Departure.

Dearest family and friends,

Apologies for not sending this out sooner. Know that this last week has been one of constant extremes of busyness! With an armful of papers to write (and thankfully now written..), a week of Gospel courses completed and last preparations before India accomplished, this past week as gone by in a blur. Although the week in itself may not have been filled with nights entirely full of sleep, I had the weekend to recover and hibernate. I am now as in 3:15, completely packed and ready to depart with the rest of my team at 3:30 this afternoon. We are spending the night in Vancouver before we fly out to Tokyo for a layover in Japan, and from there arrive in New Delhi the following day. Right now my mind is full of mixed thoughts and feelings. The butterflies are beginning to flutter in my stomach, but I don't think they will fully take flight until I'm buckled in the plane or on solid ground in India. Goodness before I forget! God is AMAZING. In this last week I have received all my funds and money for India! I was blown away when I found out how much I did in fact have. So thank you all, for your prayers and support. It has been amazing to see God show His amazing power through His providence. 

Please continue to keep my team in your prayers over these next couple of weeks. Prayer that I will be stretched and challenged and that my eyes, ears, thoughts and actions would be persistently aware and open to what God has to show and teach me while I am in India. That we would be willing to whatever it is He has in store for us to do and accomplish, and for health and safety as well.

Below is a site that will keep you updated and posted on some of our happenings while we are away. Sorry this is so brief! 

Blessings to you all.

Love Jayme

http://www.kaleolife.ca/k6ministrytrips/Kaleo_Ministry_Trips_2009.html

Anticipated Freedom.

There is always that momentary awkwardness when you enter a Doctor's office and have to "check in" at the front counter. I usually don't find it that strange to talk about myself in the third person (as most of my fellow Kaleos could tell you), but it always seems much more peculiar in this setting. For some reason, I can't really explain why, in that initial conversation with the secretary I always seem to declare my arrival to the office as more of an inquiry than a statement. "Jayme Adams is here?" The secretary usually returns this quizzical statement with a repeat of what you just said, as if to give you a second chance to present yourself and really mean what you say this time, and you answer confidently back with a solid "yes". Perhaps it is because deep down inside there is a part of me that truly does not want to be there and has cornered my brain during this brawl, and that is where this tendency to throw in that raised tone stems from.

Today was the day. Six weeks had passed. I wanted freedom.
Upon arriving in Chemainus, the Doctor's orders were as follows: cast execution, X ray, assessment. The experience of having my cast taken off is one that will vividly remain in my mind for quite some time. There is a certain manner in which Doctors/nursing staff compose themselves in order to assure the patient that they are indeed in good hands and should feel quite at ease and confident in their medically trained abilities. This was unfortunately not the case for me. The elderly lady assigned to saw off my cast seemed both flustered and uncertain. These are two qualities that immediately threw my comfortability into a spin. I'm not sure how many of you can relate or have experienced a cast removal, or even perhaps have been used as a demo in some sort of magic trick, but being that close to a moving blade is not something that I find that enjoyable. First of all the sound is terrifying. Secondly they slide these super thin wooden flat-sticks (like the kind you say "ahh" with) in between the cast and your skin as if that "durable" piece of wood would be able to withhold the pressure from the saw. And lastly the tool's brand is titled as "Stryker"-enough said. I found it surprisingly hard to smile through this process. It didn't help matters that the nurse would mutter to herself and say things that were quite inaudible by the cacophonous screams of the saw all the while having this tentative expression on her face. Whether it was truly an answer to my prayers or actually the end of her shift that caused the 'sawing-replacement' to fill in, I do not know. I felt immediate relief, until I noticed that this new nurse had not re-positioned the wooden sticks and began to saw away. Images of me hiking armless through the Indian Himalayas flashed through my mind as I felt the blade inching closer and closer, and I actually jumped when I felt the pressure of the connecting saw and the heat of its rapidly spinning blade hit the surface of my arm. The new nurse quickly apologized and I watched in horror as she raised the blade to her own hand and hit the trigger. My horror turned to confusion, which was soon followed with a realization that this saw blade would in fact cause me no harm whatsoever. Goodness, that would have done my nerves some good if that demonstration would have been shown at the very beginning!
After that dramatic experience I had my X ray done and then met back with the Doctor to assess the results. He informed me that the fracture was not fully healed yet and was still visible in the X rays. This was not the delightful news I had anticipated. He considered recasting it, but then we settled on letting it remain braced in the half-shell of my previous cast carcass. And there it will remain for these next two weeks until I depart to India. Although this incomplete recovery does bring me grief, I am somewhat satisfied with knowing that I can now shower and splash as much as I want.

