Back Home

The last camp ended and we packed up our stuff to travel home. Many kids gave their life to God. There were 180 campers and leaders and about 30 kids stood up at say so to tell about their first time commitment to Jesus Christ.

We didn't feel like it was right to throw away the camper's secrets so we brought them home. Jeff and I are happy to get home, because we missed our nutty life. We are anxious to get things going again. Happy to enter into familiar life again, but sad to say goodbye to the friends we had met.

The trip home was uneventful aside from the children repeating the lines from the program, "you must be this tall to ride this ride!"

We traveled home with Mike and Sara. Getting extra time with them was a highlight, for sure.

Here are some photos we didn't get to share.

Janna, Dietrich and Jeff in the snow storm. (not really, it's basically a foam party!)

Janna and her friends would play under the securely stacked canoes . Here is Janna pretending to be a sleeping animal. Pretending?

Now at home we are ready for life. We hit the ground running. The Jeff officiated a wedding, we had a YL committee meeting and summer life all before we packed up the family for a 3 day vacation to Ocean Shores.

Our Malibu time was a little bit of EVERYTHING. We are glad it's over, but we can't wait to do it again. I'm excited to spend time with Jeff, but miss listening to him speak! We are a little confused! It is hard to act normal! These things take time.

Three Stories About Kids

Jeff and I have had little time to talk about the stories that come out of camp. Here a few stories- one from last week and the last two from this week.

Michael from Wichita, Kansas was the only boy from his group that had not opened up his heart to Jesus...but no one else knew. He said all the right things, but has never really known or opened up to Jesus. He showed up last week to the new believers' walk right after 'say-so' and at the end of the new believers' experience, he told me that he was too afraid to stand up at Say-So. I had him stand up at the last club in the morning of Day7, his peers were shocked as they learned that he faked his way through the week...and high school without them knowing he never knew God until this week!

This week, Christian came up to me after the 'sin' message with tears in his eyes and said that he was the one who wrote the post secret card that said 'I want to put a gun to my head.' He said his dad pushes him so hard he is about ready to 'break.' Day 6, he came up to our family while we were having lunch and said that he is a new man and is 'at the beginning of his rope' now and is ready to go home (he also said he was coming back to Malibu and is already planning what he can do for the open mic night...nice.)

A girl from Spokane the 2nd night of camp refused to talk during cabin time. When the cute stuffed animal was passed to her (whoever was 'sharing' got to hold the animal) she said 'get that thing AWAY from me!') At the end of cabin time, she angrily screamed "There is NO GOD! There is no hope or purpose every day. There is no heaven or hell. Life has no meaning." Later that night, she walked up to her leader and said, "thank you for bringing me to Malibu, I really need to be here and I know God wants me here." Crazy. The next night, one girl in the same cabin shared that she has a hard time feeling close to God. That same same angry girl replied during cabin time, 'God has you here for a reason, you are in the right place." Then the next night, after the 10 minute quiet time, she reverted back and snapped, 'If I knew that we were talking about God and spending quiet time thinking about my life back home, I would NOT have come here! You guys tricked me! I did not come here to think about my home life." Then, this morning, Day 6, she came to question and answer time with Jeff and she was the only camper who asked any questions...she asked over 12 questions and dominated the entire Q&A time. Turns out that her mom died a year ago and she lost all hope. She asked questions about 'why bad things happen to good people,' 'what I believe in God so much,' 'why God lets 9/11 and other awful things happen,' etc. She told her leader, "all my questions got answered." Let's see if she stands up at say-so tonight! It would be a miraculous end to a week long & lifelong roller coaster ride!

Visitors and hard nuts!

Wow. Week 3 was rough. Jeff was having a difficult time feeling up on things, Janna kept saying she wanted to go home, I had 4 hours of online work to do every day.... But Week 3, day 6, things started clicking again.

Hitting our stride came just in time for some special visitors. Off of the Malibu Princess on Day 1 of week 4 walked our long awaited visitors, PJ (Jeff's mom) and Holly and Heather Leach, some great friends. They stayed for 3 days experiencing camp and having a great time seeing what it is that we do everyday.

They leave today, but they have had a packed 1/2 week. Hiking, trips up the inlet, pouring rain... they've had a taste of Malibu that is authentic and memorable.

