Farewell From Camp Qwanoes

Hello Again!  

As the season changes and Camp Qwanoes starts to gear up for summer, we can’t help but feel a certain emptiness with the departing of our Students.  After a fantastic year of learning and adventure, we were sad, yet excited for our students as they left camp to explore their own adventures and seasons of life!

We Celebrated Graduation!

Graduation weekend is an exciting time for us as we celebrate our students and the ways in which they have grown throughout the program.  We were blessed to have many of the students’ families, friends and churches at graduation to celebrate with us too!

Friday night of graduation weekend started with dinner, followed by a reception in which we could mingle and meet the friends and families of our students, see pictures from the year, and present gifts to our students on behalf of the leadership team.  It was great to share stories, and reflect on some of the events and adventures of these past eight months!

Graduation Day on Saturday was full of events.  In the morning and early afternoon, challenge course activities were briefly opened up for parents and students to enjoy, and kick off the day!  Following this, the graduation ceremony started later in the afternoon.  This was a great time to celebrate our students’ journey as we enjoyed pictures, speeches, awards presentations, certificate presentations, and a video of the year produced by Dale Thielmann (video link at bottom of page).  After the ceremony, we took pictures in the field, followed by a reception dinner, where we enjoyed a nice meal, shared stories, and began our goodbyes.

We Said Goodbye to Our Students

The Sunday of graduation was a rather sad day for the Kaléo Program.  As we said goodbye to each other one by one, we prayed and encouraged one another throughout the morning.  However, this is also a very happy moment for the Kaléo Program.  A chance for students to look behind them to see what God has done in their lives, and a chance to look ahead at the journey that He has planned for their future!

Thanks From the Leadership Team! 

On behalf of the Kaléo Program leadership team, I would like to say thank you to all of the families, friends, and churches that have been such a great support to our students these past eight months.  May God bless all of you, and may God also bless our students as they go to love and serve the Lord in the next seasons of their lives!

Sincerely in Him,

Dustin Smith 

Kaléo Program Intern, Camp Qwanoes

Greetings one last time, from Camp Qwanoes!

To much sadness, the Kaléo Program turns its final corner this next week towards graduation.  Exactly one week from today, our students will be walking the stage to celebrate all that God has done in their lives this past eight months!  While students are sad to leave their newfound home at Qwanoes, this is also an exciting time in their lives as they venture on towards the next season of life that God has planned for them.  Although this year is coming to a close, we still have a few events left in the Kaléo Program.

This Week We Went Rock Climbing!

Rock climbing in the Kaléo Program is a two day event.  On tuesday, we packed up and drove to The Boulders climbing gym in Victoria.  This was a chance for our students to learn and experience the basics of rock climbing before heading out to do the real thing.  We had a blast learning about the different styles of climbing and enjoyed the challenge of pushing ourselves to become better rock climbers! 

With record breaking weather on the West coast of British Columbia, we feel more than blessed to have had lots of sun to enjoy the great outdoors in the past two weeks.  Rock climbing this week was no different.  On thursday morning we gathered our gear and headed out to Sunnyside Crags, a local outdoor rock climbing area about a half hour north of Qwanoes.  There we met two guides from Island Alpine Guides who spent the day teaching us how to climb outdoors and rappel.  Students had a blast learning to climb and for many this was one of their favourite days this year!

Retreat Season Has Started!

As we get closer to summertime, Qwanoes has just begun retreat season again.  This weekend, we kicked it off with Juniors retreat.  This is a weekend in which campers can come and experience camp for a weekend as a small taste of what’s to come in the summer.  As the students have spend the year growing in leadership skills, many of them have been placed in roles that allow them to practice what they have learned throughout the year.  We are proud to see our students excelling in their ministry here at Camp Qwanoes!

Please Be In Prayer

As we begin our decent towards graduation day, please be in prayer for our students that they continue to grow and learn in what God wants to teach them here at camp.  We believe that there is still more that God has to show them and that they will continue to see his work, even in the last few days of our program.  Please also be in prayer for them as they depart from camp on their individual journeys and that they will never cease to love and serve the Lord.  Thank you so much for thinking and praying for them.  Your prayers were evident in their lives.  

Farewell From Me!

Personally, I would like to thank you all for letting me be the voice of our program and reading my posts.  I have enjoyed being able to share what our students are doing, and I am very sad to see them go in a week.  May God bless you, and I look forward to celebrating with some of you at graduation!

In Him,

Dustin Smith

Kaléo Program Intern, Camp Qwanoes

Happy Spring From Camp Qwanoes!

As we enter into spring at Camp Qwanoes the sights, sounds and smells of this beautiful season are among us.  With several sunny days this past week, students have had a great opportunity to get out of their rooms and into the fresh air!  As we start to round the last corner of the Kaléo Program, there are still many things left to experience.

Community Life

Though there are many scheduled and organized events during the Kaléo Program, sometimes students take it upon themselves to plan events like games, Nerf wars, fires on the beach, and even fancy dinners!  Last Saturday, students and leaders dressed up for a fancy dinner at McDonalds as a fun way to celebrate Abigayle Lundbohm’s birthday!  This was a great experience and a fun way to get out of camp for the evening.  Big thanks to Anna Stark for organizing this event for Abigayle!

Last Class of the Year!

Today the Kaléo Program finished its last class of the year with Sid Koop!  Camp and Youth Ministry is a class that students take throughout the year.  Back in October, students took the first half of the class, then finished it off this week.  With only a couple assignments left for them to complete, students are excited to be finished with their classes and move on towards graduation.

We Went Kayaking! 

This week we loaded up the vans and headed to Nanaimo to go kayaking around Newcastle Island.  Though most of spring on the West coast is full of rainy days, we were blessed with a beautifully sunny day for this adventure!  When we arrived, students and leaders paired up and set out in tandem kayaks to enjoy the beautiful waters of downtown Nanaimo.  Midway through our excursion we shared in a time of learning and prayer led by our program leader Andrew, who gave us words of encouragement as we looked towards the finish line of our time together in the Kaléo Program.

Please Be In Prayer

As we begin to wrap up, please pray for focus amongst our students as they complete their last assignments.  Please also be praying that God will not only prepare their hearts for what is to come after the program, but also that they continue to grow and learn in their last two weeks at Qwanoes.  Thanks again for your prayers and support, and we look forward to seeing some of you at graduation!

In Him,

Dustin Smith

Kaléo Program Intern, Camp Qwanoes