Escape ... The Unexpected Journey

Our annual middle school camp is officially less than one week away! We have 43 students and 7 staff signed up from our community, this is the most we've had in a long time, so we are excited to see the Lord growing our group and stirring an excitement among students. We're doing a Hobbit Themed camp this year, the unexpected journey. Our speaker will be teaching 5 times throughout the weekend on the amazing adventure that Jesus invites us to join in.

A few prayer requests for camp ...

Our students - many of our students are new to the group. Would you pray for team unity, and that students would love each other well and speak words of life to one another. Pray that God would prepare their hearts to hear His Word and that they would respond to Him.

Our staff - Kevin, Steve, Rob, Shaun, Suzan, Donna, Hannah and myself as we lean in with students, point them to Jesus and encourage them in faith. Pray for wisdom, ears to hear, words to speak and endurance... 4 days of camp with many high energy middle schoolers : )

Our speaker - Dave Lambert, a long time Cadence missionary and friend is coming to speak, and I'm really excited about that! Pray that he and his wife have safe travels and get over jet lag quickly. Pray that he connects with students and finishes up his talks.

Our camp team - A group of students from Multnomah University are coming to lead various components of the camp. Pray that they also have safe travels and adjust to Germany time. Pray that they would dive in with students well! Many of these students are interested in a future with Cadence after they graduate. Pray that God would speak to them and perhaps lead them towards Cadence.

Safety - We are maxing out our facility! Praise the Lord for the highest turnout in recent Escape history. Would you pray that the Lord would keep us safe - both physically and emotionally/relationally. As we near camp, we are still waiting on some final safety approvals from the various participating bases/youth groups. Would you pray that God would grant us favor with the right people and that He would make it all happen, in His timing.

THANKS for praying!! Our students are super excited for the weekend, and I'm excited for them to hear the Word and learn about Jesus.

Welcome to 2013, we're off and running!

Equip 2013
We spent January 25-26 with 20+ middle schoolers that were interested in growing in their faith and ministering to their peers. Our theme was "Team Captains" and we talked through the weekend about following our leader (God) and leading others to Him. Each of our CSM took turns teaching. I spoke the first evening about "Why are we on the team?" and how God doesn't need us, but has chosen to invite us to join in His work. That night I also lead an experiential game where staff hid around the building with different flashlights and students were sent out to find as many as they could. Some lights were dim and flickered on and off, others were bright and easy to find right away. Afterwards we asked students what sort of light were they? Did their light shine bright? Or did they turn it on and off depending on where they were and who they were with? Overall, we had a great weekend with our students! Praise the Lord for middle schoolers who are desiring to grow in faith and seek to impact those around them for eternity.

Good News 

A new twist on an old classic - if you've ever volunteered for VBS or little kiddo Sunday school, you've probably made a salvation story bracelet.

Black is our sin, 

Red is Christ's blood, 

 White  is for being washed as white as snow, 

Green is for a growing faith and 

Gold is for the promise of heaven.

I thought it would be fun to make this more middle school cool, so with Isaiah 52:7 in mind "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peach, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"we did Gospel style pedicures last week.

Bible studies are off to a good start this semester. With middle schoolers, we recently finished up a character study, where we learned what Christ-like qualities we need to be putting on and growing in. With high schoolers, we completed a worldview study, where we read through a book about how Christianity compares to other world religions and practices. For the next two weeks, we're going to look at the book of Daniel and discuss what it means to "resolve to not defile ourselves" as we live in this world. I'm still praying about March, but I'm currently leaning towards a study of Esther. Would you pray for my girls as we prepare for a new study?

MythBusters, Theology Style
"You know how when good people die, they become angels? Does that mean bad people become demons?" This was a question we were asked last year from a student. Hollywood is doing a great job teaching our students false truths about God. This semester we are seeking to bust many bad theology myths that are running rampart in our culture. Like... do all dogs go to heaven? Is Morgan Freeman God? Do we have a juke-box Jesus? Should we really set the world on fire? Are we really born that way? In the coming weeks we'll be looking at how Hollywood and the media have portrayed God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), Satan, demons, angels, heaven, hell and the end times. Then we'll take a look at the church and how Christians are portrayed in the media, and how the Lord calls us to be His witness.

