Thursday Update

Hello LIFT followers!

Wow, yes I know - it has been a while. So because of the wait, I will add two photos to this one. :)

We all have been recuperating since our winter camping trip and getting back into the flow of things.

Tuesday was our day off, and Matt, Peter, Nellie, Chris, Squanto (AKA: Tim), and Kathy (Tim's wife) all hiked to Snowy Mountain and up the Snowy Mountain slide (as seen in Peter's picture above). It took about an hour to hike in with our backpacks and skiing/snowboarding equipment on us. Then it was about another 40 minutes to hike up the slide. But the skiing down in the powder was awesome! If you look closely in the picture, there is a humongous snow covered rock of some sort, and I totally launched myself off that on the way down. Peter has a video of it, so maybe one day that will be published. Yes, I did take fall after attempting to land the jump. I thought I had it for a second, and then it was a pretty sweet face-plant into the powder.

Tuesday night, we all watched Schindler's List. A powerful movie on The Holocaust. It was shown to us to remember how important the sanctity of human life really is, and to remember the people who died during the Holocaust.

Wednesday we watched a documentary on Dietrich Bonhoeffer with Joel Lawrence, our third and final guest speaker for the semester.

Today, we had three classes with Joel Lawrence, studying The Cross, The Tree of Life, Human Sin, and how we sometimes try to change God.

Tomorrow is our last three classes with Lawrence, and we go right into servant leadership. I will be on the front desk this weekend on Friday and Saturday night.
Then on Sunday night, a group of us will be watching "Fireproof".

So that is the current update up until now. We got a big LIFT gathering tonight, so I should be getting ready for that. Hope you are all well, and can't wait to talk to you all and hear from you soon!

God Bless,

I have posted three pictures from our winter hikes this past week.
The last picture is the guys doing a crazy jump on the peak of Big Slide Mountain.
The second picture is me on top of Mout Marcy in 40 mph wind gales.
And the first picture is a group picture of the LIFT team at the trailhead before our hike in.

Enjoy!

In Christ,

Four Day Winter Camping Experience

Hello LIFT followers!

Wow! What a week I had, and I will need to catch you all up with everything I have been doing this past week!

This week was our four day winter camping experience in the high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. It was a tremendous trek, and a great escape from living a regular lifestyle.

Tuesday morning we left and drove about an hour and a half to two hours northbound towards Keene Valley to our trailhead. We all had approximately 40 pound backpacks on our backs which included our food for four days, sleeping bag, sleeping mats, extra supplies of clothes, water bottles, and any extra cookware we may need. After about 2 and a half to 3 hours hiking into the woods, we reached our camping location. The men were designated to sleep in a lean-to the first night, and the ladies were given a larger cabin (Peggie O'Brien) with bunk beds, a kitchen and an outhouse. Talk about living big out in the wilderness!

After everyone was settled into their sleeping locations, we had a quick meal which we brought in, and the started out on our first hike up to Big Slide, one of the peaks of the Adirondacks. The views were beautiful, and the day was absolutely gorgeous on the way up and the way down. The hike up was approximately 2.3 miles, so it wasn't too hard. I had several great conversations on the way up, which made the time go by a little faster as well. We had some great picture taking opportunities at the top, and the temperature was great. We must have hung out on the summit of Big Slide for about a half hour until we descended from it. We had a great view of this other peak straight across from us, called Gothics, and our monster we were climbing the next day: Mount Marcy. We hiked back down, which most of the time we found great fun in by sliding down the trail on our butts. Hence the name of the mountain: Big Slide! :) We got back to camp, and we cooked some great pasta for our dinner at Peggie O'Brien. We shoved it down, and went to bed. And boy, was it cold that night! Surrounded by lots of people who snored, and the super cold air and wind of the mountains did not help. I might have gotten in one or two hours of sleep, but that was probably about it. But hey, sleep is sleep in a lean-to. I'll take it.

