Kaleo Ministry

Kaleo is back in session, and oh how wonderful it is!

Over the break God spoke to me through the scripture of Ephesians. Jim warned us that going back home from Kaleo could sometimes be like a battle, so I dove into the Word and tried to put on some armor. The salvation that Christ bought us has been on my mind. I have kept the Bible nearby and ready. The good news directed my steps. The truth held me up. I struggled to embody righteousness. Ephesians was my anthem and war cry. 

I say all of this not because my home-life is hard, or my family is treacherous, that would be to lie! My family and friends are wonderful people who build me up daily. But being in my old haunts, seeing the expectation of others for me to either be the same, or some creature altogether holier than when they last saw me, was a struggle. I needed God's full armor to keep my heart well protected for his use. 

Needless to say, God kept me. I loved being home. I already miss all of you!

All of my mates and I here at Qwanoes are jumping straight into the grindstone. We have already completed one course (except for all the homework!), and we are about to go snowboarding on Mt Washington for five days. We will be staying in a luxury chalet on the mountain. It has three hot-tubs! It will be just like home ;)

After that, we are starting our theology course, taught by my pastor. I would appreciate prayers, as I am sure that if I write a poor paper I will never live it down. 

Being back at Cobble Hill Church is just amazing. It felt like a family reunion. Especially with Nicki Parker there (who, for those who don't know, is an angel sent by God to bring me to Cobble Hill, who also will be co-leading my trip to India with a few other saints). 

God has been teaching me patience for a long time (or, has been trying to; I am a poor student). Recently he has reminded me to follow his leading even if conventional wisdom would point to different decisions. Praise him for his steadfastness in counsel! 

Because they sometimes forget to read this, tell my Mom and Grandma I love them dearly, whoever sees them first!

-Lovingly,

JH

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

Kaleo Ministry

The 24/7 week of prayer just ended. For almost the entire week I remained silent (with the exception of conversing with and singing to God). The week went pretty well. There were a lot of situations when I wanted to talk but shouldn't, and didn't.
In the prayer room I normally drew pictures of my prayers or knelt by the window meditating on God. The walls were covered with prayers written on multi-colored sheets of paper and pictures of all the Kaleo students and staff. I occasionally walked around the room and prayed for all the students, one at a time, but the majority of my prayers were for the people in India we would meet and the students and leaders heading up the trip.
The students at Cobble Hill baptist lead a service last week. In the morning I stammered out my testimony at the pulpit. It wasn't the best telling, but some people told me it went well and they probably have a better perspective on it! In the evening we arranged the chairs in a circle and had a camp-fire style service that worked pretty well. The whole service seemed more inviting and relaxed than it usually does.
This week, Lech was back from Poland, so we had the pleasure of hearing from him in the morning service. In the evening service, the students and youth at the church lead an all-hymn service which was really cool. I sang! Someone tell my gramma, I was in a five-person choir.
Other than that, school work has been fine. I hand in a lot of assignments late- but it doesn't bother me too much. I am thinking that when we come back after Christmas we will all know eachother well enough that we don't have to stay until 2am chatting, and instead we can stay up until 2am getting work done. Maybe pray for that, it will probably take a miracle.
I miss all you guys back home!
Lots of love,
Shalom.

Kaleo Ministry

Woops! Looks like I missed a week. That's what reading break does to you. I was buried in books the whole time.
Well honestly, not the whole time. I was camping for a couple days in the Carmanah Valley. I went with Tom and Aaron and a few people from Cobble Hill. I think that was the wettest camping trip I have ever been on. Also one of the most fun. I suppose when I am hanging out with people from Cobble Hill it counts as ministry, but its more like hanging out with family. We are encouraged to write about whether we were prepared for our ministry experiences, and I have to say -- I dont think I was. I was not at all prepared to gain more family! Friends, for sure, mentors, maybe, but family? What an amazing blessing.
Work at Qwanoes is really fun too. Tom and I cleaned out some treehouses. They were pretty gross what with the mats covered in rain water and spiders. Also there are hanging bridges which were extremely slippery and holey. Tom fell in one of the holes twice.
So far I seem to be the biggest trouble maker at Kaleo. Its not something im proud of but I dont want to provide a lopsided view of myself through this blog! First trouble was jumping off the dock at nighttime, into the ocean. The phosphorescence is beautiful but apparently thats no excuse for endangering the insurance prices of the camp. So that was kindof a bummer.
I also got in trouble for riding big pans from the kitchen down stairways. So yeah, remember to pray for God to discipline me because I need it.
In other news, I made it onto the India Team! I am not really surprised, but I am really thankful. A lot of people were told that they could not go because only ten can go. So also give praise to the Big Guy for that!
Love you all!

ps This is my only correspondence during my vow of silence. Remember to come visit me everyone!

