Last Blog

Hey Everyone,

THIS IS MY LAST BLOG! AND I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING BUT NO THE WORLD WILL NOT END EVEN IF I AM NOT BLOGGING, LIFE WILL GO ON, DON'T LOSE HOPE!

This past week was our last official week of youth. We played games with cereal, ate some cake and just hung out. It was fun and I will mis the kids. In all reality I will be dropping by next week because some of the kids weren't there this past week and I need to see them before I go. I would like to take this time to say that my youth kids are incredible. I am hoping big things for them. I would also like to say that Stevie G. is an incredible guy, serving his butt off for these kids and I really hope and pray that he continues to see these kids change for the better.

Here I am at the end of Kaleo and I feel like I am ready to leave. Let me be clear. I am in no way anxious to leave, I am not looking forward to leave, I am not sitting around waiting to go home. I will sincerely miss Kaleo and everyone of my family members here. I do feel that everything, all of our learning, our friendships and the overall Kaleo experience is wrapping up with very few if any loose ends. WE have been preparing to leave, even though it is really hard and so I don't feel like there will be any regrets from Kaleo.

It has been an amazing year. Being in the Crofton Community, being at camp, working with the Qwanoes staff and being a group in public. God shows up in us in some unexpected ways. I would really like to thank everyone who has been praying over this year and I would like you all to know we have seen the difference.

So for the last time (tear)...

Cheers.

A murder has stolen my rage.

Hey everyone,

Hope all is good with Easter Weekend. This past week has been a lot of fun. We had a class called Studies in Christian World-view. What a class. Cal McFarland was our professor, what a guy. He was super knowledgeable, very compassionate, a funny guy and he was so confident on what he taught. We spent the week pondering really abstract and hazy concepts like the nature of reality, philosophies of life, problems and solutions to the brokenness in our world. It is a philosophy course so we studied the prominent world-views in the last few hundred years. It was super difficult to my head around but it also had some excellent timing.

Along with Cal came Rob Bancroft as his teaching assistant. It was great to see Rob again, he was my head counselor back in NB a few years ago and he came earlier this year with some other guys from B-crest. It was sweet to have Rob know me before the year started, come at the start of Kaleo and then come at the end. It was a great chance for me to reflect upon the changes that God has been making in lately and it is always a blessing to have a consistent friend. It was great to talk and spend time with him but it really hard to say goodbye. I am at a new stage in my life where I may go years at a time before I see my friends again. I don't know when Rob and I will be in the same room again but I sincerely hope that God doesn't let too much time pass.

Another thing that happened this week was the other Warmland Kaleos and myself got to run the youth group. We had prepared quite a bit. We had some gross and funny games, a little skit, a sweet egg throwing competition and Claire made some super delicious Reese squares; I ate more than I should have. I also got the chance to talk to the group about why the leaders were involved with the youth in Crofton. It was also a great chance to point out why Stevie G, the youth Pastor, works there all the time. I got to claim allegiance to a God who loves me in front of all these kids who we have been hanging out with for the past year. Next week is one of our last weeks with the kids and it's going to really hard to say goodbye. I have no idea when I will ever be out in Crofton next.

I guess there a lot of things to be praying for. Pray for the kids, summers can be hard on them around here. Too pray for the last few weeks of youth, that some really good conversations are had. Pray for Kaleo, that we end strong and let God decide what these last few weeks should be. while it is nearly over, everyone here will be dragging it out until the last possible moment and so we don't want to waste time. I really have been appreciating all the support that comes from the people who read this a pray for Kaleo, the youth group and myself. Hope that the mourning of Jesus' death over the past couple days gets severely overcome with Joy for the new life he now lives. Oh how he loves us.

Cheers.

Surf Trip Round two and a really disappointing book along with really decent book. Long title.

Hey everyone, (mainly Kristie), but everyone else too,

Hope all is well in all your lives. Mine is very interesting right now. Unfortunately I cannot write about Youth this week because yet again the Kaleo schedule has inhibited me from attending youth. If anyone has has been keeping count I am up to seven consecutive weeks of being absent from my group of pretentious little 7th graders. Love those guys. BUT...I am not only going to youth this week, I am speaking at it! Sweet! It will be cool to talk about the bible to the whole group. It will be my first time talking about scripture to a group of people. I would definitely appreciate prayer so that I don't go up there alone; that would be a nightmare.

