I'm back! I know it's been a little longer since my last update, but there's been a ton going on and really no time to sit down and do a quality post for you all.
Let's start with the S.A.L.T.S trip. It was amazing, fantastic, incredible, sensational, stupendous, unbelievable (I think I covered just about all of it). It was such an awesome experience that I want to do it again, and this is a mutual feeling that is shared with the rest of the group. Once we settled in, we were split up into different watches (designated groups). We were assigned to different times when we were in charge of the boat (stern, bow watch, radio watch, steering, or standby) with our watch leader. This also meant that we would be on anchor watch for 1 hour during the night time (It would be with just two people each hour). We ate breakfast, cleaned the deck in the morning, and did cleanup of the dining area together in our watches. The girls and boys were split up in to two sleeping quarters: The girls were in the hole (which doubles as the kitchen and dinning room), and guys were in the fo'c'sle. There was a lack of privacy everywhere, but we managed to work around it and actually use it to our advantage as some really awesome bonding time. There was a lot of singing and a lot of learning. We had the opportunity to raise and lower the sails on many occasions and actually sail, and were able to go out on the dories (the little boats) once. We did have lessons in which we learned different aspects of the boat, from terminology, wind directions and driving patterns - which was also really interesting. We had night games, which were quite an adventure in themselves (I ended up with quite a few bruises - curtesy of the various objects aboard the ship). We also docked one night and got to play a large night game which provided us the chance to stretch our legs and our stealth techniques, it was staff and leaders against the students, and I'm almost positive we won, but the leaders say otherwise!
The food...oh my goodness was absolutely phenomenal! Everything was made from scratch, it was so good, and Kailey (our cook) had actually done Kaleo before, so it was really cool to hear from her what her experiences were like. Talking about food, we also got to have the chance to stop at an open orchard where we picked apples off of a tree and then brought them back to the boat in order so that we can have some apple pie! After a couple of us had finished peeling and cutting up all the apples that we had, Kailey then baked them in to a beautiful apple pie which we had for mug-up that night (or night time snack) it was spectacular, and apparently one of the guys wanted to propose (We couldn't lose such an amazing gift of cooking!).
In our watches, while we would be having meals together, we would also have devotional times, which was definitely a great way of reminding us of our focus and just being thankful for what we are and being aware of our calling as leaders.
One of the most coolest things was how much the staff of the ship really were a part of the whole trip. I know that really seems trivial, but they were almost always there and were always so willing to answer our questions and make this our trip - they did every devo with us, they would make sure that we were not idle, and provided us with all the "off-boat" excursions. They also did all the night games and actually wanted to get to know us, and talk to us and they even stayed up late at night (even when they had to get up early the next morning) to hear our testimonies that we shared in the last 3 nights (some of the testimonies were really awe-inspiring, and even some were heart-breaking; thanks mom and dad for providing a home where I grew up very healthy and blessed). Their desire to invest in us just made us feel valued, and not just another guest group.
So this sailing trip has so far been the absolute, no doubt about it highlight (probably for this year possibly)...there's so much that I could go in to detail with, but that could take all night! Our group really got to know each other, what each of our stories are and how to work with one another. We had some amazing weather and really powerful one-on-one time with our friend who we were partnered with during our night time shift and got to really be still and just revel in God's creation and in the dark and silence. By the time we had to pack up, we all realized that we could have probably continued the trip another week if not two and still have had fun, but we also understood that we really needed to shower after 5 days of basically living in the same clothes and not having any showers (apparently we looked pretty greasy and smelt really bad) - and that we needed to get back home so that we could start up our next class!!
Camp and Youth Ministry. Our prof, Sid Koop was so cool! He was so easy-going and really rolled with everything, and although this course was very material loaded, it made it easier for us to handle. There was a TON of reading that needed to get done, and we had spent an entire week (which included most of our down-time on the ship) trying to get the reading and the papers for the reading finished. There was definitely quite a lot of stress this week, but I'm glad that I had a chance to experience it, because I know now how to handle the pressure better. Our exam today actually surprised us with how easy it was...because of our amount of curriculum that we had covered these 4 days, we had expected that there was going to be a lot more, but Sid said that he was more concerned about our learning to apply what we've learned, rather than needing to know it just because it's for a test (isn't he just the coolest?!). But it made us remember that what we've learned here is something more than just academics, it's life, and it teaches us how to make disciples of the children that God brings in to our lives to invest in.
This weekend is the women's retreat, and already I've made some friends! I love how we are able to immerse ourselves in to ministry, even though we don't really have to! But since I'm not helping there, I'll be helping our program director, Jay (who did my interview for the school) move with some other students, so it'll be nice to actually get out of my room - where we've spent the last week, holing up so that we can get the work done!
Tonight was also our first night of youth! Finally we get to really begin our church ministry. It's definitely going to be a place where we are going to have to listen to God on this because we have already experienced the different personalities that we're going to have to teach and learn from. We know that there is a reason that God has put them under our care on Friday night, but right now we're unsure. All we know is that God has called us to love them, and love them we shall. So I am just asking for some prayer right now in this area that God will continue to provide for us the means to do His work in these kids lives.
I think that about sums up our past couple of weeks, and I'm pretty sure that there's a lot that I've missed, but I know that this is probably a good amount that I've covered.
A couple more prayer requests: Nancy (one of my roommates) is not feeling well and we're kind of thinking that it might be some sort of food poisoning, so please pray for healing! Also, please pray for protection, one of the girls that I've been talking to have really been feeling attacked spiritually and are just mentally and emotionally tired. I've been praying for her constantly here, and talking with her. We know that God is sovereign in this and that He will use this to His good, but right now she's feeling a little more in the valley. So prayer would be absolutely welcome!
God is so good, I've been really able to see Him in so many things here and I've never felt so at peace. I know that I too may be attacked spiritually, and I know that those are going to be trying days, but right now I'm not taking this for granted, this is amazing peace that I'm feeling. So may the peace that I have right now be passed on to you, so that you can also experience it throughout your week. That is my prayer for you.
If you want to see some of the pictures from the sailing trip: Keeping it P.G.
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