Simple Conversations

Here's the deal. We all have those life changing moments. Usually they are nothing too significant. You might see something, a sign, a commercial, or one simple word. It could even be something you hear on the radio or a casual remark. However it comes, it changes you for good.

There are times when these little gems show up in my, and I'm basically jumping up and down inside because I'm so excited! Other times I can hardly stand it. A big part of this is probably because whatever I hear or see totally related to what I'm currently experiencing in my life.

Here's my story...or at least one of them...

I was talking to a friend the other day. He was telling me about a retreat he had recently been to. At a retreat, the speaker was talking about the passage in Revelation that is written to the church in Laodicea, "...I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth..." (Revelation 3:15-16). When my friend told me that, it hit me like a rock. Boom. God knew what he was doing with that one.

Hearing about being hot or cold was just what my heart was looking for...It flipped a switch in my brain. Wow! Sometimes I settle to ride the waves and not make the waves. It's not that I have to be disrupt things and go crazy; I want to make waves with the incomparable love God pours all over me!

I choose to be on fire for God.

It is a choice to be hot or cold. Make up your mind! I am choosing to be hot, because the benefits of hot greatly outweigh those of being cold.

So be on the look out for those little gems. They will change your life if you let them. God is looking out for you when you least expect it. Don't we have the best Dad of all time!? I'm going to say YES. I'm so glad He sends people into my life to straighten me out sometimes. How sweet it is to be loved by the Creator of the Universe.

<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>

WRAP UP from the SUMMER

I was able to finish up Hillside Intensive in PA. That was a blast. I am confident that was, is, and will be a launching pad for the rest of my life! I find it crazy and wonderful that God carefully orchestrates each of our lives so we can have the opportunity to use the gifts He has given us to serve Him. That is humbling for sure. Think about that for a second....The God of the universe knows you and has known you since before you were even a thought.

From the Hillside to the Nations

So, I'm at Hillside Intensive in PA. What a blessing it has been so far.

God has been revealing so many new things. For example, He has been showing me just how unknowable his grace, mercy, and love are. The more we experience it; the sweeter it is! The more we see it; the more we want it!

There have been a pretty good selection of speakers and musicians here in the past 2 weeks...wow! It's hard to believe it has already been two weeks. Rick Pino, Sean Feucht, Bryan and Katie Torwalt, Leonard Jones, Awaken Wells, Erik Smith, David Fritch, Daniel and Natalia Hazelwood, Charles Stock (Pastor of Life Center Church in Harrisburg, PA), and many more.

Each musician is a true artist. I can't really say that I have liked one better than the rest. It seems to me that each God uses differently. He has used each of them uniquely to reveal different things to me. It is a real journey. It is hard to choose a best part, because I know the best is yet to come!

What I have learned...so far...from some of the people...
I would write about all of them, but my brain might get tired out from all that thinking :)

Rick Pino: Wow! What a humble guy. He is just so real when he talked with us. He talked about the power of music. Rhythm makes you want to move. Melodies affect your soul. Lyrics affect your spirit. It is our job to be a voice for the Lord! Also, he talked about consecrating yourself to the Lord as the Nazirites did. Spending time with the Lord will cause you to draw closer to Him and grow in relationship with Him. Probably my favorite thing he shared was about popularity and influence. The culture now almost demands us to be popular...it says if we aren't popular, we are nothing. Well in the Kingdom of God that is NOT true!!! First, he said that we should be famous before God and to get your identity from the one who can truly give it...that's God just in case you were wondering. He already knows you inside and out, because he made you. Psalm 139. Also, there is a big difference between popularity and influence...popularity changes with the wind....influence changes the wind! Rick's messages have been challenging me to really find my identity in God and spend time with him. I want my heart to look like God's heart.

Sean Feucht: Well, I didn't really know who he was coming into this thing. As he has spoken, I found out he has been on some crazy adventures with God. He has traveled many places around the world with God. He was one of the founders of the BURN 24/7 movement...it all started as quiet time with God in a dorm stairwell. Crazy! He has a real heart for the nations and carrying/bearing fruit that remains. He has talked about building a relationship with God in the secret place. It allows you to carry that with you wherever you go once you have built a strong bond with Him. God's heartbeat will become your heartbeat. The more we are with Him, the more we become like Him. This has challenged me to get into that secret place with God simply to know Him better...and to do what I was made to do ---> worship!!!

Bryan and Katie Torwalt: It was so cool to see these two in person. I had actually heard of them before I came to school here, so I was excited to hear their story. They led worship for 3 nights of the school. It was really cool to be able to watch them usher the corporate body in to the presence of the Lord. Bryan spoke to us during one of the morning sessions. He also talked about getting away into the secret place with God. He said it is so important, because you need to learn to be aware of when God walks into the room and speaks. That was really cool for me to hear, because so many times we sing and talk about Jesus being our best friend. If we have a best friend that is a human, we usually notice when they come into a room. We notice if they say something; we don't ignore them. Man, if Jesus is closer than a brother, I sure want to know when He is in the room. I know he is on my side and always has my best in mind! We also had a Q&A time with Bryan and Katie. It was so great to just hear their hearts for leading, and how God has really brought them on a journey with Him to be where they are today. It made them real people instead of just singers.

Leonard Jones:If you want to hear some crazy music, check out Leonard Jones. He is really skilled at his instruments. He has definitely inspired me to practice more. He was telling us he practices anywhere from 4-8 hours a day! He's no novice either. I think he was telling us he has been playing the guitar (along with 13 other instruments) for the past 40 years. Now you might think that after that long you could stop practicing, but that is not his plan. Leonard told us that he plans to continue to get better and better. He doesn't want his lack of skill to keep Him from playing a melody the Lord puts on His heart. Now while I probably won't have 4-8 free hours in a row every days, I will take what I can get!

