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.