Day 45. Of weeks ending and conflicting perspectives, of days off and travel time.

Today.... (or yesterday by the time I got around to writing this) today we got up and loaded up the trailer, van, and car and headed out of denver. From there we took a few detours and then made our way to our various destinations.

The detours mentioned began when we were behind where our schedules (the ones written, implied, or functionally agreed to the night before) said we should have been. At this point people began to get frustrated (as travel does to almost everyone, and traveling with others does to the rest) so by the time we arrived at the olive garden to eat lunch people and found out that they had no idea we were coming so we would have to wait for 45 minutes there was a small mutiny and instead the plan was changed and we went to a collection of faster foods for lunch.

In some ways this was frustrating (I'm a big fan of the seafood portifino at olive garden) but on the other hand I got to get qdoba for lunch and coldstone for dessert, so it turned out quite well. Primed with this level of frustration we again piled into the van and headed to Ft. Collins where we needed to pick up a few climbing ropes for the next few camps, it was nifty to see an actual REI store (I usually shop online with them) but it was a bit frustrating when everyone was kinda chomping at the bit to get home. We got the ropes without much difficulty and then carried on to Cheyenne where we needed to drop off a cooler, aquire a missing comerade, trade back a van and so on and so forth.

So we arrive in cheyenne begin the transfers of things, cooler ends up where it needs to be, comerade is in good health and welcomed, things lent to us are on their way to be returned, so a small  handful of us that are headed to casper but not by means of torington hop in the car and hit the road. We're having some difficulty finding the interstate because of a wrong turn (another frustration, albeit a no-fault one since none of us know cheyenne that well) when I got the first phone call... I had forgotten that I had the spare van key and we needed to return that along with the van... so we semi-quickly backtrack and turn in the van key, use the bathroom (a good idea before traveling) and swear a pact that we shall not stop again until casper wyoming.

We get on the road and start up an involved discussion (you all know i'm a sucker for a good discussion) and the miles begin to add up. It is here that I received calls... (consults phone) 2,3,4, and 5. Turns out the van that took the rest of the staff to torington, needs to be in casper by monday morning, and I might be the best candidate to do that. It was also suggested that I could come back on saturday and then drive back to casper again with the van, and various other ideas were tossed about. I also found it somewhat interesting that several of the calls I got described the same idea, but didn't seem to have talked to each other. Eventually the plans got more involved and strange... and I recall at one point saying (admittedly snippishly) that I wouldn't ruin saturday because I desperately needed a day off. (and do, although even just the last night and a full amount of sleep have been incredibly restorative, further updates on this one hopefully tonight)

Eventually we arrived in casper, split our tiny group of grumpy introverts (or at least semi-introverts) and two of us went to grab a bite to eat. Delicious food was had and we carried on our conversation from the drive up here.

After that I was dropped at the place I get to call 'home' for the next few days. It's a very nice little apartment complete with a real bed (I'm getting a bit spoiled) working air conditioning, comfy couch, and a actual decent inet connection! I'll be in great shape after another day of this... and then back to camp for 2 weeks.

Now, at first glance this update seems pretty negative, and to be honest it was a pretty frustrating day for many people (myself among them at times). But one of the things that has been seen this summer is that we're a gracious bunch and given time and a little space to process and recoup we're very capable of bouncing back to working smoothly and happily again.

I'm hoping that I'll write a more philosophical post later today but who knows? It's a day off... I might just be lazy instead. (also I'm probably going to brave... yay!)

-Nick

Day 44. Farewell to crossroads, Hello to the end of the week weirdness.

Today was our last day at crossroads. We slept in a bit (something we were in desperate need of) then headed over to finish our library project. We did get that done in time to eat lunch and turn around for our last day of VBS which went fairly well. After we finished up our regular VBS we stuck around to help with the kids reading club and then headed 'home'. After making a dinner of quesadillas (they were pretty great) many of us went to the gym and then returned 'home'. And here I sit... there you have it. gnite!

