FOOD FOOD FOOD!!

This week I had delicious food! On Sunday I went with Ben and Rivs to visit Capernwray, which I have been called a traitor, for dinner. Kimberly (I think that is her name) asked me to visit them and eat their wonderful meal they have every Sunday. Of course I was up for a wonderful meal so I took some people with me and we headed down to the ferry Sunday night. As we were waiting to board the ferry we met this guy, Josh, who was from Capernwray. So we sat with him and some other people that were from there also. As we got off the ferry we walked to the school and as we walked it seemed as though we stepped back in time. The place was gorgeous! It looked as though it was in an English setting. They have cows, chickens and pigs they take care of, and they have this little quite old building they eat and hang out in. The place where the kids stay is ok. They have to walk so far to get to their cabins, I was thinking the whole time "I would hate to walk this far for everything", I thought it was bad enough walking up three flights of stairs to get to my room. The dinner was good, not as amazing as they said it was going to be, but I liked it. We played dutch blitz and just hung out with all the kids. Everyone there was so nice and just welcomed us in. Once we were done we decided to take the earlier ferry home because we had to go study for an exam. But we forgot to tell Marissa that we would be back to Chemainus earlier then what we said. We tried getting ahold of her but it didn't work. So we were stuck in Chemainus for about an hour and a bit. At first I was freaked out! But we had a nice little adventure. We took some sick pictures and had a great time until she came to get us. Monday was not very exciting. We took a test, which I think went ok, and then I slept for the rest of the day until dinner. I felt awful and I went to just take a little nap and ended up sleeping all day. I think it was on Monday that some of us went into Duncan with Jim to just pick up some things. It was a blast! He took us to Super Store and we got some food and gum, which I was out of and having a panic attack without! He then took us to Tim Hortins and and we ate some timbits and I got bagels. They have some of the best bagels, so good! Tuesday was a great day! I did some school and later in the afternoon we were off to go get a Christmas tree! I think everyone was stoked to pick out a tree. It took us forever to find the right tree and to agree on one but it was fun. We ran through the trees, climbed trees and just had a good time. Haley and I cut down out own tree, which we put in the hallway and plan on decorating. Wednesday, I worked on school a lot and just hung out. We had chapel, we cut oranges and dried them to put on the tree and we also strung popcorn. I can't wait to decorate it. We then just chilled and did more school and had a tim tam slam. It has been an amazing week!

Well, another week has flown by at Camp Qwanoes. This week we had Church Ministry class. It was very interesting and fun. I really enjoyed the class and our teacher, David Ernst. He really made the class fun and interesting. If he didn't show his passion for what he was teaching the class would have been a killer.

This week we went to help fill bags with sand. Since we have had about three weeks on nonstop rain, Duncan is flooding. We went and shoveled and filled the bags for three hours. It was so much fun. I loved shoveling, doing some hard work. I have missed doing hard work and this was so much better then sitting in class for the rest of the day. And it was nice to see how the community here really helps out.

Thursday, we had an international thanksgiving. It was suppose to be just Ben, Amanda and me (the three Americans here), but they begged to come. So it was us three, Justin and Bob (Candains), Alice (British), Brendan and Joel (Australian), it was a blast! We had the best time! We ate Gary, which was the turkey and had rolls, yams and egg thingys. It was DELICIOUS!!! I also made my mother's pumpkin pie, which was a hit. They were quite yummy, if I say so myself.

Friday was youth group, which was quite fun. At the beginning of picking Ladysmith I thought that I made a mistake, but each week it gets better. I enjoy youth group more then Sundays, but I know I am there for a purpose. The kids are now running to the car and pulling us out when we get there, which is nice to know that they enjoy us. I went five pin bowling for the first time in my life. It was interesting, I don't think I like it better then ten but it was fun. The balls don't have holes, they are just little light. I wasn't quite sure on how to do it so I just chucked it down the lane. I was amazed when I saw that the pins were pulled up with strings! They didn't fall down or anything they were just lifted by a string and put back down. They looked like little puppets on strings, I was amazed.

On Saturday we went to a snowboarding movie, which was ok. I thought it was a movie, but it wasn't a movie at all. I spent ten dollars to go and see a "documentary" on people talking about skiing, yes it was skiing not even snowboarding! There was about ten minutes of snowboarding in the movie, the rest was about skiing. It was good but not my kind of thing. The best part of the whole thing was that Matt won a snowboard! We were STOKED! He was all smiles for the rest of the night, I was so happy for him.

