Christmas Time!

Dec 7, 2009

Only 4 more days before I head home! Yikes!

I had my Church ministry final exam last Monday and I'm quite sure I failed it. There is only so much information that one can remember. 15% of the test was remembering the scripture references to certain passages and I probably got 3/15 on that part. I didn't even complete the short answer portion of the test which was worth 20% so I'm lucky to get a passing grade. In addition to bombing the test, I am quite sure that I'm not going to finish my major essay for this course because I'm having an extremely hard time reading as of lately. I can read for 2 minutes before I can't absorb anymore information. Please pray for these next few days as they will be pretty stressful and I really need diligence and concentration.

This weekend I attended the Canadian Youth Workers Conference (CYWC) in Vancouver along with 18(ish) other of the Kaleo Students. While there I bumped into both Marty Bennet, one of my previous Youth Pastors, and Uncle Dave. I chatted with each of them for a bit, Dave and I hung out for lunch and got stuck on the wrong side of the Santa Clause parade just before we needed to head back for our seminars! I also met a fellow named Jeremy from Nova Scotia who took me on a tour of Vancouver as he used to live there. Aside from what I did at the CYWC, here is what became of it: Well first, I didn't really absorb much of the information from the speakers as I pretty much already knew the information they had presented to us. I can't remember spoken words effectively anyways. I did, however, get confirmation that much of the assumptions and speculations I had made about youth ministry were generally correct. I couldn't tell you specifics, I just know that this is true. The most important thing I got from this conference was a renewed relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, not only do I follow Him, but I have fallen in love with him! The majority of my life has been devoted to following the rules an regulations in His word only because I was required to. But now I desire to know him more and to draw closer to him! Amazing stuff! Can't stop singing his praises! On the flip side, with every spiritual high come a spiritual crash (or desert). This is inevitable at least in my life because Satan is not very happy about what has taken place (I don't think he'd ever be happy in the first place) But I ask you to pray that I would be able to survive what he throws and me and instead of separating from God, that he would use it for his glory.

God Bless,

Trent

Less than two weeks...

Nov 30, 2009

...Until Christmas break! As much as I would like to stay here at camp, I also want to go home and see my family and friends. And quite possibly get some rest in the process.

Our church ministry class went well. I thought it was going to be quite tough as the syllabus was very strict but the prof., David Ernst, turned out to be a pretty cool guy. I really did enjoy his style of teaching as he caters to the more A.D.D. people in the group. We covered a variety of topics such as woman in ministry, spiritual gifts, the qualifications of elders, and church discipline. All I have left to do is write two more essays and I'm done for the semester. Although it's not going to be easy as I have lost all motivation to do any of this homework. I am finding all this reading and writing tough. I had a final exam today and it proved how un-academic I really am. The most prohibiting thing is of course my memory. I am getting worse at remembering things and I am really frustrated because of it. I am misplacing my stuff, forgetting events, forgetting facts, forgetting conversations with people. And no, this is not the normal forgetfulness of the average human, my memory is getting really bad. Please pray for #1 that God would give me at least some motivation to finish my work and #2 that I would be able to remember things.

I skipped church again this weekend but it was for the purpose of the Men's retreat. I worked mainly in the dishpit. There were ninety-five eighteen to seventy year old men attending this retreat so there wasn't too many dishes this time. Aside from the dishpit, I got to work on the challenge course as the take down for the zipline and the smaller of the swings. I enjoyed it quite a bit, the best part was seeing fully grown men chicken out of things that the kids would do no problem.

God Bless,

Trent

Insert title here...

Nov 22, 2009

So, I didn't get all my homework done on time... A.D.D. at work again. This academic stuff is a lot harder than it sounds, especially when you can only read a book for 2 minutes before you forget that you were doing homework in the first place! As a result, I am quite far behind in my homework but that's OK, because half of the other students are behind too. It doesn't help that we had only a week to read two books and write summaries on them for our pre-course work and on top of that write a major essay for our previous class. Meh, I guess that's whatcha gotta do for education nowadays.

This week was the 24/7 week of prayer. Basically, we designated a "prayer room" where for the entire duration of this week (even the wee hours of the night), we had at least one person praying in this room. Not only did we pray, but we posted Bible verses, prayers, struggles and confessions on the walls of this room. Being the smart thinker that I am, I chose the hours of 9:00 - 10:00PM as my time to pray. I admit most of the time I wasn't really praying but rather reading the stories on the wall and playing worship songs on the guitar. But when I did pray, I was about the most random things ever so I couldn't sum them up for you. Although one specific thing I did pray for was that I would be able to connect on a deeper level with the students here at Kaleo. Also, to be able to not care about what others think about me. The first request was answered quite immediately as I was able to chat with the guys in my dorm on a very deep level. Praise God! I quickly learned that we struggle with the same things. Also, I am slowly letting go of my tendency to show off my best side. It's not as hard as I thought it was and thankfully my fellow K7's have showed me much grace.

