Kaleo Ministry

So this is the last week of Kaleo until the new year! I am excited to come back and see everyone, but I sure am going to miss all of my class-mates.
In our field education class we are learning about the ministry of reconciliation from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. These verses talk about how God has reconciled himself to us, and what that means we should be doing. It has sort of provided me with a 'mission statement' for everything I do. The Bridge (youth worship night at Cobble Hill) has been going very well. We recently had a Christmas service, where we sang classics like "Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, which is probably my new favorite. The youth group there is really tight, and its good to be a part of that.
The other day we went to 'The Bungy Zone" and a bunch of us jumped off a bridge. I opted for the less terrifying option of climbing through a ropes course 80 feet up in some trees. I was on the course for a few hours swinging between spindly pines. It was good times. Afterward I got to watch my less inhibited friends plunging 150 feet into a river, and then bouncing back up as if they were on the end of a flyfishers rod.
The community here at Kaleo is growing all the time, partly due to all of our shared experiences, but moreso because of our intentional opening up to one another. We all do our best not to badmouth people behind their backs, but instead discuss issues with one another. And sometimes, like recently, when this doesnt happen, we respond to it by throwing it out there. This morning in a large group we discussed how we havent always been accepting of everyone here, which was becoming a heartbreaking problem. And now we can make a concerted effort to remedy the problem. I think we are all closer because of this 'mass honesty' and I hope to be 'massively honest' back at home too. I guess I have learned that we have to let people in on our pet peeves otherwise there wont be any healing - just bitterness.
Soon I will be home and able to tell you all about whats been going on!
Love you lots