Mustaches and Dish Washers

I discovered a new respect for dish washers. I don't mean the machines but rather people who make it their job to wash dishes. This past weekend I was a dish washer for a men's retreat here at camp. We started washing dishes before breakfast and ended in time for about an hour break before having to be back for lunch. Then we washed lunch dishes until about an hour before dinner. Then we washed dinner dishes until about an hour or two before "mug-up" (a late night snack.) Then mug-up dishes lasted until around midnight or later. I am weary but the weekend is over. I can rest.

However, I will have to hurry my resting because tomorrow there is a new journey ahead. There is a guys hiking and camping trip to Mystic Beach. I have no idea where that is but it sounds magical so I'm in. We leave tomorrow morning.

I mentioned in a previous blog that this past week we were taking Foundations of Church Ministry. This was by far my favorite class we've taken. I've built up a lofty inventory of questions over the years regarding the church and this class proved to be very helpful in directing my thoughts. My attitude towards the church has changed in some respects. Many of my frustrations in regards to the church now only motivate me to be involved rather than run away. Hopefully that motivation won't be snuffed in light of disappointment.

Midnight tonight will mark the end of November. Which means that midnight tonight will mark the end of no-shave-november. Which means all of us men will be shaving our beards. For those who only have a months worth of attachment to their beards, this probably won't be such a big deal. For me, though, I haven't had a cleanly shaven face for over two years. I'm sad. I don't know what else to say. However, I think many of us will leave the mustache for a while. Just because. That should be fun.

Trouble With Christmas

If there is one thing that I'm not sure if I appreciate about Canada is the ridiculously early Christmas season. There have been Christmas lights up for weeks now. I feel like the season will have worn its welcome before Christmas even roles around. I'm not trying to undermine the birth of Christ in any way. Please don't get me wrong. I'm talking about the Christmas season that this world has taught us to live. With lights and sounds and bells that jingle. Enough is too much. I need some turkey pretty soon or somebody might get hurt.

This past Sunday at church was very different from any other. To begin with, our congregation was massive. OK, so massive might send the wrong message. However, relative to the average Sunday there were a lot of people. There were at least 60 people there while our usual average is around 30. A one-hundred percent increase in one week is, I feel, something to take note of. It was also the first week that I was able to lead worship. It was exciting to be able to use the sound system properly. And by properly I mean project the sound of instruments and vocals from it. This does not usually happen. We also used a video projector and power point to display the words to the songs, opposed to the normal overhead projector. People seemed excited about the changes that took place judging by their positive comments. Obviously, these are just structural changes. Which on the surface look nice. However, I believe there need to be much deeper changes taking place in this church. Changes that no amount of organization can help. This is where prayer becomes essential. Please help.

This past week was the 24/7 week of prayer. I believe I mentioned the details of that in my last post. This was an intense week. Prayer is so powerful and its effectiveness from this past week has already been seen in awesome ways.

This week we are beginning a new class titled Foundations of Church Ministry. I'm so grateful for this class already. I've been struggling with "church ministry" for some time now and this class is proving to be really healthy for me. I'm sure I will have more thoughts on this by the end of the week.

My new favorite pass time has now become the game of Trouble. It's such an elementary escape from the never ending thought processes of school work. Trouble is one of the most valuable assets to my Bible college experience, right next to foosball and Bible commentaries.

Shelters

This past weekend was different than most. It began thursday night when I had to stay up most of the night finishing homework. Ok, so this isn't that different than most weekends, but the following days were effected by the lack of sleep I was experiencing due to this detail. Friday through Sunday was the Senior High retreat here at camp. Because I'm one of the older Kaleo students I became a shoe-in for a camp counselor position. And it's well understood that counselors do not get any sleep during these retreats. So, to say the least, I was feeling a bit worn by the end of the weekend. I'm still in the recovery process. Despite my lack of sleep and general awareness of life around me, the weekend was good. I've counseled for younger kids in the past and I've worked with senior high for the past year or so back home. However, I've never combined those forces to counsel for senior highers. I'm glad I had the experience. Especially since the majority of these students were unchurched. That creates a whole different level of dynamics. I don't know if I've just been out of the secular high school and college crowd for too long or what, but I think I've forgotten how desperately lost people are without God. It shook me. I wasn't expecting that.

