Knowing Yourself

November 17-23
(Written Sunday, November 23th)

Last Sunday, on the 17th, we spent the day hanging out and just relaxing. That evening the group went skating in Hope.

Monday to Friday we had sessions lead by our teachers. Monday we went into Chilliwack to work on our South Africa projects. My group was on current events and we researched the upcoming South African election and Jacob Zuma. That evening we all presented our projects to one another. They varied from people groups, geography, and the apartheid (and koalas). 

Tuesday we learned about our passions, abilities, values, and goal setting. It was really interesting and I enjoyed the goal setting session. We had a girls night and talked about the gift of singleness, watched "Mean Girls," and ate fruit salad.

On Wednesday, our sessions were about Emotional Health and the main principles of having a healthy emotional state. We also did the Myers-Brigg's personality test. It was lots of fun and we had a chance to figure out more about ourselves and those in our group and why we do the things we do. It was really stimulating and I learnt a lot. To finish our day off, we had a "blind" worship session where we wore blindfolds to help us not be distracted or worry about what others were doing or thinking, but just concentrating on praising God.

Thursday we had a semester debrief and spent time in quiet, trying to reflect on the past few months. I kind of spent a lot more time napping than reflecting. What I did learn so far in my time on Outtatown was about grace, love, and community. I come from a pretty conservative Christian church and I am so blessed to have gone there. However, I have always had this idea of "missions" and how to be a true "perfect" Christian, you have to pick up everything and move to Africa to be a missionary. Then you will truly be following God's will and working for His kingdom. Since my time here, I have learned that being a Christian doesn't necessarily mean moving away to a third world country and serving there, but that God gives us opportunities to help people here. He calls us to love our neighbours and he tells us that our neighbours are anyone in need. There are people right in front of us that need Jesus' love. Right here. In Canada. In Vancouver. In our churches. Everywhere. And I think that God wants us to help them just as much as he wants us to help those overseas. God places possibilities for missions here, by putting people in our lives to build relationships and to love on them. On this trip, I've also learned a lot about healing and growing from my past. I think I am truly starting to learn the meaning of the word forgiveness and grace. Basically I've learned to love The Lord in a whole new way and to love his people more than ever before. That evening was small groups. And my group went to a really nice restaurant in Hope and had dessert. The one chef/owner's brother works at Camp Kawkawa so we knew him and he made us the dessert sampler and made it right in front of us which was so cool and it tasted amazing!

On Friday we had South Africa preparation!! Woo!! I'm so excited I could leave now!! We talked about where we're going, staying, and what we are doing. It's going to be so fantastic. After session we had lunch then headed into town. I went to the hospital to get x-rays. I have two more weeks (hopefully no longer) and I'm not allowed to go snowboarding or doing anything more strenuous than walking and standing. I'm a little disappointed and upset, but I'm trying my best to keep my spirits high and not worry about it too much. That night we went to "Catching Fire" in Chilliwack. Oh. My. Goodness. Such a good film. But we didn't get home until 2 A.M. and I had to get up to do dishes for the people who went to breakfast.

Today has been another relaxing day and we haven't done much except play cards and have German lessons and work on some assignments. Some people are planning on going on a hike... But I won't be doing that. So I'll just hang out with people who aren't doing the hike either. To end our time here in Kawkawa, we are having a Christmas party tonight!






















(Getting pumped on the drive to Catching Fire)



























(Family photo)

Vancouver Urban Plunge, South Africa Learning Day, and Caving

November 8-16
(Written Saturday, November 16th)

Friday the 8th. Our two month anniversary. We had session with Jodie and then left for Vancouver. We arrived in Van City at 1 and had the rest of the day to explore. We stayed at the Ivan Hoe Hostel. Which was quite the experience. We shared a bathroom with everyone on the same floor. It also has a pretty distinct smell. I'd say its a mix of old, musty building and stale weed. The pub downstairs is a little sketch, but over all its a pretty decent place and it has pillows and sheets which is nice. A few of us grabbed lunch at McDonalds. I have to say, that was the first time I have ever experienced any form of culture shock. My friends and I were virtually the only caucasians there and after I ordered my food, this homeless man came in and just collapsed on the floor. He was shouting something about coffee to the cashier. I was shocked. Like I've never seen that happen before.

