When its all said and done...

This was a great experience for our family. We connected as a family and we grew in personal ways too. We left Malibu Club excited for the future. We also left there with a strong longing to do an assignment again. I can only hope for the humility of heart and strength of Faith to keep on the path that our Heavenly Father has set before us. It was an amazing time, meeting Folks like the Davis Family from San Francisco. I think we connected with them the most by far. I wish they didnt live in Cali though.

I (Ernie) learned that I must pursue God however he leads, that as Jesus did not respond in the typical ways of understanding (in fact he often went against popular demand and thought), so my life and the decisions we make are not always going to be in agreement with how typical life was meant to be lived, i.e. i feel that I am be called forward into the next step of my life. And I fully believe that the next step is in joining Younglife staff somewhere.

To be fully honest, this does not make any sense to most folks, because it definitely does not pay enough to provide for our current bill set-up and we may have to move, which would be near impossible because of the housing market. Nevertheless, we don't think that the Lord has asked us to focus on that, but rather to follow and let it all go. Scary, yet hopeful.

At camp we also saw a level of hurt amongst High School Students that we weren't really prepared for, not that we every are though. After seeing Post-Secrets, it becomes difficult to be angry at an XBOX for not working correctly, or a favorite sports team. there is more going on that we expected at first. We want to be apart of the healing of the world, not just sit in our own bubble and only care for ourselves.

I'm excited for the future. I have put my Application in with the Regional office for Younglife. I am mad... yet the best people usually are..

Running the Race

Well it is now day 4 of our last week. The time has been flying for us. Silas got to celebrate his 2nd Birthday up here, which was so special. everyone sang to him in the lodge, Joanna made a great cake, and he picked out a big red frisbee for one of his birthday gifts. He is such an awesome little guy. I am glad he had the opportunity to have his special day up here with so many fun and caring people...not to mention he gets to celebrate with family when we get home.

I have found it a definite challenge this week to be as excited about many of these kids. A challenge from the Lord though... so it is also exciting in some ways to be stretched. Many students here come from a very urban zone... one student had a 4" blade taken from him yesterday, followed by "F" bombs galore. Many also have negative attitudes towards a lot of the activities. The walls students build are very strong and tall. I continue to realize though that they build these walls because of the experiences in their lives.

Post Secrets - Wow, we allowed student the opportunities to post the secrets in boxes yesterday. the response has been huge. We've tried to seperate the postings by situations; i.e. sexual abuse, physical abuse, suicide, depresssion, etc..
Well the stack for students who wrote about Suicidal thoughts and the like was the largest of all the stacks yesterday... With more ways to satisy in our world, less satisfying is happening apart from the Loard.

It makes me so incredibily grateful that we could have nearly 300 students at this camp who can have the opportunity to find great hope and comfort in a God who rescues us exactly in our own personal ways. please pray for all the leaders of these students this week, there are many who are being stretched and find it difficult to help. We have sensed the Lord stregthening us through this week, but still deeply need your prayers that these students could allow themselves to experience Love, Freedom, and Hope in Christ.

Proud Moment

This past week Joanna and I were so happy to see kayla Anderson come up with a group of campers. Kayla was one of Joanna's first girls she was able to serve in younglife. We met here as a freshman in high school and knew she was just sponging it all up and learning about God, relationships, and healing.

This year Kayla attended Whitworth college in Spokane. younglife was such a huge part of her life that she decided to enter leadership in the spokane younglife area. All the feedback I hear from her leaders is so positive and encouraging.

at camp we have a time where a leader will share a Cardboard Testimony, just a very brief description of their life before Christ and after Christ. Kayla shared about the brokenness she felt after her parents difficult divorce, and how God had made her whole. it made me cry, because I saw just how far she had come and perhaps i should say how far God had brought her. I have felt so very proud of Kayla this week, for listening to the call of God, for following the path laid before her, and for realizing it isn't just about her, but the world.

I am also proud of Joanna, for she stuck with kayla during a bumpy boyfriend phase and was never hesitent to share the truth. I am also proud of the fact that Joanna has never stoppped loving high school students and serving Christ. Thanks be To God...

burn baby burn

hello from the malibu club
it is day 5 of our second week. this camp has been great to hang around, especially the guys from marysville. they are a fun group and have knighted me with a special shirt... photo to eventually pop up someday. Its been great because the group is so pumped for everything they do. The energy level is more then I've ever seen. It's so awesome.

