A New Semester with New Experiences

Hello everyone,

I'm going to rewind back to the beginning of January when I came back to Qwanoes after Christmas Break. As soon as we got back, we jumped back into class. From January 4-8, we were learning about the Pauline Epistles. This class was very different from our previous classes. We were split into 4 groups and assigned a set of Paul's letters to research along with a contemporary issue found into the letters. In the morning our professor would teach but then Tuesday to Friday, each group would present for 3 hours on the research we found. It sounds crazy but our professor told us what information he required us to find and it did not take long to fill the time requirement. The reason our professor had us to so much research was that he wanted us to learn how to study Paul for ourselves instead of just giving us all the answers. We also had another group project. This time we were split into 2 groups. One group read Justification by N.T. Wright and the other group read Faith Alone by Thomas Schreiner . Each author presented a similar but slightly different view on justification as presented in the Bible. We then presented the authors view to the rest of the class and eventually had to write a paper on the topic. Needless to say, it was a very busy week and I didn't learn as much as I hoped or expected to but I believe that our professor's method of teaching will be beneficial in the long run as I continue to study Paul and the message he brings. This is a lifelong journey as there is so much to learn and discover.

The very next week we packed up and travelled up to Mt Washington for a 5 day ski/snowboard trip. I had never skied before so I was very excited. We stayed at an extremely nice chalet. It had 2 hot tubs and lots of room for lounging around. I enjoyed the evenings where we could relax, talk and have fun together.

We skied on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. I took lessons in the morning on Monday and stuck to the bunny hill. In the afternoon me and 2 friends decided to try a green run. We did not expect the hill to be as difficult as it was. It was steep and I had not fully mastered controlling my speed yet, so I ended up falling hard. I was scared and wanted to get off the hill. My 2 friends sat with me and prayed with me, encouraged and comforted me. Once I was ready we continued. I was very cautious and walked a lot of it. Although on the last stretch, God gave me the courage to do it. And I did! Without falling! I could not believe it! I know that I wanted to do the hill again. I did not want to be scared anymore but first I needed to practice my skiing skills. For all of Tuesday and Thursday morning I stayed on the bunny hill. Thursday afternoon I ventured back to that green run with 2 different friends. We took the run slow and it was incredible!! It felt like a completely different run. I even went down a second time :)
During this time I learned even more about the value of community and that it is ok to be vulnerable with them. God also showed me that I need to trust him to take care of me. I needed to stretch myself out of what is easy and conquer fears.

On Wednesday we took a break from skiing and tried out the tubing hill. It was a blast experimenting with different ways to go down the hill. There was hay at the bottom of the hill to slow the tubes down so I smelled like farm at the end and found never-ending hay on my clothes! But I should be used to hay, being from Manitoba, right?























On Friday, we ended our time by snowshoeing through the woods. Our guide also taught some winter survival skills. We learned how to use a compass, survival tips and equipment, how to build a snow cave and what to do if we get stuck in a tree well. It was interesting! We all had a blast attempting to run through the bushes on our snowshoes too.

While on the mountain it was foggy the majority of the time. One morning the clouds cleared for a couple minutes and we caught a glimpse of Mt Albert Edward (the mountain we climbed in September). It is the pointy one poking up from behind the trees.

Last Thursday we took a break from our studies and went curling. This was also a first for me and a few other students. I enjoyed it and even won my first game! The heaviness of the rocks emphasized my lack of arm strength but I did get one rock into the circle. Best part of the afternoon!









On Friday the Kaleo students ran a Cowichan Valley Youth Night. Many of the youth groups from the Island came out and joined us at Qwanoes. In total we have over 200 youth and youth leaders! Each Kaleo student was assigned an area to either lead or help in. We had staff members to guide us and answer any questions but in the end we ran the entire event. I was in charge of greeting and making sure people knew where to go for the different activities. The evening went really well and everybody had loads of fun. Each area was creative and  organized well.

Thanks for your prayers!

