Weird week guys, really.

Hey everyone,

Well this week was a simple week of hanging out. I have been working on my final papers for the semester and I am highly anticipating coming home for the first time in five months. And by home I mean PEI where I have never lived before.

So apart from homework I also had my final youth group of 2009 at Warmland. We had a x-mas party with an "ugly x-mas sweater" theme. In preparation my fellow Kaleos and I baked x-mas cookies and bought ugly x-mas sweaters at a thrift store. The party on Wednesday had rock-band, mario-cart, snacks, coloring and some prime hanging out times. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time with all the boys. Surprisingly they spent more time at the coloring table than anywhere else. I am hoping to hang out with them one more time before x-mas break. I also want to keep in contact with them over x-mas break.

On Thursday afternoon eighteen Kaleos and three out of four leaders took off for a youth workers convention happening in Vancouver. I decided to stay back and get some homework done. What I didn't realize is how much fun it is to do things in small groups. I have been used to doing everything with thirty other people but this week end there has only been ten of us. We have been hanging out in Victoria and Duncan, baking crepes and watching movies together. It has been a great time and I have gotten to know the other people here so much better. While it would have been fun to go to Vancouver, I have been loving the time here. I haven't done as much homework as I would have liked to but it has been a worthwhile time anyhow.

I just need prayer for a couple of things. Everyone is flying home and so prayers that God will protect us and get us home with no problems would be great. I also have to put a lot thought into my post-Kaleo plans. I still need prayer for guidance, wisdom and maturity in making these decisions. Thank you all for supporting me this semester and I can't wait for the second half fo the year. Cheers,

Tim

CHUCHY CHURCHY CHURCH CHURCH

CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH CHURCH. Guess what we studied this week? yep, math. Oh I gotcha. This week was foundations in church ministry. It was a sweet class. The Prof was David Ernst and he did a great job of making the class interactive. It made the class so much more interesting. I have always had many thoughts and frustrations regarding churches in north america and the north american Christian. Many of these were addressed and there a lot of scripture put behind it all which was really refreshing. We didn't have homework in the evenings either so it was a much slower pace than normal.

Youth groups was a little slow this week. Not many kids showed up and there were a bunch of leaders missing. We tried to talk to the boys but they weren't into it. We still hung out for a bit and it was a fun time. I did get to hang out with four of them on Saturday though. Matt Myles and myself along with a couple other people went into town and I invited four youth group kids along. We went to booster juice which was heavenly. Then we went to Bill and Ted's which is a skate/snowboard/surf shop. We just chilled there while some people did some shopping and one of the kid's step dads is co-owner so I got meet him which was really good. Then we went to a music store and I got mess around on an old mexi-strat and a vintage deluxe tele. (guitar lingo) I also bought some much needed picks. To end it all off we stopped by a McDonalds on the way home. It was a fun trip of just hanging out with the kids. It is fun hanging out with these kids. They are really cool and aren't little punks once you get to know them. Looking forward to youth this week, x-mas party full of ugly x-mas sweaters and Rockband.

All that is left for homework this semester is a couple of essays. Pray for me to finish off the first half of Kaleo strong. I am also trying to figure out some details for post-Kaleo life so pray that God directs me and makes the best path clear.

Cheers,

Tim

Reading, reading...tunes?

Hey everyone,

I have had a great week. We had a 24/7 week of prayer. It was a really cool experience a lot good things were written down and thrown all over the walls of our prayer room. The times of prayer coupled with the book "What's So Amazing About Grace" made for some really cool growth this week.

I had a really cool time with the boys at youth group this week. There were some non-regulars and kids who weren't diggin the whole youth group scene. We started off with some games that night and there were these two kids there standing out side the door. Their friends were inside playing games and laughing but they stayed outside because they didn't want to be a part of the activities, they just wanted to chill with friends. I went over to them and got them inside. We sat at the back during the talk and I tried my best to keep them quiet. They were giving me a bit of a hard time but all that I could think of that night was one word, grace. I had been reading about it and even experiencing all week and wanted to make it practical. No deep progress was made with those boys that night. I found out that they thought our youth tried to convert them and they preferred the other youth group where they just play games. I am starting to gain an understanding of what these guys are like but this will take time. It was good just to sit and chill for a few minutes.

