Lecture Phase Wrap-Up

It is a cold and rainy evening here in Lakeside, Montana, but we’re optimistic that as we head out into the backcountry for a 5 day backpacking trip tomorrow the weather will clear and the temperatures will rise.

Trip #6, as we call it, is our last full lecture week before outreach departure on September 19. It is also the capstone trip as we will be putting almost all of our outdoor skills and knowledge into practice. The team will be splitting into two groups, with each group accompanied by staff and a guest speaker. One team will start on the west end of our route and another team at the east end. On Wednesday we’ll cross paths. We eat like kings!

The teaching topic for the week is evangelism, which comes on the heels of last week’s teaching on missions. The other teaching since our update in week 8 was community development/worldview. While we’ve had lots of opportunity to “rub shoulders” with outdoor enthusiasts on our camping trips this summer, our focus is also geared towards reaching out to the Nepali people and the trekkers that we’ll meet along the way as we trek Annapurna base camp trail in a few weeks. We believe that God is calling us to this specific outreach in Nepal and we would appreciate your prayers as we go to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to those that need to hear it and receive it.

A few other highlights over the past few weeks include the EDTS crew running children’s ministry at the YWAM MT staff retreat and lots of food dehydrating for trips 5 & 6. Another great adventure was a descent into an ice cave and a swiftwater rescue outing with the local search and rescue association (some had more opportunities than others to engage with this activity as I accidentally got the jet boat stuck and it took the better part of the morning to get it out of the water! I was showered with grace by the team and it made me very grateful to work with such a caring group).

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement throughout the past 12 weeks. We’ll try to send an update before the team leaves for outreach.

Trip #6 was a huge success and it had its share of challenges, including some dried up water sources, but the views, vistas and teaching for the week was transformational. A huge thank you to our fearless leaders and teachers for the week. And as always, thanks to our amazing students who continue to help pioneer Endurance DTS!

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Backcountry Skills

As many of our readers know, one of the goals for EDTS is to equip students with “translatable” backcountry skills that will serve them in both the backcountry and on the mission field. Another goal of EDTS is to graduate students with credible skills that can serve them after DTS as they seek employment within the outdoor industry at a camp, gear shop, guide company or elsewhere. One of the most practical ways that we accomplish both of these goals is by facilitating a 4-day wilderness advanced first aid course (WAFA) run by a nationally, and internationally, recognized backcountry medicine education authority, Aerie Backcountry Medicine (https://aeriemedicine.com/).

The progression of this week in EDTS started with a basic 2-day AHA CPR/1st Aid course in 2011. In 2012, we integrated a 3-day Aerie wilderness first aid (WFA) course into the curriculum and now we added an extra day for a 36 hour WAFA course, complete with a mass casualty scenario.

Like most things in EDTS, all of our adventures are shared with friends and like-minded outdoor enthusiasts. We have been so blessed as a school to build a relationship with Aerie Backcountry Medicine and to become friends with several of their amazing instructors. This year was particularly special because Betsy and I re-certified our WFR certs (wilderness first responder) with the same instructors that taught our school in 2012 and then again this summer.

A huge thank you to everyone at Aerie for your dedication to excellence in teaching and training in outdoor backcountry medicine! Can you find the Aerie gear in this picture above? Major kudos for the Aerie Level II trauma kit and “most comfortable synthetic backpacking t-shirt ever”!

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Outdoor Highlights – Disappointment Peak

It wouldn’t be summer without a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons national parks. It also wouldn’t be EDTS without our guest speaker and friend, Matt Hulst. Departing at the early hours of dawn and driving through a wild land fire north of Missoula, we made our way to Grant Village in YNP for 4 days and then headed towards Jackson for 2 nights at Colter Bay in GTNP.

Over the past three summers we’ve happened upon quite a few traditions for our annual Yellowstone trip. These include stopping for gas station cappuccinos/McDonald’s at the truck stop on HWY 93 and I-90, hitting up the Roosevelt Arch at the north entrance to the park, swimming in the boiling river, reading the park incident report and praying that we don’t get ourselves into an sticky situations with the wilderness, reading stories from the book, “Deaths in Yellowstone” and praying that we don’t get ourselves into any of those situations, dodging lightning and taking cover at the general store, cooking and eating camp food like we’re gourmet chefs (we eat like kings and queens on this trip!), frequenting Old Faithful, heading to the Tetons, stopping at Pizza Hut in Butte, MT within a few days of the “Evil Kinievil Festival” and hearing horror stories from the Pizza Hut employees and, finally, debating if we have enough time for a quick stop at REI in Missoula before heading back to Lakeside.

A huge highlight of the week was our camp sites. After baking in the scorching summer sun, totally exposed, in St. Mary’s back in week 4, we actually had to put on our down jackets each morning as we crawled out of our sleeping bags into the surrounding pine tree forest which made up our site.