Speaking of grace, that was the topic of one of the books we were assigned for our next class "Foundations of Church Ministry" which starts tomorrow. Yikes! This was one of the classes that I was really looking forwards to as I believe North American culture has had it's effect on the church. I would like to explore what the Bible has to say about how the church should function. Please pray that this week I would be able to absorb the class materiel and remember it for the upcoming final exam. Sitting down for 8 hours a day is not my forte. Also could you pray for the residents of Duncan. As you may already know there has been much flooding due to the constant rain that we have been getting. Many people have 3-4 feet of water in their houses and some roads have been washed out.

Thanks for your continued support,

Trent

This week in Trent's life...

November 15, 2009

Old Testament literature was awesome! I have learned so much and have come appreciate the Bible more than I used to. Our Professor Don Taylor gave us an overview of the major events of the Old Testament and I find it easier to connect stories because I have the general idea in my head. One thing that God has really been showing me through this class is how he likes to attach meaning to physical objects and create symbols. For example, he commanded the Israelites to pile some rocks to serve as a reminder of how they came across the Jordan river. Pretty neat stuff eh?

This week of classes was very tiring to me as I pulled an all-nighter editing a video for one of our assignments. The day before that, I stayed up until 3:00 for the same reason. I am running low on juice and the work pile isn't getting any smaller. I must say it was cool to see that I have a place in this community as I was the guy for the techie stuff in this movie. The only techie work I have done so far is playing pranks on other's computers, and setting up printers. It was cool to be reminded that God has given me gifts and talents that I am to use for his benefit and the benefit of the church community. I'll try to post the video soon.

I am still having difficulty with my homework as my memory is not working as I would like it to and I still have difficulty concentrating on reading. Pray for motivation to get my work done and that I wouldn't get stressed over it. Many of the students here are still sick and they need your prayers as well.

Quick praise item: my car was leaking water into the cab and I tried fixing it and it didn't work. But at church today, I met a guy who works on Volkswagens and as soon as explained my problem he told me exactly where it was leaking and how to fix it. Now to find 5 spare hours and rip my car apart again! At least I enjoy doing this kind of stuff...

Thanks for your continued support.

Trent

Yawn...

Nov 8, 2009

Man, I'm beat! All this homework has forced me to skip a few hours of precious sleep. Since Sunday, I have written an essay on Galatians 2:19-21, I read about a quarter of the Old Testament, hung out with Lauren for a day and pulled all the upholstery out of my car in a desperate attempt to find a leak that leaves a pool of water on the floor after it rains. I'm getting 6 hours of sleep a night and this week was supposedly reading break!!! My Old Testament Literature class starts tomorrow and I'm not really looking forwards to it. With all the work that I still have left to do, I have no idea if I will get the privilege of sleeping at all this week. Please pray that I would be able to get my work finished quickly. According to all the other Kaleo students, I pretty much live in the library now. No time for play...

Church was average this week, I forgot to bring my notebook and I was so tired that I can't recall much from the sermon. The only thing that I do remember was the line "Get out of the Boat!" Which of course refers to when Peter tried to walk on water towards Jesus. We had 3 guitarists for worship so I was kinda frustrated about not playing what the others were playing. 3 people playing the same thing doesn't sound very pretty.

Lauren came out for an overnighter on Wednesday. I enjoyed her company and so did the other students. Believe it or not, they thought she was older than me! They also knew we were brother and sister not by the way we look but by the way we talk. Anyone else agree with this? I was very excited to open my care package (rather, suitcase), and I mean so excited that it was the 2nd highlight of the month! (next to Lauren of course.). Thanks very much to those who assembled it.

Sigh, back to the books,

Trent

Surf's up!

Nov 1, 2009

Ah, finally no-shave November is here. As you probably have guessed, this means all the students at Kaleo have sworn that no blades shall come within proximity of one's facial hair. It doesn't really affect me cause it takes me a week to start showing any signs of stubble. However, some of the guys are not as fortunate. Decembeard is coming up too. I'll be sure to post some pictures.

