A conversation

One thing I have really enjoyed and have been thankful for while being the minister of students at my church, is the opportunity to be with and learn from some fascinating people from different walks of life.

This morning I had breakfast with a good friend of mine Bruce. He often invites me, but it ends up being a little less often then I would prefer. Bruce is a man that is incredibly intelligent and wise in both what's happening in the world as well as spiritual matters. Many times we meet he shares stories including his days as chaplain at USC and mentor to many others. Most of the time, I sit there trying to keep up intellectually, having to repeatedly ask him to explain something to help me understand. Bruce continues to challenge my thinking on ministry and reminds me to keep it about the main thing. Additionally, he reminds me to keep thinking about it, and cautions me about falling into ministry that just becomes routine that I don't need to think about. Bruce has challenged me to read "The Passion of the Western Mind" by Richard Tarnas. This book gives some history to how western society has come to have the world view that we do, verses other societies. Knowing Bruce, it will take a lot to digest this book and so I will probably blog about it from time to time as a way to help me process this stuff.

I'm also thankful about our teams of adults that spend time guiding our students and hanging out with them. As I reflect over the last few days as well as where I'm going in ministry, I feel as though schedule wise, I'm starting to get a little space where I can think theologically, and strategically again about what we're doing here, instead of being so busy planning things that I never have a chance to just sit and think. I'm so thankful for the commitments of our leaders to not only develop a quality program, but their commitment to just spend time coming alongside our teens spending time with them and letting them know that they are each created and loved by God. The longer I do this, the more I realize how little I'm able to do on my own strength, but rather its God through me, and even more so, God through our leaders that have a passion to do what they're doing.

Back in the game...

The school year is beginning to settle into a normal pace, and a few of you have asked me if I plan to keep up my blog. The answer is yes!

What's on my mind recently:
Our church is doing a fall emphasis of family, and so I've begun to think about, what does it mean to be in authentic community with others. Of course we have biblical examples in Acts, but in our world of intense schedules, and busyness, is it possible to have authentic community, and what does it look like?

Secondarily, how do we help teenagers develop authentic community that centers around a relationship with Christ? In two of our ministries, I see two opposites that have developed. One group that has developed a great deal of community both with leaders and students, and the other where authentic community once existed and has been lost for a time (although recently I'm thankful to be able to watch some community redevelop with some of our students).

One quick story to share that still has me thinking about what God might be doing: This past weekend we were at Summit Lake, our annual Northstar association high school retreat. It was an incredible retreat all around. But one thing that has stuck with me this week as I reflect back on it: Some of our students were wrestling with the social justice issues. That's to say we had a lot of great discussion about how they as a group of teenagers can begin to think beyond themselves and begin to help others both locally and globally. It gave me a lot of joy seeing these students wrestle with this issue, AND start to take some leadership in doing something about it, not just wait for someone else to do it. This is a memory that will stick with me for a long time.

Day 5: Eagle Eyrie... Last night!

Well we've arrived to the last day of projects. Just about all the projects that were specific projects were completed today, and of course all those that are ongoing were very thankful for the teams being there to help this week. Today, signs of exhaustion are setting in. Instead of a wild card game, or running around playing frisbee, most of our team slept, a few went to the pool, and a few of us ended up having a a deep theological discussion that was a pretty powerful time for all of us.

Tonight we hear from Denton Lotz during worship, then we'll have pizza and a final church group time before we fall into bed. Tomorrow's plans are sleeping in (yay!), I'll be making pancakes for everyone, then off to a final worship / celebration time with Denton before we pack up, have lunch and hit the road hopefully by 1pm!

We're all lookin forward to being home. Its been a great week of hard work, some good fun, and worship together as our youth seek to 'take the next step' in their walks with Christ. Please continue praying for us as we make our trek home tomorrow, and thanks for following along on our blog. I will try to post once more in the morning if I can with a few more pics from the week.

