Beaver Beach

Yadkin River (West of Winston-Salom, NC) July 10th 2009 7:30pm

So many cool things have happened the last couple of days on the river, but I want to write about what happened in the last 10 mins. The boys started writing articles from there experiences on the river so far, and I had to grab some of my stuff about 50 ft down the river bank. I saw a little beaver swimming a little ways down river and heading my way. I decided to stay still and wait to see how close it was going to come.
I was about 5 ft off the river and on a bank that rose 3ft up off of the river. The beaver swam 3ft off shore right pasted me and slowed down. I didn't want ot move at all, not even my head, because I didn't want it to notice me. But, it let me turn my head a little at a time, and then an ammo can slammed by my group of boys and the beaver turned around and swam away faster than it came. It stopped about 15 ft down river from me and came to shore and I couldn't see it anymore. So I walked very slowly over to where it was to see if it had went in a hole, swam under water, or maybe was chilling by the edge.
I came up to where it disappeared out of my sight and still didn't see it so I inched my way closer to the edge and saw some of the leaves of the weeds moving; the beaver was right at the top edge of the slope, 4ft from me, munching on the leaves. It didn't notice me and I watched it slowly eating the leaves for 10 mins. I slowly inched my way to get a better view.
I was 3ft from the edge and standing very still when the beaver saw some better looking leaves right in front of me. The beaver, with its short front legs, climbed over the edge and stopped to eat more leaves 2 ft in front of me. I was struggling to stay still this whole time because of bugs landing on me and the natural sway of my body, but now adding the raised heart rate and excited nerves made it really hard to not move. If I would have moved the beaver would be gone.
A few more minutes passed as I got to see its flat paddle tail up close and its little front paws feeding its buck teeth. The beaver was grazing and inching its way closer to me, focusing only on the food in front of him and ignoring the big tree of a man standing now only 1ft in front of him. I was enjoying this too much to disrupt the beaver, of try to catch it, or to punt it half way across the river; I only wanted to observe this awesome creature up close it its own habitat, doing its own routines.
I wasn't sure how close it would get or how close I wanted it to get. I know I didn't want it to walk over my foot if it got that close. I was thinking it might get that close because the leaves went right up to my feet. It did get closer and started walking past my foot only 6 inches away and I diceded that that was close enough. I stepped away gently and the beaver franticly ran away tumbing over the edge of the slope into the river water and then dove out of sight.
I had the biggest grin on my face as I walked back over to my group of boys who were writing their articles. I couldn't stop grinning and had to break their hard working silence and share what just happend. I then joined then by writing this great experience down.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

I just watched the Expelled Documentary and I thought it was great. I have been very effected by creation and intelligent design and evolution debates or lack of debates. I have always been very open minded to peoples thought and get turned off to people who know without a doubt things and call people stupid if they don't believe the same thing, what turned me off was the lack of questions they seemed to ask or acknowledge. Since I grew up in the Christian community with creation facts or theories I have heard many people call other theories stupid.
When I heard of some Christians embrace evolution ideas I wanted to understand that more and really see what this was all about. I know I don't know everything! (not even close) I need to keep learning and keep questioning. I need to seek so I can find out what things make the most sense and what things may be stupid and be able to understand why, not just because that is what I grew up with or the people around me believe. Being at camp in a very conservative environment of North Carolina, where people "know the facts" and have really been able to explain a lot of good evidence of an intelligent design, after being in the Northwest in a open minded no body is wrong unless you are arguing with or for Christianity or any Religion, has really rattled my brain again. I always liked to say sure why didn't God create the world using evolution, why can't we be both right. It all depends on your definitions of creation and evolution.
This documentary which is very well made in my opinion explores people being fired from jobs as scientist or journalist because of not completely denying some sort of intelligent designer because our science society has forced creationism to be taboo and stupid with know evidence. It also explores the questions that are not answered in Darwinism because no theory has all the answers even though some try to say it does. The film also explores the consequences of peoples beliefs. Many great interviews throughout this documentary. It is fun to watch.
I was at the North Carolina beach this past week with my kids and others form camp and we got to do a Behind the Scenes close encounters tour of the aquarium. it was a lot of fun and got to feed the largest tank with sharks and many other awesome fish. Our tour guide marine biologist Wayne made an interested comment about how we really don't know a whole lot about fish and are always trying knew things to take proper care of our tanks. Science is fairly knew in a lot of sense and we are trying to figure things out. It was definitely a humble approach to something that is way bigger than we can get our minds around.
Things are unpredictable at times and many are trying to force us to believe something that they admittedly don't have all the answers to prove. It really made me kind of angry / frustrated that many people try to force their own agendas that are harming us. Why can't we have freedom to speak and explore and publish our ideas and finding.

