Hello Friends and Family!
So the last couple of days have been a really awesome insight to Joshua. We have so many great speakers that come every day, amazing classes, and catalyst couples that stay in the building that cook for you and talk to you about there lives and give you advice.
My favorite class so far is the Old testament class; we started that on Tuesday and he gave a brief overview of the old testament that painted a picture of the bible so colorful and full of detail that I will never look at it the same way. I am super excited to see what the rest of the year will hold.
Also, Tuesday night we had our very first etiquette dinner. We were all given a date and we had a guy come up from main camp who instructs people on etiquette all over the world. We had to walk next to our date, open doors, stand up when they did. We had a full 4 course meal and we all had to dress up. It was awesome to get that experience and it was a really fun time.
If you want to see pictures go to
http://gallery.joshuawilderness.org/2011
Also you can check out blog updates by the students that are updated much more frequently at
http://joshuawilderness.org/blog
Well, I'm off to listen to Sam Mier give us a talk about Angel Rebellions and Hebrew names for God and there different meanings! And later I finish my High Adventure Guide training!
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Eric
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Finally I have a spare minute to update everyone…
Monday the 13th was our first real day of Joshua, however we were woken up at 430, told to pack our things in 30 minutes for a week out in the woods. After wiping the sleep from my eyes I headed outside with my things and we all loaded up into vans and drove up the hill to Wildwood (code name for Leadership Training Camp). Wildwood is basically a place up at Hume that is removed from the outside world so that you can really focus on building relationships and re-evaluate your walk with God.
Once we arrived at the entrance of Wildwood we were told to grab a rock before we started our hike in to the camp. This rock represented our distractions and things that would inhibit us from seeing what God wants for our lives. So we all tossed our symbolic distractions into the river, and our Journey began.
The rest of the next couple of days were spent doing Group Initiative projects that brought us together as a team, broke us down, and exposed who we really are. A few projects included physically demanding tasks that would make us rely on one another and God to complete, as well as work projects and navigating the ropes course.
In addition to the Group projects we also had hours and hours of time alone with God where we would reflect on the year to come, journal how we felt, spend time in the Word, and pray. This solo time really changed me and I realized how shallow of a Christian I am, I do all of these things for the church and in the name of God, yet spend hardly any time with Him. I resolved to change that as well as a few other things.
My goals for he year are: to be diligent and habitual in my daily devotions, being able to pray as if God was right there, and read the bible with a new outlook; To be humble and accept all the new teachings I am about to receive; not to be arrogant or prideful when I think I know something. So if you would like to pray that I reach these goals that would be great!
The rest of the week was summed up by us doing many team building exercises that I cant really tell you about, (Wildwood rules) But in a nut shell I feel so connected with the 57 other students, its amazing that its only been a week. We all have different stories, but I am excited to hear how they all work out to make the Joshua story of 2010-2011.
This weekend I worked at the High Adventure Ropes course, which was a blast, and I am now almost certified as a High Adventure Guide (HAG) as we like to call it. But every weekend we get to work a different Job around Hume, which is really cool way to meet the community here and to get to know the area.
God has already worked in me so much and I can’t wait to write more about the year to come!!
Monday the 13th was our first real day of Joshua, however we were woken up at 430, told to pack our things in 30 minutes for a week out in the woods. After wiping the sleep from my eyes I headed outside with my things and we all loaded up into vans and drove up the hill to Wildwood (code name for Leadership Training Camp). Wildwood is basically a place up at Hume that is removed from the outside world so that you can really focus on building relationships and re-evaluate your walk with God.
Once we arrived at the entrance of Wildwood we were told to grab a rock before we started our hike in to the camp. This rock represented our distractions and things that would inhibit us from seeing what God wants for our lives. So we all tossed our symbolic distractions into the river, and our Journey began.
The rest of the next couple of days were spent doing Group Initiative projects that brought us together as a team, broke us down, and exposed who we really are. A few projects included physically demanding tasks that would make us rely on one another and God to complete, as well as work projects and navigating the ropes course.