I had to leave the two new boys to go to my small group discussion. They boys in our group were especially rowdy that night. They were making jokes, defying any instruction we gave them and not even trying to pay attention. My leaders and I were growing short of patience but one word kept running through my head, grace. I sat there just listening to the boys for a few minutes waiting for an idea of what to do while the other leaders struggled to maintain a focused conversation. I knew that we were wasting time and I wanted to make use of it. Finally one boy, trying to justify the actions of the group, gave me my window of opportunity. His words were, "We're guys, we're supposed to be idiots." I confronted them right there. I asked them why they thought that and who told them this was the truth. After a few more attempts to continue the chaos, the boys finally settled down and listened. I was able to talk to them about being a respectable man of God and about sticking to what you believe in. They boys sat for ten minutes straight taking it in. The words spoke of more truth than I could ever compose and God was able to say something really cool to these guys through me.

That night was also one the boys birthday. I promised him that I would take him into town and buy him a birthday booster juice. I got the chance to just hang out with Stevie G., this boy and his friend for a few hours and it was so cool. I had a sick time and I could tell they did too. I am trying to hangout with these guys more because I am starting to see past their little show into the young men they are growing up to be. Apart from just being fun, these guys seem to have some serious questions and I can't wait to see how the next little while allows me to hang out with these guys and get to know them even more.

I would ask that you pray for myself and the rest of Kaleo as we are in the midst of Church ministry class. The work load is easing up a bit since x-mas is just around the corner but we still need to get plenty of stuff done. Also pray for the boys in my youth. God's opening up some cool doors so just pray that they don't shut me off but they embrace the chance to ask some tough questions. Alright, well have a good week everyone.

Cheers,

Tim

The Old Testament

Hello everyone,

Just filling you all in on the last week. We spent the entire week doing a study of the OT and breaking down the main stories. Everything from creation to the exodus to the judges to King David to the exile to the major prophets right up to the minor prophets. It was so interesting to hear Don Taylor speak about the stories. He provided so much background information and gave so might insight to each story, making connections between characters and events all over the OT. I really enjoyed this class.

The other major part of this week was the creative assignment. Our entire class had to make a movie of sorts encompassing the whole OT. I was chosen as one of four directors. Our job was to divide the work load and make sure the whole project happened. The class wasn't getting marked on the final product but how well we worked together on it. There was some crazy times in the creative process. We had to rethink the process a few times. Sometimes being directors felt more like being a parent than anything else, but everyone's enthusiasm and excitement was much appreciated. Our group decided on a movie trailer theme. There were twelve main themes, each with it's own trailer and genre.

Since we were in class from 9am-4:30pm and because of a few nightly Kaleo events we had very little time to film. We ended up staying up all night on Wednesday to get it all done. This was the director's decision but almost everyone took it pretty well. We ended up having a lot of fun that night. The next night Trent stayed up all night editing the movie. People were woken up in the middle of the night to help him but he definitely ran the show that night. Our movie turned out to be pretty hilarious. Everyone put in a good effort and it turned out great.

I was talking with my roommate last night and he helped me realize that this past week was a really good week of enjoying Kaleo. The teaching, the project, the amount of fun and memories made, all of it was so much fun. Sometimes it seems like Kaleo is actually pretty hard and a lot of work. Especially when God is taking you some turbulent times, life can seem kind of burdensome, but weeks like this last one are such a rest from that. There was still a lot of work involved but there was so much fun too. This kind of fun is different too. It's not the "I am riding a wave" or the "I am sitting on top of a ship" kind of fun but just fun because of the friends and all the hanging out time and hilarious moments. This week drew people together quite a bit. It was so cool to see that happen.

Well, this week is 24/7 prayer week and I have some high hopes for what will happen. Can't wait to tell you all what God does this week. Also we are almost at x-mas break. It will be so good to get home and see the family for the first time 5 months. Well have a good week everyone, pray for us here at Kaleo, we'll probably be praying for all of you.

