Sunday, September 28, 2008
Beauty Surrounds Us
By: Kathryn Heidebrecht
Building relationships, discovering yourself and discovering God through beauty and brokenness are the main places of growth I experienced during our canoe trip. We started off the trip with a prayer asking God to help us learn from His creation and this was a huge focus during our trip and a great way to keep God the center of our experiences.
I really felt that as a group we grew closer. We would bond while singing crazy songs in the canoes, preparing meals, being gross and smelling together and just spending time around the campfire in conversation. I loved the simplicity that we experienced on the canoe trip. We had no material things to hide behind, we were just real with each other and it was awesome.
The canoe trip challenged me physically and spiritually but I feel stronger and more confident because of it. I never expected myself to be able to canoe for hours, portage, carry an 80 pound food barrel and enjoy being dirty, but I really enjoyed every part. I felt closer to God throughout the trip because we were constantly surrounded by God’s creation and there were no other distractions.
On our first day of paddling the leaders challenged us to focus on the beauty around us and absorb the nature among us. We really discovered how incredibly beautiful nature is in its raw form. The second day of paddling we focused on the brokenness surrounding us. The common theme we discovered was that brokenness was found mostly among people. We are all broken and desperately need to rely on God for strength.
Overall, the canoe trip allowed us to realize that in order to completely soak in the beauty among us we have to be willing to become vulnerable and willing to seek God’s beauty. It sill amazes me how absolutely gorgeous God’s creation is. We need to take time to reflect and absorb the beauty around us. To experience God’s creativity and unconditional love all we have to do is go outside and soak in the beauty around us.
Building relationships, discovering yourself and discovering God through beauty and brokenness are the main places of growth I experienced during our canoe trip. We started off the trip with a prayer asking God to help us learn from His creation and this was a huge focus during our trip and a great way to keep God the center of our experiences.
I really felt that as a group we grew closer. We would bond while singing crazy songs in the canoes, preparing meals, being gross and smelling together and just spending time around the campfire in conversation. I loved the simplicity that we experienced on the canoe trip. We had no material things to hide behind, we were just real with each other and it was awesome.
The canoe trip challenged me physically and spiritually but I feel stronger and more confident because of it. I never expected myself to be able to canoe for hours, portage, carry an 80 pound food barrel and enjoy being dirty, but I really enjoyed every part. I felt closer to God throughout the trip because we were constantly surrounded by God’s creation and there were no other distractions.
On our first day of paddling the leaders challenged us to focus on the beauty around us and absorb the nature among us. We really discovered how incredibly beautiful nature is in its raw form. The second day of paddling we focused on the brokenness surrounding us. The common theme we discovered was that brokenness was found mostly among people. We are all broken and desperately need to rely on God for strength.
Overall, the canoe trip allowed us to realize that in order to completely soak in the beauty among us we have to be willing to become vulnerable and willing to seek God’s beauty. It sill amazes me how absolutely gorgeous God’s creation is. We need to take time to reflect and absorb the beauty around us. To experience God’s creativity and unconditional love all we have to do is go outside and soak in the beauty around us.
Letting go of Me
By: Josh McGraw
The three day canoe trip at Pioneer Camp was the final step in the beginning of a change inside of me. I have been slowly learning to let go of myself and give myself over to God. The chance to be out in His creation with a group that I already consider my good friends was the final step in letting go of myself.
I personally enjoy canoeing immensely and the chance for a canoe trip with friends made my heart glad. At the beginning of the trip the leaders mentioned that we were going to be talking about beauty and brokenness. I didn’t think much of it at the time. However, as I opened my eyes to both the beauty and the brokenness of Shoal Lake, I began to realize what God had intended us to be.
He had made creation perfect and beautiful. In that perfect beauty there is a cycle of life and death, which I saw in the trees and even this is beautiful in its own way. The real brokenness, I found, was the invasion of technology on the serenity of the lake. The loud roar of the motor boat as it blazed by just served as a reminder of how out of touch we can be with God’s creation. This finally clicked with me as we paddled along and the revelation was freeing. Being in touch with wilderness helped me let go of me.
The three day canoe trip at Pioneer Camp was the final step in the beginning of a change inside of me. I have been slowly learning to let go of myself and give myself over to God. The chance to be out in His creation with a group that I already consider my good friends was the final step in letting go of myself.
I personally enjoy canoeing immensely and the chance for a canoe trip with friends made my heart glad. At the beginning of the trip the leaders mentioned that we were going to be talking about beauty and brokenness. I didn’t think much of it at the time. However, as I opened my eyes to both the beauty and the brokenness of Shoal Lake, I began to realize what God had intended us to be.
He had made creation perfect and beautiful. In that perfect beauty there is a cycle of life and death, which I saw in the trees and even this is beautiful in its own way. The real brokenness, I found, was the invasion of technology on the serenity of the lake. The loud roar of the motor boat as it blazed by just served as a reminder of how out of touch we can be with God’s creation. This finally clicked with me as we paddled along and the revelation was freeing. Being in touch with wilderness helped me let go of me.
The First Week- Laying the Foundation for Community
"God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us..." 1 John 4:17
The first week in our new community was a time of excitement and anticipation. Amidst many games we took time to reflect on what type of community we want to create. Individually and in small groups we reflected on the values we want to incorporate and live up to. We are envisioning how we will make love run our community.
It is awesome to see how God is already at work in our community. We have seen Him in the messages spoken by our speakers and in our interactions with each other.
We eagerly await to see what God is going to do on our site and within our community.
The Media Committee
The first week in our new community was a time of excitement and anticipation. Amidst many games we took time to reflect on what type of community we want to create. Individually and in small groups we reflected on the values we want to incorporate and live up to. We are envisioning how we will make love run our community.
It is awesome to see how God is already at work in our community. We have seen Him in the messages spoken by our speakers and in our interactions with each other.
We eagerly await to see what God is going to do on our site and within our community.
The Media Committee
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
September at a Glance
Hello Friends and Family!
Here is a glance at our schedule for September:
Bird River Bible Camp
Canoe Trip
Bird River Bible Camp
Winnipeg Urban Plunge
*Cell phone and internet use won't be available for most of the month because Bird River and Pioneer are out of cell range and there aren't computers available for students at these locations*
Here is a glance at our schedule for September:
Bird River Bible Camp
Canoe Trip
Bird River Bible Camp
Winnipeg Urban Plunge
*Cell phone and internet use won't be available for most of the month because Bird River and Pioneer are out of cell range and there aren't computers available for students at these locations*
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Welcome!
A great big welcome to Site 2 South Africa!
We (your leaders) are so excited to meet you! We have spent this week preparing for your coming and will continue to do so next week.
We can't wait to meet you and for the amazing year we will have together.
Blessings on you as you prepare for one of the most awesome and challenging years of your life!
We (your leaders) are so excited to meet you! We have spent this week preparing for your coming and will continue to do so next week.
We can't wait to meet you and for the amazing year we will have together.
Blessings on you as you prepare for one of the most awesome and challenging years of your life!
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