To Add to the Book of the Year of Firsts/ Oh hey it's almost Christmas

Twas the night before K-Christmas, when all through Qwanoes
Some Kaleos were sleeping, well not us I suppose
We hiked Maple Mountain and sang the whole way
Couldn't find the top, but it was dark--that's ok
We looked at the stars as we lay on the ground
Talked and prayed of God's creation profound
So forward to next morning, as we layed in our beds
We woke to the sight of Marissa and Kristie's heads
They gave us hot chocolate and downstairs we were sent
To a gala of carols, story, and everyone's present!

So why not tell the rest in rhyme?
I hope you're sitting, this may take some time (just kidding)

So I'm sitting here at home as I write
and p.s. Yes, I had a good flight
This year has been a "year of firsts"
I really enjoyed my first air-traverse (haha)
Since my last post a lot had been done
For example; Christmas tree-hunting fun
I loved the scent of pine in the breeze
as we walked amongst all the trees!
We looked for the one that wasn't the worst
and named it Frederick Roger Kaleo the First
Oh Christmas, the time of great celebrations!
Fun times making popcorn and orange decorations!

AAAAANNNNDDD... I'm done rhyming before this gets more complicated and awkward sounding.

So as I was saying; the same day we went for our Christmas tree hunt, we had our Christmas Dinner and talent show! Amazing food, followed by amazing acts. Bria and I set up a "Dating Game"-type act which turned out to be hilarious! *high five, Bria*

The next day we volunteered to help at the Crofton Seniors Luncheon. It turned out that there was more Kaleo than they expected, but it all worked for the best. I helped add whip cream and strawberries to a load of cakes (yum), dry dishes, and clear tables. The folks were really nice as I got to chat with a few when clearing tables.

Another incredible thing this semester was going to the Canadian Youth Workers Convention in Vancouver last weekend. It was one of those times again; when by the end of the day it feels like something needs to be processed because I cannot fall asleep no matter how tired I am. The theme of the convention was Time and that in itself was very significant for me. A lot of times I worry too much about time and agendas when I really should be enjoying life. Plain and simple. Well... except for homework-working agendas.
I had some awesome times; ferry ride, hanging out with some Briercrest peeps, a trip to Stanley Park with Emma, Matt, and Caroline, elevator riding, chatting with randoms, chatting with Seth Briggs! (old friend from camp, whoo Sask. represent! ), staying at Oak Ridge Baptist, Panini's and Gnocchi, listening to Pastor Mark speak a main session, watching Jared Hall's crazy illusions, fun concerts, and all the awesome sessions we went to. Despite all of those things, I am always amazed and grateful for everyone's heart for the homeless (which became my highlights of the weekend). Even one day as Abby, Claire, Jenna, and I decided to go on an extreme popcorn adventure, we bought two big bags and ate so much we felt sick. So we decided to save the rest for later on and as we were walking down the street we stumbled upon a man with a sign saying "money for food". We gave him the rest of our popcorn and he looked so happy! Oh I love those times.

Random side note, last Monday we went to Wildplay for a Tree-course and bungy jumping! Yes, bungy-jumping. It was a crazy-awesome experience and I loved it!


(Thanks for filming, Jenna <3 )
So that's that. Merry Christmas!

Ecclesiastes 3:11-He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

View of Vancouver from Stanley Park

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

As sad as it is, semester one of Kaleo is coming to a close. Christmas is in the air (so soon, I know)-- flights are booked, carols have started to be sung, and we are hunting for a K-tree tomorrow and having a Christmas supper. Oh goody! Tonight I was also informed about interesting things about the Christmas story from Jim. The story we hear each holiday season isn't quite the story it really is; interesting I must say.
This week, like all others recently, has flown by very quickly. We had Church Ministry class, which I did enjoy muchly. For post-class homework, we are writing an essay about Women in the Church. This is a widely opinionated matter, but very interesting, and I hope to get a lot done in the small time we have.
One thing that makes Kaleo classes awesome-- being able to end them at a drop of a hat to do a service to those in need. As I mentioned before, Duncan was flooding from all the rain. We quickly piled into the vans and helped fill sandbags.
Here is a photo I shot of a shocked young child in the midst of it all.