Kaleo Ministry

Wowee what a week!
A huge assignment was due on Sunday, which I have to hand in late. Luckily my brother has helped me get started because I got totally muddled! The assignment was on the Book of Proverbs and what it says about the Heart.
Before that though, we finished Hermeneutics class with some presentations. Our group was up until 4:30 or so ironing out the wrinkles of the presentation. It went fairly well though. We had a jeopardy game where all the clues were trivia from the book of James.
As far as Cobble Hill goes, everything is happening smoothly. I am nervous about giving my testimony but I am sure it will be a good experience. If anyone who reads this can think of a time in my life where they saw a lot of outward change please let me know! I know where there was a lot of inward change but I am curious to see if those times match up with times of outward change. As for the youth, I love all those kids! I feel like I have a bunch of younger siblings.
As for life among the students here at Kaleo, I find new reasons to love these people every day. A bunch of us recently bough hammocks so last night we tied them up in our room and hung out. Here is a picture of them in the morning
We coated the floor in mattresses so that the other guys could lay around on the floor, and also so that if we fell out we would land on something soft.
And this picture is a little overdue,
credit to Philip Karklins, master sports-photographer.
Write me emails! I miss all of you!

Kaleo Ministry

Last week was a busy one. Nowadays homework takes up most of our time here. The homework is good though, it stretches me. What I mean is that I am doing so much work and experiencing such a level of stress that maybe when I have gone beyond first year studies I will be able to stretch enough to survive them. Without this year I know I could never do it.
The homework is also teaching me about God, about life, and about relationships with my peers. There is nothing like having twenty six other students experiencing the same stress. We can really see what methods (within the range of: work then play, play then work, play then play, and work then work) of study really work.
Apart from all the school work, I was asked to lead a prayer at Cobble Hill. I had only been asked to lead a prayer once before that night, and I completely forgot and messed it up. So I was really determined to "pray well" this time. My topic was the lines in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." After getting up in front of everyone I was pretty nervous, but once we got into praying everything went well. Some people said they really appreciated the prayer, so I guess it was good. I have no idea if God worked through me at all but I hope so. I am sure that God worked -on- me through this experience. I am quite interested in finding out more about the concept of 'the Kingdom of God.'
In other news, we are all deciding which mission trip to go on. The options are Vancouver, Columbia, New York, and India. For about the past year I have been learning about India in different ways. My first shallow forays into finding 'enlightenment' were through Hinduism, the primary religion of India. The mentor that helped usher me into God's Kingdom had gone on this same India-trip. A college course that I took on eastern religions ended up focusing on Hinduism for about half the class. It was during this class, while seeing pictures and hearing the history of India that I fell in love with her people. It is these experiences, as well as the knowledge that people will be greatly encouraged by our presence, that convince me that God is calling me there. The only thing that is missing is money, but I have faith that if India is where I should be, the money will come and I will be there.
Thanks for reading everyone! Maybe one of these days ill post some pictures! Watch out!
-Jeremiah

Kaleo Ministry

I lead Bible study this week. I think it went pretty well! There was a good turn out (the whole youth group and Kurt came), and we all had a good time, and learned something about God from the passage I think. Afterward we had pop and cookies and tea and other good stuff.
We had a "Guy's Night" at Jim's house. All the guys (except Jon, who was in Vancouver with his grandfather) hung out all night. We made steak dinners with apple pie and then when we had finished eating we went for coffee in Duncan. The coffee was great and Aaron and I had a game of chess that ended in draw due to time. When we got back the pie had cooled off enough to eat so we dug in. The rest of the night was spent watching Luther and talking and stuff.
Other than the guys night and the Bible study, not much happened this week. I should have spent it working on my Proverbs/Heart essay, but I spent most of my time reading one of the text books. Also, visiting with Lauren as she was working the retreat.
The retreat! I almost forgot, but this weekend was the lady's retreat. I was working for it, and my job was raking. I raked a lot. Then I swept, which is a similar, but more suburban chore. At least one funny thing happened to almost everyone involving the ladies. Aaron got flirted at by a few. I got off easy, they mentioned to me that they thought I was Israeli. Israeli! I was so proud.
At church this morning someone prayed some stuff that made me realize something. I realized another implication of the church as Jesus' body. I was constantly disappointed in myself for not measuring up to Jesus, and I knew that in all my life I never would measure up. I was frustrated because I know that no one could, and yet that is the goal of every Christian's life. We all want to be like Him. What I realized is that only as a congregation, as a body, will we be able to resemble Jesus. This takes my whole focus of somehow improving myself until I am as good as Jesus is, and refocuses it on the people around me. I have to improve my relationships with everyone else so that together we can look like Jesus. I should have already known this. I maybe already did, but I needed that prayer to realize that I was not living like it.
But yeah, I guess that is everything that has happened this week.
God Bless you!