Hey!

Well, here I am, another week in!

This week we had class on Monday (Camp Ministry), and a host of essays and assignments to work on. On Tuesday I went caving, otherwise known as spelunking. We climbed through some pretty tight little spaces, and I got myself stuck in a tiny hole and had to get pulled out by my ankles! On Wednesday I went to Victoria to help the crew of the Pacific Swift (the sail boat I helped crew earlier this fall) take the boat apart. We removed some of the rigging, and scrubbed every tiny nook and cranny we could, right down to the bilges. It was neat to help be a part of their ministry.

Thursday I continued working on essays, and on Friday I got to go skating with our youth. It was a unique, stretching experience for me to be supervising 20 children ages 7-11. Ironically, it was in the low pressure environment of a public skating session where a couple of the boys shared some of their biggest issues and problems with me. Unfortunately, it kind of caught me off guard. I'll be doing a lot of praying and investigating so I can come back to them with better answers; it was fortunate that what they wanted right then was a listening ear.

Saturday I worked all day, and got a LOAD of work done. Sunday was an adventure! I got picked up by the elderly couple that normally drive us to church, which was fine. It was Friendship Sunday, so we stayed for soup and sandwiches. Then we had a flat tire, so we had to pump it up in the rain, and re-pump it halfway home. Then they left me off at the end of my road, so I had a pleasant walk in the rain!

I learned a few interesting things this week. In particular, I think I caught a glimpse of why Jesus likes children so much. There's so much joy, especially in one little boy at church today. He has FAS, and has some learning disabilities associated with that. But the sheer joy he had to be in Sunday School and to play with me during the Friend Day banquet was really awesome. I think God wants us to have that same joy; shame-less, exuberant, constant. I'm not sure exactly what, but I'm pretty sure God's going to be teaching me some things through children this year. Also, I've been learning a lot about how to read and interpret the bible. Our hermeneutics pre-course work has been presenting some interesting concepts and ideas that I hadn't previously considered.

All in all, a good week. Take care, laterdays, have a good one, peace out, much love,

Rob