Kaléo Program Adventures Begin!

Just a few days ago, our students returned from an incredible three day hike up Mt. Albert Edward.  

I know many of you have hear some stories, but I thought I would take the time to share with you some of the experiences we had together during our first Kaléo Program Adventure.

Due to unfortunate weather conditions we decided to move the trip a day early in order to have the best weather possible on the day we would attempt to summit Mt. Albert Edward.  

We were so thankful the rain ceased and it was safe enough for us to reach the top.  

The rest of the trip however, was wet. Very wet.  Although we experienced the heart of British Columbia in its true rainy form, the trip was not without a few beautiful surprises along the way!

As we woke up bright and early on Wednesday we were greeted by a beautiful morning sunshine to encourage us for the upcoming trek.  

After a hearty breakfast followed by a group prayer, we packed our bags and headed north to Strathcona Provincial Park.  We then geared up our packs, synched up our hiking boots, and ventured out into the (rainy) wilderness tasked with an eight kilometre hike to base camp.  

Although we had spent the day hiking in the rain, eating lunch in the rain, resting in the rain, setting up camp in the rain and even eating dinner in the rain; there was a certain beauty that we could not deny.  

God had given us this beautiful creation to enjoy and admire.

As daylight woke us up bright and early Thursday morning, we were greeted by exactly what we had been praying for, a break in the clouds and even some glimpses of blue sky.  Although the skies continued to stay cloudy, we climbed to the summit. 

In what was a mostly foggy day, we were still amazed at the many different landscapes that lead the way to the top.  

Once we reached our destination, there was nothing to see but clouds and rocks.  However, despite the lack of scenery, it didn't seem to bother us one bit because we had accomplished something that most of us had never imagine we could do: summit a 6,900ft mountain.  

But one last surprise was still in store for us.  As we sat down to pray and thank God for safely getting us to the top, it started to snow!  As the flakes fell, we couldn't help but smile and admire the little treat that God had just given us.  

After a few minutes of admiration, we turned around and headed back to base camp.

Tired from a full day of hiking, we crawled into our sleeping bags and fell asleep to the wonderful sound of rain on the roofs of our tents.  

The next morning we quickly ate breakfast, packed up camp, and begun our final hike back to the parking lot where warm vehicles awaited us.  

Adding to the entertainment was one brave soul (Justin Buhr) who decided to take an early morning dip in Circlet Lake to start off the day!

Although conditions were not ideal, we still made the best of our trip.  

We were proud of our students and their willingness to enjoy God’s creation despite the rain, mud and fog that greeted us at almost every corner.  

Regardless, it brought us closer as brothers and sisters in Christ and most of all, one big family.

In Him,

Dustin

Kaléo Program Intern, Camp Qwanoes

Kaléo Program 2015-2016

Welcome all, to the 2015/2016 Kaléo Program Blog.  My name is Dustin Smith and I am the Male Kaléo Program Intern.  This year I will be providing regular updates and info about what our students are doing during their time here at Qwanoes’ Kaléo Program.  This week we were delighted to welcome twenty-four Students from across the country to their new home at Camp Qwanoes.  While many of our students came to us from right here in British Columbia, others came from provinces across the country such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and even New Brunswick!  

With our trip to the summit of Mt. Albert Edward just a few days away, students had the opportunity to get acquainted with various areas of the camp.  After an orientation session Monday morning, both students and year-round staff headed out to the main field for some get-to-know-you games, as well as a beach party in the late afternoon!  With more orientation throughout Tuesday afternoon, the evening was packed with last minute shopping and a Packing Party for our three day trip up Mt. Albert Edward.

Throughout the year we hope that this blog will be a source that will allow you to be involved in our program through prayer and observation of the amazing things that God will be doing in the lives of our students here at Qwanoes.  We will be doing our best to share stories, thoughts and photos of our adventures on a regular basis so that you can be in constant prayer for our students. 

Later this week I will be posting about our trip to Mt. Albert Edward.  We are excited to share our pictures and stories with you all.

Please also be in prayer for our students as they prepare themselves for their first class on Monday: Intro to Spiritual Theology.  As they dive into their textbooks and memorization verses, our prayer is that God will give them an open heart to what he wants to teach them this week.

In Him,

Dustin

Kaléo Program Intern

Camp Qwanoes

A word from last year's valedictorian.

      Dear future Qwanoes students, I hope you’re ready for the adventure of a lifetime! Are you nervous? Don’t worry; God will prepare you for whatever He has in store for you this year.

     When I think back to the beginning of the program, I remember my fears and misconceptions about every aspect of the program. Who was I going to meet? What would the adventures be like? How was I going to do in the academic part of the program? However, the ideas and notions I had about each aspect of Kaléo changed as soon as I got there. The community turned out to be amazing, the academics weren’t too hard, the ministry was fun, the leadership was challenging, and the adventures were awesome. Each aspect pushed me closer to Jesus and closer to my community during the year. If you’re worried about how you will do spiritually, academically, and relationally; don’t be. Just trust in Christ and He will get you through each aspect of the program.

