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Although Caleb suffered a
sever case of road rash on his left shoulder and upper back, his team won
the race. They went on to the provincials but were disqualified in the
final. Caleb, who also competed in pole vault, brought home the provincial
title in that event.
Mark Kowalko, Caleb’s father, said some jocks would be handing out copies of
Sports Illustrated to everyone they know, but Caleb doesn’t see it as a big
deal.
The senior pastor at
Glamorgan Church of God explained that his alma mater, Warner Pacific
College in Oregon, increased a scholarship offer for Caleb to join their
track team based on the photo.
The coach at the college told
Caleb, “That picture shows something about your character. You’re the type
of guy I want on my team,” Mark related.
But Caleb decided to attend
Alliance University College (AUC) in Calgary this fall to stay close to home
for a year. He’ll still be training with the Calgary Track and Field
Athletic Association while pursuing his other passions – music and worship.
Caleb’s first music teacher,
at Glenmore Christian Academy, encouraged him to learn different
instruments. Caleb took this to heart and has played piano, trombone, bass
guitar, drums and, more recently, guitar.
With Caleb eager to practice
guitar every day and work on worship arrangements, Mark laughingly laments,
“Trying to get him to the supper table is a major ordeal.”
Caleb, who has been a
Christian since the age of five, said he loves worship because it’s “totally
opposite” to who he is.
“I’m very performance oriented. For me, it’s important to see my results,”
Caleb elaborated. “Worship is not about me at all. That’s what I like. You
can go deeper and deeper and there’s never any end to it.”
While choosing the Worship
Arts major at AUC, Caleb is setting his sights on youth ministry and music
ministry. He has performed with nine worship teams and has been leading the
youth worship at Southview Alliance for the last year. He is also taking the
first steps towards writing his own material.
With Caleb following his
father’s love of sports and music, Mark said, “It’s thrilling to see a young
guy turning out so well in spite of me.”
Not wanting to take any of
the credit for Caleb’s choices, Mark emphasized, “It speaks to me about the
grace of God. The reality is that Caleb sees me at my best and my worst, and
in spite of that he’s willing to follow the Lord and go into ministry…he
just has a great heart.” |
