Here's a link

Hey guys!
well I don't know how many of you guys actualy check this blog........are people reading this.....besides colin and Jordan? hummmm....anywase this link was just sent to me. It's cool, It has scanned in the front page story on britt's death from a newspaper, has a video clip on global news about their death and has Jamie (Jordan's fiance) singing Give Me Jesus-She had a really beautiful voice, WOW! So yah here it is incase any of you want to check it out. http://aaron.verge-rpg.com/jamie/
God Bless!
God is Good!
~Melissa~Dotto~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Bryce, Jordan, Julia and Julie

Just wanted to wish you all happy birthday this month on behalf of all Kaleo! This month we have teenagers turning to elderly adults. so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

And now the birthday bumps are to follow, who's gonna help toss em?

Bryce - 5th
Jordan - 7th
Julia - 11th
Julie - 26th

Oh and for those that married into the Kaleo family - Krista's Birthday was this month as well!

ikaleo invites...

Just wanted to drop a quick note to all those who possibly haven't had a invite sent to them. It shows that I have sent out invites to everyone in Kaleo, although it seems that it did not send out all the invites. So if you are wanting to get an invite so you can post, please just drop a comment here or e-mail me at jordan.nielsen@gmail.com - Thanks!

Quick Note: If you have a HOTMAIL account, please check your junkmail folder. The invite has probably been sent there since Hotmail sends basically every email there now. Thanks!

A thought on Good Friday, Jesus and Britt

This is one of my favorite peices of art work based on the Cross. I think it depicts well the Pain, torture and suffering of the cross! 

Hello all!
Ok so I had this thought today as I was sitting in our Good Friday Service at my church. How often do we cry over Christ's death?

Now I for one am very uncomfterable with crying, It makes you vunerable, expresses your true emotion and is basicaly a physical expression of pain that breaks the myth of self sufficency. However that being said I have cryed a bit in the past few weeks and I find it some what essential in mourning and actualy for the Christian life in general.

Now I am going to interupt your thought processes for a breif minuit here to point out a myth. There was a myth in my mind and I believe in the Christian circle in general about mourning. I thought for myself that when Britt died all I needed to do was find out ways in which God was working thru her death, find out what God wanted to change in my life from it and basicaly just find God's good puropse from her death in order for me to be ok. You see the myth is that if you find God's hope in someone's death than that should take away the pain, that because we are Christians and have hope everything is ok(I believe a lot of times Christians need to feel that in life you always have to be happy and strong in order to prove that your a "good" Christian........do you get where I'm going with this?). WRONG! I have discovered that Hope does NOT take away any of the pain. Rather it just gives us the stregnth to persevere every day thru the pain, which I hear is supposed to get less and less with time however that has yet to be proven. But don't worry, this is not bad news, nor is it out of the blue. Jesus says all the time that the Christian life is all about perseverance. We were never promised an easy life, only that God will always be with us!.......Which is in my opinion better by far!

So now Back to Christ and Easter. With everything I just said in mind I was wondering to myself why I don't take Good Friday more seriously. In my mind I often brush off Christ's death to a poing because he rose again. However like I said before that Hope of the resurection does not take away from the pain of the death. Just like the fact that Britt is in heaven gives us hope it does not take away the pain of the death.

Unfortunately for me it is much easier for me to cry over Britt's death than for Christ's. It is much easier to read over Britt's personal letters to me a million times and memorise every word of them than it is for me to read over Christ's personal letters to me. (The Bible) To read over them a million times and memorise every word of them. And finaly it is easier for me to long for one more embrace, one more "i love you", one more moment to see her face, one more moment with Britt than for me for me to long for the face, the moment the embrace from Christ. I could not pull myself away from the open casket at the funeral because I wanted so much just to see her face, I can't see Britt's face anymore but I can see Christ's! As I was wondering why all of this was a thought came to me. Maby Britt was more real to me than Christ is. I mean If I really realised the REALITY OF A SAVIOR THAT DIED AND ROSE AGAIN FOR ME, I might be living my life a little differently. If I really realised how REAL and TANGABLE Christ is than I may be doing a few things differently and not be worrying so much about other things. Is my point very clear? I hope so because God has really put it on my heart this friday morning and I really just wanted to share that revelation with all of you. I encourage you to all live as eternal beings and to SEEK THE REALITY OF CHRIST EVERY DAY! Don't be surprised when Hard times come your way, they are going to such but Christ will pull you thru. Live with the knowladge of your eternity! And maby take a moment now to cry over the death of Christ.

God Bless!

Yours in Christ

~Melissa~Dotto~

Britt 

Posting "Comments"

I'm not sure if you guys know that you can post comments after a post, or maybe you do and don't feel like it, or just no-body checks the blog to see :P In any case, here's how you do it.

At the bottom of this post you will notice that there is a "timestamp", this refers to the time that this post was posted. Also beside the timestamp should be who posted it, again this should read "ijordan". Now here's where we get to the comments part. You will notice now that there is a mail icon (click this to email the poster) and a "comments" button. To post a comment just simply click the comments button it will whisp you away to a page that lets you post up your comments on the post you would like to comment about. After you are done, just simply either choose to post with your login name or you can post anonymously.

There ya have it. Now you all know how to post comments :) -> Try it out on this post! I DARE YOU!

Youth Worker Conference

Well with the weekend just about over, with me being as pooped as a hotdog sleeping through the first 1/2 of the conference today (doh!) decided I'd write a little about it.

Speaker: Tony Campollo
Topic: Youth and youth violence

What can I say, Tony was a great speaker to listen to. He is an extremely challenging speaker. Did you know that he's in his 70's!! I actually never knew that. Well other than Tony! (Italian Accent) we had some work shops. I decided to go to the one where they actually put you in the back of a cop car, take you to the police station and take you through the process of being arrested and booked in. It qas quite the interesting experience. They showed us the 911 calls that had come in and the amount of police they had on the roads at that moment in time. For 20, 911 calls that they had to respond to there were only 10 cops out on the road. It's quite incredible the amount of effort those cops have to do.

