songs in the dark

here's a little something i wrote about what i learned at the kansas/nebraska college fall retreat last week.

california wrap-up

thursday night God did cool stuff. after the sound system went kaput and mike decided it would be just easier to yell, the kids focused in on what he had to say. i think the fact that there was no sound system actually helped. it forced them to really listen instead of just sit and hear and pick up the high points. 3 students accepted Christ, 12 surrendered to a call to missions or ministry (more on that later) and 15 others made some other kind of decision. cool.

i got the chance to talk with the ones that surrendered to a call to missions or ministry. most had no idea what God wants to do with them. and that's ok. my call and calling came basically in one fail swoop, so luckily there was a former international missionary whose call and calling came 12 years apart that helped encourage those that didn't know quite what to do yet. it was really cool to see those who just knew God wanted to use them..and now they're waiting to see for what.

friday was the camp-wide trip to sea world. the plan was to be there from open to close, which means 10 am - 11 pm. that's a long time. there's lots to see at sea world but that makes for a long day. i ended up staying most of that time and spent most of the day with mike, kandace and melinda. we had alot of fun. especially when melynda had a huge gullible moment and was worried that the "dad" that fell in the tank and was being flipped around by the whale was going to get eaten. turns out the "dad" was a sea world trainer and very good actor. good stuff.

melinda also has a small hangup about the real shamu not even being alive anymore even though the park continues to name their whales shamu. she still wanted a stuffed "shamu" and when we ended up at the carnival section of sea world i made a deal with her that if she paid for me to play one of the games with her that i'd give her the shamu if i won it. she refused. things got heated and so i told her i'd play her in the game and i'd pay and if i won the shamu i'd keep it. i won it. i knew the race was over as soon as my first ball went in the blue circle, the one worth the most points. of course i rubbed my victory in melynda's face, maybe a little too much, and strutted around the park with my prize. however, when i got back to camp that night, before the girls, i left it on melynda's bed. (awwweee... yeah i'm a nice guy)

saturday was spent cleaning up, packing up and saying bye. mike gave the kids an ending challenge and then we headed out. mike took me down to san diego to spend the night before my flight out sunday morning. we got to see mission beach, which is the stereotypical southern california beachfront with boardwalk and all, and the mission bay area. i'd definitely like to go back to san diego sometime and see more of the sights and get some scuba diving in.

this trip was great for me. it gave me a chance to really think through and verbalize what doing missions has meant to my life. it was also great to be able to spend some time with another usc2'er and make some new summer missionary friends. now if i can talk them into letting me go back next year...

california beach

i went to the beach today in oceanside harbor. the beach here has the coloring of an ashtray. the closer you get to the ocean the darker the sand gets and then it gets lighter again. the cool part about it is that when the sand washes away it has the cool kaleidoscope of different colored sand effect. there aren't any shells either...just smooth stones. they still hurt to step on. played a little frisbee...and a little football and didn't get burned. mainly cause i kept my shirt on cause the water was freezin cold.

i got a good response for sharing about my missions stuff in the morning. that's my main point of being here. i had a kid come up tonight and say he really enjoyed it and wanted to know how to be a missionary. cool...that's the whole point.

tomorrow..adventure rec. whatever that is.

photos from camp

california characters

i thought i'd give a little info on who folks are and what stuff is whle i'm here.

stram: state recreation adventure mountain & marine camp
mike: mike is a fellow usc2'er, who i went through interviews and orientation with, and camp pastor here at stram. his usual job is working in the california southern baptist convention office as youth evangelism coordinator. cool guy.
melinda: melynda is a summer missionary at the church of one of the assistant camp directors. she goes to school at mississippi college.
kandace: kandace is melinda's summer missionary partner. she goes to mississippi state. (fellow southerners.. :) )
don: camp director.

that's all of the peoples' names i can think of right now. if anyone else of interest arises i'll explain them as i go.

photos from camp

california day 1

after a successful couple of flights that actually put me in san diego, i had no trouble finding the two guys standing by the baggage claim holding a piece of paper with my name in big bold print, awaiting my arrival.

going into this deal i knew basically two things about this camp. we were camping in tents all week and the recreation included water activities like snorkeling, deep sea fishing, a water park and a trip to sea world. the first thing the guys who picked me up was, "it's really loud where we're staying." this kind of confused me. campgrounds aren't really known for their loudness. so i asked, "at the campground?" they kind of snickered and said yeah, there's a construction crew right beside us that starts to work at 5 am and a train that comes through about midnight. i still didn't get the picture.

after a somewhat lengthy drive through san diego and on northwards and after a brief geography lesson and an explanation of the "marine layer", cloud cover, and that it actually makes you burn faster than on a clear day, we finally arrived at our "campground," two little leauge baseball fields. smack dab in the middle of a subdivision right off of the highway.

ok so we're still camping in tents, there are port-o-potties and the typical rec league facilities available. there's port-o-showers available as well. there are a couple of summer missionaries here and a usc2 friend of mine who works in fresno, ca and is serving as the camp pastor here this week.

for dinner, beef stroganov. i'm skipping.

photos from camp

well california though

well i'm off to sunny southern california for a week. i'm the "camp missionary" at california state convention's S.T.R.A.M. camp. i don't know what that stands for but the camp is their marine camp. marine as in water, not as in the armed services. anyway, i'm told my week will consist of deep sea fishing, snorkeling, water parking and such as that. we're also camping out for the entire week should be great. i'll tell ya all about it as i go, or when i get back.

gods and mayors

every tuesday the association i work for has a luncheon for pastors and we usually have a guest speaker. last week the guest speaker was bill warren, a local businessman who is running for mayor. i was surprised to see him there as i had not heard too many terribly positive things said about him as far as his political views and his lifestyle.

here's where the story gets cool. the man who invited him, a former pastor, had attended one of his "town meetings" and had invited mr. warren to one of the churches here in town. warren came, and has been coming for the last 3 or 4 weeks. warren claims to be a Christian but readily admits that he hasn't really thought about God and that his business has been what has run his life for the last 50 years. then he made this awsome, very emotional statement. "it's funny how sometimes you start a journey with a specific destination in mind, and then all of the sudden it changes."

warren plans on joining a church and committing his life to Christ after the election, which is this week. he wants to keep this change in his life from being twisted politically. whether he wins or loses the election, this guy's life will never be the same.

it just goes to show, always be ready for a change of direction in your journey.

skydiving & tithing

last night i spoke at a youth group meeting at one of the larger churches in town. i spoke on Mark 5:21-43, the story of Jesus healing the woman with the problem of bleeding and His raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead. if you'll remember, this is the lady who snuck through the crowd to touch Jesus's robe, because she had faith that that was all it would take to be healed. in The Message after Jesus heals the woman and she comes forward Jesus says to her "daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. live well, live blessed! be healed of your plague". "risk of faith"...what does that phrase bring to mind? i asked the youth i was speaking to that question.