This is where I live

Hey Everyone!

This time of year is rainy season for BC. The other day we had a really nice, sunny day though, so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather. I went for a walk down to the beach to do some reading.

Obviously took some pictures along the way :D Can't help it

Qwanoes famous stairs - has just over 90 steps.

 

 

 

 

I am so thankful to be surround by such beauty. God is so good!!

Sabrina

Surfing the Waves of Kaleo Life

Hey Everyone,

Last week from Tuesday to Thursday we were out on our surf trip! I had so much fun. The weather was beautiful and the water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be, plus we had some nice wet suits to keep us warm. Tofino is beautiful and the best place in the world for beginners to learn how to surf (or so I was told).















We left really early in the morning on Tuesday and stopped at Cathedral Grove. Very cool spot with lots of huge and old trees. I had fun climbing on the trees that have fallen over already.

















The place was we stopped for lunch was also very beautiful. Amidst all the rocks were many waterfalls. I love waterfalls!! :) Again I had so much fun climbing around on the rocks and watching the waterfalls. So many places to explore!

Felt so at peace







And at last we arrive at Tofino! Made a quick stop at Longbeach (like everywhere we stopped, it was beautiful haha), got to do some tourist shopping and finially made it to the church we were staying at. Had a relaxing evening just hanging out and playing games.

 On Wednesday we headed out to surf the afternoon away! At the start our two guides, Estuardo and Antonio gave us a lesson on the ocean, where waves come from, how to surf and some helpful tips for if we go surfing again somewhere else.




Then we hit the water. Only a few of us had actually surfed before so this was brand new for the majority of us.

We all had a blast! There were some that seemed to be a natural and learned very quickly and some (like me haha) who just couldn't seem to stand on the board without falling off.

The first day I wiped out a lot. The ocean must love me so much that it wanted me in the water instead of on top of it. My last ride of the day I ended up riding a wave for a few seconds. I was so excited; it was such a amazing feeling!

I thought  that now that I finally stood up and rode a wave that the on the second day I would do so much better.

Even though I still struggled to stand up, I had so much fun!

I loved just being there in the ocean and in the waves.




On the way back we stopped at a neat little tourists area called Goats on the Roof. We didn't see any goats, probably because it was too cold ;) but even so the shops there were really neat.


As soon as we got back, we jumped right back into another retreat. This time it was Junior Highs (ages 12-14). I again worked the full retreat. This time I was in kitchen. I really enjoyed working in this area of camp.

This past week has been our week of prayer. Starting Monday afternoon until Friday morning we had a room that was set aside for 24/7 prayer. Each students signed up for 3-4 slots were we would be in there for an hour. There were paper, pens, window markers, and sticky notes in there and we were encouraged to pray and worship in whatever way we felt lead. This was a really good experience. I could really feel God's presence in that room. One thing that I need to realize is that prayer is not just me talking; I need to learn to listen for God's voice too. I really struggle with quieting my mind so that I can hear what God is saying to me. I often get distracted and my mind wanders to anything and everything.

Everyday this week we had a leadership workshop (that was the only time nobody was in the prayer room). One of our professors for next semester came out for a couple days to do some of the workshops. Two weeks ago we did the Birkman quiz online (a type of personality test). Our professor brought back our results and we went through them in small groups. Some of the results I could definitely see in me, some surprised me and others I'm not quite sure I agree with but as I think about them more, I'm realizing that most of them are true.

Monday is the start of our Old Testament class. We have been doing lots of reading in preparation for class. For this class we also have to make a video, summarizing the Old Testament. This is a project that involves our whole group and there are 3 students who stepped up to be directors. They have been doing fantastic! I've had a lot of fun filming these past couple of days and can't wait to see the end result.

This next month is 'academic crunch' time. We have many papers coming up soon and lots of reading to do.

Thanks for all your prayers!

P.S. it is exactly one month until I come home for Christmas! Super excited to see all my Portage family and friends again!

Sabrina

 

Gospels Class

Hey Everyone!

So last weekend I served at our Juniors Retreat. These retreats are basically like a week of camp squished into a weekend. We had 100-150 campers ages 8-11 come for the weekend. Students are placed in various roles throughout the camp. I was really excited about this weekend because I love the kids especially the younger age group, but I was disappointed when I found out that I wasn't going to be with the kids at all during the weekend. I was serving by doing dishes. Even though that wouldn't have been my first choice, I actually really enjoyed the job. Through different experiences recently God has been teaching me how important and meaningful jobs like dishes are even if I would rather be with the kids. He placed me there for a reason. I was working with a really great group and it was awesome being able to get to know them better. And who wouldn't want to do dishes while listening to Veggie Tales :D