Anywho, it was short, but so was the weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend, Cya!

A lil bit of Saint Patty Day's Humor

An Irish man walks into a pub. The bartender asks him, "what'll you have?" The man says, "Give me three pints of Guinness please." So the bartender brings him three pints and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third until they're gone. He then orders three more. The bartender says, "Sir, I know you like them cold. You don't have to order three at a time. I can keep an eye on it and when you get low I'll bring you a fresh cold one." The man says, "You don't understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in the States. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night we'd still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three Guinness Stouts too, and we're drinking together.The bartender thought that was a wonderful tradition. Every week the man came in and ordered three beers. Then one week he came in and ordered only two. He drank them and then ordered two more. The bartender said to him, "I know what your tradition is, and I'd just like to say that I'm sorry that one of your brothers died." The man said, "Oh, me brothers are fine - I just quit drinking."


Why did God invent whiskey? So the Irish would never rule the world.


Seamus do you understand French, I do if its spoken in Irish


An Irishman, Englishman and a German are caught in Saudi Arabia drinking. "Under Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on you back, what would you like?" said the prison guard to the Englishman just before lashing him. The English man, being a bit of a cricket fan, asked for linseed oil. When they lashed him on a post and let him go to catch his flight back to London he groaned and crawled to the airport. Next came the German. "Under Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on you back, what would you like?" said the prison guard "Nothing" said the German and, after receiving his lashes spat on the ground, called the prison guards Schisers and started off towards the airport. The guards then came to the Irishman. "Under Saudi law you are sentenced to 30 lashes then deported. Before you begin you are entitled to something on you back, what would you like?" "Oh", replied the Irishman, "I'll take the German".


Enjoy ;)

We the Jonah.

I just finished off a paper for my Minor Prophets class. I found some really cool stuff in my research. Here's my essay, take it for what its worth...

How often do we, as North Americans, think about our own needs instead of the needs of those around us? The prophet Jonah struggled with a similar misconception. Many people will read through the book of Jonah generally unchanged, chuckling to themselves about the message of a whiney prophet. However, the real message of Jonah is about God’s intended nature in humans, and how we need to look out for what is really important in God’s eyes. We pick up near the end of the book of Jonah where God and Jonah are talking to each other. At this time, Jonah is extremely displeased with how things are going: how could God spare an evil people such as the Ninevites?
The date is roughly 760 BC in the era of the Israelite King Jeroboam II and the Judean King Uzziah. At this time, the Ninevites are part of the rising the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians represent everything that is twisted in human kind; historians have found that the Assyrians were gruesome warriors, slaughtering women and children, and torturing the leaders of those who opposed them. In the story of Jonah, the problem is not that Jonah dislikes Nineveh because they are Gentile, it is because Nineveh is evil (Roop 150).
The book of Jonah is split into four distinct parts: Jonah Flees the Lord, Jonah’s Prayer, Jonah Goes to Nineveh and Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion. We will pick up the story in part four, where Jonah displays his frustration to God. Up to this point, Jonah has fled from the Lord, realized he cannot escape him, repented and obeyed the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh. Jonah preaches God’s message of destruction to the Ninevites. The NIV translates Jonah’s message to the Ninevites as, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” The Ninevites believed every word that Jonah spoke so they fasted, wore sackcloth, and prayed to God that he might show compassion on them. God relented. This made Jonah extremely displeased. It is difficult to understand why Jonah would be displeased.
In chapter 4, verses 2 and 3, there is a dialogue between Jonah and God. Here, Jonah is telling God the reason why he did not want to go to Nineveh in the first place.
…O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God; slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.