After lunch we walked around Main Street a bit and saw the Telus Science Centre. For dinner we had to find our way to Eli's house. He is a guy on my trip who is from Vancouver and his parents offered to feed us for the night. So it took us a couple trains and buses, and a bit of walking, but we made it. And the food was delicious. It was so nice having dinner in an actually home for once.

Saturday and Sunday were free days and we got to do whatever we wanted. On Saturday we spent the day at Pacific Centre which is a shopping centre on Granville. Then we just wandered around and found Robson Street. It's kind of like Calgary's 4th Street. It has a bunch of shops and restaurants and is a pretty nice part of Vancouver compared to where we are staying. My friend from church who is going to school here, took me out for dinner to have three dollar breakfast at this hole in the wall.

Sunday was pretty awesome. Michaela and I spent the day together just doing the classic touristy things. We started with breakfast at Tim's, then we trained to the Olympic Torch. That was really cool, but slightly anti-climactic. Then we walked all over Gastown and Chinatown. It was really fun, but tiring. As we were trying to get ourselves to a bus stop, we found ourselves in East Hastings. Which is a pretty sketchy part of Vancouver. But we made it out. Then as we were trying to find our way to Stanley Park, this old lady came up to us and asked if we needed help. She ended up taking the bus with us all the way there just to show us how to get there. The whole time she was pointing out different buildings and giving us cautionary advice on how to act and what to do downtown. She honestly was a blessing sent from The Lord. Once we got to the area, we had lunch and rented a tandem bike. Oh my. That was such a blast! We road around all of Stanley Park right next to the ocean! It was so much fun! Then we went and had dinner.

Monday was a very interesting day. We met up with YWAM, who is leading our urban plunge, and they had our whole day planned out. They dropped us off at a park right beside East Hastings and pretty much said: "Have fun. See you in Gastown at 2. Find your way there." So my group, Amelia, Luke, and I, stopped for lunch. Of course. Then this guy from the street came up to us and started telling us about his life and I was getting a little nervous with everything, but then it was okay. And we just walked around East Hastings and had little conversations here and there with random people. We met with the big group and they gave us our new destination. To go to Robson street and sit, notice how different it is than East Hastings and watch how people interact with you. It was a really good exercise and I learned a lot. As we were walking around Robson, we were asking random street people where we could find free dinner (another exercise YWAM gave us). We came up to this girl and guy who couldn't be much older than us, if not younger. They had just arrived in Vancouver from Kelowna and were panhandling for "food 'n' booze" money. They were super cool, the girl was from Winnipeg and the guy was from Montreal. I wish we could have spent more time with them, but instead we kept walking up the street to find a spot to sit. Walking away, the girl shouted after us thanking us for just talking to them. As we sat, we noticed how people treated us and not only were we physically lower than them, but the people who passed us acted as if socially we were below them as well. It was a crazy humbling experience and it really changed how I view people on the street and how I will interact with them in the future. When we decided it was time for dinner, we got up and continued to ask around for a place to eat. We heard about a drop in a couple blocks over so we went. Unfortunately they weren't for free, but the cashier paid for us anyways. I sat with Hugh and José. They seemed like friends and talked to me the whole meal. They were so interesting! Hugh asked me lots of questions about my university program and José told me a bit about his life and how he is originally from El Salvador. To conclude the evening, we went back to the church to debrief about our day.

Tuesday we split into three different groups to go to the Union Gospel Mission, Chili Wagon, and where I went, The Salvation Army. Our group cleaned their office, organized their food room, and set up Christmas decorations. It was an okay day. For dinner we had Phó. Then that evening we watched a documentary about the Sex Trade in Canada. It was an indescribable film that taught me so much and I learned that slavery still exists in our world, despite our ignorance. A clip during the film brought up Calgary and a massage parlour right beside Peter's Drive-In. That totally rattled me and really brought this issue home for me, literally. After the documentary, YWAM set up stations for us to visit around the Chapel which included prayer, reading about real life stories, and seeing different advertisements for prostituted women. It was a really heavy night.

