Weeks 17+18: The Return

Week 17: Class

    

    We just wrapped up our first couple of weeks of second semester at Kaleo! On January third we welcomed the students back from Christmas break and the following morning they jumped right back into class. This class (Intro to the New Testament with Wes Olmstead) challenges how we read our Bibles and understand the New Testament as a whole.

    Some other news... it was NOLAN'S BIRTHDAY on the 11th so Happy Birthday Nolan!

Week 18: Skutz Falls

    This week was very free. This was intentional because it allowed for lots of time for the students to prep for CVYN (Cowichan Valley Youth Night: a completely student organized and run youth event) which will be all online this year. It also gave time to work on the homework from the previous week's class. 

    However, on Thursday we took a day hike to Skutz Falls. The hike follows the river then crosses over on a bridge and returns to the trailhead on the other side. It is a super pretty hike. Great for those strong in appreciation of beauty and excellence.

    Afterwards, we set up hammocks and tarps for the night at the far end of camp. This was just because we didn't want to set them up in the dark.

    After supper we played a game where half of the class was defending the dorm building and the other half was trying to get inside. If you were trying to get in and you were tagged by the defending team (with a pool noodle) then you had to join the defending team. We played boys against girls and played two rounds to give each team a chance at offense and defense.

    Once this was finished and we had established that both teams were terrible at the game, we headed down to the beach for a mega bonfire and worship/sharing time. 

    Following that there was nothing left to do but head to our hammocks for a cozy and restful sleep (which everyone for sure had without exception). 

Prayer Items:

- CVYN

- Ski Trip on the 25th

- Gearing up of the mission trip

Week 12: Christmas and Girls/Guys Day

Well, that's it! End of semester one. What a mega year. We have had an amazing few months together and are so thankful for all that God has provided for us during this time. Here's a look into the last week of this Kaleo semester.

Guys Day

This was a big activity day for the guys. Almost every guy woke up the next day with sore muscles but ended the day with smiles on their faces. They started off hiking Stoney Hill to watch the sunrise. It was definitely worth the early wake-up. If you've never hiked there, it has many beautiful cliff lookouts over the ocean and a very chill hike.

When they arrived back at camp they played disc golf on the field for a few hours. After they finished they walked down the beach to have a massive fire! And of course, guys day wouldn't be guys day without some chopping wood. They finished off the day with some sting pong, pizza, and a movie night.

Girls Day

The girls started off the day with brunch at the guest house. The guest house is over 100 years old on a beautiful property that overlooks the ocean. After brunch, they headed over to the rink to do some skating! Skating consisted of freeze tag, penguin slides, and a bunch of skating around. 

Afterwards, we walked down the beach... which turned into walking through trees because of the high tide. You know, just your casual stroll down the beach. The night ended off with pizza, making macrame, and the hot seat. The hot seat is where you get to ask any question to one person at a time. There were tons of funny stories and we all ended up getting to know each other deeper than when we started off the day.

Christmas Festivities

In the middle of the week, we jumped into our Christmas festivities. Thanks to the Duerksen family, (who is the family of one of our students, Janae) we were able to do Christmas cookie decorating. We also made our own Christmas ornaments. 

Afterwards, we headed over to a forest and cut down a Christmas tree. But, we couldn't just cut down a Christmas tree without making it a competition. Each group presented their best Christmas tree with either a skit or a song. It was hard to choose, but we left with a massive tree and headed back to camp to decorate it. With all the homemade ornaments, pool noodles, and one strand of lights, this Christmas tree is definitely a Kaleo Christmas tree. 

A bunch of the staff and students dressed up for the Christmas banquet that night. We had an amazing Christmas dinner cooked by our kitchen team. Then we all gathered for some pictures.

Later in the week, we got to hear from Krista Penner who is an incredibly gifted speaker. Her personality and words of wisdom kept everyone so engaged; we didn't want to leave the zoom call. She spoke on what it looks like to be a leader including self and social awareness, inner motives, and how God uses us. We're hoping to have another workshop with her soon.

Things To Keep in your Prayers

• The health of the staff and Students here at camp
• Guidance with travel restrictions as many of the students are planning to go home for Christmas
• peace and time management among students as the last bit of the first semester can feel overwhelming with finishing up classes and homework

Week 11

Week 11

    This week was much more what you might call "lowkey" compared to your typical Kaleo week. The students had a lot of time this week to work on papers and other schoolwork. There was also a couple unique chapels like our Worship chapel. So instead of the usual format we sang songs to God the whole time which was super awesome. At another chapel Dwight Geiger (a former maintenance man here at camp and current pastor) taught us about the Shema. 

Day Hike (Tuesday)

    On Tuesday we embarked on a day hike on Maple Mountain. We split up into four different groups and hiked a loop that hugged the coast and then went up the mountains on the way back to camp. On this hike there is a look-out  with some wooden crosses which are a bit of an attraction on the mountain. Afterwards we headed to Club Coco and decorated some blank mugs with sharpies. Each person got to decorate their own mug which will be part of the Christmas gift exchange at the end of the semester. There were some super fun and creative designs made and some really artsy ones too. All together a super fun day and a great week. 