Ok, just kidding, it's Caroline.

So with all the church ministry class going on, it seems I have been at a lack of actual church ministry this week. But....it was replaced with the duty of camp ministry! On the weekend was the men's retreat, so I worked in the kitchen and did belaying stuff at the challenge course. Talking with these guys at the challenge course was so fun! And it was so funny to watch them scream with glee (or fear?) on the zipline. I got to talk about Kaleo quite a bit and it really helped me to think of all the effects from beginning to present. They found our Kaleo group very intriguing. Perhaps that could also be attributed to our birthday surprise for Josh and the crazy pillow fight and sleeping bag/worm wars in the lounge. (I also did something to my ankle during that pillow fight that made it hurt REALLY BAD. But it's currently feeling a lot better than before and all good and taped up now.) Another positive of the men's retreat-- we got the hot tub back! YEAH! Haha, ok not such a big deal, but I can still be excited about it ok?

What else happened this week?...Hmm.. Oh! Open dorms! I have now learned our room is quite the party/chill out room, although not the top cleanest. Kudos to 212 and 312. The messiest room had to run a pudding gauntlet in which we (you guessed it) threw pudding at them. If you are thinking "Jade why would you throw pudding at such 'undeserving of getting pudding thrown on them' people?". Well it's just plain funny and I ate half of mine first anyways. Yummy.

We also went to the Ladysmith Lightup, where they light up a whole bunch of Christmas lights at the same time. Ironically, Katie, Kaitlyn, Nicole, and I missed the lightup by about 10 seconds because we were in a building. Oh well. Later we joined Jer, Nate, and James to watch the parade. We decided to risk joining the parade, and we put our arms on each others shoulders and sang Christmas carols as we marched the last half. Then we proceeded to watch THE MOST AMAZING FIREWORKS I HAVE EVER SEEN!

So that's the dealio of my life at the moment. I really feel like I need to practice the skill of slowing down in the business lately. And even though studying the Bible is part of course work here, I really want to be able to dig into it personally a lot more than I have been. Pray for me to do that and to be motivated to get a lot of homework done! Talent show tomorrow too, whoo!

(Queue Lion King Music) He Lives In You

Hello there. This week was very eventful for so much "unscheduledness". From the guy's fight night; to our attempt at watching the sunrise which led to hiding in the tent in the dining hall in hopes to scare someone; to making cookies at the Badke's with all my wonderful friends. Most importantly, it was 24/7 prayer week! We had a special prayer room set up where we had pictures of all of us Kaleos. By the end of the week the entire room was covered with papers of requests, hopes, prayers, and encouragements. A lot of people poured out their heart in that room and were changed so much from this week. I think this week was so significant for me as well, but I'm only realizing the outcome slowly as the days go by. I'm so glad we do it again next semester!

In contrast, part of the week was really stressful for me because of all the homework that had to get done. I had an OT essay, books to read, and papers on those books as well. I really let them get the best of me and worried about them way too much. Just at breaking point, Kristie reminded me of the things that really matter in life. Jesus is all I need.

With that being said, there are secondary things in life we need too. This Sunday, Pastor Mark talked about our need for friends and mentors. He used the description of Rafiki in the Lion King to show how friends need to come alongside to encourage and build each other up (Remember when he cleverly encouraged Simba to go back to the Pridelands to take back the kingdom?). You would be surprised to find out what "Rafiki" means in Swahili. I'm not telling, but google will. Of course that night wouldn't have been complete without watching The Lion King back at camp.

At youth group we got to hang out with kids in Big D's (The youth room/building). The plan for the night was to play mission impossible, but it didn't work out so instead we all just chilled and played cranuim and twister and such. It was a sweet hang-out time and turned out to be a really good night. Also on Sunday for lunchtime we went to the home of a lady named Faith. We had been there once before with a bunch of the young adults from New Life on Halloween. She really practices hospitality, as she opens her house for people to stay and builds into their lives as a mentor (hmm sound familiar?). Before we rushed back to the camp to finish homework, we played the game Killer Bunnies (now in my "list" of top fav. board and card games).