Daniel & Natalia Hazelwood: What an amazing couple!? Natalia is one my family group leaders. She is such a strong woman of God. She has been in and out for these 2 weeks, because she was speaking at a women's gathering in Texas. Daniel has been leading some of the soaking sessions along with teaching a class about keeping our minds in open communication with God. This will allow us to receive revelation and insight on different concepts and scriptures. It is absolutely mind boggling. Verses I have read many times suddenly become completely new! It's wild. For example, we were talking about John 1:1 --->In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.<--- From this we see that Jesus is the Word. Now when we call on God, He answers us with the Word. So essentially, He is answering us with Jesus. Now when Jesus left the earth, He sent one as a comforter---Holy Spirit---to live inside of us. So then there is the trinity---all three are one. Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are one together. So the answers are inside of us. We just need to ask God to take away veils that blind us from seeing what is already in us. Our bodies are new and redeemed We are new creations in HIM!!! How beautiful.

Now if that doesn't confuse you, I don't know what will. I am still working on understanding it myself. 


There has been so much more amazing worship and teaching. It would take me pages and pages to write it all down. One other thing I just thought of---we have been learning about the Tabernacle of David. What a place! Some scholars believe this Tabernacle cost---either $1 million or $1 billion per square foot!!!! (I know that's a big difference in cost, but either way that's a lot of cash to be putting down on a Tabernacle.) However, it is for the Lord so money is really no object. King David got over 4,000 full time musicians to play 24/7 worship for the Lord. That is so crazy!

So there was this little shepherd boy on the hillside that God called to be his mighty warrior through song. His nation was changed through the worship of the Almighty Lord. The generation after Him knew no war...only peace! Whoa! So this school is meant to give us a place---the Hillside---to get close to the Lord. To draw near to His heart and then be launched into the nations to exalt His might name.

It's all downhill from here.

Friday morning the ravens in the camp ground thought I set my alarm for 7:00am...well, they were wrong. I wish I would have had some kind of firearm to use as a snooze button. 

The plus side of the story is I was able to walk around Seward in the morning while I waited for the rest of the crew to wake up. 

Seward has around 4,000 people and is no more than 2 miles long. Here's a little more info I learned while I was walking around. The city was named after President Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward. It is a sister city to a city in Japan. It used to be a pretty big port. Now it is used for smaller fishing boats and cruise stops. It is the northern most ice free post, and it used to be the Southern terminal for the AK Railroad. Seavy's also make their home in Seward. 

Don't recognize the name? Let me give you a hint...mushing, "last great race on earth." 

Did the Iditarod come to mind? Dan Seavy helped organize and raced in the first Iditarod. His son, Mitch, won the Iditarod in 2004. Dallas, Mitch's son, won in 2012. He also set the record for the youngest musher to win the race. So this town has some pretty famous Alaskans calling it home. Unfortunately I didn't meet any of them...as far as I know. Also, the Iditarod used to start in Seward. Now there is a ceremonial start in Anchorage, and the race really starts in Willow. I thought that was some pretty interesting info. 

To continue the walk I walked along the beach of Resurrection Bay down to the Seward Harbor. 

I also watched the boats head in and out. There was a pretty wide variety. There were all sizes of fishing boats and tour boats. 

This is a look across the bay. There was some pretty heavy fog on the water almost all day. 

For a while I sat and simply watched the waves roll. It was very relaxing. The sound and the constant movement about put me to sleep...I was a little tired since those ravens missed the alarm clock memo. :)

What a great way to spend the morning. 

Later that day we headed back to Birchwood in a nice rain shower. Let me tell ya, I was glad to be back at camp. My that camping wasn't fun, but I was ready to sleep for more than 6 hours. 

The next couple days we just hung out and finished cleaning camp. It was pretty uneventful. The most exciting thing was probably the race to the showers after we got back from Seward on Friday night. No one wanted to be without hot water.

To wrap it all up....

I am so glad God gave me the opportunity to come back to Alaska and serve. It is a beautiful place. Being able to see how he brought together this group of interns to Birchwood camp was really amazing. Under normal circumstances we would have never met, but with God all things are possible. Some of the interns had connections directly to the camp, some knew about it through friends, and others found it online...crazy. Even though we all came from stuck different places, we were able to work well together and get stuff done. 

God made it clear to me how important it is to keep Christ in the center of everything you do. When He is your focus, it is easier to work toward a goal. You are focusing in the bigger picture of God's love and his people rather than yourself. It makes it easier to work without getting irritated with others. Now I'm not saying that doesn't happen, but it definitely gives me focus. 

               Summer well spent. 

This is always the thing: God is good and we are always loved. 

Mount Marathon and Beyond!

The morning after MAD camp all the interns slept in for a while. I think it was well deserved. A little before lunch, we got together with Stephen and Marie to plan some camp clean up. They had this slick cork board with "To Do", "Doing", and "Finished." As we chose a project to take on, we initialed it and moved it to the "Doing" section. Then no one would try to do a job twice. 

By the end of the day, we finished everything!

Once we finished, Meagan, Gabe, Helen, Ches, and I went into Eagle River to run a few errands....bank, Walgreens, and grocery store. Some of the interns got some crab and shrimp for supper to celebrate a successful camping season. It smelled like the sea shore in our staff lounge :) Personally, I would rather it smelled like a barn...

Gabe was the master chef. Everyone who ate some crab said it was really good. 

Tuesday we headed into Anchorage to meet up with Jeremy and Jessie. They both counseled at camp, and Jeremy co-directed a week of camp with his sister. We were going to head to Seward for the 4th.

Now there's something you should know about Seward on the 4th. There's this mountain there called Mount Marathon, and on the 4th there is a race up and down the mountain. So this small town of about 4,000 gets about 6X bigger for a few days. People come from all over to watch the race, and join in the Independence Day celebration! Our group camped about an hour north of Seward, because of the overwhelming amount of people.

Wednesday we drove to Seward to your around the town before the masses arrived. Jeremy had a few ideas of things we could do while we were in town for the day. Options...hike Mount Marathon to see what it's like for the racers, go to the Sea Life Center, and hike to Exit Glacier. We decided that hiking Mount Marathon might be a good idea, and we could even eat lunch once we got up to the top. Not such a bad idea, right? Jeremy told us it wasn't too bad. We had heard a few tidbits about the race from Stephen and Marie. For example, last year someone who was racing went missing and is now presumed dead, and another racer just got out of a coma from a serious fall. Still not such a bad idea, because they were racing. We are just going to walk up the mountain. No big deal. 