In addition to the Group projects we also had hours and hours of time alone with God where we would reflect on the year to come, journal how we felt, spend time in the Word, and pray. This solo time really changed me and I realized how shallow of a Christian I am, I do all of these things for the church and in the name of God, yet spend hardly any time with Him. I resolved to change that as well as a few other things.
My goals for he year are: to be diligent and habitual in my daily devotions, being able to pray as if God was right there, and read the bible with a new outlook; To be humble and accept all the new teachings I am about to receive; not to be arrogant or prideful when I think I know something. So if you would like to pray that I reach these goals that would be great!
The rest of the week was summed up by us doing many team building exercises that I cant really tell you about, (Wildwood rules) But in a nut shell I feel so connected with the 57 other students, its amazing that its only been a week. We all have different stories, but I am excited to hear how they all work out to make the Joshua story of 2010-2011.
This weekend I worked at the High Adventure Ropes course, which was a blast, and I am now almost certified as a High Adventure Guide (HAG) as we like to call it. But every weekend we get to work a different Job around Hume, which is really cool way to meet the community here and to get to know the area.
God has already worked in me so much and I can’t wait to write more about the year to come!!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
1st Day
Well I arrived safely after beautiful country drive.
We had Orentation today and signed the Joshua covenant.
Then went to a BBQ and Church, then a game of soccer. Now back to the dorms to get to know everyone.
More Orentation and rules tomorrow.
More posts soon!
THE COVENANT
Understanding the purpose of the Joshua Wilderness Institute Commitment to be threefold; developing and demonstrating the priority of personal discipline in my life, denying myself access to practices which might prove a distraction from hearing the voice of God clearly, and making a distinct and determined separation from the world and it’s influences, I have decided to commit myself to the following, for the complete duration of the nine month course, including all breaks, days off and holidays:
-To abstain from any and all movies and video, including theatrical releases, videos, DVDs or internet features, with no exception made for content, company or occasion, unless introduced by the Joshua program.
-To abstain from any and all television programming, whether live or prerecorded, with no exception made for content, company or occasion unless introduced by the Joshua program
-To abstain from any and all video games, in any format, or on any platform with absolutely no exception made for content company or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all music, except for live worship music, whether prerecorded in any format or live with no other exceptions made for content company or occasion, unless introduced by the Joshua program.
-To abstain from any and all dating, defined as social engagements with persons of the opposite sex, whether alone or in groups, and including phone, post or email interactions for the purpose of developing future dating activities, except for those with existing dating relationships as established at the outset of the program, and with no other exception made for incident, company or occasion. Those in existing relationships will not be able to further their relationships. Having read and acknowledged the above code of conduct, I do hereby commit myself to the guidelines above, and will willingly submit to any disciplinary action that may be incurred by their compromise. In order to develop and demonstrate the priority of personal discipline, deny access to practices which might prove a distraction from hearing the voice of God clearly, and make a distinct and determined separation from the world and it’s influences, students are required to commit themselves to the following for the complete duration of the nine month course, including all breaks, days off, and holidays:
-To abstain from any and all movies, including theatrical releases, videos, DVDs, or Internet features, with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all television programming, whether live or prerecorded, and with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all video games, in any format, or on any platform with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all music, except live worship music, whether prerecorded in any format or live with absolutely no other exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all dating, whether alone or in groups, and including phone, post, or email interactions for the purpose of developing future dating activities, except for those with existing relationships as established at the outset of the program, and with absolutely no other exception made for incident, company, or occasion.
As the result of demonstrable experience and our firm belief in the effectiveness of this temporary fast from the world and its distractions, students who fail or refuse to maintain this commitment are permanently dismissed.
We had Orentation today and signed the Joshua covenant.
Then went to a BBQ and Church, then a game of soccer. Now back to the dorms to get to know everyone.
More Orentation and rules tomorrow.
More posts soon!
