Hey all

So in this past week what have I done? Hmm now that I think about it I have done a few interesting things. On Friday we all as in all us Cobble hill groupies went to youth. For youth we went out to Kurt and Chelsea's place for a backyard fire pit hang out and also a polar bear dip into Lake Shawnagin. It was sooooooo cold!!! We all walked down there in our bathing suites and danced around like little girls on the dock to entice ourselves to jump in. It took a couple minutes of convincing and then we decided to take the plunge. I wanted to try and stay in for a good little while but as soon as I surfaced I basically shot back up onto the dock like a dofin jumping out of the water. Right in and right out!! It was sooo freezing cold I couldnt do anything except want out. After wards we all had to walk back to the house wet and cold and man the cement hurt so much on our numb feet. But overall it was fun and good and will probably do it again =P
Today we went to Church today and heard an amazing sermon on Proverbs 5 about adultury. If you care to listen to it just google the Cobble Hill Baptist Church's web site and you will find it. It was one of those kinds of cermans that nobody would ever think of preaching on just because of all the awkwardness that it would bring about. But it was amazing and so very insightful, straight out of the text.
After that we spent Lunch and Paul and Donna's home and they fed us like kings!! Oh my goodness the best meal I have ever eatin in my entire life! We also over this meal talked about eating habbits and food and weight. I figured out that I have lost 30 lb in muscle weight over the past 3 months due to my diet and my lack of excersize outside of our trips. So I am going to have to buckle down on myself and get active at least once a day as well as give myself a work out routine, if not the weight room here at least something on the floor in my room.
Last tonight we did our final bridge service, a nice Christmas one. It went very well. Afterwards we all just enjoyed eachothers company and said our goodbyes before we left for Christmas holidays. I am looking forward to my holidays, even though they will be very busy I can anticipate =P

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Hey All

So us guys went off for our second guys night together. This time we went out to Mystic Beach, a small beach along the Jun De Fucia Trail system. It was a nice brisk hike, about 45 min out there to our camp site on the beach. When we arrived it was slightly misty and the tide was all the way up.
We started our day at the beach just watching the waves crash against the sea wall and up on the beach in-front of us. The sound of the base from hitting the wall and also the sound of the rocks as they were being pushed up and down along the beach was just amazing and transing. After setting up our tents and going for a walk along the beach line I went for a nap because the water was to high to explore further and it was starting to rain as well.
Later we had some Perigees and Smokys around the fire and fellowship of farts and grunts being just us guys. After dinner we all shared in our antisipations for the Christmas holidays as well as some fears and wonders with eachother. After everyone shared we would pray for one another and lift our worries to God.
After everyone was done eating and getting edgy from sitting around we decided to go for a gander around the beach at night. The fog had really socked in so you couldn't see very much around you but sand and the person next to you. It was like being under water seeing just a vast nothingness. It was really cool exploring the beach inch by inch. We explored the caves and some of the guys decide to enjoy the waterfall that was coming out onto the beach. Good times that none of us will ever forget.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Church Ministry Week

Hey all

It has been yet another good week of classes. I have to say this one class has been one of my favorite classes so far. The class was taught by Jen Lee, one of our interns, dad. You could totally tell that in his teaching he really had a passion for what he did. Then because of that passion the course was really good too. This course was a lot of foundational practice for me. A lot of what we learned in class was good and reinforcing for me. We went over our spiritual gifts and the practices of the Church. We talked about Denominations, and vantage points of different churches and the translation of scriptures. We also talked a lot on the controversy amongst the church. It was really good taking this course because even though David Lee had his viewpoints in the Church and stuff, he never forced his view on anyone. He went about teaching the course with humility and understanding. He more asked us about what we thought and then helped us enforce what we thought or corrected us if our pattern of thought was skewed. For me personally this week was a big enforcing week for my views. I have already in my walk thought through my viewpoint and come to a good spot in my personal perception of things, and this course either enforced them better or forced me to better look into them.
The biggest thing I noticed is that no matter what your views are on things, such as Baptism, or Woman's roles in the church or, how you do Communion... it really is the fact that we all call Christ our Lord and want anything we do to honor him. Us as Christians need to get over the little things and realize we are all on the same team working for the same cause. The Cause for Christ!!

God Bless
Aaron

Christmas is Coming!!

Hey All

So Christmas is coming soon!!! Us here at Kaleo have been up to lots of fun with the Ladysmith Light up and Skating. On Thursday evening the whole group pretty much went out to the streets of Ladysmith to watch the town turn on all of their Christmas lights and the big intro the the Christmas season Parade and Fireworks. We got their a little later than anticipated andman was the traffic crazy! We ended up going a round about way and found ourselves a nice parking spot up on the hill fairly close to the celebrations. The crouds were massive when we got to the main street where the parade and all the events where happening. Me being small couldn't see too well over the croud, but managed to find a planter box and stood on it to look over everyone. The parade was ok but the fun was in all of us yelling and cheering on the people in the parade. All of us took loads of pictures as well. After the parade ened we all moved on down the road to the traffic circle and watched the big tree light up and the firewords display they had. It was small but really cool how they can bring a whole community together for something like this. While we watched the fireworks and whatnot, me and Ryan decided it would be fun to just randomly run like maniacs through the gaps in the crowd. Oh man that was a lot of fun.
After the festivals were over I found some good friends and ended up hanging out with them and going for coffee and snacks till late that night. I was a great night of just catching up with people and joking around. The night was a blast ending at about 1 am for me.