Cheers,

Tim

Crash

Hey there friends,

it hasn't been all that long since my last post since I was late but I do have something to talk about. This weekend I was counseling at the junior high retreat. I was co-counseling with Patrick and we have 7 boys in all. They were very quiet but also very cool. We played games and had Q-towns. I didn't get to spend very much time with my boys during Q-town seeing as how I was playing guitar (big thanks to Trent fro letting me use his gear). It was still lots of fun and brought back many memories of the summer.

Chris was the speaker this weekend and he shared a lot on making a difference in our world. He challenged the kids to first off see the garbage and wrong in our world and then to figure out what we can do about it. Here he made an interesting point. He brought up the story of how Jesus fed the five thousand. He pointed out the little boy and the disciple who brought him to Jesus. This disciple had very little to bring and he didn't try to make it work but rather brought it before Jesus and expected Jesus to make it work. This is what we need to do. It's not about thinking that we can make a difference, it's about realizing that if we offer what little we have to Jesus, he can do some incredible things, he can make all the difference. Society has this infatuation with the power of the human spirit. People like athletes, artists, politicians, celebrities and people who have survived serious illness are all praised for having determination and strong spirits that ultimately overcame their own problems. While these stories are inspiring and these people have incredible spirits, this attitude is not enough to solve the big problems. These people made a difference but not one of eternal significance, one day these stories will be forgotten. When the world changes, when eternal changes are made is when God intervenes. It is when we offer up ourselves and what little we have that God uses us to orchestrate incredible solutions or changes. The power in changing the world lies entirely with in God's power and when he make ourselves available to be used, He is more than willing to use us. This is where we can find hope for our world, not in the resilience or determination of the human spirit but in the willingness of God to use us to rid this world of evil.

Yeah, totally just a thought put on my heart I guess. I would ask that you all pray for the church in North America and that we truly learn what it means to make ourselves totally available for God's work. Also pray for us Kaleos, that we learn to become God's servants in this way and that we learn how to help make servants like these. Thanks everyone.

Cheers,

Tim

Oh no! I am late!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the late post this week. Reading break has thrown everything off. Lots to tell you. First off I went surfing last week. It was incredible. The first day we went was super windy and the surf was terrible but what did I know, so to me it was great. I was a little worried about the cold, you know, swimming in the ocean in October and all. Where I am from, that is called stupid but here they have wet suits so once my hands went numb I was pretty much warm all over. There were only two head injuries and I wasn't one of them so I guess my first day went alright. The next day was so much better! The surf was cleaner, there was no wind, I even started to crouch and ride across some waves. I cannot wait to go again! Favorite trip so far this year.

After the fun of surfing was over I had to return to my studies. But before I could get too much work done, some former Kaleos came from Briercrest on their reading break. They were all super cool but one of them was my good friend Rob. He was the one who told me about Kaleo and what not so and I hadn't had time to visit with him for a very long while. He and the others ended up coming surfing with us so we got to hang out lots. It was really good to catch up and compare his Kaleo to mine.

After that I had to buckle down and do some work. I wrote a heart paper and some other small assignments. Then My friend from the east coast came to visit so I was on the mainland visiting friends all weekend. I had a bit of a tired time seeing as how I had to stay up until 4am to finish my work early so I could go away for reading break. It okay though, this is university so I expected to do that a few times along the way.

I am back now and getting ready for Old Testament which starts next week. Keep praying for my little brain so it can soak up all this stuff and process it. Also pray for my little heart so it can do the same. I am really grateful for all the prayers.

Cheers,

Tim

Hermeneutized???

Bonjour toute le monde,

Je pense que je vais ecrit cet entree en francais, oh wait I cant write French and many of you don't read it, lets try English.

If that was confusing then you can understand this past week for me. Hermeneutics is a deep class with a lot of information and I believe people are correct when they say it is more appreciated when you have some time to digest it. I have been digesting a lot lately. We have an assignment for Spiritual Formation dealing with what Proverbs says about the heart. I am proud to say that with one week left to write a 6 page paper I have a thesis. It was a long arduous process but it forced me to think through some cool stuff about the heart and I have memorized a pile of scripture through it so it was definitely a time of confusion for the better.

