rough housing and such, and there wasn't!
This past Friday/Saturday a few of us had the opportunity to visit the mainland to do some painting for an elderly foster parent. We stayed at my roomates house in Delta and painted for 5 hours on Saturday before catching the ferry back. It was an awesome experience, painting with the ohter 6 students, getting to know them, and even when we put paint on first instead of primer, we laughed at our mistake and corrected it. That was also encouraging, and especially since we hadn't had much sleep, it's amazing that we still got along great, aside from the paint fight in the picture haha.
Today at church I also helped out in Sunday school. The grades 1-5 were in a big room, had a talk, then me and our intern and another guy from kaleo helped out with the games. It was a good time getting to know them and the talk was on teamwork, so it was good to be encouraging, and hear the other encouragment going on around us. Afterwards came the usual "let's jump on the leaders and tackle them to the ground and dogpile on them" game. All in all, it's been a good week! and we head off to tofino to go surfing tomorrow, although apparently theres 35 foot waves rolling in and the weather might not be good. pray for safety and a fun time!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Hello everyone! I'm writing after an exciting last week on a sailing trip, and right after our first day of Spiritual Formation class! First I'll just say that the sailing trip was amazing, we had an awesome time together, being confined together for as long as we were. We had the opportunity to go on night watches for one hour at a time with a partner, which really encouraged deep conversations and bonding time. Also, in the evenings we would have times of fun singing and worship opportunity, with times of sharing afterwards. The sharing time definately brought us all closer together, as we shared some of our fears for the year and we admonished one another in love to bring about more community. A great time all around, and amazing views!
Our first night of helping out with the youth group came around on Friday night. This is the first high school youth that Warmland has ever put on, so it was a bit of a gamble, as Friday nights are the official party nights. We got a lot of younger high school students, and we had a blast running around Crofton measuring various things in banana lengths. Our group got along well, ran into random peoples houses for things we needed, and had a great time. Aside from the pot-smoking older kids behind the community centre at the skate park, everything went along great. It was nice to actually get involved with them; it's evident that they are definately unchurched kids which makes it exciting for the rest of the year. An answered prayer was that there was actually a good number of kids there, I was scared that we would have a night with few kids. Also, we met some solid Christian teens on the Sundays we've been at Warmland, and they have always gone to a different churches youth, and they came out to ours, so it's nice to have some good examples there with us.
As for the class today, it went super well, the time just flew right by! It should be an exciting week coming up. Thanks for prayers again!
Love Scotty
Our first night of helping out with the youth group came around on Friday night. This is the first high school youth that Warmland has ever put on, so it was a bit of a gamble, as Friday nights are the official party nights. We got a lot of younger high school students, and we had a blast running around Crofton measuring various things in banana lengths. Our group got along well, ran into random peoples houses for things we needed, and had a great time. Aside from the pot-smoking older kids behind the community centre at the skate park, everything went along great. It was nice to actually get involved with them; it's evident that they are definately unchurched kids which makes it exciting for the rest of the year. An answered prayer was that there was actually a good number of kids there, I was scared that we would have a night with few kids. Also, we met some solid Christian teens on the Sundays we've been at Warmland, and they have always gone to a different churches youth, and they came out to ours, so it's nice to have some good examples there with us.
As for the class today, it went super well, the time just flew right by! It should be an exciting week coming up. Thanks for prayers again!
Love Scotty
Monday, September 24, 2007
Kaleo Ministry
Good afternoon everyone! Most of the Kaleo people went into Duncan for a bit, so I have some time for myself at the moment. Since my last post we've had a few days to kindof relax and enjoy each other. Amidst all this, of course, reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg, which some of us finished during the allnighter last night. Needless to say, some of us are extremely tired today, but who cares! We start our sailing trip tomorrow, so that should also be a blast.
