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

What? I just did this?

 

Hello, everyone!

These two beautiful girls beside me are my roommates. Danika is on the left and Lydia is on the right. God has blessed me so much by placing me with these two girls. I already love them so much. We have shared many special moments together. We have cried together, prayed together as well as laughed together, sang and danced together. I ask for your prayers as we live and grow together and in community with the other girls here at Qwanoes.


The very first week here at Qwanoes we went on a 3 day hike up Mt Albert Edward. It was an incredible experience and God taught me so much. The very first day I had moments where I didn't think I could do it but God used my new friends to encourage me and cheer me on. It was so incredible to see everyone helping each other and encouraging each other. Also I found my backpack heavy and my group took a few things from my backpack and placed them in their own backpack; helping to carry my load. Someone later mentioned that this is how the Kaleo community works, we support each other throughout the year, helping to carry each others burdens.

The second day was when we got to summit the mountain. God gave me a picture of the Christian walk. If I looked ahead at the trail, I got discouraged, realizing how far we still had to go. So I focused on taking one step at a time knowing that each step was one step closer to the summit (the end goal). In life I need to live in the present (taking one step at a time), but still pressing on for eternity (my end goal). Getting to the summit felt amazing. It couldn't believe what I had accomplished. It was foggy so we couldn't see the view but God gave us snow! So cool!

Our whole group at the summit

 

Anna and Rebekah

Taking a break for lunch

  























Last week we had our first class, Intro to Spiritual Theology. Briercrest professors fly out for the week to teach our classes. I really enjoyed the class and learnt so much. One thing I learnt was about how much God loves me. I am his beloved and nothing I do is going to change that. When I fail he still loves me and my good deeds are not going to make him love me more.

'The Truest Thing About Me' is not what I have, desire or do but what Christ says about me and my position in him.

Thank you for your prayers. Tomorrow we head out for our SALTS trip. I'm super excited for this new experience.

-Sabrina

Ministry Opportunities

Hi Everyone,

     I can't believe its been almost two weeks already! I want to share with you some of the ministry opportunities I will be involved in this year. Here at Camp Qwanoes I will be helping with many retreats, both partial and full. The church I am going to be attending is Warmland church in Crofton. I will be involved in their kids ministry. In both camp and church I will start off helping and will eventually be leading different activities and events.
     The heart of Camp Qwanoes is their summer camps, so they have told us a lot about what happens here. The only camp that I have ever gone to is Valley View Bible Camp in Manitoba so it was cool for me to hear and see how a different camp runs and operates. One thing that really stuck out to me is that when a camper makes a decision to follow Christ, the camp will connect them with a local church. Then they 'follow-up' on the child to keep in connect with them as they start this new journey. In a few days some of the staff will be taking a tour to these churches with the effort to help and encourage these kids who have dedicated their lives to Jesus. Now during the school year there will be many retreats. Last weekend I was belaying at the challenge course. Tomorrow I will be at the camp store. During other retreats I may be doing dishes, in a cabin as a counselor, or being involved in various other activities. I am very excited to be a part of this camp and to see what goes on during the "backstage" months. In a week and half we will be starting our 'Camp and Youth Ministry' class. I hope that through this class and being able to experience first hand what camp ministry is all about and the rewards and struggles that come with it, that God will show me whether Camp Ministry is something I should pursue in my future. I know that this won't be easy either. There will be times when a retreat is scheduled but I have tons of school work to do, or times when I will be overwhelmed by my involvement in the retreat, or there is one particular youth that drives me crazy but I know that in all things God is good and I can put my hope and trust in him to bring me through any stressful times.
     I'm super excited for the church I will be attending. It is a small church, probably less then 100 people. As soon as we walked in, we had people coming to introduce themselves. I felt very welcomed as I entered this new church environment. As I said earlier I will be involved in the kids ministry. Warmland's focus is their kids and youth. This Sunday I will be leading a Sunday school group (not sure the age yet). This will be during the sermon. I will be on schedule once a month for Sunday School. On Wednesday evenings they have a kids event too! Its called AWANA (hopefully I spelled that right :) and it will be 3 Wednesdays a month. I was surprised at the how many kids are at Warmalnd. I am excited to get to know them and build relationships. Working with kids is my passion. The kids of Portage have taught me so much and I am excited to see how God is going to use the kids of Crofton to teach and bless me. I know this will have its hardships as well. It isn't always easy to keep a child's attention for a long time and trying to teach them at a level at which they can understand, will present its struggles. All in all I'm super excited to see God work this year and I pray that I will have an open and willing heart that is able to be molded and shaped by him. Thank-you for your prayers!

-Sabrina