New York!

So at the end of every year of Kaleo the group splits up in to different teams and ventures off to different missions trips around the world. These trips can last from anywhere from 2-3 weeks and this year the locations were India, New York, and Vancouver. Before this year even started I knew that I was going to New York, and I must say... it was absolutely amazing!
We worked with an organization called "Metro Ministries" that was founded by a man named Bill Wilson. The organization focuses primarily on the children of New York that are found in rough neighborhoods and broken families. There are about 50 staff that run the ministry and they own a few buildings in the Brooklyn area including a church which they call the "Metro Church". The ministry in itself has 3 main components. In their attempts to reach out to the children of New York, they have set up their main function of what they call "Sidewalk Sunday School". This is a Sunday school that was designed to be completely mobile. The organization owns around 18 yellow trucks in which they use to go out to different parts of the city and set up a Sunday School in local parks and street corners. Once they get to a site, one side of the truck folds down into a platform which acts as a stage and a set that is re- designed creatively every week. This particular way of holding Sunday School has reached numbers of over 20 000 kids ever week. Another aspect of the ministry is their weekly visitation. Each staff member is responsible for one area of New York where they will go to atleast once a week and visit all of the children in that particular area that attend the Sunday School. This is what in a sense keeps the ministry on its feet because this is what builds relationships and trust between the staff and the kids and families. It was really neat being able to work with this ministry. We weren't able to see the actual Sidewalk Sunday School because the semester for that hadn't started yet but we were able to go on visitation with different staff members at least once while we were there. Most of the work we did there mainly consisted of handy jobs like gardening, painting, a little demo and organizing that took place in different parts of their main center and a few staff-owned apartments. It was good knowing that we were helping the staff by taking work that they would normally have to do themselves off their hands.



Brooklyn was not exactly what I thought it would be like. The culture there is so different than anything I've ever experienced. I mean sure its not like a foreign country culture, but its still quite a bit different. The ghetto isn't exactly the same as the Suburbia type communities I grew up in. The people there live a lot differently and have their own priorities. The kids there were super rad! They have so much attitude and put up a tough external shell but really most of them are pretty broken inside. At first it was hard to understand their actions but the more and more I was around them it all started to make sense, especially when I got the chance to go on visitation with one of the Metro staff. I got to see a lot of where the kids actually lived and spent most of their time, and it was a surprising sight. From that experience I learned that its not impossible to find 3rd world conditions in the heart of a major 1st world North American City. Most of these kids lived in the projects (government housing) and the living conditions there were pretty awful, like we are talking dirty, cockroach infested urine smelling tiny apartments that can sometimes hold 8-10 kids in an apartment. It was pretty eye opening. It didn't make much sense when I saw families living in houses with empty fridges and mattresses on the floor and yet they all seemed to have super nice cars sitting outside, big screen T'V's and pretty mch every one of them wore fancy new sneakers. Thats just way that culture works though I guess.

While I was there God seemed to teach me a lot about my character, through both the work that we did, and from being around the team and the Metro staff. And we all know that growth doesnt come with out hardship, and I can tell you that my trip wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, but I wouldn't have wanted it that way anyway, other wise I might as well have called that trip a vacation. All I can say is, God is good, and he is still chipping away at my character.

Some of our trip seemed a little like a vacation though. We spent a few days seeing the sights of New York and touring around a little bit. I can't say I didn't mind that too much, although going from one extreme society level to another in one day was pretty crazy. Its weird going from project buildings and poverty in Brooklyn and taking the subway a couple blocks and ending up in the richest part of downtown Manhattan. We got to see some famous places like Time Square, the SOHO district, Rucker Park, The Brooklyn Bridge, Jones Beach, Wall Street, Ground Zero and we got a pretty good view of the Statue of Liberty. My favorite sight seeing memory though would have to be going to the rooftop of the Metro Center during one of our last nights there. Being up there you could see a 360 view of the city. It was windy and cold... but the spectacular view was totally worth it.

All in all, our trip was pretty sweet. I got to see God work in some pretty cool ways through that ministry. It was awesome to be able to help out and serve the staff and the community there, and from what we have been told we were quite a blessing to them. I can't say that I love that city, I'm still not a city person, but I fell in love with the people of Brooklyn, and some of them I am pretty sure I will never forget.