Surfing was great! It is much harder than it looks. Just catching a wave is quite difficult, let alone being able to stand up or carve. I was able to stand up for 3-4 seconds max, most of the time I just laid on the board, which is still ridiculously fun. The Cold Water Classic surfing championship was at the same time as the trip, I got some John Hancocks from some of the pro-surfers. I got some free pizza out of the deal too :) We were accommodated at the Christ Community Church in Ucluelet. There, we had some times of sharing testimony which were very encouraging to me. Some of the past Kaleo students were on reading break from Briercrest so they hung out with us during our trip. Also, one of the girls recommitted her life to Christ while we were there. Exciting eh?

Other than that, not much has really happened around here. I'm finished my essay that I was worried about, only to start another one tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll finish it before Lauren gets here on Wednesday...YIPEE! I skipped out on church this week because I was helping out with one of the retreats being held here at the camp. Mostly, this meant washing dishes for an hour or two after the meals. I was lucky enough to work on the challenge course, belaying kids up a tower to go down the zip line. I was able to chat with one of the retreaters named Riley, who hails from the mainland. I first saw him playing around with a rubix cube that was shaped irregularly and had only silver stickers on it. I couldn't believe my eyes when he solved it in 2 minutes!

Despite that this week wasn't really busy, I'm starting to slack on my devotions and procrastinate my school work. Please pray for diligence. I'm going to need it this week as it looks to be one of the toughest yet, in the area of homework. Also pray for the health of the people at camp as the swine flu may be making its way around. I promised pictures of the surfing but I didn't get many and I apologize. Check out my facebook if you want to see some pictures that others have taken of the trip.

God Bless,

Trent

Oct 26, 2009

So, another week of classes have finished. This particular week it was all about Hermaneutics (Bible study methods) Taught by Merrill Dyck all the way from Caronport. I would consider the last 7 days as pretty close to the toughest week of my life. We were in class from 9:00 - 4:30ish and had homework to do afterwards. Because I tend to be slow in that area, it usually meant that I was staying up past midnight. Not exactly the most enjoyable time, but hey, I've worked hard enough that I can go to the surfing trip without needing to worry about being behind in my assignments. I am almost finished my 4-5 page paper on "What the Proverbs say about the heart." Not exactly my forte, I've spent a ridiculous 15 hours on it already. And as a reward I get to write another 5-6 page paper in 3 days. The work load is a little heavy for me so could I ask you guys to pray for diligence and a clear mind.

As planned Jenna and I took Peter out for some Starbucks. I have to admit, this guy is pretty cool. He is a relatively new believer and I never would have guessed that from my first impression of him. He is so incredibly knowledgeable for the amount of time that he has been studying the Bible. A quick couple of prayer requests for him, both of his parents are supportive of him in choosing christianity, but yet they themselves are involved in non-exclusive religions. Please pray that his family would come to know Christ. Also, Peter is moving into a group home from the hospital in about a week, please pray that the transition would go well for him. He seems pretty excited to get out of the hospital and it will make it easier to get together with him because we don't have to worry about he restrictive visiting hours. I plan to jam with him hopefully this Thursday depending on how fast I can get my school work done.

Off to Tofino until Wednesday, I'll post Pictures!

God bless,

Trent

Sept 18, 2009

This week we were supposed to go surfing but the weather had a different plan for us. We went spelunking, shopping and swimming instead! Check it out:

My favorite part was of course the 4" Daddy-Longlegs that were hanging from the cave ceiling. So predictable aren't I?

I enjoyed Church today in the fact that it was different than usual. We had a guest speaker, Dan, who both works at the school that our church meets in and works on staff for Capernwray Harbor. I enjoyed his sermon very much, I must mention that he is an excellent speaker. His topic of choice was about David and Mephibosheth. Along with examining the passage in 2 Samuel 9, he provided much background information behind the story instead of assuming that the congregation already knew what he knew. For example, Dan mentioned that Mephibosheth could not enter into the temple as he was ceremonially unclean because he was crippled in both legs. He also said that Mephibosheth could not receive his inheritance as it was common in Jewish culture to withhold an inheritance from those who could not use it properly. The one bit of info I found most intriguing was that Mephibosheth means "Dispeller of Shame." If you put these bits of information together, it is possible to realize the the depth of kindness that David showed to Mephibosheth. It also describes a picture of God's unconditional love for us. Just as David invited Mephbosheath to eat at his table, so God invites us to join him regardless of of our defects or brokenness that we bring.