Well, as soon as we started, this is what we came to....

                A hike...not too steep...

Jeremy, next time we should all get on the same page as far as definitions go. We had to climb up this piece of the "hike." This was about 10 minutes into the trip. 

After we got up this part of the mountain, it flattened out for a little ways...about 20 feet. Then we were back on the ascent. 

This is from where Jessie and I stopped hiking. 

We all stopped for lunch right here for a little bit. It took us over and hour to get to this point. I would say this is about 1/3 of the way up the mountain. 

In the top left corner you can see a little bit of Seward. 

This picture is looking up from a little below where we stopped. 

View from the top. Photo courtesy of Ches. 

I can't believe people race up this thing, or people let there kids race up this thing! It is dangerous! We were climbing up some rather treacherous stuff....keep in mind this is in comparison to Eastern Montana. I'm not trying to down play the seriousness of it, but it is something to remember. 

Here's a map if the mountain. 

Turns our we hiked/climbed up the down trail....ooops. We went up the Gut. Che's and Gabe made it all the way to the top of the mountain. It took them a long time. 

Jessie and I hiked back down and found an easier path out. We met an old guy named Gus on the mountain. He was probably about 70. He told us he just had his hip replaced 3 years ago, and he was in the biathlon in the 1960 Olympics! Wow. 

Even though it was a challenge to get up the mountain...or even part way up, it was worth it. 

Ches had a good analogy for the hike and really for life...I will enjoy this view while I'm here, but I'm not going to let that stop me from moving forward to enjoy the view for somewhere else. 

It's true. We can't be satisfied with good enough, because God wants the absolute best for us. 

So if you are ever in Seward, Alaska and you are thinking about hiking Mt. Marathon. Think twice before making your decision. 

After we made it down, we found a place to eat supper. We found out there were going to be fireworks at midnight. To use up some time, we went to Exit Glacier after supper. The walk to the glacier was a breeze after our mountain climbing adventure. 

It was pretty cool to see the glacier. 

We went back to town after to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were well worth it. It was a pretty good show. 

On the 4th we went back into Seward to watch the Mt. Marathon race. It was crazy. There was a 7 year old in the youth division. Some of the women finished the race in just a little over an hour.

Here is the first woman down the hill. You have to look very closely to see it. 

The men's race was even more intense. They were movin' right along. 

This is the start of the men's race when they were all starting up the mountain. 

It was fun to watch the race. I even saw a couple people from Montana. One guy had a Bobcats track uniform on...Go Cats Go!!!

It was a crazy couple days. Well worth it!

...and now for the real work

MAD camp done. 

We had a good week at music and drama camp. The play was Malice in the Palace. It was the story of Esther with a few twists. This camp was for 5th-10th graders. It was a pretty good age range. This camp was 7 days instead if the typical 5 day camp. 

It's hard to even describe the week. The campers spent a lot if time in rehersal for the musical. They only had 5 days to get everything memorized. On Saturday ad Sunday they performed the musical in two churches in Anchorage. The counselors were also in the choir for the play. For the first couple of days it was fine, but about day 3 things started deteriorating. I got a cold and lost my voice..... Not so good. 

For the rest of the week I helped make props for the play. That was actually pretty fun. I decorated masks and made some "feather pens." 

I will admit I was bummed that I lost my voice. I couldn't even sing along during the worship services. God really challenged me with this little obstacle. At first I was really irritated, because I think that God has really blessed me in the area of music. I didn't realize it until last week, but I have really relied on songs...especially singing them...to worship The Lord. God showed me that my view of worship is really limited. It blew my mind. I started thinking about the community and how we worship together. The truth that God really cares about our heart in worship really hit me. It's not about the words your say, the prayers you pray, or the dances you do...it's about the heart behind the action. I felt like God was challenging me to simply listen. Talk about a challenge. 

We seem to put so much weight on the music and songs during the worship services. So this is my challenge to you...next time you are at church or worshipping with a bunch if people, stop and listen. Listen to God's people worship the King of Kings!

After this week, I will be heading back to Montana. Putting all the things God has taught me into practice is going to take determination and patience; however, I know it will be worth it. 

Summer Solstice

If you look closely in the background, you will see this cow's twins. 

Another week has come and gone....very quickly! I can't believe I've already been in Alaska for almost 4 months! Wow. 

This week was Faith Adventure camp for 4th-6th graders. These campers sure have a lot of energy. They were going all the time...breakfast, cabin cleaning, Morning Watch, TAG Time (Time Alone with God), Family Groups, group games, lunch, FOOFBOB (nap time){the counselors LOVE this part of the schedule}, swimming, Crafts, snack, more games or boating or swimming, supper, all camp game, Worship, snack, and finally bed time! Try saying all that in one breath! Even after all that these kids are still going 9-0. 

It was a lot of fun to see how excited this group was about God. They got pretty excited about TAG time and even more excited about the music at the nightly worship. We couldn't sing Happy Day enough! 

Music seems to be such a powerful tool to connect with God and learn some new things about His character. It is really amazing. I know that not all people connect with God through music, but for me it is very powerful. 

Quotes of the week: "What was that verse(Philippians 1:3-6) about?" "Well, it was about Paul Bunyan saying thank you. A lot." :)

"It's true. They only serve the best at Birchwood." This was while we were eating pizza for supper. I believe the night before Al, a volunteer aka Camp Grandpa, was telling the campers about the hot dogs we were about to cool over a camp fire. He said they only serve the best at Birchwood, and that's why they had kangaroo rat hot dogs from New Mexico, Gila Monster from down south, Rattle Snake from Texas, porcupine, and about 7 other varieties of hot dogs that the kids could choose from. He is an excellent story teller. 

