let's view the world through Jesus' eyes

Christian world view baby! This class was a blast - minus the bad cold that I started out with in the beginning of the week. Unfortunately Sunday night - after a crazy weekend of camp and church ministry- I felt a bad cold coming on. After a long night of being wide awake and feeling sick the Christian worldview class was staring me boldly in the face, and lets just say I wasn't feeling it. I went to the doc on Monday afternoon with some of the beautiful kaleo ladies and got myself some lovely antibiotics, which I must admit took their precious time to work. I missed some of the first day of class, but I must say the idea of figuring out how to view the world as a follower of Christ did indeed fascinate me. I loved our professor! Cal Macfarlane was incredible! He was incredibly understanding of me being sick, and I completely enjoyed the way that he walked our class through forming a Christian worldview. I had never taken the time to realize the impact that all of the influences of the world have had on me. I have been formed and changed to fit along with many patterns of the world, and Cal's class encouraged me to reconsider much of what I have learned to be truth in our individualistic culture. I want to see the world as Jesus sees it. Good Friday was a great day - we had chapel in the morning and prayed and talked about the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross - I loved reflecting on this. In the afternoon - unfortunately the power went out - but we still wrote our final exam, it was a good time. On Saturday we went over to Salt Spring Island and looked around. It is a beautiful Island with many small tourist stores - I enjoyed our time over there and being on the ferry. That night we watched the Passion of the Christ and I was absolutely blown away by the love of Jesus. I wept as I watched my savior take the sin of the world upon himself and place himself in direct line with his Father's wrath. The wrath of God is a scary concept and Jesus took it all when he died on the cross. I was so thankful. I could not have woken up more thankful on Sunday morning that Christ is risen! He is alive! I love that Jesus is alive!

Toe FEENS!

This week we went to Tofino where we went surfing again! The trip was so much fun - I enjoyed it more because I knew what to expect, where we were staying, what surfing would be like, etc. I tend to worry about these things too often when we go on trips and such. On the drive there I was blessed to be sitting in the front of a van (because I tend to get awfully sick on BC highways - not nice and straight like those of Saskatchewan:) beside Kristie (student life leader), and I totally enjoyed visiting with her. The drive there was stunning - I loved all of the pretty sights and we stopped at Cathedral grove where there are tons of beautiful old trees that are massive, Coombs (a cute little tourist town) and at a gorgeous waterfall. Once we arrived we all unpacked our things and explored the town. It was fun to hang out with everyone and be in Tofino BC, what a beautiful place. The next day we went on a hike to a lovely beach and hung out there for a while on the rocks watching the waves, this was very relaxing and gave me some good time to spend with the Lord. Later that day WE WENT SURFING - WAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I had so much fun surfing the waves with everyone. I ended up just playing in the waves but it was a really good time. THis weekend I am planning on working at the juniors retreat, and participating in the Cobbel Hill Baptist Church Sunday service by leading worship as well as the Bridge in the evening. We have also been getting rides to Youth every Friday this semester and it has been so nice to get to know everyone better from the church.

DITCH THE BAD BOYS / GO BOARDING!

So, the beautiful Kaleo ladies were able to get rid of the pesky boys and have a little lady time, which can be much needed from time to time in this crazy Kaleo life that we live. So we, the girls, took off in the lovely chev at about three ocklock on Tuesday and headed on in to Duncan where we hit up the Safeway there to purchase some yummy snacks! We took our snacks to the youth building at New Life and just hung out and visited with one another, this time was so special! We all shared food and the best part was the fellowship.. no thats not true - it was the food :) After that we went to an aerobics class where we all worked it out! It was so much fun - I absolutely loved working out to a fun groove with all of my Kaleo ladies! After we had all burned off some of the calories that we had just taken in at the youth building at new life - we went on to the guest house where we made personal pizzas for ourselves - SOOOO GOOD! and so much fun to. Special thanks to our dear cook Laura who came along and helped us with all this and with all of the food. We had an amazing night chatting and laughing and hanging out there and slept over there. The next morning we had some quiet time and then headed back to the lodge. On Thursday we went snow boarding! I loved it - the sun was shining and the snow conditions were excellent!

Matthew Mark Luke John - hear the good news and pass it on!

Gospels baby! Loved loved loved this class! Wes Olmstead flew on out from the beautiful, sunny, gorgeous, stunning, lovely, breath taking, heart stopping, incredibly exhilarating plains of Saskatchewan to teach us about the life and times of Jesus - fascinating. The first question that Wes asked was, "Who is Jesus". I found it interesting that he said a lot of first year classes will say that Jesus is the savior, Messiah, King - but they often neglect to list the characteristics that characterize Jesus as a man. Jesus is a Nazarine, a Jew, Jesus is a Galilean, a human. We often think of Jesus as God - and there is no doubt that Jesus is God, but unfortunately we neglect to think of Jesus as a human - and he was completely human. Wes' class spanned from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon - the seven hour days were long and tiring, but truly eternally of great worth. I LOVED listening to this man pour truth over our class - one line that he often repeated that spoke to my heart was that we as Christians need to, "Bear fruit worthy of repentance." I have been spending much time in prayer trying to figure out exactly what it means to bear that kind of fruit that Jesus demands of his followers. Wes brought with him from Saskatchewan an intern named Karis and her husband Josh. I loved talking with them and listening to their life advice! They were a true blessing and Karis did a wonderful job teaching the class during the sections that she did. I was reminded through this class the high cost of following Christ - of being his disciple. And that Jesus did not come to earth to make believers but to make disciples.

