Week 10: Old Testament

Back at another week of classes. This past week the students had the opportunity to take part in an Old Testament class taught by Don Taylor.

Once again it has been a very busy week, full of information. The students got to learn about the grand story of the Old Testament, and all the different types of literature found throughout its texts, bringing the Bible as a whole into a new level of understanding for many of the students.

By day the students sat through class, uncovering many new things about the Old Testament, while in the evenings they spent much of their time working on a creative group project for the class.

This creative project turned into quite a production. The students were tasked with creating a film recapping events found throughout the Old Testament highlighting a key theme throughout the text.

The students took this project and not only ran with it but full on sprinted with it. The 3 directors for the film project selected by the class settled on the theme of God's faithfulness to his people throughout the Old Testament books.

 The Directors decided that they would also modernize the film in an attempt to show the relevance of the Old Testament and God's faithfulness in the world we live in today.

The students worked together tirelessly at creating this film working towards the goal on the last day of class premier the film to all the staff at Qwanoes. 

The premier was a raging success, everyone was thoroughly impressed with the work that the students had put into the film. There was so much excitement floating through the room over the completion of this big project, and that excitement carried the students through the final few hours of class. Following class, the students started preparing for the week of Love Crofton coming around the corner. 

Click here to see the Old Testament film

Continue to pray

That the students remain diligent with their school work

That the students continue to allow what they are learning through their studies to continue to penetrate their hearts and spur them on for personal growth.

That the students would continue to be eager to see how God wants to work in their lives.

As the students grow closer in community to encourage one another to press into God and what He has for them.

Week 9: Prayer and Leadership

This week the students were dedicated to prayer and leadership. The week consisted of having a prayer schedule that everyone signed up for at least twice for an hour each time. Some students were nervous to have to pray for an hour at a time so it was a good challenge for them. We set up different stations in the room to help guide the students in prayer. We had a request board, a journal, pages to draw and write on, psalms to read through, and a space to write down praises.

On the last day of prayer we met together to have chapel and take some time to reflect on how the Holy Spirit was working in each of our lives over the week. It was really encouraging for everyone to hear that the Spirit was working so strongly. 

During this chapel the students also were told what mission team they would serve on. Soon the students will begin to send out letters explaining more about what their mission trip will look like, and how people can be praying for them and consider giving financially. 

During the week the students had a leadership workshop everyday that was focused in giving them practical and challenging ways to learn to lead well. Some of the topics that they covered were leading themselves and time management. They were challenged with personal reflection questions also with conversation.   

This past weekend most of the students were involved in our Senior High Retreat.  A few of them were counselling, some were working on All Star Games, some in the kitchen and dish room, and others helping out with various activities. 

Coming Up Next

 The students are in class for Old Testament this week! This week they are also working on a video that gives a quick snapshot of an overview of the Old Testament. The group in charge of Love Crofton has continued to put work into getting it organized.

Continue to pray 

You can be praying that the students continue to have energy as this week is more intense for them then some class weeks. Also, you can be praying for all the different groups as they learn to work together through conflict as well as working efficiently and having a lot of fun.

Week 8: Caving

This week we had the opportunity to get some work done from the New Testament class that we just put behind us. Although we cannot be all work without a little bit of play in there. We had the opportunity to load up the vans early Thursday morning and head north to go explore some caves.
 
Only an hour and a half drive took us to Horne Lake Caves Provincial Park, one of the best places to explore caves in Canada.



Upon arriving we met our guides who explained what we could expect upon entering the caves. Then we split off into 2 separate groups following our guides towards the caves.

We grabbed helmets and headlamps, then we began our hike into the forest to soon find the caves we would explore. 

Making our way towards the mouth of the caves our guides explained what to look for when discovering new caves. Limestone was a common rock to be found, which was one indicator of cave country. Another indicator was to look for a place where it looks as if a riverbed had once been but is now dried up. Our guides explained that finding a dried up riverbed meant that there could be stone beneath that the water had over years pushed through forming caves. 

Entering the caves for the first time forced many members of the group to experience a tension between excitement for what could possibly be beneath our feet and the scary reality of descending into a cold, wet, dark, unknown space.

 Once we were in the caves we realized that there were so many amazing things that could be discovered beneath the surface.

Our guides showed us around introducing us to a mysterious formation on the rocks called calcite, which is essentially a cave crystal formed from calcium carbonite, taking formation over the course of many years. Making our way through the caves we had to be very careful not to touch the calcite along the walls so that the oils in our skin would not damage it.

As we were able to experience these underground formations we took a moment to turn off all the lights and experience 100% darkness.

Once we left the caves we met up with the rest of our group, thanked our guides and headed back towards camp, but on our way we had to make the iconic Vancouver Island stop at the Goats on the Roof market, where Students were given the opportunity to check out the different shops around the area. Finishing up at Goats on the Roof we made our way through the rain back to Camp Qwanoes. 

Continuing to work on assignments from class, many of the students were preparing to work at the Jr High retreat over the weekend, where students served in many different capacities alongside the Camp Qwanoes staff. 

Continue to pray

That the students will continue to use their ministry experiences as opportunities to grow in their ministry capacity. 

That what the students are continuing to learn through studies would continue to penetrate their hearts spurring them on to growth. 

That the students would continue to be eager to see how God is working in their lives.