But to return to the opening clause of my title, we went surfing up at Tofino this past week. It was largely different from last time. We had a great long drive there stopping at a market and to climb some trees (subsequently Justin fell into a river). Upon arrival we perused the town, read some of our Christian Worldviews books and many sat around and played music. I chose to sleep as i was quite tired and knew that surfing the next day would require a great deal of energy. The next morning we went to a beach (I have no idea what it was called) and just climbed around. I personally had an experience with the divine. I stood and watch the waves crash violently against the jagged shore, listening to the deep bass of water beating upon stone and feeling a gentle breeze pushing at my back. I have been meditating on worship and music lately. It was incredible to witness such a performance. I use sound when I perform. Some even manage to marry sounds to visual entertainment and create a whole new dynamic of experience. God, however, created a beach that incorporates all five of my senses and brought my understanding of performing to a new plane. I felt the breeze, I smelled the salty, sea air, I tasted the crisp chill on my tongue, I heard the bass of the reckless waves and I saw the glory of God pounding water in triumphant blasts upon the rocks. I realized that nature can far out-perform me and that my feeble attempts to honor God with sound are not valued for ability, even the inanimate has more skill than I. Rather, before God my music has value for the heart it portrays, for the soul that it describes. God values my efforts, seeing my skill as the fruit of devotion. God would much rather hear devotion than a pop tune, at least that is how it seems to me.

Yeah after my euphoric encounter with the ocean symphony, I left and got ready for surfing. Surfing was not nearly as fun as last time. My toes hurt cause my boots were a size too small, the zone we had to surf in was so small that after fighting the inward flow of waves to get out to a decent depth, I was already out of bounds and had to then fight the undertow back in bounds. After i had then return to the proper lateral position on the beach I was then too far in to surf because the relentless waves had pulled me back. It was frustrating. I got up a handful of times but it was most unsatisfying. I didn't last very long.

The trip was cool because the last night there we opened the Kaleo door to a guys youth group and a local family. It was an interesting night of prayer, encouragement, great conversation, even a little scripture reading. It was cool to see how Kaleo opened up and shared with the other members of the church.

After I got home I read a really boring book called Engaging God's World and then I have been reading a really good book called Prayer by Richard J. Foster. He is a great writer and he has some God-given things to say. Rob Bancroft is arriving soon and I am excited to go see him. I will leave you all now. Can't spend too much time on blogs with only three weeks left in Kaleo. Cheers everyone.

Gospels according to Timothy

Hello everyone,

This week was a great week. The pre-course work was madness. I read and read and read and still didn't finish but I am so glad that I did cause it really helped during the class. The prof was Wes Olmstead, the one and only. Truthfully I have never heard someone speak as knowledgeably and humbly and passionately and confidently as Wes about the teachings of Jesus. It was so good to hear someone say with certainty what Jesus was saying and then logically and throughly explain why and it all clicks. I had so many questions answered and so many doubts or uncertainties taken care of. I read Matthew in a whole new way and I am excited and really enjoying the post-course work for this class.

Yesterday I went to Victoria with some friends for some sweet parkour and fun with friends but when I was there Jeremy and I were chillin a Starbucks and he asked me what was one big thing that I took away from Wes's class. The thought puzzled me for a bit because I hadn't really digested a lot of the information I had taken in. Upon reflection I think that I really enjoyed experiencing the class. Before the class started I had read a book that was all about 1st century Judaism and it really got me into the head space and I found myself thinking like a first century Jew. I was hoping for rebellions to lead to freedom for Israel and I was respecting how zealous for the Law the Jews were. Then when we started getting into Jesus' story and I was reacting to it like the disciples were. Jesus shocked me with his bold words and I had to think really hard about what he was saying. Then I started to recognize who Jesus really was as the disciples were. At the end when Jesus gave the great commission I was so pumped. That was definitely a sweet thing, to experience Matthew's Gospel, not just read it.

Another really cool thing that I learned is the balance between faith and works. Here is pretty much what Matthew ways in his Gospel, your works reflect what is in you, so if you don't have the works, then you don't have the faith. In other words, if you don't believe it enough to live it out, you don't believe it enough period. Very cool to see how solid Matthew makes that in his Gospel. Too it is good to understand that when Jesus says something like "be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" he means it, it's a command not meant to just make us feel imperfect. And perhaps the most encouraging thing I learned is a new way of studying the New Testament and seeing how the bible is such a literary work of art, so intentional in the way it was put together. I now have an excitement to study the bible and to see what God is intentionally saying.

