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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.