Seasons greatings

Back at the building!

Well its been a fun couple of weeks. Mexico was amazing. I learned so much from the deaf children and the hearts of the people at the Ranch. It was truely amazing to see how happy they were with so little; I felt convicted because I have so much and take it for granted. Most of the week was spent working around the Ranch and playing with the children, however we were able to go into Ensenada and watch the Baja 1000: The biggest offroad race in America!

We had to leave mexico a day early because Hume was having a snow storm and we had to make it back in time to leave again for Thanksgiving break.

I finally made it home and had a great week with my family. I got to see mommy for the first time since July, and have a really great time with freinds and family on Thanksgiving day.

Back here at Joshua everything is white and cold. But that doesnt stop us from having a little fun. Being home for break was great, but I realized how attatched I have become to this place and the people here. Its still just as exciting and fun for me as the first day that I got here.



Well thats going to be all for now, all I heard back home was how long my post were and the rarity of them. So I will do my best to post frequent short blogs.
Missing you all!
-Eric

Hello dear freinds and family!
The past couple of weeks have been really busy for me. I usually post every monday afternoon, but it was difficult last week. I passed the Philipians 1 test after a few attempts to recite it and I turned in my 8 page paper for our inductive bible study class. We have been learning so much, that it is diffcult to process; so that could be one thing to pray for: that I can use my time well to study what I have been learning.
We had a pumpkin carving contest a few days before Halloween. The girls won, but I still think the zombie pumpkin was the best.



Halloween night we had a small party for one of the guys leaving Hume, A birthday party for one of the Joshua students, and a halloween themed pinata. A girl got hit in the face with the pinata stick and looks like she got in a really bad fight, she could harly open her eye. She was really tough about it though, and even started laughing when she saw it.
Oh yeah! we had our first snow on the 30th. But its been sunny since then. Oh! scratch that, It just started snowing and everyone is going bonkers.

This week:

Monday-
After having our first Israel Prep test, we had our speaker come in and teach us our Ministry skills class. Our speaker for the week was Matt Lantz, he is the director of a program similar to Joshua called the Forge. The forge is based out of a camp called Pine Tree located in Texas. Matt brought three guys up with him to hang out with us, and to also learn about Joshua. Matt was a great speaker and introduced many great ideas; during ministry skills he had us become an elder board of a church and think of ways to fix the problem of not having enough volunteers for the churches ministries. We came up with many great ideas, however heart of the problem is in peoples fear of commitment, they don't want to sign up to volunteer because they would have to follow through and actually do something that might inconvenience them. It all demonstrates the selfishness of human nature and lack of desire to do the wok God calls us to. During our evening discussion Matt divulged the importance of obedience in our faith and how “God desires obedience that comes from faith, instead of a show of self-righteous religion.” This was Matt’s thesis for all of our talks, every night giving a different problem with our obedience as Christians.

Tuesday-
Our morning class was Old Testament with Mark from the Well. (A church partnered with Hume) He is teaching the book of Exodus over the next few weeks; I love his passion for the word of God and his ability to paint a clear picture in my head that makes the Bible come to life, and creates a hunger to know more. Tuesday afternoon I worked down in main camp with the activities people. While cleaning up one of the sets used for the summer themes I accidentally sanded my arm with an electric sander- probably one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done. (dont worry mom! its just a little scratch.)
Tuesday evening discussion was similarly themed. However we discussed the problem of obedience and how many Christians believe that obedience to religion comes first, and then you will receive faith. Yet, it is quite the opposite; “Obedience is not the source of righteousness, it is the course of righteousness.” –D. Willard. As Christians, our faith and love of Christ should compel us to be obedient to God’s commands.

Wednesday-

During breakfast I was able to talk to Matt for a while about one of my biggest fears: that the ones I love will not go to Heaven, but will suffer forever in Hell. Matt gave me many ways to minister to those close to me that wouldn't be offensive and push them further away. During the Grill Matt gave us excellent advice on dating, and his theory of the 7th date DTR(dating should just be casual and respectful, and every seven dates you define the relationship; overall a really great insight. Lately I have been feeling really annoyed with people here not respecting the staff and others by not being on time, immature comments, and overall disrepect. So to clear my head I went for a run around the lake, which helped initially, but I quickly fell back into the funk. It wasn't until I spoke with Josh Coffie (the guys RD) that he helped me realize I was being selfish and prideful, thinking that my standards were the best, and that I was better then everyone because I was the only one who could meet my standards. Yet, when I decided to give control to God and only live on his standards, it affected how I interacted with those around me. I was able to enjoy being around people I usually was annoyed with, and I could have the uplifted carefree attitude that I prefer.