Finally got to do QFX this week! John, Trent, and I got to use our maintenance skills and rake leaves, dig trenches (because of all the rain), and clean bathrooms-- all in the rain...well except bathrooms. At first I wasn't too stoked to do this, but it turned out to be a lot of fun hanging out with the maintenance crew and Joel our fearless leader. Oh, and mentioning the rain, it's been raining like crazy. Duncan is flooded so please pray for the work-effort there.

So speaking of academics (nice segue, I know), we started Foundations of Church Ministry today. It looks promising and I like it so far, so we'll see how it goes.

So until next time, Hakuna Matata my friends!

Coming This Monday To A Blog Near You

Wait a moment. Before I start about my week, I would like to say how much I'm enjoying tonight. Listening to the new Switchfoot album, hanging out with all my peeps; it's a great night. Another thing on the blog agenda-- swine flu shot. I got it tonight, wasn't really planning on it, but it's a good idea for the olympics coming up. And people in close proximity might have the actual swine flu. So all in all, I hope it's all for the good; plus my arm isn't that sore anyway...

So last week. Hmm. Well almost the entirety of last week was spent in class-- Old Testament Literature! Oh man, I really liked this class. I'm glad we get to take it in modular style. Even though a whole bunch of information gets crammed into your head at once, it's so much easier to see the bigger picture. The highlight of the week was definitely the movie we made. It is all about movie trailers for the OT. Plus it's on the Kaleo Blog! http://www.kaleoseven.blogspot.com/. It was so fun to make and there were many late late late nights to get it done. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it now. Seriously. Epic. Go now.

Not a whole lot happened this week other than the class and movie-making. Youth group was a movie night and we watched "UP", so it was a pretty relaxed night. The Sr. High Retreat was this past weekend, but I wasn't scheduled to work. I had a whole lot of homework to do and I loved when Marissa came by on her time off and a bunch of us just sat in our room, worked and chatted. Later a few of us tagged along to go to the pool, which was really fun too. I was also really excited for church this sunday since I missed it previously (because I was counselling for the Jr. High Retreat). So I made it! And enjoyed it! I love my New Life crew. I'm excited for next youth and church happenings. 

Right now it's prayer week. A few K5's came to hang out when we had the "kick-off" and it was fun hanging out and talking with them. I signed up for 12:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m. for most of the days and I could just stay in that room forever. I hope we can all grow closer as we all pray for the things on our hearts together. If you would like, you can pray too. You know that MC Hammer song--Pray? A line in the song is "We got to pray just to make it today." That should be our attitude as we consider God as our day to day strength and hope.

So other than all that, just thinking about the future. Where to go, what to do. I'm considering Briercrest, travelling, working, staying in BC, and pretty much anything else. What do you think?

Here is the group picture from the Jr. High Retreat. I'm in the back/middle if you can see me!

Until later, ciao!

Here am I. Send me! -- Isaiah 6:8

"I will go, I will go
I will go, Lord send me
To the world, To the lost
To the poor and hungry
Take everything I am
I'm clay within your hands
I will go, I will go, send me"
-Starfield, I Will Go

