Missions Mania and Allegiance

Brief Overview

Wow, the past couple weeks have really flown by. On February 11, 2021 us Kaléos (as the staff like to call us) left for Street Ministry and the beginning of our Missions Trip. Several themes and lessons were impressed on me over the course of the next two weeks, but the importance of prayer and intimacy in surrender to Christ were the most important. (Sorry I didn't use the brownie point word "allegiance," but surrender fit the sentence better ;)) Whether it was Francisco in Nanaimo, Jeremy in Victoria, Students at CQ, the book for class or my own conscience, God thoroughly ensured I got the point.

Allegiance means surrender to God's will in every aspect of your life, and this mission trip allowed practical expressions of my allegiance. Every day there was a call to do something new and challenging. Teaching me to step out of my comfort zone, and allow God to work through me. By giving up a little of my time and being intentional to ask God to use me. Every morning I woke up and prayed that I would both pursue God fully and serve Him wholly. The lifestyle of sacrifice was something that I made a point of embracing everyday throughout the Mission Trip.

A lesson I will take into the rest of my life is the importance of completely surrendering each day to God. Being ready to say, "Here I am, send me."

With that being said, here is a quick overview of the days of the missions trip through the people I interacted with each day.

Day 1 - Daisy

Francisco and his team met us at eagle mountain church where we gathered, were taught, and worshipped in the morning, preparing for evangelism in the afternoon. This day was characterized by walking with Thomas and Blaine and by meeting a young lady named Daisy. It was fairly cold, so I gave her my toque and prayed for her. No-one else that day had as much of an impact on me as Daisy. She was struggling so much, and was looking for hope, and receptive to what I was saying to her. We also met a lady named Rhys, and a guy with a very cute dog.

Day 2 - Dale

I have been struggling through a season of spiritual dryness, and Francisco's firey speeches were a little difficult, both convicting and just hard to hear. I prayed I would be with another student who would let me fade a little into the background that day. So when Nolan, Gabby, Jon and I headed out on Friday Afternoon and I was super grateful. Nolan and I met a man named Dale, who claimed to be a Christian, but had some weird views of spirituality. We talked and prayed, and Nolan gave him a New Testament Bible.

Day 3 - Joah, Oliver and Isabella

We had planned to go back out to Nanaimo for more street ministry that day, but it SNOWED!!! I didn't know it did that on Vancouver Island... So after a little adventure with the summer tires, vans and chains we spent the afternoon preparing for our Valentine's Bash the next day. Joah, Oliver, Isabella and I were sent to town to gather groceries and random supplies.

Day 4 - Amanda Modeste, 

The fourth day of our Missions Trip was Valentine's day. This day had a bit of a fiasco, but due to the amazing skill and organization of Emma, ended in a victory! The plan was to deliver about 40 meals with  to people in our church families who were struggling. The snow threw a wrench in our plans and Emma and her team had to reorganize all the routes and vehicles. At the last house, I got to meet Amanda. She is from our house church, and I have been really excited to meet her but with Covid restrictions haven't had the chance. After delivering the meals we returned for a Love themed church service. 

Day 5 - God, Charlotte,  Nolan and da Fam.

The Rest Day! We called the class together to pray for my roommate Charlotte and her concussion in the morning. She ended up going to the hospital again because she was vomiting and having severe symptoms. That was extremely discouraging for me, who was hearing stories of God radically moving and healing Patrick, Zoe, and people we were meeting. I went down towards the beach with my bible, slipped, lay in the snow and cried. I prayed through Psalm 13, and even though nothing radical happened, I was at peace knowing that I was pursuing God first, and that I could honestly repeat these verses to God, "But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD for he has been good to me" (Psa 13:5-6). I had a great nap, and called my family. I had missed them a lot even though it had been less than a week, so much had happened I felt like it had been ages! I also had a very good conversation with my friend Nolan that evening, where we discussed some of the struggles we've been having in our faith, and what God had been revealing to us. It was cut short because another friend need to chat, but I really appreciated his openness and honesty. We also had a meeting to begin planning our church service