Sabrina Thiessen

The Half Way Point

Hello,

This past semester in the Kaleo program has been beyond incredible. I have experienced and learned so much but sometimes it is hard to depict exactly what God is doing. It is easier for me to see the growth in others instead of myself.
God has placed me in many situations (camp ministry, church ministry, various leadership opportunities) where I am able to expand my horizons, learn more about myself and how God has gifted me and ultimately see him work. It is so rewarding to hear the stories of how God is working through the ministry areas he has place me in. Hearing the stories is only part of it; God is working in me personally too. He has been growing in me a love for others, humbling me and guiding me in my interactions with those around me.
One goal for this coming semester is to dedicate time each day for devotions and to process what God is teaching me. As part of this I'm praying that God will open my ears to hear his voice. This is something that I have not been consistent with and I know that it affects my day.
Within the group of students, God has really instilled in me a love for this community and I have learned a lot about the value of community through my interactions with them. I have really enjoyed getting to know them; seeing their heart, their desires, what God is doing in their life or how they are struggling. (Many people have told me that I am good at listening and asking questions) I feel I get to know people better when we have one-on-one conversations. This kind of  interaction seems to come very natural to me. I realize that I have not been able to reach out to everyone in this way yet. There are some students I do not know very well and so would like to develop a closer relationship with them.
In regards to the academics, I will admit I was a little unsure coming into the program. Majority assignments are reading and writing and I am not a strong writer. God has been good though. Some students have helped me out at times as well as God has miraculously enabled me to write and finish the papers strong. How I would like to grow in this area is being more productive with my time and not pushing assignments to the last minute. As a side note, I have thoroughly enjoyed the classes and professors we have had. There is so much variety in the different classes and so much to learn that sometimes I do not know how I contain it all. My hope is that I will be able to see how I can practically apply principles from class into daily life. Sometimes I have these opportunities and other times I guess I just do not see the opportunities. Praying that my eyes would be opened and that I would choose to follow God's leading no matter what He is asking of me or where it takes me.
God has grown me in ways I could not have imagined and there is still so much more to come!

Tomorrow we leave for a 5 day ski/snowboarding trip to Mount Washington.
Thanks for your prayers!

Sabrina Thiessen

The Perfect End to my First Semester

Hey Everyone.

Today is the day we go home. It is hard to say goodbye to all my new friends but I know that I will see them again soon. I am super excited to go home and see my family and friends again. 


This past Thursday we decorated the lobby of the Pacific Woods Lodge (where the dorms are). In the morning we were given some dough to mold into Christmas ornaments. We all got our creative juices flowing and came up with some unique decorations.
Then after lunch while they baked in the oven, we headed out to Duncan to picked a Christmas tree. This was very exciting for me as this is the first time I've had a real Christmas tree. It was raining so we picked a tree rather quickly and hauled it back to camp.
When we arrived back to camp we painted our ornaments and finally we hung them up on the tree!

Friday was "Christmas morning". We did a white elephant gift exchange. Everyone was suppose to buy a mug that represented themselves. The idea is whoever got your mug is to pray for you whenever they use that mug.

This is the mug that I received from Kurtis, who LOVES Christmas and dogs.

 

Saturday was girls/guys day. We girls went skating in the afternoon.


While skating we met Anna and Elsa.








 After skating we went to a cute café in Victoria.

One of the Kaleo girls is from Victoria and her parents offered to have us over for dinner. That was so sweet of them. Such a treat to have a home cooked meal.

Then to top off the night we headed back to Camp and hang out in our pj's watching Tangled.
It was a super fun day!!

Thanks for your prayers!!
This semester has been incredible! It had its challenges but God is using those times to grow me and change me into the woman he intended me to be.

Sabrina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class, caving and church

Hey Everyone!

So we have finished up our Old Testament Class. This class has helped me organize OT events and books in their proper order I have gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the OT. As I previously mentioned our group had to create a video summarizing the OT. It was a lot of fun and it went really smoothly. The director team was super organized too. I hope you enjoy it.

Two weeks ago we went caving at Horne Lake. There were two caves that we went through. I really enjoyed this and didn't find it to tight. We split into three groups. At the end of the first cave there a was an area big enough for our group to stand. Andrew (the Kaleo leader) told us to turn off our headlamps. It was super dark, and I was slightly creeped out. But I also found it really cool! Andrew did a little talk on the stark contrast between light and darkness and how we are called to be a light in this dark world.