The next day I organized a get together for us to go skating. So Josh, Kristi, Alivia, Malayne, Jesse and Me went to the Fuller Lake areana in Chemanus. It was soo good to get back on the ice again. Me being a skater from the age of 5 - 16 and then making a career of teaching since then till now have a love for the ice. It had been a way too long 6 months since I had been on the ice and was so good to get my feet back into those boots. I felt right at home on the ice serface. I love the Christmas season, It brings so much Joy to me!

God Bless
Aaron

Hey

Last night, Sunday night was my Ministry night again. We did the bridge a little differently in where it was a Hymn focused Bridge with just the piano and the voices. With that I lead the talk by sharing my Testimony with everyone. I told them all the major ups and downs in my life that you can basically fit into a hour/half service. It was really good because I expressed how important it was for people to share their stories with others. Most Christian kids who have grown up in a Christian family their whole lives don't feel that their lives are anything important or relevant to anyone. So they don't share it, but in reality they may be going through something or have gone through something that someone else can totally relate to.
After the bridge was over I had quite a few people ask me about my story more and just thanked me for sharing. It spoke so much into peoples lives just there at the small turn out we have.

After the Bridge Kristy and I went off to the Skate Park to do our ministry there. Devon, Kristy's brother came along with us and hung out. Again we didn't have a huge turn out but a family and a little boy were there that Kristy and Devon actually knew. So we just hung out and chatted with them. Afterwords we played around doing some Foot-Boarding. Basically it is skateboarding without the skateboard :P Then out of nowhere this kid Named Rob came into the park and started showing us up with all kinds of tricks on his BMX. I took some pictures of him and then he bailed pretty bad, so we ended up just sitting and chatting with him for a good half hour to hour. It was really nice to just get to know one of the kids in the community there.

As well as all of that we came across some guys in a gas station. He asked us for 20 bucks to give him enough to get into town and to his hotel that he was staying at. Through all of his begging and pleading and rambling at us, I could feel this gut feeling that we should help him and his companions. So we talked about it and decided well its only money and 20 bucks at that, so we filled up his tank with some gas. He is supposed to get in contact with us and repay us tenfold for our help, so I am expecting a phone call either today or in the next little while. We will see what comes of this, but it sure is interesting. Just another eventful Sunday night with me yet again this week :)

God Bless
Aaron

24/7 Week of Prayer

Hey

Its been a good week this last week of November. During this week we were all to pick a time of the 24 hour day to pray for an hour. My hour was in the beginning of the day from 10-11am. I chose this time to force myself to wake up in the mornings rather than wasting my days away by sleeping late.
This whole week has been a blessing to me in starting my days off with prayer and time with God. It has helped me focus my thoughts on him and just to give my problems to him in the start of my day. That way the rest of my days have really been a focus on him and his will for my day. I have felt so, filled and like my week was just worth while.
Also one big note in this week of prayer is I am a thinking and a very deep thinker. So being able to think through my thoughts with a focus on God and presenting them to him has kept my thoughts on track. It has kept me on track in everything and not allowing myself to be selfish in my thoughts. I have been able to really focus on Gods will and not mine.
Now after this week has finished, I am going to figure out some sort of routine to continue this in my daily life. It is going to be hard here at Kaleo just because of the fact that we are constantly changing in schedule, but that just means I will have to crack down on myself and just wake up a little earlier than I want to, as well go to sleep at a decent hour too :P

God Bless
Aaron Denning

Mondy Chapel Sesh.

Hey

Well last night we had a really cool chapel session. This week for all of you that don't already know is our week of prayer. We are all praying at least one hour of the day each day this week. Back to the chapel though. We hiked up to the top of Maple Mountain for the start of it. I invited a friend to come along and I introduced her to some of the group along the way. While going up it was neat to look back on the lines of lamps that people had on their heads. It was really cool like tongues of fire walking along the path ready to pray out to God.
When we got to the top we made a camp fire and surrounded it. We separated for a little bit to just focus on prayers. Then we sang some hymns in praise and then partook in communion all together lead by Eric and Kyle. After that we took advantage of the fire and roasted some marshmallows and cuddled by its warmth and chit chatted amongst each other.
I don't know what it is exactly about nature and even a simple camp fire that just blows me away by Gods wonder. That night will be stuck in my memory forever.