Wednesday, November 13th we went to an Islamic Mosque, a Sikh Gurdwara, and a Buddhist Temple. It was interesting to see the different cultures and learn from the speakers. I found it fascinating to hear about the way their view God and their ways of worshipping Him. I think we could learn a lot from those people and their passion and dedication for The Lord. I hope that our group was able to show them who Jesus is and what His love is like through the way that we were open to listening and learning. For dinner we ate with the YWAM DTS who were currently training at the Vancouver site.

Thursday was our last day in Van City. I spent the day folding clothes at The Ware House's food drive and organizing them into boxes. Afterward, we did an exercise called Prayer Stations. It was an interesting and encouraging activity. We were in pairs, standing on predetermined street corners wearing red shirts and holding a sign that said "Free Prayer." A guy, probably in his mid-twenties, came up to me and asked me to pray for his mom and a woman he knew that was just diagnosed with cancer. It was cool how receptive he was, even though I don't think he was necessarily a "Christian." A also prayed for a few of the Outtatowner's that we doing a prayer walk. Even though I got some weird and degrading looks and was even ignored by some, I still felt very spiritually uplifted by the few moments of encouragement I did receive. That evening for dinner I had Ethiopian. Let's just say I won't be having that again. After dinner, we drove back to Kawkawa.

We spent Friday the 15th learning about South Africa from our site leader, Anthea's parents who are originally from Africa. We learned about the apartheid and current events, religions and culture, climate and geography. It was very educational and really got me pumped for this next semester! Then we played the Guatemalans again at floor hockey. We came hyped and ready to play with signs and cheers and we WON! Woo!

Today was a pretty awesome day as well. We went caving! And yeah, I did my best to do it as well despite my handicap (many jokes were made in the process). It was quite the experience and super challenging. The guy who lead our expedition, Walden, also had pretty cool insight on how we can take what we experienced with caving and apply it to our spiritual life and for our future overseas adventure to South Africa. I learned that you really need to depend on your community around you and that they are the ones who will help you climb over those boulders in life and how we need to stick together. Also, it's all about our attitude. If we have a positive attitude then our experience, even if it may be difficult or bleak, could be positive as well. Overall, it has been a fantastic week and I'm really enjoying myself!

It's crazy to think that we only have 13 days left in this semester!


























(First sighting of the ocean!)




























(Free Weekend in Vancouver)





























(Vancouver Olympic Torches)

Copperdome and Jodie Smith

November 1-7
(Written on November 16th)

Woo! Copperdome free weekend!

The first thing we did was check for lice. And guess who sort of had it. Yup, me. Plus 9 other people.

For the rest of day we just hung out, went shopping for groceries and lice treatments, and in the evening we had a Halloween party and played Mafia until way too late.

Saturday the 2nd we went to Whistler! My first time. And it was awesome! I bought some mittens. It was pretty cold so there wasn't much to do, but it was still fun to walk around and go into all the little shops. It's only ten hours from Calgary so I'm definitely going to have to go there again sometime for snowboarding! That night Michaela, Emilie, and I all slept together. It was pretty squished and Michaela ended up sleeping on the floor. But Emilie and I ended up sleeping in until past eleven which was super nice and much needed! After we woke up, we packed and headed back to Kawkawa in Hope.

Monday was our first Old Testament session with Jodie Smith. We started at the beginning of Genesis and looked at different key people. We studied the 12 sons of Jacob and looked at all the Kings of the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) Kingdoms in chronological order, which I thought was pretty interesting. In Psalms, we picked out different Hebrew poetic devices. Also, we studied Proverbs and the major and minor prophets.

