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