A Reflection on my growth through out the year!

 April, 17, 2013

        I have had an amazing time in the Kaleo program these past 8 months. Sadly my journey through the program is coming to a close. However my ministry is not. I have learned so much through this program and I will continue to use what I have learned here in my everyday life. Something that has been a huge help in my spiritual growth would be the ministry aspect of the program. In this program we not only got to take classes and learn a lot academically, but we also got to experience it and put everything we have learned in class into practice. I really enjoyed being able to be stretched in the ministry aspect by trying new things like teaching sunday school, leading in youth group and counselling at retreats. Through out this year I have grown to love helping out in various ministry areas, in fact I loved it so much that I am working here this summer as a senior counsellor. Councelling will give me an opportunity right away to use what I have learned this year and grow even more through that.I am very sad to have to leave this amazing program. However, I know that through this program God has been equipping me for what is yet to come in my life. I do not know what lies ahead for me, but what I do know is that I can trust in the Lord to guide me where I am supposed to go. 

      I have grown a lot through this program and most of my growth has blossomed out of being stretched and challenged. Some of the challenges that have stretched me and made an impact on my growth would be experiencing life away from home and my family. Being away from home has really challenged me to be independent and take ownership of my faith instead of copying my family. This program has really challenged me to learn more about my faith and find out what I truly believe. Another way that this program has challenged and stretched me is academically. At the beginning of the year I was really stressed with all the homework and long papers that we had to write, and I began to worry if I was ever going to make it through. God really began to work in me through the academics. Because I was stressed God taught me to trust him and give all my worries and stress to him and that he would take care of it. God has a plan for me, of course I still have to work for it but because I trusted in God I no longer had to stress or worry. Papers that I had to write seemed really scary at the beginning of the year but through Derek helping me to understand the proper way to write a paper and trusting in God I found a way to get better and better at my paper writing. I also began to find enjoyment in the papers because they were of topics that I enjoyed and wanted to know more about. It was such a blessing to have this year to dedicate completely to learning about God and I look forward to sharing all that I have learned with others and continuing to learn more as there is always more to learn.

        I am going to miss this program a lot but I know that I have to move forward. I am going to Briercrest in the fall. However, I am really going to miss living in a small community like this. Living in a small community allows you to grow closer to people and to have that close bond. The bond that I have between all of the students this year is so strong that I know that no matter how far away we are from each other we will always keep in touch and be there for each other no matter what. Another thing that I am really going to miss is the intentionality of this program to make sure that you grow in your faith and to help you do that. This program was very intentional with helping in your spiritual growth, on every out trip Andrew found some way to make it about God and found something that we can learn on every trip. We also had many group discussions to see where everyone was at in their journey, along with Bible study giving us a chance to dig deeper into scripture in a smaller group. I know that from now on I am going to have to be the one being intentional in my spiritual growth, but I know that this year I have grown strong enough that I can do it. Just because I am not in the program anymore does not mean that I can't use some of the students as accountability partners. Even though some may be far away I know that this will be beneficial for us all. I am very thankful to God for giving me this amazing opportunity and I am looking forward to what he has for me next.

       Thank you all for your prayers this year they were much appreciated. Your prayer is powerful! 

       

Appreciating Camp Ministry

         April 9, 2013

        After finishing the Camp & Youth Ministry class I have learned a lot about how much work it is to plan and run a retreat. In the class everyone was split into groups and had to plan a retreat. Each group had to think of a different theme, games, speaker topics, schedule etc... After doing that assignment I have a new appreciation for camp ministry. Before I took this class I had never realized how much work was put into planning a weekend retreat and I cannot even imagine how much work goes into the whole summer at camp or even just one week. Now that I have a better understanding of all the work that is put into camp ministry I realize how passionate one must be about children to put this much work into it. I also realized how much they would need God to equip them for this job. I am really excited to be able to help out with camp ministry this summer. In order to run a camp especially one as big as Qwanoes it requires a lot of people to fill a variety of different positions. I am very happy that I get to contribute by being a counsellor this summer. 