10 years - Party On

I just listened to Mars Hill message celebration of 10 years that was a couple weeks ago and am inspired to enter back into the woods this morning to love my kids to life. Join that party I just remembered about and wrote about by being active in this world, and joining the things that God is active with.

November 8th 2008 - Sunset Wednesday

Tunnel Park - Holland, MI
I saw an amazing sunset last night at the state park and took a lot of pictures. Tonight no camera and another great sunset. It is also a little more peaceful at Tunnel Park. Beautiful Blue and shade black waves. The blue shimmers and calls out to walk across. The definitively straight horizon asks if there is anything to the west. The endless water reminds me that I am small part of this big world. The endless water tries to prove wrong the title of Lake. Growing up 30 mins from this, for 20 years of my life, makes me ask why I haven't come to more sunsets here. I wish I was surrounded by people that wanted to see this every night. The purple, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue sky above that perfect blue water draws me out of this world I am in, out of the worries, out of the cares, even out of the celebrations into a celebration that is way bigger that I can create, inspire, or even imagine. I hope I am never distracted enough to miss this celebration. I hope am never busy enough to not join this party.

Lake Michigan Winter Beach

Jan. 28th 2009 Journal

I thought that was a really good reflection on some of my thoughts and my group. I wrote this in my bed in the woods of the Rangers campsite at Cameron Boys Camp.

This is my home, the woods, and these chiefs (co-workers) and these boys are my family. The passion to be the best that we can be is going to change my life! These boys are pumped and excited about being the best and going home the right way. They are sick and tired of guys, who they have invested so much into, leaving before they are ready. They care for each other and want the best for each other - people see it, and I am beginning to see it. I am beginning to see what being a ranger is all about - what camp is all about - what life is all about.
I understand why these guys get frustrated when things aren't right "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever" Isaiah 32:17. I am understanding some of my weaknesses, by some of the things they are calling out in each other. " Oh that is not that bad" I think to myself - I am just protecting my own weaknesses. Rangers are not going to let anyone stop them from being the best group they can possible be... the best group ever. I need my groups passion!
My co-Chief Adam told us about a friend Shane who once said to him "Oh he is just a new Christian, that passion will go away" Adam then grabbed Shane and said "Are you kidding m?! That is what you need man!" We should be excited like a new believer follower of Christ. My boy travis accepted Christ last night, or as he says it "I got saved last night," I dont like how that sounds for different reasons, but that doesn't matter. I need to be excited with him and for him and keep encouraging him! I am not excited because I fully don't know what it means to him and I do know that there is a lot more saving that God is continuing to do for him. And for me. That doesn't matter! I need to let myself be excited!
We had a boy go home for good this past week who was not ready to go home. We all knew he was not ready to go, but he convinced himself and his parents that he was. You should have seen the passion the group showed him to try to convince him to stay! It was very intense and not very gentle most of the time. One of the things that the group keep pushing him on was his lack of passion for anything. They kept pushing him to get passionate and let it show, but he didn't because he was taught to hold it in. He is just bursting inside because of this! He wont get passionate because he doesn't know how! I see a lot of myself in him in this area. I am very calm and patient, and I thank God for this gift, but I am also learning and reflecting on how this has been a weakness of mine. I need to get passionate about life, passionate about people, passionate about living life right to the full! I need to get passionate about being the best I can be and helping others do the same! I can't be lukewarm anymore! I can't let others ruin their lives if there is something I can do about it. and leave the rest up to God.

Holiday Travels

So I have been doing more road trips. Lot of driving back and forth from Michigan to North Carolina because of the Holidays. It has been great because that is when I have been able to meet up with great friends. I took some pictures of my trip back from Thanksgiving in the North Carolina mountains and it was Snowing!!! I love the snow and I am not getting any at camp, just cold and rain.


I also wanted to give a little update on my new job at camp. I am still in training. Which seems like it will never end, but has to soon because I will probably joining a group of kids full time right after Christmas. I spent a lot of this week staying with the boys in the tents which I have pictures below of. There are 4 sleeping tents in each campsite. the other picture is of the inside of one of the cooking tents. I am excited to get started but I enjoying the training because there is more variety in what I do right now.