Good class, back to youth this week, I will get some stories. It will be good. Pray for these last few weeks at Kaleo. Pray for genuine holiness and genuine obedience here at Kaleo so we can know the fullness of these last five weeks. Cheers all,

Tim

The Man-Venture According to Timothy

I am writing for all those who wish to draw out an accurate record of all personally relevant events transpiring during the manliest trip Kaleo has ever seen.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled[ among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught... here is our story..

One wednesday afternoon and Nate, Justin, Jeremy, Mark, and myself had finished our essays (except for justin because he doesn't do anything) and seeing the beautiful day outside we all decided to go for a hike up a mountain located in Duncan or just outside Duncan because I cannot imagine someone building a town around a mountain and expecting it to do well. But the point is, it is in the Duncan area. We drove out there, I my self as well as Nate Boyda were the only ones on the trip who had not climbed this stack of stone and We were giddy with excitement as conversation was floating around the van in prefect harmony. We got to the base of the mountain and from the drive it seemed that we were already at the top seeing as how half of the drive was up hill but we got out and walked some way. The hike was beautiful, the sun was setting in two hours from this point. The trails were barren of other people and it was quite hot out so it was a great time to run around on a mountain our shirts off. We stopped along the way and took an "pit-stop" off of a mountain as a group of guys often does climbing mountains. Finally at the top we had a great down time and talk time with the boys and the temperature started to cool down so we make our way down to the bottom but instead of walking we sprinted down. If you ever do this hike you will find that it is pretty steep and we got down pretty quick but we failed to make it to the van because we stopped at one of the openings/outcroppings of stone that overlooked the valley to the west. We sat down and enjoyed the sunset which was so beautiful. The idea came to mind that since for the next while it is to be beautiful and the weather is to be clear we came to the conclusion that it would be a waste if we didn't sleep under the stars at The Point. We watched the sun set on a mountain over a valley, Nate compared the beauty to "sky kittens". We then drove over to our beloved superstore and bought steak in the form of chunks and strips, fine cheeses, a can of beans and alphagetti, and peppers. When we returned to the camp it was nightfall and there was some preparation to be done to make this trip a success. We packed our packs and headed over to the kitchen to prepare some banok bread dough to accompany our steak and cheese. It was a fun but strenuous hike since we were carrying bags and just returned from a hefty hike on the previous mountain. It was pitch black outside and our headlamps were doing everything but failing on us but luckily Mark brought a machete to save the day if any cougars showed up and we were blind in the dark. Some girls were planning on "scaring" us in the dark but lucky for them because we all had knifes and were masters at throwing them through the forest, and we implemented the policy use knives first and ask questions later. The hike passed over some dangerous terrain and God was good to guide our feet in the dark and prevent ankle injuries of trip-ending proportions. We made a humble fire on the rocks next to the sea where we sat down around it roasting steak with fresh bread and fine cheeses while passing jokes and stories as young gentlemen do. Some of these stories shall remain on that coast as there some accidental implications derived from the content of these conversations. (Justin learned a the risks of playing with words). The food all had a unique taste since it was fire roasted over the underbrush and vines of the majestic west coast deciduous and coniferous forests. the burning of wood from that area adds a unique smoked flavor, as well as roasting on pine sticks, that you can find no where else in the world. Once we were done our meal we continued our hike to the point where we sat around digesting our food and talking some more as we were accompanied by a starry night without clouds of any sort. We found sleep quite easily as the day was long and full of much physical activity. We woke up in the morning with a nice coating of young dew on the exterior of our sleeping bags. We packed our stuff watched the sun rise, hiked back to camp, during which we stopped for a quick swing on a "rope swing" as suggested by our fearless intern. All accounts rendered are not exhaustive but are of particular relevance to myself and make for excellent memories. Choice :)

OLYMPICS!!!

Hey Everyone (Especially family) I have been getting asked to explain what is happening with me at the Olympics so hopefully you have found this page and all can read it.