Oh, and during the week, I think it was this week, we had an open dorm party. In order to have people come in your room you had to clean so that it sparkled. And if your room was the cleanest you for a certificate and prizes. I was determined to have my room shining like they had never seen a room shine before. I work on our room for about two days. I wanted the room to look spotless. I cleaned every I even folded my roommates clothes! It looked absolutely gorgeous, and we won!! I was soooo excited! We worked so hard cleaning. But the people who did not have a clean room got their room locked and got pudding slopped on them. Thankfully that was not us, I would have died! I heard rumors that it was pudding from the first day, which probably was moldy and had things growing and living in it. I would have puked!

Oh, and one of the best things that happened this week was that I had a punching fight with the guys! It was so much fun. Me, Tim, Matt and Trent had a big fist fight. Tim and I had the epic fight but Trent was just teaching how to do a karate hit. That night we beat each other up so much, many of us walked away with bruises, but with smiles on our faces. It was such an epic night.

Please pray that our retreat that is coming up will be a good one. Pray that each person going will get something out of it that will change them, and that we will grow.

Prayer Week

Hey peeps!

This is week was prayer week. We started on Sunday at 4 o'clock. From that time on we had someone praying 24/7 the whole week. It was quite an amazing time. We signed up for an hour or more each day to pray. I had many good times with the Lord while praying. It was so peaceful sitting in the room just talking and praying to God. But where there is praying going on, there is also spiritual warfare. For many of us it was a hard week. Many, including myself, were discouraged and down. But over all it was one of the best weeks. We have grown so much closer this week.

The rest of the week just consisted of doing papers and reading books. The books that we read were actually enjoyable, for the first time =D. I loved learning about God's grace and about the church and different religions.

For this week please pray that we all will have strength and energy. Most of us are just exhausted and are getting over being sick, or are sick. Thank you! Peace =D

A Very Busy Week

Hello,
I hope everything is going well for you all. I am doing quite well, other then the shot that I just received today! I was in the trauma zone, sitting in a reck center getting a shot in a place other then Dr. Baptist's office! They didn't even give me a ban-aid! But I pulled through.
This week there is nothing really to report. Monday through Friday we were in class from 9 to 5. It was quite long but I enjoyed the class. Don Taylor is one of my favorite teachers. He really cared about what he did and wanted us to soak in as much as we could. We had to do a group project for this class, which was to make a movie on the Old Testament. It took us about three days to shoot this movie, which involved most of us doing an all nighter just so that we could get it done. As we were filming (which I was one of the directors) I remember thinking to myself, "this is going to turn out awful!". I know that isn't very good, but that is what I felt when we were filming at 2 in the morning! But once we all sat down on Friday morning to watch it, I was wrong. It turned out to be amazing and super funny. The process of making it was fun, hard, and tiring. But I think that it drew us closer together and made us appreciate each other more.
On Wednesday we went to go see Anne of Green Gables. It was WONDERFUL!!! Words cannot describe how I loved it. The acting was amazing and the theater was so cute. But the only bad thing about it was that Gilbert was not a good Gilbert. He was short and had a squeaky little voice, not like the one in the movie.
This week end we had a retreat come. They were a bunch of highschool kids, one of them was my twin. I felt as though I was in the parent trap, finding my long lost twin. So many people thought that I was her and they thought she was me. I could not believe that some one else could have such a beautiful face as me! She and I didn't talk for the whole week end but we did make a few faces at each other. But on the day they were leaving I was determined to get a picture with her. I couldn't just let my twin leave without having a picture. So I searched for Erin, which is her name, for about 45 minutes. I finally found her and introduced myself. She agreed that we looked alike and agree for a photo. I probably creeped the poor girl out.
On Sunday we started prayer week. We are all stoked on praying for an hour everyday. It is set up so that someone is praying 24/7 all week long. I had my first one last night and I loved it. An hour is way to short. We have pictures all around the room of each Kaleo student, and I spent that time praying for them. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow. Please pray that this week will be a changing week. That all of us will learn and grow during this time of prayer.
Signing out until next time,
Ellie Downing