God Bless
Aaron

Skate Park Ministries

Hey All

I have a new and exciting thing to share with all of you. On a side note from Kaleo a friend of mine and I have decided to take on the Skate Park in Duncan. We started this thing that we have affectionately named Skate Park Ministries. Through this we just hope to spend our Sunday Evenings after the Bridge to go out to the local skate park and hang out with the kids out there. Typically these kids would be the ones everyone rejects and considers rebels to society and no good. We want to show these kids that there are people who actually care about them and want to put time into them and building relationships with them. Through hanging out with them we can show them Gods love through our actions and just be the good careing friends and mentors that they may not have ever had. To be someone older that they can look up to and learn from and someone to just listen to them.
This idea came up over a cup of while just sitting in the skate park talking and catching up with one another. I presented the idea and She had been thinking of something very similar and BAM! Now were doing it. Last night was our first try at this ministry. We didn't have a lot of kids around due to the fact that the fog had rolled in and made everything damp, not the best night for skating. So we spent the night talk and walking around the area. We came across many people throught our evening and were able to branch and talk to others than just the skaters. Even though it wasn't a hugely successful night, the few people we talked to we were able to just show care and love the way God would. It may not seem very big now but through showing Gods love we are building opportunities for great things and great opportunities. I am stoked for next Sunday night!
Keep us in prayer lots though. Because this is not a cooshy golf club or anything like that. These kids are rejected because of the lifestyle they are living and it is very dangerous in its own way. So to be engulfed in prayers while we are out would be much appriciated. On that note, we will use our heads not to put ourselves at risk either. But prayer is never a bad idea :)

God Bless
Aaron

Sr High Retreat

Hey All

Well it has been a long weekend. It started out with me lacking sleep and already not being in the best health with a bad cold too. But that didn't stop the weekend from going on. I was a cabin leader for 5 guys this weekend in the Skyridge Lodge. It was a good weekend full of activities and a good speaker. The one thing though is the weekend was just soo cram packed with stuff there was no time to really just sit and get to know the guys I had in my cabin group. Even when the activities were going on the kids wouldn't play much just because all they wanted was to chill and hang out.
My group of guys were a group of two friends and three friends, and all local to the island. I actually knew a few most of them through associations with other people. That actually helped a lot with getting to know these guys a bit better.
Over the period of the weekend I realized these guys mostly wanted to just hang out and do their own thing rather than have a cabin leader follow them around, so I let them free. Let them know what was expected and whatnot and most of the time I just hung around and met up with them for events.
Over the period of the week I did definately notice a change in my guys though. Most of them came into this weekend with a somewhat hard heart toward Christianity through previous experiences. But in just being there for them and not pushing things on them, I could see the walls they had were slowly showing holes. Actually after the retreat was over, one of my guys came out the the youth worship night that I help lead at Cobble Hill. It was really encouraging to see him there and get to talk to him more on a one on one basis. I really hope he comes some more.

Over all the weekend was quite good, if you can get over a theft incident where a bunch of stuff got stolen and the lack of sleep. But really when you think of it the weekend was pretty good. God was working in these kids this weekend and I pray and hope it was the start to something big for these guys.

God Bless
Aaron

Carmana Hike

Hey All

Its the beginning of the reading break and it has been awesome so far! This Monday and Tuesday Jer, Tom, Kurt, Chels, Rach, Abby and I went on a hike to the Carmana Valley. If you don't know where that is, it is a valley on the other side of the West Side of the Island out past Lake Cowichan. We made it a 2 day trip out and back the next day. It was a 4 hour drive out to the West Coast of the island and 3 hours of it was offroading too!! They let me drive there and back. I would have to say driving offroad is one of the funnest things you can do! Mind you it is pretty tiring driving for 3 hours on a dirt road.
Anyways we drover through sun, fog and rain, but when we got to the valley it was just cloudy. The first day was a very nice hike amongst the massive old growth forests. Some of these trees you could probably fit 10-20 people around them. About 4-5 hour in we found a spot that looked nice and set up camp. It took us a while to get our tarps and hammics up but eventually managed. We turned in early that evening cause it was too dark to do anything else and also it started to rain.
That night it rained and rained and rained. Jer and I slept very well in our hammics but as for Tom and Kurt, not such a great night. Not very long into the night Jer and Kurts hammic string broke so they had to restring it. Not too bad just a minor hickup. After that though we had all fallen asleep and the string holding Tom and Kurt up broke and they were both on the ground. That also was holding part of the tarps up and sent a pile of water down on both of them. The rest of the night they both spent on the ground huddled up and wet.
The rest of us woke up later that morning and started to pack up because it was still raining. By the time we finished packing we were already soaking wet, luckily I had my rain gear with me. Later on it didnt matter though because we soon figured out that it had rained at least 6 inches that night if not more. The path we had originally taken to get to our spot had turned into a river about ancle hight and the rivers that we had easily passed over before were at least twice in size. We started off trying to make our way around without getting wet until Tom took a swim in a marsh by accident and almost lost his gear. Jer and I ended up making it about half way without getting wet but eventually found it worthless to try. The water was at least waist high on me most of the time. I was beyond caring at this point cause we were soo wet already.
Even though the rain could have made things very horrible we all kept our spirits and had a great time. I really enjoyed myself, mind you I wouldn't want to do it again :P