So if you remember me telling you that I hoped I could help more with homeless ministry in my last post, well it turned out I did...the very next day! We went on a trip to Victoria and a group of us had a plan to take out random people on the street for lunch. First we met two buskers named Julian and Don. We invited them for lunch and then all split ways. Emma, Matt, Nicole, and myself found ourselves in a few shops and a toy store, but as we continued walking we stumbled upon a man sitting on the sidewalk asking for money. He was quite disoriented, but he said he would come with us for lunch. We helped him to his feet and asked him his name. He answered, "Willy." But apparently that is his street name; his real name is James (the buskers also said that he told them his name was Frank). Anyways, you get the picture. We walked to the harbour and asked him where he was from and he answered, "My mom." We asked where she was from and he said, "Her mom." It was quite entertaining. Once at the harbour, Matt and Nicole went to see if the buskers were around. Emma and I bought Willy some fish and chips at a stand. He told us about himself (he made woodcarvings) and how that day was the best ever and how he felt so special. He reached in his pocket and gave us some Halloween candy he had (Don't take candy from strangers, I know, bla bla. Don't worry, it's sitting here on my desk). We took a couple of pictures. This is one:
Our big group met up again and the buskers came, as well as Willy, for lunch. We shared stories and it turned out Julian was a pastor's kid. We hung out with them more and they jammed on guitar. We also met Julian's brother, Micah, who was also busking on another street. It was so sweet just getting to know those guys and talking about our college life and God-life with them as well. To end the day off, we stopped at a beautiful waterfall. What a great day.

The rest of reading break was great! It was pretty busy, but on Thursday I went to the Matthew Good/Mother Mother concert in Nanaimo with Abby! The marvelous Haley drove us and we stopped at a farmer's market, walked in a park with petroglyphs, checked out some stores, and ate Thai food. I also tried bubble tea for the first time-- I like it.
Yesterday, I finally got to go to the New Life Young Adults group that meet to hang out with the homeless! I was pretty stoked, since I had to miss it twice before because of homework deadlines. We prayer-walked around the town and at the very end we were praying in a circle and a man named Samuel joined us. He was out of it, but kept repeating how he liked what we were doing and he wanted to be filled with hope just like we were. We invited him back for next time. I wonder if he will come.

I was a little sad that I had to miss youth group and church this past weekend. I was counselling for the Jr. High retreat, but it really was rewarding. At the start, I was not excited and really tired and really wanted sleep and had homework on my mind. However, I had awesome girls and the whole weekend was filled with great talks, fun games, a scavenger hunt, q-town, a fun game of keep-away at the pool, hot chocolate, the smartie game, and THE GAME (If you don't know what I'm talking about, good, because it's impossible to win and know it at the same time).

Today I had my first class of OT and I am loving it. I am definitely getting a lot more out of the stories that I thought I knew pretty well. We will be making a movie summarizing the OT this week, which is really exciting.

That's all I have to say. Pray for group unity as we tackle this video project and for the people we met in Vic-- that we made an impression on their lives.

P.S. Are there any Manitou people that read this? The junior high retreat reminded me of my love for camp and that there is a certain staff retreat this weekend. Say hi to everyone for me!

A couple videos regarding my post if you're interested.
Julian and Don (sorry it's really short)

Matthew Good in concert

Haiku of the Day

Coffee on the Moon
Caramel Macchiatos
Are very tasty

IT'S READING BREAK!

Just to be redundant...IT'S READING BREAK!
I like to think of it as a break, but in all honesty it is called Reading Break for a reason. I sure have a lot of reading to do....but Gym night tonight was grand-- we played floor hockey.
Yesterday was a mad rush to finish my Heart paper for Spir Form. The crazy thing was that at church, Pastor Mark talked about the exact same things that I was writing about... I like God's humour.
For other random things:
I saw the Olympic Torch! It went through Crofton; imagine that.
Last night we went to the Badke's and made bannock, which we roasted at the beach. It reminded me so much of camp and also reminded me of the goodness of bannock. Mmmm.
On Saturday was "Trunk-or-Treat" at church (Where people decorate the trunks of their vehicles and give out candy). After rushing to find a costume-y thing to wear, I ended up going as a gypsy/pirate/evil character from Narnia (Yeah, I don't really know either). We attempted to make the van into the wardrobe to Narnia but it turned out someone had used the same idea and ours was really sketchy looking anyways. Instead we helped out in other ways and hung out with the kids. I ran the "sucker pull" most of the night and got to meet a lot of kids and see a lot of crazy costumes.
For Sunday, church day, we kept tradition of going to lunch at a church-member's place. This time we went to the Unrau's. It was a great time of food, would-you-rathers, and talk about the future for the church and their heart in the homeless ministry. That is something I am hearing a lot of lately and I really hope I can help more with this in different situations, even if it just be prayer.