This past week at youth group was pretty fun. The boys in our group actually had some questions and we were able to share a better understanding of each other. I am coming to the realization that these kids know very little about God and the bible and I can see the huge potential for them to find a passion for learning more. They ask what seem to be kind of simple questions but really these are just the first steps. Very cool opportunities arising in the future.

On the topic of church, today Bob, Matt and myself were scheduled to lead the grade 5 to 8 Sunday school group. We got to share some cool stuff about how God just want them to know him, sang a couple tunes, played some games and ate a pile of oreos. Always a good time. It's cool to see such a sweet dynamic of kids brought up with a faith and kids who are so completely new to the whole Christianity scene.

This week we are heading out surfing! Or at least to the place where surfing takes place. I hear that our experience will be dependent on the weather and size of the surf. Apparently the surf has been reported around 9 meters! A little big for beginners but there is a world class surf competition going on while we are there so we will get to see some of the best surfing in the world, pretty stoked on that.

I would ask that people be praying for the Warmland youth, that the kids there would hunger to know Christ, that they would keep asking good questions, that we would get some sweet opportunities to share the story of God and Jesus with them and that we continue to become good friends with these kids. Also pray for myself and all Kaleos as we have some big deadlines coming up, pray for diligence, focus, rest and productive thought. Pray for our trip, for safety, good surfing, warm beds, sweet bonding time and for God to reveal more of himself to us here at Kaleo. Too give praise and thanks to God for Kaleo, for all that we are learning and for all that is to come.

God bless,

Tim

Hey everyone,

So this last week was not quite what I have expected. We were scheduled for some surfing but as it turned out the weather did not permit. As a result we had some different adventures. Caving, shopping and swimming. Very fun times had by all.

Youth this week was pretty cool too, kids just messing around. It's a bit of a struggle connecting with some of the kids beyonds a "goofing around" level. Hopefully in time I can start to see their hearts soften a bit.

Yeah, this week I have developed many theological and spiritual questions. The mix of hermeneutics prep work, spiritual formation post work and time to just sit and think some stuff through has opened up some great conversations and trains of thought. I huge prayer request for me right now is for clarity. Things can get jumbled up pretty easy and a clarified sense of thinking would be great as I dive in this week with hermeneutics. God is moving in some very confusing ways in my life. I guess the first step to understanding more is becoming utterly confused first.

I appreciate all your prayers and please write letters, postcards or send off emails.

God bless,

Tim

SALTS

Bonjour amigos,

I guess I am felling multi-cultural today. Well a lot has gone down in a week. Perhaps one of the coolest experiences of my life happened this week, and it didn't even pivot around Switchfoot! Weird I know. This past week I had the privilege of spending five days on 120 foot tall ship called the Pacific Grace. It was so cool. We left last Monday from Victoria and sailed north through some of the islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

On the ship, myself and the 27 other Kaleos were divided into three groups, mine was called Starboard watch. Each group cycled through the different responsibilities on the ship. The crew only had 5 people so they needed our help to even move the ship. Our jobs varied from steering the ship, to being on watch for other ships and things in the water as well as man over boards, or washing dishes. When ever we hoisted or let down the sails that required everyone. We also had lessons every day on sailing stuff like navigation, knots, parts of the ship and so on.

While that sounds like we were just worked hard the truth is there was s much hang out time. We also had a couple days of sweet trips to these islands. We would lower the dories into the water and row ashore. One island had some great apple trees, the other had some sick abandoned houses. We also had mug-up times in the evenings. After supper we would all gather and have tuck n' tidy competitions between the guys and the girls where we had to clean the sleeping quarters and make some sweet presentation to impress the judges. Let it be known here that the guys, for the first time in Kaleo history, won this contest. Woot. Then after cleaning we would play games on the ship. Our favorite was this game called camouflage, a weird version of hide and seek. Then we would go below deck into the hold where we would sing songs and have a snack. Then we had our devotional time led by one of the Kaleo leaders. The crew were super awesome too, they had some great stories and the skipper, Tony, had a sweet beard, like five inches from all sides of his face, super nice guy too.