First of all, it is important to realize the reasons that caused Jonah to be upset. If we were in the shoes (sandals) of Jonah, would we not want wicked nations to be destroyed (Motyer 181)? And leaning on our understanding of God’s character, would we not also be inclined to tell God that the reason we do not want to go to Nineveh is because we know God is gracious and he will have mercy on those we do not like (Motyer 182)? God’s response to Jonah’s prayer is the basis of what God is trying to teach Jonah and the reader.
“…Have you any right to be angry?”
God’s rhetorical question was genuinely to evoke a deliberation in Jonah (Smith 279). “Instead of a thunderous blast of rebuke, the marvelous image of a tender God is portrayed” (Smith 279). The Hebrew word for ‘anger’ used in this text comes from the same word that the phrases, ‘to burn’ or ‘to be kindled’ are derived from. Many scholars have struggled with God’s question: was it a condemning question to which the only answer is ‘no’, or was it rhetorical, to merely counter Jonah’s accusations? In any case, it is concluded that every time God asks a question it is for teaching purposes (Roop 151).
Continuing on, we find Jonah does not reply to God’s question, but rather walks outside the city, towards the east. There he sits down to wait and see the fate of the city. At this site, Jonah makes himself a shelter to protect himself from the hot Assyrian sun. Roop suggests that the shelter was merely some stones and dead leaves (151). This area of the text has a dialogue dry spell; some believe that the silence here represents Jonah’s stubbornness, or that he was reflecting on what God had asked him in the previous verse (Smith 280). Smith also states that Jonah may have been contemplating how genuine the Ninevites repentance was (280). This is the point at which God shows his love for Jonah by providing a vine to shade him from the sun. The word “provided”, in verse 6, is the same Hebrew word used in Jonah 1:17 to describe the “preparing” of the great fish (Smith 282). The type of vine that God provided has been disputed among scholars. Some believe it to be a castor oil plant; however, the Greek word for the plant is only used once in the entire Bible, so finding its species is impossible. Jonah was extremely comforted by this plant; the text confirms, “…and Jonah was very happy about the vine.” This merely exemplifies just how self orientated Jonah is up to this point. The repeated use of “I”, “my” and “me” in 4:2-3 suggests, again, his self-concern (Motyer 190).
After the vine, God provides even more for Jonah, although what is provided is not necessarily comforting but, rather, a tough lesson. God “provides” a worm at dawn to chew the vine so that it would wither. He then provides a “scorching east wind” which pounds against Jonah’s head. Some scholars suggest that God was putting Jonah in the Ninevites situation to help Jonah evaluate whether his anger is justifiable (Smith 281). This is where the dialogue dry spell ends, and Jonah tells how he feels.
With the sun beating down on Jonah’s head and the feeling that he has lost his vine – his shelter being insufficient – he cries out to God saying, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” One can only imagine the frustration, confusion, and anger Jonah must have felt, and acrimony undertones that he spoke with here. Another reminder of how Jonah does not understand what God is trying to teach him. This is the second response from God that is in the form of a question.
“…Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?”
Another rhetorical question from God to Jonah in order to make him think about what he is saying. This time Jonah is quick to respond, possibly because he is at his emotional peak or completely fed up with the situation. “I do,” he replies. “I am angry enough to die.” One has to read into the tone of Jonah’s words once again to understand the anguish and frustration he is experiencing. However, the question still stands – does Jonah have the right to be angry? Motyer points out that Jonah could not accept two things: he fact that he could not live without grace, and how his enemies would benefit from grace(198). Smith also explains it in this way, “What right do we have to demand that God should favor us and not others?” (285). Would Jonah have come up with a more logical answer to God’s question if he had thought about what God was trying to teach him? The book of Jonah ends with God’s final response to Jonah about what he is trying to teach him and the reader.
…You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?

With this final word from God, the comparison that God set up for Jonah to grasp is clearly stated. God shows Jonah how engrossed in self-pity he had become and how that did not agree with what God really cared about. God does not care about the vine; he cares about people. God is telling Jonah what Jonah should have known all along. Through his rhetorical questions, God was getting Jonah to understand the gap in his thinking process. Now, at the end of the chapter, God gives it to Jonah straight up. The word ‘concerned’, used in verse 11, tends to not send the proper emotional power that was originally intended; Smith says that it should be replaced rather with the words, “have compassion” (286). The Hebrew word for ‘concern’ literally means “to have tears in ones eyes” (Motyer 200). One of the amazing things with Jonah is how he shows such compassion and ‘concern’ for a plant that he has not even tended to. Jonah was prepared to die for the comfort given to him by the plant, but was willing to let the Ninevites perish for their lack of taking God’s word to heart (Motyer 199). Allan puts this another way by saying that Jonah’s attachment to the plant could not be that deep considering it was present one day and gone the next. His concern was dictated by self-interest not by genuine love (234). God’s love for the Ninevites is one of magnificent, genuine love. They are his creation, his children, and it is here where the huge contrast between Jonah’s shallow love and God’s ocean deep love is clearly seen.
God also spoke about how the Ninevites could not tell their left hand from their right. This may have been their inability to distinguish various forms of religion, such as monotheism, polytheism and the worship of the constellations, which was commonly practiced among the Assyrians (Smith 287). Ogilvie states: “The Ninevites were wicked because they did not know the Law of Yahweh” (430). God showed great love for even Gentiles; did Jonah, and possibly all of the Israelites, get to the point of hording God for themselves? Perhaps they believed that God was for exclusive club members only, forgetting that God’s love is completely inclusive. Jonah’s judgmental character was possibly the result of not realizing that he, too, was being judge by God (Ogilvie 430).
Here we have ‘the story of the whiney prophet, Jonah’. What would it look like to take Jonah’s situation and transplant it to modern day? There are a couple of options to choose from. Roop describes it as the church not taking judgment into its own hands, rather, leaving it to God: “At all costs, [the church] should avoid taking up the sword, even for justice” (155). While this sounds like an extreme example of following the teachings of this passage, it would be a distinct practice for a church to portray. On a personal level this book should challenge us to re-evaluate what is important to us, to determine in what direction we are heading, and to see if that direction aligns with where God wants us to go. God’s blessings are often directly related to submission to his will. This is a statement that comes to life after studying the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. Another aspect for personal growth would be to realize that we are not to be the ones who are to pass judgment on people, or to question whether a person has truly repented. We cannot horde grace for ourselves; instead, God calls us to dispense that grace, which he has given to us, onto others. We must remember that the book of Jonah ends with God expressing to whom his true love falls – to people.

Check This Out!

Hey Kaleo Forever!

Check this out! The newest edition of the very popular NIV translation of the Bible is called the TNIV (Today's New International Version), and it is designed for 18-34 year olds (like you!).

What I like about the TNIV is not only its accuracy and readability, but also that the publishers have made it so accessible! Here are three ways to read it for free:

1. Go to the TNIV Website and read and search it online.
2. Download the whole thing as a searchable PDF (6MB).
3. Get a copy sent to you for free by mail (one per street address, while quantities last)!

Amazing! William Tyndale would have been proud! Get into the Word!

Sun, Warmth, Spring, Blooming - relationships?

As I was walking to class this morning I noticed that the flowers here are starting to bloom. I walked past some bushes that had some very nice white flowers. This reminded me of the Dogwood (AKA: Brittany) we planted at the guesthouse. I was wondering if anyone at camp could take a picture of it when it starts to bloom and post it up here! :D

Thanks guys! Hope your spring is going well!

LIfe is busy!

Wow life has been going at Mach 1 these days. I have so many assingments due in the next week its insane!