On Thursday the 7th we ended our session with Micah and went out onto the beach and made a remembrance alter. We were to make a pile of rocks and when we set down our rock, we told the group something we wanted to always remember about God. The thing I wanted to remember was 1 Peter 4:8, "Love covers a multitude of sins." For the rest of the day we packed and did laundry and got ready to head to Vancouver.




































(Trick or Treat!)



























(Halloween Party!)



























(Small group at the Olympic rings in Whistler)

J Janzen and Steve Klassen

October 21-31
(Written on Thursday, October 31st)

Happy Halloween!

It's been a while since my last blog so I will start where I left off.

Monday the 21st we arrived in Hope, BC very late so all I did was unpack and go to sleep.


That Tuesday we just hung out around Camp Kawkawa, taking in the beautiful scenery and lakefront view. For the afternoon we went into town to do some laundry. We ended the night with Channing Tatum - "She's The Man" (for the girls) and "21 Jump Street" (for the boys).

Wednesday to Friday we had sessions with J Janzen. He taught us about Anabaptists and their beliefs on pacifism, war, and peace. It was a very interesting class and I learned a lot about different ways to view war and that it doesn't have to be a "kill or be killed" question, but that there are so many other nonviolent options, you just have to be a little creative to find them. In the evening on Wednesday, the girls in my cabin spent roughly six hours taking out my dreadlocks. So that was eventful and painful.

Thursday we had small group and Amelia and I shared my testimony which was really cool and their encouragements and prayers really energized me for the week. Friday evening Lisa Franzen came in to lead some worship. (Auntie Leila - she went to high school with Olivia. She has red hair. And watched the 2004 Olympic hockey game at your house. Do you remember her?)

Saturday the 26th was a hike day and the majority of people went on a hike. Since I couldn't hike, I decided it would be a PJ day for me and I watched a couple movies and just hung out. It was a really nice break, but I do wish I could have gone hiking. As a community we watched "Invictus" to finish the day.

Sunday we went to church in Hope. Some of us went to a Baptist church, while others went to an Anglican Church or a Catholic Mass. We did some more laundry in the afternoon and I began German lessons with Chris. Michaela, a girl in our group, grew up in Germany and she is teaching us. I'm really enjoying it! That night we had Coffee House where people sang, played musical instruments, or read poetry. It was a good night.

On Monday we began our sessions with Steve Klassen. He taught us about learning to hear God. That night we watched "Lilo and Stitch."

Tuesday we had session. In the afternoon I went to the hospital to try to get an X-ray but they told me to come the next day. I had a good chat with my family. For our evening activity we went to where the Guatemalan group was staying (Camp Squeah) and played some floor hockey. It was a blast! We lost pretty badly, but we still had so much fun! And yes, I did play. Think a broken foot could stop me?

Wednesday we had a day of silence which was really nice. In the morning I tried to read a bit of Micah and this other journal book we were given, but nothing was really connecting so I decided to have a nap. While I was sleeping I had a dream I was hiking with my group. But when I woke up I realized that I'm not capable. So I was feeling a little discouraged, but then I remembered Psalm 4:4, "When you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent." I realized then that I don't need a mountain top experience to be close to God, but that He meets me wherever I am. Even in my tiny little cabin half asleep. It's a beautiful thing. That afternoon I had to end my day of silence early and take another trip to the hospital. Long story short, my foot is still broken and I have to continue wearing my air cast for another two weeks. Good thing I don't have to climb mountains to see God, because it looks like I won't be doing that for awhile. That night we had an amazing dinner of ribs, shrimp, and rice. After dinner we had small group where Leah and Devin shared their stories. After that I just hung out Michaela and we talked about how our day of silence went and we were able to give each other some encouragement.

Today we had session with Steve. Then at around four o'clock we headed to Pemberton Valley. We stopped in Abbotsford for dinner and to buy some costumes for a Halloween party. We didn't end up getting to Copperdome Retreat Centre until nine. So all I did was shower, have a snack, and play some Dutch blitz. Now I'm so very ready for bed. And tomorrow we don't have to get up until 10:30, so I am happy.



(Group photo on the number one)





























(Camp Kawkawa)