Reading Break!

So - after the Olympic fun, it was time for reading break! It was such a blessing that I was able to find a seat sale heading straight for Saskatoon during our reading break so I was able to go home and see my family! I was definitely feeling the need for a break - and although it wasn't real restful, it was definitely refreshing to be home. I was able to see many people who are very important in my life. I loved the fact that when Sunday rolled around and it was time for me to come back to Kaleo - I was ready. I am truly loving the way that God is blessing me this semester with joy at kaleo. I really don't like flying and let's just say, it felt like some long flights to me, but God was faithful in taking care - as he always is. Sunday night I flew back in and I was attacked in the air port! By my two beautiful roommates Haley, and Nicole. They took me down and I am pretty sure that some people standing around were ready to call security, but the tussle ended pretty quickly and no permanent damage was done. It was Nicoles birthday so we headed out for a night on the town. I loved our night together, and found myself feeling incredible thankful for the friends that God has gifted me with here at Kaleo!

Olympic Update!

Hello!

This is an official Olympic Update!

We began this journey on February 12^th, all 27 of us in the Kaleo course. This experience has been absolutely incredible. I can see God working through and in us all over the place! We have been working long hours (6:00 AM – 4:00 PM) and taking busses in the morning and night to get to and from Whistler Olympic Park. That means that we are waking up at three thirty every morning, and getting back to the church around five thirty. Every day seems to come with new challenges, and there are always new people to meet from all over the world, which has been incredible. The Weather has been phenomenal (around 9 degrees) for this time of year at Whistler and the sun has been gorgeous. Each night after we are all back form our day’s work we all meet together and worship with songs and bible passages and stories from our day. We asked God before this trip to make it clear why we are here – and each one of us has had experiences where God has made it clear that he brought us here for a purpose – which is amazing. We are well known in the workforce at Whistler as “oh that group from the bible college.” It has been so cool to serve along side twenty-six enthusiastic, loving, hard working workers who are there to serve the Lord along with me. I can’t imagine doing this without them. I have developed relationships with many of the other workers and love this great opportunity. God has been astoundingly gracious to me by blessing me with great health, energy, strength, joy, confidence, boldness, patience, and endurance! We are staying at the Baptist church in Squamish where the mountain’s supremacy surrounds us. Each night after work the bus ride home renews my soul with cascading rivers, and mighty mountains topped with white powder that reach as far as the eye can see. The sun is usually setting around this time. I have completely appreciated Jim Badke (Kaleo leader), along with Justin and Marissa (Kaleo interns) who have been leading us through this trip. I am also appreciated Laura Sherwood, our cook, who is staying with us in Squamish to cook for us. We have one week remaining - continue to pray that we would power through this mission of God's!

In God's Time

Time seems to be something I simply cannot get enough of. I feel like I am running behind my own life just trying to catch up. Life has been very busy here and keeping in touch with everyone at home has been a challenge. This past week we had class on Tuesday and on Thursday - Camp Ministry with Jim Badke. I enjoyed these days of class, and learned lots about the Camp Ministry. I was very busy throughout the week applying to Universities and getting all of my transcripts and info sent along with each. I barely made some of the due dates - it felt great to get that out of the way. The week was also very busy with homework, some from Theology of Mission, some from Camp Ministry, and some from Introduction to Theology which we are taking this week. I enjoyed spending time with my roommates this week, one night we went into Duncan and sat at Starbucks and visited - this was such a blessing! On Friday night we had an event here at Qwanoes for all of the youth groups in Cowichan Valley. I was blessed to sing with Russ throughout the evening. It was fun to hang out with the ladies of Cobble Hill and show them where I live and my room and they were able to meet my roommates. This evening was tons of fun. On saturday, we went to play soccer with our youth group in the afternoon, and unfortunately, Justin (intern) and James acquired false information when seeking directions - so lets just say it took a while to get there:) but once we got there, it was lots of fun, I loved hanging out with them and playing soccer. On Sunday, we went to church - and it was a really sweet time of worship and fellowship. It wasn't long before we found ourselves back there for the Bridge. The Bridge was a good mixture of fun and learning. Lech (Pastor) talked to us and the youth about the heart of worship, then we praciticed, then ate supper there (which was amazing!) then the service started at seven. It went very well and some of the Kaleos came too - and that was a huge blessing. I am looking forward to theology this week!