Last week we had our final class of the semester – Church Ministry. I really enjoyed this class. Our professor was very interactive and got us to discuss often. It was neat to see what the Bible said about how the church should operate. There were also many passages and topics that were controversial. We looked at the different views on these passages and why people interpret that specific passage in that way.

I got asked the question, “After taking this class and based on my experience at my Island church, what do I really appreciate about my church back home?

Well there is a lot that I appreciate about Portage Evangelical Church (PEC) but I will name a few. For some topics, the Bible is super clear on what our stance should be for that issue and some passages are open to interpretation. I see PEC seeking the truth. They desire to know God’s heart and what issues are worth fighting against. They stand firm in their belief on the issues that really matter.

Fellowship is important to PEC. They regularly have events that the whole church can be part of. Their desire is for us to grow in unity together as the body of Christ. To add to that they also partner with other churches from Portage, joining together in events like prayer meetings, church services, community outreaches, etc. They realize that the church family is bigger than just PEC.

I’m really excited to be back at PEC for a couple weeks. I feel very privileged to have grown up in that church. I have built many great relationships throughout the years. PEC has played a big part in who I am, in my Christian walk, today.

Thanks for the prayers!

 

Sabrina

Retreat Experience

Hey Everyone!

I have briefly mentioned my retreat experiences before but I want to share more in depth what I have been involved in.

Here at Camp Qwanoes each student works 3 retreats (1 partial and 2 full). Throughout the fall we have a Women's, Junior's, Junior High, Senior High and Men's retreat. Our guests/campers come from all over the island and lower mainland. We are placed all over camp, serving in different areas.

My first retreat was a partial for Women's retreat. The staff put a ton of effort into every aspect of the retreat because we want to make these women feel valued and appreciated. We want to give them a weekend where they are being served instead of always serving others. On Saturday morning I was serving brunch. For meals the women get menus. So my job was to get them drinks, bring the menus to the kitchen, bring food to the women, clear tables and to check up on them/talk with them. It was so amazing to see all the smiling faces and to let God use me to bless these women. There was one lady who was blown away when she came to brunch and she asked me if they did this (referring to the whole brunch situation) every year. She thought it was completely incredible.

I worked the full Juniors retreat. I was in dish pit that weekend. Between staff and campers there were almost 200 people, which amounted to a lot of dishes. It was quite the procedure. We had a few people scrubbing and also hand washing dishes, then they would go through Jackson (our dishwasher) and we also had a few people drying. This required team work as we need to be fast and get all the dishes done before the next meal. During this retreat God really worked in my heart. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I really wanted to be with the kids but God has been showing me how important 'behind the scenes' job are. They need to be done as well so that the rest of camp runs smoothly. God has been instilling in my heart a love and joy for dishes that cannot be explained.

And my last full retreat was Junior High. For this retreat I was in the kitchen. We were cooking for probably 200-250 people. It wasn't as fast-paced or insane as I expected. There were people everywhere working to prepare different aspect of the meal. I did jobs like making salad, cutting potatoes, placing food in serving pans, cutting bread, etc. Then when it was time to eat, we would bring the warmers to the food lines and we needed to watch the tables and replace any empty trays of food so that there was enough for everyone. I really enjoyed working in the kitchen as well. Being in this area gave me a great chance to develop a relationship with some of the staff as I worked side by side them for a whole weekend. It was really cool to talk and hear about what God has been doing in their life. There was one lady who was only there for the weekend but I had a really great chat with her. She opened up to me and shared her struggles and hopes. I did not really know how to respond to a lot of what she said. I hope though that God will use my listening ear to bless and encourage her. It was really cool to see her desire to keep God at the center of her life and to trust him even through the hard times.

So even though I was not involved with the kids, God was still working in the areas he placed me in. After the retreat I got to hear some amazing stories of how God was stirring in the hearts of the campers.

Thanks for your prayers!

Sabrina

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