Week 4

Our last week was the grandest.  We had WestSnoCo our home area, along with Snohomish County Capernaum (Kids with special needs.)  Also, the always loveable Lakewood/Steilacoom kids came along with Bellingham, Anderson Island, Lewis/McChord Air Force Base kids, Kids from France and Tacoma kids too.  Felt like we had the 'home field advantage' in the playoffs for kids' souls this last week.  We swung for the fences in prayer.  Why not pray huge, right? 

Jeff, Alex and the students from Mariner!

Vic Alinen, Kamiak YL leader, prayed that every kid in his cabin with have a direct touch from God to their hearts. If you know Vic, that's no surprise.  Boy did God come through.  We also had three boys from Mariner HS in the Kamiak cabin, along with their leader Alex Napelenok.  This is the first time Mariner students have been to Malibu in 12 years.  Two of the three did not know Jesus.  One of the boys, who is from Casino Road, is from a Buddhist household and he doesn't deeply understand it.  He realized during the previous week that his mom is a Christian and he finally decided to open up to Jesus as the message hit his heart. The other is a studly kid.  A sports star, and has had some hard bumps in the road of life, losing his father.  We prayed hard for God to help him to find God.  The last two days proved pivotal for him.  And, Vic Alinen's cabin time question of 'if a you had a 44 Magnum pistol pointed to your head, would you say you loved Jesus?  If you say no, they'd let you go.'  The guys laughed, but it did made them think (we do NOT train our leaders to pull these kinds of bizarre stunts.)  The Mariner jock said "'Hell No!  I don't even know Jesus", but he shared to the whole camp on the mic at the 'Say So' on the last night, that he opened his heart to Jesus and changed his answer to the gun question: "Fire away, I know where I'm going now."   The entire camp erupted in laughter, applause, and tears for such a beautiful response to such a quirky question.

Now for some miraculous moments.  Jeff invited campers were invited to step out of their comfort zone, because that is where the 'magic happens'.  We began to add, 'that is where the miraculous happens.'  Night 5, Jeff showed the campers his two black journals where he keeps track of all the times God shows up huge & answers prayer that he's seen.  One girl realized in her cabin time that she needs to journal what God has done in her life.  She shared that with her friends during cabin time.  Then during late night free time, she went to the Totem Inn and ordered a Jones Soda.  She opened the pop to drink and there was a typed message in the cap of the bottle. It read 'Start your journal.'  Friends, we can't make this stuff up.

Janna helped Jeff show what a relationship with God looks like.

Okay another.  A student from Everett HS (EHS has a massive group again this year) who did not believe in God.  During his 15 min quiet time, seated by the pool, he decided to pray, "Okay God, if you are there. I want to hear you speak to me." Then, without even a pause, there was a deep, growly and owl-y sound that came from within the woods across the Malibu rapids that lasted 5 seconds.   He immediately got the chills but was still doubting.  He prayed again, 'If that was from you God, make that happen again.'  A few seconds later, the same sound came.  He threw his hands up and said 'Okay God, I believe, I am 1000% in!'  Amazing.  Side commentary, at that same moment, I was sitting on the Big Squawka deck praying and I heard that exact sound (it was a sound I had never heard before but could only guess it was a Great Horned Owl, not any kind of common Barred owl I'd heard before) and felt led to pray.  I sensed in that moment that God was using that sound to speak to someone(s.)  I prayed that whoever it was would be open and know that it was God calling him in a way he/she could understand.  So, on Day 6 when the Everett student told me about what happened, he was overcome with tears telling me about this experience, and then I was crying my eyes out too because I knew God led me to pray for this specifc kid!  It was a WOW! Holy Spirit movement.  Amazing how creative and in sync with us that God is.  Reminds me of Psalm 139, how intimately God knows us.

Field games... see cascade students in orange.