Aaron

Busy Weekend

Hey All

So this past week has all been a blur of stuff happening. I have been working on my assignments as well as just having a good time hanging out with the K group here. The real action though happened over this weekend.
Friday night about 150 Jr High campers came out for the Jr High retreat. I had the privilege of being one of the All Stars for this weekend. An All Star is basically a games leader and coordinator. So I got to run some of the activities that the kids were run through over this weekend, some of them including, a order game where all the kids had to get in alphabetical order or age or birth date and so on in a certain amount of time. Also I helped run a game called Fire and Water where the two teams had a fire and water balloons and had to take out the other teams fire. I was the prior who got to light the fire.
That was just a taste of some of our weekend. It was very tiring and overwhelming and now I am actually out the door to do my servos at our Church tonight. Were adding a little twist to it this week and making it a little more low key camp fire style (without the fire :P)

God Bless
Aaron

Homeless In Vic

Hey all

Todays trip we went to Victoria to spend our time with the homeless. The drive down was fun and quite eventful with lots of noise and screaming K students in the seats behind me. I started out our trip confident and sure of myself and all fired up for this street ministry. But as we got closer to Vic I could tell I was in for more than I expected. When we parked we had a good chat as a group about staying together and what to watch out for and the do's and don'ts of the street. By this time I was kinda unsure if I wanted to do this or not. But being the guy in my group I was volunteered to wear the pants and direct us to where we were going.
We wandered for a bit and really didn't come across many homeless people at all. It was almost like trying to find a needle in a hay stack of people scattered on the streets. Then eventually an hour in we saw a guy sitting alone with his head in his hands and just kinda waiting on something, so we took the enichiative to go over and chat. He was kind of warry of us and told us right away that he really wasn't someone we wanted to talk to, but instead of walking away we just sat with him and mades small talk. Took the time to just chat, laugh and goof off. It was actually quite a lot of fun sitting there in a parking lot with this guy. A little bit into our conversation a friend of his came by. We started to talk to him, and man did he have a stories to tell. He told us about all these famous guys he played with. He also told us he had been playing guitar and other numerous instoments for years since he was 3 years old. Then he went and explained about how he had gone through so many guitars due to wearing them our and having them stolen and so on. The thing that blew me away was the fact that he didn't want anything but to play. He could have cared less about a home or money or anything, just wanted to play.

Other than those two guys we didnt get much of a chance to talk to more homeless. We walked around one of the shelters and just watched as the people interacted with one another and ate from the soup kitchen. It is really sad to see how most of them have ruined their lives. It reminds me of some of the kids I knew from highschool, and makes me wonder where they are.. if maybe they are out there like most of these people.

I would like to go back some time and spend another day with them.

Aaron

Horn Lake Caves

Hey all

So today we went Caving!!! It was soo much fun! The K group split up into two teams; one team went to Vic to go and spend the day with the homeless and the other group (my group) went up to the Horn Lake Caves to do a little crawling in the mud. The drive out was fun and I got shotty and control of the music!
When we did get there we all piled out and ate our lunch and played on the suspension bridge across the river. It is soo much fun getting everyone to jump up and down making it spring and then have one person run through it without falling. It is soo hard cause when you step you never know at what hight the bridge will be so in mid step you might fall a foot or maybe not even have to step down! Jen took a faily hard bail right at the end before we headed for the caves.
It was a little walk up the hill to the cave and in we went. Jen was the leader of our group but I eventually took the head and explored well infront of my group. Tom and I took a higher rout above the main cavern. This one was kinda sketchy but so much more fun cause you could peer down at the others while sneeking around narrow passages. Eventually we made it all the way into the back of the cave and found the source of the underground waterfall in this particular one. It was fairly small and there were no deep puddles at all, just a little muddy and wet. What can you expect, its a cave. Then we regrouped and explored all the small passages that we had missed on the way in. There were soo many good little spots to just hang out in.
When we got back to the end of the cave we noticed that we had little friends in these caves with us. Ya there were hundreds appon hundreds of daddy long legs that were crawling around the roofs of the cave. Ya most of the people were freaking out once they found out about the bugs who inhabbited the cave, mind ya they are only daddy long legs, like they cant hurt you or anything. they just look freaky is all.
So we finally got out of the cave. A group of us before the rest. So we decided to hide and feak them out as they came out. I hid under the stairs up to the cave so I could grab onto peoples legs as they walked down. I got Ryan and Deb pretty good. But then we all took off to the van cause we were getting cold and bored of waiting.
To end off our adventure we all went to the Nanaimo Aquatic center, my former place of employment and chilled out in the hot tub. It was really fun in the pool actually, because where ever we went in the facility we did as a group and made it into a big game. It made just chilling in a pool that much better.