This week is also a different than most. We're doing what is called a 24/7 week of prayer. Basically, there is a room set up and designated to be the prayer room. In this place there will always be at least one person praying at all times for one week, 24/7. There was a sign up sheet for all of us to choose a one hour slot for each day this week. It's already beginning to impact people on a divine level. I like this.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do next year. Even now as I type there is growing collection of college and university web pages open in my browser. However, I really have no idea what I'm supposed to study. I want to have a sincere desire and passion for whatever it is I choose to study. And as of right now I'm stuck with a wimpy and rather directionally challenged list of ideas. Granted, I know that God has brought me to Kaleo and I have a tenacious peace about my present situation. So, I'm not really worried about the next step but rather excited about the unpredictability of where God will take me next.

Yesterday a small group of us decided to hike into the woods to build a shelter. It seemed like a worthy way to spend a sunny afternoon. Our appointed leader was none other than my fellow American, Benjamin Brainard. Ben is Eagle Scout and an expert in the ways of the land and survival situations. He was able to lead us well in this endeavor. The shelter may eventually crumble (though probably not because it's solid), but the memory will stand for a lifetime... :)

Sheep

Apparently the camp owns sheep. I noticed them once but I thought they belonged to some neighbors. Turns out they're camp sheep. So today a few friends and I decided to go investigate and we took a few pictures along the way. It was a really good time.

Church went well. I'm not sure why, but there is a growing number of Capernwray students that are committing to come to the Alliance church (the church I attend) for the rest of the year. There were at least nine students that came today and many of those have chosen to commit. This awkward little church needs a lot change in various ways and seeing these other students commit is a good step. God is definitely moving but I'm not sure what He's doing yet.

Today marks the first day of reading break. As exciting as a week off of everything sounds, there is really much to do. We have numerous papers to write, assignments to finish and pages to read before the end of the week. Despite all of that and against all decent judgment, some friends and I are going to victoria for the next few days. One of the girls has a friend who is out of town and willing to let us crash at their place. So at midnight we're making a break for it. And I need to finish packing. So that is all.

Happiness In Pop-Tarts

Papers are due today. Which means this is a day of recovery. For some it's finally getting some rest after a long sleepless night of work. For others it's a seat on a couch and a blank stare of relief. For me, I think I'm somewhere in between with a mixture of Counting Crows and rain drops as my soundtrack. I just finished cleaning my room which is a nice feeling after being submerged in a nest of neglected belongings and paperwork for the past two weeks while doing homework. Open the windows, deep breath.

Church was a bit different today. For one thing there was a missionary from Liberia who spoke. I was rather captivated by the her intense experiences and the passion she had for the people she was reaching. I hope that I can find a course in life that wells up that kind of passion in me. Another thing that might not seem exciting to most people, but it was a huge step in my eyes, was the addition of a video projector instead of the normal overhead projector. We were able to display the words to the songs using power point! I can't begin to tell you how happy I was to see this. I made sure to express my appreciation to the man who headed it up. Hopefully I can encourage him enough to make it permanent happening.

Despite the busyness of this past week, we still managed to make time for a couple solid nights of worship. The first was last Monday. It was such a nice night that we decided to build a fire down on the beach and sing a few songs. Some former Kaleo students that now go to Briercrest happened to be visiting for the week while they were on reading break so they were able to join us. It was cool. One of the visiting students is majoring in worship ministry and is a gifted worship leader. So a few days ago we were able to put a band together for a night of worship that he was able to lead. It was intense. I was able to play bass which is always exciting for me. I forgot how much I enjoy playing bass.

