So yesterday we officaly started our friendship ministry, talking to all of the vendors and their kids. It's kind of cool because the days we are here are the days that the children have off from school. Their parents make them try and sell in this time, but we have been talking with them, playing with them, and making sure they have a good break. I think this idea of really getting to know the people is a new idea for some of the other tourists.

In getting to know the people a bit, they tell oyu that they are Hindu, but I have yet to meet any devout Hindus. Some of us have had amazing oppertunities to share the gospel with these people: one girl talked with a local for about an hour about Jesus, Bronson's tatoos are always a good conversation starter scince the locals are always the first to ask what they mean, yesterday some girls got to pray for a woman who said her husband was in hospital, etc. Myelf, I have been going along with Bronson and Markus talking with the watch salesmen, with Gidi at the store we get our water from and our laundry done at, and eating dog with a tattoo artist around the corner from the hotel. I feel like we have been a positive influence in the city of Lovina and I hope that we can make a real impact tht lasts on it in the short time we are here.

Curtis

Selamat Natal! (Merry Christmas!)

Hello everybody and merry Christmas! It has bee a really great Christmas here in Indonesia. Sometimes the vendors trying to sell you stuff will accidentally say "Happy Birthday to you!" when they really mean "Merry Christmas!". We are currently taking it a bit easy until tomorrow here in the city of Lovina. We were previously in the city of Singaraja also called the "dead city" do to the lack of things to do. But it was still a lot of fun going to different villages, some in the mountains, others in the city, preaching, singing, sharing testimonies, skits, and the occasional Hula dance for the people. Often there were Hindus at these church gatherings because of there interest in Christmas. We tried our best in our skits to show that Christmas has been very westernized and that is not what it really is.

Please pray for opportunities to arise soon, as after January 5th, our trip is still a bit unknown. Please also pray for health and safety in what we do. Thank you to everyone supporting me and the group out here and please continue to pray. Thanks you and Merry Christmas!

Curtis West

A Lesson in Patience

So today I and three others learned that we won't be leaving for Bali this week, but will have to wait until next Wednesday. The Indonesian government is very last minute when it comes to information needed for getting visas. The administraters here said that they have never had a more tuff time getting visas than this time. It's kind of a pain, but at least there are others waiting with me.

On a more happy note, my parents came and visited me this past week on their 30th Anniversary holiday. It was a good time. We even visited the Set of LOST!

That's all for now<

Curtis

Hello There

So today I was surprised to find I had a package waiting for me from SWERV my youth group! Inside was a CD (thanks Jodran!), some notes, a sticker book, a cool shirt which I am wearing right now, a calender, a Calvin and Hobbs book!, Gum, Candaian candy, a skipping rope, some photos of around my church, tea (whichI am drinking),and tanless taning lotion. THANK YOU to all who contributed! It was really great.

I can't believe that there is less then two weeks until outreach begins! I leave December 5th and after about 20 hours of being in the air, will arrive in Bali, Indonesia. So far all we know for sure is that our first stop will be to an orphanage that is associated with other things. We have been learning skits to do when we are over there.

A couple ofweeks ago we had an outreach prep week where everything was unknowen. We actually had to perform one of the skits a couple times right on the U of H campus, which was a very hard thing to do, especially since it was a last minute surprise. During that week I learned to expect the unexpected which was a good thing for outreach.

This past week we had Dr. Ron Carlson speak to us about apologetics which was really great. I learned alot during his lectures and feel like I can also apply what I learned from him on my outreach.

That's all for now!

Hello There

Just thought I would give you a quick update as to what has been going on recently. Last week the entire school went on a camping trip which was really great,and some good bonding time. Our speaker for this week has been one of the directors here and he has been teaching on the nature of God.
For my team going to Indonesia, we still have not recieved any new information. I got put in charge of food and meals on outreach though, so that should be interesting. Well that's all for now!

Curtis

Here are a couple photos, there will more to come..........

Hey Everybody

My team that will be going to Indonesia in December needs some prayer. There have been some difficulties trying to arrange for everyone to get into Indonesia. Please pray that these obsticals can be removed and that if this has anything to do with spiritual warfare, that it may be stopped.Thanks alot!

Curtis West

Back To Preschool!

I was thinking that I should fill everyone in on how my days usually look.

Sunday- go to church of your choosing, rest
Monday- quiet time, 2 hour lecture, team time, another 2 hour lecture
Tuesday- quiet time, 3 hour lecture, work duties for 3 hours, plan for community outreach, intercession
Wednesday- quiet time, community out reach at preschool, worship
Thursday- quiet time, intercession, bible reading, 2 hour lecture, work duties, street evangelism
Friday- quiet time, break out- spiritual warefare session, nooma video, 2 hour lecture,team time-boys,
Saturday- free

Today we set off on different community outreaches, mine being at the preschool. I was told the class I was helping with was rowdy, but they were just awesome. It was just a really fun time. After the play, we got to put on a little show for them at chapel. Some of the kids didn't speak any English and one girl cried the entire three hours I was there. I think I also want to join the Surf the Nations group in the afternoon, handing out meals to the poor.

I have been learning a lot from the speakers so far: Ana Laeto and Cindy Bowers. They are just fantastic and know a lot about God. I am looking forward to our speaker on Apologetics which will be fairly soon.

Today John and Valarie Macome (a couple from my church) came and visited. They were on vacation and had a delivery from my parents. They took me out for dinner which was amazing and then we walked back to base. It was really cool to see someone I knew from home.

Thank you everybody for your support!

Curtis West

Yeah Who!