          This past weekend I had the opportunity to be a counsellor for my second time ever at the juniors retreat. I really enjoyed counselling at this retreat and I learned a lot. After counselling for the weekend I was really excited to counsel for the summer, but I realize how exhausted I am going to be at the end. However, I know that even though I will be exhausted it will be worth it in the end. Something that really stood out to me about this juniors retreat is how much I have learned since the last time I counselled. Through the kaleo program God has been equipping me for many things and one of those things is counselling. After taking more classes and finishing our camp and youth ministry class I have learned a lot more about God and how to answer the hard questions that children or even adults might ask. I think that this time counselling I was better equipped and able to help the children in their spiritual growth a lot more. I am really looking forward to the summer and experiencing even more growth.

           God was definitely present at the juniors retreat. In my cabin I had the youngest girls, I had the ages 7-8. This meant that there was a lot that they did not understand about the message the speaker was presenting. This gave me a great opportunity to have God speak through me in a way that was understandable to the girls in my cabin. However, there was one message that the speaker presented that God really used to help the girls and it was one that they understood a lot more. The message was about being invited into God's family and that we have to accept that invitation. After the speaker presented the message we had a cabin devotional and all of the girls were filled with excitement and questions about how to accept the invitation into God's family. God was really working in all the girls hearts that day, and I had the opportunity to pray with five of them about accepting this invitation. God did great things that weekend through me and through all of the girls in my cabin. At the end of the week the girls were all excited about learning more about God and I gave them Bible's so that they can continue to learn and grow more while they are at home. 

            Overall, I had a really great time learning more about camp and youth ministry and really enjoyed being able to use all that I have learned when I was counselling.

 

Adventures in Vancouver!

March 14, 2013

          As you all know I went on a missions trip to downtown East Hastings in Vancouver. The trip went really great and I think the whole team was stretched but also had a lot of fun. The trip was broken up into two parts. The first part of the trip was spent at a Church called New Beginnings. New Beginnings was a Church that served mostly aboriginal people who lived in the East Hastings area. At the Church we got to help out at youth group and lead sunday night worship (Their Church services did not start until 5pm, instead of in the morning).We also got to help out with a program called Say Yes, do home makeovers and helped with renovations for the Church. The program called Say Yes was a program that helped kids with their homework played games with the kids and also fed them a meal because many of them do not get fed very well. The homemakers were my favourite, we got to go to many different families houses and got to help them out with whatever jobs they needed help with. The home home makeovers I did were painting, organizing boxes and emptying an apartment. I really liked doing the home makeovers because I loved seeing the joy on the families faces and seeing how thankful they were for our small tasks. It felt really good to be able to help those families. The second part of the trip was spent at a soup kitchen called Potter's Place. At Potter's Place they have two Church services everyday one is a 10am and the other is at 9pm and right after the services they serve a meal. I really loved helping out at Potter's Place and being able to experience a little bit of East Hastings. At Potter's Place I was able to share my full testimony at one of the services which was a really stretching experience. I knew that being in that area that the people could really benefit from my message so i decided to share it. I was also able to develop relationships with the people at the services it was really cool to be able to hear there stories and pray with them. Some other things that we did while we were down there was shower at the place where the people on the streets shower in order experience and understand that lifestyle, we also got to hand out roses to women on the street as well as handing out sandwiches. I really loved Potter's Place and would love to help there again some day.

            A funny memory from this trip is from a day where I was exhausted. When I am really tired I get crazy and boy was I crazy. I was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen or something when Evan a member of the team walks in. ( you have to know that even when you are not tired Evan is so funny anyway). Since I was tired everything was even more funny. Anyway, Lokadia another team member was making fun of his hair because it was really greasy because we did not get to shower very often. Then I some how came up with the idea of having hair like lego people do so that you can just pop off your hair and put new hair on so that you wouldn't even have to shower and it would not be greasy. Then Evan starts making a nose for "popping" off your hair and it was just a mess from there I could not stop laughing. It was not even a normal laugh it was my crazy Brookelynn laugh says Evan. Anyway I am that sure if you were there you would of found it funny too.

            On this trip there was defiantly some difficult stuff that we saw. Something that was really difficult for me was when we were handing out roses to women on the street. At this point we had been serving at Potter's Place for a few days and I was getting pretty comfortable on the streets or so I had thought. The girls were supposed to be the ones talking and handing out the roses but there had to be guys with the girls for protection. We were doing really good until us girls went up to some girls in the park planning on giving them roses, thinking that the guys are behind us but instead they stayed back. Since it did not look like we had guys with us a guy on the street started calling us sexy and then got really close to me and asked for a rose. After that he would not stop staring at us. This was hard to experience because you would expect this from a guy on drugs but with society today many guys act like that when they are not on drugs. 