Something else that has been evident this week is that a lot of students are coming from broken places in life. so far there have been a few "abuse" cases, many tearful cabin times, and even a pop can bong... for those unsure, that is where a pop can has several holes placed in it in a specific place and improved to smake marijuana out of. this actually makes me happy in a weird way, because it means that the students who really are in need of help are at this camp. the brokeness is very clear, but we are doing our best to present a picture of a God who heals and walks us through the pains.

Another evident item today, is the haze that has been moving around the camp. there is a forest fire a few valleys away. at this point the canadian folks arent fighting it, but will soon once it reaches a certain point. not to fear, but it sure is odd looking in the haze and not even seeing Frankenstein...

Silas has gotten comfortable here with the people, running circles around folks and just having lots of fun. Joanna is pleased because now he much more comfortable with the work-crew ladies, particularly the blond one.. we've always thought he was a blond liking fella.. so far this is true. ha.

Please pray for me, especially because I am getting worn out and having difficult having thicker skin. please also pray for our students at camp, so many come from such a broken home and life. I just want them to meet a God who always promised to heal and set free.

thanks.

pictures

hey here are some pictures friends, unfortunately we can only post a few, due to satellite charges, but we will try our best to get more here and there.

Adventurous day

Hi Everyone! It's a post by Joanna. Ernie has written all the other ones so far. I thought I would just write a quick post. We were reslly excited to have Kayla Anderson and also the crew from Marysville arrive. I am enjoying so much watching Kayla lead campers. It brings so much joy to my heart. I guess she is doing well because Ernie told me today one of the people from her area wanted him to tell me thank you because of how awesome she is. I got to be her personal photographer for the volleyball tournement today with Si on my back in the kelty. He was having fun in it> Thanks again Shannon and Charlie for lending it to us. We saw a helicopter fly by today as well and as we were walking back to our room saw it land at flag point. Si thought it was the coolest thing. There was a forest fire up in one of the mountains and they came to use the phone. We watched from a distance for a while and then walked up to touch the chopper. Si was on clound nine. He was standing on the foot rails while work crew girls held on to him and then the sneeky little bugger got the door unlatched I felt but the driver was really nice and said to let him sit in the pilot seat and take pictures of him. He climbed in and grabbed the joystick right away and was having a blast. Then they had to take off and SI was very sad to have to get out. The day wrapped up nicely with Si playing in Kanata whith work crew while I went to club. It was a great day for us both. Tomorrow's adventure: Chatterbox falls.

Presidents, prayers, and post secrets.

more stuff i didnt post recently...
Day 4 The president of Younglife, Denny Ryberg, Flew into camp to spend a day at camp. I had the opportunity to meet him and even introduce him at the leader meeting to all the leaders of the students. He seemed like a nice guy and fairly personable. we've also had 2 photographers from Younglife come in to shoot stock photos of camp and students. they've been here a few days and will leave tonight I believe.

Post secrets –Rob our camp speaker, is doing a version of Post Secrets intermingled with Life Signs. It has been very shocking to see some things kids write, about what life is like back home. One student wrote “I am Tired of always being the Fat friend”… another wrote, “I still love you mom, even if you still hit me.” And another wrote, “I don’t want to keep having sex, but my boyfriend likes it and I’m afraid he will leave me if I tell him no.” Its such a fragile situation for these kids. Its so heartbreaking too.

We are excited for tonight, where students will be invited to take a very close look at life and make some choices about where they are going. I am also excited because next week I get to see friends from Marysville, as well as Kayla Anderson, who is leading a group from Spokane. Pray for us as a camp, that kids would be real about themselves and where they are going in life. Pray also for me, because tomorrow is boat day and I need the energy and strength to meet new leaders and kids as well as remember names! also pray i get a good nights sleep, because the Head Leaders may end up spending the night outside of cabins to keep kids from sneaking out. Go Gig Harbor!

Ps, no cougar sighting since the first one.

Blog
Its Day 6 of our first camp week at Malibu. This has been a nice change of pace. Day 4 and 5 for us as head leaders are extremely wild. On day 4 in the evening there is a lot of crowd control due to a carnival, opera, dance, and pool party. We got to bed no earlier than 1:00 am and had to wake up at 6 am to do a ropes course. Now this ropes course is work for us, because as an assignment team we are all in the ropes course helping kids through it. In fact I was in the trees for almost 6 hours yesterday. I actually had a lot of fun with the day, talking to kids, encouraging them, and celebrating with them. Then the rest of day 5 is spent organizing leaders so the work crew kids (high school kids who spend a month working here) can take the day off. Let’s just say I slept hard last night.