I think one of my highlights from the year so far would be the surf trip. We all packed in vans and headed to the other side of the island. On the way there we stopped again at Coombs and stopped at this gorgeous place called Cathedral Grove. There were massive trees there and I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. We also stopped to eat lunch at this place with huge rapids that could snap logs in half. We stayed at a church in Ucluelet and surfed in Tofino. Sidenote- That was my first time surfing and I loved it! Four K5 guys came along all the way from Bridalquest, whoops I mean Briercrest, to hang out which was so awesome. We watched the Cold Water Classic, which was a pro surf competition going on at the time. I have new respect for surfing; not only the actually surfing part, but the carrying the board part, haha. One day some of us went on a hike to a place called "The Blowhole". Everytime the waves came in, it would send a huge spray of water into the air! I could watch it for hours, it was so amazing. After each day was done and we were tired and content, we had chapel. I love the honesty everyone has in our group and I have gotten so much encouragement from their stories.So, I've been thinking lately about how the ocean relates to fearing God. It is the same as fearing the expanse that stretches out before me, but in a sense of awe and wonder. Talking in every perspective you can see, but realizing it is only a tiny piece of the greater puzzle.

That's all I have to say for now. Hope to see you here again soon. Thank you come again.

Life is Lyrical, Bring on the Waves

I am thankful for mud, but also equally thankful for showers. Last night we went mud sliding and had an epic mud fight. Nuff` said.
Almost the entirety of this week was spent in Hermeneutics class. I would say my favorite part of class was making a video for our group project on the book of James. We walked into Crofton and interviewed people about perseverance and their experiences in that. It was very interesting hearing their responses!

On friday our youth group had a Spaghetti Auction Fundraiser for the different activities and things they do. Unfortunately, we had forgotten it was that night and showed up at the normal youth group time. However it turned out alright, and we helped with some kitchen-y things, clean-up, and of course--hanging out with the youth. (end of spaghetti auction)

Also this past weekend was the Juniors retreat here at Qwanoes. I worked in the kitchen for saturday afternoon. I made 29 pitchers of juice and 18 pitchers of ice water-- I am now the juice master! (Can I have a theme song?). After a great worship time in the office that night, I hung out and ate popcorn with Claire`s campers. They were so cute! They thought I was 25 and Australian. I don`t see where they get that idea, but I take it as a compliment. I also loved watching the kids` chapel/Q-town from the back of the room. They get so excited about the songs and about the Bible stories and it makes me excited with them. (creeping at the back)

The church service yesterday was pretty amazing too. Halfway through the service, the power went out, but it worked out perfectly in the sermon. I liked the ``unplugged`` vibe. I get a lot out of Pastor Mark`s speaking and I think next time I`m going to try to bring a notebook to write in so I have a better time remembering all the wonderful insights.
Seems like I can`t stay away from Duncan, BC on a Sunday! After church and an amazing lunch meal in Duncan, I went back again to church for a Praise Night. I really struggled with choosing to go to that or to the young adults group that chat with the homeless on Sundays. I weighed my options and decided to go to the praise night. I felt a little guilty about the choice, but on the way there decided it was for the best and it was too late to change my mind anyway. It was really refreshing for me and now I`m so glad I went! Life is a little more lyrical because I have songs stuck in my head, hehe.
Random thing I am doing--I am learning to crochet! Claire taught our room how, so now we are making toques!
Next stop--Going to Tofino today to go surfing!
Pray for good waves and for less homework stress. Oh boy...