             Durring the trip I saw God working in all of the team members. God was helping all of us with courage and trust to know that He is with us at all times. Around me I saw God working through the people at New beginnings to have their ears open to what we have to say and I really saw God softening their hearts. At Potter's Place I saw God working through the lady that started Potter's Place with her amazing faith and I saw the people's hearts who came to the services soften. I also saw God working through myself. Through out the trip God gave me the courage and the strength to push through no matter how tired I was. God also taught me how important it is to follow what His will is for my life and not my own. God gave me the desire in my heart to share my testimony to those people who needed to hear it. God did amazing things in, through me and around me. I think all of my team members would agree that God was defiantly present in this trip. There are many more stories to be told about my trip so if you have any questions or would like to know more please feel free to ask. I would also like to thank all of you who donated money for my missions trip making it possible thank you so much! 

Ready Or Not Here I Come!

Feb, 6, 2013 
                As most of you already know my missions trip to Vancouver is coming up pretty fast, maybe even to fast.I just finished a course called "Perspectives in Missions". The class was really helpful but also changed my perspective on short-term missions. In class we talked quite a bit about the pros and cons of short-term missions. Some of which I have never even thought about before. Before I took this class I had never thought of there being any cons in short-term missions. I think that learning about the cons of short-term missions has really helped me in preparing for the missions trip. I do not want to be one of those people who are disrespectful of culture or who come back from a missions trip changed for a week or two and then back to the way they were before. Being in the kaleo program I have grown so much and I don't want to loose that as soon as I am not here anymore. I want the growth that I have experienced to last and be a forever change in my life and I want the missions trip to have that same effect. Overall, the course really helped to equip me for my up coming missions trip. However, even though I am more equipped for the missions trip I still have some anticipations and challenges.

            I am really excited for the missions trip. It will be my first missions trip ever and I am really looking forward to it. I have heard great things from many other people I know who have been on missions trips. However, I am feeling a bit nervous for the ministry we will be participating in at Potters Place; especially because I feel like that will be the hardest part because of all of the brokeness. A type of brokeness that I have never experienced before. After taking the "Perspectives in Missions" course i have gained another fear about the trip. The new fear that I have is the spiritual low that we talked about in class. In class we talked about people who come back from short-term missions trips often feel a spiritual low and this is something that I am beginning to fear and hope does not happen to me or anyone else on my missions team or the Mexico one. However, I think that learning about this in class has helped me to prepare for if that does happen and it also provided me with a good warning so that if it does happen I will not be surprised by it.

           Some challenges that I have been facing as I have been patiently awaiting my missions trip are not knowing what to expect or how to prepare, I also fear not being able to connect with the people that I am supposed to be reaching out to because I have never done it before. Not knowing what to expect is not necessarily an bad thing because then I will not be going in to the trip with expectations that could potentially disappoint. However, it is a little scary because it is my first missions trip and I do not know what to expect, even though I learned a lot in class about missions. I also feel like I should be preparing some how but i just don't exactly know how. I have being praying as a way to prepare I just don't know how else I could. It would be greatly appreciated if you would all pray for me and my missions team as we all get ready for the trip and as we are on the trip. Overall I am really excited for the trip and can't wait for what God will do through us!

Missions Fest Experience

January, 28, 2013

            This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to Missions Fest in Vancouver for the first time. I had no idea what to expect when I was told we would be attending Missions Fest. The weekend turned out to be really great and I had the opportunity to learn more about missions through seminars and from speaking face to face with different missionaries at their booths. The highlights from Missions Fest for me was a seminar I went to called The World Needs The Word and talking to some missionaries who work with inner city missions.

           I really enjoyed the seminar The World Needs The Word presented by Casey Bjorndal. This seminar really stood out to me because the speaker was amazing at keeping his audience interested and used enthusiasm in doing so. The seminar was about being a Christian who shares the gospel at every opportunity rather than being a passive one who passes up those opportunities. Bjorndal presented tips on ways to share the gospel and got excited about the ministry that he does. By being enthusiastic and excited about his ministry he got me excited about sharing the gospel and got me wanting to do something rather than be a passive Christian.