-Nick





psych! alrighty here's the rest of the good stuff. (in no particular chronological order or order of importance)

I sat with a man at lunch today who was a member of the program there at crossroads, he said that he had been in for a year and was hoping and praying that the church he was working with grew enough to take him on staff full time, but even if that didn't work out he had a good lead on a job and was hoping to land that soon. I promised him that I would pray for him, and I'd hope that you'd join me in that.

At the gym tonight I did enough upper body that I didn't want to cry about the tightness from a few days ago... then I biked another 12.5 miles. Good times, endorphins really help make these posts happen.

Tomorrow we head to cheyenne, casper, torington, and who knows where else... and reconvene at camp on sunday, pray for travel mercies and gracious people on the way. (we're all a bit sick of pulling up roots time and time again)

I might get shot for saying so... but the end of summer is quickly approaching and everything that comes with that. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm feeling that wall rush toward the front of the train...

Uhhhhhh... Oyez. I know I was bit tough on the ywam types yesterday, if you're looking for the other side (and an opinion I trust and respect on the issue) please read the comments on that post as well.

-Nick

Day 43. Of frustration and fatigue, of children and chaos.

Today began as a semi-normal day (at least for this week). We awoke, and over breakfast read the third chapter of our book. This latest chapter outlined a bit of the background of the author and it reminded me in some ways of donald miller. Not quite the same level of wandering storyteller but a bit of a similar academic history.

After Breakfast we once again headed over to crossroads and continued our project of organizing, labeling, and reshelving their childrens library. We did make fairly good progress on this task but for whatever reason (fatigue, soreness, sickness, or wednesday) many of us became frustrated by the work and while we still did it we were unable to be joyful or even happy for a time. (I was told that my grumpy face came out...) In hindsight I'm a bit embarrassed that I got as grumpy as I did but... it happened.

We worked through lunch (we were fasting that meal anyway) and with just a few minutes to spare before the kids arrived (they live at crossroads so the arrival is swift) we piled the books in such a way that we'll be able to finish the job tomorrow morning. We're at the point where if we left things as they are now it'll be worse than when we started, but a few more hours and we'll be in much better shape overall.

Afternoon rolled around and we once again set up the marketplace. I don't think I've explained what that is so I'll do that now. The marketplace is a vbs program that sets up a set of stations that mimic activities that could have been around in biblical times. For instance we've got a scribe/artist (they can draw or write with little feather quills) a potter/sculpter (clay is fun stuff) a musician (kids love to hit drums) a storyteller (stories!)
and a food stall (awesome every day except when you're fasting). The composition of activities has changed day to day (we made little sandals the first day, but that's been scrapped) and I'm sure there are some I forgot but the general gist is that the kids earn some money during group time for memorizing a verse and whatnot. They also can go to a few money earning stations in the market itself (we had a soldier who was testing new recruits and would hand out money to types that could do push ups and jumping jacks and stuff, and a rich man who gave out money to people who would participate in the least busy activity, or they could recite the verse in lieu of paying 'cash').

At some point in the day Jesus (a role played by adam) would enter the market and make a big scene recreating a biblical story. (zacceus, the woman at the well, or the healing of a blind man) usually right before this the market would begin to close and right after the kids would go discuss what they saw and learned during the afternoon. After this time they'd get free time until 4:30 and we'd move on to our next stop.

