The Olympics are over!
I'm now back at Qwanoes and so much has happened that I wish I could tell every bit and piece of everything. But I'll tell all I can.
Well, it started with a bang. First we picked up our accreditation and uniforms. Later we went to the Dress Rehearsal of the opening ceremonies which was full of hoopla and almost made my brain implode from such visual display awesomeness. It was so good, but throughout watching I could not help but think how much of a worldly thing it was. As we walked back that night to the skytrain (which was an organized gongshow of finding and losing part of our group) we started singing worship songs in the streets. We even started singing 'Oh Canada' which resulted in a mass crowd of people singing along. Gotta love Kaleo.
The first day I actually had off. Everyone came back that day so pumped, it made me so excited to work the next day.
So this is what an average day looked like:
-Roll out of my lovely air mattress at 3:45 a.m. and get ready. Put on uniforms (and remember the creds!)
-Quickly eat breakfast or grab some to go
-Jump in the van as Jimbad would drive us to the bus and pray for us
-Get on the bus for a 45 minute trip to Whistler Olympic Park
-Arrive in perpetual darkness
-Check in and get job assignment for the day
-Work entire day
-Usually help with egress (when the people leave)
-Hop back on the bus to Squamish
-Go back to Squamish Baptist Church (where we were staying)
-Eat supper
-Have chapel
-Sleep
The jobs we usually did were ticketing, greeting, ushering, access control, egress, and pacing. The days we did pacing we worked with a security team. We would stand in front of the magnetometer (the big metal detectors just like at airport screening) and let people through and give them instructions. This job could be pretty busy based on where you were placed, but it was sweet chatting with the security team and bringing them joy. Most of the security were downcast because of the conditions of the place they had to stay and most of them missed their families. They thought it was so crazy that we were there volunteering when they themselves found it hard to be there and get paid.
I was surprised at first because I thought most of the ministry would be focused on the spectators, but instead it was on the people we worked with. There was such a consistency of the same people we got to see everyday. Whenever we couldn't finish an important conversation with one person, it seemed to be picked up by another Kaleo later on. After a while people we never even met before would recognize us just from the way we acted. "Oh you're from the bible school" or "You must be a Kaleo kid" was something I heard a lot.
Some days I was stuck doing access control all day, which was usually a lonely job. However, it was also a great time for prayer (and sometimes singing, haha). Prayer was answered so much on this trip. Even one time on the bus I was sitting next to this lady and we hadn't spoken a word to each other. At this point we were halfway into the ride and I really wanted to say something, but it seemed a little late to burst out with a "hey how's it going?!". So I prayed about it. Something simple-- that God would make it clear if I should talk with her. Right at the amen, she got a phone call. Well I guess that's a no. Ha! She got off the phone, turned to me and said, "We got 1-0!". That then turned into a great conversation.
There were so many times that we had great conversations with people. For example, Nixon, the crosswalk guy was always a friendly guy. He always said hi as I walked past, with a big smile on his face. One day Trent and I were walking to break and we stopped and chatted. That turned into an amazing conversation about God, church, and prayer. He asked about the Lord's Prayer and Trent explained it line-by-line for him (haha). At the end he exclaimed, "Oh, we just prayed!" and was so joyful. We also told him that we would be praying for him and he was so happy and thankful! He asked that we could pray for God to reveal himself to him. Pretty cool, eh?
There were so many amazing people we met and I was so surprised that I could remember so many names! I think I could honestly list off 50 on a first name basis right now.
Today we did a debrief and shared all our amazing stories and pictures. As well as the mexico team! I'm so happy for all the experiences we had and the things done. I feel well accomplished.
So all in all, it was tough, it was tiring, but it was so worth it.
Pray for the people we met.
Pray that God would work his way into Whistler (which is a big party town).
Pray that our work would not just end here, but continue on
(Dress Rehearsal we got to watch)
(On our days off we went to cool spots like this one-- Shannon Falls)
(Some Kaleos off to do some work)
(Crazy Norwegian fans)
(Me and my new-found buddy, Shanel)
(Watching some biathlon)
(Ski jump-- When I worked at an actual venue, I usually worked here)
(Nixon, the crosswalk guard)
(Me w/ Megaphone, I had too much fun with it)
(Kaleos+Quatchi and Miga=Too much fun)
(Me and Carly the amazing supervisor)
(Medals Ceremony in Whistler -- Bobsled Teams!)"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure."
-Hebrews 6:10-11
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