         I also really enjoyed walking around and looking at all the booths and having an opportunity to talk to different missionaries about the amazing work that they do. They types of missionaries that I enjoyed talking to the most were the street ministries. I really liked learning more about these kinds of ministries because that is the kind of ministry that I will be doing when I go on my missions trip to downtown east side Vancouver. I think that talking to these missionaries really helped me to prepare for my trip. Another way that really helped me to prepare for my trip was driving down East Hastings street and seeing the area where I will be going for my missions trip. I had driven down the street before with my family when I was on my way to Qwanoes in September but I had kind of forgotten what it exactly looked like, and this reminded me and got me excited to help those people but also scared for the trip seeing what happens on that street again.

       Overall, Missions Fest was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. I am really looking forward to my missions trip and for what missions and evangelism opportunities God has in store for me in the future.

         

 

           

My new Appreciation For The Church

Wednesday, November, 21,  

            I never had a huge Church background. I did not know very much about the different denominations or all of the spiritual gifts that are expressed in Church. However, I have recently completed a Foundations Of Church Ministry course and had the opportunity to gain greater knowledge about the Church. I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot. I think that one of the major parts of the Church that I have grown in appreciation for is the pastors.

            Before coming to camp Qwanoes for the Kaleo program and before taking this course, I had no idea all of the work pastors put into their job, and how hard it is for them and their families. During class we invited some pastors to join us and to tell us a little bit about their journey as a pastor. They were asked three questions "What are the joys of being a pastor?", "What are the burdens of being a pastor?" and "What effect has being a pastor had on your family?". The question that really stuck out to me is the question about their family. I learned from the pastors that they get persecuted and judged by so many people some even within the Church. The pastors explained how some of the judgment they get their family gets as well. The pastors told stories about problems their children have had because of them and about feeling terrible about taking their frustrations out on their families during hard times. After listening to the pastors speak, I have gained a great appreciation for them and really respect them for sticking with it, and realizing that its God they are doing this for. 

              In conclusion, I have really enjoyed all of my courses so far and really loved learning about the Church. Through my new knowledge of the Church I can strive to become a solution to a healthy Church. I think that with my new appreciation for the Church that it will make my experiences with the Church more enjoyable and productive. I am really looking forward to learning more about the Church and am excited for my Gospels class that is coming up.

God's Work In Ministry

November , 2012

                 So far during the Kaleo program I have learnt a lot. Through everything that I have learnt I have really been able to see and experience God. I have experienced God working in different ways through out my many ministry areas. Some areas in particular that I have really experienced God are during the Juniors retreat, at sunday school and through evangelism. 

                The juniors retreat was my first time counselling, so it was little bit scary at the start. However, through prayer and with God's help I was able to counsel those girls to the best of my ability and share the word of God with them. During the retreat I saw God really working in those girls lives. I was able to share God's word with them and they understood and accepted all that I was telling them. I really started to connect with the girls and I think that through me God made an impact in there lives. 

               The second ministry area that I have experienced God working in is through sunday school. I have just started leading a small group on sundays at New Life Church. So far I have led once with someone helping me and once on my own. I really enjoyed being able to lead the kids on my own because it gave me a chance to really connect with them. I really enjoyed teaching the kids God's word, listening to their responses and hearing about how God is working in each one of their lives. Something that really stuck out to me was when I asked if anyone would like to pray, and there was a girl who was so eager to pray it was wonderful and she did a really great job with it. I could really see that God was working in her life.

              The third area that I have experienced God's work is through evangelism. During the program I have learned so much more about God than I could of ever imagined. Through my new found knowledge it has helped me to be able to help others. I have some friends back home who have been struggling and asking me for my help. Through the knowledge I have acquired from class, I have been able to answer their tough questions, and teach them new things about God. I think that through my teachings I have really been able to help them. Just from talking to my friends back home I can see the impact I have made and I know that God is at work in their lives. 

              These are just some of the ministry areas that I have been working in, but in my opinion they are the ones that have made the biggest impact so far. I am really looking forward to seeing how else God will work in my ministries and in my life.