A little off topic, but when I get home there are a few things I will be extra thankful for...fewer Mosquitos, a bathroom inside my house (the chance of running into a bear or moose in the middle of the night deter most people from making numerous mid-night bathroom trips...also I won't have to ward off the bugs on my way to brush my teeth), and being able to actually unpack my suitcase. The saying is true...it really is the little things that make all the difference.

Only One more week of camp left. MAD camp. That is because by this point in the summer all of the counselors have gone mad :) or it might be Music and Drama camp! The campers will be putting on a production of "Malice in the Palace" more commonly known as Esther. It will be a good way to end the summer!

  The new resident moose of Birchwood. He has been back several times this past week. 

Also, it was the summer solstice this weekend. We went to a Solstice festival in Anchorage for a bit and then to a Solstice  party. It was fun. Nothing too spectacular though. Now the days will only get shorter. 

Birchwood Camp Weeks 1&2---Alaska 2013

Well, another couple weeks have passed. We have had two camps so far. 1st-3rd grade and then 7th-12th grade. That was quite a difference in ages. 

The first camp was God Seekers. It was only 3 days which was perfect for that age group. They definitely had a lot of energy. I think there were about 40 campers. We did have a lot of fun...needless to say we spent most of our days herding kids from one place to the next. That had its pros and cons. It was exciting to see the kids learn new things about God. My favorite part was watching the campers sing some of the camp songs. For example, we sang one called "The Karate Song." As you might imagine, it had some actions and sound effects. Those little ones really got into it. Even of they didn't quite know all the words, they sang at the top of their lungs!

Another exciting part of God Seekers camp I didn't know about until Friday evening was we had an unexpected visitor on camp Thursday night to the dumpster. Earlier in the week, they had put up a trail cam on the dumpster to catch any action, and sure enough they caught a bear on camera. A large brown bear came to the dumpster, tipped it over, opened it, and ate a little of the food that was left in it. Now keep in mind that the dumpster was supposed to be bear proof.

The weekend was pretty relaxing. We went into Anchorage for lunch and a trip to the Saturday Market a.k.a. tourist trap. There were a bunch of little tents with food and trinkets for sale. Some of the stuff was pretty cool, but I could tell other stuff was just a rip off. It was a fun was to spend the afternoon. That evening, a family in Chugiak invited us to supper for a BBQ. The highlights of the meal were grilled salmon and homemade root beer! Yum!!! A story of the evening was that the family across the road was having a garage sale, and a momma moose and her twins decided to stop by the sale for a bit. We never got to see the moose, but it was still a good story. 

Youth camp was a whole other story. It was a real challenge changing my thought process from lower elementary mode to junior high and high school mode. I will say it was nice to not be herding kids from building to building.  It was interesting to see the dynamic of jh and sr. high together. 

My cabin was mostly upper high school girls. It was awesome to be able to connect with them. The evening worship services were amazing. It was great to see how open all the campers were to trying new things. For one of the worship activities, everyone took a handful of ash to represent the desert in their life, and then they went down to the lake to have their "desert" washes away by the water. It was super cool. There were a lot of other cool worship experiences as well. I get the opportunity to play with the Birchwood Band aka the Woodchucks for the music portion of worship. It was fun to play with a whole band. 

Throughout the week, the campers really opened up to the many opportunities to share how God was working in their lives. Some of the high school girls in my cabin mentioned how cool it was to see the junior high kids get up and share stories about how God was working in each of their lives. Since the campers were older, we were able to play games with them and really connect at another level with them. 

Playing on the worship team was unbelievable. It was like having a front row seat to see God working in the building. Awesome. God is so good. 

Another perk of the older group was that we had an opportunity to participate in a native sweat ceremony at a sweat lodge that was built at Birchwood. It was very interesting. Kelly, the gal who lead us through the process, said that a sweat is to help you really focus on God. Since your body is so hot, you can either choose to focus on the heat or God. 

There were 4 rounds of prayer....cleansing, prayers for others, thanksgiving, and blessings you are asking God for. When I first walked into the lodge, I didn't know if I would be able to handle being in there for an hour. Then I just made up my mind I would stay for a little while. I'm glad I did. If nothing else, I'm pretty sure my body was cleansed of all impurities. My clothes were completely soaked with sweat. Even my knee caps were sweating. I didn't know knee caps could sweat! 

Friday night we got a chance to simply relax for a while. That was really nice. I was also glad to be able to sleep without worrying about campers. It was a very restful sleep. 

Saturday afternoon we took a trip to town to pick up this and that, and then we went to supper at a Tex-Mex place called Jalapeños. The food was pretty delicious. 

After supper, we(all of the interns) decided it would be a nice evening for a kayak ride. So we took some inflatable kayaks and a couple of real kayaks out on the lake. We didn't intend on getting wet, but that soon changed. If you saw the inflatable kayaks, you would see that they look similar to surf boards. I thought it would be fun to run off the dock and slide onto the water like I was surfing or something. As you may have already guessed, it didn't turn out very well. When the kayak hit the water, it immediately flipped. I got a good laugh out of that. Maybe I will try it again someday. :) In the end, we all went swimming. It was a blast. 

That evening we started helping a couple people move out and old convection oven and put in a new one. It was quite the process. We started about 9pm and didn't finish til about 12. We ended up having to take out doors and move appliances to get the old oven out. Luckily we had about 8 people there to help. We were even able to have a designated mosquito killer when we were moving the oven outside the building. It was a good project to get done. We has decided we are now interns by day and construction workers by night. :)

I'm looking forward to another day of rest tomorrow. I think the campers this next week are going to be pretty energetic. They are 4th-6th graders. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next week. I'm sure it is going to be amazing. 

Back to Alaska!

Back to Alaska!

Well, it's summer #2 in Alaska. I've been here about a week now, and it's been great :)  I got into Anchorage about 11pm (1am Mountain Time). Surprisingly enough, I was so worn out from traveling I slept til about 9:30 the next morning. 

During my layover in Seattle, a saw some pretty neat planes...maybe I will be able to fly on one of these bad boys one day. 