Day 6 - Trail

YFC Victoria at Kerri's house! It was a little awkward going into a person's home having never met them, and trying to clean it out. Trail though, Kerri's boyfriend was super cool. He worked alongside us all day carrying out furniture, showing us jobs we could do and making us feel comfortable by making conversation. We emptied an entire room in the basement full of junk and old furniture, and then I went up to the kitchen and wiped down cabinets and shelves. I was a little apprehensive going into their home, because Kerri has had a past of dark witchcraft, and spiritual oppression. I prayed every moment while I was in that home, but only alone.

Day 7 - Becca and Thomas

The next day in Victoria I was moved to help at another house. This was the home of Becca, Caleb, their grandmother and Vlad. This day was mostly transformative for me. At Becca's house, the Kaleo group came together and prayed every hour for the home and the residents. So my private prayer became something that was lifting up my heart along with others. This was the day David did his devo on James 3:5b-12. It was a super powerful and convicting message, but was soon forgotten. Thomas' best friend and family had been in a car crash and were in ICU. His best friend's grandmother had past away, and Thomas was a little shaken. I sent out messages to the prayer team, fulfilling my obligation to update them at least once each semester ;).

Day 8 - Caleb

While cleaning Becca and Caleb's house that day, I was constantly praying for Thomas and his friends. I went through cycles of praying for his friend's family, him and Nolan (who stayed with him that day), and Charlotte and Emma, who are very close with Thomas, and were both worried about him. I also prayed a lot for Caleb, Becca's 15 year old brother. I was able to talk to him throughout the day and knowing some of his story, my heart broke for him.

Day 9 - Their grandmother and Greg

The first two days I was terrified of their grandmother tbh. She wasn't sure she wanted us invading her home and privacy, but by the time some progress had been made she really softened up! That was an answer to prayer! Since this was the last day in Victoria, I needed a tall man who could help clean the places I couldn't reach. It was a real blessing to have Greg working with me, not only because the man is a legend, but because I genuinely enjoyed having someone to work with. The afternoon of the day before I spent alone in the basement which was a little depressing for me because I love visiting with people.

Day 10 - Joah and Nolan

Rest Day again. We slept in and ate a brunch together. I had a nap and called my parents. I spent the time This day was mostly wrapped up in planning for church the next day. 

Day 11 - Nicole

This day was Bless Duncan where we were split into groups, given $200 and told to go meet a need that God would lead us to that morning. My group, Luke, Oliver, Charlotte, Joah and I met a couple named Nicole and Curtis, who said they only needed masks, but as we kept talking, they explained further need. We ended up making a gift bag with toiletries and items they needed. We also bought a meal for a guy named Nathan.

The day ended with a very fun church service on Matt 5:13-16. It was a weird balance of fun and goofy but with serious teaching and prayer.

Day 12 - Love CQ & Un-trash Duncan

I picked up sticks from the forest, and raked. Some of the little things that needed to get done around camp so that the forest didn't get overgrown. Then Ari and I headed into town were we picked up trash.

Day 13 - Love Youth Pastors and Duncan

Some organizers in the group put together gift baskets for our youth pastors and we made little cards for them. We also went to the home of a lady in Duncan where we weeded her garden in the afternoon hail. It was actually a lot of fun, but I was extremely muddy by the time I got back to camp.

We wrapped up the Missions Trip with a debrief on the beach with a bonfire! Sang praise, held a final student led debrief and headed to bed. Then we started to worry about our upcoming course.

Things to be praying for:

- All the people mentioned above, that they would come to know the saving grace and mercy of God.

 - Upcoming Exam and paper

- That we students would continue to pursue a deeper relationship with God despite the end of our missions trip, and that we would walk in obedience to Him everyday.

- That God would be preparing us gently for the end of Kaleo, because none of us are looking forward to it in the least.