I was in a Christian bookstore the other day and noticed something a little odd. They have birthday cards now that have qoutes on them from books that people have written. It almost seems as though the book qoutes are taking over scripture qoutes for encouragement. Max Lucado cards seem to be extremely popular at this book store. I don't know, maybe its just me!

Time for bed! Leave your opinion on this, I would love to hear it!

Job for the summer

Hey All,
Just letting you all in on some exciting news, atleast for me. I just found this evening that I will be heading back to Camp Qwanoes for the summer as Camp Store Manager. God has had this on my heart for awhile now and I am so pumped about heading back to camp. I miss that place so much. It's my home!! Hope everyone is doing well. Love you and miss you, Kristi

More Melissa Stories!

Hey all, hahah I guess Jordan posted my up-date on the weekend for me, so I don't need to do that now but cool story,
I just got off the phone with my employer. She asked about the funeral and stuff and one thing lead to another and I got to tell her all about Britt, why she loved Jesus, how Jon came to Christ at her funeral ect. ect. ect.
It was cool, I' haven't really had that oppertunity yet to tell them about the difference in my "religion" and Britt just gave me the perfect oppertunity!
I hope we all will search out for oppertunities to share about Britt and her love for Christ! It's an amazing story and we all have the responsibility to be good stuarts of it! For the sake of Christ's Kingdom!
God Bless!
~Dotto~

Brittany's Eulogy by Ty Wells at the Qwanoes Memorial

I miss Britt. I want to mourn with you today. I want to share and remember her life. I loved her as a friend and she was in all our hearts. But most of all, like Britt, I want to glorify God. I met Brittany in Kaleo last year. She had just left her hospitable, loving Christian home in Winkler, Manitoba. Her ‘meet you where you are’ acceptance, her inclusive love, her humility and care for others, were a reflection of her family. Growing up she was like any other kid. She got caught up in teen fads like the Spice Girls. Sporty was apparently her favorite, and even at Kaleo Spice World remained one of her favorite movies. She played sports too, even on the provincial team for softball. She didn’t give a rip about the score, she was about encouraging everyone. She liked skateboarding and snowboarding especially. Every spring break her family would spend the week together in Banff on a ski trip. However, one of the most special places for Britt was Winkler Bible camp. She worked there this past summer as the counselor for the CIT preparation program called Impact. It was in Winkler Bible camp’s CIT program that she first made her faith her own. Although she accepted Christ at a young age, and was raised in the church, that’s when her reflection of Jesus really began to grow. She was active in her church too. She was on the youth executive and very involved in the youth group. She went on a mission trip to Urban Promise in Vancouver, and dreamed of someday teaching English in Mexico or China.

By the time we met her she was pretty incredible. I have so many memories of Britt that make me smile. How could you not around her? She smiled so much herself. I used to call her ‘skim milk’. Can’t you just see Britt in the dining hall in her hoody and sweats, wandering with a glass of milk, or kind of nervously chewing her fingernails, or talking with her mouth full. I can’t not smile when I think of that. I can hear myself asking her 'how are ya doing?’ and seeing her respond with a big smile and a phrase like 'just fantastic' even though everything was ‘just terrible’ at the moment. She didn’t burden anyone, including herself, in her struggles; instead Britt chose to meet you where you were. And she was so kind with her words; she rarely shared her frustrations, that is such an admirable quality. Britt was a goof too. Take a moment and imagine Brittany in high heels and a skirt, dancing in a Mennonite church to a routine from the movie ‘A Night At The Roxbury’, that’s what she did for the Christmas banquet one year. Anyone who saw her rock out at our Christmas banquet knows she didn’t hold back. She did everything with her heart! She was game for crazy stuff too, like having a bath in her bathing suit with some of the other Kaleo girls, and she knew how to take a fun gesture as well, like when I got down on one knee on the skytrain and sang Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me A River’ to her. She just laughed in that hooting kind of embarrassed laugh she had, all the while muttering ‘oh my goodness’.

We were at Union Gospel Mission when that happened, and it reminds me of her enormous heart for people, and how I was able to witness that in the time and care she gave to others. ‘Love is best kept by giving it away’, is something she wrote in her journal. Brittany lived it by tirelessly reaching out and listening to people. When I had listened for hours, and was seeking a change like serving in the kitchen or playing a game of ping pong with some kids in the center, Britt was still listening. She would come over after about three hours and say something like, ‘Boy, he sure had a lot to say’, but she didn’t mean it. Her heart was continually broken for others. Even as we were ending a long day she did not consider herself. Despite at least a twelve hour day, despite still needing to pray and plan for tomorrow, despite a no one-on-one conversation rule, you would turn around and she would be outside listening to three guys, pouring into their lives. Her care for others was not constrained by anything. She lived a purposeful life; loving God and loving other people. That’s why I do not understand why someone so intelligent, so Christ-centered, so passionate for others, so valuable in storming the gates of hell and sharing Christ could be taken now. Did you know she was going to return to Union Gospel Mission? Can you see her back in the inner city pouring herself out? Can you imagine her in China as a missionary? We can see these things because it is not hard to imagine her as an instrument of Christ. But if you perceive clearly, you can see that even in her death God is using Britt to draw people to Himself. Brittany emptied herself into her friend Dana and because of her passing Dana’s walls have begun to fall. There is a young man in Winkler named Kevin who has been searching hard and her death has caused a deep re-evaluation of his life. One of her co-workers, Jon, came to Winkler for the funeral and her family has been working on his heart. ‘Oh, you’re the Jon we have been praying for’, and they have fearlessly shared the gospel, speaking into his life. Through her death God is working on lost hearts. Another example is Brittany’s high school boyfriend Tyler, who says that he wouldn’t even be a Christian if she hadn’t challenged him in his faith. He’s now in YWAM and organizing prayer meetings in Winkler where he prays over Aaron her boyfriend in Kaleo. There is evidence in our fellowships, how much closer are we because she has been called home. God is unifying his people in this. Besides all this, there are the countless ways God is using us to speak to classmates and co-workers, and think about the worship we are giving him for the blessing of having known her.

