Darn, I guess there is nothing new under the sun. I had this idea awhile back and I guess someone else did too. Oh well. C-Fab hooked me up with this one, I think I would have had a few other Christianese words… if you’re a very sensitive Christian, don’t watch, understand it is all just meant to be funny…
Now, get back to some ordained fellowship, PTL!
Grace,
Brian
At about midnight on Sunday, June 28, 2009 I realized I hadn’t printed the map/directions I needed to get from Superior, MT to Riggins, ID. I had just finished a wonderful day of visiting/watching the two Montana teams participating in our Youthmark Mission Venture.
I jumped online at the church in Superior and Google Maps suggested two different routes I could take. One taking approximately six hours and the other, about five. Naturally I chose the six hour route, right? Of course not. I think most of us would choose the quicker route…
I didn’t have access to a printer so I simply emailed the directions to my phone so that I had the written directions at my disposal at all times.
I got about five hours of sleep and long before any of the Snohomish Free Methodist students were awake I was out the door and on my way to visit the NW Bible Church team in Riggins.
Headed east on I-90 for about 15 minutes and took the exit that Google told me to take. Jumped on Fish Creek Road as Google demanded. Approximately 2-3 miles in the roadway turned to gravel… hmmm? Fortunately I had my phone and read that I was to stay on Fish Creek Rd. for a good 32 miles until I got to Hwy 12.
What I didn’t anticipate was the 11 times while on Fish Creek Road that I would encounter junctions (sometimes a Y, sometimes a T and even a few times a four way intersection of gravel confusion). There was not a road-sign/marker to be found; I had no idea which was Fish Creek Road and which was Death Trap Road! Stopping and asking for directions was not an option, I was in the middle of the forest, with no cell signal and only my XM Radio and Dan Patrick’s voice to comfort me!
82% of the time I made the right choice… however, those 2 wrong turns cost me a lot. At one intersection I chose what looked to be the wider road, 11 miles later it stopped at a trailhead for what I am sure was a great hike. After traveling back the 11 miles I then chose the right path only to come to another intersection of three choices… I chose wrong one more time, this time costing me 6 miles each direction.
My non-GPS road-trip cost me an extra two hours (it took me seven hours instead of the five or six Google suggested).
The spiritual analogies are flowing, This material WILL show up in one of my devotionals, training sessions or mission prep workbook, GUARANTEED… in fact, more guaranteed than a Google Map!
Grace,
Brian
Thought I’d take a minute or two to thank each of my teammates for these first couple weeks of YMV’s… below I have listed the Youth Leader/Team Leader for each of the mission towns and something I appreciate about them and their ministry. These are great folk, take the time to praise God for them!
Jeff Hawkins (Chehalis; led the team to Simms, MT): Jeff and Sarah strike me as a “Mom and Dad” type of Youth Pastor. They have a large family of their own and very much see their youth group as an extension of their own family! Jeff gives freedom to the students where it has been earned and certainly can tell it like it is when he needs to as well. I am very much encouraged by watching his own kids and the way they are following in Mom and Dad’s footsteps!
Ben Lunsford (Avondale Bible; led the team to Plains, MT): Ben and Gloria (and Caleb) are much the same as Jeff and Sarah, only a little (okay quite-a-bit) younger. This young family jumps right into ministry together and though they have a newborn in Caleb, they tackled the ministry in Plains. I have enjoyed getting to know this young family at our Seattle retreat, at a Youth Pastor/wives retreat we got to speak at and on the mission. Ben exhibits strength and grace at the same time.
Jess Champers (Snohomish; led the team to Superior, MT): Jess and his wife Alisha (along with their two daughters) are quickly becoming good family friends. Jess served as my “Lead” for this trip (which means he helped me with the scout and did the Landing). Jess is a family man to the core and cares deeply for the lost. Throughout the trip he would call or text looking for another way to help motivate his students toward getting out of their comfort zone and into the lives of the lost! I love his zeal for the Lord and for the Lost. He is a nurturer at heart!