So I just thought I would let everyone know that I will be doing my outreach in Indonesia. Thats all I know for now, talk to you later!

Curt

Aloha!

Hey everybody! Arrived here in Honolulu safely yesterday afternoon, although it actually feels like it has been a week. I just got back from the Longs Drugs because I needed to buy another towel (apparently you can get a fungus from using a damp towel here in Hawaii). Although I was feeling under the weather yesterday, I am feeling really good now.

Today was Aloha Day and kind of an introduction into the course. We have just returned from the beach after being there for several hours for a BBQ. There are thirteen guys and twenty four girls here at the base. All of the guys sleep in one room with bunk beds. It's really good though, like camp has been extended. Tomorrow the work begins and I believe we are put into our groups for the missions. I'll be sure to let you know where I'm going the moment I find out. See you later!

Curtis West

Senior Boys 2007

Hey everyone, I have just arrived back from Senior Boys camp in Rocky Mtn. House and have yet to shower. I have been in the Medi Centre for the past three hours to find out I have a sinus infection (thanks Runka) and I go to the blood clinic tomorrow to find out if I have mom or not. Anywho, camp was an experience of a lifetime! I was placed in a cabin with John who I had kind of met last year, and we were leading Buckaroos (Grade 7's). It started out very ruff when I found that one of my campers had anger issues and enjoyed beating me up. I couldn't fight back hard, and the more I did, the more he wanted to punch and kick. Eventually Kieth stepped in and put Travis in his place. THis however did not make him a better child to handle. He was reckless, enjoyed picking fights, and listened to no one. I was stressed beyond belief, especially scince I knew out trips were coming up. I was very relieved when Mike (Buckaroos sectional leader) told me he was going to send Travis home. A part of me felt bad for him, but I knew the group would enjoy the trip more without him. Another kid in my cabin suffers from ADD and depression. What made this even worse was that his father died the night camp began. He knew it was going to happen scince his dad was in the hspital, unresponsive. He told me that it was a suicide, but he didn't know how it happened. I think he did really well though for his situation. He was at camp because it was a place he absolutally loved when he came with his school, and it just made him happy to be here. He left the day the rest of us left for the outrip and rejoined us there a couple of days later. Those were some real testing times for me. I felt uber supported and I feel that I learned from those experiences.

Also in my cabin was Alex, the brother of Antonia whom with which I did LIT. He was different from her but also kind of the same. There was Sylvain too, the chess champion and organized kid. Breaden was there too, a large Bucakroo, bigger than me. We had some great, challenging times, and times just to play. One of my favorite days was making mudslides in the North Sask. River. Another awsome trip was taking the voyager canoe down the river. I really got to connect with some of the kids during the out trip to Kootenay Plains. It was just an awsome expeirience over all and I can't wait till next year!

Curtis West

Leader In Training

For the past two weeks I have been in and around Rocky Mountain House involved in the Leaders in Training corse. It was INTENSE! The first day we end up starting the hike. I had it in my head that the out trip was only for five days, little did I know that it was for eight and a half! I aslo thought that there would be five people in the cousre, but there were only two others, making a grand total of three participants. Our leaders Joel and Lauren were great and so were Antonia and Thomas who had just graduated. We all had very different personalities and it was cool to see how we worked our differences out.

Our trip began witha very easy hike up a clear path. However, the next day we were knee deep in moss trudging over hundreds of dead, rotting trees while hiking up a steep incline, all while carrying our 40kg packs.

The third day was the day that tested me the most. I had not been feeling well the entire day, and around 5:00 pm I ha hit a wall. We had just reached an unexpected waterfall that was about 40 feet high. I was having an extremely hard time getting up the incline. I felt bad for slowing the group down, but they were very understanding. It was soon after that incline that I trew up. That night I trew up 4 more times. What made it worse was that a huge thunderstorm had rolled in. I couldn't even count one second inbetween the lightening bolts ffor about five minutes. We were also very close to the pass (inbetween two mountains) and it was extremely wind. The girls tent was actually moving, and it was a pretty scary time.

The next dayI was feeling alot better and we were able to make it over the pass and down the other side. I was a great view until we reached a canyon that we had to climb down. At one point we encountered a 70 foot water fall that we first had to craoss then climb down the one side of. We named it the "Gordge of Death". It was one of the scariest moments of my life, b ut I survived and we moved on.

The next day we were going to cross the Stifler River to get to some lakes on top of a mountain. Unfortunately the river was much too high to cross. Joel attempted but was carried down the river for a bit with his pack on. It took him about half an hour the get back to the other side again. That night we made our first fire so that Joel would not die of hypothermia. It rained that night and nothing we wanted to dry really did.

We had found an old cutline in the forest, but it was not much better than bush whacking. At one point we came to a marsh, and all decided instantly that we would much rather get out boots slightly more wet, then to trudge through the trees again.

The rest of the hike was less a little ambitious and we had alot of time to play. I feel we got to bond a lot and we also learned a lot after the trip. We had a bunch of awsome speakers that were very helpful. It was just a great time. Ask me about it if you get the chance!

Howdy Doody

Hello there and thank you for checking out my blog! I thought I would start this to keep everybody updated with my life and my upcoming adventures. I will soon be leaving to camp to be trained in the Leaders in Training course. It is a physically, emotionally and spiritually demanding course that should be fun. After that I help out at the Senior Boys camp. In total I will be there for a month, with a brief time home inbetween. After that I will be leaving for Honolulu, Hawaii for DTS training with YWAM. I will be away for a total of 5 months (half in Honolulu and half either in South East Asia or the South Pacific). It is definitally going to be a life changing time in my life and I am very excited.