Thursday-

Because we have been so busy, and bogged down by school and Joshua life, the staff took all 56 of us down to Fresno to drop Matt and the Forge guys off at the airport. Afterward we toured Fresno Pacific; it was an interesting tour, but I don't think that will be on my list of schools to apply to. Following the tour we were given 4 hours of free time to shop, relax and look for a Christmas present for our designated child in Mexico. We were told to bring 80’s themed clothes for some surprise activity; after a short drive, we ended up at a bowling alley for some awesome 80’s night bowling!


The weekend was fairly uneventful. I worked in the Cedar hall kitchen and got to spend time with my freind Jacob Wieland before he leaves. Sunday afternoon I was asked to go shooting with one of the Pause family dads and a couple guys, it was a cool time to hang out and do manly things. After church we had a "family meeting" where Rich told us that Falynne and Chelsea are in isolation for three days to determine there position and whether or not they really desire to be at Joshua. They had been struggling with turning stuff in on time and being on time places, and the consequences werent severe enough, so the were sent away from the rest of the Joshua family. Afterward we all came together as brothers and sisters and prayed for the girls that they would be used however God wants them, but that God would want them here. It was an amazing feeling seeing just how connected we have all become over 2 months, and realizeing how awesome the community is here.

This next Sunday we are leaving to go to mexico! And after mexico I will be coming home for thanksgiving. I look foreward to hearing from you!

-Eric Dean.

The longest week ever!

This week was so long and busy!



Monday-
The first part of our day Monday was spent driving an hour and a half to Hartland Christian Camp. Hartland is a small camp near Hume Lake that we have partnered with to help them grow. Our task for the week consisted of removing all small trees and shrubbery that could fuel a fire for the first mile of the road entering Hartland. When we arrived, we were greeted with abounding gratitude and warm hospitality. After lunch we wasted no time in getting to work; right away I was assigned a chainsaw, Rich must have told them how much I loved chainsaw work. Total there were 4 chainsaws, 2 buzz saw brush cutters, 2 pole saws, 6 loppers, 5 wood chippers, and 56 able bodied students with great attitudes ready to get the job done. After dinner we had an intro video from Bob, the director of Hartland, and an insight to the plan he has for us when we come back to work with the camp in May. The evening discussion was followed up by volleyball, basketball, and Rich’s Human Slingshot. GET SLUNG!




Tuesday-
Tuesday was another fun filled day of working our tails off. We had few complaints and few injuries. However lumberjacking does not go without perils; our friend Tucker Was hit in the face with a log and received some pretty good cuts, but was fixed up and right back to work in no time. Tuesday evening we were reminded that we were serving so that we can learn discipline, work ethic and teamwork while bringing God glory.

Wednesday-
Wednesday morning I woke up and was feeling a little under the weather, but I didn't let that stop me from grapping my saw and getting to work! I worked all day with Calen, heading the group through the forest and cutting trees while Calen would pull them out of the way. I am so glad that Grandpa taught me how to use a chainsaw, I am very grateful for everything I have learned from him. Yet, I am never done learning, I learned new ways to fall trees and to sharpen and detail the chainsaw from an old lumberjack named Jeff whole was helping Hartland with tree projects while we were there. After lunch we finished clearing the rest of the forest. Looking back I saw the work we did; on both sides of the road were stacked tree limbs and logs six feet high for one mile. It took us the rest of the day to finish chipping all the remnants, but we ended up clearing quarter million square feet of brush and debris. At the end of the day I had no energy left to play games in the gym, so I headed to bed at eight o’clock.