This week we had our gospels class. Before going into it many people were telling me how hard it was going to be and making it sound very brutle. They gave the analogy of trying to drink from a fire hydrant while its spraying in your face. My roommate (after class was done) added to this analogy by saying; sometimes the water is spraying so forcefully that it knocks you over and even though it is still spraying at you, you aren't actually getting any water in your mouth.
So needless to say I was nervous going into this class. I envisioned our prof up at the front of the room spouting off information and talking super fast and my hand going a mile a minute. But this class wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. Yes it was intense and information overload and the analogy is correct but our prof tried to go slow so we would understand what he was saying.
Our prof Wes Olmstead was amazing. He is really smart and he definitely knows what he is talking about. I can`t even begin to tell you all that I learnt because my mind is blown and I`m still trying to process all that I learnt. Our main focus was on Matthew`s Gospel although each day we touch briefly on one of the other gospels.
In Matthew:
- We compared similar passage with the other gospels to see the differences in Matthew and understand why these differences are important.
- We looked at themes that Matthew emphasizes throughout his gospel.
- We often referred back to the Old testament to read the prophecies in their original context or to understand the language and culture of Jesus`day.
- It was amazing to see all the hidden/deeper meanings of the texts and to see how Matthew intentionally put his account together to portray a certain message to his readers and to see all the connections even throughout the gospel itself. It was amazing to read the stories as a whole instead of individually and to understand what was going on in Jesus' day and to see why Matthew used certain words and what the meaning of those words are and how that changes our understanding of the text.

I learnt so much this week and I am excited to explore the Bible even further; to not just study at a surface level but to find out what is actually happening in that passage and what God is trying to tell me and to know how that applies to my life.
In two weeks we have our Old Testament class. Nobody has given me any expectations for this class but I'm guessing that after my head exploded from gospels, now all those exploded pieces will explode even more as I gain even more crazy knowledge about the bible. ;)
Please pray that I won't become so focused on the knowledge but that I would let what I'm learning transform my life.

God is doing so many amazing things here in my life. At AWANA God is opening up some of the kids hearts to trust and respect me. It is so good to see his hand at work.

Tomorrow I leave for surfing! I'm super excited for this new adventure.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Sabrina

Serving our Neighbors

Hey everyone,

So last week was Love Crofton. This is an amazing event where Camp Qwanoes and Warmland Church partner together. The students are given opportunities to take on new leadership roles. This is a week where every afternoon (Monday to Thursday) we go into Crofton and serve the people living there. This is a powerful testimony to the town of Crofton. How often do a group of college students go to a strangers house and work/clean for them?

The Kaleo leadership staff made the flyers and that is where their leadership ended for this event. The rest of the event was run by the students. There were 3 students who stepped into the administrative role; Carissa, Andrew and I. I have done administrative/organizational work for events back home and I wanted to explore this area some more. I wanted to see if this was something I was truly gifted in. Being in this role was amazing and a great experience. I got to see a whole different side of this event.

So after we handed out flyers, people started contacting Warmland with job information (jobs included general yard cleanup, cleaning gutters, gardening, hedge trimming, cleaning a boat, oil changes and basically anything people needed done) and then Warmland would send the information to us. By the Thursday before the Love Crofton week, we had received 30 calls!! Incredible!! The administrative team got right to work. We assigned team leaders to each job. The team leader would be the contact person with this 'client'. They would have to contact their client and get all the information for the job. The scheduling process presented its challenges. Me and Carissa didn't really know where to start but then once we figured out a system, it went really smoothly. Throughout the week we would have people cancel or new calls come in. Everything worked out so well as we rearranged jobs and tried to fit new ones in. Between the 4 days the students went to 40 different houses!

I truly feel that this is a gift God has given me; I don't yet know how God is going to use that in my life though. I really enjoyed being on this end of the Love Crofton Team. I feel privileged to have been able to work with Carissa and Andrew and enjoyed getting to know them better. All 3 of us brought individual gifts and skills that complimented each other very well. It was awesome to see their leadership abilities put into action. As well as the other 21 students. I loved seeing them step up and take leadership of 1-2 jobs throughout the week. The best part of my day was hearing their stories when they came back to camp. Everybody worked so hard and had a great attitude, no matter what the job was or what the weather was like. They finished every job strong and left the citizens of Crofton happy, in awe of what just happened and changed for life. It was amazing to see how God was at work in the lives of those around me; students and neighbors.

I had one opportunity to go into Crofton and work as well. There was one job that due to miscommunication, there ended up being more work then they originally thought. By Thursday morning, all that was left was a big pile of dirt that needed to be hauled away. So a group of students went to help finish off the job in the morning. It was especially cool to see the attitude of the 3 students originally assigned to this job. Even though things didn't go as planned and their client wasn't very happy at first. These students didn't give up. They persevered and were willing to do extra hours to complete this job to the best of their ability. They showed this man that they truly cared for and loved him. I got to have a conversation with this man and even though he was disappointed at first, at the end of it all he was super pleased. He told me that he wanted to make a donation to the camp. GOD IS SO GOOD!!


Besides Love Crofton we have been very busy here at Camp Qwanoes. We went to Wildplay, which is a high ropes course up in the trees. It has zip lines as well as tons of challenges (including various bridges, swings and you name it) as you go through 3 different levels. It was super fun. The day we went was Kenzie's Birthday. Wildplay gave her a free bungee jump. We were all super proud of her and she had a blast!

We have also been doing pre-course work for our gospels class, which started Monday. As well as serving on the Juniors Retreat last weekend. Update on those later. Also on Tuesday we will be heading out for 3 days for some surfing!! WOAH!
Thanks for all your prayers!