Wednesday: We woke up, after our sleep (or lack there of), at about 5:00 AM. We all went to Peggie O'Brien for a quick oatmeal breakfast, Matins, and then our group was the first to hit the trail towards Mt. Marcy. We split our group of 21 into two groups, due to Adirondack Wilderness law, you are not allowed to hike in groups larger than 15. We had to leave three behind at Peggie O'Brien due to injuries and soreness, so they were greatly missed. So, we were on the trail at about 6:15 AM. God really blessed us with another great morning to hike. Our group really bonded well, and we saw some beautiful views on the way up. We stopped frequently for water breaks and snack breaks, or whenever someone's snowshoe came undone (like mine), or whenever we had to de-layer due to sweating. At about 9:30 AM we were nearing the summit of Marcy, and we stopped to eat our lunch just below it. It had gotten windier, and the tempeture had dropped quite a bit. I pulled out my goggles, and got ready to ascend to the highest peak in the Adirondacks. Our ascent began, and we started heading for the summit. The winds began picking up, starting at about 15 miles per hour. As we climbed a larger face towards the peak, the wind gusts were pushing hard against us at an easy 25-30 miles per hour. I had some troubles trying to pull myself up the mountain, but God truly gave me the strenth to overcome that. At about 10:13 AM we hit the summit of Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York. Winds had picked up to speeds of gale winds (approx 40 miles per hour). The views around us were spectacular, and you could truly see for miles upon miles, 360 degrees on the top. What was neat was that you could lean into the 40 mph winds, and let yourself go, and let the wind balance you on the summit. It was so amazing to feel God's power and God's strength up there on the peak. We did it. We made it. We stood up there in awe for about 10 minutes maximum, and started our descent back to the bottom. We ran into the second group on the way down, and shared in our amazing experience at the top, and handed over extra layers, goggles, gloves we thought they would need to summit the peak in the high winds. Our hike back was wonderful. Hiking downhill is always nice - easy on the legs. We had many great photo opportunities on the way down, and we got to play and frolic in the tree-lines and in the snow along the paths on the way back, or just merely slide down steep trails on our butts, which is amazingly fun when there are lots of turns in the trail too on the way down. We hiked along a river back to camp, and got to see many awesome ice formations, waterfalls, and ice slides. Our group arrived back at camp just before the snow started, and we all got inside to warm up, and get some more calories back into our bodies. About an hour later, the second group arrived, and we greeted them with hugs, high fives, and warm smiles. We were a little concerned they were lost out there in the snowfall, but it was great to see them home safe and sound. Our second dinner meal was another pasta meal, and then we had one of our team members share her testimony with the group, and then we headed to bed. I, along with three other guys slept inside the lodge the second night to attempt to catch up on a better night sleep for the following day. Praise the Lord for a great, amazing, and spectacular day of hiking, fellowship, and experiencing God in power, might, and strenth.

Thursday: Our sabbath rest. Thursday was our free day, and we were free to take small hikes if we wanted to, or explore the area. Most of the group wanted to build quincys, which are similar to igloos. After breakfast and an awesome worship service, we all cleaned up Peggie O'Brien, and moved all our stuff out to a couple lean-to's. We all got a crash course lesson from Tim Trezise on how to build a quincy, so we started the girl's qunicy (AKA: The Taj Mahal) which ended up holding approximately six girls inside. The guy's quincy (AKA: The Sonju) was a two room quincy, which held about six guys in one room, and about three or four guys in the other room. So that is how many of us spent our Thursday: building a big mound of snow, stomping it down and making it pack, let it harden for about two hours, sending in three or four "moles" to dig out the quincy and sleeping areas, and staying warm after. We all had a nice outdoor dinner of macaroni and cheese on Thursday night. Boy, was it cold out that night! We indeed wanted to "shove it down and go to bed". Quincys are about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than an outside lean-to or tent, which made the temperature factor much better, and the sleeping conditions much more bearable. At about 3 or 4 AM, my feet got pretty cold, so I had to pull them up closer to my body, but I had a much better sleep than the first night, so the quincy was an overall success.

Friday: A brisk morning this morning with several cold hands and cold feet (but we all survived and got warm on the trail or by layering up!), and we had a good Matin's this morning with prayers of thanksgiving for the great week we had in the mountains. Some people had a quick dose of oatmeal before we hit the trail back to the vans. The hike back was pretty quick and easy (about an hour and a half). The four day camping was a great success, and it helped so many experience God in a whole new radical way, including myself.

Let us adore the everliving God
And render praise unto Him,
Who spread out the heavens
And establishes the earth.
And whose glory
Is manifested throughout all the earth.
He is our God, He is our God.
There is no one else.

Finally, on Friday...

Hello LIFT 21 Followers!

Yes, I know. I have been slacking on the updating of this blog. Life has been crazy busy for the past week, but I will do my best to update you on everything that has been going on!

Tuesday, we had our backpack training class, which involved how to pack the overnight hiking backpack, how to pack the sleeping bag, and the proper way of carrying the bag. We had some excellent testimonies on Tuesday, and then we watched a short movie called Everest, which documented a group's travel to the summit of Mount Everest. This was to hopefully get our minds geared in the right direction the day before we headed for Avalanche Pass and Algonquin Peak!