Later dudes,
Jade

God, Goats, and Gollum

Hello everyone in the blogosphere! (as the hardcore bloggers would say)
Well this past week was sure interesting. There has been ups and downs (but mostly ups!).
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
(James 1:2-4, TNIV)
Through little crawly friends in our rooms-- making us do a lot of laundry and moving of everything we own, missing out on swimming, falling in the cave, and other random things (soccer ball in the face [just kidding, that was not a big deal]); it's totally ok. And life is still good despite that and during that. I have been learning to be joyful in all circumstances and in effort, I'm trying to complain less (so ignore the list of things above, I'm stating, not complaining, haha). God is good. And it sure helps that there is so much awesomeness to do and awesome people too.
So today we had our first class of Hermeneutics with Merrill Dyck. Part of the pre-course work we had to do was read a book of the Bible, everyday for 7 days, then write what we learned from it. I was assigned James and it's funny how much certain verses and ideas come up in daily life (just like in the verse above).
So at the start of the week we went caving (a.k.a. spelunking)! It was crazy how tiny some of the cracks were that we had to fit through. Some people were talking about how you can get very claustrophobic while in the cave (I was reminded of the song 'Claustrospelunker' as well as the story of when Winnie the Pooh gets stuck), but it wasn't bad-- it was uber fun! We hummed the Lord of the Rings song, and Nick did the creepy Gollum voice/cough.
In the depths of the cave, we decided to turn off all of our headlamps and it kind of looked like this..


I also witnessed a spider battle above my head.


After caving, our group headed to Coombs to do some shopping. They had a country market there called "Goats on the Roof" filled with a load of funky things. And just so you know, there were actually goats. On the roof.



I also bought that toque. It is an owl and I love it.
Afterward we went to a mall and had some great fun. Haley and I found ourselves missing our ride (my bad) and being stuck at the mall because of further unfortunate events concerning our ride.

This is our "Jade should check her watch twice or possibly more than that next time so we can get to the pool" pose.

On Thursday we did DTG which meant ditch the guys/girls/genders. First us girls went to Oceanview, an old-folks home, and talked with some ladies there and sang songs. They were so funny and loved the company! I definitely want to visit more in the future! Afterward we went to Chemainus for coffee and sight-seeing. That town was very sweet...especially the candy shop (haha)! For supper we went to Kristie's and had some special sharing time. I feel like I got to know the girls a lot better through this time. Some of us decided to walk home in the rain (I love the rain) and that night 4 of us girls decided to clean the guys' rooms instead of pranking them. Good deal, eh?

In the morning we did a roomie photoshoot, had hot drinks, made posters for our "brother room" (the guys room right below us), wrote a "letter from God", and had brunch in the climbing tower!

This past weekend there was also a women's retreat here at camp. I wasn't signed up for the weekend, but I did get to talk to this amazing woman named Colleen! I stopped to say hi as I was going upstairs to hang out, but felt like I should stay and talk longer. I found myself there for about two hours and even though it was a crazy time at night/in the morning, I'm so glad I did! This lady was a prayer warrior; she told me stories of prayers and her life and they were so inspiring!
Friday consisted of youth group. It was M&M night and we did a bunch of games including one where you had to shoot an m&m out of your nose! I lead a younger connect group with Rivera instead of my normal girls, but it was awesome getting to know more kids that I haven't talked to yet.
Honestly, I love my church! We went to another couple's house for lunch after and I really enjoy the conversation we get to have with the members of the church.
Well I better go and do homework or go to bed! No more soccer nights in Q-town or walks to Crofton with this work! :)
Pray for our class as we tackle our Hermeneutics course!

Thank you for laughter and clear water

Mmm... I love Thanksgiving Dinner. Thinking about Thanks-giving, I am so thankful for this great community I have become a part of and all the sweet things we get to do together. Sweet things such as.. a sailing trip! We spent 5 days at sea aboard the Pacific Grace with the fantastic SALTS (Sail and Life Training Society) crew. It was such an awesome experience as we literally became a part of the crew to help with various things on the boat. Whenever we hoisted the sails or weighed the anchor, it required all hands on deck to get the job done. I even swabbed the deck (which is done in real life and not just the movies). We were also divided up into watches (mine being Port Watch) and when we were on watch we did different jobs such as steering the boat (my favorite!), bow watch, stern watch, and radio. I can also say I am now a certified Junior Sailor with SALTS! We had lessons everyday about emergency situations, chartwork, right-of-way, and knot-tying in which we got tested on afterwards. Most of the time on the boat you would have seen me tying knots in my effort to remember.
Something that was amazing--the food! Everytime we ate a meal we sang a prayer, which was a fun change of pace. We sang songs of Johnny Appleseed, the Superman prayer, thank you for laughter and clear water, and many more. Sometimes we also got a story from our watch-leader, SamIAm! (With that reference, guess one of the stories we read).