I type this blog as I sit here alone in 311. My room has been extremely quiet these last few days as both Jesse and Malayne have taken off during our Reading Break this week. There were only eight others who decided to remain here back at camp for the entirety of the break. Amidst the mountains of papers and coursework that we Kaleos were destined to, we still managed to involve some fun into our week such as trips to both Nanaimo and Salt Spring Island. As well as random games, activities and other creative endeavors that weren't too highly appreciated on the boys side...

It was strange being the only Kaleo of us four out at Lake Cow youth this past Friday. The night went well, fun was had, and it was cool to see how Michelle tied the games that we played in with the devotion later on in the night. We talked about how living your life without Jesus is like wandering around blindfolded and in darkness; stumbling over things in your way and the complications of that unaware lifestyle. It was a heavy topic, and I wish more of the kids would have been there to hear it, cause I know that for those that were present you could see the words of the message sinking in and see them working things through in their heads. It's frustrating when the kids take so long to settle down or pay attention, but I'm coming to realize that it is completely worth it when you grasp their full attention and can see that rare understanding developing in their eyes.

Prayer for me this week would be awesome. I am still suffering from this nasty cough. So for health-not only for me, but for my entire India team as a fair chunk of us have all caught the same lousy bug. Quick healing and recovery for my cast-free wrist (and that I will take extreme caution with its new found freedom)-as well as for Tom, who is also out of his cast now and is slowly trying to strengthen his ankle and reinforce it in these next couple of weeks before we depart for India. Also that I will remain diligent and focussed in my studies and not be distracted or overwhelmed with the coursework that is ahead of us before we all depart on our missions. And finally that my funds for India will be met and provided.

Well my arm is in desperate need of some moisturization, and I should be getting back to my heap of homework. I leave you with a few photos of our trip to Salt Spring (provided by Eric Johnson). Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Blessings,
Jayme

Jo, myself, Kristy and Tom 

Delighted with the rescued seashell. Not so much with the photo.

Perhaps we will start a band

Just Breathe.

The schedule for this past week originally did not include many items on the menu. After this last lively month though, I was ready to embrace a week where, with the odd class, I would be focused on my studies and be somewhat more inclined to buckle down on some much needed homework, as well as being able to have those moments where I could just clear my head, reflect and work through some of the thoughts that have been bombarding my brain as of late. Of course, no week at Kaleo can truly be activity-free, but even with the events and distractions, it was a decent week and one that once again has flown by.

Our training for India has been going well. During the week we have regular workouts-such as circuit training, the monstrous Qwanoes stairs, runs, and weekly hikes. Also, throughout the week we get together as a team for prayer meetings, info-sessions, and we are currently reading through a book that explores spiritual warfare called, “The Three Battlegrounds”. We have less than a month before we depart, I can’t believe how fast it’s coming up. A lot of our team is still working on raising enough money and funds to go. Lately I’ve been stressing over this myself. I am nowhere close to the $3250 that we are required to have. We are constantly bringing these concerns before God, He has already done some amazing things for some of our team, and right now we continue to lift this up to Him and trust in His providence.

This week at youth we ran the night. Before it began we were able to drive out to Lake Cow earlier in the afternoon and hang out with Sheri and Michelle (the head group leaders at LC). We’ve been trying to plan a dinner with them for a while now, so it was great that the timing finally worked out and we were able to go chat and hang out at their place before the festivities at youth began later that night.
We began the night with some new games-which were all major hits and I don’t think I heard any complaints the entire evening-which is always a good sign…For the devo-Leila shared her amazing story of her camera/purse/bag being stolen back at Missions Fest, and then she read the letter from the thief that was sent back to her, in a package not long after the incident, with a few of her more personal items. The kids were super attentive throughout the entire story, and it was super cool to see them participating and interacting later on in the devo when we talked about Abraham and Isaac as well as trusting God in every situation. There are times I wonder if the things we say or talk about on those Friday nights are sinking in at all, but from some of the answers we received, you can tell that it was understood and thought over. It did my heart a lot of good to see that☺We ended the night with munchies and cake-as it was Jonathan and Daneille’s birthday that week, as well as one of our youth kids. Perhaps we will be given the opportunity to be in charge again over these next few months. I would love to incorporate some sort of music/worship into the night as well, as we have some pretty talented musicians amongst us leaders. Hmm we shall see..

