Hey there.
After a really fast paced time at Kaleo, it's time to go back to the grind. A month and a half in, I have gone hiking up a mountain, sailing on a boat, and surfing in the ocean. It has been an amazing time just meeting people and getting to know people. For the upcoming weeks we have 3 classes and not so much 'fun' stuff. It will be a change of pace for sure. I didn't think I would ever say this, but I'm excited to begin classes. Bring it on. haha.
This week was a pretty chill week. We had two days of camp ministry to begin the week. Sid Koop, a speaker at Qwanoes this summer, was coming so i was pretty pumped for that. I loved what Sid Koop had to say about teen culture and how rapidly its changing. He was such a good speaker. On a whole it was an okay class. A lot of the stuff that was talked about I heard before, but it was still a good two days of class.
On Wednesday we got to go caving! It was a pretty awesome experience. We watched the Chiliean miners the day before, so im not going lie I was a little freaked. It was so cool tho. I didn't even know what to expect. Just being underground and seeing such narrow passages in the rock was super cool. I really need to get myself a camera. We also got to spend some time at goats on a roof (no goats tho :( ) and we also got to go swimming in Nanaimo. It was Tyler's birthday so at the end of the day we kidnapped him and went out for sushi. First time ever having sushi! Never thought I would like it.
The rest of the week was just prepping for retreats and having some chill time. For the course of the year we are linked up with staff members and mine so happens to be a Leafs fan! They invited me and Anna over for supper which was so nice. It's really nice to get away from camp to enjoy some time at other peoples houses. The Kiezers are pretty awesome people. There two sons are full of energy so it was fun to play with them. On Saturday I got invited over again to watch some hockey night in canada! However, my Leafs got destroyed. But oh well, it was fun to go to the Kiezers house again.
One thing from the week that really impacted Kaleo on a whole was chapel on monday night. We went to the guest house, an amazing 100 year old building, to just share with one another. It was a really uplifting time. In my opinion, it brought Kaleo even closer. I just hope that it continues this way and we will be one big family.
The thing that I brought was a verse. Ephesians 4:20-24 "You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
What I really want to get out of this year is to take off the old self. This is a year of growth for me. I grew a lot last year, but i wanted to go deeper in my faith. I want to put off this old self which is really being corrupted and to put on the new self with God. I want to build a foundation for my life. At times I don't want to change. It's weird because I have been changing. This summer was a really hard summer for me. It was a good summer but now i feel really tired on all levels. I'm hoping that with this change of pace that I will be able to put my focus on God and to really listen to his call on my life. I'm excited for it. I know I'm supposed to be hear and I'm excited to be broken so that I can really be able to put on the new self.
Later days,
Mike
10/24/10
10/18/10
SURFING!!
Hey y'all. Like my new accent?
Well that has nothing to do with what happened in my adventure this week. After getting off the Pacific Grace, it was thanksgiving weekend! It felt weird not being home this time. I have to admit that I missed Ontario for thanksgiving. The whole family was home, but I did get to skype them :). Fall in BC is also very different than in Ontario. It's still green here and the leaves havent changed as much. But there is still ocean and mountains here so BC wins. Thanksgiving was really empty. Only six of us stayed behind, accompanied by our lovely interns. We went thrift shopping but I didn't find anything special to purchase so that was a downer. Well we did go to a nice restaurant so that made up for the thrift store upset. So yeah, thanksgiving was really different this year, a good different. The family here is starting to come together quite nicely now. So even though my immediate family is miles away, my family here is becoming very tight. We even got to enjoy a turkey dinner with the staff :)
The next couple of days we went on yet another adventure. This time we got to try our 'skills' (you know like computer haking skills, bow hunting skills...) at surfing. I didn't know what to expect at all. I just thought oh it will be easy, but it wasn't. We went during the cold water classic which was pretty sweet. There were pro surfers, surfing it up, and were making it look easy. We camped out in tofino which was pretty legit. Yeah we did camp out during the hiking trip, but this was a little better because we were allowed to have campfires. Now on to surfing. We got to enjoy a beautiful sunny day for surfing. We put our wetsuits and got our boards and we were ready to go. The waves were nice but because there was so many of us it was pretty cramped. I went on my stomach a couple times and was having a hard time with it. By the end of the day i could "surf" on my knees and stood up for like a second! YAY. After surfing it was just a time of relaxing around the fire. During our devotional, Jim told us that by letting people share a story we can better relate to that person. So Michael gave it a shot for the first time. It was sweet because we were able to know Michael better and it gave us a chance to encourage him.