Both campgrounds provided that wonderful outdoor classroom which facilitated a week full of impact. Matt Hulst joined us last summer at Rick Huffman’s and he once again taught on the tangible kingdom and story of God this year. A big thank you congratulations to Matt and his new wife!

While in the Tetons, the staff had some time to reflect on the first half of lecture and look towards both the second half as well as 2014. We were amazed at the accessibility of hikes and climbs and we spent one afternoon attempting to summit Disappointment Peak. It lived up to its name and we did not make it to the top this year. We’re hoping to be back in 2014!

Entering last week’s  EDTS everyone was excited to head out into the wild again for another trip. Our guest speakers, Tee and Kathryn Gatewood from Arbor Dale Presbyterian Church in Banner Elk, North Carolina, joined us for our week and taught on grace and holiness.

The team has really started to come together as a community as evidenced in our times of prayer & worship, work duties/meal prep, outdoor skill sets and learning/lecture processing times. It is great to see each member of the team (staff and students alike) bring their gifts to the group and bless each other with the blessings that God has given them.

Outdoor highlights of this last week include our mountaineering session where we practiced self-arrest on the snow fields and various hikes in the Many Glacier area, including a trek to Iceberg Lake (which was still full of icebergs!).

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Into the Wild

Entering this 4th week of EDTS everyone was excited to head out into the wild again for another trip. Our guest speakers, Tee and Kathryn Gatewood from Arbor Dale Presbyterian Church in Banner Elk, North Carolina, joined us for our week and taught on grace and holiness.

The team really started to come together as a community as evidenced in our times of prayer & worship, work duties/meal prep, outdoor skill sets and learning/lecture processing times. It is great to see each member of the team (staff and students alike) bring their gifts to the group and bless each other with the blessings that God has given them.

Outdoor highlights of the week include our mountaineering session where we practiced self-arrest on the snow fields and various hikes in the Many Glacier area, including a trek to Iceberg Lake (which was still full of icebergs!).

This last week we were on our campus in Lakeside, learning together from Mariska Buzzard about Relationships. Mariska and her husband Keith are the directors of our campus, and she’s originally from South Africa. It’s fun to have Mariska, as a second language English speaker, join our group of 13 students, which already has 8 international students (most of them are also second language English speakers). We love that YWAM is intentionally an international organization!

We spent last week talking about our relationships with one another, with God, with our families, and with significant others. It was a week to consider how we love each other well, and how we treat our relationships with others. God is using Mariska to challenge us to His standards in our relationships.

We’ve had great times of worship, spending time outside on our campus together and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.

Our big outdoor activities have been rock climbing in Kila, which is a nearby town, and doing archery indoors at a range in Kalispell. While climbing in 90 degree heat isn’t optimal, everyone had a chance to be on the rock and set personal goals for their time. Students conquered some fears, and others settled naturally into an activity that they’ve been doing for a long time before the school. It’s fun to have both experienced and inexperienced people championing and encouraging each other in an activity. We also shot at an indoor archery range, which was both a nice break from the heat and a great new experience for a lot of students.

Please pray for safety and great weather for us, and lots of opportunities to put into practice our school theme of Loving God and Loving People.

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The Beginning

We’ve started! Endurance DTS 2013 is happening, and we’re all having an incredible time. Our school theme this year is from Matthew 22:37-39 where Jesus tells his disciples about the greatest command – to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. And the second command – to love your neighbor as yourself. We’ve taken these two commands and summarized them as “Love God and Love People” and as a school we’ve committed this season to doing our best to walking these out together. And already we’ve learned so much about how we can do that, and how challenging it is to be consistent in following these commands.

We started our first week of lecture with our friend Gordy McDonald teaching on discipleship, and giving us a basic understanding of what lies ahead in DTS for these next few months. Gordy is a former base director here at YWAM Montana, and we appreciated the opportunity to gain from his wisdom and experience. And as Gordy wrapped up teaching for the week, we headed out on our first trip together as a school – to Glacier National Park!As we prepared for the trip, we took time to practice some necessary skills for Montana living – including practicing using our bear spray. Better to plan ahead and be prepared is a common saying around our classroom and campsite!

Our first trip to Glacier was a great bonding experience for the group, and each student learned practical lessons about what they need and don’t need while camping and hiking. We went up to Logan Pass and hiked as a group one day, where we saw lots of snow and mountain goats. We did several hikes as smaller groups, which gave each person the opportunity to challenge themselves according to their desire. We ate like champions. Sushi all around. And yes, it was a lot harder to make sushi while camping than we had maybe guessed. But we had fun doing it!

We had Mike Phillips, a pastor from California (who formerly pastored in Kalispell), join us for a few days in Glacier to teach on Hearing God’s Voice. Mike shared basic principles on listening to God and discerning his voice in our lives, and started our students on the path of listening more closely for God in their own lives. Mike will continue to join us for a few lectures throughout the school, as he’s taking a sabbatical this summer and staying on our campus. We’re looking forward to more time with Mike, and more practice hearing God.