Hope you enjoyed the read. There will be another tomorrow :)

God Bless
Aaron

The End Of Hermeneutics

Hey all

We have come to the end of Hermie class! It has been a long haul and very dry in learning but now that it is over I am glad I took it. Even though this course may have been as dry as it was I learned what I really think I needed to learn. Instead of being taught something through someone else's teaching and extensive experience I learned how to literally dig into the scriptures on my own and find out what it really means. This course has given us the tools to read the scripture on our own and anelize what it is supposed to mean, what it is asking and then to see what it must mean for us personally now.
But now I am glad, because it has been a looooonnnngggg and sleepless week, with lots of homework and group projects. I really have to say group projects are so hard to do, just because you are relying on a group of other people and not just yourself. Especially when others get distracted or could care less or even just don't do any of the work. Personalities run high and people really rub against one another. Sometimes I have to realize I am a overacheiver and I can't really expect that from everyone else. It would be nice though.

Now that it is over and done I am going to take a nap.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Class

Hey all

Today we are in the middle day of our Hermeneutics class. It is a tough go for a guy like me who finds it hard listening to a teacher sit and lecture all day long. Even though a course can be very interesting and something I want to learn, the lecture phase can do its number on me. Me especially being a visual and physically interactive kind of person. I just don't learn as good when sitting still listening. I get distracted, get bored, constantly change my positioning and fiddle or play with things.
So this course is a hard course for me compared to say Spiritual Formation course where we were very interactive and longed for the next day of classes. That class I felt involved and that I was challenged in what I was learning. As well in Camp Ministry class, even for being some fairly dry subject material and lots of review for me, being a former councilor. We were always constantly actively working together as groups and doing fun teaching games. To get us actively involved and help ground what was being taught. But now Hermeneutics is strictly lecture, just like I remember from Malaspina. Reminds me a lot of my Anatomy class; Sit and digest and poop out. I was really hoping In teaching us we would take the time to dig deep into a section of the Bible and in that learn how to go about that with the rest of the bible...
Well Luckily in Kaleo we are only in a Modular system, because I don't think I would be able to do 3 months of this. Or maybe if it was only a hour or two a week I could do it in 3 months.

Well Today I look forward to our BS (bible study) group. Tonight it is Jer's turn to lead the study. I am interested in what he is going to teach on and how he is going to do it this week. As well I do look forward to the drive out and back. A good time to just chill, the two of us roomies. I also look forward to meeting Matt, a friend of Natasha's from the Next Wave boat, and just give him a little bit of advise on bible college and as well some information on Kaleo.

God Bless
Aaron

Another week has come and gone

Hey All

It has been another week of studying and catching up on our pre-course assignments and finishing off some of our essays and projects that where do this weekend. I am fairly ahead of myself on my work so I have been spending my time working on assignments that are due later on in the semester, because I now very well this month is going to be a big month for me.
We started our week off with some work on the SALTS ships. We helped winterize the ships by taking down sails and booms, sanding and hauling. It was a lot of fun and it was good to see the crew again from when we did go on our little sailing expedition.
This weekend though was a fast pace and very intense time with the Jr's retreat here. I was staffing the weekend as one of Stevie G.s All Stars. That has to be one of the best jobs we got here at Qwanoes. I got to help organize the group games and lead them. Also in doing that I got to be right in the center of the games as well. There was one relay game where the kids had to run around this garbage can that I was sitting on. Well the game turned soon from them running around the garbage can to "who can maul Aaron the best". I suffered many body checks form kids on all angles as well as being clinged onto and draged around back to team lines. Ya it was painful but the most fun I have ever had in a Wide game like that ever.
I also did some belaying with my Ausy buddy Phillis on the weekend too. It was so much fun even when we didnt have kids around, we amused ourselves with random Portuges and playing football on his cell phone. Over all this weekend was a blast and I am looking forward to my next two that I am serving at.

Talking about serving, my group at Cobble Hill has been very active in this thing we call the Bridge. I am not sure if I have mentioned it yet just because I really dont read my own blog :P. Anyways we go to the Church on the Sundays and then usually go out with someone from the congergation for lunch to get to know the people of the church a little better than just a Sunday service. This weekend we went out with a couple who had their son go through Kaleo before. We went to this cute little dinner where they sold this monster burger. Tom took up the challenge and actually ate the whole thing. Oh man was it big, and oh man did he have gas afterwards :P actually it wasn't the bad. But yes then we went back to the church in the evening to run the Youth worship night that is our big involment at the church. It went very well and has been going on for the past few weeks now. We run it every weekend on Sunday at 7, hint hint nudge nudge, we would love to see people come out :)
But yes it is a great community that we are involved in with Cobble Hill and I look forward to the next months of being involved with them. I have really grown a love for this church and its people.

