Lessons From Summer Camp: Round 2

As I wrote my last post, "Lessons from Summer Camp," I realized that I could not keep my list to just five points! I learned so much during my time at Rocky Mtn. Camp and WaPac Camp this summer. So, here are five more lessons that rocked my world.

1) Avoiding volleyballs is a great way to connect with students: I do not consider myself a volleyball player. In fact, the last time I really played competitive volleyball was in junior high. In case you are wondering, I was on the "C" team. Yes, I said "C." (There was a "D" team and I wasn't on that, okay?). Anyway, so when the Woods End band decided to play in the camp volleyball tournament, I made no promises of contributing any mad skills. As the volleyball tournament unfolded, my main tactic was to stay away from the ball. I think throughout the day, I hit it three times. Yep. It's true. Yet, despite my lack of hand-eye coordination, the volleyball tournament ended up being a camp highlight. I loved connecting with students on the court!

2) My lingo totally changes at camp: In the two weeks I was at camp, I said "sup" way more than I ever do in normal life. Weird, right?

3) Lara Bars rock: Have you ever had a Lara Bar? They are so healthy, delicious, and the perfect way to get through a long afternoon at camp when you get the munchies.

4) Naps also rock: Just as Lara Bars can help get you through a long afternoon at camp, so can naps. Seriously though, I had to learn to make myself rest. I am usually a go, go, go person. Yet, before I left a friend and mentor of mine told me that I need to take time to rest, reflect, process, pray and discern. This means that I had to take time away from the hustle and bustle of camp in order to be effective in ministry. I learned that in order to give effectively, I had to rest effectively as well.

Trent Friberg, youth pastor from Centralia, WA. (Photo credit: Elevate Youth)

5) Youth leaders are invaluable: I love getting to know youth pastors and leaders at camps. I especially love seeing these folks pouring into their students throughout the week. As I spoke at the two camps this summer, I gained an even greater appreciation for youth leaders. As I spoke in the chapel services, I found myself feeling the burden of trying to speak to every students' needs in the room. However, I came to realize that I can only deliver the message that I believe God gave me, to lay the foundation for youth leaders to build upon with their students. After chapel, students had the chance to unpack the message with their youth leaders. Youth leaders know students better than I will ever get to know students. They have been on a journey with them before camp, and they continue to journey with them after camp. Students open up to youth leaders and process with them in deep, meaningful ways. I was thankful to have the opportunity to speak at camps this summer, but I truly believe that youth leaders were the main instruments of delivering God's grace and love in a personal way to students. With all of this said, youth leaders, thank you for all that you do for the Kingdom. You are indispensable. When you just want to pull your hair out, please know that you are making a difference.

- Carly

Lessons From Summer Camp

This summer has flown by! I seriously cannot believe it is time for school to start. I feel like I was just planning for summer, thinking about the road trips, family gatherings, and summer camps. I was able to end my summer by attending two camps with Woods End Ministries. I spoke at Rocky Mountain District Camp near Bozeman, Montana. My brother, Chris, our friend, Grant, and I team spoke at Washington Pacific Camp in Poulsbo, Washington. At both camps, our Woods End band led worship. I am so thankful for these two camps and the opportunities we had to share the love of Jesus through the spoken word and through music.

I learned some pretty incredible things during the camps this year. Some of the lessons are a little silly, while others were truly heart-transforming. In both instances, I will remember these lessons for years to come:

1) Flip-Flops are of utmost importance. Camp showers can get a little sketchy at times, and having a cheap pair of flip-flops can save you from stepping in slimy puddles.

2) An unexpected iced coffee from Starbucks is a great way to start your day. Some of the guys in the band went to Starbucks in the mornings and they brought me back an iced coffee a few times at camp. That little gift was such a great way to get me rolling. I am not a morning person, so a little coffee first thing is such a blessing! It is awesome to be a part of such a great team!