My favorite times on the boat would have to be:
Rowing the dories out to the nearby islands-- We became very familiar with the term "Pan-pan" during this time because we were so close to capsizing the "untippable rowboat". The islands were fun to explore-- the first one had a bunch of cool abandoned cabins and starfish all on the beach. The second one had a neat orchard with apple trees.
Night Watch-- first night with Claire, and second with Kristie. Great conversations here.
Climbing up the shrouds to the very top!-- Such a nice view and so peaceful. Plus, I helped take down the topsails!
Our epic rope-swing. Enough said.
The Skits we made for "The reunion of the Disney characters that never made it". I'm not sure if I ever laughed so hard as that night. As well as the other random games we played, such as camouflage.
Mug-up-- Times of singing and sharing (and goodies!). It was interesting singing a blend of worship songs, sailing songs, and classic songs like country roads or cats in the cradle. I enjoyed it very much, especially when Krystle (one of the crewmembers) would sing us one of her songs.
Our Punishment-- Well to sum it up, the guys vs. girls battle of the "tuck n' tidy" ended with the ladies losing. That meant the guys could pick a punishment for us. We had no idea what it would be, but we heard snippets including things such as "walk the plank", "throw slop at them", and "we should just punish the ones listening to us right now". By the time they told us to be up on deck at a certain time wearing clothes that we didn't mind getting wet we were slightly not excited. On deck, after the guys got the slop bucket and made a little speech about us not getting mad at them for what they'll do, came up with dish tubs and ...washed our feet. (And made us tea!) What a surprise! I think this was my top highlight and I really appreciate that humble act of these brothers-in-Christ.

(Port Watch! Photo compliments of Abby)

The trip was over and we headed home, but the day was not over yet. It was a friday, and we all know what happens on fridays. Youth group! I was dead tired, but still excited to go. On this particular friday, the plan was to meet at the Duncan train station and hand out cookies and hot chocolate to the homeless and various people on the streets. The kids were separated into groups and I led a group of eight that were very fun, very crazy, and very very energetic. I'm sure they scared most of the people we met into cookie-taking submission. I asked them afterwards what they got from that experience and other than their witty answers of "cookies", most were really glad we had done this. I really hope it broadened their perspective on the less fortunate people of Duncan.

I was also privileged to do the same type of thing again with my Kaleo buds. Usually the New Life Young Adults meet on Sunday Evenings and do ministry at the train station as well. We took a van-full of Kaleos, but when we arrived there was no other people in sight. Not letting a great opportunity go to waste, we decided to do it anyway with just ourselves. We split into two groups and our group decided to pick up a box of timbits to give away. However, we didn't see anyone except a few kids that didn't talk to us (at least they know not to talk to strangers). As we walked, we prayed and sang a little bit too. The other group talked with a couple of people and when we got back we gave them our timbits! I guess things work out after all, and even more than I might ever know. I hope to do this again sometime.

If you made it through reading all of that, my hope is that you would pray for the homeless and their situation, pray for the kids in youth group--that they will continue to be challenged in perspectives, and pray for my precourse work to get done on time for my next class-- Hermeneutics !

Thank you for laughter and clear water
Thank you for friends sailing on the sea
Thank you that I may know your love will always be with me

(Photo compliments of Abby)

Aint No Mountain High Enough

Hey Everyone! I can't believe so much time has passed already here. So many things have happened!
But before I keep rambling-- I HIKED UP A MOUNTAIN! Legit, I did. It was a three-day adventure and we hiked to different lakes in the area and set up camp for overnight. The picture above is of all of us at the top of Mount Albert-Edward in Strathcona Park. The other one is our team photo for the "All-Blacks".