The second day of surfing was a lot funner than the second. Although the waves were not as good, I was able to stand up on my board! It was such an awesome accomplishment. My goal was to stand up on the board and I was finally able to do it. Surfing was a workout tho. I was so tired and sore by the end of the day. It was a good tired though. Lately I've been feeling very tired, so it was a good time just to enjoy God's creation and just do something I've never done before. I also got to see three awesome people in Tofino. Those being the two awesome livingstones, Melissa and Kari, and the other was the BIRD. :) I love seeing people from the summer because it is so awesome to know what there up to. The staff were so amazing this summer so it was refreshing to see them.
During the weekend I got the chance to serve at the women's retreat. I was helping out in a lot of areas, maintenance, dishpit, and the good ol challenge course! woot woot. It was really good to help out. I have to admit I did have a negative attitude going into it, but what Jay told us really stuck with me. It was a mission trip, just one that was in my backyard. It was pretty sweet because I got to work with year round staff and build relationships with them. I didnt get to make it to church this weekend which was kind of a bummer, and I didnt get to help out with Kidstown but it was okay because i was helping out with the ministry of Qwanoes.
Welp, this week we've got Sid Koop here to teach us about camp ministry. So until then, latter days.
ps. Raisins ruin everything!
pps. Wool socks are probably the best thing I brought to Kaleo!
Well that has nothing to do with what happened in my adventure this week. After getting off the Pacific Grace, it was thanksgiving weekend! It felt weird not being home this time. I have to admit that I missed Ontario for thanksgiving. The whole family was home, but I did get to skype them :). Fall in BC is also very different than in Ontario. It's still green here and the leaves havent changed as much. But there is still ocean and mountains here so BC wins. Thanksgiving was really empty. Only six of us stayed behind, accompanied by our lovely interns. We went thrift shopping but I didn't find anything special to purchase so that was a downer. Well we did go to a nice restaurant so that made up for the thrift store upset. So yeah, thanksgiving was really different this year, a good different. The family here is starting to come together quite nicely now. So even though my immediate family is miles away, my family here is becoming very tight. We even got to enjoy a turkey dinner with the staff :)
The next couple of days we went on yet another adventure. This time we got to try our 'skills' (you know like computer haking skills, bow hunting skills...) at surfing. I didn't know what to expect at all. I just thought oh it will be easy, but it wasn't. We went during the cold water classic which was pretty sweet. There were pro surfers, surfing it up, and were making it look easy. We camped out in tofino which was pretty legit. Yeah we did camp out during the hiking trip, but this was a little better because we were allowed to have campfires. Now on to surfing. We got to enjoy a beautiful sunny day for surfing. We put our wetsuits and got our boards and we were ready to go. The waves were nice but because there was so many of us it was pretty cramped. I went on my stomach a couple times and was having a hard time with it. By the end of the day i could "surf" on my knees and stood up for like a second! YAY. After surfing it was just a time of relaxing around the fire. During our devotional, Jim told us that by letting people share a story we can better relate to that person. So Michael gave it a shot for the first time. It was sweet because we were able to know Michael better and it gave us a chance to encourage him.