Side note, on my flights to/from the states this Christmas, I started watching a few movies that really troubled me so much that I turned them off within the first few scenes. Each of them portrayed Evangelical Christians as total idiots, and I was frustrated by them. Christians and holy living is being mocked in numerous movies and sitcoms today, and I think it's important that it's addressed with students.

We'll also spend time talking about love/relationships, anarchy, following our hearts, the American dream and zombies/witches/vampires. It's going to be a fun semester!

Would you pray for our study... that students would understand Biblical truths and learn to filter the information they receive from media and discern what is truth and what are lies.

CSM Women's Retreat

Our annual CSM women's retreat was last weekend. We went to Rothenburg, a beautiful walled in city, about 2.5 hours away. So far, Rothenburg is my favorite German city. It snowed most of the weekend, but that was ok, our rental had a wood burning fireplace in the main lodge, and it was awesome! 

This year, Heather and I planned the weekend. Our goal was simple, to build community. Of the 13 women on the retreat, five are fairly new to the field. Each gal was given an opportunity to share her testimony of how she came to Christ and how she ended up in Germany - the 2 things we all had in common. In addition to testimony time, one gal led us in a daily devotion about hope. She went through part of Psalm 131 each morning. 

My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 
But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. 
Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore. 

During our free time, we got to check out the Rothenburg Christmas market. We also went to a night watchman tour on our first evening. All in all, it was a great time of fellowship with my Cadence family! 

SEMP 2012

This past long weekend was our annual high school student leadership retreat - SEMP (students equipped to minister to their peers). I was blown away by our sign ups. This was my third SEMP. The past two retreats we've taken 7 students each time. This year, we had 20 students sign up!! Awesome! We ended up taking 16 students (a few had to drop because of sickness and a few family things). Praise the Lord to have so many students desiring to grow in their faith and seek out ministry skills in reaching their peers with the Gospel. 

Our speaker talked throughout the weekend on two things. One, knowing the Lord personally by spending time in the Scriptures and praying. He also talked a lot about knowing your strengths and how God has wired you in order to be able to use those gifts to minister to others. 

Last night at youth group, one of my students told me she had a God conversation with another student at school. He was asking her a variety of questions and she didn't back down or shy away in answering them. She was really excited to have had the boldness to walk him through some verses in Romans and felt confident enough to explain what they meant! Praise God! 

On the final night of the retreat, we did an experiential worship night. There were a variety of themed rooms set up for students to walk through. They included... a campus room for students to pray for their schools (peers/teachers), a silent room where scripture was displayed and students could sit quietly before the Lord, a candle room to symbolize being the light of the world, two artsy rooms for students to express their worship through writing and painting, a distraction room followed by a throne room where students thought about all that keeps them from pursuing Christ and then bright and quiet room that represented siting before the Lord in awe. 

There was also an identity room where students could spend time with their staff. Each of us staff thought and prayed about each of our students and asked God what He wanted us to say to each of them. Most of my girls came to that room and it was a huge blessing and privilege to get to speak words of life to each of them. One girl came in and said, "I've never heard God speak to me, I don't know what I'm doing wrong." I looked her in the eye and I said, "Well, I've been praying that the Lord would give me verses to share with you and here's what He led me to." I reminded her that God speaks to us through His Word and often times through other people. So I read her the Scriptures I felt the Lord telling me to speak to her. It was powerful! 

We came home from SEMP super tired, but joyful in the Lord and excited about what He's doing in our group. I'm really amazed at the growth taking place in our youth groups right now. I feel like God is working powerfully among our students and has really stirred a hunger in their hearts. For the third week in a row, we've had over 50 middle schoolers come to youth group. It's such an encouragement to know that students like coming to group and want their other friends to be there. We are almost done with Matthew's Gospel. In the coming weeks we'll be looking at what Christ did on the cross, celebrating His resurrection and challenging students with the Great Commission. 