I toured around AK a little bit. We walked around a little path near Flat Top Mountain, went to the Zoo, and went to a small pullout near the ocean. 

I was also able to get in some good reading time. "Dreamers" by Angela Hunt...AMAZING! It is a three book series about Joseph and his journey from the bottom of a well pit to the 2nd most powerful man in Egypt. A great read. I'm on round 2. 

On Wednesday, I got to head out to camp in the evening. Thursday we started with a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy! Yum :) There are 6 interns at the camp from all over the country...Ohio, Idaho, Georgia, Texas, and Montana. There are two from Georgia...just incase you only counted five states. The girls are Helen, Meagan, Shannon, and me. The guys are Gabe and Ches. We will be here for at least the entire month of June and some are staying into August. 

It's really exciting to hear what each of us are excited to do this year at camp and how our personalities really do compliment each other. God knows what's going on :)

Continuing Thursday, we learned a little about each other and some of the camp rules. It is interesting to see a new style and new ideas of how camp can be organized. One thing that is obviously different is the fact that we have about a week of training before camp even starts. 

We spent most of the day with Stephen and Marie, the camp managers. They live at camp year round. They were telling us that they only have a couple free weekends during the year. Birchwood Camp hosts a variety groups year round. Stephen and Marie both seem very passionate about creating a positive and energizing camp environment and giving campers the ultimate camp experience. 

Friday, we did much of the same; however, we were also able to work with Brent and Liz, some other camp residents, on figuring out our personalities. 

Today we also learned much about animal safety. The camp is in a pretty woodsy area, so there is an occasional bear or moose. Also, the camp has a couple porcupines that like to wander around camp. Their names are Eddie and Edwina...it's anyone's guess which porcupine is which. The camp moose are Rufus and Rufina. I'm pretty sure the bears don't have names...they aren't really welcomed in camp. Now hopefully I will be able to remember all the bear safety tips when I need too :)

After supper, we went on a short hike toward Harp Mountain. We didn't make it very far up the mountain, but we did find some snow and were able to do a little sledding. Meagan, the girl from Texas, requested we find some snow. As you might imagine they don't get a lot of snow down there. 

I am really excited to see how God is going to use all of us to work together this summer. I'm sure he is going to so some awesome things this summer!

If you could keep us in you prayers, we would really appreciate it. One main prayer request would be that we would be able to take in and remember all the important information we are learning during this training. Also that we would be aware of what God is talking to each of us about, and that we would be obedient to what we hear. 

Thanks for tuning in. 

Over and out. 

Back to Dillon---the Home Stretch

Last night we stayed at Curry's house. It was really nice to sleep on a bed...things just seem to be getting better every night! In the morning, they made egg bake for breakfast. It was very good. 

We got on the road about 8:00 am. It is only 10 hours from their house. Brandon ended up driving the whole way home. We powered right through. Only 3 stops...Kennewick, WA; Spokane, WA; Bonner, MT. It was a pretty mellow trip back. The roads were good, and we did a lot of napping. 

It has been amazing to see how God has worked differently in each of our lives over the week. 

Sara said God has been really been challenging her to grow in her faith. She said she was really able to see how He brought all the small details together on this trip. Sara said she is excited to see what God has planned for her next in life.

Brandon said he really appreciated being able to spend a lot of alone time with God. He said he wants to make sure to set aside time when he is back in Dillon to really dive into God's Truth of the Word.

Bailey said God is encouraging her to show His love through her actions and not just by preaching to people.

Max said he should start a prayer list. He feels like God wants him to be more intentional in praying for people.

For me, God has really been asking me to trust Him. I feel like He is asking me to pray for very specific things for people and situations. I think this is going to be very challenging, but it is going to be essential for me to grow in my relationship with God. 

 

Thank you so much for keeping up on the trip and praying for us.

Over and Out.

Portland/Multnomah Falls-Day 7

Last night we stayed at the Portland State Chi Alpha house. We got to sleep off the ground too! Couches and a futon! It was nice to sleep on something soft instead of the floor.

We had a late breakfast at Denny's, because we ate supper early. Outside Denny's there was a homeless gal. She was pretty young. She told Sara that she was homeless because she was trying to help a friend and got kicked out of the apartment.

After breakfast, we went to the Lloyd Center mall. It was massive! There were three floors in the mall and an ice skating rink!!! We all split up and wandered around the mall. After some shopping, I spent a good hour and a half ice skating. It was a lot of fun. There were some young girls there skating. They were probably 7 and 9, and they were amazing! They were spinning around and skating backward. It looked like they were olympians in the making. I could have used some lessons from them.

We went to Pambiche's for supper. They had some very delicious Cuban cuisine. We each tried something new, and I would say we were all pretty impressed.

When we were done eating supper, we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. It is a famous doughnut shop in Portland. People even get married there! Once we got our snacks, we got in the car and headed to Multnomah Falls. The falls are absolutely beautiful. It was cool to hear the water and feel how much wind the falling water creates.

We hiked to the middle bridge on the falls, took some pictures and headed back down to the car. Then we headed to White Salmon, WA to stay at the Curry's house tonight. Tomorrow we will head out about 8 to head back to Dillon!

It's been a great week seeing how God has been working in all of our lives during this trip. He knows each of us so well. He gives us exactly what we need :)

prayer requests:
-safe travel home
-God would continue the work He has started on this trip. Also that our hearts would be open to Him

Salem/Portland Day 6

This morning we had a breakfast and wonderful devo led by Max. He talked about unity in the church, and how we should be intentional about loving one another. When we as a church love each other well, people want to come and be involved in our family.

After breakfast, we helped unload the truck for the food pantry. Since there were so many people helping, we got the food unloaded and sorted in about 20 minutes. We got done so quickly we were able to help with some other tasks around the church. For lunch we had some leftovers, but we still couldn't get all the food we bought eaten up.

We were able to hang out at the Salem House of Prayer (aka S.H.O.P.) for a little over an house. It was great to just be in God's presence. Before heading to the S.H.O.P., we prayed for each person on the team to see what God might have us speak into their lives.