Here are some tips for getting through each aspect of the program:

1.    Community - Get ready for an awesome community this year. It will take a lot of time, a lot of love, and a lot of intentionality. With enough effort you can build an amazing community. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions, step out of your comfort zone, and be open.

2.    Academics – The academics of the program are challenging. The books are hard, the projects are long, and the hours are limited. However, the academics are completely possible with good time management, some prayer, and lots of help from others.  

3.    Leadership – Leadership is one of the best parts of the program. You will get to lead your peers, kids, and youth throughout the year. Remember that you can learn more from them as you lead them. Let Jesus transform you in this area of your life.

4.    Ministry – Ministry is such an important part of this program. You will be plugged into churches where you will have the chance to lead up front and behind the scenes. Stay humble and you can learn a lot. The churches are ready to serve, so get ready for an awesome balance of serving, learning, and receiving from your church community.

5.    Adventure – Adventure is a favorite part of the program for many. You may be pushed out of your comfort zone more than ever before. Don’t worry, through adventure you can experience God’s faithfulness and see the glory of His creation. Find what works for you during those nerve-racking adventures and they can be great for you. For me, prayer and encouragement from my friends was necessary. Find what works for you during the adventures and seek it.

     So, as you prepare for the program, don’t worry. God will blow your mind a million times over by the people and the experiences throughout the program. He’s got great things planned for you this year if you’re ready to take hold of them. Good luck to you all!

Blessings,

Julia 

A word from last year's leadership award winner

So your year is about to start! That's pretty exciting! So I'm Denver Knodel and I was last years recipient of the leadership award. It's not something that I really expected when I began my year, but God had some different plans for me in that season. So after a bit of reflection on leadership and whatnot I'd like to share what I think are some important elements of leadership. Discipline to speak and act when you are needed. Leaders take action to get their community moving forward to the goals that are set before you. You're here to learn about leadership, so don't be afraid if you don't know instinctively what to do or say. Trust that God is more committed to your community than you are, and that He will show you what you can do to be a part of His plan for this year. Humility to admit your failures. I made mistakes in my year, but it took me a while to own them and do what needed to be done for the community. Don't do that. Everyone at Qwanoes wants you to succeed and learn what it is to lead well, and they will walk withyou through whatever struggles you're having. When I finally owned up to the mistakes i made and called the community back to what we had set out to do, the reward was worth the uncomfortable vulnerable moments. Being a peacemaker. You guys are going to argue and disagree and get stressed out and say things or think things about people that just are not good or helpful. When you realize that stuff like that is going on between your friends; get involved. Don't pretend that troubles aren't there, deal with them in whatever way you can. When you blow it in your community or church, make the first move in seeking reconciliation. Eight months can be a long, long time if you have to hold a grudge... You guys have an amazing year ahead of you. You're gonna do stuff and go places, and become better leaders in all of it. I'm super stoked for every one of you, and I can't wait for you to join the ranks of Kaleo alumni!

A word from last year's Ministry award winner

     Hello future graduates of Kaléo 2016! I’m Melanie Ventura, last year’s Ministry Award winner. Looking back, I think about all the feelings at were rushing through mind and heart weeks before starting the program and I am sure some of you are feeling the same way. This coming year has a lot in store for you... God has a lot in store for you. As you may know, our lives as Christians is a full-time life of ministry; and this year will be an incredible foundation for your life of vocational or non-vocation ministry. Some of you will go on to camp or church ministry, or even missions. While others of you may be called to secular post-secondary schooling or workplace ministry. Both are equally ministry.

     Throughout the year, I started to really notice the intentional ministries that the Kaléo Program comes to develop. As students you will have the opportunity to serve in local churches to serve alongside of the ministries that are already established.  I have served in a church setting before and was able to use what I have learned back home to enhance the experience of youth group here in Ladysmith. You will also have the ability to serve in ministry here at Camp Qwanoes, I have had the chance to be a camp counselor and an assistant head counselor. I was slightly out of my comfort zone at first but through the whole process I was blessed with excellent leaders to walk alongside me.

     There is another ministry that will impact your lives more than you know, and that exists within your own live-in community. Ministry opportunities will be all around you. This includes your roommates, the Qwanoes staff, campers coming on retreats and anyone who comes as a guest. My advice in this ministry is to be present. This ministry will impact you the most when you fully immerse yourself in it.

     If there was one thing that I know for sure about a life of ministry, it’s that only way to be fruitful in all aspects; is for you to build a day that includes personal devotions with God and digging into His Word. My year would have looked a lot different if I hadn’t been intentional about my time with God.

     During the Kaléo Program I was able to grow exponentially in my faith and personal walk with God.  I have come to a place in my Christian walk were I can make choices to discern if what I am taking part in is reaching God’s Holy standards. God has called me to higher standards. Trust me I will fail but I can be sure God will take my hand and pick me right back up. This is my prayer for you and I trust God will do great things for all of you, as he has for me.

A word from last year's Community award winner

Hi Everyone,

Can you believe that you will be starting the Kaleo Program in less than a month?! If you are anything like I was, you are probably a little nervous, a little overwhelmed, and more than a little excited. You are about to embark on one of the best years of your life that will be unlike any other. It is going to be filled with adventure, learning, ministry, growth and of course, lots of new friends.