Cascade HS brought loads of kids eager to dive in, experience healing from the loss of their Sophomore classmate 'Michael' who passed away in June to a battle with Leukemia.  They wore the color orange all week, the color that represents Leukemia.  Some may have thought it was a Netherlands soccer festival, but the sea of orange commemorated Michael.  They asked hard questions, wanted to figure out how to connect with God in the midst of such a loss.  Like healing often is, it was challenging, painful, tearful, beautiful and so needed.  One student was SO ready to start a relationship with God, he prayed with his leader Anthony on Day 2 to open his heart to Jesus.  Yep, Day 2.  RIGHT?

When Jeff shared on night 2 about finding out he has a grandfather (93 years old) two campers asked their leaders, 'Did you tell Jeff about my story? How did he have the same exact story as me?'  Crazy!  Also, cool thing happened with a girl camper.  She prayed during her 10 minute quiet time that she would see a seal, and that it would boost her already established faith.  She did not see one.  She was bummed about that, but in cabin time, another girl who had no faith in God shared that SHE was praying that God would show her a seal if He's really there and a seal popped right up next to where she was sitting.  She was so thrilled.  The first girl told her leader later, 'you know, God answered my prayer, but for this other girl. I am happy that he answered the seal prayer by showing someone who really needed a sign. I just need to trust and not rely on signs.'  Cool to hear a kid willing to trust deeper!!  And the other to have her eyes opened for the first time!

Whole camp from Jeff's view on the last day of camp.

Another camper sat through the message on sin, our broken relationship with God, and told his leader he wanted to figure out how to fix his broken relationship with God.  The leader said, 'you can't fix it, only God can.'  He was annoyed, but the next morning, when Jeff shared about how Jesus dies on the cross to forgive our sin, take the penalty we deserve, and offered us a fresh start, he ran out of club when it was done and prayed to start his relationship with God, overjoyed of what Jesus has made available for him.  Simple, sweet, & solid! 

So many more stories, we will stop there.  Thank you for all the prayers!  It was a wild ride these past 4 weeks!  We are inspired to continue trusting, praying and being responsive to God back at home.   

Week 3 Summary

Week 3 has been the most challenging of the three but also felt like we were most dependent and prayerful for God to come through in kids’ lives.  It was a large camp and there were a high percentage of kids who strongly disbelieved in God and/or felt like they did not need anything in their life to make it better.  Malibu is such an incredible place for kids in this mindset coming in.  We pray for kids like this to come and experience God.  We wrestled in prayer for kids and it felt like after 5 days, it was a boxing match that was headed for a draw, rather than a clear victor.  Day 6, things changed.  During the last two 15 minute quiet times where kids got to be alone with God, he revealed himself in incredible ways to the hardest of hearts. 

One student from Gig Harbor shared with me about his lifelong struggles with depression and being hurt badly by his step-parent when he was younger.  He was at a point of wanting to end his life and just before he did, someone/something grabbed his hand to pull it away from ending his life and said ‘Stop, I love you.’  During his quiet time, he recognized this as Jesus as he heard this voice again, now years later during a 15 min quiet time inviting him to stop (be still) and know that he is loved. 

Another student who graduated from Kamiak HS but came with the Northlake area, shared how God showed up in a powerful way to him.  In his family during a time they sought the Lord to show them He was there during a difficult time, the Lord provided 2 ladybugs as his family prayed.  Fast forward a few years and during this students’ 15 min quiet time on Day 5, he was praying the God would show He’s near and as he was praying, a lady bug landed on his arm.  Incredible!  Ladybugs are actually super rare around Malibu.  It was so perfect that God would use that organism to show his faithfulness and presence to him.  Wow.

Did we mention that a pod of Orca whales swam by the dining hall during lunch yesterday?  Yep.  The entire lunch room darted to the windows to see it, ‘ooh-ing and ahh-ing.’  The kitchen intern Merrick Rutledge was furious, thinking someone was playing the ‘look a whale!’ stunt, but then joined in the marveling of God’s most beautiful creatures on display.  Earlier in the week, a girl prayed she could see a whale.