    Upcoming Events and Prayer Requests:

    - The students have an upcoming class: Intro to Christian Theology with Merrill Dyck, starting on the 7th.

    - There will be a lot of papers and major assignments to finish as the semester closes.

Old Testament Film and Class: Week 10

We had Don Taylor fly out from Briercrest to teach our students about the Old Testament last week. Don has been a long time professor with Kaleo. In fact, he has taught classes every year since Kaleo began. Not only did the students complete their Old Testament class, but they produced a 10/10 Old Testament film. It even had Jesse (our assistant Kaleo program leader) crying laughing.

Old Testament Class

This class was very eye-opening for many of the students. When reflecting on the Old Testament class, Ari, one of our students said, "It was so different back then, and learning about how the society worked in those days really gave clarity on what the Bible was talking about, and it just reaffirmed to me that God doesn’t change."

Emma, another student, stated "One of my favourite things from the Old Testament class was developing a deeper understanding of how the Old and New Testament work together as one continuous story."

Personality Test 

Don Taylor also led the class through the Myers Briggs test. This is a test that reveals your personality type. After each student found out their results, they all lined up and stood in a spot that reflected their percentage of where they fell in each category. The categories are extroverted - introverted, intuitive - observant, thinking - feeling, judging - prospecting, assertive - turbulent. 

We got to see the vast differences between students, and this also allowed them to better understand one another. Many felt they understood themselves much more as well.

The Film

As the class continued, students were just putting together the finishing touches on the Old Testament film. Before we knew it, Don had completed his last lesson and the film was complete. A few of the students organized a film premier topped with snacks, awards, and fun games. Everyone dressed up in their best clothes and we sat down to watch the film.

Don Taylor actually appeared in the film as someone flipping through T.V. shows and commercials. Each T.V. show was a scene made by the students in very creative ways. The beginning of their scenes started off with an INCREDIBLE musical. They also included soap operas, anime, weather forecasting, sports broadcasting, hallmark spin-offs, and many, many more creative scenes. I could go on, but you'll have to see it for yourself.

The hype crew for the David and Goliath battle.

Pharaoh all dressed up for an interview

Gotta get that lighting 

This was "Olive" the sacrificial sheep

*No animals were harmed in the making of this film*

Dora and Boots as Moses and Aaron.

More of the hype behind the David and Goliath scene

As creative and funny as this was, it was also so amazing that the students were able to actually capture the heart of the biblical stories within a lot of these scenes. We have said numerous times, but we are so proud of how the students led each other through this project. This can turn into an intense project but, the students listened to each other, took initiative, and came out of this united rather than divided. They represented what a church body looks like. A special shout out goes to the directors of the film; Kaylee, Olivia, David, and Nolan. They set the culture of the work environment and made it such a fun and learning experience for everybody else. 

Here is the link to the Old Testament film: The Adventures of the Old Testament- Kaleo 2021

Prayer Requests:

- For Camp and Kaleo to make wise decisions as to how to keep this community safe regarding all the new COVID updates. As well for the health and safety of both our staff and students

- Thank God for the way he brought together the students during the Old Testament filming

- For students to have discernment over God's voice in their lives as well as obedience in this

Caving: Week 9

    This past week we took a day trip to Coombs and the Horne Lake Caves.

    We went in two separate groups. The first group headed straight for the caves, took their tour and then went to Coombs on the way back. The second group went to Coombs first, explored the area and the shops, and then went to the caves afterwards.

The Caves

    To begin the tour, the guide lead us on a little hike to the caves, giving some history of the area on the way and explaining a bit about how the caves were discovered, the size of the caves, etc.

    There were two different caves we got to explore on the tour, each of them were super unique and locked with a metal gate. We got to see many different types of calcite formations, stalagmites, some large open spaces in the cave and some tight squeezes. There were lots and lots of daddy long legs and cave crickets (which are like normal crickets just much bigger). We also got to see how quartz, when rubbed against more quartz, lights up, almost like it's sparking. Lots of cool stuff.

Coombs

    Coombs is a little tourist town on the way to Horne Lake. There is the famous Goats on the Roof (a novelty shop that literally has goats on the roof (usually)), Billy G's Donuts, an ice-cream shop, a board shop, a little pottery store, etc. It was a great spot to stop on a trip like this and putz around, maybe grab a Christmas gift for the family back home, who knows?

    This trip was a really nice break for the students from homework and filming for the Old Testament video.

Old Testament Filming

    Speaking of the Old testament video, the students have continued to be hard at work creating their video for their Old Testament class. It has been so much fun watching them film and interact as well as contributing to a few scenes. The filming has been mostly completed now and the students have moved to the editing phase.

Remembrance Day

    On remembrance day one of the students, Janae Deurksen, lead a remembrance day service. She talked about the history of remembrance day and the significance of it. We sang some songs and ended the service with a time of silence.

Prayer Items

- Class this upcoming week: Old Testament with Don Taylor

- The absolutely massive Covid Outbreak here at Qwanoes. No one is safe, the virus will get us all...