Wild Play and Wild Children

This week of the program was a more relaxed and laid back week. What I mean by "relaxed" and "laid back" is that we created space for the students to focus on their school work and connect with each other. This coming week they begin their "Introduction to the New Testament" class with Dr. Wes Olmstead. The students had a great deal of prep work, ranging from reading 4 books of the New Testament, (Acts, James, 1 Peter, and Revelation) to writing exegetical questions about those texts they read. They have been working on those assignments diligently for the past week, getting ready for the class.

Although, that is not all that has been done this week. We also took time out of our day on Thursday to go and have some fun at Wild Play, a large challenge course outside of Nanaimo. The students had a blast participating in the various games that were presented to them. They were able to challenge themselves physically and mentally on this aerial playground and get some time away from the books! It was a great change of pace and change of scenery for the students.

                                                                                                     (Photo Credit: Caleb Smith)

To cap off this weekend was the Juniors Retreat. Students were assigned positions to help facilitate the weekend for these retreaters! The children at camp were having a great time and the students were able to show them the love of God. Our students were working in the kitchen, the challenge course, and in the cabins as counsellors! There were a lot of good conversations that were had between the retreaters, the staff, and students at camp this past weekend.





                                                                                                        (Photo Credit: Beth Vliet)

This coming week is one of the more academically challenging classes so please be praying for the students to be diligent in their work and to retain all of the information that comes their way!

Until next time,

Isaiah Moffatt

Camp ministry and womens retreat

After S.A.L.T.S., the Kaléo Program students had a few days to relax and get back into the routine of living at camp before they returned to the classroom. Prof. Sid Koop taught about the impotance of camp and youth ministry and how the students could apply what they were learning in class in a variety of ministry settings. There were many who enjoyed this class and look forward to the next half of the course come second semester.  There are many things that the students were able to learn from Sid, some of those include:
-  When focused on the mission of camp ministry, a leader should not forget and leave behind the needs and support of their team. 
- The leaders must be self aware, so that they can be able to self-assess, allowing them to self-correct. 
- Within that self-correction and assessment, the leaders must be able to recognize the need for rest and recuperation.
- A retreat and a week at camp must be planned around the campers coming, not the campers fulfilling the retreat schedule.
- That no sin is above or below another sin, and that we are all equal in the sight of God.
- A camp should be connected to a local church in order to provide support and guidance to new believers.  

Also this week Camp Qwanoes has held a Womens Retreat with the theme "Unlocked"! The students were able serve the camp and women in a variety of ways from running activities, to serving meals, to facilitating worship while the women were in session with the speaker. An exciting part of this retreat is that half of the women that came were newcomers, never having been to a retreat at Qwanoes before! 

Now the students are gearing up for their next class and next out-trip, "Introduction to the New Testament" taught by Dr. Wes Olmstead and the Wildplay High Ropes Course respectively. 

Until next time,

Isaiah Moffatt 

The SALTS Adventure

This past week the students of the Kaléo program had the opportunity to spend 5 days aboard The Pacific Grace. It was an amazing 5 days of digging deep into community and being challenged by the S.A.L.T.S. staff as well as Shane, the Kaléo Program Leader. The trip consisted of some very memorable moments. 

These included: the intentional conversations over meal times, day trips to land, climbing Mt. Norman, working together to raise and lower sails, swinging off of high heights into freezing water from the rope swing, nights of conversations on night watch and many more that I could continue to list off. One of my personal favourite moments was several students had the chance to share parts of their stories every night as we all crammed together in the hold of the ship. 

These stories allowed for the community of the students to go even deeper as their inner-walls tumbled down and they testified to how God has actively been revealing himself in their lives. Overall, I think the trip was one that challenged and rejuvenated. This adventure also allowed the students to be completely unplugged from any technology at all except for cameras. I overheard many of the students remarking on how free they felt and that they didn’t even miss being connected to social media. 

I personally found that being completely unplugged meant the days were slower and more peaceful and allowed for times of good conversation, reading and reflecting. As you can see below, one of the Kaléo Program students, Kyle Bauman, created a video of our adventure that accurately portrays the excitement the students experienced during this past week. The students have now returned to camp and they are once again being stretched and challenged in the classroom as they complete their post-course work for Camp and Youth ministry, taught by Prof. Sid Koop.

- Rachel Nelson,  Kaléo Program Intern

The First Days of The Kaléo Program

Wow time has flown by!! A mere two weeks ago these students were all trickling in, not knowing what to think about this huge change in their lives. Now they are becoming friends and growing closer together. 

The first few days consisted of the students getting used to their new home and learning the ins and outs of this program. During orientation, the students got to meet the pastors of local churches where they will be serving this year! There is a lot of excitement and anticipation for this amazing opportunity to serve God and His people.  

After orientation week, the students got to experience their first out trip - a three day backpacking trip to summit of Mt. Albert-Edwards! The trip totaled a 2100 metre elevation change and 35 plus kilometres walk. Many of the students had the chance to experience a tough physical challenge and to grow closer to God. It was absolutely incredible to see all these young adults building one another up and helping each other out along the way. God is working in awe-some ways among the group, calling them higher and higher. Each one is responding to the call and striving to be a better son or daughter of God. 

                                                                                                     (Photo Credit: Kyle Bauman)

                                                                                                   (Photo Credit: Geoff Delorme)

Not too long after arriving back at camp, the first class began. Although they knew that they were going to be challenged and stretched in "Introduction to Spiritual Theology", the students were excited to dive into the material! Here are the words of one of the students, Carlene, about her first class experience.  

"This week our course was “Intro to Spiritual Theology” taught by Rev. Dr. Cal MacFarlane. It was a whirlwind of information to learn within five days, but Cal had a way of breaking it down and making it easy to understand. The material covered required us to be quite introspective, which made this course more personally and spiritually challenging and not as much academically demanding - although we did memorize fifty verses!

We primarily focused on learning the foundational realities of God’s love for us, and who we truly are in that love. Throughout the week, these realities were backed up with practices of spiritual disciplines to press into the truths, as well as questions we could ask to gauge our consistency to these practices. In addition to daily personal exercises, we participated in a 24 hour fast in solitude and silence around the camp, and were able to experience waiting on the Lord for a longer, more concentrated period of time. “Intro to Spiritual Theology” was more than just a fantastic course to kick off the academic portion of the Kaléo program, but a great way to focus our minds and hearts for the year ahead!"                                                                                  
                                                                - Carlene Bandy

                                                                          (Photo Credit: Kyle Bauman)

As the students take to the sea this next week, please be praying for safety. We are all ecstatic for the upcoming adventure and cannot wait to see how God shapes and molds these Kingdom Builders in the coming weeks. 

                                           God bless. 

                                              - Isaiah Moffatt (Kaléo Program Intern)