Beyond Our Own Personal Bubble....

Well it's been a while since I gave everyone an update. I apologize that I didn't at least wish you all a Merry Christmas, so I now wish you a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The reason for my absence was for nothing more than Christmas break in which I spent many lovely hours at home with my fam jam eating many glorious meals and baking many enjoyable delights. All in all I had a very restful Christmas and was ready to return to Kaleo with a fresh and rested state of mind.

Yet again I want to just dive into the action with you; it is always much better to just jump in the water than to slowly wade in, much less painful I find. We began the second half of our Kaleo journey with many trips to the airport and much rejoicing to see everyone yet again. I amazed even myself with the amount of joy that I had to see all of my friends once again. It affirmed how much we as a community are growing to love each other. I so wish I could convey that to you, but it is something that is really only known when felt. Reuniting is quite a beautiful thing, it makes me wonder what the great reunion at the end of this age will be like.... One day we will know.

Our first course of the semester was definitely the right way to start. It was Theology of Mission with Tim Stabell. I must say that I thought I knew what there was to know about missions, but I'm glad I was wrong. I've definitely had my world rocked by learning that mission originally began in the Old Testament with a promise to Abraham, "All the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:3) It was in this promise that we can know that God will reach out to all peoples of the earth to redeem them. Not only was this a class where I had much learning, and there was much of that, but I really felt God's call into long-term mission. As we talked in class my heart broke to see that the number of long-term missionaries has not gone up over the past 40 years. To know that as the world's population increases, we are not sending more missionaries for the long haul is frightening, especially when there are people in the world who have never even heard of Jesus or even that there is a God out there who loves them. 27% of the world has never had the experience of hearing that. So I am excited to see in what capacity God is calling me and I'd love to discuss that more but I have one more thing to say and I don't want to talk your ear off just yet, so you'll just need to comment on this post :) :P

A final thing I would like to ask, and in the spirit of mission this is perfect, I would like you all to be praying for our mission trip that we as a Kaleo team are going on. Our mission is going to be volunteering at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This is a very exciting opportunity and you may ask how this is a mission trip. The Olympics is not allowing any religious or political group to be a part of their programs or sites. This means that they are essentially shutting out the Kingdom of God except if there are volunteers who come individually. While there we will be able to pray and serve in the name of Christ in a way that most others will not be able to. That is how this is a ministry trip. I would love if you would begin to pray for divine opportunities to share the good news of Christ and endurance in both the physical aspect and the spiritual aspect. We want God to move mightily through us and so I would ask that you pray God does big things, he is a big God so please ask Him to live up to His name while working through us.

Well if your eyes aren't bleeding by now from staring at a screen too long, I'm very glad. Thanks for continuing to support me in all my endeavors as I journey on this path called Kaleo. I look forward to yet again chatting with each of you so please send me a message if you need me to clarify anything, it really is hard to fit one and a half weeks in one page.

Love ya,
Nick