Wednesday: Alpine start. We left Camp-of-the-Woods at 6 AM and headed to the High Peaks. We picked up one of Tim Trezise's friends named Kevin on the way to join us for the hike. After about an hour and a half we arrived in Lake Placid, where there was an ice castle. We all got out took some pictures, and got the opportunity to run around in the castle, and pose next to it. It was pretty cool! As we were leaving we saw the police taping off the area, which meant that we were the last ones in there for the season! Yes, the weather is getting warmer everyday up here.
So a few minutes later we reached the parking lot and the trail head for Algonquin and Avalanche Pass. We left at about 10 AM for the Pass and the Peak. About a quarter way to the peak, one of our fellow LIFT teammates passed out on the trail momentarily. We helped her to her feet, and one of our leaders of the day had to make a decision on what needed to be done. He told her that it would be best for her to return to the bottom, get some food and water in her, and relax. So, yes - it is true. I did not make it to Algonquin Peak that day. Instead, I headed back down the hill with two other LIFTers and our light-headed colleague. We got some beautiful pictures on the way back down, but it definitely did not stand against some of the pictures I saw people had taken from the top of Algonquin Peak or in the middle of Avalanche Pass.

So, once we reached the bottom, we took one of the LIFT vans and drove into Lake Placid to spend some time there. We did some shopping (EMS was having a sale!). We got to visit Mirror Lake, and we also got to see the Olympic Center and the ice rink where "Miracle on Ice" took place. They were actually setting up for Disney on Ice when we arrived.

So, although a few of us missed hiking through the Pass and hiking for the Peak, one of my colleagues said it perfectly: People are more important than peaks. And I will have another chance to go after a peak next week on our four day camping excursion in the high peaks.

Yesterday (Thursday): It was our free day of recuperation for many. My legs still hurt a little bit from the hike, but I'm sure others hurt a lot more. I got to go to the post office and Charlie John's in the morning and pick up and drop off what I needed at those places. Then in the afternoon, I drove Emory and Justyna to Schenectady, NY so they could get their immunizations done prior to the Brazil trip. When we returned, we had our dinner at the Norm and Carol Sonju's home. They are both the main supporters of Camp-of-the-Woods. After having some great conversation at their home, we stayed for a consecration service there. If you are wondering what that is, it is a worship service primarily focused on knowing who God is. We did this through worship, praise, scriptural readings, and prayer. It was a deep service, and I know lives were changed and transformed.

Today: Today is our first few classes with our next guest speaker: Kerby Anderson. I got the privilege to meet him and hear him speak at our annual Men's Advance for First Church of Christ last October.

We have a very busy weekend coming up ahead of us, because it is President's weekend, lots of people will be here with their families. I will be serving in the dish room during meals, and I will be doing some babysitting on Sunday afternoon.

That is the crazy, immense update! I hope to get back on here after the weekend is complete. Thank you all again for your support and your prayers. I can see my life transforming everyday, and I give you thanks! Praise God!

In Him,

Crazy Wacky Weekend

Hello friends and family!

Update at your service! This weekend was great! Indeed, I did get to shovel a lot of snow on Saturday, as I thought. However, first I had to help zamboni the ice rink, and using the zamboni - your hands get cold and wet, which indeed, froze my gloves first thing off in the morning. Great! haha But overall, the shoveling went fine, and it wasn't all too hard.

It was indeed a warmer weekend than many that we have had. It was about 40 degrees on some days, and that made many of us very happy.

Yesterday we went to Grace Fellowship. It was a tremendous service, and the pastor, Rex Keener. I got the opportunity to share a few words with him after the service, along with one of my leaders, Tim Terzise. Rex seemed like a great guy, with many insightful things to say about the Holy Spirit's direction in your life, God, and Jesus Christ.

Here is the link to the church, if any of you wanted to check it out:

http://www.gracefellowship.com/

The next church we will be visiting in a few weeks is called Terra Nova, located in Troy, NY. From what I hear, this church is a secular night club on Fridays and Saturdays, and turns into a church on Sundays. Awesome!

http://www.terranovachurch.org/

We made a Wal-Mart run on the way back from church. When we returned, a few of us watched a short movie called "Outsource", made and directed by Tim Trezise's brother, Dan. It was very well done, and it helped us analyze it more after the movie as we talked through it. It is a science-fiction movie, based on how these robots, that were bought by humans, are trying to earn their own freedom. Quite interesting actually! :)

Last night after dinner, there were a group of us that went up to Timbers to have a small fire, and roasted some marshmallows and hot dogs.