Today that stop was a place called Davids tent which is the homeless ministry of Church in the City - Beth Abraham. It is a ministry of Jews for Jesus and was somewhat interesting of a night to be there since we were not the only missions group there. We were joined by a huge contingent of YWAM types who were there to observe? perhaps? I say this because the only ones that were involved in serving were the YWAM leaders. We hopped in and because they were short on servers (or at least appeared to be) we ended up helping distribute the meal. It became quickly apparent that most of the YWAM kids (I say most because there were about 150 of them there and only about 20 were helping serve) were more interested in trying to convert the homeless however possible than they were in feeding the physical bodies of people who were there because they were hungry and needed a meal. We saw several different expressions of this but the most notable were that they tried to convert a professing catholic (a chronic homeless man, but still) with the promise that faith in christ would make his life easier (he told them that he did believe in Jesus but didn't believe that would make his life easier) and that they said they would pray over another man who'd had a stroke 'until he was healed', we left before they did but they were throwing the name of Jesus around like He's some sort of magical talisman and it didn't appear to have any effect, also I found it a bit frustrating that in their large clump of wailing people the fringes would take breaks to film the whole process with their cell phones. I had to remind myself on the way out the door that I do like YWAM and that they are just kids for the most part... but this was not their strongest showing overall, and it was egged on by their leadership. In all fairness the rest of their leadership was serving right alongside us and there were several of their kids who were talking and approaching people to learn their stories and encourage them instead of looking down on people. I do realize that I'm probably being unfair and don't know what their debrief looked like... but I was a bit dissatisfied with what I saw.

After that we headed 'home' and most folks went on to the gym. I did not this go around as I instead elected to go to bed early... so early in fact that I'm writing this the next morning. (with krispy kreme in hand)

-Nick
p.s. lots of our staff are sick so please keep praying that we have the energy and health to finish strong.
p.p.s. krispy kremes are delicious.

Day 42. Of repetition and innovation, of endorphins and ibuprofin

Today was a pretty cool day. I spent a bit too long in a conversation with friends so I'll try to be brief so I can go to bed.

The day began with chapter 2 of the book. (see yesterday) and then we went on to Crossroads for a work project and our VBS afternoon. The morning project was organizing a little library for the kids department, because of previous disorganization and physical limitations, it was interesting to see someone elses point of stress and be able to help out in such a way that it didn't turn into a wreck of a project. I offhandedly referred to it as "their feed bunk" in reference to the project waaay back during orientation that pushed me out near the stress saturation point, but I don't know that this one was quite that bad, hopefully not anyway and the people on the project worked hard and we got a fair bit done. We'll go back to finish it tomorrow.

After eating lunch in the cafeteria we moved on to working with the kids themselves and conducted another afternoon of our VBS program. Today I got to be the food shop person and had a blast selling little candies and goldfish to the kids for fake monies. (I don't know if I've explained what our program is buuut i'll do that tomorrow).

After VBS we moved on to the same VOA mission we were at yesterday and helped serve their 4th meal again. (they do 2 suppers) It was pretty gratifying to see the workers there again and help them out and we also got to see a bunch of their regular volunteers working and got to work alongside a few of them. (several of their guests volunteer there)

After supper we came 'home' and then moved on to the gym again. Somehow I got talked into doing an upper body workout for a while and even tonight I was a bit sore, hopefully the proactive consumption of ibuprofin that I did just a few moments ago will help the morning be not quite so terrible. But it is further proof that I should be exercising more regularly once the camp season is over...

And then last and certainly not least on the way back from the gym I started (or was involved in, whichever perspective you prefer) a fairly in depth conversation with a few other staff members which carried on for quite some time. This resulted in a fairly happy Nick, but also a Nick who was late to post and is starting to resemble a zombie (and one who is starting to write in the 3rd person).

prayer requests/bullet point updates.
-lots of us are sick, in fact 2 staff members are out of commission because of it (one took the day off to sleep and the other is home this week to recover). The rest of us are fighting various symptoms and would really prefer not to be sick

-We're back at camp this coming sunday, pray that we can switch gears back and be effective for the last 2 weeks.

-Rimrock (the other half of our organization) is running a few weeks of camp while we're on the road, pray that they are used in a powerful Way to help kids grow and learn.

-I've been talking with several of our staff (and been thinking to myself) a fair bit about the future... we're all committed to going where God leads each of us, but many of us don't know what that looks like, pray for vision and clarity as well as peace on whatever road we're sent to.

Das all I got. off to bed I go.

-Nick

Day 41. Of rescue missions and social anxiety, of gifts and gals and various other sundries.

Today has been an interesting day. We began the day by beginning a book in group study called "the 24-hour Christian". We only read chapter one but so far I think it's pretty good, time will tell and if any particular ones stick out I'll write about that at a later date.