Thursday-
I am definitely sick. I woke up half of the night coughing up phlegm, and could hardly sleep. Luckily we only had cleaning to do to turn the camp back over to the Hartland crew. Over the week I realized how supportive the staff are of each other, and how they don't hesitate to help one another out; this is one trait that I would like to help implement wherever I work. I was also proud of myself for keeping in any complains of tiredness or of being sick, because if I start complaining, it gives others liberty to do the same. So I took it with a grain of salt and kept up the good morale in the group. Finally after a long hard week of work we headed home. After finishing washing the vans I took the long awaited sleep I needed in my nice comfy bed, only waking up for dinner, then going back to sleep to get rid of my sickness.

Friday-
I think this is the longest day I have ever had…at least at Joshua. We had 5 a.m’s this morning because we did not keep the building clean the previous weekend. During 5 a.m’s everyone has to do their chore for the day for 2 HOURS! Luckily I was assigned the kitchen with about 8 other people and there was plenty to do, so the time went by relatively quickly. I just feel sorry for the people cleaning the corners of chairs with cutips because they couldn't find anything else to do. I applied everything I had learned at Hartland, about not complaining and keeping a positive attitude, and it made group morale better and the time move faster. I ended up taking a nap between our classes and heading off to work, probably the most well spent 30 minutes ever. I was assigned High Adventure again this week for the men’s conference! I definitely think that would be a good place to work over the summer. With such a bus weekend ahead of us, Jordan decided to run 2 High Adventure sessions, a paintball session and a zip line session. I was able to run one of the paintball sessions and one of the High Adventure sessions. At dinner I got to talk with Jordan again; he is a really great guy with a great attitude toward life. He sees the opportunity in everything and loves living life to its fullest extent; he would be a really great guy to work for and learn from. After dinner we went to listen to the speaker speak about being salt and light to our communities, showing them the light of Christ and causing them to be thirsty to know more. Following the speaker was an illusionist that blew my mind; he did so many tricks that seemed impossible, yet he always related it back to God.

Saturday-
Saturday was another fun filled day; full of paintball, High Adventure, zip lines and cleaning up the paintball field with stumpers and chainsaws. In my High Adventure session I was leading a guy across the balance beam, 30 feet in the air, when I decided to demonstrate how strong my tethers were. I sat back in my harness and heard a loud snap then fell onto the balance beam; I looked up to see my prussic cord hanging loose, luckily my security tethers were still attached. It turns out that my prussic, the cord that shortens the rope, was outside the carabineer and only attached by the small plastic rope stabilizer piece. Needless to say, I was freaked out, but I played it off well and Tim, the guy I was leading across, hardly knew something went wrong. The rest of the session went without a hitch, and we were able to finish the rest of the day smoothly.

Sunday-
Sunday morning I walked down to breakfast early and was fortunate enough to have some devotional time. This good start to the day made everything run smoothly, even though I was still a little sick. We had no sessions today, so Calen and I were assigned to clean out the stumps from the paintball field using the giant stump grinder and a chainsaw. This kept us entertained throughout the day and we hardly realized when it was time to go to dinner.

Well I am back at the building now ready to catch upon some sleep. We have a huge essay due this week, and our Phillipians test...so please pray for that!

Blessings to everyone!
-Eric

Just and update...

Monday-
Monday morning we were allowed to sleep in and get some much needed rest. Yet for some reason I could not sleep and ended up getting up at six, doing my devo’s going for a run, then eating breakfast; overall a fairly productive morning. We met our new catalyst couple today: Joey Webb, and his wife and son. Joey is a paramedic and has a wonderful family who is really great to talk to and hang out with. We had another Israel prep class where we watched a video on previous Israel trips; identifying many places we will travel, greatly increasing my excitement for the trip. We also had a new evening speaker: Mike Bogart, who spoke on world religions and how to have a proper conversation with those of another faith.

Tuesday-
After starting off the day with another solid devo time speaking to the LORD, I had another Elements of Bible Study class where we were assigned yet another paper on analyzing the context of scripture. EBS was followed up by our Old Testament class where we reviewed our readings from creation until Abraham. Our evening discussion was a video on the religion of Islam; we learned that Allah is the Arabic word for God, how the Islamic religion came to be, then studied the 5 pillars of Islam and many other facets of the Islamic faith.