About 3:30 we started heading to Portland for Night Strike. I'll tell you one thing. I am pretty laid back and relaxed most of the time, but this city driving thing makes me crazy. I can't stand not being able to see if there is a car in the lane we are about to merge into. I have learned it is best for me to out my head phones in and close my eyes and pray that we don't get in a wreck. Then I can stay at least a little bit oblivious to the crazy traffic.

We got to town about 4:30 and headed to the Chi Alpha house to drop off our stuff for the night. Their house is 100 years old, has 4 stories, and is over 4000 square feet of space! It is huge.

We headed over to the Liberation Street Church a little before 5. We were hoping to park in the church (free parking) and walk somewhere to find food. Turns out this church doesn't have a parking lot. It is on a very busy street corner. So we found a parking lot...it was only $6 to park. Not a bad deal.

When we started walking around, we found out that there weren't very many places to eat that would let all of us inside. Most of them were pubs...no one under 21 allowed. That is 3 out of 5 people in our group. We ended up finding a little place that sells pizza out of a window on a corner.

By the time we got our pizza, it was about 5:05. We walked up to the church. It was locked. We were over an hour early. I guess it never hurts to be a little early. We were definitely fish out if water! We stood outside the church for a minute trying to figure out what to do for the next hour. Thankfully there was someone in the church. He came and let us inside so we could eat our pizza sitting down...I was thinking thank you Jesus that Justin saw us. I did not want to stand out on the street any longer than I had to.

After a while, Justin out us to work moving tables and chairs and making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Night Strike. Once we got the system down, we were sandwich making machines!

In all, I would say about 175 volunteers showed up to help this evening. We had a little worship and went through a few rules before heading under the bridge.sara helped hand out bibles and other literature. Bailey and Max were "clothes bouncers." They had to make sure only three people were looking at the clothes at once. Brandon helped clean the church and then visited with guests under the bridge. I helped out with the dignity station. At this station they paint fingernails and hand out toiletries.

I was able to visit quite a bit with Jessica, one of the other volunteers. She is a teacher at a high school in Portland, and she came to help chaperone some high school students who were volunteering. I was able to paint a couple people's nails. There was a dad there with his son. I painted the dad's nails and his done chose the colors...green and orange! Later they came back because the little boy, Adam, smeared on of his nails. I repainted a couple of them and Jessica painted a couple. Then Adam insisted on painting my nails...keep in mind, Adam is only 5. He painted three nails, and then got bored and left. Oh well, it will remind me I pray for him.

The night went really well overall. It seemed like everyone enjoyed serving. It was well organized and the guests seemed to enjoy it as well.

Prayer requests:
-praise God for safe travel to Portland
-safety for the rest of our travel
-tomorrow is our free day in Portland. Safety. Also that we would keep God in mind and be willing to listen when He asks us to do something.
-Max's foot. We will probably be doing quite a bit of walking tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your prayer support!

Salem Day 5

Today we went to UGM (Union Gospel Mission). That is the men's mission. It is only about 5 minutes from West Gate church.

In the morning, we helped weed some flower pots and around trees in the sidewalk. It seems that spring has really spring over here in Oregon. It is nice to go outside in the nice spring weather. I am afraid it is going to be a bit of a shock when we get back to Dillon. We will actually have to wear coats outside!

After weeding, we went inside to help with lunch. They served llama goulash for the meal. Yum! It actually wasn't too bad except for the fact that we ate lunch about 10:45am. That was a little early for me.

Dan, the head of food services at UGM gave us a quick tour of the food storage areas. Last year he was just starting when we were there for spring break. He was telling us of some improvements that had been made over the past year. Number 1 they had a HUGE mouse problem last year. Dan said they were catching 35-40 mice...per DAY!!! They filled all the holes with steel wool and spray foam and have had 0 mice for the last 8 months!

After lunch, Sharalyn (I spelled it wrong yesterday) gave us a short tour of UGM. we got to look at the wood shop where some of the men work if they are in a recovery program. Also, she just visited with us about what Dillon is like and how God is working there.

After the tour, we went back to the mission store. We helped put price tags and sizes on clothes before they go into the actual store. We also helped sort and hang coats. There were some pretty fashionable items in there...for instance about 10 brown, matching pleather/fur jackets! Yikes.

We went back to UGM about 4:30 to help with supper. For supper they had llama hamburger steak. It wasn't too bad either. Tasted pretty close to beef...a little tough but the flavor was alright.

Here's a little tip---if you ever want to try exotic meet, just help out at a homeless shelter/mission. I'm sure you'll get to try something new. Last year we had bear!

Chapel was at 7. We didn't lead chapel, we just sat in and listened to the speaker. There was actually a family that led worship and the message portion of chapel. It was really cool to see how they interacted with the guests. Candy, the wife, said they have been coming to the mission since '91. She said it had been really cool to see growth with people over the years.

After chapel, it was off to the YMCA for showers, a quick stop at the grocery store, evening snack at Burger King, a little Jesus time, and then off to bed!

Again, Thank you so much for praying. We really appreciate it.

Here are a few prayer requests:
-safety as we travel to Portland for night Strike
-interactions with people at Night Strike
-that we would serve joyfully in whatever God wants us to do at Night Strike. We have the options of serving food, washing feet, grounds clean up, cutting hair, delivering food, and a prayer walk. It is pretty likely that we won't all be in The same group.
-Max hurt his ankle a while ago playing basketball, and it is still very sore. It is painful for him to be standing and walking around all day...and we are doing a lot if exactly that. Pray for the pain to go away and healing
-blessings for the West Gate church. They were really gracious to let us stay. They have given us food as well. Also, they just hired a new pastor, Nathan Headley. They have to move from Colorado.
-praise! We found a place to stay in Portland. Before Tuesday, we were planning on driving back to Salem Thursday night to stay at West Gate, but Sara was able to get a hold of the Chi Alpha director at Portland State, and we can stay at the Chi Alpha house there!