This year’s Valentines Day was unlike any I’ve ever had before. We started the day with a delicious brunch here at camp-menus and waiters included. Team India then took off to Duncan where we had appointments to get our immunizations. Nothing says Happy Love day like a couple needles in your arm…After the shots, myself, Jesse and Malayne went out on a room-date with one of the guy rooms. We drove out to Nanaimo where we started our evening at Value Village looking for appropriate bowling attire for the activities later that night. We were all fortunate to find some pretty nifty shirts-one of the guys even scored some spiffy bowling shoes as well. We then donned the purchases and drove to Fast Eddie’s-a decent diner where we ate an enjoyable dinner consisting of shakes, burgers and fries. We finished off the evening with a round of five-pin bowling. Because Malayne and I still had our casts, it was determined that everyone would then bowl with only their left hands. Tom of course, was excused from this, as he still had his leg in a cast as well, and we figured that the extra hopping would make things challenging enough. Because some individuals decided to forgo the lefty rule during certain rounds, I will not announce the final scores at this time…

My text books are calling, so on this sunny afternoon I will be inside reading, sipping back some Buckleys once again, as my nasty cough has unfortunately returned.

Room 311

Sustenance

Competition

Compatibility 

Excuses Excuses

Yes she does in fact live...
I, Jayme Adams have been one extremely busy girl these last couple of weeks!
Of course this does in no way justify my lack of updates, and I apologize to those of you who have been checking back occasionally, and have been somewhat aggravated with my absent responses and nonexistent posts.

I promise to do better.

Goodness where to start...

I am still confined in my casted-prison. But I am on day 27 and my anticipated freedom is in sight. There is still the odd pain here and there, but otherwise my wrist proceeds to grow stronger, and Malayne and I continue to count down the days...
I feel that since I am on the topic of injury I should inform those of you who have not yet heard the story of me cutting the cheese. No, this is not some crude-gassy story, although humorous you may find it. A couple weeks ago, my roommate Jesse and I were indulging in a late night snack consisting of stone wheat crackers, the cheese from outside our window, and an exacto knife. Some may call it reckless, others daring, but to sum things up, my gimped arm may not have been the best choice for the task of slicing the cheese. It did work for a while, but after a few slabs had been shaved, the exacto had a change of course and ventured into my left pointer finger. It created a pretty deep crater and the blood was gushing, so my intern, Jen and three other lovely ladies joined me in a late night adventure to emergency in Duncan, where I received three stitches. The best part of the night was the nurse's reaction when she asked for my uninjured arm, to fasten the hospital band to, and I handed over my casted-wrist..:) Just this past Monday I was able to get the stitches removed. But it is still healing and is far from pleasant to look at..

Patiently awaiting stitches at the hospital

This past Monday to Friday we had our Old Testament Literature course. Our Professor Don Taylor was amazing! The week of classes was intense, but Don made them quite enjoyable through his notes, outside lectures, snack breaks, projects, and my favorite, the sword-drills. I admit, at the beginning of the week when we were asked to write out all the OT books, I had a bit of trouble remembering some of them... But as the week went on, my good ol' AWANA days came back to me. Some of my classmates would get pretty worked up and competitive when it came to winning the drills-those little candies that Don would throw out to the winners became items of honor and admiration. There was pretty stiff competition in our class. On the last day, we had a final show down, and I am pleased to say that out of our class of 27, I secured a solid third place. During the week we were also assigned a group project that required our entire class to come up with a way to creatively retell the entire Old Testament. With the tv show "The Office" as our directing theme we had only four days to write scripts, assign roles, film scenes, and edit. Our whole group really went all out, and the final movie was a huge success:)

Youth group this week was fantastic. We hadn't been in two weeks due to Missions Fest in Vancouver the week before, so it was good to see their smiling faces teeming with excitement when our red truck pulled up in front of the church. Youth at Lake Cow was a little different this week. As soon as we got there we piled back into cars with the kids and headed to Duncan. We arrived at a couple's house from our congregation, who had offered their house as a moshing-ground for an epic night of Rock Band. The kids had a blast and really enjoyed this night of irregular activity. There was great opportunity to talk with some of the girls during the long drive to and from Duncan. It was cool to see some of the shyer ones open up and talk about their lives and just the current randoms going on with them right now. One of the girls blew me away completely with her imaginative stories-she explained a bit about one of her current compositions and wow, she is amazingly creative! Next week me, Leila, Daneille and Jonathan get to run the entire youth night. We all have numerous ideas of how we want the night to go and the message we want to get across to the kids. Prayer that this coming Friday will be super impacting and that what we have to say will really speak to them and spark questions and thoughts, would be sweet.

There is much more to tell, but I have my final exam for our OT Lit course tomorrow afternoon, and an early India-workout run in the morning as well. So I am hitting the hay.
A promise is a promise, (reminds me of that Munsch book Mom..) my blogs will be consistent from now on.