Today we have some serious housekeeping duties ahead of us, along with some outreach opportunities in the afternoon. I hope to hike Oak Mountain later this afternoon, so I won't have to at 6 AM tomorrow! And then on Wednesday... our big trip out to Algonquin! Keep that in your prayers, my friends!

That's the update so far. Hope to talk to you all soon.

In Christ,

A FREE FRIDAY EVENING

Hello everyone!

So I have a free Friday evening. I don't know when I updated my blog last, but I figure I'd catch you up on everything going on.

Yesterday (Thursday, in case you didn't know) I drove an hour to Johnstown to Bank of America to fix my bank accounts. Apparently there were some strange fees showing up on my accounts, so I had to take care of that. After taking care of that business, I drove the hour back, and hung out in the rock wall for a fun photo shoot.

Then it was hardcore preparation time for our brazil mini-presentations. Peter and I presented on the geography of Brazil. I took care of most of the research, and put together the power point, which we presented this morning. It went pretty well. We also had a Spiritual Formations class today in the rock wall gym, which was pretty deep at the end. In the afternoon we had our Outdoor Leadership Training class, where we got to compare our personalities and leadership abilities to those of animals. It was pretty interesting. I learned more about myself through it, and more about other people's leadership abilities.

So we have quite a big group in this weekend. Acutally it is a couple groups. The total number of youth here this weekend is about 280ish. I will be working maintenance all day tomorrow. We will be shoveling off the roofs of Purdy Center probably most of the day. We hear rain is coming, so we have to have the roofs fully shoveled off before the rain comes. So, a big, long day is ahead of me tomorrow.

Sunday, I will be going to Albany to attend Grace Fellowship, a mega-church. I am very excited to see and attend the service in this church. I think I have always found myself drawn to larger churches, however I need to be open to whatever church God leads me to, whether is is a mega-church or a tiny church.

Well, that is my coming days ahead. Thank you for your prayers. We have a crazy snowshoe hike next Wednesday: Algonquin. It is the second highest of the high peaks in the Adirondacks:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Peak

or my secondary choice is Avalanche Pass:

http://www.geocities.com/fourthousandfooter/2008-08-AvalanchePass.JPG
(just add snow and ice...)

Both are pretty ridiculous hikes - about 12 miles round trip.

So please pray for proper preparation for the hike, plenty of rest, and good health as we get ready for our longest hike since we all have gotten to LIFT this semester.

Blessings to all of you! Talk to you soon.

In Christ,

A LONG AWAITED BLOG...

Yes, I know! It has been quite a while since I have posted a blog! I have not gotten a chance to hop onto a computer because it's been crazy busy. So, to catch you up!! This past weekend has been great and kept me busy.

I was waiting tables all weekend for my servant leadership, housekeeping Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning. By the end of Friday and Saturday, I was pretty beat, and didn't feel up to writing out a blog. Or maybe I was too tired.

Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday! :) We all went to church at NBCF (the local church here in Speculator), and some of us followed up with our last servant leadership of the weekend with serving lunch to our adult guests this past weekend, and doing some housekeeping in the afternoon.

Most of us went to Demerest (one of the buildings here on campus) and watched the Super Bowl that evening. It was a good game. I do have to write a short paper on how the Super Bowl and its commercials portrays our culture we live in today. Shouldn't be too hard. And to make things better, there was an hour long episode of The Office on right after the Super Bowl! :) AWESOME!

My studies are going well. Just got some theological questions answered out of the book of Matthew. I am working at studying and reading my bible at least 30 minutes a day. You can keep that in prayer as well.

Today for my outreach, I went to the historical society and combed through old newspapers, and helped document people's names from the local area into their card catalog. It was pretty interesting, because we found some old information on Camp-of-the-Woods and Speculator, and other nearby places.

We will be doing an all day Nordik Ski adventure tomorrow, so please pray for a nice day, and warmth, and safety on our travels. Wednesday morning at 6 AM will be our fun round up Oak Mountain, and I will be leading morning worship after breakfast. I have lined up a few songs so far, one which was written by a few of the guys here at LIFT including myself.

So, I'm hanging in there. God has been good to me, and I thank you all for your love and ongoing support as I continue to seek out His plans in my life. I will try to update this a little more often. Sorry about the temporary blog delay! (TBD) :)

In Christ,