A Busy Busy Week

This past week has been the busiest week of my entire Kaleo Experience. It was reading break for most of it but I cant say that I found this particular break to be very relaxing. We had so many papers and assignments to write before the end of the week and it took up pretty much all of my time. I'm still not done completely but I'm working on it. Other than a ton of homework there wasn't really much I did this week, So maybe I'll talk a little bit about the deeper contemplations of my life :)

Over the past while I have fallen into this phase of life that I've never really been in before. If I were to describe my life right now, the best way I could explain it is by drawing a giant bold, black question mark. So many aspects of my life right now has a giant question mark covering it, and I am so unsure about so many things. I have no idea what I want to do after Kaleo. I have been thinking about a number of different things, but over all, I just don't know which one is the right one. I know that God will eventually show me, but I must say my patience on waiting for that is struggling. I am feeling more and more that I don't want to stay here in Canada for much longer. I love it here, dont get me wrong, but I am getting that tugging feeling to get up and go again, but I know that wherever I end up going, it will always be nice to come back to the island.

Grass skirts, Limbo, and some Salt Spring sightseeing

This week at youth group was Hawaii night! In which me and Philip Karklins along with the rest of the Extreme leaders got to dress up! It was pretty hilarious. The night overall was pretty chill and light. I'm still kind of wondering if they will ever start incorporating some sort of indepth studies at all in the future. I think that youth nights could at least afford 15 minutes. Its getting to the point where we will even skip out on connect groups if the games aren't finished yet. I dont know. To me something just doesn't seem right about that. I know that most of the youth leaders from the church have spent years getting to know the kids so they dont need connect groups for that reason but I am still finding it extremely difficult to really get to know any of these kids, and its starting to actually really bug me. Prayer in this aspect would be greatly appreciated. I am a little scared about staying after the other Kaleo's leave at the end of April. I don't want to lose the support we have with eachother in that area but God has me and thats all that I really need. I really want God to continue to break down my own fears and walls when it comes to these kids so that I can whole heartedly be genuine with them. I care about them a lot but if I do not show it with my actions then it means nothing. Anyway, thats it for my little rant about that.




This weekend was reading break and I spent most of it at the camp. The first couple of days were little hard and I felt some good reflecting was in order. I ended up re-evaluating some things and getting some aspects of my life back on track. I still don't know what I want to do this summer or fall, but I am more at peace of the uncertainty now. God will show me... eventually. On Saturday I went to Salt Spring Island with a few Kaleos and we toured the Island and just had a fun relaxing time. It was really fun and definitely a day I wont forget. I hope there are many more of those times still ahead before graduation. Time is slipping away when it comes to Kaleo, and I don't want to neglect any of it!

A princess becomes a bride to be!

This week was a jam packed week full of a lot of craziness. On Thursday night we had a guys and girls night where the girls went to the guest house for a sleep over and the guys stayed at the camp and made a giant fort to sleep in the bottom floor of Pacific Woods Lodge. It was by far probably the best guys/girls night this year. It was just so relaxed and we didn't have a lot of activities scheduled so we were able to just chill and have a good time. We ended up playing some pretty awesome games including truth or dare (thats all I'm saying about that game ;) It was a really enjoyable night and in the morning we met up with the guys at the White Spot for breakfast. I can really feel the close relationship between us girls building more and more as time goes on, and I am so thankful for it.




Friday night for youth group it was the leader's job to plan the night spending time with each of our connect groups. For my connect group I decided to put on a theater style movie night with freshly popped pop corn. We ended up watching the Princess Bride (I figured the younger generations needed to be educated in this classic movie because most of them have never seen it before) and they really liked it. It was a really relaxing night for all of us I think. Many kids didn't come because of school commitments so we didn't have a very big group but having a small group for a change certainly wasn't an awful change. I was also reminded this week that after Kaleo is over I would be the only one out of Kaleo still involved in the youth group. Tammy the Youth Pastor gave me the option of staying or ducking out with the rest of the Kaleos but I really feel that I should stay. I figure that when I committed to that youth group that it meant till the end of the year, despite when Kaleo ends, so I'm determined to follow through with it, even if my connect group ends up taking on 30 more kids! haha. I think next year I might get involved in Children's ministries for a change, because I still don't know which area I am better in. I have been trying to figure that out for years and I still don't know! Also this weekend a very special room mate of mine got engaged on Valentines day! I totally knew it was coming and I am very excited and happy for her! Congrats Shannon!