The second day of surfing was a lot funner than the second. Although the waves were not as good, I was able to stand up on my board! It was such an awesome accomplishment. My goal was to stand up on the board and I was finally able to do it. Surfing was a workout tho. I was so tired and sore by the end of the day. It was a good tired though. Lately I've been feeling very tired, so it was a good time just to enjoy God's creation and just do something I've never done before. I also got to see three awesome people in Tofino. Those being the two awesome livingstones, Melissa and Kari, and the other was the BIRD. :) I love seeing people from the summer because it is so awesome to know what there up to. The staff were so amazing this summer so it was refreshing to see them.
During the weekend I got the chance to serve at the women's retreat. I was helping out in a lot of areas, maintenance, dishpit, and the good ol challenge course! woot woot. It was really good to help out. I have to admit I did have a negative attitude going into it, but what Jay told us really stuck with me. It was a mission trip, just one that was in my backyard. It was pretty sweet because I got to work with year round staff and build relationships with them. I didnt get to make it to church this weekend which was kind of a bummer, and I didnt get to help out with Kidstown but it was okay because i was helping out with the ministry of Qwanoes.
Welp, this week we've got Sid Koop here to teach us about camp ministry. So until then, latter days.
ps. Raisins ruin everything!
pps. Wool socks are probably the best thing I brought to Kaleo!
10/10/10
I'm On A Boat
Another week in the adventurous year of Kaleo gone bye. This weeks special focus, a 130 foot, wait for it, BOAT!! Not once in a million years did I expect to find myself on a sailboat. I was so pumped to become a pirate! Swabbing the deck and all. We had an amazing opportunity to go sailing with a ministry called S.A.L.T.S. I dont remember what it means but it was sweet. I didn't really know what to expect going into it at all. I was thinking it was going be so boring. The question that kept popping up in my head was, what I'm i going do on a 130 foot boat for 5 days? It's going to be so boring, but I was wrong. Everyone was split into watches, 3 groups of people who would essentially run the boat. The boat had 5 crew members who were just awesome people to know. I loved the simplicity of living on a boat. We slept in the bottom and ate down there as well. There was no getting away from people on this trip. haha. As much fun as sailing may sound it was an awesome opportunity for our group to get connected. We had the chance to talk with people that we wouldn't always gotten the chance to. God blessed us with amazing weather on the boat. only once did we have rain and that was on the last day.
We were split into watches so i got to know some more people on a deeper level. The watches would rotate throughout the day and each day was different. One of my favourite things we did with our watch was going onshore with the dories. haha. what an experience that was. everyone thought we were going tip into the cold water. I did have a chance to go in the water. I was the FIRST one to go off the rope swing that the crew attached. hoisting sails was also a new experience. It was hard work but so good. one thing I wish happend was to go faster with the sails up.
What I loved most about the trip was being away from the familiarity. We were sailing on the ocean! It really gave me a good glimpse of God's creation. Seeing porpoises also was so sweet. I'm not used to ocean or mountains so to be in BC I really see God's beauty. I loved just hanging out with people and hearing there stories. There is just such an amazing opportunity to grow as a group. I don't really know whats happening this year, but i believe I am building a relationship with God through class and through sweet out trips. Its going be a year of growth and im so pumped.
We were split into watches so i got to know some more people on a deeper level. The watches would rotate throughout the day and each day was different. One of my favourite things we did with our watch was going onshore with the dories. haha. what an experience that was. everyone thought we were going tip into the cold water. I did have a chance to go in the water. I was the FIRST one to go off the rope swing that the crew attached. hoisting sails was also a new experience. It was hard work but so good. one thing I wish happend was to go faster with the sails up.
What I loved most about the trip was being away from the familiarity. We were sailing on the ocean! It really gave me a good glimpse of God's creation. Seeing porpoises also was so sweet. I'm not used to ocean or mountains so to be in BC I really see God's beauty. I loved just hanging out with people and hearing there stories. There is just such an amazing opportunity to grow as a group. I don't really know whats happening this year, but i believe I am building a relationship with God through class and through sweet out trips. Its going be a year of growth and im so pumped.