Brad Hostak (River Ridge of Lacey; led the team to Council, ID): Brad is a former intern of mine, so it is with obvious pride I speak of this young man! I love watching Brad grow as a Pastor–it is so evident he is listening to the Spirit and seeking to obey. On this trip his gift of discernment stood out. He was able to examine a situation and lead accordingly. Visiting Brad in Council brought extra joy to me in that Miki Vercammen and Nate Noble (former leaders for me at Blvd Pk) were both serving with Brad in the town where I led my last trip!
Derek Edwards (Lake Sawyer; led the teams to Cambridge and Cascade, ID): Gotta love those admin-gifted Youth Pastors! I thought I was pretty administrative, then I met Derek! This guy is quickly becoming one of my favorite guys to partner with in ministry! He has his own secular full-time job, yet finds time (or makes time) to be a great family man and part-time Youth Pastor at a large church! LSCC did the right thing in hiring Derek. His teams were well trained and executed so well! I loved seeing him in action and it was evident his leaders serving with him were in tuned with all that was happening!
Joe Monto and Mike Gerspach (Calvary South; led the team to Crouch, ID): Joe and Mike are so different, yet their gifts work so well together. This team from Calvary exceeded all expectations and I believe are coming home with a new heart for their community. My prayer is that Joe and Mike will have the “trust factor” needed with the teens now (they are both relatively new to their positions). They did a fantastic job in Crouch! Mike is one of the hardest working guys I have ever been around and Joe’s gift with music almost matches his heart of compassion!
Rob Holster (NW Bible of Spring, TX; led the team to Riggins, ID): I wish Rob and Michelle lived in the Seattle area; I know the Aabys and Holsters would be kickin’-it quite-a-bit. They are a fun couple who have stepped-it-up in their ministry just north of Houston. They obeyed the Lord on this trip and in preparation for this trip. Their group was so well prepared and in-step with the Holy Spirit the entire time. Southern hospitality was delivered to Riggins, and I know God was glorified through Rob’s leadership of this team!
Wow, I am blessed to have served with this bunch, not to mention the number of volunteer leaders these teams brought with them. I am glad God chose these teams to go to these towns!
Grace,
Brian
While on my Montana and Idaho tour last week I had the opportunity to share some of my observations with a couple different teams at Family Time. As you go back and read the blogs over on the youthmark.com site (click on blogs), you can read the great success stories we have in students sharing their faith, however, sometimes this came after a painful learning process (or trap) we often fall in.
Numbers vs. Souls.
Here’s what I mean… when you look at a picture like the one below, what do you see?
Besides the beautiful scenery and some of the obvious other things we can point out, we see a good number of teens, correct? On these trips, or even, any given Sunday at church, this is what we see… numbers. We see a gathering of folk. We talk about “how many people” we had in church, at youth group, or in Bible Study.
There is and was nothing wrong with our teams being excited about the 4, 15, 35, 67 or 9 people they had at the park or the school. God honored our prayers by bringing people to these local fields. However, the trap happens when we simply see numbers and not souls.
You see, in this crowd we needed to see the following:
Can you see them? These are the individuals that make up those “numbers.” We need to see each of these faces as souls we want to introduce to Jesus or encourage in Christ ( if already saved).
We can get caught in counting heads rather than seeing the faces. These faces sometimes tell and sometimes try desperately to hide their stories. What happens in these mission towns is often similar to what is happening in our own towns.
When you go to work tomorrow, the park on Wednesday or Church on Sunday, will you see the soul of another, or will you just see a number?
Grace,
Brian
Thanks for your prayers for my friend Byron…
He is doing better, the recovery from such a major surgery will be a long road (he’s got a nice scar to show off!). I am looking forward to spending some time with him soon, Elisabeth was able to go to the hospital today to visit with him, his wife Shannon and his mom, Michele.