Wednesday-
Happy Birthday Sheyenne! Our Wednesday classes we the grill, where we were allowed to ask Mike Bogart many questions; one of his best pieces of advice was to grow where you are planted, always showing the love of Christ no matter the situation, and to never turn down bacon. We also enjoyed our theology class where we watched a video on Mt Sinai, and how the traditional Mt Sinai is incorrectly identified. I went offroading with Andrew Lapp again today; we explored some of the other trails up near wildwood and had fun doing manly things in manly cars. Later in the evening I let something someone said get to me far to much, and realized that I am way to worried about what others think of me and am lacking self-confidence. I decided to give it all over to Him and understand that I only need to be confident in God because everything in this world is nothing compared to what I will have in heaven.

Thursday-
During our Thursday morning discussion we finished up our series on worldly religions with the study of Judaism and the many cultures and customs that follow. We started another book discussion series today as well: Mere Christianity, written by CS Lewis; I’m not sure what to think yet…I’ll get back to you. Thursday night we had a Harry Potter themed dinner. I dressed up as a dementor with a few shirts and a friend’s bed sheet, while most everyone else was some variant of Harry or Hermione. The dining hall looked just like Hogwarts, with floating candles and long banquet tables. Pictures are on the Joshua website.

Friday-
We had another Life Skills class today where we learned more self-defense and how to tie knots. Following life skills I trusted Samantha Guzman with hair clippers to trim my hair to its normal militant style. I worked at the Ponderosa Dining hall this weekend for the Lady’s conference, which was surprisingly enjoyable despite a few demanding women. After work the Joshua guys played a game of soccer at the ark, probably not the wisest choice since I had to get up in time to be at work by 6:30 the next morning.

The next morning-
I hate myself. Saturday I woke up asking, “what the heck was I thinking playing soccer till midnight?” I stumbled down the hill to work and spent the next few hours waking up with various energy drinks and caffeinated beverages. The servers got to work a triple split, which sounds like a great ice cream dish, but really means you get to work from 7a.m till 9p.m with a couple of breaks in between. But I refused to complain, because I am tired of hearing it from everyone and if people saw me griping it would give them liberty to do the same. The façade lasted throughout the day and eventually I fooled myself into thinking I wasn’t tired and was really enjoying my workday. (Funny how the mind works) After work Josh Yee and I decided we hadn’t had enough punishment and went to the ark for another game of soccer, followed up by a fish fry up on inspiration point with a couple guys and the remaining fish from the draining lake. Isn’t fellowship and community more important that sleep anyway?

Sunday-
I definitely didn’t learn my lesson the first time. Sunday was spent in reminiscence of a time full of bed sheets, my pillow and David’s Snores. We finished up the last two meals for the women’s conference and dove straight into our deep cleaning of the kitchen. Grandma and Grandpa came up from there friends house to say hello and give me some snacks; it was unfortunate to learn that they would only be staying long enough to get a tour of the Joshua building, but it was nice that they could see the area in which I have been living and see everything that they have helped me achieve. I took my first shower in the dark when the power went out at the building and understood what a blind man feels like trying to put on his clothes; only later did I realized that most everything was inside out or backward. I took a trip down to Fresno with Andrew Lapp, Josh Yee, and Lacey Michaelsen to pick up Chen Chen from the train station and have dinner with Josh’s amazing family.

This week we are taking a trip to Heartland: a sister camp of Hume about 20 miles away. We l be doing service projects, learning how the camp works and growing as a team. Please pray that God will make us stronger in our faith and our relationships with each other and that we will be safe while doing the work of God.

For His Glory,
-Eric

another long post.

Well here I am, another week of Joshua! Just as you think you have things figured out, you get thrown for a loop. I have to remember to be flexible.

Monday-
We had another Israel prep class, still one of my favorite classes! We studied geography about the holy land and where Jesus did most of his teaching. Being one of the first rains of the year, many of us went outside for an awesome game of mud football. After cleaning up and eating dinner we were introduced to our new evening speaker- John Saltee. He asked us: “what is choking you in your relationship with Christ?” This really got us thinking about our distractions.

Tuesday-
During devotional time I read 1 John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” It made me remember that no matter what I have done God will always forgive me. In our Old Testament class, we studied the land of Abraham and what the culture was like in that era. John Saltee spoke Tuesday night and gave us a clear picture of how we are justified through Christ, and really defined what the gospel should mean to a Christian.