In other news, I was able to chat with Peter today, the fellow I told you about last week. I made plans to take him out for coffee next Sunday and I hope to visit him in the hospital during this week. I learned a couple cool things about him. He was part of a Bible study and jam time at the Hospital. Unfortunately it died down over the past couple of weeks. Opportunity knocks! He also has shown an interest in guitar. I'm planning to ask a few of the guys here to join me in a visit with him, maybe jam and play some card games. Could I ask you guys to pray for this simple outreach? First pray that it would actually happen, as my schedule is filling up and secondly pray that I would be able to show him God's love.

I am finally getting over my sinus infection and I can stand-up without getting a massive headache. I still am finding the homework difficult, please pray that God would give me an interest in what I am assigned as I am lacking motivation. I am also finding it difficult to read. For some odd reason, my brain is resisting the entry of knowledge. Must be my ADD kicking in again.

Thanks for your support,

Trent

Total Epicness!

Oct 11, 2009






Just got back from my SALTS trip, which was extremely enjoyable. We sailed for 5 days on the east coast of Vancouver Island, beautiful scenery and not a drop of rain! I learned so much on this trip including how to operate a ship. Us students were required to attend lessons on knots, points of sail, chartwork, sea terms and rules of the road. This is not all that I had learned. Because we were all stuck on a boat for 5 days, I was forced to get to know the other students. I learned (and still am learning) how to make conversation vs. being my quiet ol' self. If you ever have a chance to participate in SALTS, DO IT!

Not much happened at church today, I have a sinus infection so I wasn't really up for playing guitar. I actually preferred it this way as I was not occupied by setting up/tearing down. Instead, I was able to meet some new people. One of these people that I met is living in the hospital but is still attending church. Please pray for his recovery and that he would be able hear God's voice. I plan to hang out with him sometime soon or visit him in the hospital. Please pray for wisdom when I am ministering to him. Also Please pray for a speedy recovery as this sinus infection is starting to annoy me.

God Bless,

Trent

Semaine numéro trois

Oct 4, 2009

In a desparite attempt to organize the worship team for this year; Tina, one of the worship leaders, held a meeting at her house located in the distant town of Chemainus. You all know I tend to be geographically challenged, so it took me awhile to find my destination as usual. I am considering a GPS as a necessity for navigating BC roads. I eventually found this hidden building and during the meeting, spent most of the time listening to other people talk, as I usually do. I smiled and spoke little as I also do quite frequently. But besides that, Tina made a concrete schedule for the worship teams until Christmas. In the meeting we described the responsibilities of a worship leader and developed (rather, found one in an old music book) a vision statement for the worship services at North Cowichan Alliance Church. This meeting had almost immediate effect on the worship services as today we had a full worship band (Percussion, piano, bass, guitar and vocalists). Tina was also able to email a list of songs and an order of worship to the musicians ahead of time. It's unfortunate that I never checked my email. (Sorry Tina) The service sounded great and we received many compliments afterwards. Halfway through the service, the kids were called to the front to sing a song lead by Rebecca. This particular time, one of the kids turned to me and asked "wass your nayma?" Immediately after, he saw my flashy guitar effects pedal and couldn't resist but to touch a couple of potentially dangerous buttons; the congregation laughed.

I am still trying to find other ways to minister to this church, I am not satisfied with just playing guitar and doing techie stuff. I would like to invite someone out for lunch or start a jam session, etc. but these things take time and they are usually out of my comfort zone so pray that God would give me courage and diligence. Also pray that God would show me those who are needy in the congregation, not specifically meaning poverty but needy in spirit. Pray that God would work through me in the lives of these people.

One more aspect of ministry at Kaleo is Qwanoes Special effects (QFX). In this program, Kaleo students are paired up with Qwanoes staff to work on a specific project. John Lansink, Jade Summerfelt and I were teamed up with Joel Babcock the Maintenance Assistant or in slang terms "The Janitor". There is not really enough work of the same type to make a project as the program intends us to do but there sure are many cabins that need cleaning!

Well, I'm gone sailing for the next few days, I'll be sure to post pictures on my Facebook!