Yesterday I toasted a couple of Pop-Tarts which attracted the attention of Johann (one of the Brazilian part time workers here at camp). He apparently had never heard of a Pop-Tart before and was incredibly fascinated by it. His joyous reaction to his first bite was pretty great. I'll never take a Pop-Tart for granted ever again.

Chili

Over the past few weeks Fall has slowly been creeping in. The leaves have been changing and are now beginning to carpet the grounds. The air is becoming crisp and pumpkins are showing up everywhere. However, today is the first day that it has genuinely smelled like fall. I found myself exceptionally appreciative of this as I was walking to lunch today where I was greeted by the matchless aroma of chili. A more appropriate meal does not exist for such a day as this. I was pleased.

Today was the beginning of our course in hermeneutics. I'm not entirely sure what to say about this class yet. If I had to offer my thoughts strictly on the pre-course material then I would not have pleasant thoughts. So I think I'll wait until we're a bit further along with this class before I say anything else.

I have a fairly important decision to make this week. Part of the Kaleo program requires that we choose to attend one of four possible mission trips. Of the four trips there are two in my mind that have risen to the surface. One is to New York where we would work in troubled neighborhoods in Brooklyn. There is a group of Christians that run a Sunday school program for over 20,000 families every week and personally visit and care for each family every week as well. I can't even fathom how this works but it sounds incredible. The other trip is to the Garwhal in northern India. Apparently this one of the darkest and most oppressed areas in India and almost entirely without Christian presence. Blatant evangelism is not exactly an option in this area because of the threats of Hindu extremists. Because of this, much of our evangelism will be in how we interact with each other and with the people we meet along the way. Another aspect of the trip will be prayer which is a thread that will run through all that we do. I have to turn in my decision by the end of the week so I would greatly appreciate your prayers on the matter.

I started typing this post much earlier in the day but somehow after all the distractions of the evening I'm just now finishing it here after 11. I think I will go to bed now. For the past few days I've been fighting some kind of cold that just seems to only worsen. I hope tomorrow will bring relief. That is all.

The Salmon Run

As I reflect on this past week there seems to be one topic that comes to mind more than any other. Homework. It had its oppressive grip on each one of us every second of every day. People were spread out near and far in any and every nook of this facility trying to find a quiet moment to get work done. Some people (myself included) go as far as to hide in storage and laundry rooms just to get something accomplished. However, in all reality it's not that bad. It is a lot to do and it's not always exciting but it's solid material. I'm certainly not complaining.

A few days ago the guys and the girls were spilt up for a small, one night trip. The girls went to some house on a beach somewhere and went shopping and ate Indian food and so forth. The guys all went to Jim's house (our Kaleo leader) and cooked a rather large steak dinner for ourselves. It was the first time we've ever been split up by gender for an evening. I think it was good for all of us to get away and have solid fellowship and conversation as men and women. I hope we can do this again.

Yesterday Isaac and I drove into Victoria for a computer bag that he needed to buy. Isaac is a full time staff member here at camp and also a good friend of mine. On our way back to camp we stopped to watch the "salmon run." Ever year around this time the salmon all swim back up stream to lay their eggs and die. By the time they reach their destination they're pretty beat up and sickly. It was pretty intense, really. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see this.

Today was a good day. Church was exceptionally encouraging this morning. At first I couldn't quite figure out exactly why it was so good but then I got it. It was good fellowship. I think this church is starting to feel more like my own. Not my own like my church at home, but my own like where I belong. There are a handful of Capernwray students that I normally pick up and drop off at the ferry every Sunday so they can go to church with us. Capernwray is a program somewhat similar to Kaleo except they have groups all over the world including one in the area. Anyway, before taking them back to the ferry we went a few places around town and had lunch together at Tim Hortons. We also swung by camp so they could see our home and get a little better idea for what Kaleo is all about. It was a really enjoyable afternoon.