Yeah, I am a "host" at the olympics. Now for all you funny, funny people out there that doesn't mean I am the Ryan Seacrest of the 2010 winter games. Really it means that I am lowest on the food chain. I guess here's a general run of my day. I will write this trying answer all the questions I think my mom would ask so if it gets a little specific just keep this in mind...(sorry mom). I wake up at 3:45am...(yeah I know) and in total silence and almost total darkness get my gear on for the day and head downstairs. It's imperative that I stay silent cause there are people who have a days off and so I want to let them sleep a little later. I go down stairs to the lobby/kitchen area of the Squamish Baptist church. I pop a bagel in the toaster, butter it up and munch it down. Then I usually grab a bowl of raisin bran and use a bite to swallow my cold-fx pill. It boosts my immune system to keep me from getting sick which currently isn't working very well cause I am feeling a cold coming on strong. I will either grab a bible and write down a verse for the day or just sit there and be numb for a few minutes. At 4:25 I pile into the van with the other 10-17 people and Jimbad drives us to the bus station where we catch the 4:40 bus. The bus ride is different every time. Sometimes I talk to the person next to me, sometimes I sleep the whole way. Mostly it's a combination of the two. We roll into the Whistler Olympic Park at about 6am and head over to the check in tent. We check in, grab a bottle of water, get an assignment and then head out to our areas. I usually get mag and bag which is the security area. at 6:30 we have a meeting with out team leaders then we get ready for open at 7. I have had different team leaders everyday and different teams, most of the time I am with at least one other Kaleo student. Down at the mag and bag I wait until security opens their tents. There is airport style security and my job is to make sure people go through the metal detector one at a time. Depending on the tent I get put into, there is usually a lot of time where we are just standing around. I get to talk with the security people for many hours and it's great. I will get one break before 10:30 which is about 15 minutes long, time enough for a hot chocolate and bathroom break.. Depending on the events that day I, the security mostly closes down by 11am. I then get 30-45 minutes for lunch. It's good to sit at this point. The food is always a bowl of soup, a sandwich, a granola bar, a cookie, apiece of fruit and a drink. It's a filling meal of varying qualities. Salmon paste on rye bread with cauliflower soup was a particularly dark day for me... After lunch we get ready for what is called "egress" which is just the people leaving. They come down and we tell them which line to get in for the buses. The first few days there was a two hour wait in the bus line and people were pretty angry, especially since it was raining those days. I mostly went around and asked people what I could do to make the wait better. Many of the asked for either a song or a beer. I gave them a song but the beer was a tall order. After the third day the bus system improved and now egress is just saying good bye to people and answering the occasional question. After egress I grab a bus back to Squamish. An hour's sleep later I hop off that buss and get a 10 minutes ride from the stop to the church. When I get back to the church I change into comfortable clothes, read some of my books for class, play some music and then eat dinner. If I am not on dishes then I go to the prayer room and wait for our evening meeting. While waiting I sit and read my bible and pray and just rest in the Lord, most important part of my day. Then we have a meeting where we all share our stories from the day, prayer requests, tomorrow's schedule and maybe sing a tune or two. After the meeting I head upstairs to an inflatable mattress and bed down. In another 7 hours I will do it all over again...unless I have a day off. Which is a different story.

So far I have had a lot of fun working. Today I got to go watch biathlon for a half hour which was cool. I have been talking to a lot of people. I am mostly in talking with the security people. The security people are an interesting mix. They get paid about $18.50 an hour so there are some who are there for the money. These people have some sad stories. Many had to leave their families cause they had no work. One lady I met, Angela, had to leave the morning that her 5th grandchild was born. She felt sad about it but she had no choice, she has 11 foster children that she still sees and normally works at a school as a janitor and in a casino. Another guy, Josh lives a hard life. He works jobs all around the west coast, mostly construction but he spends a pile pf time away from his wife. There is also Max, a painter/author who was hard up for cash and put his art on hold for while so he could support his family.

There are also really interesting people who are around for the experience. Today I met Pierre Desjardins, a retired security guard who just wanted to volunteer to be around the Olympic hype. Or there is Michael from Germany who is spending the year traveling around Canada and is working to get some money for his flight back home to his girlfriend.

It's also important to know that the accommodations for the security crew are terrible. It's called rainbow valley but's it's been nicknamed "District 9" and "The Refugee Camp". The rooms are stacked storage containers with four people to a container. There is mold and many people are getting sick. This makes it hard to be there. I love talking to them cause I get to share some hope and enthusiasm with them. Very few people take the time ask about each other's lives in any detail so when I know them by name and ask them questions for an hour or so they seem to cheer up.

There are also a few volunteers outside of the group who are attaching themselves to the Kaleo group. Gareth, Tim (from Germany), Raissa and "Zan" are some of the other youth volunteers who we hang out with, even outside of the Olympics when we can.