My favorite part of this trip was divided into two memories. The first was sitting 75 feet up on top of the mast. The solitude up there was so good for being on a small boat with forty people for five days. I seemed to meet God up there in a way. I had this one view on the last day of the city on one side of the channel and the mountains on the other. I laughed at how good God is at making beautiful things and how much people suck at it.

My other favorite part was spending night watch with Jim Badke. Night watch is when we each got up in the middle of the night in pairs and made sure the boat wasn't drifting at night while everyone slept. Usually it is just sitting there with someone and talking and so I loved it. Got to know some people in really cool ways but this one night with Jimbad was especially cool. We talked about some really cool stuff. I won't reveal all the contents of this personal conversation but the one thing that I really took away from it was the point of salvation. I don't believe that salvation comes through our decision to "accept Jesus into our hearts" because that would be us saving ourselves in a way. Ephesians say that we are called out by God and therefore is all his doing, truth be told I find more comfort in his saving abilities than mine anyway. The question is at what point am I saved. That one decision at the emotional worship service during a youth retreat isn't enough to transform us. Paul frequently talks about how transformation is a process and not an experience. Then Jimbad pointed out to me that Paul told Timothy to learn from the lives of people and to become convinced over time. I don't know yet.

This is my current theological/spiritual struggle. I really appreciate all the prayers and support. This week is just hanging out until class next week so pray for rest and that I get my homework done. Happy Thanksgiving,

Na (Tim)

Kids

Hey there everyone.

Another post here for you all. Had an incredible time in my first class which was spiritual formation. A lot of stuff to digest and think through. A lot of growing started though, so I am pumped for more classes and piecing it all together.

This morning I was at my church Warmland and I was in the kids program during the service for the first time. I had a blast with these kids! I was running games. I had three different groups come through, the oldest kids, the youngest kids and then the middle ones. The oldest kids were a little hyper to the point where the games just broke down. My favorite was the little kids. We just played freeze tag and they loved it. They ran in circles even if no one was chasing them. I one little boy, Adden, grab my finger, thinking he was it, and we chased people for a solid ten minutes straight. If he had let go he would have caught everyone but he just wanted to hold onto my finger. After the whole thing was over they were still running around. I was chasing this little boy named Noah. We ran and ran and ran for at least six or seven minutes straight. Then, suddenly he stopped, his smile turned into a thoughtful face and he said, "I think I am tired now." Just like that.

The joy these kids had really spoke to me. Adden just grabbed onto my hand and ran even though we had literally just met. It made me wonder where I lost that spirit. I think too that God wants us to have that spirit. He wants us to just grab onto his finger and run, taking joy in the fact we are with him. Even though it may seem like we can sometimes reach our goals faster with out him, to want to run with him is far better.

Tomorrow morning we take off for our S.A.L.T.S trip. We will be on a boat for five days straight. I am so pumped to get out there and have a sweet adventure. Be praying for me for safety and that I am able to soak in all the cool stuff the God is showing me. God bless, T.E.

The prelude

Hey Everyone,

As part of my school program I am making this blog to inform you all of my experiences here at Kaleo. I hope you read and enjoy following my year with me as I hope to share what God is doing in my life and how he is doing it.

The Church I am at for the year is called Warmland Community Church. This past sunday was my first sunday. I went in early to help with setup. The sunday morning service is done at the local community centre so every sunday morning a few key people arrive early to set up the chairs and sound system. I really liked the concept of a church setting up because the temptation of calling the church a building is so much smaller. It is way easier to see the people who make up the church, the followers and the newcomers. The service as well was run differently than I had normally seen. It started off with the message then went to the music. I just enjoy the switch up after struggling so long with church formality and identity markers.

Tonight I just got back from the first middle school youth group. It was cool because the kids knew the returning leaders really well and were very accepting if you were willing to get in there. We mostly just played around and did name games tonight but I can see so many great opportunities for the year to come. I can't wait to hang out with these kids and just have some sweet fun.

Well, my first set of classes start next tuesday so I will have much more to say but until then, Au revoir.