Our Glacier trip took us midway into our second week of the school, and we returned just in time to celebrate the 4th of July. We spent a day learning the basics of rock climbing, and then Dr. Ron Smith came in for a day to teach about reading the Bible and the impact it’s had on his life. Ron and his wife Judy together started the School of Biblical Studies within YWAM many years ago, and he left a strong impression on us about the value of the Word.

We spent the Saturday of our second weekend volunteering at a local adventure race – The Glacier Challenge. It’s a 50 mile, 6 leg race where participants run, mountain bike, road bike, kayak and canoe a combined distance of 50 miles. Participants can race solo, as pairs, or in a team, and it was a great opportunity for us as a school to reach out to the outdoor industry and serve in helpful ways. Two of our staff participated as a team, and the rest of our students and staff served as volunteers at transition points in the race.

Just like that, two weeks of EDTS are finished! We’ve had so much learning together and from each other, and we’re eager to see what God has in store for us next.

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the beginning…

 

Mexico Update

In the spring of 2013, David Garrigan and I joined 6 guys from Stanwood, Washington, Foursquare church in Santana, Mexico at Rancho Bantano. It is a big camp in the middle of the desert affiliated with the Free Methodists. This ministry is very busy throughout the year hosting church groups, women’s groups, retreats for pastors, and helping in many other ways to refresh and give rest to church workers. They also minister in their local community.

The Rancho Bantano camp began a building project in faith last winter, trusting God to provide the funds and labor to get the work done. Teams began signing up and helpers came from all over, just as the camp staff had been praying for. We were able to be a part of an answer to that prayer as our team arrived in March and we helped button up the building by installing the metal roofing, helped with the electrical, poured concrete, set doors and installed knobs along with a variety of other things. We were able to use our skills and labor to get the work done quickly, which was a blessing to the ministry and an answer to their prayers.

It was so rewarding to have a break from everyday life and use our construction skills to impact the Kingdom of God. I believe that, even though we can’t see the direct connection, our efforts are helping to change the lives of people.

Canada Update

The Apprenticeship program took a trip to the YWAM base in Turner Valley, Canada to help show their facilities staff how to make an estimate.  The base wanted to re-side the main building and potentially try to get another building.  Our focus was to help them get an estimate on cost for each project while teaching/showing their facilities director how best to get this work done so that he could do it in the future.  It was awesome to see the apprentices learning how to put estimates together and then explain to Turner Valley’s facilities director how it was to be done and the important steps in the process.  We went to another site where an old building was up on beams, which Turner Valley was pondering trying to move onto their site.  We were able to help them field measure the building in order to determine how to figure the future construction if they got the building. It was a great experience for both the apprentices and Turner Valley.

Montana Updates

Columbia Falls, MT (Habitat for Humanity)

The Carpentry Apprenticeship has been involved with Habitat for Humanity over the last year. In Columbia Falls they are building 16 Duplex 3 bed, 2 bath houses. Each week on Wednesday, we take our apprenticeship crew to the site where we jump in to the construction process. We have been able to make a great impact with our professional crew of apprentices and staff.

The Site Superintendent for the Flathead Valley has a heart for teaching and training. It is a great experience for our apprentices because they are able to take part in building the same house multiple times and see the process repeatedly. We will continue to use this outreach as a regular training time each year.

Big Sky Bible Camp, MT

Big Sky Bible Camp (BSBC) is a Christian camp on Echo Lake. They have summer camps and retreats year round for everyone from children to adults.

The Lakeside Carpentry Crew started 3 years ago working alongside their maintenance staff to take on a project at the BSBC facility. YWAM Montana and the Lakeside Carpentry Crew were able to donate the lion’s share of the material to build 2 new summer cabins and re-side the main dining hall. Like us, the staff of BSBC are all volunteers. It’s a real blessing to work alongside others working for the Kingdom, and move them along in their master plan. We have built long term relationships with the staff and will continue to bless and be blessed by them.

Idaho Update

In September 2012, 6 men from the Carpentry Apprenticeship went to YWAM Cascade, Idaho to help their ministry with various construction projects. We roofed 7 buildings, installed 4 windows into existing buildings, sheeted a storage room after tying it onto the existing building, and installed hot water heater pans.

We left Montana on Monday at 5am, arrived at 3pm and started working. By 7pm their staff were commenting on how we’d gotten more done on that day than previous teams had done in a week! This is a testimony to the high caliber of training our guys have, their intense work ethic and their desire to serve God well. It was amazing to see our newest apprentice, Crosby, starting his first week with us with an outreach. The other guys taught him so much in that one week that his confidence and skills grew exponentially. Helping another YWAM base to have the facilities to be able to train and send people to the nations was a real blessing.

Personally, I was impacted by our ability to use construction and carpentry as a missions platform – serving, giving and showing the love of Christ, all while pounding nails and laying roofing metal.