THE COVENANT
Understanding the purpose of the Joshua Wilderness Institute Commitment to be threefold; developing and demonstrating the priority of personal discipline in my life, denying myself access to practices which might prove a distraction from hearing the voice of God clearly, and making a distinct and determined separation from the world and it’s influences, I have decided to commit myself to the following, for the complete duration of the nine month course, including all breaks, days off and holidays:
-To abstain from any and all movies and video, including theatrical releases, videos, DVDs or internet features, with no exception made for content, company or occasion, unless introduced by the Joshua program.
-To abstain from any and all television programming, whether live or prerecorded, with no exception made for content, company or occasion unless introduced by the Joshua program
-To abstain from any and all video games, in any format, or on any platform with absolutely no exception made for content company or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all music, except for live worship music, whether prerecorded in any format or live with no other exceptions made for content company or occasion, unless introduced by the Joshua program.
-To abstain from any and all dating, defined as social engagements with persons of the opposite sex, whether alone or in groups, and including phone, post or email interactions for the purpose of developing future dating activities, except for those with existing dating relationships as established at the outset of the program, and with no other exception made for incident, company or occasion. Those in existing relationships will not be able to further their relationships. Having read and acknowledged the above code of conduct, I do hereby commit myself to the guidelines above, and will willingly submit to any disciplinary action that may be incurred by their compromise. In order to develop and demonstrate the priority of personal discipline, deny access to practices which might prove a distraction from hearing the voice of God clearly, and make a distinct and determined separation from the world and it’s influences, students are required to commit themselves to the following for the complete duration of the nine month course, including all breaks, days off, and holidays:
-To abstain from any and all movies, including theatrical releases, videos, DVDs, or Internet features, with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all television programming, whether live or prerecorded, and with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all video games, in any format, or on any platform with absolutely no exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all music, except live worship music, whether prerecorded in any format or live with absolutely no other exception made for content, company, or occasion.
-To abstain from any and all dating, whether alone or in groups, and including phone, post, or email interactions for the purpose of developing future dating activities, except for those with existing relationships as established at the outset of the program, and with absolutely no other exception made for incident, company, or occasion.
As the result of demonstrable experience and our firm belief in the effectiveness of this temporary fast from the world and its distractions, students who fail or refuse to maintain this commitment are permanently dismissed.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
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Friday, September 10, 2010
A story of faith...
Well... I'm almost there, the months of prayer and preparation have led me to this Sunday when I will be leaving to go up the mountain.
This all started when God closed the doors to the Air Force Academy and took me down a completely different path. I heard about Joshua and said "what the heck, Ill give it a go."
I was interviewed and accepted as one of the 56 young men and women to go into the program. little did I know, that I would be faced with huge challenges before I even arrived at Hume Lake!
I knew the $11,000 dollars would be hard to come up with, but I never imagined that God could use that to increase my faith.
At the beginning of the summer I had a little over $500 dollars in my bank account, but I prayed and left it up to God to do the rest. August 10th was the $4000 dollar deposit deadline, and only week prior I only had $3000.
However, If I payed the $4000 and at one point during the program could not come up with the rest, I would have to leave, and they would keep my $4000. Talk about nerve racking.
Yet, after getting some wise council and some long prayer times with God, I decided to take a leap of faith and hope I didn't crash and burn. At the time, I was on vacation with my family in New York; when I got home and took my money to the bank I had $4,005 dollars. God. Works. Miracles.
After this, I was all-in. It was everything or nothing. I have been working all hours of daylight this summer, and doing just about everything possible to raise money to reach my goal of $3600 by September 12th. And amazingly I have reached that goal. I somehow came up with nearly $4000 dollars in A MONTH! God. Works. Miracles.
Thank you friends and family for your support and guidence. I could not have done it without you. You are truely a blessing in my life.
Now I am packing up, and ready to start this new and exciting chapter of my life. And I have no idea what God has in store for me.
Its Exciting!!!
For His Glory,
Eric.
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