Joanna and Silas are doing very well. We got to spend time as a family swimming on day 4, but for the most part the past few days we haven’t gotten too much time together. Silas hasn’t tried escaping ever since the first night, to Joanna’s relief. Joanna is enjoying the opportunity to meet a lot of Adult Guests and talk with adults, as opposed to a 2 year old most the day. We are also working on babysitting for Silas so she has some peaceful time. Last night we had a party with all the adult guests, which included excellent food and good conversation.

Last night after an all camp quiet time (where each student spends 20minutes alone somewhere on the property), we had a few students out of cabins still, so we were searching for a few. I found one young guy, Fritz, who was hanging out on the rocks. As I was walking him back to his cabin, he turned to me and said, “I’ve decided to give my life back to Jesus.” He went on to say that he had always been looking for reasons to doubt, and decided that even though he will always have questions, he was ready to start on the path towards God. I was excited for him. His friends said that he was very quiet and closed off the past two years, but suddenly has been way open over the past couple days. Its great to see these students opening up and letting themselves feel life.

Camp, Christ, and Cougars

Ahoy! It is now day 3 of our first week at the Malibu Club. We are definitely adjusting to life here, even in 80+degree heat this first week.

Silas is adjusting so very well, the first day here, he was very reserved and didnt eat much. well that all changed day 2 when he ate all he could, ran around everywhere, and even tried to escape at night. we got settled into our room, in bedroom with a king size bed, so silas gets to sleep in a pack n play in the closet, a very large walk in closet. the first night we were here Ernie had a lot of meetings late into the night, so Joanna put Silas down, set up the baby monitor, and went upstairs in the Katana Lodge, and talked with parents. About 15 Minutes later one of the other members of the Assignment Team found Silas walking up the stairs looking for us. lets just say he is very stealthy, because no one could hear him through the monitor. so now we are enjoying making barriers outside his door to keep him sleeping!

Unfortunately there arent any children Silas' age, save one of the property staffs children. So he likes to try and follow the older boys around, which it doesnt seem they mind too much. He also has been swimming great! Thanks to a floaty swimsuit provided by the Hubers, Silas was able to swim without Joanna having to hold him, 4 laps around the pool! He has also loved the Clubs, we think he feels right at home during a Younglife Club.

Joanna is adjusting well also, observing the different families interacting and enjoying being with some of the folks up here. We are really enjoying the Kanata Lodge, which really does feel like hotel accomodations! Joanna is also trying to adjust to just following Silas around, instead of always staying busy running around at home. and the 2nd night here she and another wife saw a cougar walk through the frisbee gold course behind the lodge! slightly freaked them out, but fortunately they are secure and the property has folks on staff to deal with these types of sightings.

Ernie is really enjoying being a Head Leader. doing this job you get to interact with the 335+ leaders and students each week. Remembering names is slightly difficult, but he is getting better at it. It has been so exciting though, getting to see all the students having fun and feeling free. of course being a head leaders, you get to deal with the students who are a little too "free", aka PURPLE. ha, boys are blue, girls are pink... dont make purple, thats the saying we have here. there are a few "couples" who dont seem to mind stretching the rules so far. oi.

During the second night while keeping kids inside the camp for the night he got to talk to a student who was trying to smoke outside the designated area. turns out the student was ashamed and didnt want his girlfriend to find him, but was still having difficulty dealing with the loss of his Grandmother, whom he described as the most perfect person around. Ernie talked with him for a while, and was able to relate after losing his grandma a few years ago. they talked for some time, the boy was in tears for a while, but all Ernie could really do was sympathize and let him know he was praying for him.

Its tough not having all the answers and being able to fix all the problems in an instant, but we suppose that is just part of life on this earth, but we do have the opportunity to point students toward a God who does know the answers and is able to walk us through our pains.

I suppose our biggest prayer request right now would be for Joanna and Silas to keep getting to know more people, and for Ernie to have enough energy (staying up past 1230am is a normal day)

and for the cougar to keep its distance...

t-minus 5 days

well here is the first post! we are almost ready to leave... not. so much to do and get ready for, but we are so excited to go to Younglife's Malibu Club in British Columbia, Canada, for 3 weeks! check back over the next few weeks and we will be posting about our adventures on our Assignment at Malibu.