This week is somewhat urban. We have Lakewood, NW Seattle (Ballard), Spokane, Ellensburg, Fresno, CA, and Coulee City! What a mix! There is a group of Ballard boy who are tough nuts to crack. They don't participate in activities, have broken 2 windows and are difficult to find when it's time for club. Last night, night 3, Janna had her best performance on stage. She waved to the crowd. The boys from Ballard said, "HI!" and then she waved right at them and blew them a kiss! The place exploded. How did she learn to do that? It was great to have a new connection with those boys... And Grandma was so proud to see it!

Please pray for this tough group of campers. They are VERY hard. Jeff and the team REALLY need your prayers. There is an intense heaviness about this group.

Jeff and I are really trying to be present and not in Everett for our remaining days here.

Mike and Sara Kruger will be here soon... That should help.

I'm Not Who I Was...

Today is day 6. I have not written much this week. I just finished my summer quarter of summer school today, so I imagine I will have more time to blog this week. Before every online moment was spent enriching the minds of high school students in my Health and Biology classes. (Pictured to the right, Janna and Jeff making a Totem Pole on night 3)

This year at Malibu, the leaders who bring kids to camp are given the opportunity to share their cardboard testimonies. Put simply, the cardboard testimonies are pieces of cardboard with writing on both sides. On one side, one writes a phrase or word to describe life before a relationship with Christ. On the second side, one describes what life is like now with Christ. To the song, “I’m not who I was” by Brandon Heath, the leaders roll out sharing with their young friends, how God has transformed their lives. It is a powerful experience. I try to see it every camp. My kids can’t read. At least Janna can’t read very fast. It’s a good thing. Some of the leaders write of being gang raped, being sexually abused and having abortions and share how they have found security, healing and forgiveness in Christ. Janna can’t read what the signs say, but she really wants to know what the signs say, so I give her the 5 year old version with tears freely falling from my face.
Realizing the redemptive power of God has been a theme of this session for me personally. I have been reading about Rahab in my Beth Moore study. Rahab was a prostitute who was, by her faith, spared along with her family when Joshua was at Jericho. Her life was completely changed, she lived among the Israelites, married Salmon and gave birth to a son, Boaz, who married Ruth. God has been revealed in how he has redeemed the lives of many of the other staff wives I share my life with here at camp. God has made these women new as they give their lives to Him.
Today in our room, the same Brandon Heath song was playing. Janna said, “I wanna make a sign.” So she asked me how to spell, “My Dad Died……And God made him better” (one phrase on each side.) She came out as the song played. Jeff and I clapped enthusiastically, just as the crowd does in the presentations the leaders do. She did several signs. “I’m sick… God helped me feel better” “bed broken… is fixed” “My had broke….God healed it” and my favorite, “someone awesome died… but God growed another person and she was awesome.” That last one could be my cardboard testimony. Janna knows it. That’s how she came up with it. Kids tend to speak truth, in their own ways. It is fun to see Janna getting things out of the camp experience. Deek’s writing skills are not as strong as Janna’s, so he came and showed both sides of a Frisbee! Maybe this is also the beginning of something great!

Getting the hang of it!

Day 5 is ropes day at camp. Jeff spends the entire day from 7:30AM till 4pm in the trees! He hooks people onto the rope and they jump for the bar off of a platform high in the air. It is a big responsibility. But also it is kind of a funny scenario. The sooner Jeff can get kids off of the platform and down on the ground, the sooner he’s done with his day! “One, two, three, wheee!!!!” He’s become very creative at “helping” tearful campers off of the platform.
I take the kids to the ropes course for 5 or 10 minutes every day 5 so that they can spend some quality time with Dad. I’ve included a photo of Janna and Deek sharing love as they watch their Dad in action.
When we got back to our rooms after a day watching Dad and swimming in the pool, Janna said, “I’d like to make a ropes course!” When I wend into their room, Janna had Deek in a life jacket, with the rope from the window blinds standing on the top bunk! “Don’t jump!” At least I know what she’s capable of if I dare to leave them unattended! See photo of Deek in his life jacket and Thomas the Train underpants!

Speaking of underpants, I was fearful that Dietrich would run out of pull ups because he leaked rivers the first few days. I told him he needed to use big kid underpants and use the toilet in the first week because we would run out! He's had 2 accidents in the last 2.5 weeks! Pretty good! Now I wonder what I will do with the left over pull ups!