3) Yuck is awesome. Have you seen this stuff? Yuck is a gelatin type material, and it is looks and feels little pieces of jello. You can fill trash cans, buckets, and baby pools with the stuff, and it makes for awesome games. If you add Yuck to any game, it increases the fun factor by at least 157%. See, Woods End dudes, Grant and Nate, are loving it! (Photo credit: Elevate Youth)

4) Expect for your plans to change. I planned my messages before I arrived at camp. However, God changed my plans throughout the week. I told stories I didn't plan to share, and I ended up scratching some of my notes that I had been preparing for months. Flexibility and openness to God's movement was so important. If I would have been stuck in my ways, I would have missed what God wanted me to share.

5) God just wants us to be available. Going into camp, I had poured most of my time and energy into planning my messages. However, as I left camp, I realized most of my time and energy was poured into investing in others. Some of the most important moments of camp were not the times I was speaking up front, but they were in the conversations I had with students. As I walked to dinner one night, I had an in-depth conversation with a student who needed to know she was valuable. After chapel one night, I was able to pray with a student about issues at home, and I prayed with another about committing his future plans to God. Through these conversations, I realized that God doesn't want us to solely focus on serving Him in our preparation, but He wants us to serve Him with our availability. He wants us to be available to invest in others as we go about our days. As we make ourselves available to God, He will give us some of the most defining moments in ministry. We can't plan for those, we just have to be available.

- Carly

Woods End Beginnings

Well, this post has been a long time coming for me. My ministry partner has posted, what? 3 or 4 times now? To my 0 posts? I just couldn’t stand for it anymore and decided it was time give you insight into my pretty little brain.

           

Anyway, I realized I had never quite put everything together and told the story of Woods End’s beginning in its entirety. The full story would take a very long time. So I am going to start last summer and go from there.

            Last summer I was traveling with Covenant, a worship band from NNU. We were at a camp and I was helping to lead a small group of jr. high guys. This small group was filled with young guys with short attention spans, but they were also eager to learn. During these small groups, I didn't always have the right words to say, but while they spoke, I would listen to them and flip through my Bible. By the time they were done with their question, God helped me find the right verses by what I lightheartedly call "magic fingers." This was crazy and it happened the whole week!

            During that week, I realized that I had a lot to learn about the Word. I felt like God was saying something like, “Chris, the the more you know about Scripture, the more you will be able to speak into people’s lives." I stuggled with this idea and how to start this journey on which God was leading me. God then lead me to an idea. The idea was a project I know call, “Scripture in my own Script.” I have started a project where I just read and copy down the Bible; not in my own words, but just in my own handwriting. This has helped me to internalize the Scriptures and to read everything diligently. One day I hope to finish the entire Bible. So far I have finished Romans, 1^st Corinthians, and am more than half way through Judges.

            After a few weeks of reading and writing, I was excited about what I had learned and felt that I needed to share my journey with others. I asked God if I was supposed to pursue speaking in addition to pursuing being a worship leader. I felt affirmed by God to pursue these ministry avenues, and journey with others with the same heart. God started forming an idea in my mind of a ministry collective of people who are ministry oriented and want to share the word, lead people in worship, do design work, and connect with churches in order to further the Kingdom. This ministry is Woods End. We are just getting started, but we are eager to see what the Lord may do with our ministry!

-Chris

Walking Forward

It was July 2011 and I was having a great week in Louisville, Kentucky. I was seeing friends from all across the United States at Nazarene Youth Conference, eating multiple meals a day at Panera Bread, and getting to praise Jesus with thousands of others. Yet, that week God did something in my heart that I didn't expect. He placed a tug on my heart to pursue ministry in a new, deeper way.

I have always loved to sing and worship God with music. Yet, in the crowded arena that summer morning, I felt that God wanted me to pursue speaking.

"Is this really You talking, God, or is this me?"
"I don't want to purse this if this is not of You."
"Where do I start?"

These were all the questions whirling around in my mind. Yet, through counsel, prayers, and encouragement, I have walked forward and pursued this call. Amazingly enough, my brother, Chris, felt the same call on his life the following summer. After processing together, we decided to form what is now Woods End Ministries.

We love to sing and worship God with our instruments.
We love to talk and share stories about Jesus' presence in our lives.
We have friends and loved ones who share these passions.
In all these things, we want to glorify our God who blesses us beyond comprehension!

Thanks for journeying with us! We hope to learn from you, encourage you, and grow together!

-Carly