Father/Son Retreat 2009

We just wrapped up our last Father/Son Retreat of the fall this weekend. Every bed was filled as 40 father/son teams joined us at K-Kauai. They traveled from as far east as Niceville, FL and as far west as Aspen, CO to join us in manly adventures. Now there's all kinds of manly things a guy can do on the weekend. For example: alligator wrestling, throwing a rock at a cougar or sneaking up on a hippopotamus but few feats can out match the men that joined us. I think the words of our special guest Charley O'Maligillicutty said it best...
"Now that’s manly, but that ain’t nothing…
You’ve head of Sasquatch? (Other: yeah)
The Yetti? (Yeah)
Trolls ? (Yeah)
Loch Ness Monser (Yeah?)
Two Headed Dragons? (Yeah)
A walk in the park compared to…Giganticus Americanus—also known as The Monster Sloth Troll (others: oh my?) It’s fur is like razors, it’s claws like sharks teeth, and it’s breath like death and rotten eggs…(others: ew, well what did you do?)…the only thing I could do: I gave him a shake, I gave him a smack—I turned him into a coat and a hat!"

I learned this summer that God always shows up in His perfect timing. By the end of third term we had battled the flu non stop and God showed His might at our final cross talk when 54 kampers rang the bell. This retreat turned out to be one of those times. This weekend we had two Daddies lead their sons to Christ and three that baptised their sons on Sunday morning. One of those father/son teams happened to be my brother and nephew. God is good.

Alex, Shay, Andrew, Kelly and her husband Nick

I was so blessed to be a part of this weekend. We created memories that father's and son's will never forget. And the support and encouragement we recieved from the Father's and son's was absolutely overwhelming. God is good...all the time.

Youth miniStarZ

Back from an Amazing summer at Kanakuk K2!

Ashley and I are back from Kamp this summer and after a nice long vacation we are back in full swing at the Kanakuk headquarters. Last weekend we held a Father/Son retreat at K-Kauai which was a smashing success-we made some great memories with those men. Many people ask us what we do during the school year. We mostly do really important things like blob testing, zipline maintenance and washer tournaments. In addition to those staples we stay busy by building relationships with staff and kampers, recruiting staff and planning for next summer. We are already are preparing for summer 2010 but before I get to far ahead of myself I want to share the highlight of summer 2009.

Each term we do a gospel drama called "Cross Talk". This is a powerful presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and we generally have many kids give their lives to the Lord during Cross Talk. When a kamper gives their life to Jesus there is a bell at the office that the kids will ring to share their celebration with the rest of Kamp. First and Second term we struggled with some disappointment because very few kids responded to the gospel message. We found ourselves questioning our presentation and wrestling with the Lord. Third term rolled around and we tweaked just a couple things but essentially gave the same gospel presentation hesitant because of 1st and 2nd terms response. From the very first speaker I could see something different in the crowd. As Joe chopped away at the cross the kids hung on every word that came from his mouth. They shuddered as Jesus was whipped and beaten by the Roman guards...something was just different. Finally when Jesus was hoisted up on the cross, died and rose again the kids began pouring out of the bleachers to surrender at the foot of the cross. As they gathered around 10-20 kids at the very center of the group where weeping loudly over their sin. I have never seen the likes of this at K2.

On a powerful night at K2 we will see 20-25 kids ring the bell. That's typically the night of the summer at our kamp (many kids have given their life to the Lord at this point). On this particular night kamper after kamper rang the bell. As a leadership team we stopped everything and just watched as the seemingly endless wave of boys and girls came forth. By the end of the night 54 for kampers rang the bell that night.

God moved in His timing. I think God was testing our faithfulness this summer. We were stretched and challenged in many ways. Most importantly we got to see the generation take a huge step towards the cross of Jesus Christ. It's time to prepare for 2010.