10/3/10
THIS IS FUNNN!!
ahhh. another week in the books. It feels as though I've been here forever, which is semi true from working here all summer. This past week was a new experience for us all. It was our first ever class at Kaleo and to some it was there first ever college class!! Usually I just sat in the back during class but this week i was a keener and sat in the front row. I'm I ever glad i did. Cal, the prof, had amazing wisdom for us. The class was Spiritual Formation, not a very academic class, but a very foundational class none the less. I had spiritual formation last year, but it was amazing to have another prof's insight on the subject. What I learned a lot this week was to take solitude time and just praise God. Yeah, it was just a good week learning from Cal. I found it really awesome that both his TA and him were able to live with us for the week. There is ample opportunity to connect with the profs. We also had chapel everyday which was sweet because in that time everyone has a chance to speak and it just brings our group closer together.
This week I've really learned that I really have to soften my heart. This year is going be a year of grace, growth, and foundation. I've gotten to taste all three of those this week through spiritual formation. During the week i had to do a solitude retreat. It was a chance to spend a lot of quality time alone with God. I was kinda nervous going into it because i was like 20ish hours in solitude how am I going be able to pull that off? But it was really sweet because i learned that i have to really soften my heart and open my ears and eyes to what God is trying to get through to me. I'm excited to have my wall broken down so that I can rebuild it with God at the centre.
Also, during the year, we have been linked up to a Qwanoes full time staff member. We had the chance to meet them and share a night with them. I learned that the person who I'm linked with is also a leafs fan!!! I will even have the chance to watch hockey night in canada. :) It is pretty sweet that we can interact with the staff here and be able to grow alongside them.
With the church I'm with there is a program called Kidstown, which i got to help out with today. Its a ministry which goes into a poor nieghbour hood and puts on a vbs type dealio. it was a chance to hang out with kids and just build a relationship with the poor. It is an area in which im used to. Last year I would go out with a program with my school in downtown hamilton to build community. Now i get to do the same sort of ministry here, which im pretty stoked about. It's just a constant reminder for me that I have been blessed so much in my life.
This week coming up I get to be a pirate alllllll week long as im going sailing! How often do you go to a school with one week classes and get to do all sorts of fun stuff such as hiking and sailing? :) I'm so pumped. until then, later days (unless i get shipwrecked....)
This week I've really learned that I really have to soften my heart. This year is going be a year of grace, growth, and foundation. I've gotten to taste all three of those this week through spiritual formation. During the week i had to do a solitude retreat. It was a chance to spend a lot of quality time alone with God. I was kinda nervous going into it because i was like 20ish hours in solitude how am I going be able to pull that off? But it was really sweet because i learned that i have to really soften my heart and open my ears and eyes to what God is trying to get through to me. I'm excited to have my wall broken down so that I can rebuild it with God at the centre.
Also, during the year, we have been linked up to a Qwanoes full time staff member. We had the chance to meet them and share a night with them. I learned that the person who I'm linked with is also a leafs fan!!! I will even have the chance to watch hockey night in canada. :) It is pretty sweet that we can interact with the staff here and be able to grow alongside them.
With the church I'm with there is a program called Kidstown, which i got to help out with today. Its a ministry which goes into a poor nieghbour hood and puts on a vbs type dealio. it was a chance to hang out with kids and just build a relationship with the poor. It is an area in which im used to. Last year I would go out with a program with my school in downtown hamilton to build community. Now i get to do the same sort of ministry here, which im pretty stoked about. It's just a constant reminder for me that I have been blessed so much in my life.
This week coming up I get to be a pirate alllllll week long as im going sailing! How often do you go to a school with one week classes and get to do all sorts of fun stuff such as hiking and sailing? :) I'm so pumped. until then, later days (unless i get shipwrecked....)
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