Appreciating my home church Nov. 25

After finishing my class on church ministry I feel a lot more aware of how the church is intended to operate and how a lot of the churches actually operate. At the same time I have been exposed to new qualities of the church while I attend Warmland. No church is perfect so there are aspects of my home church that Warmland does not provide and vice versa. What I miss the most about my home church, North Country Community Church (NCCC) is how involved the youth are and the leadership potential that they possess. I find that NCCC has more outreach programs for the congregation to get directly involved with. What I probably miss the most about attending NCCC is the fellowship that took place, I felt very at home talking to anybody there. These qualities do not make one church better than the other; they are just what I am used to and appreciate about my church back home.

NCCC has an outstanding youth group. Despite there only being four dedicated youth members, they have proven to be an outstanding contribution to the church. It is incredible how these young believers show such leadership and contribution to the church. On a regular Sunday you will see youth holding each other accountable to regularly contribute to their sponsor child, teach Sunday school, lead worship, read scripture, or play during offertory. During a special service such as Christmas Eve, the youth will usually put on a drama or play a special song. All of this is on top of attending a youth Bible study every Wednesday and youth group every Friday. These youth are preparing to one day be the sole leaders of a church. I am proud to have once been part of that youth group and even more proud to spend my last year there as one of the youth leaders.

There are many opportunities for people to get involved at NCCC. There are of course many of the “regular” opportunities such was worship, greeting, sound, Sunday school, youth group etc. What makes NCCC different are the programs they support. An amazing program was birthed from NCCC called “Rising Above”, which serves the community by providing help to the people who can no longer provide for themselves due to continual loss of jobs, addictions or the like. The church is presented with many opportunities to practically support this program by providing prayer partners, helping with building projects or simply connecting with the participants as some choose to attend church. Another program that I loved being a part of was “loaves and fishes”. Every Sunday our church would provide a meal and clothing for the homeless. These are rare opportunities   that you cannot find in every church. I feel that these opportunities really helped me create a sense of identity with the church.

Another part of my church back home that I miss is the fellowship. Every church has fellowship but each is unique in its own way. I feel that Warmland has great fellowship; I just have a hard time comparing it to back home. I attended NCCC for ten years and knew everybody very well; I could have a conversation with anybody in the church and was always one of the last to leave. I’m still getting know everybody’s name at Warmland so have not been able to take part in fellowship on the same level as I could at home. NCCC has a time set aside for people to greet and say hello to someone you have not yet said hi to. Warmland does not regularly do this, last Sunday they attempted it but it ended up taking too long and being a distraction so it probably won’t happen very often. I enjoy it when people intentionally take the time to get to know everybody; it makes it feel more like a family. Being away from my home church really makes me appreciate some of the things that I took for granted while attending there.

God enhances my ministry experiences Nov. 11

God is so good. He is enriching all of my ministry areas and making them thrive. This weekend we have the sr. high retreat at camp. I don’t have any responsibilities with the retreat this weekend so was able to watch from a distance and observe the work of God. During the campers free time I was wondering around mingling with different people. Everywhere I went people were filled with joy, they were excited to be hear and taking full advantage of the opportunities. Because I wasn’t technically involved with this weekend I was able to sit back and see how much God works through this camp.

This week I have seen such an improvement in my relationships with the youth group and my Sunday school class. The boys are really warming up to me; I have made it into their accepted groupJ. At youth we were playing hide and go seek in the dark and one of the boys, Quinton, right away wanted to partner up with me and hide together.  During the game he was caught but the “it” person didn’t realise that I was also there. Quinton covered for me and lead the “it” person away. It’s a silly game and a small deed but it’s the small things that make a big difference. At Sunday school this morning two of the boys, Tyler and David, spent every minute after church talking with me. During Sunday school we had a great discussion on doing good things that people will remember us for then afterwards we just hung out and talked about silly things and had fun.

It looks like my worship opportunities will be expanding a lot very soon! Russ Smith, the music leader at camp, will also occasionally be doing music at my youth group. Russ asked if I would like to help. Sometime this week I get to practice with him and some of the other Qwanoes band members. I should mention that this year’s camp CD won a music award for best children’s music in Canada or something crazy like that. Russ himself was part of the former band “Hokus Pick” and is legitimately famous! I feel way out of my league but it will be a great chance for personal development. I could see this greatly enhancing my worship leading ability. God is doing some really fantastic things here and I’m so grateful that I can be a part of it.

following under leadership Oct 27

Throughout my time in the Kaleo program I have seen countless actions of leadership. Fortunately almost all of these examples are positive, however that doesn’t mean that they are easy to follow. It all depends on the scenario you are in and if you are willing to succumb to taking directions. The first thing that came to mind was our OT video project. This is an example of really good leadership; three students were designated as directors thus having control over the project. They all were all experienced in this field and had a passion for it. However due to everybody having their own idea of what they wanted the movie to look like and a time crunch at the end we were not all able to get exactly what we wanted. The directors had the final say in how each scene would be filmed and if any parts had to be cut out. This was at times was hard to follow because I felt like some parts could have gone better if we did them a different way but I am so thankful that the directors were who they were and did what they did because in the end it turned out to be a fantastic production!

A really good example of leadership which I believe all the students experienced was on our S.A.L.T.S trip. It was so easy to follow under the experienced crew of the ship and there are a few reasons why. One is because we had no idea what we were doing but were all willing to learn so at every opportunity we had to try something new there were people all over it wanting to listen to the directions of the crew. Another reason is how the crew lead, they didn’t boss us around or demand anything, they came down to our level and taught according to our skills. Most importantly they took the time to get to know us personally and build a real relationship. That is major importance to have when there is group working under you. I was thoroughly impressed of the leadership abilities the crew expressed.