Trent

Week 2

Sept 27, 2009

This weekend Trinity Western University held a retreat here in camp Qwanoes for their student leaders, around 300 of them! Part of my ministry here is to help out with the chores/duties on such retreats and events. On this particular retreat I was in the dishpit (kitchen), they didn't think I had sufficient skills for anything else (totally joking). For 6 enjoyable hours I helped make food for and clean up after the hungry students. This included chopping tomatoes for tacos, making veggie plates, cleaning equipment and clearing many dishes from the tables. Along side me were a couple other Kaleo students who don't mind waking up early and Qwnaoes staff who, I must say, are strikingly diverse. Some of the staff are from Australia, a couple from Great Britain and a few were chatting in Spanish all day. Through this experience I have learned to appreciate the people who work everyday hard and diligently so we can eat to our hearts content. Did I mention that the food here is top notch? Greek salad, salmon, roast beef and vegetarian casserole, Yummy! I think it may be hard to keep off the "freshman 15" with mountains of bacon and ham everywhere you look.
I had the opportunity to play guitar in church today, the team was all male with a bass, acoustic and electric guitar and an extra vocalist. The Senior pastor's son Justin played the acoustic and lead the worship for us. According to my home church standards it would have been a gong show, 20 minutes before the service started I was given the songs and we ran through them quickly and not completely. But out here in Duncan, they could care less if we mess up or rock out. I kinda like it that way, takes the stress out of church. I should give a quick moment to describe Justin to you, He is by far one of the coolest dudes I have ever met; a teacher by profession and one of those people who truly cares about what you have to say. His face is also kinda frozen into eternal smile, I don't think it is physically possible for him to frown. I look forwards to getting to know him better. We have made plans to jam and kind of figure out what this year will look like in regards to the praise and worship ministry. Please pray that we would be able to find God's direction in this area. At this point, ministry at the church looks quite promising with no major obstacles to overcome. Praise God!
I forgot to bring notebook with me so I really can't remember what was said during the sermon. But that's fine, My mind will be surging with information when classes start on Tuesday. All I can say for sure is that Pastor Joel did the sermon, continuing with the Abraham family line in Genesis Chapter 27. Joel had actually just returned from a massive hiking trip out on the west coast so he was hobbling around with a sore left knee. I know you may consider where I am as the west coast, but as explained to me in depth by Justin (or was it Joel...?), the term "West Coast" means the west side of the island and "East Coast" means east side of the island. These BC people are a little...different. Please pray for them. While you are at it, please pray that I would not be satisfied with status quo in my ministry but that I would allow God to push my boundaries and go beyond what I would normally default to.

God bless

Trent

First Day of Church

Sept 20, 2009

Today was our first visit to the church which I had chosen to minister too. North Cowichan Alliance Church, A recent church plant which meets in a school in the nearby city of Duncan. Believe it or not, I was not nervous at all! I was rather excited about going today. It started with a quick sit-down with the retiring Pastor, Marvin Croswell. He explained to Jenna and I the specific needs in the church some of which are musicians, techies and a sunday school teacher. All they had today for a worship band was a guitarist/vocalist, a djembist and a bassist, so I am eagerly waiting to start playing with them. They have a music meeting on the 30th which they will discuss the future of the praise and worship at North Cowichan Alliance. The sound system there is also bare bones. They have no means of connecting the keyboard to the console and they usually use the old style overhead for the words so one of these days I'm gonna help them with the tech side of things. Ok, enough with the tech already...In attendance today was about 60 people, mostly young families just like back at home, with a couple of elderly people here and there. The whole service was non-formal, the worship was enjoyable. The sermon was about Abraham in Genesis Chapter 24. I liked the sermon because instead of the average sermon where you pick a subject refer to different parts of the Bible, Pastor Marvin used Genesis 24:1-20 As the sermon. The two main points were stepping out in faith, as Abraham's servant did and going beyond expectations as Rebekah did in the passage.
After the sermon, Pastor Marvin invited both Jenna and I over to his place for lunch. While there he explained to us the general situation of Vancouver Island. There are many Natives here that are unchurched and this is one area they would like to expand in. Over the past little while they have been trying to minister to a younger congregation and to do this they prayed for a younger pastor and Just recently God granted their request! Slowly, Pastor Marvin's son Joel will be taking over the church.

Welcome to my first blog!

Sept 18 2009,

Part of my ministry here at Kaleo is to be assigned to a church in which I will serve. I was given a list of 7 churches to choose from and after doing some research and prayer, I chose North Cowichan Alliance Church. This church meets in a school so they need to setup and tear down each time, and I am very experienced in this. They also are looking people to do sound and play on the worship team so I will fit right in! Along with me is Jenna Mckee, another Kaleo Student who will be serving in the children's ministry at North Cowichan Alliance. Please pray that we would be able to develop relationships with the staff and congregation. Also pray that I would not be content with what I consider "serving" but to go beyond my comfort zone and go where God wants me to go. Our first service at the church is this Sunday at 10:00 am. Here is there website for those who wish to read more.

http://www.northcowichanalliance.com/index.htm

God Bless,

Trent