After breakfast and book group we moved on and headed over to a facility run by the Denver Rescue Mission. We spent a bit in training and learning how off some of our perceptions are about poverty and homelessness. It was a both informative and intriguing. After eating lunch in the cafeteria there we began our first day of VBS with the kids in the facility. This morning we only had about 10 of them (tops) but it was still fun to see them enjoy the activities and to give their parents a short break.

I got the job of kid wrangler which is a bit outside of my ideal wheelhouse but it was still a bit of a blast to hang out with the lil guys again. Although to be fair I'm exhausted... but that's normal for 8pm on a monday. And I really can't complain because I got paired up with my co-counselor from last week again and she's basically amazing so it works out.

After the DRM we moved on to a Volunteers of America where we helped serve a meal to about 100 people. It wasn't particularly new of an experience but it was very cool to talk to a few of the guests and also to see how that facility focused on volunteer labor to get everything done. The few staffers that we met were obviously involved in the business that comes with front-line service work but they were gracious and it was incredibly enjoyable to help them in the small way that we could.

I am a bit amazed how much I forget about my social awkwardness when I'm doing things like camp but when i'm placed in any place where I can't meet people at my pace or without any 'safe' zone, it's a failing but it was also nice to be reminded that i'm not really an extrovert... i just fake being one professionally.

at this point in time we're back at our 'home' church and a few folks are prepping to head over to the gym for a few hours. Most of us aren't motivated to work out too much during camp... but that's also where we have to go to get a shower so... yep :)

short post today... meh

-Nick

addendum: after initially writing this we went to the gym and I put in 45 minutes on the bike... it was delightful and the little machine said I went something like 12 miles... good times :)

Day 34. Lost Journal #2

Today was most excellent, we spent a while in prayer for the upcoming week first thing in the morning and then began the necessary prep for campers to arrive.

Also I should mention that the staff did the climbing wall and zipline here at TWM at some point. My memory is fuzzy on whether it was Sunday night or Monday morning. Either way it was fun and when I reached the top I was amazed how little the height was affecting me, and then I made the mistake of looking straight down... at least by that point I was already done and it was ok that my brain shutdown in a panic for a short moment.

Anyway campers arrived and were assigned teams {the composition of which was 1-2 guys and 4-5 girls, one male counselor and one female counselor} and at the time of this writing we've completed several challenges without winning any. But thus far we're doing well, the team is bonding and we havn't really embarrassed ourselves in any of them.

And now for a strange collection of short paragraphs.

One of my campers was a bit hesitant to be placed with me instead of the same leader he had last year but Keith {the leader he had last year} put in a good word for me and since then I haven't had any issues.

It is already exciting to see the changes between high school kids and the little guys. We had a short moment of reevaluating coming off of primary camp but it's very cool to be with an older age group.

I'm really excited about my partner in crime this week. Thus far we're working quite well together and it should be a great week for us and hopefully for our kids as well.

{as mentioned yesterday these were written on the day in question and are simply posted late... for the sake of historical accuracy I'll copy everything as accurately as possible}

Prayer Requests:

-That I can find time to get everything I need to done this week

-That I and the rest of the staff will have enough and the right kind of energy to keep up with our charges this week.

-Nick

Day 33. Lost Journal #1

By the time this one reaches the internet it will be at least a few days out of date {7 to be exact} As I suspected initially Table in the Wilderness is isolated enough that cell phones and inet service are not accessable to me. On top of that the guys 'cabins' this week are just large tents so I also don't have power to write this on my laptop. {it was handwritten and then transcribed to computer right now} So if these happen to take a while to get the whole week posted it's likely due to the fact I can't read my own handwriting from time to time. {so far I've done ok though}

Over the last 24 hours not much has happened in the itinerary arena, we attended church in saratoga and enjoyed some incredible fellowship until about 1pm after which we rolled out and headed up over the mountains to Table in the wilderness, the place henceforth referred to as home for the next week. {it has since changed again... twice... but that's getting ahead of the story}

The church service in saratoga was at a tiny cowboy church and the presence of our staff easily doubled the size of the congregation. It was an incredibly encouraging experience to be among a group of older beleivers that are still as passionate{if not more so} about the things of God as us young foolish types and it was great to see how excited they were to hear about camp and how God has been working. It was also a pleasure to hear our very own Adam Tibbs preach on ministry, steadfastness, and God's faithfulness. {If you're reading this and have the opportunity to hear him preach I highly recommend it}.