Critical Mass

This last week many kids were from Catholic High Schools such as Gonzaga Prep and Bellarmine in Tacoma. Because the schools are Catholic, they strongly request an optional mass be held for the Catholic students who come to Malibu. On Friday, Father Joe, a Chaplain from St. Joseph’s hospital flew in for mass. Having him in club made Jeff a little nervous. Jeff forgot to mention the names of Mary and Mary who saw the empty tomb! He certainly didn’t want to say anything to offend someone who made the long trip to help out.
Jeff woke up early to attend the mass with the Catholic campers. With the back drop of the tall mountains and the inlet, Father Joe conducted the service for about 80 campers at Hamburger Point. During his homily, he referred many times to what Jeff had spoken of the night before. In front of all the kids, he said to Jeff, "You are GOOOOOD! You are REALLY good! You touched our hearts deeply last night with your message, including mine." Father Joe told Jeff. “You are a good man and you are close to God, I can tell” he continued with words of blessing. Jeff has never been affirmed by a Catholic Priest before! That’s for sure. A really neat friendship developed between the two of them. Father Joe insisted on exchanging information so that he can meet up with Jeff when we get home.
I have never known a Catholic Priest before. But this man was gentle, kind, bold and magnetic all at the same time. He preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Bible and love poured out of him as he walked around camp. He didn’t walk around in a robe, although he wore one for mass. What a godly guy! He expressed the desire for these kids to have a relationship with God. He told Jeff he’d pray for him during the remaining camps. And that when he’d pray, he’d thank God that it is Jeff speaking to kids at Malibu. For me, in praying for these Catholic kids, I am thanking God that there are priests like Father Joe with dynamic and authentic friendships with our living God.

Unforgettable Night

While Jeff was speaking, he described himself in high school as a late bloomer. When he was in high school and came to this camp, he weighed about 120 lbs. The crowd of high school kids usually groan in sympathy with Jeff’s obstacles as a childish looking adolescent. This week one boy thought 120 lbs sounded really good. He was the smallest kid in camp by far named Fred (not his real name).
Fred really went for it all week with his friends doing all of the camp activities. On night 5 during the 15 minute quiet time he took some paper and crayons and doodled two notes to Jeff. In the note he thanked Jeff for telling him more about God. The 2nd note outlined the action steps of Jeff’s talk that night with the words, “ admit, believe and come home”. It said that he, Fred, had admitted, believed and come home to God. At the end of cabin time, he waited for Jeff to get out of his meeting to give it to him. Jeff took the notes on his way to his next meeting keeping them in his pocket reading them later at the at the Adult Tea. When we read it we celebrated because Fred decided to start a relationship with Jesus Christ.
After the Adult Tea, Jeff went into camp to find that Fred had been wrestling with a friend, hit his head and couldn’t even remember his middle name or his birthday! Jeff stayed with Fred’s leaders and friends while the doctors assessed him deciding if Fred should be airlifted out. Word got back to the lodge that Fred was hurt and we immediately prayed that Fred’s memory would be restored and that there would be no damage to his brain. With memory loss Fred wouldn’t be able to remember that he had decided to start a life with Christ. The only proof was his note to Jeff, if he could recognize his own handwriting. Luckily after the shock of the event subsided, Fred’s memory was restored. He even remembered his commitment to Jesus Christ! No additional proof was needed! Jeff kept his note. I took a photo and included it below. Upper photo is Jeff, Fred and Fred's friend dancing in the clubroom.
Twenty seven kids out of the 200 campers made first time decisions for Christ this week. That is outstanding.

Out with the old and in with the new!

Yesterday the first camp left and the new camp was at camp all at the same time. It happened in just minutes. Everything is moving so quickly here, it's hard to keep up with the blog and get time to talk to Jeff about what is going on. I'll do my best to recap the end of the old camp.

Jeff did a fantastic job of tying the end of the post secret thread with kids writing their secrets on cards. For the cross talk, he had the post secrets nailed to the cross. He would use the cards during his talks also. The use of the real secrets gave Jeff's messages a feel like it was more like a conversation, instead of Jeff talking to the campers. On the last night, Jeff had the cross out and some of the campers stopped by and read the secrets. It was interesting to watch them read the secrets on the cross as they each approached the cross with a level of reverence and respect. It was quiet. No laughing and giggling while reading their peers' deepest and darkest hurts. Jeff stood next to one young man and asked, "What do you think of this?" He said, "It makes me really glad I came to this place, and really glad that everyone came."

Jeff's night 6 talk was about how to walk with Christ. Jeff broke it down into denying yourself, taking up your cross daily and following Him. Jeff used the visual of the cross with the secrets on it as the cross we take up and carry. This talk was put simply. It gave kids a detailed picture of what it means to follow Christ.