The glory of God is being revealed as Brittany continues to serve Him in death. She wouldn’t have wanted today to be about her, she would have directed the glory to God. So thank God for His good plan, and thank God for the chance to know Brittany Fehr.

Melissa's throughts...

The Kaleo Report on the best, worst weekend ever,

This is an up-date of God's work in manitoba for all of you who were
un-able to make it out to this past weekend, and a reminder of God's
work for all of you who were. It seems kinda long but it actualy only
takes like 5 min. to read. It's written kinda journal style:

God was powerfuly at work changing lives in the wake of Britt's
death. For me personaly I saw the evidance of that as soon as I
stepped on the plane to departed for manitoba. As you all know I am
terrified of planed! As I was boarding the plane I noticed someone
looking @ me out of the corner of my eye. As I looked back I saw a
firmilar face. It was Sharon! Britt and Julia's old youth pastor and
friend. She was on the same plane as me heading out to manitoba and
she was sitting right next to me too. (This is amazing as there were
maby a total of 20 people on this flight that had room for like a
hundred!) What an amazxing confort, to have someone to talk to who
loves jesus and loved britt. I wasn't scared at all the whole plane
ride!

Than 1/2 of Kaleo was at the airport to greet me and pam ,(who
arrived on a plane 10 min. after me) And seriously that was so
amazing. For us to all be together again, we remembered the love and
the bonds that had been formed during Kaleo and because they were
centered in Christ thoes bonds were just as strong as they ever were.
That is also the first time I met Jon. But there will be more on that
later on! They had been together for a day or two already. Kristi,
Amber, James, Colin, Jon and Julia and Jordan I believe. The previous
day they had gotten prayed over by Ty and had gone to Britt's house to
visit the Fehr's. Hahah funny story about that, When Ty was praying
over Amber he saw a Red blow-up microphone. Does that ring a bell to
anyone? heheh Lol- We think it was my pink microphone that britt
air-banded with.......But you'll have to ask amber to find out what it
ment to her.

That night at Julia's house was cool. I had a tru Manitoban evening!
I got to have real farmers sausage,hear Aaron and Julia's dad discuss
grian and there was snow outside, It was awsome! It was flat! IT WAS
WINKLER! Julia's family was AMAZING! and seriously the biggest
blessing ever to all of us! We got to meet Ty, and some of Britt's
other friends. We all got along really well. That night we must have
stayed up till 3:00 am ish watching all of amber's video tapes from
ALL of kaleo. Our eyes eagerly searching out parts with Britt in
them. We laughed at the memories of that night, yet were pained
because the body we saw so full of life on the video was no longer
with us. I had been "strong" and numb up to this point.So numb
infact that I hadn't even cried yet. Yet as we watched the video's I
cried. Amber interviewed Britt at the end of Kaleo. Britt talked
about me and Aaron on the video. She said she loved me and - Wosh - I
was lost in a wave of tears. He death all of a sudden became real to
me and it hurt!

The following morning we woke up in the afternoon(not even joking)
and got to work preparing stuff for the memorial. Amber and Colin
spent most of the day peicing together a video of britt and Aaron and
Jordan joined in on the efforts later on in the afternoon. That night
was the memorial. Britt and Jordan were at the front of the room.
The majority of us could not go up and look at her yet, it was still
to hard. However from my seat I could see britt's face and her hair.
It was no longer in
Dreadlocks. Her dad said that she had taken them out for Mexico!

The memorial it's self was beautiful! It was close friends and
family that attended. Wonderful stories were shared about Jordan and
Britt and it was clear to anyone in the room, from the friends
speaking and the parents words that Britt and Jordan loved Christ Pam
shared a beautiful letter (that I hope she will send out or post up or
something) and Julia shared some good memories!. There was a lot of
sorrow but a lot of hope! Jon was one of these people who noticed the
hope. When I got up, I talked about britt. I talked about her being
a friend, a prayer/worship warrior and a Missionary (even if it wasn't
in africa or China) I talked about the huge impact she had on my
family thru her countless overnight stays at our house and the spring
break and other week-long stays! I talked about how I couldn't
believe that God would choose to bless me with such a good friend and
than allow me to stay in contact with her up to her last days, I
talked about how much she loved God and people and how she showed it
over and over to me! Even if it was just a little one line e-mail
(which I often got) that said "Meliss! I LOVE YOU!" she gave love
away so freely! (Julia said in her Eulogy "Britt believed that the
bestway to hold onto love was by giving it away") but anywayse
...........................THAN I went to sit down but half way down
the row I quickly turned back and hopped back to the front! Ralph
(Britt's dad) was already up front to share and he laughed at me and
handed me back the mike (if people didn't hink I was crazzy before
when I shared they definately did now!) So with everyone's eyes on me
I went off, with: "Oh man Britt would kill me if I didn't say this,
Now if you knew britt and noticed something different in her know that
difference was Christ, If you miss britt and wish you could of gotten
to know her better get to know Christ and if you see the amazing hope
we all have in this ropom and you yourself don not feel that hope,
hget to know it, Britt strongly desired everying to know her best
friend.......... I went off on some tangent like that" I ALMOST did
an alter call and than decided I didn't feel the spirit leading me to
do one..........yet. But I did
look in Jon's direction a lot when sharring!
After them memorial we got to talk more to britt's friends and
family. It was amazing to talk to Briitt's family. Even in all their
sorrow and greif they were able to muster up enough stregnth to share
stories about Britt with us and encourage us! They know all about us!
Kristen was eager to meet amber and searched her out. Jocelyn and
Ralph remembered Pam and treasured the picture that she had painted
for britt! They were so glad that Aaron could make it out (oh that's
a cool story too! more on that later!). Kristen even mensioned to me
that many times over she had recieved a letter from britt written @ my
house with request in in for prayers for my family. After talking for
a bit a realisation came to me. Even thogh Britt didn't got to go to
China on her mission trip, she was a missionary. Everywhere she went
was her own personal missions feild! Weather it be my house, A&W or
where ever she was!
That night we went out to Tim Horton's with Britt's friends. We
talked to Ty a lot! Man, you got the sence How much we were loved by
britt by how much she talked about all of us. Ty had heard a lot of
our stories. Britt even made shure that Ty was praying every day for
my family! He said that he felt like he already knew me because of
the stories Britt would tell, he followed it up with, "So what exactly
is this "sound" you make" lol! If it wern't for Britt in his life he
said he would of been way different! (not in a good way) Britt had
such a powerful ministry to all her friends. We all be came
immediate friends. Britt tied us all together and we all desired to
get to know oneanother, almost in attempt to get to know Britt better.

