October 25, 2009

This week at Kaleo was a very slow week. There wasnt a whole lot of stuff that we did. It was a pretty relaxed week overall but for me this was a very good thing. I was very behind on my homework and I was able to catch up a lot. I was also able to catch up on some bible reading. This is something that I have been struggling with lately, spending some quality time with God. I have been working to try to view spending extra time with God as a blessing and not as a duty. The only thing that we actaully did this week was our Hermeneutics class. I found this class a lot more dry than spiritual formation but still very informative. There was one moment though that was very intense. That would be of course the issue of baptism. This was a very heated discussion with people argueing about a variety of different things. One side thought that baptism was one of the ways you gained salvation and without it you would be going to hell. The other side thought that it was more of a statement of faith that Christians would simply feel obligated to do. This resulted in a verbal battle that will be talked about in legend forever. On friday I went to work at my youth group which was awesome. Except we were really late for our spagetti dinner that started at 5:30. But I still had a lot of fun hanging out with my kids.Overall it was a relaxed week but a week that I got a lot of work done in. See you next week, same bat time same bat channel. BYE

October 19, 2009

This week at Kaleo was not as eventful as some but it was still pretty fun. We were supposed to have gone on our surfing trip over the week but it was cancelled because of the weather. Instead of that we went on our caving adventure. This was extremely fun, we got to explore all around in these pitch black caves and climb all over the place. It was just one more opportunity here to be amazed at God's creation. Not to even mention the spiders in there! After our caving we went to coombs farmers market to do some shopping. This place was awesome too, there were lots of cool stores and goats on the roof of one of the buildings! Then we got to go swimming at this crazy pool. It was awesome there, they had steamrooms, saunas, slides and diving boards. I had a really great time there.
On thursday night we had a really cool time as well. It was DDG night (Ditch the Guys/Girls). The first thing we did was go skating and played hockey. I thought this was really fun even though I was terrible at it. It was a good place for us guys to bond. Then we headed for ladysmith park and had some crazy fun there too playing grounders and making epic videos. Once we were done out and about we went over to Jims house where he treated us to the best/most manly meal ever...Steak! It was an amazing meal and just a great time for all us guys to get closer.
On the weekend I was working in the kitchen to help with the womens retreat. I can't really say that this was fun. But considering that it was work, cooking was a pretty good way to spend my time. It was kind of fun serving for one of our guest groups though. Overall it was another action packed week.

October 12, 2009

Hey peeps, this week most of our time was taken up on our sailing adventure with SALTS. We rode on the Pacific Grace, a 138 foot sail boat. It was an amazing experience from the very start. We left from Victoria harbour on monday morning and got back on friday at around 3. We didnt have a real plan for where we were going to. We sailed all around to various islands and sailed on the open sea. To get to these islands we rode on the most fun boats ever, the dories. They were super unstable and it was so fun listening to matthew scream "Pan Pan" repeatedly. I really thought that this trip helped me to grow spiritually a lot too. Worshipping in the hold with everyone and sharing stuff about ourselves was a great experience to grow as a christian and to grow closer together as friends and a community. The games we played at night also helped us to grow closer together. Especially while playing TNT, in which "WE BROKE HISTORY". I also had some good quiet time to read the bible and memorize some verses. I found it was a very good place to concentrate on God, out in the ocean where there are no distractions. Then this weekend I went home and had thanksgiving with my family and friends. I had a fun time visiting with everyone but I found it very strange going from a completely christian environment to an almost completely non-christian environment. I had a really great experience on the ferry ride over though. I had nothing to do so I took out my bible and read for a while, then i prayed and listened to worship music. It was a really great experience with God for those 2 hours on the ferry. Overall it was a really great week. Until next time, BYEBYE

Monday, October 5, 2009

So its been a busy week here at kaleo. most of our free time was taken up by Marv Penner's spiritual formation class. I really enjoyed this class a lot, it was really easy for the most part but i learned a lot of stuff about myself and about God in the process. One of the main things that I leanred from this class is how to identify my own sin better. I also learned about a variety of spiritual disciplines and how they can help you to grow in your faith. One of the best practises i leaned this week from Marv was the discipline of Medidtation. I thought that reading the bible and soaking it up and relaxing and thinking about God was great. It just really helped to put me into a thoughful mindset. Also this week we went to lunch after church at the Zilstra's house. They were really cool people and were very generous with their house and their food! Going to peoples houses after church is one of the things I am enjoying most in this ministry. I am learning to get more sensitive to God and to become more sensitive and really aware when he is trying to speak to me. This week we also had the most amazing dance party of all time. It was hilarious watching some quieter people go crazy on the dance floor. My team got third which I thought was pretty solid, (we probs should have won). It was a really fun night hanging out and getting to know people better. Now I am just getting ready to go on my SALTS trip. until next time blog, PCE.