Mount Washington!!!!!

I absolutely loved our week at Mount Washington! I woke up at four in the morning on Monday and realized the power was out! So then I was afraid to go back to sleep because my alarm wouldn't go off. So I listened to the wind and watched the lightening and it was absolutely gorgeous! I reminded of God's power. So my roommates and I got ready in the dark with headlights at four thirty in the morning on Sunday! It was actually a lot of fun, then we went to breakfast in the dark and packed the vans in the dark. Before we left we sang "How Great Is Our God" together in the lobby here and prayed for the week of head. We prayed for safety, fun, learning, and growing. We prayed for God to go ahead of us to Mount Washington to keep us safe and watch over us. we got there around eight on Monday and got our rentals - then hit the slopes, it was absolutely gorgeous. I have never been in the mountains in the winter before and it was stunning! There was lots of fresh powder too, so conditions were favorable. At lunch we all ventured to the Lodge that we were staying in - this lodge was absolutely gorgeous! It was a great big log lodge and had lots of room for everyone. Laura (our cook) and Dave came along to cook for us and the food was delectable all week. Tuesday we did more snowboarding and Wednesday we went snowshoeing. Snowshoeing was way more fun than I expected! We traveled up the mountain on the chair lift and then snoeshoed down in the back country. The snow was gorgeous and it was so much fun to walk through it. We stopped around noon to make snow caves, this was an awesome time too. Unfortunately our Student Life Leader injured her shoulder at this time - so pray for a quick recovery for her. She was taken down the mountain by a ski doo. Wednesday night we went tubing and that was amazing! Thursday and Friday we snowboarded again. Friday was crystal clear and you could see all around from the top of the mountain. I loved basking in God's creation! Each evening we spent time together in "chapel" times. These times were incredible, we sang worship songs and one night we named everyone in our group. Kaleo gave me the name "radiant" - this is a name for me to grow into. we also talked about the ways that we see Jesus in one another - this was a really sweet bonding exercise too. I love that we kept the focus of this trip on Jesus and on the work that he is accomplishing in our group more than anything else. There were even hot tubs in the lodge - this was greatly appreciated as it didn't take me long to be sore from boarding! All in all - God was so good during this week and I am incredibly thankful for that experience. I felt like it changed the dynamic of our group somehow - for the better. This next week we are continuing the Camp Ministry Class with Jim Badke - lots more to learn!

Camp Ministry Begins!

This week we started the Camp Ministry Class! I have been involved in the camp ministry since I was young - and have a heart for this mission of God's. I love the joy that comes along with the good news at camp as the excited campers move into their cabins where God has been things planned! I have experienced many difficult staff situations and found it helpful to hear Jay talk about how to avoid conflict within a staff team. Unity is such a huge part of having a staff team! I enjoyed diving into the dynamics of camp with Jimbad. We did tons of group work which made the days of class really fun. We've also got tons of homework on the go - so that's been busy. I told my testimony on Friday morning. Everyone in Kaleo shares their testimonies so that we can understand and know each other better. I was kind of nervous to do this, but found it incredible to share my life with these amazing 26 friends that God has blessed me with. At Cobbel Hill we are now doing the Bridge, which is an evening service done by the youth of Cobble Hill. It was awesome to dive into that and enjoy hanging out with the youth there. I am excited to see that continue throughout the year! Sunday night was busy with packing for Mount Washington - here we come snowboarding!!

It feels good to be settling back into the Kaleo community here on the Island! last week we started the second semester with a class called "The Theology of Mission", taught by Professor Tim Stabell. He was a wonderful professor who had tons of experience in the mission field so he brought SO MUCH to the class and to this place. I was reminded of the importance of the Great Commission and how each of us, as followers of Christ are called to bring others into the wonderful light of Jesus. The class explored the call of Mission from Genesis all the way to Revelation. I loved this class! We then proceeded to Missions Fest which was in Vancouver on Friday. The sessions were amazing and I loved the worship! We got there Friday evening and heard Will Graham speak, who had some great things to say once he got into his bible. We then drove to a small church in Vancouver where we slept! It was such a blessing to have such a nice place to stay! It was really fun hanging out with the girls there too! I love our sleepovers like that. We went to sessions all day on Saturday and went to downtown Vancouver for lunch, I'd never been there before. It was beautiful! I loved it. The sky train was fun! On Sunday morning some of us led worship in the church we had been staying in. This was such an amazing opportunity and true blessing! It was fun to fellowship and worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this Baptist church in Vancouver. Good to meet people and talk about our big God! Unfortunately on the ferry ride on the way home from Vancouver, there was a medical emergency so we had to turn the ferry around and the ride ended up being very long, but I enjoyed being with everyone, it was lots of fun! I loved the prayer times and good talks that I was blessed with throughout the weekend! THis next week, we are starting the camp ministry class with Jim Badke! I am looking forward to all God has for us to learn during this class!