See you all soon!
-Chris



During spoons



Mid-spoons action

Day 4 at Eagle Eyrie!

Well the last 24 hours has been full of excitement and adventure. Last evening a group of Italian youth came to the camp and will be here through Saturday. They performed some Italian worship songs and shared some testimonies during our worship hour. After worship last night, the camp provided free ice cream for everyone, and so to burn off that extra energy, we played a massive 20 person game of spoons. This was nothing short of a full contact sport as everyone piled on each other trying to get to the spoons. (If you have accident prone kids in the group, no teens were injured in the playing of this game :) ).

This morning's projects were great as the weather has been fantastic today. Stories have been coming in throughout the day, but much seems to have been accomplished as some teams were able to continue the siding, clearing of trails, and roofing that had been delayed in the rain.



We spent the afternoon today at the Natural Bridge, enjoying some much needed off campus time. If you've never been to the Natural Bridge before it is a stone Bridge that is apparently taller than Niagara Falls. We also saw a 1700's era Indian settlement, then drove over to the Caves and had a fun tour of the caves which included a room more than 340 feet underground. While in this room, the team experienced complete darkness as the tour guide turned off all of the cave lights. We ended the trip with some yummy ice cream for the ride home.



Everyone's spirits are still positive, although some are getting tired. I noticed a few nodding off over dinner tonight :).

See you all soon! And check out the two posts below from two more of our students.
-Chris

Fun times have been had by all, and for some, mainly at night. A group of us decided it would be fun if we went down the 20ft slide in the dark after it was rained on. Many fell in the mud, and for Pierce, 4 flips and a twist suited him well for the night. Also, I managed to tie a knot with a cherry stem in my mouth, and started the trend of it, only having one for success.
The group today all piled in the vans and saw the Natural Bridge and the caverns beneath it, all in awe of the amazing site.
~Rebekah

Today the Italian people came arrived. I learned some pretty cool Italian words. They are beast at soccer; it's scary. We plan on playing them tomorrow ...The results will be posted later.
Pierce Out:D

Day 2 and 3 at Eagle Eyrie!

Well so far we've had an incredible time here at Eagle Eyrie. Since our last update, we had playtime yesterday afternoon and some great worship in the evening with a skit and some music from one of the church groups here. Also Tuesday evening my cousin Cammy came to EE to join us for the evening. During evening devotions she gave our students a challenge to rely on God for everything no matter what's going on in their life.

As with any youth trip, we were up late playing games and generally hangin out.

Today we our teams ran into some rain in the morning. Some still worked even in the rain getting good and muddy. Only the roofing team with Jim W. had to come back mid-morning. Other outdoor teams could pair up with other teams and join some indoor projects such as the sports camp where some of our students were leading sports for underprivileged children in the area.

Of course a good rain makes the athletic field good and muddy and perfect for a good game of Ultimate Frisbee (see some pics below).

Everyone is doing well, and most are seeing the fruits of their labor on their project teams. Additionally I'm really seeing some great bonding between a lot of our youth which wouldn't have happened had we not come to spend the week here.

Below I've included 2 comments from a couple students... more are planning on writing for me tomorrow as well.

Everyone's having a great time, and we miss you all. See you all soon!
-Chris

Today has been another great day! To me, it has been inspiring how diverse the ministry opportunities are. I knew that there were a lot of ways to minister to others, but I was never aware that there were so many opportunities. To me it is exciting because it proves that you can show God's love through whatever you do. I have also learned a lot from the leaders at the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center, the station where I am working. They are so meticulous about what they do and try as much as they can to include God in their work. The leader of the center told us yesterday that many ministry centers will try not to openly profess that they are a Christian institution, however she believes that our God is so much bigger than that.

I think that most campers would agree that we have a lot of free time at the end of the day. Although it can get boring at times, it has been so much fun to get to know persons within Columbia's youth group and out. We have enjoyed swimming in the pool, walking in the rain, buying ice cream, going down the huge slide, making weird stuffed animal videos, and much more. I am sure that tomorrow will be another fun and productive day!