One last example is from our worship team. I love being on the worship team but since we are still a new group and figuring out what works best for us, it can cause a bit of conflict. I would not have picked a different leader for our group; he is very talented and has a great taste of music. The problem here is that so many of the members, including myself, have played on worship teams before and we intrude on our leader’s position trying to make it our own. Often instead of listening to what our leader is suggesting we give a counter suggestion of what we want. This at times can be good but first we need to be able to work together as a team in our respected positions, once we have that established then we can start expressing personal opinions. A good example that I have seen come out of this are people stepping up into leadership. When conflict rises there are certain people that step in and become the “peace makers” trying to find a compromise to make everyone happy, it’s really easy to follow these people because they are obviously showing a concern for the group and attempting to do what is best for everyone.

Connecting with my church Oct 10

Now that I have been attending Warmland church for a month I feel a lot more connected than I did on that first sunday I showed up. Don't get me wrong, im not saying that the church wasn't accepting,  they are a very welcoming church, it just takes time to make it your home. I did have to take initiative on getting to know the other members. Unfortunatley this does'nt exactly come naturally to me so it was, and still is, a stretch for me. I found that I am able to get connected to the guys on the worship team because I know of a common interest between us to get conversation going, also I help with putting chairs away and my work hasnt gone unnoticed and relationships have been building up with the guys who usually take on that task.

Im getting more and more invovled with youth. Connections with the youth have been coming along really well, especially since road tour. Road tour is a big event that connects all the local youth groups in one big and fun worship night. Considering this was only my second event with the group I was able to make a solid connection. During this event I did try really hard to spend my time with my group and show them I was there to be with them not my other friends. Even though I was the "new guy" (actually one of three new leaders) I felt like they accepted me into their friend group. I first noticed this during a game that was played and each youth group had to designate one leader to particpate, I was the chosen one! When it came time for the bus ride home, I walk towards the bus and even before I get on there are kids yelling at me saying they had saved a seat for me. My intentions had paid off and my relationship witht the group is off to a great strart. I do wish there were more boys...it was a long bus ride with mostly 12 year old girls. Fortunatley last week we split off into small groups for a little while and I could get to know the few guys there a little better. A new friendship has also come out of my participation with the youth, Theres another guy working with the youth thats my age and we have been able to hit it off. I'm thankful to have a friend in the church thats outside of my school group. The main youth leaders do a great job about being intentional with us by having us over for lunch every sunday for fellowship and to discuss youth buisness.

The relationship with the pastor of Warmland is also going well. I will make a point of having a breif conversation with him every sunday but he was been doing more initiating than I have. Two weeks ago he had invited myself and the two other students (Evan and Rachel) for lunch after church. We all enjoyed the afternoon getting to know him on a personal level along with the rest of his family and another couple from the church.

I have an easy connection with the worship leader, Russ Smith. He just so happens to be my "link" (leader who watches out/prays for me) at camp Qwanoes. We get to see eachother all over the place, in fact we are meeting for coffee this friday morning, I think he will really be able to help me grow, especially with music.

I'm excited and very thankful for these connections that have been made. I know all these relationships are still at the beginning stages but I feel it's a really strong start and they will go a long way in the 7 months that I have left here.

My ministry opportunities in the Kaleo Program. Sept 24

I have only been in the Kaleo program for 12 days! I had to count twice because I was certain it has been longer. The relationships that we have built with eachother in such a short period of time are phenominal. I suppose when you get a group of like minded people together all striving for the same goal of getting closer to God, great things are bound to happen. We are already seeing some great things happen as we work in ministry together.

I have been blessed to be able to attend Warmland church. Myself along with two other students have a great opportunity to serve in this church. We are already involved with the youthgroup, which takes place on friday nights. We are working together with some other interns from camp Qwanoes under the leadership of a couple, Steve and Alycia. Last friday was our first time able to attend the youthgroup. 12 youth showed up, which is almost double what they had during the summer but still less than half of what were attending the previous year. We are hoping to rebuild these numbers as quickly as possible by running a new format which can draw in a broader age group. Every other friday we plan to do a big crazy event just to have fun and build relationships, on the opposite fridays we will have a more formated night with worship and a message where we can have deep conversations with the youth and help them build a foundation in Christ. Working with a new group has been a stretch for me. In my home church I was able to help lead the youthgroup but I already new everyone very well. At Warmland church, all of my relationships are starting from nothing. I believe that I am going to learn at least as much as the youth will during my time at Warmland church.

Another place I have been able to grow in is right at camp. All of the students were trained to work in the challenge course which is something I have had little experience in. This last weekend there was a retreat at camp from Trinity Western University. The role the students played during their time here was to run different events such as the challenge course, water park, skate park and ice cream stand. My position was a belayer on the climbing wall. This was my first time doing this without supervision and I was doing it for people my age or older. It was intimidating at first, knowing that some of these people would have more experince than me and if I made a mistake it could cause a serious injury to someone else. As the day progressed I gained a lot of confidence in skill and was able to enjoy the company from the passing students, I noticed that I am becoming more outgoing which is something I have been working on over the past couple of years. I'm excited to continue to grow in these areas!

There are several musicans that I have been able to connect with. At first I was a bit self concious to play with other people, not knowing their styles and skill level. Fortunatley we mesh really well togther and my confidence in playing with other people is growing every day. I signed up to be on the worship team for our students chapels. I feel that it will be a great opportunity for me to both contribute to assist leading my peers in worship along with a lot of personal growth as a musician, leader, team mate and servant.

The opportunities I have already had amaze me. I am so excited for what is in store for the next several months. There are so many ways I am able to grow here. The journey has only begun!