Mission Nicaragua: Day 2

We were able to start our day together as a team up on the "3rd floor" which is a open air loft overlooking the compound and the beautiful countryside. Each morning we will meet as a team where we have a chance to connect through God's Word and to pray for our day.

So, today we got off and running on our first construction project. We were working outside of La Churreca (the city dump) at Sister Ruby's house. Sister Ruby has become a good friend to us as she has been serving here in ministry in a partnership with the Buzbees for many years now. She would have never asked for help but God has given us an opportunity to bless her and her ministry by painting her home.

God blessed us with some beautiful weather for most of the day and then the rains came in the afternoon. We figured that would be a good sign to get off the metal roof standing on a metal ladder. So we loaded up and headed over to Casa Robles. Casa Robles (the boys home) is the brand new home that was purchased by the Buzbees as a counterpart to Casa Havilah (the girls home). This is an awesome ministry where many abused, hurting or neglected kids can have a home to live in with a set of home parents and receive love, care and education. We will be doing some construction projects there later, but today we joined in a birthday celebration for Cesar. It was awesome to see how these kids' lives are transformed - many just by being able to leave La Churreca.

We are already being challenged as we've traveled around and seen different communities here in Nicaragua. It is eye opening to see how the rest of the world lives outside the States. Over the course of the summer I taught a series called 'Save the Planet' where we looked at the world from a global perspective with the challenge of living out the Gospel - the hope for the world. Most of the world lives on less than $2 a day and we are definitely being exposed to that reality here.

It can be easy to have compassion at the plight of the people here, but we want that same passion that we are seeking to live out the Gospel here, to come back home with us. Our desire is that God would allow us to see the world through the eyes of Christ. And we are eager to see what God will show us, teach us and do through us!

Mission Nicaragua: Day 1

Well our construction team has finally arrived after delays in the Tallahassee airport and then more delays in the Miami airport. Trusting in God is put into practice when the pilot gets on in Miami and says, "Sorry for the delay, but this plane had to get worked on a bit, but now we are good to go." And then later comes on the PA and says, "We've found some bags below that we don't know who they belong to." So we made it about an hour late, but at least we made it!

It has been a long day for all of us so we are looking forward to a good night's rest because we start early tomorrow on our first project. It looks like we are going to start with some home repair and painting on Sister Ruby's home right outside of the dump. We all love Sister Ruby and her ministry here in Nicaragua and are excited to serve her in this way.

Be praying for all of us - for our health and safety, but more importantly that God would do a good work in our hearts and through our team. We have some veterans on the team, but we have a majority that haven't been here before. So we are praying that God would meet us here and allow us to minister the Gospel in word and in deed. We appreciate your prayer support!

Kulauqa: Day 4

We have made it... almost! We had another jam packed day here at Kulaqua. After morning chapel our guys went to the guys only interactive to learn about being a dude in Christ and our girls went to hear Jen teach on body image and true beauty in Christ. Our hope and prayer is that they are hanging on to nuggets of what they are hearing since they have received alot this week.

Somehow we managed to go from 5th place to last place in true Wildwood fashion in competition for the all camp trophy. I guess I'll have to just accept this as tradition for the Wood. I'm guessing most of our lack of advancement came from our students who were too hot, too tired or didn't want to get wet or sweaty when it came time for our morning competitions!

During free time I took our group of students over to our snorkeling excursion to Ginnie Springs. This is always a fun bonding time for me and the guys that choose to go. It was cold as ever but this year the Santa Fe River is having some backflow issues and so it was so murky we couldn't see our hand before our face. So we spent the majority of our time snorkeling in the springs.

Chuck wrapped our chapel talks with the big picture of what is to come for eternity. He has done a great job presenting the meta-narrative (big picture) of the Bible, and it has given our students loads of information to process and understand about God.

Camp always wraps with our big hang night in the gym where we had inflatables, video games, basketball, soccer, dodgeball and other crazy games. I think it successfully wore us all out! But before that we did have a chance to celebrate our two camp birthdays - John Henry & John.

So, we've wrapped our last full day of camp and it was a roller coaster of a day. We've pushed through some tough stuff this week but we've also had some 'mountaintop' experiences where we've all felt closer to God. We wrapped up last night in our huddle times with a time of sharing and Q&A and I was really encouraged to hear our middle school students sharing what God has been teaching them this week and how their lives will be different. Sometimes it's hard for us to believe that through all the excitement, lack of sleep, camp food and high energy that our students are engaging, but I remember back to my time at ms camp and that's where God radically changed my life. So praise God for the work He has done and will continue to do in the lives of our students!