Another notable memory from this morning was how Pastor Les began his opening prayer. He clasped his hands together and began with a simple heartfelt “Abba Father, Dearest daddy... “ it struck me as odd for only a few seconds and perhaps coming from nearly anyone else it might have continued to be strange but as Les continued in an incredibly heartfelt petition it instead came across as a wonderful sincerity. Pastor Les is a great man and the love of God flows out of him in a way that I've only experienced a few times. Truly it was good to be in the house of the Lord.

From church we drove almost uninterrupted to table in the wilderness {not counting the semi-regular stops to let our van cool off} but we did stop near the top of the mountain and did a little scrambling over the rocks, it was good times and I got a few nifty pictures that I might post on here... but I might not. Time will tell.

I've also got another story that I'd like to record for today but I'm out of time at the moment so I'll just end here {not really, keep reading. I kept this in here for the sake of historical accuracy}

-Nick

addendum: {written later that day} Guess what? I found a few moments to write this section as promised. I also wanted to comment on the fact that as we were loading the van on Sunday morning how incredible the group of women we have on our team are this year. This is not to say that past years are in any way inferior but it is rare to find such gorgeous ladies (without exception) all in one place. I use the word gorgeous intentionally because beauty is often confused with merely skin-deep appearance. But I must say that these women... are gorgeous. And it's a priviledge and an honor to serve alongside each and every one of them.

p.p.s. {anything I wrote between these little dealies was added after the fact and will hopefully serve as a good link between the past and present}

Day 40. Of lost journals and new homes, of memories and grace.

I have returned to the internet! Or rather the internet has returned to me... I'm not sure which and at this point I'm not complaining either way. I'll be publishing the missing posts as “lost journals” since they are written but need to be transcribed into typed documents before I can put them online. I'll try to do at least one of them on top of my regularly scheduled updates so for a while I'll be updating lots n lots.

Today began with church (as many sundays do) or rather today began with waking up at the church in cheyenne, packing up, eating breakfast, packing the trailer again, going to church, packing the trailer a third time, being blessed by a brother in christ (i'll explain this one later in this entry) and then repacking the trailer one last time. In short me no likee packing the trailer that many times but at very least the last time it was done right. In this I am my fathers son...

The service mentioned above was the early service at the church in Cheyenne, and it is the traditional service. It was somewhat encouraging to see such a traditional service where hymns are still sung... every verse, sitting down (standing is for those pesky youngsters) where communion is served every service and at the same time it was a bit boring. Also I didn't necessarily agree with the sermon... but in all fairness it was kinda interesting and reminded me of the 'frozen chosen” style services I grew up attending so if for no other reason than that it was good to be there.

After the service we repacked the trailer (yeah it was actually that many times) to fit the cots and various other things loaned to us by the church there and hitched up the shiney newer van that they're letting us use. (a van with working AC... PRAISE GOD) and to remove the gear that one of our number owns. He headed home for a few days (hopefully not more than that) to recover from a persistant sickness that he's had. Last but not least we were lent an air mattress pump which saved me the trouble of blowing mine up manually again. Huzzah all round for generous encouraging persons.

Upon our arrival in Denver we grabbed lunch on the 16^th street mall. I got my first taste of smashburger which was quite delightful and we had a pretty good time people watching for about an hour.

After the mall we moved on to our new home, the basement of a small church. At this point we're getting good at loading and unloading... but I am starting to miss my own bed. Or at very least a place where my things can live semi-permanently

During the upcoming week we're in Denver. We'll be working alongside and partnering with several ministries and I'll letcha know what the daily happenings are.

-Nick