Week 18: Introduction to Theology

This week the students took part in their first class of the semester - Introduction to Thoelogy.
This gave them the ability to think through some thoelogical concepts and for some it helped solidify their foundation.

The students had a really busy week. During the evenings they had small group and were doing a lot of research for their debates which took place on friday morning. Friday afternoon they had their exam.








This past weekend all the Qwanoes staff were gone on a retreat, while the staff were gone two couples came to hang out with the students. All the students had a good time over the weekend. They have had a few different papers due over the last few days and everyone has been working hard to get them done.




Up Next:

We are all off to missions fest in Vancouver on thursday for the weekend. We come back sunday afternoon and then monday morning we are going skiing at Mnt. Washington. Everyone is getting excited to be done school work for a bit and to spend some time in the ski lodge and on the hill.

To Pray:

You can be praying for the students as they are at missions fest that the seminiars would be good for them as they are thinking about different mission opportunities. That they would be challenged and encouraged in their faith and that what they hear would sink in.

You can also be praying for safety as we go skiing next week. That everyone would stay healthy.

There and Back Again: Christmas Break

We are back in the full swing of things, this time in a whole new semester. Our students have all safely returned from their Christmas breaks and are jumping straight into the second half of their Kaléo lives.

We finished the semester with a mug gift exchange. there was a variety of mugs that appeared, from practically sized, to enormous, to absolutely goofy. We ended our time together giving each other quick encouragements, or pointing out different things in each other that we admired. The following morning everyone was shipped off to airports and ferries where they made their way home for the holidays.

Despite lots of flight delays and unpredictable Canadian winter weather, everyone made their way back to Camp Qwanoes.

Upon arrival, the students reunited after their longest time apart since they have known each other. Although, this season of reuniting was short some of the students were able to get out on a short hike, while others shared good coffee, while the Introduction to Christian Theology class was around the corner starting up only a few days after the students arrival.

So after a short time of sharing stories of their individual Christmas breaks, the second semester of Kaléo 2019 has officially begun.

Continue to Pray

That the students settle back into the grove of Kaléo life and everything that entails.

That students remain diligent with their studies as the semester kicks into gear.

Students would press into each other as they continue to grow together.

That God would continue to reveal himself to the students as they press into the next three and a half months before graduation.

Week 13: Foundations of Church Ministry

This week the students had their final class of the semester - Foundation of Church Ministry. This class gave the students the ability to think through the practical things about the Church in a way that lead them to have a better understanding about why the church exists and what it is for.



Between class time and small groups students had a lot of time to ask questions and discuss different elements of the church throughout the week. The students found this week really benefical as many of them contemplate whether Church Ministry is what they would like to pursue in their futures.








This week we continued to prepare for Christmas! We had a staff and student Christmas banquet (first photo) where the students enjoyed a Christmas meal with the staff and their families.

Up Next:

Next week the students are finishing up assignments, writing papers, preparing for a talent show, and we will be doing our very own mug exchange.

How to Pray:

You can pray that the students would be diligent in getting their work done.

That they would be able to remember and be thankful for what the Lord has done in their lives throughout this semester.

That they would enjoy the last few days together before the break.

Week 12: Christmas Festivities

After a couple weeks of hard work, the students were all ready for a change of pace before the next class came around. So over the past week, they had a variety of Christmas festivities that they took part in.

On Tuesday morning we loaded up the vans and took all the students to Victoria for the day.

Everyone broke off and went separate directions, some eager to get some Christmas shopping done, some headed to the climbing gym, some went to take photos, and others on the hunt for the best place to get a cup of coffee. It was an absolutely beautiful day to hang out downtown and get away from school work for a while.

On Thursday we had a big day, we started off by setting out on a quest to find a Christmas tree.
With a permit in hand, we found a logging road in the middle of nowhere. We parked and set off in search of the perfect tree.

We searched high an low for the tree that we thought would work the best. We thought that the best way to search was to break off into several groups and decide on one tree as a group, then present what was best about their tree to the rest of the group.

After looking over the selected trees we found one that especially stood out.

So we cut down the tree, took some pictures and made our way back camp to set it up and decorate it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon baking cookies, drinking coffee, making tree ornaments, decorating and playing games.

When we thought we could not fit get any more Christmas into the day we all loaded on a bus and went down the road to Ladysmith. For a Christmas parade called Ladysmith Lightup, an iconic Vancouver Island event. We enjoyed the lights of the floats moving past us and the parade with a spectacular firework show to finish.

The week turned out to be very refreshing for the students. It gave them an opportunity to get ahead on some homework, and also get out and have some fun before the next class and final push before the Christmas break. 

Continue to pray 

That the students will stay diligent with their work with Christmas break around the corner.

That the students would continue to apply what they are learning to their personal spiritual lives.

As the students return home, that they would be able to recognize the ways in which they have grown personally and that this would drive them to push hard into the second semester.

That the students would continue to grow closer in community and building each other up.

Week 11: Love Crofton

This last week the students took part in Love Crofton. Love Crofton is an event where all the students would take part in helping out the community.

There was a group of four students who were placed in leadership over the project and they had organized a day to make, cut out, and deliver flyers throughout the town. Warmland Community Church is partnered with Love Crofton and has a contact person who the residents would call in their jobs. The student team would then follow up to organize the three-day event.

The week was a great success and the students thoroughly enjoyed serving and learned lots about themselves and the people of Crofton. They helped lots of elderly men and women who were no longer able to do some of the work by themselves. Some of the students had a hard time having a positive mentality during the first day, but as the day went on everyone would say that they were able to really enjoy helping the people out.

 Throughout the week the students did a variety of different jobs: raking leaves, cleaning gutters, landscaping, pressure washing, cleaning out a garage, taking stuff to the dump, gardening, and anything else people could think of to ask for help in.

The people felt very blessed and really enjoyed getting to know the students. They would almost always ask the students to come in for tea and coffee to have a chance to know them. The students heard so many interesting stories from many different backgrounds. One of the women invited them for lunch. She had somewhat recently lost her husband and said that just them going over for lunch gave her so much life, they were thankful to get to spend time with her.

A man they had helped had trails in his back yard and they were all named, they learned that one was named after his granddaughter who had passed away and he opened up and talked to them about some of the things that meant the most to him.

As the week ended we started to  hear some really encourgaging feedback from Crofton. It was encouraging to have a very practical way to serve people like Jesus.

These are some of the notes we have received:

"Im just dropping a note to you to say how very pleased I was with the crew that came to spruce up my yard! Sam, Jacob, Anna, and Ashley were the frist to arrive and did an amzing job, never letting up! A few others, including Devon came by and finished off a few things as well. I have them a big thank you and explained how grateful I am for all they got accomplished and wanted to follow up with a written word. I learned long ago that if something is important, write it down; saying thank you is important!"

"A huge thanks to the three young people from Camp Qwanoes that came and raked my leaves today! Still smiling in the rain.. bless you."

"I just had five delightful young men from Camp Qwanoes raking my leaves. Thank you so much! You brightened up my day"

 Up Next:

The students have papers due, books to read, and work to start getting ready for their next class. This week is also Christmas preperation. We will be getting a christmas tree, doing some festive events, going to a Christmas light up in lady smith.

Continue Praying: 

You can be praying that the students will continue to be diligent getting their work done as it is easy to become narrow minded and find it hard to focus as the Christmas break is very close.

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.