This week is most likely going to look a lot like last week. There is much homework to do and not a lot of time to do it. Sometimes I feel a little like one of those beat up salmon trying desperately to get ahead. Except there are no eggs involved. Hopefully I won't die. Oh yes, I think we're going spelunking one of the days this week. I'm sure there will be more to come on that. Next time.

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada

On the outside, Canadian Thanksgiving is much like Thanksgiving in the states. Family and friends gather together. There is an elaborate meal with a plethora of foods (including the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie). Except the only thing is I'm not sure what they are celebrating. I was just thankful to get a meal outside of camp.

I say outside of camp because I did, in fact, go away for the weekend. A couple friends of mine from home (Shawn and Danielle Kelley) came up to Danielle's parent's house on the mainland for Thanksgiving and I was able to join them. Today they came back to the island with me for a couple of days. It's nice to be with people from home again.

It would be a terrible thing to not take a moment now to mention the epic fun that was our surfing trip. It turns out I'm not the best surfer on the west coast. But I certainly don't feel that I'm the worst either. I slowly mastered the art of catching the waves with the occasional accomplishment of getting up on my board. The bottom line here is that surfing is great fun.

Sadly enough, surfing and Thanksgiving were short lived episodes. The amount of homework I have to do in the next couple weeks is more than I can even convey by memory at this time. Which is why I must now end this post and continue in my academic endeavors.

Computers, Worship and Beautiful Places

I try to keep my complaints to a minimum whenever I find myself writing for any kind of audience. It seems to be less than tasteful to offer such an attitude. However, I would like to grumble for a moment about a problem I've been having with my computer. The only way I can keep it alive is to keep it plugged in at all times. So if I unplug it for even a moment it dies. Obviously, there has been much speculation from the computer geeks in my life as to what the problem may be. But until I find the time to get it fixed, this is my struggle. I say all of this because just moments ago I was nearly finished typing some material when my outstretched foot happened upon my computer's power cord. With the slightest of nudges I managed to kill my computer erasing all that I had written. This is not an uncommon occurrence as of lately and it hardly prompts my desire to write at this time.

None-the-less,

This past week we (Kaleo) did something completely out of the ordinary. We went to school. That is correct, after three weeks of fun and adventure we've finally decided to settle down for a bit. Our first class was titled Spiritual Formation. It mainly addressed the various spiritual disciplines that many of us as life long believers have heard time and time again. Examples would include prayer, fasting, meditation, scripture memorization, etc. However, the exciting thing about all of this was that we were taught how to actually use these disciplines effectively. Our professor, Marv Penner, was able to convey this information with an incredible amount of sincerity. His honesty as a teacher enabled many of us to be impacted on a far deeper level than we ever would have thought possible.

Church has been on my mind a lot lately. Not the church in general but my specific church that I attend. Lately Daniel and I have been able to help with the worship. Basically, I've simply been playing along on guitar and Daniel the same on some form of drum. We hope to be able to incorporate more planning and practice in the process but it's becoming more difficult than expected. However, this past Sunday the lady that normally leads offered Daniel and I the opportunity to lead once or twice a month. So this could be a much simpler and more effective method of incorporating new ideas and better structure. Time will tell.

The monday night worship time, which I've just decided needs a proper title, has been going well. The monday before last was a more conventional time of song. We asked people to bring their instruments, whatever they may be, and any music they could muster. We had guitars, a violin, a djembe, a cajon, and I think even a flute at one point. The music went on for quite a while. It was good. // Tonight was much different. We basically just drew pictures. It seems fairly elementary and for a group of college students it was difficult for some people to do. However, people responded really well to it. It was refreshing.

The other day I was walking outside between buildings when I suddenly realized the beauty of the place where I live. Don't get me wrong, I've known of it's beauty all along. But for some reason in that brief moment of commute it became exceptionally evident. I am blessed.

