Tis the Season

The environment this past week in the Kaléo Program was one of preparation and relaxation. The students have been hard at work preparing for their last class of the semester “Foundations of Church Ministry” with Professor David Ernst, D.Min., and finishing up final  projects from their previous classes.However, the students had several opportunities to step away from their homework to enjoy each other’s company. On Tuesday, we switched up the chapel scene by hiking up Maple Mountain, singing praise songs as we walked along. At a lookout, in front of three wooden crosses, we listened and were challenged by Shane Pickel as he taught from the Word. The hike was beautiful and chilly but just what the group needed.

                                                                                                              (Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

                                                                                                            (Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

On Thursday, everyone got into a festive mood as we held a day full of Christmas preparation. The day started with everyone pilling into the vans and going on a hunt for two perfect Christmas trees. Once we arrived at the tree farm in Duncan, the tree hunt turned into a game of presentation and playful debates of who had found the best tree. 

                                                                                                               (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt) 

                                                                                                    (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

After our successful find we spent the afternoon making our own Christmas tree ornaments, and popcorn and cranberry garlands to decorate the trees while watching The Nativity Story. The festivities continued into the night as a few of the students planned a surprise Christmas party for the rest of the students at the Camp Qwanoes Guest House, complete with games, food and great music.

                                                                                                     (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)
                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                           (Photo Credit: Hannah Ayton)

The students are now eagerly preparing to learn more about the Church and who they are in relation to it as they reflect upon class teachings and experiences in different ministry areas at church and at camp.

-Rachel Nelson, Kaléo Program Intern

The Week of Prayer

Prayer is an essential part of having a deep and meaningful relationship with God. This past week the students were able to partake in an awesome part of the program called the week of prayer.

(Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

 (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

During this week, the students signed up for different one-hour time slots of prayer throughout the week. We set up a special room for the students to utilize while they were in prayer for the hour. The students were really enjoying their time focused on God. Throughout the week I would hear students say things such as:
- I never thought that I would be able to pray for that long but the time flew by.
- I wish I had more time in the room before I had to leave.
- Can we keep the room set up like this all the time?

Needless to say, the week was extremely impactful on all of the students.

Also during this week, the students were able to partake in an exercise learning about themselves and each other. Merrill Dyck, MA, a professor of Briercrest, came out to camp for a few days to do the Birkman Assessment. The Birkman Assessment is a personality test that has been proven to be quite effective at finding out and listing people's personality traits. The test tells you your strengths, weakensses, learning styles, and other traits. All the students took the test and learned more about themselves as individuals and how they interact with others. They now have a better understanding of who they are and how they work most effectively.

(Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

This coming week, the students have more time to relax; but that doesnt mean that they have nothing to do. They are working on pre-course assignments for their next class which is "Foundations of Church Ministry" with David Ernst, DMin. Please be praying for them as they head into another class soon.

- Isaiah Moffatt
  Kaléo Program Intern

A Step Back In Time

This past week the students were challenged to dig deeper into biblical history through taking the class “Introduction to the Old Testament” with Professor Don Taylor, DTh. Don’s teachings challenged the students to read scripture differently. They began to see how the Bible is not two separate books, but rather, it is a narrative as a whole. 

                                                                                                                               (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

One of the students, Peyton Arnold, remarked this about the class:

"I loved this class. I now feel more confident in my biblical knowledge. It was helpful to able to understand the timeline of the Old Testament and how it can help me understand how it relates and connects to the New Testament. It helped me to solidify my understanding of the New Covenant that was made through Jesus in the New Testament."

                                                                                                      (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

This week also turned out to be very hectic but fun for the students as they retold the Old Testament by script writing and directing a video project. On Friday their hard work was displayed for all, as the staff were invited to join the students to watch the directors cut of the film.

                                                                                                                              (Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

                                                                                                  (Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

At camp this week the staff and students were able to bond over Tuesday night’s community

fireside. The night was filled with good food and good company as we all gathered together in Club Coco to enjoy some pizza and games. It was a well needed break from all the busyness of student life.

-Rachel Nelson, Kaléo Program Intern

                                                                                                                            (Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

The Students Love Crofton

The story of this past week begins about three weeks ago. The Kaléo Program Leadership team chose four students to lead and organize the others in a project called "Love Crofton." "Love Crofton" is a week long work project completely run by the Kaléo Program students.

(Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

The students went into the town of Crofton, and handed out fliers. On these filers details were given about how the household can get in contact with them to request their help for the week. Usually the jobs included: cleaning gutters, raking leaves, splitting fire wood, chopping down bushes, and other smaller jobs. Once the jobs were requested, the students then organized how many people would go to each job, what tools were going to be needed for that particular task, and how they were going to get there. 

(Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

Many of the students enjoyed this week as it was a change of pace and a break from studies. They learned what it meant to serve selflessly, as many tasks were difficult, and they took no monetary compensation. 

(Photo Credit: Rachel Nelson)

Also during this week the Qwanoes students participated in the second last retreat of the 2016 year - the Senior High Retreat! They all had a different experience this time as the majority of their service was behind the scenes and not always directly working with campers. This kind of work went hand-in-hand with the "Love Crofton" week, showing that you can love people both through visible and invisible actions. This week the students are in class learning about the Old Testament from Professor Don Taylor, DTh. Pray for them as they head into this week with a strong desire to learn and grow into Kingdom Builders. 

Until next time,
Isaiah Moffatt

Introduction to the New Testament, Caving, and More

Two weeks ago the students were deeply challenged theologically while taking “Introduction to the New Testament” with Prof. Wes Olmsted. This class challenged them to read God’s Word differently than they had in the past. One of the students, Morgan Pépin commented this about the class:

(Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

This class helped me to read the Bible differently. Before, I had only been reading the Bible to understand how I could apply it to my life. Now when I read it I’m looking for themes as well as how the particular passage is connected to the Bible as a whole. I also used to view the Old Testament and the New Testament as two separate books but this class helped me to see how they are actually intertwined.

(Photo Credit: Isaiah Moffatt)

The next week we were originally supposed to be on our surfing trip in Tofino but unfortunately due to bad weather we were unable to go. However, we managed to fill our days with other exciting adventures. On Tuesday night, the fireside-lounge was set up for a movie night, complete with homemade Kit-Kat cheesecake. The next day we went on guided caving tours at the Horne Lake Caves. We were very appreciative of our guides who educated us about the caves all along the way.

(Photo Credit: Kayla Wood)

(Photo Credit: Kayla Wood) 

One of the guides told us that is was the highest water levels he has seen in the caves over his last two years working there. The high water levels made the caving adventure all the more epic, as we climbed through the rushing water and up the in-cave waterfalls. By the end of the day we were all freezing and wet but it was definitely worth it.

                                                  (Photo Credit: Carlene Bandy)

On the Thursday this past week the students had the opportunity to serve the S.A.L.T.S. team that we had previously sailed with just a few short weeks ago. It was a lot of fun for them to help the team winterize their two tall ships as well as to catch up with the crew. Overall, although the weather put a dent in our surfing plans we definitely made up for that time with our many other adventures and we look forward to our postponed surfing trip either this winter or next spring.

-Rachel Nelson, Kaléo Program Intern

                                                         

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