Wednesday-
During devo time I spent an hour in prayer; first I prayed for myself and things I wanted or needed, then my family and friends, finally moving on to those around me and the rest of the world. I was surprised when I finished and realized I spent an entire hour talking to God, I’m well on the way to completing one of my goals! We had one of my other favorite classes: Theology. In Theology we learned bibliology, or the study of the bible and its validity. We learned how to defend our faith when someone asks us, “How do we know the bible is true?” Rather than simply saying, “Because the bible tells us so?” Our evening Discussion from John Saltee was interesting; he spoke on predestination vs. free will and was saying that it is written in Gods book of life that there are an elect that are going to heaven, and the rest are automatically going to hell. This is a view that only 10% of christians have, and has been a debated issue for a long time. I found it hard to believe that the God who loves everything and can sacrifice his only son to save us from our own sin will automatically send everyone who is not written in the book of life to hell. Regardless, I believed what he was saying, and was upset for a long time because it wasn’t something I wanted to believe in.

Thursday-
Solo time was difficult because I was mad that my faith had turned into something I didn’t like. During our first class Rich Ferierra came in and asked us about the speaker the night before. He then told us that they brought John Saltee in on purpose, because he believed in that controversial issue that only 10% percent of Christians believe. He said they did it because they wanted to make us realize that we can’t believe everything that is taught to us, and the only real way to know your faith is to study the Bible. We need to question everything and make our faith our own, not simply believe what others tell us. If anything I would believe that we have complete free will to make the choices we want, but God always knows what we are going to do before we do it. We should simply live our lives to reach others, and let God worry about the rest. Because the one thing that I know for sure is that I don’t want the people I love to go to hell, and that God gives me the joy and strength that I have, and the fulfillment I get in everything I do.

Later Thursday afternoon I was introduced to a new feature of Joshua I was not aware of called sweeping: Student Work Experience Excellence Program; we get to work under someone in camp as an apprenticeship for a month and learn something and help out around the camp. For example you could work in the auto-shop one month or the kitchen and learn how it runs. I worked in the Joshua Kitchen, however was not busy long and went into main camp to help with the activities going on this weekend. We also had our Pause Families again who cooked us pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was an awesome time to relax and hang out with my pause brothers and sisters from Joshua as well as get to know the family a little better.

Friday-
After having another Elements of Bible study class all of the Joshua Students went into the Hume main camp to help turn it over for the weekend women’s conference. I got to work High adventure this weekend again! Definitely one of my favorite Jobs. We practiced on the ropes course to get ready for the women’s session on Saturday, also helping Jordan Sonerholm(the guys in charge of High Adventure and similar activities) with a few projects. After work, Jordan took us bouldering down by quail flats. We hiked around and found many different places to climb; we even saw some old Indian paintings that the elements haven’t washed away. All in all, a pretty awesome day.

Saturday-
After arriving at high adventure at 8 and practicing a little more, Jordan took us out to the snowboard run to trim trees and get ready for winter, I was just happy to use a chainsaw again. We had our first women’s session for High Adventure after lunch, it was run completely by the Joshua students, and I thought we did an excellent job. Afterward the majority of us went to the snowboard run to finish up what work we could before we called it a night. Saturday night was busy for Hume Lake; many people were here for Paul’s wedding(One of the cooks at Joshua, who i've known for a few yaers). We played soccer at the ark with all the previous Joshua students, and had a good time with our community.

Sunday-
We finished up work with Jordan, completing the small tasks he had lined out for us. After lunch he let us off to go to Paul’s wedding. It was a good time full of tears and laughter, watching our friend get married to his first love. The Joshua students weren’t allowed to eat at the reception because he wasn’t sure if he would have enough food for all of us. So instead I and two other guys took our trucks off-roading up in the mountains by Wildwood- one of the things I’ve wanted to do since I got here. We finally made it back to the reception, just in time to see Paul and Sarah Dixon’s first dance. After the reception we went to the Ark for another fun night of soccer and community. After soccer, most of the Joshua guys went up to Inspiration point to cook the fish they caught earlier that day, and have a good time with just the guys.