Reading Break

Monday- Monday was the start of our reading break. The week that most of us were looking forward to. We were going to rest up, do fun things and get ahead on school. It was a very relaxing day but I didn't get much school done.
Tuesday- We went into Victoria to just hang out and shop, which you all know I love. When we got there some of us decided to take some homeless people out to lunch. Right at the start we ran into a kid who sang and played his guitar on the street. He wasn't homeless but he wasn't well off. He played a few songs which were interesting but good. We invited him and a buddy to come to lunch with us at Fish and Chips. When lunch rolled around we had picked up James, which his name is also Will and Frank. We weren't sure which one it was. He was drunk but he told us a little about himself. He used to carve totem poles and how he used to catch fish when he was just a boy. They really appreciated us taking them out to eat and it was fun to get to know them.
On the way home we stopped at a water fall, which was just gorgeous! It was one of the most amazing things I have seen. Since I have been here I have just seen God's beautiful creation over and over again. Just when I think it can't get any prettier I am mistaken.
Wednesday- i am not sure what went on, on that day. I think I might have gone to Kristie's house to work on school. Me and a couple of the other girls went and just worked on school for the after noon. It was so refreshing and relaxing.
Thursday- it was a day of more school and just hanging out. But that night we went to a show at New Life church. It was two guys who are traveling Canada singing and speaking. The singing was, interesting, not my thing, but it was good. The talking was also very interesting. He was quite funny at some parts but at others I just didn't know what to think.
Friday- It consisted of me working VERY hard in getting my paper done that was due at 5:30. I worked all day and finally finished. I also had been reading all week the Old Testament, which was for our next class. I enjoyed reading over all the stories I had heard so many times. I realized at how much I had forgotten all the little details, and discovering new stories.
Saturday- I spent most of Saturday in my room. I think I came out 3 times before supper. I had been reading all day long and sleeping. Most of us are just exhausted, from what I do not know. But that night Justin was so kind in taking six of us out to Boston pizza. I was stoked! I couldn't wait to go out to eat. I hadn't been out to eat since I got here.
Over all this week has been one of the best weeks. It was relaxing, stressful in some parts, but tons of fun. Hanging out with everyone and just having fun. We didn't have anything planned, we could just do whatever we wanted.
Today we started our new class, Old Testament. I am loving it! I had heard that it would be going till 5:30 and I thought to my self, "how can I sit for that long?" But once we started I can't believe how fast time was flying. I was captivated by what he was teaching. He is an amazing teacher and I can't wait to learn more this week. It may have to be my favorite class so far.
Please pray that our big group project will go nice and smooth. We have to make a movie of the OT and so far we are not doing too good. So please pray that all goes well.

2010 Olympic Torch Welcome to Crofton B.C.!!!!

Bonjour,
Crofton had its highlight for the year. On Saturday we got to witness the Olympic torch run through little Crofton. Six of us went into town early to help set up. We set up tables, blew up tons of balloons and sucked in helium. At 4:22 we all lined the streets to see the runner come off the ferry. It was quite exciting and fun to watch.
On Monday we went surfing! It was crazy!! I didn't think it was going to be too hard, but I was wrong. It was hard just walking down the beach with my board! The wind was so hard that it would blow my board up against me and I would be standing there, struggling against the wind. Once I finally got to our spot I was already worn out but I went out into the water. I walked and walked, trying to get out into the "deeper" part of the water. As I got out there I laid on my board just so I could get the feel of going over the waves, before I stood up. I got such an adrenaline rush as I flew over the waves. The wind was too strong for me to stand up. But just laying on top of the board going over the waves was exciting. But though it was exciting it was scary. Being pushed under the the water, spinning around and around trying to find the top was not exciting. I was in the danger zone quickly entering the trauma zone. Some of us ended up just playing in the huge waves. The rest of the trip in Tofino was great. God really worked in a lot of the kids then. On each trip I feel as though we become a closer community.
This week we have reading break. Nothing planned but doing school work. Which is wonderful! Please pray that people are safe as they travel and that we will be able to get all our school done.

