Final reflection April 19

The last 8 months while being in the Kaleo program has presented me with many ministry opportunities. Overall even though there were not too many brand new experiences for me I was still able to learn a lot of new things from these experiences.  Our main ministry focus was camp and youth groups which I have been involved with prior to this year but these look very different from place to place and are almost incomparable. My youth group at home consists of approximately 6 youth whom are mostly in High School and have a Christian background of some sort. My youth group here in Crofton, however, consists of approximately 15 youth and very few are at the High School level yet and most of them no idea who God is. It has been such a great experience being able to get involved with this youth group because I have been able to broaden my youth experience and learn how to lead in different environments. The camp ministry is very different than what I am used to. The camp that I am regularly involved in consists of approximately 25 people a week while camp at Qwanoes has a hundred more than that for their retreats and four hundred more during the summer. The staff here outnumbers my entire camp. It has been incredible to experience how smooth everything here can run on such a large scale. The team work and leadership here is phenomenal and great to be a part of. My ministry experiences here have helped me develop my leadership skills in a much more encompassing way. I was able to get involved in areas which I have a passion for but experience them in such a different way and learnt how to further develop my leadership skills in ministry.

This year has definitely been a year to stretch and to grow. I have experience this in many ways. I was able to develop leadership skills in many areas and discovered more of my strengths and weaknesses. I grew in my knowledge of the Bible, the importance of a strong community and personal spiritual development. But I think the place where I grew the most is in leading a healthy dating relationship which is honoring to God. This was certainly not what I was expecting to get out of this year. Coming into the year I was focused on personal development, strengthening my foundation and discovering what Gods plans are for me. I was blessed immensely this year and God provided with that and to my great surprise I believe that it was part of his plan for me to find a girl here. Shortly after the second semester started I engaged in a dating relationship. Throughout the rest of the year I was not only able to learn more about what it meant to be the leader in a relationship, I was able to practice it. It has been one of the biggest learning experiences I may have ever had. There were ups and downs but through it all I was able to learn how things should be done and how I can improve on things. I came to the Kaleo program to develop my leadership skills. God stretched me farther than I expected and taught me how lead a healthy relationship, one that I believe will last a life time.

There are so many great things from this year and I will miss them all but I think it is safe to say that I will miss the community the most. The academics, adventures, ministry opportunities were all fantastic but they are all things which can be found elsewhere. The community here is potentially a once in a lifetime experience and cannot be found in many places. Studying, playing, eating, working, hiking, exploring, sleeping, serving, and about anything else you can think of we did together and through that shared countless experiences which created an indescribable bond between us. We can be completely open and honest with one another and not be judged. The encouragement is like none other. The environment is so healthy and uplifting. The community developed here is a result of every individual playing there part and being intentional with one another. Oddly enough I even enjoyed the experience of having roommates. We got along s well and I loved being able to talk with these guys at any time. Sleeping in an empty room will defiantly be different I think I will miss having to share a room. I could spend a day with any individual from this program and have a good time; there is not a single person who I won’t miss.

Juniors retreat April 11

Through the completion of my Camp and Youth Ministry I have gained a much better understanding of what goes into planning a retreat. There are so many things that I appreciate about retreats and camp ministry. One of our class group projects was to plan a functional weekend retreat. On top of that, the following weekend we are all participating in a weekend retreat at Camp Qwanoes. What I have come to appreciate about retreats and camp ministry are all of the little details that need to get worked out. There are so many different areas such as games, food, chapels, devotions, music, activities, registration, schedule, etc. and all need mass amounts of attention. Many of these areas go unrecognized for the amount of time and energy which takes to get it all together. I have really come to appreciate those who pour themselves into their designated areas and do their specific role to make the whole event run smoothly, even if they are not recognized for their efforts.

The thing that stood out to me during the junior’s retreat which we were participating in was how full the schedule was. Summer camps are usually jammed pack with various activities throughout the day but this weekend was something else. Pretty much every second of the day was accounted for. These kids really got there monies worth because there is no way they were able to do so much in one weekend anywhere else. One major bonus that I saw come from this was that once it was time for bed, the kids were ready for bed…even if bedtime didn’t come until 11p.m. I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out how those kids were still running by the end because I was exhausted! Another bonus was that when their parents arrived they couldn’t keep their mouths shut since there was so much to tell them.

God was defiantly at work during this retreat. We had approximately 120 kids for the weekend coming from a wide range of backgrounds. It always surprises me how receptive kids are to hearing about God. During the Saturday morning session I was sitting beside one of my campers named Jayden. Jayden was one of the most talkative, energetic and wild boys there were. The speaker was sharing about what it means to be a part of Gods family. All throughout the session Jayden kept asking me questions such as; when is this over, when is free time, when is tuck open etc. Then all of a sudden the next two questions out of his mouth were, “how do I become a part of God’s family” and “am I already a part of Gods family”. This definitely came as a surprise to me but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. I wasn’t able to answer his questions right away, we were still in the session, but afterwards there was a time for a cabin debrief and those questions came up again so myself and my co-counsellor were able to share the answers with our entire room. Throughout the weekend I was able to learn something very significant about Jayden; he has a strong sense for family. His cousin was also in our cabin and several times I witnessed Jayden make a small sacrifice or act of servant hood towards his cousin and every time he would say “because he is my cousin.” I was also able to get a little glimpse of what Jayden’s life at home was like. I didn’t get much but one thing I know is that he lives in three places and constantly changing between them. His parents are divorced and he spends most of his time with his grandparents. Jayden is a nine year old boy with such a longing for family and the message of God inviting him to become part of His family really hit home for him. This is just my experience, you should hear some of the others, God was undoubtedly at work.