Kaleo is getting known amongst the workers too. Some people are coming up to us and saying "Oh you must be part of that bible school group". Which is cool cause we have a continuing ministry everywhere we go. At this point we rarely are starting from ground zero when we talk to the volunteers and workers cause they already know a but about us. The other cool thing is that people are recognizing the Jesus in us, even if they don't realize it. Some Kaleos have been approached by people and told "there is some sort of spirit about you that makes you stand out". Others have seen us reading bible verses and encouraged us and been encouraged by us. This is so cool because according the policies of the Olympics, no religious group can be directly involved in the games at all and yet we are there, sharing hope and joy and our ears and lives with these people. God has put the church where they were told they couldn't go!

Yeah I am getting really tired but a few of us were talking last night and it really just allows God to show his strength. There is irony in that God's weakness is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25) and yet His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Very cool thing to see so visibly how God sustains us, especially when we are so weak.

Pray for us for freedom of sickness, rest, energy, more great conversations, bold words to share with these people we meet and above all praise God for working in such incredible ways.

Hope you all now know what it is I am doing and I will give updates in a few days on this very blog. Thanks for being interested and for praying everyone.

Cheers,

Tim

So TIRED!!!

Hey everyone,

So this week was pretty sweet and full of new experiences. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling very well on Wednesday so I had to miss youth group which I heard from the other leaders was a dramatic evening. The good thing is that on Friday and Saturday we had a youth event/snowboard trip up in Campbell River. The night started off like any youth trip should, with a burger from McDonald's. Our cashier had a great name, Alberta Blue. I was tempted to ask her is that was her name tag or it listed her province of residence and favorite color. I decided to withhold my question out of respect.

We then hopped on the bus and took a two hour drive up to the church in Campbell river. The bus ride was fun. The boys were crazy and beating on each other and the leaders held conversations and occasionally told the boys to stop the violence. I managed to get an hour's worth of sleep which was greatly needed. We pulled into the church and went to a youth event called lift off. We sang, played some stage games and heard a speaker. It was all really good except our boys were really bored and cranky.

After the youth event we went to a pool across the street. I played some b-ball with the guys and we ended up just wrestling in the pool. I also got the chance to catch up a bit with a youth pastor by the name of Chris Synesal which was good too. After the pool we had Pizza at the church, went to a nearby Tim Hortons and then headed back to the church gym for some sleep. Now when I say we of course I just mean me. I managed to get to sleep even though a gym full of guys were talking, playing b-ball and probably fighting each other. This was around 1:00am. The boys decided we needed to wake up at 6:17am and so no leader really got that much sleep.

We got up, hit up Tim Horton's for some breakfast and then made our way to Mt. Washington. It was a long drive and a long wait for rentals but finally around 10:00 am we made our way onto the slopes. The hill was packed. We waited a solid 20 minutes just to get onto the first lift. The conditions were also really crappy. Near the bottom of the hill it was raining which made everyone soaked. At the top is was so foggy you could barely see the other skiers on the hill. One girl sprained her foot and I ended up sitting in the first-aid building for a couple hours. But we got in some good runs and ultimately had a lot of fun.

When we got back I did some homework and went to bed. Today at church we mentioned the Olympics as our mission trip and even got invited to a super-bowl party at our youth's house. We saw a bit of good football, ate some great chili and got a chance to hang out with our youth's parents. His dad even prayed for our mission trip before they gave us a ride back to camp. It was such a good experience in connecting with our community in Crofton.

This week we head out to the Olympics which is the biggest trip we will have this year. We will need much prayer cause we will be working hard and I have no idea what challenges will arise so pretty much jumping in somewhat blind. Any and all prayer will not just be appreciated but needed in order for us to even SURVIVE. Like the title says I am so tired and may not be making sense any more. Talk you all in a few weeks.

Cheers

THEOLOGY!!!

Hey everyone,

Had a pretty good week to honest. A little insomnia, some Camp Ministry Class, a major youth event. Lots of good things. Youth this week was fun. We had some kids there which is encouraging because they haven't been very good at attending lately. The cool thing to do is to chill outside youth group but not actually go in. I don't mind so much because we had a youth event on Friday which was incredible and I knew they would come to that. I am also anticipating some great experiences with the guys this weekend on at Mt. Washington. It was a struggle but we able to convince the guys to come and I am stoked.