Former YL students and current leaders/staff Ernie Merino and Tyler Marcus are on our assignment team as head leader and work crew bosses.  We included pics here to show them here too, they are both doing great. 

The new believers walk was once again packed this morning.  Kids gathered to prepare their hearts to start following Jesus.  Then they threw rocks in the ocean signifying that the ‘old has gone and the new has come.’ (2 Cor 5:17.)  Jeff handed this part of the speaking over to program director Marshall Jamieson to lead it.

Jeff received a letter from a leader who came a week ago.  Thought we would share it, such an encouragement to hear how God worked through him and around us. 

Janna misses her chickens, as evidenced by the picture she drew of her 6 babies during outdoor dress up dinner last night.  We are excited to have 118 campers from our home area West Snohomish County arrive today. 

Week 2 Volume 2 Malibu 2014

One of our favorite authors, Donald Miller (“A Million Miles In A Thousand Days”, “Blue Like Jazz”, etc) was visiting at Malibu and he snuck a pic in with him.

Janna prayed at the beginning of the week at the 'smokers pit', the place at malibu reserved for campers who smoke.  She prayed that kids who come here would learn to find peace in Jesus instead of from Cigarettes this week.  Presh! See photoThe kids got to dress up as some of the 'program' characters that come on stage throughout the week.  They knocked the ball out of the park.  See photo.

On the last morning of each week, all the kids that made a decision for Christ meet at 'the Point' to pray and throw a rock into the ocean, symbolizing that the 'old has gone and the new has come' (2Cor 5:17) in their lives.  It has been a highlight of the week for sure.

One of Jeff's life mentors, Marty Folsom, visited for 3 days last week.  It was a pleasure to enjoy some time to process life, theology, and the art of hitching a last minute ride on a yacht (the Aments) to Chatterbox Falls.  See Photo.

Lake Stevens and GPeak leaders were here and we enjoyed serving with them.  Jeff especially enjoyed some great time with his friend, Kyle Hoglund, husband of Heather, our beloved YoungLives Director.  See photo

Another great story is this….Bailey is a student in the Snoqualmie Valley.  He stopped Jeff on the ropes course and thanked him for speaking.  (Week 3 was an unusually thankful group, so this isn’t unusual.)  As he was waiting with Jeff for his final jump, he explained that he’s has some traumatic things happen in his life.  His brother committed suicide while his parents were getting divorced.  This really challenged him and his understanding of his place in this world while everything stable, good and familiar in his world was crashing down on him.  He really hesitated on top of the platform, of the ropes course scared to TRUST and jump off.  Jeff told him, he just needs to have faith, and take that step of faith.  After a few seconds of brief consideration, he jumped and said to Jeff, “I WILL”.  Later that evening in a cabin time with his friends and Young Life Leaders, he DID.  He took the step of faith spiritually and began a life with Jesus, reported his Young Life Leaders.  Bailey will find that all that’s required is faith the size of a mustard seed, and God will GROW that. 

Tanya had a great conversation with a Lake Stevens girl on the last morning.  She stopped to chat and explained a cool experience.  She has already known God and had a very encouraging time at Malibu. During her 15 minute quiet time, she was thinking and praying about going back home. Everything at camp is so conducive to growing a relationship with Christ.  At home things are different;.  People are too busy for community.  School sports and activities dominate time that could be spent with God.  She looked into the water and saw a seal pop up!  “How typical” she thought!  Then the seal went back into the water and stirred up the fluorescent green phosphorus, making a cross in the water.  That’s my sign, she thought.  She went back to her cabin time and passionately reported to her friends what had happened.  Some friends had to hear the story 3 or 4 times.  The amazing part to me (Tanya) isn’t the seal. It’s not the phosphorescence.  But you know the biology teacher in me LOVES that!  It is that this camper is passionate about furthering her growth in Christ, and is willing to share with her friends and even bring her friends along with her when they return to Lake Stevens!  She has a passion for community. That, my friends, is what Lake Stevens needs… It’s what the world needs!! 