We've had numerous opportunities for ministry over the past week, as the Trinity Western leadership group of about 350 was here this weekend. I was given the privilege of strapping grown men and women into harnesses (its not awkward until you make it awkward) before their encounter with the massive zip line. Getting to talk to them was pretty sweet, them all being older than me, they had lots of questions of the Kaleo program and such. At night me and a few guys snuck into their worship session so that was pretty cool as well. That was probably the best part of the weekend for me, to see all 350 of them just lifting up their hearts, and dancing, singing, doing whatever they felt like doing.
Throughout this whole experience I'm learning how to talk to completely random strangers and find out stuff about them, keep the conversation going and such. This is especially true at our church where we have to make friends with the youth, get to know them, and start from scratch with the rest of the church. Our first actual youth group time won't come until this friday, because we've been so busy, and we can only go on friday if we get back from our sailing trip on time. It should be interesting to see what happens. Well, let me know how all of you are doing, and whats happening at home! Talk to you guys later!
We've had numerous opportunities for ministry over the past week, as the Trinity Western leadership group of about 350 was here this weekend. I was given the privilege of strapping grown men and women into harnesses (its not awkward until you make it awkward) before their encounter with the massive zip line. Getting to talk to them was pretty sweet, them all being older than me, they had lots of questions of the Kaleo program and such. At night me and a few guys snuck into their worship session so that was pretty cool as well. That was probably the best part of the weekend for me, to see all 350 of them just lifting up their hearts, and dancing, singing, doing whatever they felt like doing.
Throughout this whole experience I'm learning how to talk to completely random strangers and find out stuff about them, keep the conversation going and such. This is especially true at our church where we have to make friends with the youth, get to know them, and start from scratch with the rest of the church. Our first actual youth group time won't come until this friday, because we've been so busy, and we can only go on friday if we get back from our sailing trip on time. It should be interesting to see what happens. Well, let me know how all of you are doing, and whats happening at home! Talk to you guys later!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
For starters...
Hello everyone! I must say that this past week has been a whirlwind of information and activity and meeting everyone. It already feels like we've been here for at least a month, we're all super tight and love each other amazingly. So for those who haven't heard from me at all, I'm in a dorm room with 2 other guys, theres 3 other rooms that have 4 guys each for a total of 15 guys, and 11 girls upstairs. When the actual school related courses come it'll be a schock, because we havcn't done barely anything related to school at this moment.
Our first outtrip was to strathcona park to do a three day hike, as seen in the pictures, and it was the time of our lives. The bonding that took place while hiking, the encouragement, everything was literally amazing, expecially the creation that was evident all around us. Reaching the top was incredible, it had seemed like such a daunting task when we set out.
I started out in my new home church, Warmland Community Church, and our kickoff was last Sunday where crazy kids chased after me with hair spray adn i had pink/purple/green/blue hair and face paint. It will be an amazing church, but the youth are troubled there. Last night was the first gr 5-7 youth night, none of us went because we were exhausted, but there was a fight that broke out and the youth guy had to make sure they went home seperate ways. So now we know what we're up against but I think that all 5 of us that are helping out there are ready for the challenge. Thanks for the prayers, I'll try to keep pictures posted and keep you guys updated! Miss you guys!
Our first outtrip was to strathcona park to do a three day hike, as seen in the pictures, and it was the time of our lives. The bonding that took place while hiking, the encouragement, everything was literally amazing, expecially the creation that was evident all around us. Reaching the top was incredible, it had seemed like such a daunting task when we set out.
I started out in my new home church, Warmland Community Church, and our kickoff was last Sunday where crazy kids chased after me with hair spray adn i had pink/purple/green/blue hair and face paint. It will be an amazing church, but the youth are troubled there. Last night was the first gr 5-7 youth night, none of us went because we were exhausted, but there was a fight that broke out and the youth guy had to make sure they went home seperate ways. So now we know what we're up against but I think that all 5 of us that are helping out there are ready for the challenge. Thanks for the prayers, I'll try to keep pictures posted and keep you guys updated! Miss you guys!
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