Kulauqa: Day 3

It's hard to believe that we are already halfway through our week here at middle school camp. We are really having a great time here as a student ministry - learning to love God and love each other. I'm really encouraged by this group of middle school students... even though we do have our 'moments'... it's a really neat group that I pray will serve as the core of our ms ministry as we move toward the new school year.

Camp is a great place. Yesterday we were challenged in so many different ways - from our chapel time in the morning and evening, our interactives and even our time alone with God. Our staff have been praying that God would speak clearly this week to our students and that they in turn would hear from Him and be changed.

We had a blast yesterday hanging out a camp and participating in everything from go karts, to horseback riding, to the blob and even the waterpark. I had a special treat in having my family drive over to see me and hang out with our students. I cherish every moment I've got since I spent most of my summer away from Tallahassee and my family!

We had some great representation from Wildwood in the dodgeball tournament as two of our teams advanced pretty far, but not quite enough to bring home the championship. Then for our late night activity we had church hang night so we took over the gym for more dodgeball, some hoops and some hanging out.

Thanks for checking in and for praying for us. Thursday will be our last full day at camp so we are trying to get it all in!

Kulauqa: Day 2

We have wrapped up a busy, but awesome day today. Morning comes early for sure, but we are grateful to God for some great weather for camp so far. After our morning chapel time we go to interactives for a smaller type Bible study. You can be praying for Jen as she is doing an interactive for girls and me as I'm doing a co-ed interactive. From there we move to a personal devotional time.

Morning competitions were a blast today as we competed in a game in the wave pool and one in the lazy river. The majority of us stayed wet today as we made our annual tubing trip down the Itchnetuknee River. This trip always is a blast as our students enjoy flipping each other, jumping from some trees and spotting for some wildlife. This year we were able to see (but stay away from) some water snakes and we even spotted a wild boar eating right along the riverbank. A few students stayed behind to check out all that Kulaqua has to offer!

Tonight was a great time in worship and in hearing Chuck share about part 2 of God's story. We took at look at the fall - how sin entered the world through mankind's disobedience and how that continues to affect our lives. In our family groups we were able to go a little deeper and talk how we all struggle against our sin nature and what God would have us do.

Our late night activity was pretty spectacular as Ben Glenn (aka the messy preacher) did his amazing chalk drawing and presentation of the Gospel. We were all pretty amazed at his story and also his beautiful artwork. God continues to speak to all of us this week through so many different means and we appreciate your prayer support!

Kulauqa: Day 1

Well here I go again... after just being home a few days from HS Camp, I'm back on the road at camp - this time with our middle school students. I always look forward to middle school camp at Kulaqua. It's a great place and God always does a great work in our hearts here.

We arrived in early afternoon to some rainy weather that cleared quickly so the students could get out and burn off some of the 'sitting on the bus' energy. They quickly took off for the blob, go karts, water park and sports activities. We all came together for dinner and then had our first worship time tonight. We are always excited to have Wayne Kerr as our worship leader for times of high energy worship! This year we have Chuck Berry speaking on the story of God in four chapters. Tonight we looked at creation and how we as unique and special creations fit individually into God's story.

After worship we have what are called huddle times where we meet together as a church and then we divide down into family groups for some in depth discussion and community time together.

Tonight was our annual huge game of counselor manhunt followed by our water park night. We had a great time but are all pretty exhausted and hoping the students are too. Please be praying for us and for what God has in store for us this week!

Elevate: Day 6

The last morning of camp is always full of mixed emotions. It was especially for me as I would have to say goodbye to our students and watch them pull out and head down the mountain.

The mountain is a unique place... not just Lookout Mountain where Covenant is, but spiritually speaking. The mountain, even throughout Scripture represented God's presence and meeting place with His people. Even in the New Testament, Jesus often withdrew to the mountains to have time with His Heavenly Father. So, it is very fitting for our hs camp to be 'on the mountain.'

But it is always hard to come down from the mountain spiritually speaking. And it's even harder in a 56-passenger bus overlooking the sheer mountain face, but Darryl did a great job for us! Anyhow, there is something within us that longs for the mountaintop and doesn't want to leave. I think that is because we experience what we were created for and we long for that communion in the kingdom to come.

We finished our time at camp literally on the overlook of the mountain. It was a beautiful place to meet with God this morning and to take a spiritual snapshot of camp. I pray that all of you hs students would remember what God has shown you, taught you and challenged you to. I pray that you would treasure Him above all else and readily lay down your idols. I hope we will be able to look back on this camp and remember what God called us to both individually and as a high school ministry. I pray that your hearts would long for the connection you had a camp and would realize God always stands willing and ready to meet you "on the mountain"!

Elevate: Day 5

I'm finding that writing these updates a few days late is a bit more difficult. But weighing the options between writing a current update (at 3:30am after tech load-out) or waiting until later... well, you can see what won out.