Week 3 is almost over and week 4 will bring Everett, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Bellingham, Issaquah, Tacoma and France!

Keep praying, Friends!

Week 2 - Malibu 2014

Max, a student from Bothell, shared with Jeff that he had been praying for a clear sign or some kind personal touch in his life from God so that he can know God is with him.  That is a tricky thing to ask for, it is not promised by God nor is it the primary way He tends to reveal himself.  Yet, on day 3, he sat alone and opened the Bible up to a random page (he hardly reads the Bible) and it was John 5 about the man laying beside the pool, hoping to find wholeness. Jesus asked him ‘do you want to be well?’  He felt like the words were just for him as he was struggling through some difficult emotions this month.  Then, wouldn’t you know it, I spoke that night on, yep, John 5.  He couldn’t believe it.  God made himself undeniably clear to Max that He is not only there, but that he knows him and invites him to wholeness.

The former president of Young Life, Doug Burleigh was a guest this week at Malibu.  Sounds delightful, but it was more nerve wracking for Jeff to have him in the back of the room listening with critical eyes and ears.  Malibu already has such a stigma of excellence, but having Doug there added a layer of intensity within Jeff’s head.  He was  here this week with a group of other guests  who had incredible history here.  One woman was on the very first work crew back in the 50’s.  Jeff was encouraged as Doug pulled him aside a few times to encourage him on what a great job he was doing.  He said Jeff was ‘clear, passionate, personal, authentic and involved Janna into the messages so well.’  Phew!

Many great stories this week... Tanya shared her story on the real life panel.  Many girls with absent or uninterested fathers found her during camp and wanted to talk about Dads… including them in your life, giving them second chances, and forgiveness.  Doing this has really caused Jeff and I (Tanya) to count our blessings and survey and give God glory for what he has brought us through.  

Our family…has been a fabulous ministry tool. Janna is on stage helping Jeff with his talks by being a physical model of what the father-child relationship should look like. It is melting the hearts of campers, leaders and adult guests to see her look up at her Dad with perfect trust and love and to hear what fathers hope for their children.  Around camp we engage with many campers who tell Janna that they love seeing her up on stage.  One camper said that her highlight was seeing Janna and Jeff on stage together when campers were sharing highlights from the week.  It is a powerful and rare image in the lives of our teens.   

We’ve found many kids and leaders that you’ve all been telling us to look for—2 Joeys from Lake Stevens, Jake Douglas, Cada from Lake Stevens, our wonderful Wenatchee friends… AND amazing leaders…Carrie and Tyson Horner from Monroe, Angela A., Kyle Hoglund--- WONDERFUL, sweet time with these friends.

Janna has been cleaning the lodge and Dietrich and I are helping to bus tables in the dining hall.  It’s a fun thing we are doing together! Kids are having a wonderful time. Pray that they see themselves as part of the process of bringing teenagers to know him.  

Keep praying.  Jeff is really striving to be obedient to what God puts on his heart to change and speak.  Tanya is up for another week on the panel. Pray that God would use her story to help bring more teens to fullness in Christ. 

Tanya and campers from Lake Stevens

Pool Olympics - Sink the Speaker Event

Tanya and the kids preparing to ride the new Malibu Swing!

Week 1 Malibu 2014

This week we had campers and leaders from Portland, Spokane, Skagit Valley and Hong Kong!

It was quite a mixed group.  The weather was great. It rained for a day or 2, but has been beautiful otherwise.

Some favorite highlights:

Watching kids from Hong Kong learn to let loose and have a fun time and be silly.  With their guarded culture, it was really a leap for them, but they jumped in!  I think they were really surprised to hear Jeff’s stories during club about embarrassing moments or failures as they usually don’t talk about that kind of thing. Usually, they save face. It helped them to be more real with each other about their faith and struggles, which helped them make major leaps in their depth of faith.