Sabrina

God is always with me

Hello everyone!

For our spiritual formation class, we did a 24 hour silent and solitude retreat. This was a very interesting experience. Going into it, I was both nervous and excited.

So often I can't feel God's presence in my life. I know he is real and that he is present and working but it seems that he just skips over me. This is how I feel even though in my head I rebuke myself because I know that God doesn’t operate that way. He loves me so much and he has shown that many times over. I think that I rush through life and I miss the God moments that he is trying to give to me. I look back at my life and I remember what God has done and I realize that God is so good. But I still have moments of doubt where I just feel stuck in my faith.

So going into this retreat I thought “ok, it’s just you and me, God for 24 hours”. I was hoping he would show up but wondering if he was actually was going to. I didn’t experience anything huge but what I did experience what very significant. I was down stairs sitting on a couch in a small room and I was reading 1 Corinthians. I wasn’t doing an in-depth study or anything. I was just reading; soaking it all in. All of a sudden I felt like I was sitting on God’s lap and he was reading/speaking to me. It was a moment where I felt safe and content in God. I didn’t want it to stop. God is always with me even when I can't feel him. He sometimes chooses to open my eyes to this truth to strengthen my faith in him. It can be so easy to forget what God has done or shown me when I'm going through a hard time but God is so patient with me.

Later in class we had to do a creative project on our retreat. I ended up writing a story on ‘my moment’. God really revealed to me many feelings and emotions that were hidden inside of me regarding this revelation he gave me.

 

Thanks for your prayers!

-Sabrina

Warmland Church

Hello Everyone!

So you are probably wondering about my new church. I told you a little bit in my first post and then I left you hanging. I decided I should probably update you :)

A lot has happened  with church since the first Sunday I attended. Once a month I will be doing Kidsland. Kidsland is for ages 4 - gr 5 to attend during the service. Two weeks ago was my first time in Kidsland. I lead the gr 4/5 small group. It was great to meet some of the kids and to start connecting with them. My group was really chatty; this helped to get to know them but made it hard to teach the lesson. This first day was slightly difficult because the kids don't know me very well and I don't know them. I'm trying to learn their personalities and how to best interact with them and help them learn.

This is my small group. We made turkeys! On the feathers we wrote things we are thankful for!

I'm also going to be doing AWANA, which will be 3 Wednesdays a month. We have only had one so far but it went really well. I co-lead the gr 5/6 group. There were kids from the church that came but also many unchurched kids attended too. I'm glad for the opportunity to reach into the community of Crofton. The girl in the back (beside me) I noticed was kind of shy. Throughout the night I made a conscious effort to talk to her and encourage her to get involved. I don't know her very well so I wasn't sure if she would respond positively to my approach. God removed my worries and reassured me by sending the girl to give me a hug before she left. This put a smile on my face. I can't wait to see what will happen in the months to come.

I connect with kids better than I do with adults. I have gotten to know the pastor and a lot of the leadership team very well. I'm slowly starting to connect with the rest of the congregation too but I'm not very bold, so I have a hard time making the first step to introduce myself (although today I did that so God is working on me). Every Sunday we will go to somebody's house for lunch. This is something that I love to do. I want to be able to connect and get to know my church so this will be a positive step in that direction.

It was hard to step into a new church where I didn't know anybody (even though everybody is very welcoming and friendly). I realize that it takes time to get to know people; its not an overnight occurrence. I have met a lot of people and through my involvement with the children's ministry and going to peoples house I am slowly starting to intentionally connect with them. I am so excited for what God is going to do this year. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks for your prayers.
-Sabrina

Sailing the 7 seas ... or just the gulf islands

Hey everyone.

Last week I had the opportunity to go on SALTS (Sail and Life Training Society). Its a legit sail boat and we were on board for 5 days!! It was amazing! I had never done anything like this before but I would totally do it again! We weren't just on the boat for a good time, we were a part of the crew (aye aye). We kept watch, hoisted sails, weighed and dropped anchor, did dishes, steered the ship, listened at the radio.





At the beginning of this trip, I wasn't sure how I felt about being stuck in such a small area with 30+ people. Honestly there were moments were it was a little crazy especially below the ship in the sleeping areas. Being together like this created many opportunities for intentional conversations. During watch I was paired with 1 other person for a length of time. So through that and just hanging out on the deck I  got to know some of the students better.

 

We were able to get off the boat at times. Our stops were not planned. We just sailed around and stopped at places based on the interests of our group. We stopped at Sydney Spit island for a nice beach day! Lots of fun to just walk along the beach in the beautiful weather God gave us





Another stop we made was at North Pender Island. We had a nice and very steep afternoon hike to a beautiful look out point.








When we got on the ship we were split into 3 groups. Each group took their turn being on watch. The ship was on watch 24/7. My watch leader, David, was very intentional in our conversations (all the crew member are Christians, which is so cool). During meals David always had questions to get to know us or 'food for thought' to get us thinking.

Here are some additional photos from the trip!

This is 3 of the crew members.



Got to climb the mast. This is me looking down from the top
















Thanks for your prayers!

- Sabrina