My name is Nora Cullen and this past year I was the community award winner. Community is a huge part of the Kaleo program and it is one of the things that makes the program so special. You are about to enter a community of people that does basically everything together. This does have some challenges don’t get me wrong, but it also has huge rewards. You are about to make friends that love you for who you are and will want to see you succeed in everything you do. You are about to make friends that will care deeply for you and will be genuinely concerned about how you are doing. You are about to make friends that you will have countless inside jokes with that will make you laugh no matter what the circumstance. Trust me, the friends you make during the Kaleo program are friends that you will have for life, but it is going to take some work on your part to make that happen.

The first thing I would encourage you to do is spend time with people. This sounds silly, but it is sometimes easy to get caught up in other things and lose sight of how important it is to spend time with the people around you. Throughout the Kaleo program there will be free time that you will get to decide what to do with. It is easy in those hours to just want to sit in your room and browse Facebook or text a friend from back home. However I encourage you to take advantage of the time you have to have fun with your classmates. Some of my most memorable moments from last year were the times when my classmates and I would organize some kind of fun activity and just spend time together. These activities ranged from volleyball games, to campfires on the beach, to Dutch blitz tournaments, to walking to Crofton to get ice cream, to even just sitting by the fire place talking about what God had been teaching us lately. Those crazy times of spontaneous activities are the ones that I will remember forever, so I encourage you to do the same!

The second thing I would encourage you to do is be real and vulnerable with each other. It took me a while to get to that place where I was honest with people about who I was and what I was struggling with. But once I did I watched as my friendships grew and deepened in ways I would’ve never thought possible. So my advice to you is don’t be afraid to be honest with each other, and don’t be afraid to ask tough questions to the people around you.

I guess the best advice I can give you about the Kaleo Program is to make sure that you have balance. Balance the time that you spend in the books, with the time that you spend with your friends. Balance the time that you are hard at work, with the time that you take to have tons of fun. You should know that the past year of Kaleo students have been praying for you since about last February, and I am sure that they continue to do so.  We are all excited to see your pictures and hear your stories about how you experienced God during your year of the Kaleo Program.

With many blessings and prayers,

Nora Cullen

A word from last year's adventure award winner

     Hello Kaléo 2015/16! I’m Sam Gordon, last year’s Adventure Award winner. I know you are, or at least you should be, super excited for this awesome experience that is coming up soon. The next year of your life will change you in more ways than you can imagine right now. It is hopeless for me to try and describe to you the experiences you will have and how it will affect you, but I can give you some advice on how to get the most out of your Kaléo year. When I came into the program last year I had a really good idea of what I was getting into; my older brother had done Kaléo 3 years earlier so I heard tons of stories and about what I would be doing. Even with all of that, I really didn’t know how it was really going to affect me. I expected to have fun, grow a little and learn about the Bible, but I got so much more! I had a lot of my expectations shattered and eventually I had to abandon my preconceived notions about the year and let God work in me. You all probably have some expectations for the year, which is normal, just don’t let those expectations sculpt your year. Don’t put God in a box! 

     One of the biggest keys for this year is knowing yourself and how you learn. You must understand that academics and classroom learning are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the education you have access to. Be prepared to learn at any time, some of your greatest moments of growth and learning can happen on the side of a mountain or on some beach! Something that really helped me out was talking about what I had been learning with my peers outside of class. I had an awesome roommate that I could always throw questions and thoughts at, and he would do the same right back at me. Honestly, that made the classes for me. Be comfortable talking with others about what you are experiencing and learning, it will help you so much! 

     I won the Adventure Award, so I should probably give you a little insight into that portion of the program... To be short, it makes the Kaléo program what it is. I would say that the adventure component has the greatest capacity to change you deeply. There is something about how God speaks to you when you are in His Creation. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to grow in your relationship with God and to push yourself deeper! Adventure brings together the community and academic components; it’s about having the time of your life and realizing the truths you learn in class. I always felt that reflecting on the past class while on an out trip was a great way to not only memorize what I had learned but also implement it into my life. My advice for you while you are on adventures is to be vulnerable. If you are intimidated by a challenge you are facing, talk to someone! I am positive that there will be someone around that will encourage you and enable you to do things you never thought possible. If you are one of those people that feels confident during a specific adventure, reach out and help your friends! Be that person for someone else! Be a shoulder to lean on, because at some point you will need someone to lean on. 

    So obviously focus on your spiritual growth and put considerable effort towards it all of the time, but don’t forget one of the most important things: have fun! My advice is to work hard when it is time, but have fun whenever you can. I can guarantee that if you go through this year and don’t intentionally have fun you will be very disappointed. Having fun breeds community. Organize games, walk to town with your friends, and just hangout with people! Academics and your commitments are very important, but make sure you have a great time along the way. 

     If anyone has questions or wants to know about the program from a student’s perspective feel free to send me a Facebook message. Praying for an awesome year of growth and maturity for all of you! Can’t wait to hear the stories and see pictures from all of your adventures together!! 

Sincerely, 
Sam Gordon