One kid, Darrien, came to Jeff on night 2 after hearing that God created him and thinks he is ‘very good’, and explained that his parents made him one night at a party. That was the only time they were together. They weren’t even friends. His whole life he has felt like a mistake. But for the first time ever, he feels like he wasn’t a mistake to God!  Wow.

Dietrich did the ropes course. He was the youngest kid to do it.  He was nervous and a little scared, but did it anyway!  We are very proud of our brave little man.

The kids play a lot.  I’m trying to find jobs around camp for them to help where they will really be helpful and not create more work for the work crew.  Janna has been cleaning the lodge playroom and kitchen.  Deek will help set the dining hall this week!  Pray they find joy in serving others.

No injuries.  Dietrich did fall out of his bed in his sleep onto the hardwood floor, landing on his face. He has a small black eye.  Other than that, we are wonderful.

Our Real Life Panel did a fabulous job.  They shared their stories with campers and the campers were very responsive to the presentation.  We may trade out some of the panelists to give them rest.  I may step in as a panelist for 1 week. Pray about this.

The last night at camp, most of the kids at camp stood up at ‘say so’ indicating that they had made significant progress towards God.  For about 20 of them it was the first time ever, for 100+ others it was a re-commitment or big steps towards starting their faith.  Jeff aimed to honor where every kid was at.

At midnight, Jeff stopped by the cabin Darrien was in to pray with them.  Actually to pray a ‘blessing’ over a few of the guys he talked with this week.  One of the guys opened up earlier in the day that he was really beaten down as a kid by his family and had dark thoughts creep in his mind often about himself.  Jeff led them into a prayer time for him, inviting them all to say a word or phrase about him of what they sense God thinks of him and his identity.  It was powerful.  Then every other kid wanted to be prayed for too.  Darrien seemed like he was ‘made’ to speak truth from God.  He had something specific and personal for every single kid in the cabin during prayer.  I was no accident that Darrien was made by God to be one who speaks truth, hears from God and is a powerful encourager.  So cool to see how God’s plans for people can come out so quickly after they begin to live for Him. 

Jeff is doing a great job being 100% himself, 100% about God and 100% clear.  That’s about 300%!  He is doing a great job.  His talks are well connected with wonderful and vivid illustrations.  Kids love listening to him.  He has been overwhelmed with encouragements and leaders and campers pulling him aside to share how God has spoken so specifically and powerfully through him.  Keep praying!  This week is Wenatchee, Chelan, Minnesota and New Jersey kids, Monroe/Duvall, Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Glacier Peak, Northshore, North Whatcom County, and others.