Lake Cow youth gals

 

Deb, Daneille and Myself outside Canada Place

Tom, Jake, Jeremiah, and myself 

(aka: The Gauntlet Legends Masters)

Posing for a breezy victory pic on the ferry.

Group shot outside Missions Fest

I caught some extra Z's on the drive up to the mountain early Monday morning, as I didn't get much shut eye the night before. Once we arrived, tickets were distributed, gear was obtained, and my first boarding lesson began shortly after I had everything strapped on. The lesson proved to be quite helpful and afterwards I felt fairly confident in my newly acquired knowledge and experience to get down the "bunny-hill". The first day up there was amazing. I loved it. My body... not so much. The next morning I felt like I had collided with a train and I found myself decorated with some oddly shaped spots of blue and purple. Despite my aches, I trooped out for what I thought would be another epic afternoon of boarding. Hah, I realize this now as I type this out that I promised in my previous post not to injure or break any part of me. Sadly, although that had been written in jest, I had an unfortunate accident that second afternoon that resulted in the fracture of my right wrist. Unlike my rebel roommate Malayne, who decided against the support of wrist guards and was also broken by the mountain, I instead sported the guards, and now have a small, shattered memento of the plastic that leaves me in this casted prison for only 6 weeks, rather than much, much longer.

Even though the rest of the week up the mountain I had to stay inside the chalet for most of the time, I had a lot of fun hanging out with the other gimps: Malayne (broke the same wrist as me) and Tom (who had broken his ankle just the week before our trip), as well as those who were taking a break from the mountain slopes. I somehow managed to go tubing one of the nights with my cast as well. I wasn't too confident in my skills of ripping down those hills-hanging on with only one hand, but surprisingly it worked, and I had a blast! Chapels during the evenings were really good. Sometimes we would all talk for hours. A lot was brought up and dealt with, and I think for most of us, those late night talks provided us with some answers and relief of sharing what's been on our hearts and minds this last while and as we looked back on the first semester.

We got back to Crofton Friday evening, but due to the heavy fog that had settled throughout our area, we were advised to not make the long drive out to Lake Cow, so no youth this week.
This weekend has been full of course work and pre reading for our upcoming Christian Theology course that we start Tuesday morning. I'm trying to remain in high spirits over my broken wrist, but I've been getting pretty frustrated with this new inability to accomplish things that I previously had no troubles with. I'm coping with the showers every other day or so, and I've begun to master the technique of eating, teeth brushing, and high-lighting with my left hand. I've just started today to be able to somewhat grip things with my right fingers, my thumb has not been so willing to cooperate since the incident. I am thankful though that the swelling has finally started to go down, and that the throbbing pains are beginning to decrease as well. Prayer that I will not let this accident get me down, and that I will continue to heal quickly so that I can get back into the swing of things, start up my training for India again and relieve my third roommate Jesse from this inconvenience and the hassles that coincide with living in a room with two needy gimps would be awesome.

Wow, I am quite impressed with the amount I have typed here, and by typed I mean finger pecked:) I have three other assignments to finish up before tomorrow so I should probably get back to work. Blessings!
Jayme

Our lovely abode

Lunch break

Signing the guest book left handed...

Here we go again..

Reunions. Depending on the person, the word can generate different feelings or sentiments that can be either positively memorable or completely terrifying. In the case of seeing my fellow "Kaleoers" again it was amazingly positive! It brought me great joy to see all of their smiling faces again and just catch up to date on their lives once more and hear their stories over the break.

We started off our week with our Theology of Mission course, with Tim Stabell as our professor. The week flew by, and I appreciated Tim's way of approaching the subject and his knowledge concerning mission, as well as hearing all about his own stories from his personal experiences of being a missionary in the Congo. Several times each class Tim would tell us about a different country in the world and provide us with little tid-bits of info concerning the tensions and hardships that they are currently going through. We would then take time as a class, or in small groups to pray for these nations and bring these concerns before God. I really enjoyed learning about these countries and it really opened my eyes to hear about what else is going on in our world.

Youth group started up in Lake Cow again this past Friday. We had a massive turn out, around 17 kids or so, which is pretty huge for our youth. The night went really really well, and I had a lot of fun seeing our kids again and hearing bits and pieces on what they had done over the break. A couple new faces as well, which was encouraging to see that some of them are already starting to bring out friends in this new year. The sugar-popcorn near the end of the night, may not have been the best idea, the kids devoured the entire bowl within minutes and were soon bouncing off the walls...

Over all though, great night. I am excited to see how God will be working through us as leaders and in the lives of our LC youth over the rest of this year!