- Marlee


Missions Connections 2 is very different from the other trips I have taken with Columbia. I love how I can share my beliefs with other believers, and not be afraid of discomfort. Everyone here is extremely welcoming, and it's easy to feel at home. Especially in our lodge. I've gotten to know Columbia youth that previously, I had not gotten to really talk to. In essense, it's just a camp, but we do service projects in the morning. The variation of the projects is so wide, ranging from VBS-esque projects to construction sites. No matter what project, if it is directly or indirectly helping the community, this has been so much fun, and I'm glad Columbia chose to do this trip for the youth this year.
- Dana

Proof that she was workin hard. See how dirty she got?

Just one of the many pics about Ultimate Frisbee


Crazy dance by Pierce

Big Reach by Tak

Kelly... um doing the sprinkler?

Marlee Sarah and Jenna... Jus chillin.

Jim W's roofing project

Last night's wrap up church time with Cammy

Road trip to Eagle Eyrie! 7/24/07

Yesterday we made out trip down to Eagle Eyrie for Missions Connection 2. As always, the van drive down was full of singing,laughter and overall excitement as we made our trek down for the week. Once we arrived, the afternoon was filled with adventure as we explored the campus, got settled into our lodge, and joined the rest of campus for an evening picnic complete with a watermelon seed fight.

After dinner all the groups met in the worship center for some interesting worship led by a trio from Columbia's hispanic congregation! After worship each of our students met their project teams and spent some time getting to know what their project would entail.

Finally we ended the evening as a group with some great conversation, talking about the distractions that each of us bring into a week like this, and praying for each other.

Before we knew it, the morning had come, alarms waking us up, getting ready for the new day. All of our teams are currently out on their projects right now as I have a few moments of rest, a few errands to run, and preparation for the rest of todays activities.

Tonight, a cousin of mine will be joining us for dinner onward through the evening and will be leading us in a devotional after worship this evening.

We hope everyone at home is doing well! Stay tuned for more blogs and pics from our week!



Um Just a little excited?

Just Chillin

Youth Ministry... How'd this happen for me?

As of this post, I've been doing youth ministry on staff for 4 years, and before that I was a volunteer for 5 years. It all really happened by accident. I never had it in my 'gameplan' to be in youth ministry at all. I graduated from college fully intending to have a long and prosperous career in computer network engineering. Of course we all know that sometimes God changes our plans. Right after college, my wife suggested we volunteer with the youth ministry at Columbia as she had mentored some girls while in College, and so I decided it would be a good opportunity for us to do something together. Thus began our re-entry into a world that we both desperately tried to escape: Teens.

Fast forward a year and a half and both the Minister of Students and Senior Pastor at the time took other positions, and our church began the road of refiguring out who God would want us to be. In our student ministry, we started 2 years of interim student pastors. At one point we had a youth minister search team and a final candidate. That candidate fell through and thus our team entered into the struggle to figure out the direction to go with the search.

At the same time I was thrust into the arena by a number of factors that I resisted at first, however after 4 months of serious praying amd struggling through different areas of my life, both my wife and I felt that God was leading us to this radical change in our lives to go into full time ministry. Major lessons? 1. Trust God with everything. If there's anything holding you back from totally giving up your entire life to Him, he will continually bring these issues up until you're ready to release them into his hands. 2. God can use you for his purposes anytime, anywhere even if its an area that you totally don't feel skilled / trained / or even confident doing. What's your role in all this? Be prepared and ready to go when he calls you.

This is really the short version of how we got into this. It was a long process of discovering what God had in store, and didn't hit us overnight.

How has life been since then? Well of course its had its up and downs, but I'm continually reminded to keep focusing on God, and I'm continually reminded that this ministry isn't mine, but its God's, and I just have the opportunity to take part in what He's doing!

Coming up: My philosophy of ministry and other thoughts...