Speaking of beautiful places, we're leaving for Tofino tomorrow to go surfing. Tofino is on the western coast of the island and apparently is a beautiful place. Supposedly there's going to be over twenty foot waves tomorrow. We obviously won't be surfing in those conditions because we would die. But we're excited to be able to see such a spectacle because it's not all that common of an occurrence. We'll be there for a few days and the waves are supposed to calm down quite a bit so we should still get some decent time in the water.

As for now, I must pack.

A Week At Sea.

For the past five days I, along with the rest of the Kaleo group, have been sailing out on the Pacific Ocean. We went with an organization called S.A.L.T.S. based out of Victoria. The best way I can describe the boat is that it's much like a pirate ship. It's a wooden boat big enough for thirty-five plus people with numerous sails and a burly british captain. Part of the experience of being on the trip is being part of the crew. So all of us had to do our part in scrubbing the deck, hoisting sails, staying up on night watch and so forth. The experience of the ship was quite something in itself. However, another significant part of the trip, that I was not expecting, was that the crew members were all Christians. It was exciting to be able to worship and fellowship with them throughout the week. The worship was one of my favorite things about the trip. We would all gather and sing songs out of a book of oddly complialed tunes. We sang traditional hymns and contemporary choruses right along with The Beatles and John Denver. Not to mention the occosional sea barring tune with the skipper in the background on his Irish flute. As a worship leader, it changed and encouraged my perspective. I believe and have believed that worship is not the act of singing hymns and chorus. It's a state of mind and heart. It's how and why we live for God. And if a bunch of people in the middle of "worship" can find honest joy and fellowship in the bottom of a boat singing Let It Be. Then let it be.

The topic of worship has been on my mind a lot latley. The other day one of the Kaleo leaders asked myself and one other student if we would be interested in leading a monday night worship gathering. It's an open-ended opportunity for all of the students to figure out ways to worship God. I think something I'm going to encourage for that time is that we stay away from singing as much as possible. Simply to step away from the falsity that worship is about singing to God. The ideas are already begining to flood in. I'm excited to see where this goes.

Today is a day of recovery. It's a day to sleep. It's a day to finish neglected homeowork. It's a day to be with people. It's a day to shake off the left-over rocking sensation from a week at sea. It's a solid day.

Details, Details...

Greetings. It blows my mind to think that I've only been here on Vancouver Island for just over a week. The people seem like old friends, my room has gone from settled in to an unsettled mess and the adventures are already starting to pile and turn to memories. The experience is more than I expected.

For those of you who may not know where I am or what I'm doing, I'll fill you in. Earlier this month I began a program called Kaleo located on Vancouver Island. Kaleo is a program that is entirely college, entirely ministry and entirely adventure. I realize that sounds kind of cheesey but that's really the simplest way to put it. All twenty-seven of us that have been accepted into Kaleo live together, eat together, travel together, go to class together and so forth. Instead of trying to explain what all that means, I'll just let the blog explain it in time.

This past week we went on a three day hike to the top of Mount Albert-Edward which is the tallest mountain on the island. It was by no means an easy task. However, any struggle was easily over-shadowed by the incredible beauty of that place. I've honestly never seen anything more beautiful than the view from the peak of that mountain. Not only that, but everyone in the group was able to make it to the top. It was incredible to witness and be a part of the relationships that were built along the way.

Another element to Kaleo is our involvment in area churches. The church I'm involved in is North Cowichan Alliance. It's a small congregation of about sixty that meet in a small Christian school. My involvement at this point will be primarily with the worship team and the kid's sunday school. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what to expect but I'm excited just the same.

In addition to the trips and the ministry is, of course, school. And with any school there is homework to be done. Which is what I've been neglecting to do all evening. So this is where I'll leave you. I'm not sure when my next post will be. We're leaving for another trip on Monday so it could be as late as next weekend before I can post again. That's all for now.