Kalimpics and a week entitled "stress"

Wow....
that is all I have to say. This... week.. has been... the most stressful week of my entire "Kaleo Experience". My staple food switched over to red bulls to keep me somewhat alive through it all, if not to preserve a morsel of my sanity. We had a class this week on the Pentateuch, or Old Testament Literature. It was a really great class despite the length of it every day. We would be in a the lecture from 9 in the morning till 4:30 in the afternoon, and then from then till supper we had a meetings for the special project assigned to us at the beginning of the week to complete on top of everything else. This special project required us to make in 4 days a video presentation of the entire old testament. Somehow we managed to pull it off though. On top of class and that project there was a lot going on at night from India prayer meetings, work outs, and other youth groups which made it very hard for all of us to get things done.
To top this week off it was the New Life Kaleo's turn to plan and run our youth group on Friday night. This was by far the most stressful part of the week. We were able to make a plan and get all the supplies in time to make the night happen. It wasn't easy though. We had to work with the entire youth group ( approx 100 kids) in a very small tiny gym so we decided the best plan was to do an olympic style theme with teams and competition games. We tried to be creative and the kids seemed to really enjoy them for the most part. Our youth pastor Tammy thought we did a great job so that is good enough for me. I still wish somehow God could be more a part of those nights and it not just be about games and themes. I'm used to going to youth groups with bible studies and I can't say this youth group really plans any. Next week we have connect group night where I get to spend the entire evening with my group, I am excited for that, even though I'm not completely sure what to do, I know that God will guide :)

Picture: Eric Johnson as "Noah" in our Old Testament Movie

Missions, Mosques and Creepy Hindu Temples

This weekend we went on a trip across the Georgia Straight to the wonderful coastal city of Vancouver to attend the 2009 Missions Fest seminar. We left early Thursday morning and arrived on the mainland with plenty of time before noon. Since the seminar didn't start till Friday we decided to make Thursday a day to visit a Mosque and a Hindu Temple to learn more about the religions and then take the rest of day touring on foot around downtown. It was a great day. I didn't really know a lot about Islam or Hinduism before but I found it very informative, especially the Mosque. The Hindu temple was probably about one of the creepiest places I've ever set foot in and the leader there that talked to us brought up some of the most randomest facts about the many uses of cow dung, massaging babies faces, and the idea that if we sit in a car we become part of the car. Nevertheless it was an good educational experience. After that we just split up into groups and walked around downtown seeing the sights of the city. It was nice to be in a city again for the change of scenery, but it also served to remind me that I couldn't live in a place like that for long. By the end of the whole trip I missed the Island. During the nights we stayed at a random church in the middle of no where but it was pretty sweet accommodations. Friday through to Saturday night we went to Missions Fest. I've never really been to a big Christian event like that and I must say it kind of took me off guard. I liked the fellowship of being around so many Christians but after a while I kind of noticed myself getting a little "Christianed" out. At one point a thought came to my head of running down the hallways yelling "disperse, disperse! Go forth and disciple the nations" haha. It kind of started to bug me that we were all in this Christianese bubble and yet the real world was occurring just outside the doors of the convention center. The sessions that I went to were generally impacting, and as I wondered around the many booths lined up containing information of tons of mission's organizations I half expected God to make one pop out at me and tell me "this is the one for you", but it didn't really end up happening. I think out of all of them the YWAM booth stood out the most, but maybe that is because I am just already familiar with it. I have been thinking a lot lately of going back to YWAM next year and doing a Primary Health Care school with the University of the Nations. I want to keep praying about it though. Over all Missions Fest was a neat experience, and it was cool to here from well known Christian speakers like Grace Fox and Tony Campollo.