Well, another week has past. It is amazing on how fast weeks go here. This week we had a Hermeneutics class. We learned how to study Bible and dig deeper into how it was translated. Though it was interesting the class was not. 6 1/2 hours of talking is quite hard for my short attention span. This week was quite stressful. For class we had do a presentation on a book of the BIble. My group had the book James. We decided to talk about perseverance and went into Crofton to interview the people and see what their view was on perseverance. The people in Crofton are classic. The point of interviewing the people in Crofton was to get a worldly view of perseverance and then we interviewed the staff to get a Christian view on perseverance. It turned out quite nicely. Most of the week was spent doing homework and more homework. We are leaving for surfing tomorrow, but pray that we have good waves and that the weather is good. Thank you.
Ellie =D

Howdy,
I have been at Kaleo for a month and two days already! Though it seems to be going slow, it also is going by extremely fast. This week have been a good one. On Tuesday we went caving, swimming and shopping. The caving was unbelievable. We climbed all over inside of the cave, there was no limit on where we could go. Thankfully there were no spiders anywhere, well none that I saw. There were some very tight places where you had to climb on your stomach, which was a little nerve racking, but exciting. Once we were done caving we went swimming at the Nanaimo pool. On Thursday it was D.T.G., which means ditch the genders. The girls went to a nursing home and sang to the cute little ladies. We then went to Chermainus and shopped around. I bought this darling little Shakespeare book, which I was so excited about! The girls then ate at Kristie's house. We played games and had a sharing time. We shared of what kind of blessings God had brought into our lives. It was nice to have just a night with the girls. But in the morning we still had a surprise waiting for us. Kristie and Marissa set up a photo shoot, coffee shop, quiet place and craft room in the basement for us. We went and took crazy pictures with our roomies and then had some coffee. After the coffee we went and had a quiet time with God. And the last stop was making a sign for the boys, showing them how much we appreciate them, because they are the coolest group of guys!
Even though this week has been full of fun things it has also been a gong show! With work, school and other things it has been hard to get everything done that needs to be done. So, if you could please pray that I will be able to find time to do school and that I will understand it, that would be wonderful! Thanks so much =D

Hey there friends!

This week has been quite eventful. On Monday we left for a five day trip to sail on the Pacific Grace. We had the chance to steer the boat, do the sails, and swab the decks. The best part of the ship was climbing to the crow's nest, the view from the top is amazing. God really worked on the trip and brought everyone closer together. We also got to swing off a rope swing into the freezing cold ocean water! The ride on the swing was a blast but the plunge into the water was painful. Getting a nose full of water and your muscles freezing up was quite exciting.

Church is going better. The kids are opening up to us and the people are extremely inviting. Right when you walk in the door there are people there to greet you with a hug and a hand shake. They are looking for a new pastor, so please pray they will make a good decision and look to God for guidance.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Hello,

It has been another week on the island on Vancouver. We started our Spiritual Formation class last week, and it was a wonderful class. I can't explain how much I enjoyed listening to Dr. Penner. We started class at 9:00 and went until 3:30. The first three days us kids had to be in charge of planning a chapel service. It was a great experience, some people did rap, skits and singing. On Saturday we spent 9:00 to 11:00 alone with God. We took that time to just talk or sing to God and read the Bible. Those two hours were so precious. I couldn't believe how fast the time went. At the beginning I thought I wouldn't find anything to do, but once I started praying and praising God the time just flew by.

Last night we had a dance competition. They put us in groups of five and we had to make up dances in 45 minutes. I was on the country team! It was a blast. We have so much talent here. It was great to see some of the shy people bust out and shock everyone =D.

Tomorrow we are leaving for the S.A.L.T.S trip. We are sailing on a ship for about 6 days. We get to take care of the sails, ropes and everything. Everyone here is pumped for this trip. Please pray that the girls get well, most of them are sick. And pray that we have good weather.

Hello Friends and family,

It has been a week since I have arrived at Kaleo. It has been an amazing first week of eight months. The first day we had a beach party which involved tubing, swimming and a whole bunch of other water sports. So far I have climbed an 80 foot pole to swing down the zipper, went on a 90 foot swing and learned how to belay. I just got back from a 34km hike. We hiked up Albert Edwards moutain, such a great experience. The view was gorgeous, nothing can describe the beauty from the top. Everyone here has become one big happy family. It is as though we live in our own world, nothing exists except for Kaleo.

This week we started our new churches, I am going to Ladysmith Baptist. It is a very small church, the youth group consists of about 6 kids. Pray that we will be able to make an impact on the kids in the church. It sounds as though they have some problems with them, so I am hoping I will be able to make a good impact on them.