As I write this, Malayne has finally fallen asleep-I have no idea how... considering Jesse and I are still rummaging about our room trying to pack everything for our Mt Washington trip tomorrow. Yes, I, Jayme Adams will be embracing the slopes and trying my utmost to not injure or break anything as I attempt some boarding action as well as some skiing thrown in as well over these next five days. Goodness! FIVE days...My fellow friends here found it shocking that I was not a decent skier/boarder considering the mountain is right by my hometown. I admit, I have some serious butterflies fluttering in my stomach as I think about the week ahead. But I will be joined by some other "mountain-noobs," and that is somewhat comforting to know that I will not be alone in this new endeavor...:)

Alright, I really need to throw my gear in my bag and try to get at least a couple hours of shut eye before we have to be up and away by 5:00am. Prayer for safety up the mountain would be greatly appreciated as well as for our Kaleo group as we will be partaking in some evening discussions and bonding times up the mountain. Pray that we would continue to be open with each other, and that everyone will be able to share what's been on their hearts and be honest and real with one another. Oh, and health wise as well! As some of us are still getting over colds and nasty coughs that have continued to plague us through the winter break.

Much love,

Jay

The Last Days...

Alright so this last week has truly rushed by. In truth it's hard to believe that our entire first semester will be completely over in just a couple of days! Where did the last three months go?! My time here at Kaleo, flew by, mainly because we were constantly, and I mean basically always on the go. I don't think it would be possible to attempt a summary of my time here so far at Kaleo, but I will say that it has been an amazingly awesome experience so far, one that has had a huge impact on my life and has challenged and stretched me in more ways than I ever knew I could be. When I look back at these last few months, it's hard to believe everything that we've all accomplished and done together as a Kaleo family. God has really opened my eyes and has taught me so much already, and I know that there is still so much more that I have yet to learn for this next semester.

Last Monday and Tuesday the guys and gals split up once again and had their own separate nights out with each other. Us ladies spent "A Day in the life of Jen"-as was the title of our day out. We started off with a hike up a mountain, and at the top we munched down chocolate bars and had a Coke. We then went to the Duncan pool where we spent time relaxing in the hot tubs and playing in the pool. Coffee at the Moon followed our pool party and then we headed back to Jim Bad's house where his wife, Sarah, and one of the Qwanoes kitchen staff gals, Jenna, were there to greet us and had a delicious dinner prepared for us upon our arrival. After supper we had some girl bonding time and sharing once again, and then finished up with some songs and a movie before bed time.

Us gals at the top of the mountain

I also got to experience for the first time true Christmas tree hunting on Wednesday. We all journeyed up to the Tree Farm, and spent time checking out all the trees, and eventually we all settled on one and snatched it up and brought it back to our home here in the Pacific Woods Lodge. Later that night we spent time making decorations and ornaments for our lovely tree and finished off the day with The Muppets Christmas movie.

Malayne, me and Amelia hiding in the trees

On Saturday we had our first Kaleo talent show. It was a night full of laughs and fun times. Some of us who weren't even signed up somehow became involved by the sneaky ways of the director and organizers of the show who created their own little plays that were SO funny and got everyone acting out different parts to the script they narrated themselves.
Because of the lack of snow on Mt. Washington, our ski/board trip was postponed and we took off to Nanaimo to spend the day at the Wild Play Park. A lucky few of us got their names drawn to go bunji jumping and a chance to ride the King Swing (unfortunately i was not among them..:( ) But i did get to do the Tree-Go, and it was wicked awesome! I had the beautiful-daring Kylie Ankenmann behind me on the course and the charming-audacious Philip Karklins in front of me. I don't think I could have accomplished the course without the two of them-they were constantly encouraging and cheering me on, and were such a blast to hang in the tree tops with:)

Kylie, Phil and I getting ready to start stage 2 of the course

Kylie and I after finishing the Tree-Go course

Tonight we had the Christmas banquet here at Qwanoes. Everyone got all dressed up and were treated to an amazing turkey dinner and other delish dishes as well. This Thursday we will be celebrating our Kaleo Christmas and our Secret-Santa gifts will be exchanged.

Room 311: Jesse, Malayne and I at the Christmas banquet

So many events so little time, and I still have a couple papers left to write. Woe is me, Jayme Procrastinator Adams... At least I am not the only one in this stressful boat of paper writing, our whole class is basically at the same spot as me, with the exception of a few keeners...:)
Alas I should get back to my homework...
I can't believe I will be home in just a few days!! I'm excited to see you all and catch up on everything that's been going, and what i've missed these last few months.
Prayer for strength to push through these last few days of intense paper writing, as well as for safe travels home for everyone here at Kaleo would be rad:)
Much Love!
Jayme