God Bless
Aaron

Hey All

In this past week there has been a fair amount of stuff happening. Jogging my memory... well in the whole activity aspect of things life has been slow but even being at camp and not running from trip to trip or being in class at the moment, we are still able to keep ourselves busy. I personally have had time to get lots of school work done as well as work on other personal things in my life. It has a been a busy week mentally I would say; sometimes that is more tiring than being on the go with out trips.
I have to just finish off some formatting for some reports and essays I have written for my classes and proof read them as well. Even though I have so much work done already and compared to the others I am way ahead yet at the same time I am stressed with all the work... I don't know why, like maybe just the fact that I haven't handed it all in or just the fact that there is always more or ya I don't know... Life right now is stressful. If you guys could pray for me right now in that area, cause I am stressed out about everything, work, relationships, expectations of me, and even time to enjoy myself like I am finding it hard to balance time.

Hmm I really don't have anything else to say besides that... Pray for my state of mind, for my attitude going into things, for my selfishness to leave me, for me to just give up my own desires sometimes, because I sometimes hurt myself more thatn others actually hurt me. Pray that I dont self destruct.

Aaron Denninger

Hey All, again so soon

Just wanted to update you all on my past weekend. It was thanks giving as many of you know or at least should know... well I spent my thanks giving with my family. It was really nice to see everyone at home together again, except Alex the youngest happened to have to work so that kinda sucked but at least I got to see my older brother and his wife. Havn't seen a whole lot of him since he got married. Is to be expected I guess though. Anyways it was really nice to see the fam again and just have a good sit down meal and chat with everyone. The dinner was great except for the stuffing... my mom makes the best stuffing in the world and has made it every year. But this year she decided to make it a little different and ruined it. Grr, normally we would be fighting over it all but this year we had leftover stuffing.. not a good sign. Back to the same good stuff mom, please.
It was a good weekend to just relax and get away from the business of Kaleo, yet on the other hand it was kind of boring because well as anyone who knows me I love to be busy with things to do and going out and about, so I did long to get back at Kaleo. We watched the hockey game and yet again Canucks triumphed over the Flames... and that was the highlight of the weekend. I also spent the rest of my time getting well ahead on my school work too.

To my church family, thank you so much this Sunday. It was very nice to talk with all of you whom I talked to. I couldn't beleive how many people were talking to me and ya... I felt very loved and important to you guys. Thank you for that.
If you want anything spacific to pray for me it would be the funds to go on our missions trip and also for us to come to the conclusion as to where we are going. Also for my emotions as well I am still going through a hard time emotionally.

Aaron Denninger

Hey All

Surfing has been the theme of our past week! As I said ya we went surfing this past week in the deserted West Coast of the Island in the Pacific Rim National Park... other wards known as Tofino, by most people. Most of our crew had never been surfing ever in their lives, so this was a very cool and new experience for most of them. Also thus making me their resident expert... ya right!
So we started the trek up the island early on Tuesday morning. As we drove up the island we stopped by the much loved little country market called Coombs. Most everyone loved it, but then were very disappointed that we had missed the goats on the roof by ONE DAY! Oh man it would have been great for the guys to actually see those goats in action... eating grass... and pooping on people, te he.
It was a long 3.5 hours of driving from Crofton here but we managed to end up making it. We pulled into our camp ground at "Bella" located on Mackenzie beach. Everyone split up into sleeping groups and set up our tents. After setting the tents up we went down onto the beach front and played some soccer, went skim boarding and Phil and I took photos of everyone. As well we had some amazing 25 foot swells out on the ocean. Now that was a awesome site to see.
Later that evening we had tacos for dinner. Josh had picked up some hot sauce from Coombs thinking it would tast good and be fun to put into some food. When him and some of the other guys decided to have it and were complaining of how hot it was and how much it hurt their mouths, I figured they were being wimps. I decided to make my taco with some of the hot sauce and eat it too to show that I could handle this stuff. Well it so happened to be very hot! I spent the next 3 hours of the night very much in pain. First it started as a burning in my mouth and then totally enveloped my face. Then it moved down into my throat making it hard to breath and finally settled as a bad stomach ake in my tummy. That is something I will never do again.
The next day we woke up and took on the surf! It was soo much fun! The waves were about 5 feet tall that day, so pretty good waves for all the beginners but Bruno and I were having difficulties just because we both needed something a little more intence to surf on. I ended up exchanging my 6 foot board for a longer 7.6 foot board so that I could coast on the small waves. Overall though it was soo much fun just crusing along the waves with all the guys and seeing the smiles that lit up their faces as they played in the water.
The last day I went beach combing with a few of the guys along Chestermans beach, taking more photos and checking out the critters that inhabbited the beaches. It was a good relaxing day to just relax in the beauty of this place God has created.