Salem Day 4

Today has been really good! We were able to sleep in a little bit this morning and had biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

Brandon was in charge of devotions. He brought the verses from Isaiah 61 where it talks about binding up the broken hearted and setting captives free. That was perfect, because today we went to work at the women's mission, Simonka Place. When we got there, Sheralyn gave us a brief tour of the building.

At this shelter they have a recover program that lasts about 1 year. Participants take life skills classes and attend bible studies put on by the mission. If women are in the New Life Fellowship Program (NLF), they are able to stay at and keep their belongings at Simoka. These women also help with different tasks around the mission including cooking in the kitchen and working at the front desk to check guests into the mission.

Sheralyn also said that they have about 75 women staying at their shelter every night. That is maximum capacity for this mission. They are having to out down mats on the floor of the chapel so people have places to sleep. This shelter is for women and children, but currently they do not have any children staying.

We were able to serve at Simonka by cleaning the dust out of the heat vents, vacuuming and dusting the lounge area(photo of Sara and Bailey), and cleaning the chapel. During lunch, a few of us helped serve the food. The people who weren't serving food visited with the guests. After lunch, we went and worked at the second hand mission store. Some of the profits from the store go to provide funding for the mission (men's and women's). At the store, we sorted the the books. Now if you have ever been to a second hand store, you know that sometimes things aren't always in the right place. Well, it turns out just about every one of those books were in the erin places. We sorted fiction from nonfiction, paperback for hardcover, romance for. Western, thriller from mystery, Christian from children, and just about any other category you can think of...we sorted it. It was fun to look thought all the books. We found some good ones. For instance "Give 'em A Pickle, and They'll Be Back" I think that was a book about good customer service. It's hard to say :)

After we got done at the store, we were scheduled to head back to Simonka to help with supper and evening chapel. We had to stop at a gas station for some snacks on the way...all that sorting made us a tad hungry.

Again we helped serve supper. Sara and I talked to Jennifer, one of the guests. She told us nearly her whole life story. She kept saying she knew something was going on in her life, but she didn't know quite what it was. As she told us more, it became more and more clear that God is working in her life in a huge way! It seems that Simonka has been a huge blessing to her. She asked for prayer to help her figure out what she should do next. If you have a minute, it would be great if you could life her up.

We cleaned up the kitchen after supper to get ready for chapel. They are using the kitchen since they have people staying in the chapel at night.

We had gotten together before supper to pray about what God might have us share. Sara suggested taking about how God has a plan, and His timing is perfect even when we feel stuck. I was thinking of something similar. They has a flag in the chapel with Ecclesiastes 3:1 there is a time for everything...that inspired me to think about moving and change. It has to be hard for these women. Especially those that just can't seem to get out of the rut of homelessness. I would guess that they probably feel stuck. We wanted to be able to encourage them with God's truth.

God is good!

When they women came into the chapel, they all seemed very excited. One gal picked up the song book and immediately found the song "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". She made a request right away. We were able to oblige. It was really great to see how excited the women were to praise and worship The Lord. They were encouraging each other to "sing it out to Jesus!" It was so amazing!

We decided to add a little twist to the typical singing worship for the evening when we were planning. We wanted to give the women an opportunity to read Psalms. They could read their favorite or one that was really impacting their own lives. We had decided also that if no one started talking one of us would start reading. It turned out that none of us had to read....at all! I think if we would have given them the chance they would have read all night. A lot of the women were reading different Psalms. Some even read several. It was encouraging to me to see their excitement in proclaiming who God is.

After we got done speaking, we cleaned up the kitchen so it would be ready for breakfast in the morning. None of the women stuck around, because they had to shower and get ready for bed.

We went directly to the YMCA after leaving Simonka....well almost. Brandon searched for the YMCA on a GPS. Turns out there are two of them in Salem. We were going to the wrong one...ooops. We made it without too much if a hassle.

Once we got back, we made some chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Then had freshly baked cookies and ice cream for a snack. It was perfect after a long day!

Tomorrow we are going to the men's mission (UGM). We are going to help at the mission store, pull weeds, and serve food. It should be a good day! It is crazy that the week is almost half done already. I guess they do say time flies when you're having fun!

I'm super blessed to have opportunities to serve The Lord and be so blessed in the process. Thank you for your prayers!

Salem Day 3

Got to sleep in a nice warm room last night! Praise Jesus!

After breakfast, we helped with the church's food pantry. We moved some canned goods to the front room of the pantry, filled orders, and cleaned. We met some really great people.

Toward the end of working at the food pantry, Charlie, one of the church members asked us to rake and freshen up some of the bark by the church sign. It was so great to go outside! It was a little overcast, but the temperature was about 60. It is amazing how green it is over here already!

Around lunch time, Jerry, another church member asked if wanted some pizza for lunch. We were planning on eating some left over lasagna from a youth night the church had a few days ago. He told us he just has a feeling he should ask us if we wanted pizza. So he did.
This guy has an amazing story. He used to be in Springfield, OR. He was homeless. He felt like God was leading him to Salem. When he got here, he started coming to West Gate church. Recently, someone gave him a pickup and fifth wheel camper. So he has a home!

After lunch, we went to a gal's house across the street from the church. We helped her weed her garden. It was great to be able to help her out. She had a stint put in a few weeks ago and is still recovering.

We got to the YMCA before it closed, so we were all able to shower! For supper we had tacos...yum!

Jesus was really good to us today. We had a lot of fun being able to work outside in the nice weather!

Salem - Day 2

Welcome to daylight savings on the west coast! That is one positive thing about heading west right before the time change...it seems like you never left home :)

We spent a rather frigid night in the church. Bailey and I were up before six, because we just couldn't take it (the cold) any longer. (Turns out the heat was off. Ooops.) I guess next time we will know better. Shortly after, the rest of the crew was up and going.

While cooking breakfast, Max came in and promptly told us they had a visitor in their room last night....don't worry it was just a mouse in the ceiling. He and Brandon just decided to sleep outside the room. That way the mouse couldn't get them...