Many kids accepted Christ this week! During the new believer's walk, kids were given Bibles. Some kids had never touched a bible before! What an honor for Jeff to guide them in the first part of the journey.

It is HOT here. We are having LOTS of pool time. Deek and Janna are playing with their dinosaurs in the shade. Here is Deek acting like a dinosaur on dress up night!

Our new campers are a smaller group but an interactive bunch! We are now in day 2 of a new week!

It's no secret

Jeff is doing a good job of setting up leaders to have great, open cabin times. Every night after he talks, kids and leaders go back to their cabins for cabin time. During cabin time they discuss the questions that Jeff has written before hand for them to apply and process what is said during that night's message. Leaders are saying that their cabin times are going exceptionally well with kids really opening up.

On night 2 the kids anonymously wrote their secrets on a card. Reading the cards was heart breaking. Kids, as we know deal with so much! No kid wrote a silly card. I've included a few below.

On night 3 Janna helped in Jeff's message to show how we all have chosen to do our own thing and have turned our backs on our heavenly father. Doing our own thing or "sin" was demonstrated by Janna turning her back on Jeff. She did such a good job. It was scary! (See photo) In fact she kept her back to him, folded her arms and had her head cocked in such a way that the crowed laughed because it was so cute! Walking down the boardwalk takes twice as long as it did before with leaders and kids stopping to talk to Janna. We tried to get Janna to do it last year, but she would not!

Cool story: A kid from Eatonville came to camp not believing in God at all. The second day, after hearing 2 of Jeff's talks and watching the work crew (kids who serve for free), he told his leader that his faith is now a 5 (on a scale from 1-100). By the end of the week he might be at a 25! That's a huge step for a kid who walked off the boat with no faith or desire to believe in God.

Tonight is the message of the cross. Please pray for Jeff as he tries to explain a very complex subject to an unchurched audience in a short amount of time.

Just Another Day in Paradise!

Day 2, week 1 of Malibu!

Just another day in paradise! Wow. We are really getting use to life at camp. Our accommodations are outstanding. The weather is hot and sunny. Families that we live with are relational, laid back and fun. The kids are making friends with the other families’ children. I am surprised at how friendly Janna and Deek are to the staff, work crew and campers here at camp. Janna introduces all of them to her Toucan, Kendall. “He’s a boy” she explains, concerned that people will be confused by his ambiguous name.
Jeff has given 2 talks, one each night. Tonight I had the GIFT of being able to listen to his talk. Two work crew girls came to the lodge to babysit Janna and Dietrich. We have not heard much feed back from campers and leaders yet, but we think he is doing pretty well. The kids are laughing at his jokes, and show signs of amusement at all of the appropriate times. At the beginning of tonight’s club, kids from South Kitsap yelled, “dance, dance, dance!” They wouldn’t shut up until he danced. So the sound guy played some music and Jeff started dancing on stage before his talk! It was hilarious.
Tonight’s talk went deep. Jeff painted the picture of Jesus Christ as a God who can handle our secrets, our hurts and our life’s stuff. He used the account in the Bible of the bleeding woman and Jairus’ daughter being brought back to life. Both people had secrets, or hurts or things they couldn’t handle, that Jesus could handle. He told the kids that we all have those secrets in our life, known and unknown by others. Sometimes they are questions for God or about life. He encouraged each kid to write their secret down on a card anonymously. Hopefully kids will do this! We will see!
Pray that kids and leaders take this request of writing secrets seriously. It can have great impact if they allow themselves to be subject to the process!
Thanks for being part of this journey with us.

Honeymoon Suite for 4!

Internet connection here is very limited. Here's a post from our first night. We are just now getting a good connection!

Campers come today... more later.

Honeymoon Suite for 4! Written at 11:15 pm July 19th.

This morning at 11 AM, Jeff, Janna and Deek and I loaded up a 12 passenger van and drove up to Egmont to meet our water taxi to take us to camp. The ride was beautiful and thankfully uneventful. Our friends, Tyler Marcus and Trevor Loya drove us up. (Tyler has most recently starred in our blog as our “manny” from last year.)

We were scheduled to stay in Egmont for the night and then ride the Malibu Princess with the other folks going up for the month. But Jeff was on a quest to get to camp earlier. With Cascade HS kids, ABTM girls and adult guests from Everett and Mill Creek at camp ending their week, Jeff couldn’t stay a boat ride away from them for the night. Some how Jeff worked it so that we all made it up, ahead of our group by about 15 hours. In time to see our departing friends from Everett and Mill Creek in their last week of camp.