The next day was her funeral. We got there and there were seriously a
million perple (even hutterite people came) We got treated with a lot
of love at the funeral! It was encouraging to see the body of Christ
all loving and supporting one another! Before the funeral we walked
by Britt's open Casket. Ahh it was surreal! To look at her body, her
hands that made so many beautiful cards, her lips that spoke
encouraging words into our lives her arms that gave us extra-long
britt hugs and were always raised up in worship, it was all lying
there lifeless. I don't know how long I stayed there just looking at
her. But I eventualy pulled myself away......or maby someone pulled
me away, I don't really remember. I think I gave Aaron possibly the
longest hug of my life and that we all walked into the sancuary and
sat in the third row from the front which they had saved for us. I
don't remember much from the funeral except that by the power of God
Julia delievered a beautiful Eulogy!( the Eulogy was kinda all thanks
to Kristi, she had asked Julia about it that night before and Julia
was like "I dodn't know about this!) The Eulogy was a funy story
because Julia didn't know till the night before that she was supposed
to deliver it so all saturday morning was spent for her in the
computer room wrighting it. She did the majority of it and when she
could not articulate her words amber and I popped in to write a line
or two. It was done in true Guesthouse style. A group effort done
Last minuit.....Well still mostly Julia.

After the funeral when we were putting Britt in the ground. The
family had flowers to lay on the casket. Britt's uncle came up to me
and gave me 2 flowers to put on the casket(All be it the flowers were
carnations.......Britt hated thoes, she thought they were a waste of a
flower, But I'm shure she can deal with it, she has much more
importantthings to concern her time with now than worrying about the
flowers on her Casket. Things like hanging out with Jesus, Praising
Jesus, Punking out to Spoken with Jesus ect ect ect!). He had been
looking for me as apparently the family wanted to make shure that
Aaron and I were given flowers to pay our last respects to britt with
and that we were up near the front to be able to see them(this ment me
standing in the mud, I was ok with that.........., however I was
wearing Kristi's shoes............so I'm not shure how she felt.
lol-Thanks Kristi!). I was so blown away. The family in so much greif
was looking out for us, concerned that we get the chance to greive and
caring or us enough to seek us out! Amber and Julia were also given
the chance to pay their last respects to britt in a very privladge
way, when they served as paul barrers (I'm not shure how to spell it
but they guided Britt in and out of the service) It was beautiful as
they walked down the row accompaning Britt's Casket!
After that we went back to the church for NACHO'S! The fehr's made
shure that we took home flowers. Jocelyn told me "Make shure you
Aaron amber and Julia get some flowers and whoever else wants
some!...........Heck a whole bunch!!......but please don't be afaird
and take the small ones, TAKE THE BIG ONES" haha I laughted it was
said exactly as britt would of said it! Than we left for a fun night
in memory of Britt. This included a trip to The Springs (a church
service- HUGE!) than to the Cassino to spend 2$ (as that is what
britt would do) and than out for supper. We went with All of Britt's
friends. Ty, T.J. , Mike, Dana, ect. ect.ect. It was really fun!
Aaron told me stories about how much Britt loved the Cassino and how'
she's spend like 2$ This is where we said bye to Kristi as she had to
get back to school.

Wow this is long, maby I should call it a chapter book insterad of a
letter ! Now before I can tell what happened at the Springs with Jon
I'll tell you his history-

Chapter 2: JON'S STORY!
Jon met Britt when He was in Canmore. He had only 10 dollars left and
decided to go spend the last of it on food @ the A&W. Britt served
him. Even in that breif moment of interaction Britt gave Jon hope. He
noticed something different in her. So with that new found hope he
redidly got a job @.............A&W! From there on Britt built a
relationship with him and loved and poured into him! Before Britt
left she gave Jon a Bible! Jon said @ the memorial service that Britt
taught him a lot about Christ and that he hoped for Britt''s sake to
continue learning.

So that night at the Springs, The speaker was talking about loss and
living for Christ and stuff. Honestly I fell asleep half way thru
aswe had hardly slept but 3 hours the night before and the night
before than and the night before that( hahah but to Jon it must have
looked like I was praying because I had my hands folded and my face in
them-Lol-). But I guess the message touched Jon and at the end when
the pastor invited people to follow him in a prayer of giving your
life to Christ Jon rose his hand and boldly prayed and made a personal
Comittment to CHRIST!!!!!! It was so amazing to be satnding next to
him , hear him pray and than give him a big hug (which by the way I am
good at now! I've been practicing!)