Butterflies and Spiderman Faces

This week at youth group we put on a carnival for the whole church. We had a big turn out and many parents came with their small children. I was stationed at the face-painting table so I spent the whole night drawing everything from flowers to Spiderman to Canucks logos on little kid’s faces. The whole night definitely brought me back to this summer when I worked as a counselor and Ice Cream Island Host. The atmosphere held the same enthusiasm and excitement from all the kids that were there. One thing that I found really neat was that the youth was working with the leaders to put on this event. Everyone was assigned their different jobs, and everyone was willing to help and I was really impressed at their servant-like attitudes. The night was a huge success and people seemed to enjoy themselves.

On Saturday night our New Life Singles Group met with one of the main representatives for the global organization “International Justice Mission”. This organization focuses on battling the injustice occurring throughout the world whether it comes to shutting down brick yards to get children out of slavery to pulling women and young girls out of brothels that are being kept against their will. Until a few weeks ago I never knew this type of organization existed, and the more and more I am finding out about it the more intrigued I am. He spoke to us a lot about what the organization does, what its hope is for the future, how he ended up getting involved in it, and it was all really interesting. I encourage you to look it up! http://www.ijm.org/

Mt. Washington

This past week all of us Kaleos went on a five day trip to Mt. Washington a couple hours north of Nanaimo. We stayed in a chalet (cabin/lodge) that we had all to ourselves and spent the entire week marking up the mountain slopes with our snowboards and skis. It was a very good week. Our schedule every day was relatively relaxed, mainly consisting of eating, sleeping, snow boardng, and a nightly chapel. I really enjoyed the chapels that we had at night. At the beginning of the year during our S.A.L.T.S sailing trip we gave each other names for us to grow into or that reflected us, and this week we spent our chapel times discussing our thoughts on these names and we renamed a few of us as well. My name given to me was "Broken" because of my past as well as my future. I believe that God wants to break me in really good ways this year. It was so nice to be back on the hills and snowboarding this week. I tried some new things like the terrain park and some jumps and rails and stuff. No broken bones on my part but there were a lot of injuries of others within the first two days or our trip . In total we had two broken wrists, one concussion and a sliced pinky finger! I believe that everyone had a good time though, despite some that had to spend all their time in the lodge. Over all it was just a very laid back and fun refeshing trip. I love the snow!

A Very Merry Christmas and a Marshmellow Mayhem!

To all of you who are reading this, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! My Christmas was awesome. I was able to go back to Calgary for two weeks with my parents so that we could spend Christmas with my siblings who live there. It was a very relaxing and fun time just goofing around and enjoying the company of my wonderful brother and sisters. It was good to take a little break from the Kaleo atmosphere as well, but I still missed them all and was ready to come back at the end of the break. Getting back into classes again as I enter into Semester 2 of Kaleo is taking me a little bit of work. It's hard to get back into the working groove once you have gotten used to doing nothing every day and sleeping in every morning! I am really excited for this next semester and I know that God has some things for me to experience during this time.
This Friday was the first youth group of the new year and boy was it a stressful and eventful night. The theme was entitled "Molecule Meltdown" and it was probably one of the most mentally challenging games I've seen played. The game was like a giant game of telephone where teamates were scattered in different zones throughout the church. There was a molecule structure made out of colored marshmellows and toothpicks that the teams in zone one had to examine carefully and pass on the information of how to build it to their team mates in the next zone. Eventually the information gets passed between team mates from zone to zone until it gets to the last zone where the team mates in that zone have to take the information passed on and try to re create the original model in the first zone. Obviously whoever successfully built it won. It was a CRAZY game, and kids were running around and screaming everywhere. It was a great idea though! Because Sandra, my connect group Co-leader is gone this was my first week where I had the connect group all to myself. I was pretty nervous about taking on such a large group all to myself but I knew that this is something God is wanting me to do alone, partly because there just aren't enough leaders for two leaders per group. Our connect group time that night was good, but very challenging aswell. My kids were especially hyper after such an insane game as well as the pop we gave them afterwards and it was almost impossible to keep their attention. This is something I would appreciate prayer for in the future. I guess just that God would put on my heart how to lead these kids during this time every youth night and that he would just give me guidance and direction in how to relate to them best and earn their respect. I really want to connect with these kids, but sometimes its hard to know how. I'm sure it will get better as the weeks progress!