Week Seven

This week was reading break. A time where I really enjoyed having no schedule, no agenda and just a time to do the things that need to be done. A big focus for me this week was to finish my hermeneutics assignment. Mission accomplished! I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed that assignment. I have never dug so deeply into such a small amount of Scripture before. It was great. I did it on Galatians 2:19-21 and I feel like I have such an understanding now for the context in which that was written and what those verses actually mean now. Though I find that very difficult to do outside of school, and just for personal study. Still something I need to learn how to do.

On Tuesday we went to Victoria for the day, which started off as a sweet day of longboarding the oh so perfect spiraling parking garages of the city and turned into a time of ministry to the homeless and poor. Before leaving the van in the morning, Kristie, one of our leaders encourages us that we are salt, and we are light, and Victoria needs us. We went into that day with a much better perspective of “Who can we bless?” Nate and I met a blind homeless man named Ken who we bought lunch for and he was very thankful. We also met two travelers who were broke and I guess became very comfortable in the culture of drug dealing. They were hungry too, so we bought them food as well. It was cool since later in the day we actually ran into them again and they smiled and waved at us. We met an incredible man named Willy too. He actually joined us for lunch thanks to the invitation that Emma gave to him, along with two buskers who were super friendly and cool. The three of them joined about 8 of us Kaleos in a fish and chips restaurant right on the Victoria harbor and we shared many good stories, especially Willy who was full of them, telling us about his childhood on a native reserve and going moose hunting, to falling through the ice when playing hockey. The two musicians became friends to us and they walked around the city with us after playing a couple songs and talking with us for a while. Really enjoyed this trip as I went into this city with a new perspective, seeing people in need of grace and love, and not so much as a time of having of caring for myself and what I want to do.

Wednesday and Thursday were big paper days for me as I had to do my hermeneutics assignment. However, Thursday was incredible for me. Justin and I were walking out to the point ( a 40 minute hike to a cool piece of land that sticks out into the ocean) and we were having great conversation. I remember almost “venting” to him about how I never really hear God speak to me, and that more than anything I wanted to be able to identify the voice of my shepherd. Well after that time, we got to the point and we spent some times in silence. And the coolest thing happened, I heard God speak to me. He said “Why do you come to meet me with these expectations? Look around (as I was looking at incredible creation). What makes you worthy of anything? Do not come to me with these expectations, but instead, just enjoy spending time in my presence.” It was sweet. It spoke to me there, exactly where I was. I had wondered why God had not just given me whatever I asked for, but really, I deserve nothing, I don’t know why I think that I do. My perspective needed to change as to why I came to spend time with God. I am learning to just enjoy soaking in his presence. Justin asked me a question that I cannot seem to get out of my head. He asked me “When do you feel most alive, when is it then you feel as though this is what you were created for?” At first I said that it is when I am doing something epic, like being up very high holding onto just a tiny ledge or piece of rope or flying through the air, or something like that. But then after I gave it some more thought, I realized that I feel like I am doing what I was created for when I am sharing the gospel with people. To be honest, I was pretty hesitant to say that, since I was scared that it might lock me into something. But saying that, with no expectations or preconceived ideas about what that means, I think that I feel most alive when I am sharing the gospel with people. I love it and want more opportunities to do that.

The next day, with a good friend Mark, I went to the point again. It started raining as we were about to read our Bibles, and we decided to wait it out. Then it rained harder. So we decided to camp out under a tree, and I thought, how cool is it that wherever we come to meet with our God, whether with a beautiful view in the sun, or in the pouring rain under a tree with branches uncomfortably poking into our sides, God will be there with us too. I went to the pool later that night with our youth group and I actually had a hard time with my kids. Maybe it was the change in venue, but I didn’t really feel very needed as a leader there, and I know that I could have easily just spent the night selfishly and enjoyed the waterslides and hottubs to myself, however I really wanted to spend my night with the kids. I did not really enjoy the night at youth since I couldn’t find my kids for most of the night, but I did find some guys that I had met the week before and were new, so for the last bit of the night I spent some time racing them down the water slides. One thing that came up in a conversation that I had with Justin was that some of the kids that go to the New Life youth group are actually really hungry for Jesus and his gospel, yet it is frustrating because I feel that New Life does not provide time for it to be discussed or taught. There are kids who go there for years who do not know Jesus and don’t even know what he says, and I feel that New Life doesn’t even really allow the time for kids to come and be filled with him. Just an observation, though. They do have a good heart for the kids that come out.

Saturday the thing that stands out most is the time that Justin and I shared in the morning before lunch. We went down to the dock and read the passage in Acts 5 where all the believers sell their possessions, shared everything and gave money to those in need. We had a great time of asking questions and wondering what the church’s responsibility is today for something like this. We both have a huge passion to see the church be reconciled and reunited again with all believers. To see the body of Christ behaving like the body of Christ. He told me of a homeless man who was getting kicked out of a church parking lot by some police officers on Friday night, right here in Duncan. That really got us thinking. We want so much more for the church and want God to invite us into this movement. We want to be radical in our love for Jesus, and what that requires of us. I’ve been thinking of this for a while and am still thinking about this, but its cool because I feel like we are getting invited into this. On Sunday night our New Life Young adult group went down to where we normally meet with homeless people and we prayer walked. We prayed over some of our meeting spots and parks and such. As we were praying along some rail road tracks, we saw this man in a ditch with a very sketchy tent fly strung up in the trees above his head. We asked if we could come and talk with him and he generously welcomed us into his home. Gave us chairs and greeted us with warm handshakes. His name was James, and is 69! Living like that for a while now, likes to drink but he seemed very sober when we were with him. He was definitely all there. He has had an incredibly tough life, as his son, a great guy he tells us, hung himself when we was in his thirties. He never sees his kids, and has colon cancer and barely eats. Broke my heart. Such a friendly man with a huge heart for us even. He said that he didn’t want to talk to anybody and then all of a sudden, we came along, and he wanted to talk to us, and he said that he felt great! We are getting invited into what God is doing here in Duncan, and I get to be part of it! Our love for Jesus should have no confines of age or economic status. In fact, God says that he has a special place in his heart for the poor and I am hoping that I am developing a spot for them in my heart too. This is my favorite thing about New Life by far.

This week is my Old Testament class. Lots of work to be done. Lots of learning to be had, and I’m really excited about it. I have to understand the OT before I can understand fully the NT. Sometimes I feel though like I am not learning anything. Pray that I would be able to see things in a new light, with a new approach to them so that I can really learn as much as possible. Pray with thanksgiving about what God is letting me be part of, and ask him that I would experience more of that, and that in all of this, I would be able to see God’s guidance in my life for after Kaleo. Clearly this is something that I feel passionate about and am excited to see where God will take me with this. Pray that God would help me listen to him, and that I will soon be able to identify my shepherd’s voice.

This has been such a great week. So many thoughts and ideas running through my head, but sometimes I feel bogged down in work. I had to stop reading my Old Testament assigned reading since I was reading it like a textbook, not even reading it more like eyes skimming over words, and I did not take the time to carefully and lovingly respect the words enough to care what they said, so I stopped and handed in my reading assignment incomplete, which was hard for me. But I’d rather not read it that it to become a textbook for me. Besides if I had taken the time to actually do it, I would have missed out on meeting James. Totally worth it.

This was a great week, sorry for the long post, once again.....