Jeff Speaking in Big Squawka

Beautiful evening on the Inner Dock

It SNOWS every week at Malibu

Dietrich rocks the Ropes Course

Ropes Course Rockstars

Malibu 2014-- Ready to dive in

Here we are!  Ready to dive into our Malibu assignment.   Jeff, the kids, 2 glowing computer screens in a handicapped accessible hotel room in Bellingham...we'll stumble around at 4:30 AM to meet up with our group and travel across the boarder into Canada for a mid-morning arrival at Malibu!
Our minivan is weighed down with 5 bins, 5 suitcases, 4 backpacks, 1 cooler, a robot dog in a carrier, one duffel bag stuffed with shoes and 3 Stand up paddle boards strapped to the top!
We are READY to go!
Jeff in excited to speak to 300+ campers each week. He is tireless at tinkering with his talks.  He has done this 4 times now, the last time was 5 years ago at Malibu again.  Back then we felt we were far too young to be given such a big responsibility.  But, God showed up and worked.
Now that we are ....gasp.... almost 40, we feel like we are far too young to be given such a big responsibility.  But let's be honest, we are some of the elders in the mission of Young Life now!  Age offers a sense of humility and tenderness that are necessary to boldly make known the mysteries of the gospel to kids who haven't heard or who have heard, but haven't quite caught on!
My (Tanya's) responsibilities include directing a team of 4 adults for a 'Real Life' panel where they share their stories in 3 different episodes through out the week.  I have shared my story in this way, but have never directed this powerful and moving activity!
We are hopeful, cautious, prayerful, humble, happy, and tired.
This year leaving home was a little more difficult than in years past.  For Janna, it's the Chickens--2 chicks, 3 hens who are dependable layers and one who works only part time--apparently. For Deek, it's his beloved canine "Aunt" Bella (Jeff's Mom and Dave's new service dog).  For Jeff and me (Tanya) it's leaving our "small group" friends!  We love all of  these families dearly!  But change is  'acomin' for our wonderful huddle.  One family, the Ingrams, will depart for Malawi Aug 1st!    When we know that when we arrive back home, our beloved friends will be on the other side of the world, (Find a globe, Malawi is an the OPPOSITE SIDE of the EARTH!) it makes it hard to to say goodbye that final time!
 We LOVE Ryan and Kelli's obedience to what God has called them to.   We LOVE that all of us are better human beings and followers of Christ because of their existence.  We will miss their encouraging text messages, frequent 'check ins' and unconditional friendship.  We love how God will use their beautiful family and their teaching gifts to BETTER the people of Malawi-- forever.  These people are game changers! We can't hog them to ourselves here. Ouch.  Love hurts.

This is our 'small group'  on 7/20.  
We laugh, we cry, we pray and we talk a lot about God.  We've been together about 10 years. (Heins, Hubers, Merrifields, Schwenkes, Ingrams)  

Prayer Requests:  Janna would like to have other kids to play with at camp who are her age.  Deek would like prayer for a friend who has legos to play with at camp.  Tanya would like prayer for directing the real life panel  and for the internet to work so that she can complete her summer school teaching duties stress free.  Jeff needs confidence in the power of God to work through his words and his resurrection talk.
Thanks for your partnership in this!  We can't do it without our support from home!

Week 2 (Part B)

Week 2 ended well.  My favorite story from week 2 was about an ambiguously looking girl.
She looked like a boy, but was a girl.  She was quiet at the beginning of the week, standing outside most social groups.  Stuck with the safety of her cabin.  The first day, I believe someone mistook her for a male camper when reminding the campers who was along on the girl's deck.  Right away I'd spot her in a crowd and watch out for her... knowing that God has her best interests in mind, I wanted to extend her the same care and love that He would.

The night of the 'dance', when we line the girls up and the boys up and pair them off to square dance, I was in constant prayer... for many things but one of the main subjects was this particular camper.  I prayed that she would get paired up with the perfect male camper.  As the girls lined up and waited, I patted her on the shoulder.  I said, 'This is going to be great!  It's going to work out!'  She looked me straight in the eyes...(something I think she learned to do this week) and doubted, "really?"  "YES"  I pounded back.  "You are going to like this very much!  You will think this is fun!" I had peace.  With a little encouragement, to stay in the line, she re-positioned herself several times and settled on a spot near the back.  She was paired with a ruggedly handsome male leader who truly made her feel like a valued princess.  She laughed and smiled through the square dance and then at the dance through the ages, her square dance partner stayed near by.  The summer staff actually stood on the outside of the dance mob, on her other side.  Everywhere she turned, she was having fun with people who cared about her.  She was fully participating in the dance--singing, grooving and of course she ended up in the pool.

At the 'Say So' at the end of the week, she stood and said, "Hi, My name is Z*** and before this camp I was an atheist, but this week, I started a relationship with Jesus!"
Glory to God!  The way we treat people is so very important.  I know it wasn't just night 4 that made her feel like she belonged.  I am extremely thankful for her leaders, cabin mates, other leaders, summer staff and work crew who made her feel accepted.  The love of Christ flowing through all of these people became real to her.  What better way to show God's love than to include them as to say, "God loves you and accepts you better and more unconditionally than I ever could.  But I'm going to give it my very best shot!"  Makes me think about this... who can we show Christ's acceptance to?