I feel like I have breezed over the youth event. The story is, as with all youth events, it was completely confusing and disorganized as far as who was running the event was concerned. It may have been the New Life Church or maybe Camp Qwanoes. Qwanoes ended up running the show which was great because they are great at it. Then there was the question of how many kids were coming. could have been forty could have been three hundred, we had no idea. Thankfully it turned out that what seemed like over 200 kids turned up, sang some tunes, played a game, heard Justin Lenny speak hope into their lives and then ate some cookies. I should make note that Justin appears to the type who would seldom speak at a youth event and yet was refreshing for that very reason. He spoke little of responsibilities of Christians, or the fact that Jesus died for our sins, while the latter is important. He chose to speak about the visibility of God in everyday life and the intent of God to bring light into the world. Letting kids hear about a God who loves them and wants them to leave darkness and enter into light was so different than most talks I have ever heard about youth events. Better yet I think these kids really cared about what JL was saying. Very cool.

Yeah we have Intro to Theology this week and I can tell that there will be some good conversations. Pray for Kaleo and myself this week as we delve into some deep topics of great significance. Also pray for myself, the leaders and the kids for this weekend's trip up to Mt. Washington for some snowboarding. The night before is a youth event style thing plus a sleep over. I am hoping that such an environment might provide great opportunities for some deep chats and really let the boys open themselves up. I really want to hear their stories and what these boys think. Right now the relationship is somewhat surface level but I know that there will be chances for things get much more transparent. Cheers everyone, have a good week.

Tim

SNOW SNOW SNOW

Hey everyone (mostly Kristie)

Had a sick week at mt. Washington. Learned to snow board, shredded the gnar as it were. The mountain was sick. Had so much fun. Too the view on the top of the mountain was incredible. It was strange to wake up at camp where it was green and rainy, fall asleep in the van, wake up two hours later where there is three or four feet of snow. BC is a messed up place. Crazy mountains and all. Yeah we also had a sweet snowshoeing adventure where we made snow caves and ran down a mountain doing flips along the way. (not exaggerating) We also went tubing but we won't talk about that.

The chapels were really intense. We would snowboard from 9am until 3pm then chill until about 8pm when we had chapel. In other words we would physically tire ourselves out, chill and nearly out ourselves to sleep with music and chill conversations then go and get into deep spiritual exercises. Pretty intense week to be honest. The most memorable part was definitely the names. One night we went around pointing out how we saw Jesus in one another. The next two nights we went around and gave each other Kaleo names. These names were meant to encourage and appreciate what each person already had but also to admonish and hope for them so they could grow into each one. The whole process was incredible. We spent so much time listening, praying and wrestling with each name until the group was satisfied. Sometimes we would have to throw away names or disagree with names in order for the right name to come.

My name is refiner. This name was given to me because I am dissatisfied with anything that isn't truth and I wrestle with it until I am satisfied. It is a hard characteristic to possess because it can so easily turn into bitterness. The hope for me is that I would refine things until they are pure and that when tested with fire would remain strong and intact. I am really grateful for the name and quite intimidated by how big the name is. It is definitely too big for me now but I can't wait to see how God is going to grow me into it.

This week I will be going back to youth group and can't wait. In a couple weeks we are going snowboarding with the kids at Mt. Washington and I can't wait for the sweet times we will have. My boys seem to be at a hard time in the year. We will see what happens.

I am also playing guitar for a youth event this weekend and I am looking forward to it. IT will be fun to play some tunes with some other Kaleos. Keep me in your prayers.

Cheers,

Tim

Only a day late...YES!

Hey y'all,

I was just jinxed by Jade so this is my only form of communication. But I will type on. This week was pretty sick. It is so good to be back at camp and it so strange too. There is a bit a tired out or frustrated attitude or feeling rolling around at camp. I think it relates to going home and then coming back. I can't really explain it very well but there is something there to pray for.

At youth this week we had a decent talk. The boys are still pretty rowdy but there is a sweet relationship there. In a few weeks the youth group is going snowboarding which I am stoked for. It will be a great opportunity for hanging out but hopefully for much more too. I hope and would appreciate prayer that God would allow some sick opportunities for transparency and honesty that could result in a better understanding of God, for both me and the boys.

We had a theology of mission course with Tim Stabell this past week too. It was a great class that took God out of huge box. Mission used to be such a small part of my understanding of God and now it is becoming central. We followed it up with missions fest on the weekend. It had ups and downs but I got to connect with some people in and out of Kaleo really well and heard Jackie Pullinger a couple of times. She spoke some great words that needed to be said even if they were hard for me to hear. Not sure what my future will hold, if it will be cross-culturally missional or not but it got me thinking about some good stuff.

Pray for me cause I wish I could some other places for other reasons. Too I will be turning 19 this week and I am stoked to be celebrating it with the kaleos. Thanks for the prayer, it's working for sure, God is hearing you.

Cheers,

Tim

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.