His spirits are high and is encouraged to have the surgery behind him. Please do pray for his recovery!
I was able to perform their wedding almost a year ago now, and Elisabeth told me that Shannon joked today, “I wish Brian would have left the whole ‘sickness and in health’ part out of our vows.” Touche, Shannon!
Keep up the prayers for my friends Byron and Shannon!
Grace,
Brian
Blogging like crazy…
I noticed I haven’t been on here that much this week…I have spent a lot more time lately on my Youthmark blog, posting and reading. I have a couple things brewing for this one, but for today, head over to that blog and read-up on the teams this week and check out my blog there for some specifics and pics too!
Grace,
Brian
The speaker released the students to a 15-minute solo time to think about and perhaps even pray about what each camper had heard over the last five days of this amazing seven-day experience. Silently they all left the building, the song “silent night’ doesn’t begin to describe how quiet these students were after the powerful demonstration of God’s love being poured out for these high school sinners.
One young man had fallen in love with the scenery surrounding him and knew exactly where he wanted to go and think. He made his way to a dock overlooking the perfectly still waters. The reflection of the mountains was almost as clear as the day above the water.
Several other students chose a similar setting, but none was within 50 feet of this soon-to-be-senior.
Kevin, his cabin leader approached him. Several minutes of conversation ensued, but was quickly coming to an end when Kevin asked, “so, are you ready?”
The young man’s response, “ready for what?”
“Ready to begin a relationship with Jesus?”
“No” he replied.
Kevin, looking like someone just told him water is actually orange, said with hesitation, “really?”
The young man, “you see Kevin, I can’t have a relationship with God, I have too much junk in my life back home; I am not a religious guy, never have been… I cuss, I have done lots of other bad stuff and am dating a girl who really doesn’t believe there is a God.”
Kevin simply sat with the young man for a minute and then quoted and explained Romans 5:8 to him. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
The boy didn’t remember the exact words, but remembered the point–you don’t need to clean-up and make-up for your sins before you can have a relationship with God… God initiated and God wants a relationship with you.
On June 28, 1990 (19 years ago today), I asked Jesus to take control of my life. He became my Lord, my Savior and the ONE whom I desire to please with my life–because He pursued me!
Grace,
Brian
Curiosity caught me the other day when I sat down to post to this blog. I was trying to remember when I started my blog, so I went back to the archives and discovered that it was exactly one year ago today!
I decided to start the blog so I would have a way to update friends, family and those who asked how they could support as we began Youthmark. Of course this is still one of the primary purposes of this blog. I have enjoyed being creative with it from time to time and have very much appreciated those of you who have prayed for us and even commented from time to time.
If you click here you can read the original blog post.
Since that post I have posted another 286 times (including this one), I have received 381 comments and had nearly 20,000 (19,977) hits on this site (the busiest day had 195 views).
In this next year I think I will keep posting prayer requests for the Aaby family and Youthmark but will slowly transition more of the Youthmark related things to my Youthmark blog here.
Maybe some time this next week I’ll look through some of the archives and give you a “top 5” of my favorite blog posts thus far… any stand out to you?
Grace,
Brian
Wow, we have reached a new height (or depth) in our society.
Seriously? Check this out…
Where does PETA stand on ethical treatment of humans before they are born?
Grace,
Brian
For those who enjoyed my little rant against Bob a few days back, I have an update…
No Pete!
Our bedtime routine got a little more interesting last night as Audrey joined the “my future” game and the two of them put me to sleep and woke me up every 2-4 years to give me updates on their lives.
As you may remember, Halle married Bob, well, it turns out that Audrey marries a character named Pete (when she was 28).
So here were the highlights from the two of them:
My newest website: http://www.ihatebobandpete.com
Tonight we go back to reading stories that have already been written rather than making up these nightmares! Ha!
Grace,
Brian
BRIANAABY.COM 