The view was incredible! Several times during the hike I had to stop so I could take it all in. (Also accounting for the times I had to stop just because I was flat-out tired and out of breath). I felt like Frodo or Samwise on their quest to Mount Doom, except it was much more pretty and joyful. Everyone was such an encouragement and I probably would have been very frustrated and more exhausted if it weren't for them. In that sense I would have to say that everyone was my Samwise! Looking out over the landscape I really got to experience the beauty that God put into the world we live in. I definitely have to say that it looked like it was made purposely and not by accident. On that note, everyone should go climb a mountain!

The weekend after our trip we had the biggest guest group of the year come to Qwanoes--the leadership team from Trinity Western University. All of us Kaleo-ers helped out in one area or another. I was assigned to the kitchen so I got to cut up a lot of veggies, set up tables/food, and clean up, etc. I really appreciate all the work the kitchen staff put into our food (kudos to Laura)!
Another aspect of things I will be doing at Qwanoes is QFX. With this I am helping Joel the marvelous maintenance man with different jobs around camp with John and Trent.

On the academic side, we just finished our Spiritual Formation course with Marv Penner. It was amazing! It has taught me so much about faith-building and I'm hoping I can apply it very well now and forevermore. We got to lead a chapel and regularly we got time to go to our own sanctuary for some time with God minus distractions. The last day I was inspired to write part of a song, which I might share sometime when I finish it. At the very end we had a communion service out at the dock!

The first night of youth group we attended was called "The Hunger"; which is a youth worship night from New Life. It was so fun (especially getting to know the girls in my connect group and dancing in a conga line, hehe ) Every time there is youth, we split off into connect groups by grade so everyone can get to know each other more. I am helping with the Grade 11/12 group, which I was a little nervous about in the beginning because of the closeness of age. After hanging out with the girls though, I am so excited for these times! One thing you can pray for is that I would be able to really connect with these girls and all the other kids that I haven't gotten to know yet. I really find it difficult to initiate a conversation with random people that I don't know, so I'm trying really hard to change that! Church is also quite amazing. After every service, we go to the home of a member of the congregation for lunch. It's so awesome getting to know people in this way and hearing their story and conversation.

Probably my favorite thing of Kaleo so far was our epic dance party! "Kaleo's Best Dance Crew". So much hidden talent-- who knew? I was 1/4 of the new-school hip hop dance crew of Jeremy, Nick, Caroline, and myself. Whoo, we got 1st for our pump it- black eyed peas routine! Honestly though, all the dances were so good and redonkulously sweet. It makes me want to dance all the time now.










We leave for SALTS in about 7 hours! More on that later!

In the beginning...

Ah! I don't know where to start! Well life has been crazy

busy awesome here at Kaleo! It was a long drive here and

after driving, driving, driving, ooo mountains!, driving, driving, ocean!, ferry! I finally came to Camp Qwanoes--where I will be for the next eight months!

It was kind of crazy the first few days trying to remember everyone's names, but we all got to know each other
pretty quickly already. The first night here we split up into teams and played competition-type games. Dark Knights for the win! That night we went down to the dock and sang songs and were fully mesmerized by the phosphorescence in the ocean. (So cool!)

The days after that have been filled with orientation, lots of
good food, a beach party, challenge course training, a trip to Victoria for some shopping and sightseeing, games of volleyball and ultimate frisbee, and reading a book for Spiritual Formation.

The coolest thing, I have to say, was the first day in my new church! New Life Community Baptist (in Duncan, BC). We were introduced to the whole congregation and they were all very welcoming. Afterwards we went to the home of one of the pastors for lunch. I will be helping with youth group on fridays as well and I'm really excited. If anyone would like to pray for this upcoming year with my new church that would be great!

Anyways, tomorrow/today we leave very early to go hiking in Strathcona so I will end my post here!


My room! (Ignore the mess)



My roomies! Abby and Caroline!