So this is my first post on my blog. I am new to this whole idea of blogging, so it doesn't come easily, however it is required as part of my year and I do think that it is a good way for all of you to be part of my year even though most of you are not here to share this year with me.
Let me get started by telling you a little bit about what life has been like for the past two weeks. After arriving here at camp on the 16th, we all took time to get moved in to our dorms and meet our roomates and other Kaleo students. The next day, we were given several of our assignments and let me say, there is not a whole lot of easing into the year. Just today, I finished my first pre-course assignment for my spiritual formations course which starts tomorrow. The assignment consisted of reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg and answering several questions based on the book. I am actually really looking forward to starting our classes tomorrow. I have only heard the best of things about this course and the prof, Marv Penner.
It has been an interesting week, as all of us are trying to find the balance between getting our work done, and hanging out with each other and getting to know one another. Its funny however that even though we have all come together for this year quite randomly, it really feels like we have known one another for a long time. I can see how this year we are going to be part of a really special community, one that will be very hard to leave come April. Jim Badke, our Kaleo leader, described this year on the first day as a rock tumbler, and over time we will rub into one another and grind into each other, and at the end of the year, we will all be like polished rocks. I can already seeing this taking place this year as we are becoming more open and vulnerable with each other.
On Monday, a week ago today, we all departed to Strathcona Park to hike to the summit of Mount Albert Edward. This was truly an epic journey. The area that we hiked in I believe to be one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been in. Being completely surrounded by mountains, lakes and enormous trees, I believe I felt very humbled, which is a great feeling. On Tuesday we all started on the full day journey to reach the summit. If any of you have seen the last Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, thats the best way to describe my experience. We were climbing up to the peak with shale tumbling down under our feet and it looked as though it would take fifteen minutes to reach the top, where it ended up taking about an hour and a half. The feeling at the top of the mountain was incredible. The picture at the top of my blog is a group of us jumping at the top of the summit. I have decided to return to this place.
Part of this year involves getting involved in a local church, so we all took time to pray and ask God which church we should be part of. I am at New Life Church in a small town named Duncan. The pastor is Mark Buchanan, many of you have probably read some of his books. I am really enjoying listening to him speak and I enjoy this church very much. One thing that this church does that I appreciate is the fact that they invite all of the Kaleo students who attend their church over to different people's houses for lunch after church. This year there is eight Kaleo students and the past two Sundays have been awesome. The first Sunday we had fresh prawns at the associate pastors house and yesterday we spent the evening at a gorgeous year-round cottage on Lake Cowachin. I have enjoyed being part of community that exceeds Camp Qwanoes. On Friday, went to our first youth event this year and it was called "The Hunger" and it was a large worship night for kids grade 6-12. This year I am a small group leader for several grade seven guys. It will be a lot of fun. I found it a little overwhelming to come into, as there were about 100 kids from various ages and we had absolutely no idea what was going on. I am really looking forward to when I feel very comfortable around all these kids and when they have "accepted" me, because I don't feel that I am there quite yet.
This past weekend, the Trinity Western leadership team came for a retreat here at Qwanoes. There was about three hundred of them and we had to serve for that retreat, as part of our ministry here at Qwanoes. I feel that I had the best place to serve... the skatepark, so I had a good time ripping around the new skatepark while meeting some cool people from Trinity.
I have several prayer requests that would be great to lift up to you guys right now. Please pray for me this week, as it our first week called spiritual formations. Pray that God would really use this time to kickstart my transformation that will take place over the course of this year. I would love hear God's voice specifically this week as I know we will have a lot of time to listen for it. Please pray for the dynamics of Kaleo, that even though we are all good friends right now, we would really come together and that our hearts would be knitted together. I have been praying for this ever since I have come here and it's amazing to see how much of a community we are becoming, so I am continuing to pray for this. Please pray for my ability to have the right perspective this year. Sure this year will be a lot of fun, (believe me I've been having a blast so far) but I don't want to be distracted from growing deeper in my love for God. Please pray that I will have the right perspective. These are just a few, and when more come, I will post them. Thank you for praying for me and thinking of me.