Breakfast=delicious! As we were eating, Sara went upstairs to see if anyone was around. She did find the sound guy who did not know we were staying at the church. Needless to say he was a little surprised.

At 8:30 West Gate Assembly had its drive in church service. Sara helped hand out donuts and coffee to the attendees. Max helped Art hand out programs. Brandon helped with sound. Bailey and I made ourselves useful by visiting and capturing the experience on video. We did get to attend the drive in service. It was very interesting. The message was very good. It was about being planted firmly in the Word of God. Very challenging. The preacher was actually a candidate for the senior pastor position at the church. West Gate's pastor recently passed away.

After drive in church, we attended the inside church service as well. The church had a full choir....it was amazing! Again the pastor candidate spoke. He did a great job. After the service, the church had a short business meeting to vote on whether they should hire the pastor candidate. And they decided he's in! I think they got a good one.

After lunch, we cleaned the church. We vacuumed the sanctuary, organized a craft closet, disinfected toys, mopped the mini cafe area, and vacuumed other parts of the building.....it's a big church.

About 5 we headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things for Night Strike and breakfast. After Wal-Mart, we headed to the YMCA to take a much needed shower. We got to the door and guess what....it was closed. So we did not shower....we will appreciate it even more tomorrow!

Until next time....

Salem day 1

Well, we made it here just in time I watch the sun go down. It ended up taking right about 13 hours to get to Salem from Dillon. (With minimal stops)

We left Dillon about 6:17. We had planned on leaving at 6:30. Oh, the perks of having a small amount of people.

God kept us safe the whole way. It was a pretty quiet trip. We did see a guy driving a lawn mower without the blade in St. Regis...that's about as exciting as it gets.

As soon as we got to Salem we ate, got a few groceries, and got frozen yogurt! Yum!

Time for bed now...got to get up bright and early to make breakfast and help with the drive in church service at 8:30am.

One positive thing to the time zone change...day light savings won't mean a thing. Until we get home :)

Ready to Go!

Hello Everyone!

First of all, thank you so much for your prayer support. It really means a lot. Everyone has raised their money for the trip, and we even have some extra to donate to the church we will be staying at as well as the missions. We will have five people going on the trip. (Me, Sara, Bailey, Max, and Brandon) All of us went on the trip last year, and we are excited to go back! 

I figured I should send another update before we head off to Salem.

As of right now, here is what I know:

Saturday: Travel to Salem! (Leaving Dillon at 6:30am)

Sunday: Attend Services at Westgate Assembly

             Help serve donuts and coffee before and after services

Monday: Help with Westage's Food Pantry

             If any church members need help with projects, we will help them at their homes.

Tuesday: We will spend Tuesday at Simanka Place. This is the women and children's mission we went to last year.

               At the women's mission, we will help do some deep cleaning. Also, we will help with lunch and chapel.

Wednesday: Today we will be at the Men's Mission (UGF) 

                    We will serve lunch to the clients and help with the chapel service that evening.

Thursday: In the morning, we will go to the Salem house of prayer. 

               After lunch, we will go to Bridge Town in Portland. We are going to help serve meals and hand out clean socks.

Friday: We are going to spend the day in Portland.

Saturday: Driving back to Dillon

I am going to do my best to update this blog every day.

Thanks for partnering with us on this trip!

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

-luke 10:2

Union Gospel Mission

 Well, here is our schedule for working with Union Gospel Mission. We also worked with UGM last year. We are all looking forward to going back again. The employees at UGM were very nice.

Service Project Information Sheet

Thank you for helping the hungry, homeless, and hurting of our community!

Below are a few details about your service project with us.

Proposed Schedule:
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
	Start	End	Activity	Site	Overseeing staff member
	9 a.m.	11:30 a.m.	Service project	TBD	TBD
	11:45 a.m.	12:30 p.m.	Serve and eat lunch, interact with guests	Simonka Place	Marilea Shrock, Kitchen Supervisor
	12:30 p.m.	1 p.m.	Tour	Simonka Place	Sharalyn Bechtel, Volunteer Coordinator
	1 p.m.	4:30 p.m.	Service project	TBD	TBD
	5 p.m.	6 p.m.	Serve and eat dinner	Simonka Place	Marilea Shrock, Kitchen Supervisor
	6:30 p.m.	7 p.m.	Lead chapel	Simonka Place	Brenda Newey, Case Manager
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
	Start	End	Activity	Site	Overseeing staff member
	9 a.m.	10:30 a.m.	Service project	TBD	TBD
	10:45 a.m.	1 p.m.	Serve and eat lunch	Men’s Mission	Dan Ficek, Food Service Manager
	1:15 p.m.	1:45 p.m.	Tour	Men's Mission	Sharalyn Bechtel, Volunteer Coordinator
	2 p.m.	4:30 p.m.	Service project	TBD	TBD
	4:45 p.m.	6:30 p.m.	Serve and eat dinner	Men's Mission	Dan Ficek, Food Service Manager
	7 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	Lead chapel	Men's Mission	Gary Dulany, Guest Services Counselor

Union Gospel Mission - Sites

Administrative Office

745 Commercial St NE, Salem 97301

503.967.6388

Grear Street Transitional Housing

2360 Grear Street NE, Salem 97301

503.990.6219

Men's Mission

345 Commercial St NE, Salem 97301

503.362.3983

Mission Thrift Store

845 Commercial Street NE, Salem 97301

503.375.2511

R.O.C. Outreach Center

901 Front St NE, Salem 97301

503.566.7001

Simonka Place

5119 River Road N, Keizer 97303

503.362.7487

Thank you for partnering with us in ministry!

Also, we are trying to find an international place to eat in Portland. So if you know of any, please feel free to share. We will take any suggestions :) 

PRAYER NOTES:

On Thursday, March 14 we will be helping out with Night Strike at BridgeTown

Prayer for interactions there.

Also at Night Strike we will be doing various jobs. Prayer that we will be diligent workers at whatever we are assigned to do.

People we meet and talk with at UGM.

Prayer to build strong relationships with our team members. So we can trust each other completely.