When we went to the fehr's the next morning they were overjoyed
to hear about Jon comming to Christ so soon after britt's death. Her
life and story was already reaping fruits for the kingdom! Jocelys
said "Oh this is so exciting! We have to pray right now!" and we
prayed a passionate, hopeful, and TRIUMPHANT prayers praising God and
thanking him!" TRIUMPHANT was probably the best word ever to describe
the mood in the room. Ralph than took me down stairs to see Britt's
room and Jordan's room. It was amazing and I will post pictures
later! THey showed me the stuff from the crash. Jordan's Guitar was
in a million peices as was everything else in the Bags that I looked
thru, they hadn't looked thru all the bags yet. But the amazing thing
that ralph told me that the RCMP Officer that found them immediately
know what kind of kids they were because right after she found their
Bibles completely in contact and right by them in the Car. When they
went to the Hospital Jordan had his Bible right next to him on the
stretcher! Ralph than told me about Britt's Prayer Journal. I was
planning on asking him about it anywase. He told me that my family was
in it a lot (as I believe Kristi and Amber told me before when they
read it.....Or actualy I don't really remember who told me
it.............actualy I think everyone Britt ever knew was in that
little book!) and that In the future it will be ok for me to photocopy
it and show it to my parents in hopes that that will be a step in them
comming to Christ! I could not get over the whole Fehr's family's
imense stregnth hand in hand withtheir imense sorrow.

Than on my way to the Airport it started snowing! A true Prarie Experience!

Now for me personaly what has this ment? Well @ first I was just
angry....I'm notreally shure at what, I guess just at the fact that
Britt and I would never get to go to Africa on our adventure and that
she would never get her brand new sleeping bag (that was actualy warm)
for her birthday ect. ect. ect But that's just me being selfish and
wnating more time with her. I don't have a right to more time with
her, I have been cheated out of time with Britt, I've been blessed
with time with Britt (even though I may in my human mind not consider
it time enough)

All in all what have I learned. Well somehow I am more assured of
Britt's salvation than my own. I know she is in all Christ's Glory
right now. So that encourages me, The reality of Eternity is
starting to be made known to me and it's the most beautiful
realisation EVER! I realise one day I too will be with Chirst and I
am beging to love and even long for that time! Death isn't so scary
anymore! Christ is preparing a place for us to
go...............Christ is preparing a place for us to go! It's kinda
like going to a party at your best friends house when they are the
only person you know. You look foreward to it and stuff but your
still a little scared to go. But If you knew one of your other good
friends was going to be there that it wouldn't be so scarry and you'd
look foreward to going more. That what heaven is to me now. My Best
friend (Jesus)'s party with other friends(Britt who I know will be
there to show me around!) all praising and worshiping God together.
I have realised that God is in control and honestly is he could of
done things another way he would of, But he didn't and we and out
little inferior minds can't understand it, BUT that's OK cuz if we
could we wouldn't need faith! Jesus Christ is the Only thing that
lasts! All that being said..............It still all totaly sucks!
I miss Britt! There is no cure for this kind of pain. Life can never
go back to "normal" the best we can do is find a new normal. However
and it says in Job
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,

and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

may the name of the LORD be praised."

Another verse that stood out to me, after Job's kids have dies his
wife confronts him:

His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity?
Curse God and die!"
He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. SHALL WE ACCEPT
GOOD FROM GOD AND NOT TROUBLE" (I put the capitals in to emphasise
it, it;s not like that in the bible!)

So Yah- Praise God for the Life of Britt!



Melissa Dotto

Britt's Eulogy

Here is the eulogy that was given by Julia at Brittany's funeral on Saturday. It was wonderful that most of us were able to gather either there or at Qwanoes to remember Britt that day.



Brittany Fehr was the sister I never had. Our friendship began on a baseball team in Junior high which was really not about baseball at all. I think Ralph could confess that try as he did, Brittany's heart and head were never completely in the game, but boy could she keep us rolling with laughter.

As we entered high school I saw new sides of Britt. It was almost infuriating to sit beside her in Pre-Calculus math or French for that matter, and struggle through verb conjunctions and y x equations as Brittany read her Bible or soaked in a good book, which she had hidden under the table. Britt could get away with putting school on the back burner though, and much to our dismay her test results were consistently better than ours.

Brittany knew what was important in life. She loved God, and she loved people. She was always the laid back one, the dreamer, the artist, and had a way of getting you involved in some kind of Brittany Fehr scheme. Getting to know Britt pretty well through the Grace Church Youth group, I remember our final youth retreat at Camp Arnas in Grade 12. After an intense game of dutch blitz, which for the record Britt and I won, Britt decided a midnight snack was well deserved. Breaking into the camps kitchen, Britt went after the taco chips, salsa and cheese. As Britt whipped up plates topped with hot nachos for everyone, our youth leaders turned their heads, and left us to stand guard. In Britt's mind rules could be bent, twisted, or blurred if it aided to the betterment of mankind.

Brittany was also real. You knew when she was up and when she was down. Her expressions told all. When asking Britt how it was going, you could expect a huge smile and a "just fantastic," or a pouty lip and a "this sucks." She didn't miss an opportunity to tell you that you were special, she loved you and to cheer you on. Britt believed that love is best kept by giving it away.

Brittany had a heart to serve and a fascination with other cultures. She was passionate about China and I distinctly remember her willingness to give up everything, even her life to serve these people. Even while living in Canmore, she took joy in experiencing foreign traditions. One of the recent memories shared about Britt was smoking an Arabic sheesha's at the Mediterranean Café in Calgary. For those of you not familiar with the tradition, a sheesha is a tall, bong-like contraption that filters flavored substances (not quite sure what) through water. The flouvoring was pink lemonade. Brittany was intrigued with the tradition and determined to master the art of smoke rings. The strained expressions on her face were priceless, as she puckered her lips, raised her eyebrows, and squealed with delight at the sight of the first “O.”