So instead of a 3 hour boat ride on the Malibu Princess, we took a 1 hour water Taxi tide. Before boarding the small but speedy vessel, I quickly realized that I couldn’t bring all of the stuff I had packed for our month long trip. I chose our clothing bags and our toiletry bags and left the rest of the boxes at Egmont to come on the Malibu Princess.

When we arrived at Malibu during their evening club meeting, we were greeted by old friends who are at the end of their months serving, our good friend Colleen Price, and other folks we were eager to see.

Janna exclaimed, “this is the best camp ever!” Deek quickly parroted his enthusiastic sibling. “I want to go on a Totem Pole Hunt” she added. “What story is this totem pole telling, Mom?” The questions begin.
We took a self guided tour of camp after fighting off head leaders who really thought we needed their expertise to help us tour the place. The kids were DELIGHTED. Sand volleyball court to play in, walk ways to follow and explore, rocks to climb. It is 11 pm and I can hardly get them to sleep in our humble cabin.

Nine years ago, Jeff and I were married for 2 weeks and rushed off to Malibu for Jeff’s assignment where he served as program director for camp. We stayed in a 3 bedroom cabin called Siwash for the month while Jeff served. It was a fun but interesting time, learning to get along as husband and wife in the modest cabin with 2 other couples sharing the remaining rooms. We effectionately called it the “honeymoon suite” or the “Love shack”.

Because our permanent rooms are still occupied by the group leaving tomorrow, the property manager offered us our old honeymoon suite. The entire cabin has been replaced by bunk beds! I have Janna and Jeff on the tops and Deek and I on the bottoms. We’re not calling it the love shack this year. LOL.

We are happy to be at camp. It feels like home. Many people have found us to say they are praying for Jeff’s speaking and have been for sometime. We feel blessed to grab the baton and run our leg of the race. This last month is ending, and our month, a new one is just beginning. Tomorrow, our team will join us after lunch. We will settle in and learn jobs. Then, new campers come on Tuesday. That is not much time to teach over 100 people how to do their jobs! That will be a big day. Better go to sleep! Good night.

A New Race!

It is camp season once again and we are working hard "training" for this year's race, a month long summer assignment at Young Life's favorite, Malibu.

Getting ready for camp has been challenging. First of all, we are leaving weeks earlier than our trip last time. Both of us have been busy in the ministries arranging camp trips for the groups we coordinate (Teen moms in Snohomish County, and kids from Mukilteo, Mill Creek and Everett!) This leaves little time to prepare!

But one thing is for sure, there is less of an unknown factor with this trip. We know that Jeff can speak to large groups of teenagers. We know that we must pray. We know how to entertain our kids and pack for a month. We know that we have a fantastic time relationally with each other. We are EXCITED.

So what have we been doing to prepare? We've been spending time with family. We went to see my Dad in Kennewick, WA. Jeff and I went on a marriage retreat to Las Vegas.

I've made the huge trip to the dollar store (to buy hours and hours of independent play time), communicated with other staff spouses about our new staff housing, and am doing my best to use EVERY summer time toy we own during the last days of a Northwest summer. Tomorrow night is "date night." Sound romantic? It is more like "the last supper" alone, with just the two of us. At Malibu we will always dine with our children and 300 of our closest friends! For our date, we are hoping to get in a pedicure, dinner and a movie.

Jeff is doing a fantastic job preparing. The teacher in me is proud of the way he is laying out his "curriculum" before he begins making sure that there is a clear purpose to each illustration and speaking point. He is doing some different things that have been done at Young Life properties in the mid west. We are excited, but cautious to use this. I'll tell you how it goes.

Fears, anxieties? They may exist. But they are hidden far below my to do list!

I spent time this spring worrying that Dietrich would run off the boardwalk into the white water of the inlet! But now, he really enjoys being a "good listener" and it is more likely that his sister would push him overboard than he'd go over by himself.

Spiritually, we are feeling pretty strong. I'm working on Beth Moore's "Believing God" with some friends from my small group. I am ready to exercise faith and believe that God will do anything, even miracles at camp this month. (Looking at the state of my house, I'd like him to start right here and now! :)).

I better get packing! Please begin praying for us NOW as we prepare to leave our lives for a month. We leave in exactly 4 days!

Photos:

1. Yankee Doodle Dash 7/4/09.

2. Janna, Deek and Ruben Rodriquez 7/5/09

3. Jeff and Tanya in Las Vegas, Late June.