Thursday, July 24, 2008

Back from riding the WAVE...


Wow, what an amazing week! During the week of July 13-19, 38 teens and adults participated in Youth WAVE 2008 at Cascade College. Youth Wave has been going on for 5 years now and Vancouver has participated in for the last three years. This is the first year that it has taken place in Portland as the previous years took place at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. 4 high school students from Vancouver (Michael Mckinley, Braden Mueller, Thomas Ducat and James Robison) as well as myself attended Youth Wave this year. I know I can only really speak for myself but I know that it impacted everyone tremendously. Youth Wave is unlike any event that our teens participate in all year. Its sole purpose is to help make its attendees into outreaching disciples. It is different than any other event because of the expectations it puts on its participants. The only people who go to Youth Wave are those who actually want to be there. This is not a "my parents made me go" type of week. My wish and prayer is that all teens at Vancouver can experience in this event but I also understand that not everyone is ready for what is asked of them during Youth Wave. I believe having Youth Wave in our own backyard is advantageous for us because it makes things a little more "real". I want to encourage those of you who haven't gone to Youth Wave to talk to those who have. I'm sure they'll have plenty of things to tell you and how it's changed their perceptions on relationships with God and others. I'm sure those of you who were at church last Sunday heard about Braden's encounter with a homeless man in downtown Portland. The cool thing is, that was only one of many other encounters that happened that week. Probably the most important thing about Youth Wave is how it connects what we do during the week to the stuff that happens "back home" at our own churches and youth groups. I'm here to speak on behalf of the group that went from Vancouver and say that we are not going to sit on our hands and not share with everyone else what we experienced and learned at YW this summer. We have committed to make an impact. Are you ready for us?? God is setting things in motion, let's join Him in what He's doing!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Back From Camp...


Well, we're finally back from camp! Actually, "we" counts as 6 from the Vancouver church. Close to 140 teens and adults gathered at Camp Yamhill for an amazing week of spiritual growth. This year's theme was "Transformed". Throughout the week we talked about our identity, how God shapes and molds us, and ultimately how he is the only one that change us permanently. Each day we would watch a clip from the movie (you guessed it...) Transformers to help remind us of what we talked about each day. This year's group of teens was different than any of the previous three I've worked with before. There seemed to be a genuine willingness to put aside trivial things and work toward spiritual maturity. The week went by so fast! Before I knew it, our time was over and we had to come back home. I really enjoy having camp at the beginning of summer because it really kicks things off with and exclamation point. I really hope that more of our teens will be able to experience this in the future. Camp is usually around the same time every year so make sure to mark it in your calendars so that you won't miss out.

Is this YOUR Jesus?

Pulse Retreat 08

Pulse Retreat 07

Pulse Retreat 06