This weekend, is going to be Thanksgiving! I am leaving Camp today to go home and spend with my family. It should be a good weekend with the whole family back together again. I have really missed seeing everyone all at home together and to have this will be a good thing to have again.
Other than that, there hasn't been too much else in my week. I look forward to this weekend and you guys will probably hear a little bit about it when I get back.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

Perseverance Through Trials

Ok... so lets see what my week has looked like

Where do I start! Well lets start with Marv's class. As I have already posted a few things that stuck out to me during his class, that only gives you a glimpse of what we learned. Oh man! Marv showed us soo much good stuff and really encouraged and challenged us in our Christian walks. Whether we thought we were on track or not, there was so much to learn and aspire to work towards.
On of the topics that I distinctly remember was Prayer, Meditation and Solitude. These are all things that I have struggled with in my life. I am and have been the type of guy who has the need to be around people all the time and to keep myself constantly busy and on the go. This is not always a bad thing, but when it comes to spending time with God, he tends to get the shaft. I was able in this course to really focus on how to talk with God and to meditate on his word in that. I have also gained a appreciation for solitude and just time alone with God and me. The cool thing is you can talk to people all you want and work on your own strength to try and get through trial but the going is hard if not impossible. If I could have planned when to have this course I wouldn't have change the date for any other. I had been going through some real tough times this past week with some personal and friend issues. With Marv's guidance I was able to really understand the significance of talking with my Father and listening to what he has to say to me through his word. I am still not through these trials in my life 100% yet but God is soo faithful and I can see that the hardest part has passed and God has got me in his arms of Love. If I relied on my own strength I would be in utter depression and say and do things I would have regretted, but with Gods strength I can go through the hard times with a positive attitude. It has saved me from putting my foot in my mouth many times. God has helped me think through a lot that has been on my mind this week.

As well this weekend I have been crazy busy! I went with my buddy Josh to the Qwanoes Road Tour. The Road Tour is where the staff here at Q go out to the communities and put on a get together night full of games and music and speech. It is a way of introducing those kids who came to camp the past summer with the local youth pastors, and to get them involved with a church. Taking the next step in our ministry here at camp. Then Josh and I came home (Qwanoes) and I had to drop my bags and take off again for youth group. We had a youth sleep over event at the church. It was a lot of fun running around and goofing off with the kids, even though I got no sleep at all that night. The next day we all had to keep our heads up and not fall asleep in church, but Lech is good at keeping you focused on the Sermon. Then Sunday evening we hosted the first Bridge of the season! If you can make it at all it is at 7 pm. It went very well for a first one, a small croud but over all went very well. Now we are taking a break to see family on Thanks Giving and then back into it again the next week.
Thank you all for the many prayers that have been lifted up for me. They have really helped me immensely this past week and it is so encouraging that there are people that care about me. I love you all and God Bless

Aaron Denninger

Have We Excused Our Sins?

When minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new sessions of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

THE PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good,," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We confess:

We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism.
We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.
We have endorsed perversion and called it alternative lifestyle.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of your will. I ask it in the Name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on "The Rest of the Story" on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called one nation under God.

Meditatoin on God, what is it???

To Meditate

med·i·tate /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪt/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[med-i-teyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation verb, -tat·ed, -tat·ing. –verb (used without object)

1.	to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect.

2.	to engage in transcendental meditation, devout religious contemplation, or quiescent spiritual introspection.

–verb (used with object)

3.	to consider as something to be done or effected; intend; purpose: to meditate revenge.

Before today in class I really didn't know what it was to meditate in a biblical way. I had always wondered why I never was successful at meditating, and in this I mean I could never before and even now sit still and clear my mind. I thought I had to clear my mind of everything and sit for a period of time, however much it would take God to speak to me. Well I would get very frustrated thinking I was something insignificant and that I was lacking something, because I really couldn't manage to do this. I always had something on my mind to think about.

Today in class though Marv gave us some verses and some insight into what the word "Meditation" actually meant. He explained to us through the bible, especially in the Psalms that meditation isn't the new age emptying your mind and letting whatever wants to come in come in kind of thing. That honestly is a scary thing because that opens up the doors ya to God but then it also opens up the doors to the Devil and his trickery too.

Psalm 1:1-3 states

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does no wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

In this God is asking me not to empty my mind but to actually fill it; to fill it with thoughts of him. He asks me to dwell on his law for me and to think about the things he wants for me in my life and the things he has already given me in my life. This brought a utter relief and excitement to me. I love to think and ponder on the word of God! I have been meditating all this time when I didn't know it! And I love it! I love getting into deep thought about God and conversation with him and then also discussing him with others!
My inadequacy is no more :)