Tuesday was our last full day at camp and it was a jam packed day. It was a typical day as far as schedule went, but a very special day when looking back on it all. Everything from morning worship to the interactives, evening worship and even our closing time together during our huddles were powerful moments where we felt the presence of the Lord and a real sense of community together.

During our free time, we made our annual pilgrimage to Clumpies Ice Cream in downtown Chattanooga. We have created a tradition of sorts as we make our way from the riverbank, across the footbridge and then over to Coolidge Park. As you will see in the pics - we had a great time together enjoying some beautiful weather!

The last night at camp is always a special night. Adam and the band led in a Spirit-filled time of worship and Brent brought the message and continued to challenge us to a life that pursues Christ above all else. During our huddle time, I had the privilege to share a challenge with our students and also allow them to share what God had been showing them and teaching them at camp this year.

Our already full day went even longer with our first ever "Southland's Got Talent" Show. We had great representation from the Wood with a solo act, a duo and even an 'everyone's in' rap. We do have some talented students!

Elevate: Day 4

It's hard to believe that we have crossed the mid-point of camp already. And I know I promised some more pics, but I can't seem to find the USB cable so I figured I would get a text update and can maybe do some pics tomorrow.

Today was a big day for the majority of our students that braved the cold water and rapids of the Ocoee. I've heard some good stories about some students taking an unexpected swim, but thankfully no rafts taco'd on rocks like last year! We did have a few chickens... I mean some leaders and students stay behind and took their own excursion downtown to see some sights.

I made it back to camp right when our evening worship was beginning and am so glad I did. Adam and the band led in a powerful time of worship and Brent again did a good job of helping the students see the pitfalls of idolatry. One of the verses from Isaiah 46 that really stood out to me says, "To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?" (vs. 5). We have this idea that these idols in our lives can satisfy or bring happiness, yet God clearly sets Himself up in a way that no idols could ever compare. And for the most part, I believe we know that in our head, but His majesty and sufficiency doesn't always impact our heart.

Tomorrow will be another full day of activities here on campus and then in the afternoon we will head downtown for our free time. Tomorrow night after worship we will cap off camp with our "Southland's Got Talent" show. Our students have been hard at work on a musical number that they are very excited to perform.

I would ask that you continue to pray for all of us and pray that God would speak to our hearts in a powerful way that changes our lives!

Elevate: Day 3

HIgh School Camp has been a definite change for me this year with my increased responsibilities being the director of Elevate Camp 2009. I've been quite a bit more removed from our students' lives as I've had to manage the behind the scenes and day to day operations of the camp. But this gives me a great chance to brag on the Wildwood student staffers that are serving as counselors this week to our students. They have done an awesome job leading in my absence but also in investing in the lives of our students this week!

God has been actively challenging us through Brent's messages each night regarding our idols - not the little statues, but rather the many things in our lives that take our time, energy, attention and even top priority away from Christ. As Brent shared - the antithesis of Christianity isn't atheism, but idolatry. He also shared that most of our pursuits can generally be "good" things, but they become idols when we elevate them to "God" things. So we are all trying to examine our hearts this week in our time alone with God and family group time.

It's been cool having our own Adam & Teri Hill lead us in worship and today was no exception. For our Sunday morning worship, we loaded all 300+ at camp and headed into downtown Chattanooga to worship outside on the riverbank at Coolidge Park. This was a logistically challenging, but rewarding experience to worship out loud downtown! God held off the rain just long enough for Trey to finish sharing about how we find our strength and identity in Christ.

We took it easy this afternoon and didn't venture off campus for any excursions, but tomorrow is our big Whitewater rafting day on the Ocoee River. I apologize for not being about to upload any pictures tonight, but I've had to fly back to Tallahassee to preach in the morning at a funeral and will fly back tomorrow afternoon to rejoin camp. Please pray for me, but also continue to pray for our students and leaders that God would continue to shake us up spiritually! I'll do my best to catch up on some pics tomorrow night!

Elevate: Day 2

Our first full day of camp is under our belt and we are having a great time so far. Today was a full day both spiritually and activity-wise. I'm just flat out exhausted and since it's late I'm not going for a full write up, but here's some pics to enjoy.

Elevate: Day 1

It has been a long day and trip, but I guess it wasn't as bad for us as those from South Florida who had to leave at 3:30 in the morning. I was excited to see our students and staff when they arrived. From what I understand it was a pretty uneventful bus ride which is always a good thing. We had a good first session tonight with worship and our speaker, Brett, who spoke about the idols which take priority over Christ in our lives. I'll try to get some pics posted soon and don't forget you can get more updates at twitter.com/wildwoodstudent.