You only had to talk to Britt for about two minutes to know what she was all about. She loved God and deeply desired to see the same passion in others. You always got the sense that maybe she saw just a little more of God than we did. Jim Badke, our program director at Kaleo, described Britt's love for worship and prayer by saying, "She always had one foot in heaven, it's as if God just said to her, well your closer to my home than yours, why don't you just come over." And she did!"

I have a hard time believing that someone so incredibly full of life could have been taken by death. But then I know that she's more alive now than she ever has been! For anyone who has ever seen Brittanys face as she worshiped you can almost imagine what it must look like now as she sees Jesus face to face and rocks out to praise and worship with the angels!

Psalm 34 - those who look to him are RADIANT!

Brittany will be greatly missed by all of those she left behind, but if I know Brittany, she would shake her head at our tears, give us one of those extra long hugs, and get the party started. I think she would be uncomfortable having the focus on her and humbly direct all attention, celebration, and glory back to God. After all, it is the Jesus living in Britt that we remember and that is a testimony that will never die.

Back to the "normal life"

As I arrived back in Caronport at 9:00am this morning, I still find myself questioning what happened. As Jordan, James and myself were picked up on Tuesday night by Amber and Colin, it was still hard to believe that this could actually happen to us. I was blessed to be in Winkler MB this past week and be surrounded by so much support. There was so much pain and grief there too. We were able to go over to the Fehr's and be able to bless them. They were truly blessed that we were able to come out and celebrate the life of Britt. I truly found myself blessed when I was able to meet Britt's sister, Kristin and her Husband Kevin. I had mixed feelings about this because I knew how much Britt wanted to see her sister and now I got to meet them. I wanted Britt to be there so much but she was praising God. There was so much that happened this past week, and not much sleep. We were able to gather on Friday nite with family and close friends to be able to tell stories about Britt and Jordan and that was an amazing time celebrating their lives. I still am waiting to see Britt run through the door because this seems all like a dream.

Britt would of been so happy that her two worlds finally got together. We were able to meet Britt's friends from Winkler and be able to pray together, laugh together and cry together. The most amazing thing that happened this past week that one of Britt's friend, Jon - they worked together and being Britt she shared God with him and then last night at a church service in Winnipeg, Jon gave his life to the Lord and all I could think was that Britt was just throwing a party up in heaven for Jon. We could be in prayer for him as he figures out what he will do with his life.

I has been good getting back here and getting back into the "normal life". There has been so much support here from friends and I feel truly blessed.

I love you all so much and miss you so much!

Love your sister in Christ, Kristi

Late night...

Well it seems Andre gave me to much mate, so now I'm still up. Today was a interesting adventure, Andre and I first missed the ferry to the island but we finally got on. We ended up getting to camp an hour late for the memorial but it seemed we arrived right on time when some of Kaleo was planting Brittany's tree at the guest house.
It was a day to mourn, it was a day to rejoice. For me, it still seems almost surreal. For the fact that such a traggic accident could happen to people so full of life. But then I realize that for everything that happens God's hand is in it. He works every situation for good. It's like dropping a pebble into a still lake. Everything is calm, peaceful, inbalance. You drop a pebble into the lake and for a split second it causes a moment of chaos then beatuiful ripples form going out in all directions. This past week has felt like that split moment of when the pebble hit the water. As I think back I can already see the beatiful ripples that are already forming in all directions as God's grace, love and hope are sent to those he loves.
In the past week I have seen how Brittany's life changed us all. From the support groups that have reformed, to the getting together to reflect and the peace of knowing exactly where Brittany is at this moment. Nothing can bring more joy to a persons face then seeing that picture of Brittany as she worshiped God and to think of how much more her face shines as she worships Him in His glory.

May Your will be done in our lives as we take up our crosses daily and follow You.

God Bless All,

Jordan N

Welcome Kaleo!

Welcome Colin, Kristi, Kailyn, Andre, Jim, Bev and Melissa to the ikaleo blog :) There should be more people joining within the next couple of days. If you would like to become a member as well just message me over MSN or drop me an email at: jordan.nielsen@gmail.com

Habbakuk - Expressing a sober view to God

When going through the book of Habbakuk in class, I have noticed that a couple key things. It starts off with Habbakuk already in a state of frustration, he seems that he is basically speaking his mind. He cries out to God saying "How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?...." If you read on you will see that God did answer him. Although probably not with the kind of answer that you would expect. God answered by saying he will send the Babylonians to take Judea captive. You have to read God's description of them to realize what a force this is.
We can be so disconnected from what is happening here in the Bible. While if we draw this text into our day, we will realize that this is like us crying out to God to pour his love on our nation. We wait and wait, yet nothing happens. But when God sends his message it comes in the form of the Taliban to take us captive. Now this is only an example, and not something that I am saying will happen. But I believe that one thing we can get from this text is how honest Habbakuk was with God. He did not try to "dumb" it down for God, but rather he spoke what was on his heart. He spoke the things that made him restless at night. Through this all the most significant thing I believe he did was he would always wait for an answer. You will read that once God answered Habbakuk the first time, Habbakuk prayed again, pouring out what lay heavy on his heart. This is the type of two way communication that is supposed to take place. We so often pray and do not expect an answer. Here in Habbakuk is a challenge not only to pray what is heavy on our hearts and question what is happening but to also wait and wait patiently for God to answer. He will, in time...

3...2...1... We have lift-off!

Hello everybody! I have created this blog for everyone that has graduated from Kaleo. Feel free to tell me what you think and if there should be new items added. I have just started it so please just give me some time to get it all up and running. Thanks