Student Leader Weekend

We at Leadertreks are so excited for this weekend. We are gearing up for students from across the country to come here for a training weekend. This is an opportunity to meet and build relationships with students that some of us are going to have on trips this summer. The weekend will essentially be a time of training student leaders on how to lead and prepare their teams for this summer. We have found that this weekend is a very effective way to help prepare and train our teams so that overall we can be more effective throughout the trip. I can't wait for everyone to arrive. This being my first student leader weekend all I have to go off of is stories and imagination. From what I've heard it will be a blast!

The Inciting Incident

One of the things on my Christmas list this past December (yes, my mom still asks for Christmas lists) was Donald Miller's newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I really did not know what to expect from this book seeing that Miller really had not come out with a book that had come close to the standard he set when he wrote Blue Like Jazz.

Anyways, the book basically walks through his life while making a movie about his life. Didn't catch that? I'll say it again, the book goes through his life as he is making a movie about his life. Now I'm not here to summarize or give you a good or bad review on the book, mostly because I have not finished it yet, but also hopefully you'll be persuaded to read this book.

As I have worked through the book I arrived at a part where Miller goes into discussion about this thing known in the movie world as "the inciting incident". Now there might be many of you who have heard this phrase before, but I had never heard of it before. An inciting incident is something that happens in the main character's life that forces him to respond, change, adapt, basically to do something.

As Miller works through the idea of his life becoming a screen play he begins to learn more and more of the importance of story and how it must be done well if viewers are going to engage and enjoy what they are watching.

Miller eventually looks at his real life and admits what a bore it is. No one would want to sit through and watch his life. It was quite boring, made up of the same old every day. As Miller went on I began to ponder the idea of having an inciting incident in my own life. I began to take a few trips down memory lane and to ponder what some of these incidents could be. Being turned down from a job, the end of a relationship, moving to a new city, all could be things that could be classified as an inciting incident.

But the big one in my life...LeaderTreks. Nope they aren't paying me to say this, but LeaderTreks has changed my life. My actions, reactions, views, passions, and thoughts are now filtered a different way, and quite honestly I don't think I would want it any other way.

Why am I telling you all this? Well hopefully this will make you think about what inciting incidents have occurred in your own life. When you think about meeting God for the first time are you going to be excited and say, "Hey God. Lets take a trip down memory lane and look back at what we all did during my life," or will you be more disappointed and wonder what you and God will talk about because quite honestly, not much happened.

Your life is a story. One of millions that are happening right at this moment. The good, the bad, and all that lies in between are all part of it. As John 10:10 says, "Christ came to give us life, & life to the fullest."

How do we know the need at each site?

We have amazing missionary partners at each site we take trips to that scope out the need before we get there as well as follow up after we leave, and meeting them is honestly one of the best perks in our job! In Costa Rica, our partners are the Aspegren family (Phil & his son, Skyler pictured here--Jill & sons Laramie & Jadmin, not pictured). They handled a lot of the logistics on that end--transportation, finding housing, a worksite project, and the church that would host our VBS program--but their 'day job' is working with an organization called "Casa Viva." Casa Viva strives to get the church involved in providing Costa Rican homes for abused, neglected or orphaned children--essentially a Costa Rican Adoption/Foster agency, but one that functions very deliberately through Costa Rican churches. The one Sunday we attended Trono de Dios, the local church we were working with, they brought a couple up on stage to introduce their 2 new adopted children to the congregation--what seems to be a pretty regular occurrence. As often as they can they work with the families to keep them together and bring healing.
Before coming to Costa Rica, where they've been serving for 6 years, they had been in the DR for 6 years doing the same thing--a missional life-style. It was great for our students to see just a glimpse of who they are--passionate about the God they serve and what they do, yet love to have fun! Thanks Aspegrens for all you did to make our trip possible, including a great zipline experience, a couple great dinners & fellowship, and a show-stopping bonfire! Blessings on your ministry!

When a Mission Trip Becomes a Lifestyle

It is quite easy to be purposeful and mission-minded on a mission trip. Its built into the schedule...it's what you are supposed to do. It is quite a bit more challenging to do it after the trip and you have returned home to America and to the temptations of your old routine.
As most of you know (if you follow this blog) we recently got back from mission trips to the DR and Costa Rica. We, as trip leaders, always love it when we see students leaving the trip changed but more importantly creating change after they have returned home.
We got a recent visit from a few girls that just went on a mission trip with us to Costa Rica. I thought it was just to pick up something and say hello. To my surprise, they went on to tell me that they had just purchased over 100 hats and scarves from Old Navy and they were going to pass them out to the homeless in downtown Chicago.
Challenged through talks on the trip, they decided to do something with the burdens they have, and be leaders who are testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
I am proud of you girls!

LTE

I had the opportunity to go to a church in Bloomington IL and teach an LTE (Leadership Training Event). Its four sessions long, each session taking about 2 hours long. Within each session there is some teaching and the rest of the time we do team building games where the team needs to work together to accomplish a mission. This is an interesting time for the students to realize different aspects of themselves and the team. It provides an opportunity to talk about communication, team care, and a lot of other things. This last weekend was a cool experience for me. The students were unbelievable and so easy to talk to.

While watching the students doing these team building games one of many things that I took away from the weekend is how I channel my frustration can effect the team's performance. In my life if I get frustrated it can effect the people around me in a negative way. But if I can control it, it can encourage others to persevere. This is just one aspect that I took away from the weekend.

These LTE's are such a cool opportunity to interact with students and help them develop, something that I am passionate about. Just another cool aspect of my job in Summit!

p.s. shout out to the Aspergren family in Costa Rica!

Why I work at LeaderTreks

One of our big goals with this blog site is to help people who are thinking about working at LT to understand why this is such a great place to work. So I thought I would take a second to explain why I love working at LT. I think three words describe why I work here: adventure, challenge, and impact.

Adventure: I have been at LeaderTreks for 8 years and it has been the most fun-filled, adventurous years of my life. My job has taken me from Bolivia to Alaska and so many places in between. I have paddled the coast of Baja in a sea kayak chasing dolphins. I have slept under the stars in the Rocky Mountains listening to the howls of wolves. I have held orphaned children in my arms while in the Dominican Republic . I have never had another job, nor could I dream of one, that would expose me to so many great people, take me to so many wonderful places, and allow me to have so many amazing experiences. When I explain my job to people just about everybody I talk to can't believe the kinds of things we do every year at LT.

Challenge: The last 8 years of my life have been some of the most growing and stretching years that I have ever lived. Many people have spoken into my life and I have changed in ways that I have never imagined. When I think about who I was when I started at LT and who I am today, I am amazed that God has taken me this far. Not only has God challenged me but I have also learned how to be a challenging person in others' lives. My time at LT has made me a better husband, father, mentor, and coach. In short, LT has made me a better person.

Impact: One of the biggest reasons I stay at LT is to be a part of the Kingdom building impact that this organization has. We get the opportunity to speak truth into the lives of students as we introduce them to what God is doing in the world. Not only do we help meet the needs of the poor in Appalachia or the orphans in Honduras but we also get the chance to help students find their role in God's Kingdom. When I see the impact students are having far beyond their time at LT I understand why working here is so important.

So if you are considering the Summit program, I can only tell you that I have not regretted any of the sacrifices I have made to be a part of the team at LT. This has been the greatest ride of my life and I can't wait to see where it will take me next.