 ^Ramstein Students

^ The whole SEMP group 

His Hunger Games

I was looking through youth group pictures today and I came across some from our back to school "His Hunger Games" event. We broke kids up into "districts" (teams) and had them compete in different games including ... Lord of the Rings/finger darts, ultimate ultimate (ultimate frisbee with a twist, like using a cow tongue instead of a frisbee!), and a mega relay - pictured below. 

We invited students from 3 different youth groups in the area and gathered for a great afternoon. We had over 70 students and staff come out! As we closed with dinner, Steve shared a short devotional with students, encouraging those who are hungry for the Lord and to grow in relationship to him, to come to youth group!!! 

Mark Driscoll

One of my "go to" podcasts is Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. He's currently preaching through the book of Esther and it's been a really great, challenging and thought provoking series, check it out!! Some of my other favorite series that he's done are "Religion Saves and other misconceptions" (the emergent church one is great) and his more recent "Real Marriage" is a great one too (I recommend the friends with benefits one).

Missionary Care Retreat, Split Croatia

I received a huge blessing this past week. I was able to attend a missionary care retreat in Split, Croatia. (Split is awesome - check out my travel blog for pictures!) There's an organization, based in Tennessee, that sponsors missionary getaways all over the world. They invite missionaries to come to a beautiful hotel for an all inclusive retreat - we just have to get there. Once we're there, meals and lodging are covered! Pretty cool!! I've had friends in the past who've been able to attend these, and was excited to go on one myself. Heather and I signed up, and our good friends Lou and Cathy also signed up. We've been extremely cared for. Lou and Cathy have been the Hospitality House directors in K-town and are getting ready to move to Yokosuka, Japan to lead the Hospitality House there. Heather and I are really sad to see them go, we were really happy to have some extra time with them this past week. 

It's been fun meeting other missionaries. Many are from Eastern Europe. We've chatted with people serving in ... Ukraine, Hungary, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Greece, and some closed countries that I shouldn't list for safety reasons. It's been humbling visiting with them. Even though I live in Germany, because I minister to the American community and have access to American goods on base, I sometimes forget that I live abroad. Heather and I brought some American goodies for people... Mac n' cheese, pumpkin pie filing, oreoes, peanut butter, baking chocolate, salsa - and it was awesome to see how excited people were to receive these things. One teenage girl that we've been spending time with was sooooo happy to have some comfort food from home. One man had been in one of the 'Stans, but when he was discovered to be baptizing people, he was scheduled to be executed. Praise the Lord he was able to get out of the country and continues to minister in a new location. A lady in a different county works with refugees and she actually met one of the men, the other guy had baptized. It's a small world. Hearing stories like that, and seeing the connections and sharing in all that the Lord is doing all over the world, makes me eager for Heaven. How awesome is it going to be, when we can all gather - from every tribe, tongue and nation and celebrate the faithfulness of God and praise Him together.

It has been a refreshing retreat. For the past two days, I've enjoyed sitting by the pool, looking out at the Adriatic Sea. I've read a few books, spent time in prayer and have napped on and off. We do so many retreats with our youth. I'm so used to taking care of things for them ... transportation, lodging, meals, making sure I have enough money in the right currency, keeping track of students, holding on to their passports, making sure kids are drinking water and staying healthy, etc. it's weird to come a retreat and not have any responsibilities! I've been really blessed by this retreat and I'm thankful for organizations who minister to missionaries. What a cool thing! Each evening, after dinner, everyone has gathered together to sing a few songs. Because I attend a military chapel, I forget that many people living overseas don't get to sing in English. So each night we sing 4-5 songs together, in English. I think people really enjoy that because it reminds them of home.

Sunset # 1 from our balcony. 

Sunset #2 from our balcony. 

Sunset #3 from the poolside 

Final sunset, we fly out in the morning. 

 I spent two afternoons soaking up vitamin d (I don't get much of that in Germany). 

The hotel had an infinity pool overlooking the Adriatic Sea... and it was amazing view.