The Adventures from Boat to Book

Hey all

It has been another week full of adventure, discovery, understanding and hardship. As most of you probably know but I will tell you anyways, we spent our week on the SALTS ship the Pacific Grace. Life on the tall ships had many its ups and downs. Being placed in very small quarters with many people and not having any personal space made relationships tighter but then showed the good and the ugly of people. I didn't like the close quarters but made it though without having any issues with anyone, everyone was quite respectful of everyone else s personal stuff.
So lets describe the living conditions a little better for you all so you can see how I lived and what you personally think of the style of life too. We spent a week on a tall ship that was 115 feel long. I shared this boat with over 30 people, including all of us Kaleo students, our leaders and the crew that captained us on the vessel. Most of the days were cold and rainy so that also made things cramped with people all desiring being inside the vessel which has less room than the top. So to get any time for yourself it is very hard, but on the other hand it is good because you are forced to get to know the people you are with. The one thing that made it hard to live on the boat was the fact that all of us had limited clothes and none of us were able to have showers the whole duration of the trip. So things got very stinking and uncomfortable. I found out though that I can manage to get by a week without a shower quite well as long as I am able to washy my face whenever I start to feel greasy. Not having a shower every day isn't the end of the world... but it definitely is nice to have them.
At the beginning of our SALTS trip I didn't think I would like it too much being confined to a small ship for a period of time but now after being on the ship I have really grown to love the way it sways and the life onboard. It if full of excitement and learning. I can see Gods beauty in the people on this ship and then also his beauty in creation on the sea and places we visited. It would be a great way to travel the world and to serve God at the same time.

This week has been full of adventure and learning through the SALTS trip but also through my book reading. Kaleo as we all know is not just trips but lots of book reading and school work. Two things I am not the most keen on but know are a responsibility I have to do while I am here. But the readings have been very good and beneficial. I have finished our book for the first course, "The Life You Always Wanted". It has been a great reminder. A lot of this book has very relevant things to say for our Christian lives and walk. It brings the bible more on a down to earth level to make it easier to know what God wants from us in our lives. Most of this book I have known growing up my life, thanks to the teachings of my parents and those who have been leaders in my life. It has been a real great reminder though. It is good to be told something continuous times so that it really sinks in, and also to refresh thing in my mind. It is like practicing for life-guarding. I may have the certification as a lifeguard but without continuous practice and preparation I will get lazy and forget. This book has helped keep my mind and heart sharp for what God has intended for me.
Now I am reading a book called the "Three Kings" a story of the life of David brought out in a more detailed way as well as brings a totally different perspective on the life of David and what we can get out of this story. After I am done reading this book and thinking on it I will tell you a little more about it. It is very thought provoking and good though, one I recommend.

In all of this learning I have faced some hardships that some of you may already know about and some may not. I will not go explaining what this but just being here at Kaleo God has provided me with a good group of people to be surrounded by and to lift me up in a time of doubt about myself and hurt. God is the healer and will take care of me. If you guys could just keep me in your prayers extra this next month, that I keep my focus on my experience here and God rather than my sometime very interruptive and selfish emotions. Pray for my ability to be a friend even when it is hard.
Thank you all for your concerns and aid in everything. I wouldn't be able to do what I am doing without the help of others.

God Bless
Aaron Denninger

First Week In

Hey All

So we have been at our new home of Qwanoes for a total of 1 week so far!! It has been a memorable and incredibly intimate time for all of us students and leaders so far; through "Get To Know You" games, reading groups, discussion times, prayer nights, and of course the intense hike we just got back from!
Yes we just got back from the peek of Mt. Albert Edward, one of the biggest summits here on Vancouver Island. We were split up into 5 groups of about 6-7 each and began our trek up the "hill" on Monday and it took us three days. My group hiked into Kwi Lake and camped for the night there, about 8 km from the base camp at Circlet Lake where some of our other groups where at. The first day in was sunny and fairly easy but long. The next day we left our gear and took our day packs to the base camp, met up with the other groups to start the climb. 4-5ish hours later we made it to the peek, for many it had been there first time ever to climb a mountain of that size or even one at all. Then we started the long and painful trek back down the mountain. I said painful because my knee started to hurt almost unbearably from a former sports injury where I have little cartelage, leaving the bones to rub constantly. But I made it alive! And we are here now today very tired and ready to just sit and do nothing... hence writing my blog now :P
That has been our latest adventure but there is more to come and there has been other things that came before that this past week. We have had lots of introductions to camp and college. The group of guys that I am here with at Kaleo are a great bunch of all kinds of abilities and personalities. Overall the group has meshed well through open discussion times down in the lounge, prayer times down at the dock in the evenings as well as many pick up sports, and just time to hang out and talk one on one. I am loving this place and the people so much already!
All of us have been sent out to our churches that we will be involved with for the whole year. Tom, Jeremiah, Kristy, Jesse and I are at Cobble Hill Church for our time here. It is a small church of 100 at most out in the town of Cobble Hill, pastored by Lech. He will be one of our professores this year for our Theology class. Speeking of Church, my group has a meeting with the Lech and Kurt tomorrow, for the bridge. That is the young peoples worship night that us as the Kaleo will be helping lead on Sunday evenings.
Well that pritty much wraps up my summery of this week; here are a few photos of our trip to give you a idea of the beautiful creation God has placed us in.