Also just to let you know that my mother is having surgery on Tuesday morning to remove breast cancer. I just found out yesterday that she had cancer for sure. It is early so hopefully treatment with be quick and easy. and if not we will still all be alright. My family as far as I can tell has a good attitude about it. We would still love prayers and also for my sister who lost a job and is searching now. But this does give her time to spend with our mom. Always good ways to look at crappy situations.

With Peace and Love,
ME

Changing Seasons Update

PO BOX 277
Cameron, NC 28326
mkldrs@gmail.com
910-246-7108
616-828-1366

Hello Beautiful People!

I wanted to send another thank you for all you who sent me support in prayer and finances for my past year, and I wanted to give you an update of the end of my year at Wildhorse Canyon Washington Family Ranch Young Life Camp in Oregon. The summer for me was an amazing experience of leading high school and college friends that volunteered a month or more to do the different maintenance projects around camp. We fixed toilets, emptied trash cans and dumpsters, power washed paths, built and moved furniture, dug trenches, hung drywall, painted walls, and many more other random things that needed to be maintained around camp so that kids could have the best weeks of their lives. Just as important and fun for us as a maintenance crew was the time we got to spend every morning at around 7am; while meeting together we got to share different stories and talk about different questions and Bible passages. We started mornings this way in prayer to get to know more about God and ourselves. Also, throughout our time together over the summer we all got to share our life stories to each other. We made great friendships, many that I know will last for the rest of our lives.
Life in the summer was a lot different from the rest of the year. It was a lot busier in good and bad ways. With between 600 and 700 students at camp every week there was always things going on and always things to fix. Many people had too much to do and during those times we saw the greatest in people, both in their serving through the hard times and in how many others joined in, on their time off, to help keep things running smoothly. All with the attitude of giving the kids the best weeks of their lives.
After the summer was over I had another month of different groups coming to the Canyon for different retreats. As a group of interns we seemed to grow closer together, spending many moments together recollecting all the greatest memories from our year together. It is always amazing to look back on our lives, and for us at camp it made us appreciate our year together all the more. It also made it all the more difficult to leave. So again, thank you so much for supporting me at camp and supporting the kids that got to come to camp and get to know Jesus in a way they have never experienced before.

Changing Seasons:
I am now in North Carolina, I started working Nov 10th at a different camp; which is a very different experience from Oregon. Here I am working directly with at risk kids in a wilderness group home setting. It is called Cameron Boys Camp and is part of the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, Inc. I am very excited about being here and I am already learning way more than I could have imaged. As the website describes;

“Baptist Children's Homes' Cameron Boys Camp is a wilderness camping program for school aged boys. Camp provides behavioral change for boys in a highly structured, wilderness environment. Three staff members called Chiefs supervise each

group of ten boys. The well-balanced, licensed alternative education program teaches discipline and self-worth.
The program provides boys and their families an opportunity to work out problems. From arrival at camp through follow-up visits in the home, social workers focus on all family members.” (http://www.bchfamily.org/helping/service/119/125/124)

My expectations for my counselor/teacher experience here is that this will be the hardest thing I have done in my life so far. I will be challenged in the extreme structure, ways of discipline, and having to speak out all the time. As the kids are learning also, it is hard to get past our troubles and weaknesses in order to keep learning, but the best things don’t come easily.
With this new season of my life which I have made a 2 year commitment to (which they will give me 6 years worth of work) I would really appreciate your prayers. I know that I will not be able to love these kids without God’s work in all of our lives. Again, thank you for all of your support and love. I am overwhelmed with how many of you have never stopped praying for me on a regular basis. If you would like continued updates from me I am hoping to send out email updates every once in a while. Send me a email at mkldrs@gmail.com and I will add you to a list. God bless you and so that you can continue to bless others.

With peace and love,


Mike Elders

Wednesday Night Oct 1st

I am blogging from the Amtrak train b/w Tacoma, WA and Portland, OR. I finished my year at Wildhorse Canyon Young Life Camp Monday and have visited amazing friends that I have made over this last year in Seattle and Bellingham. It has been really hard leaving camp and many friends everyday not knowing when I will ever see them again. Many times I have been close to tears this week and last. I think that is a good sign that I have made some great friends this year.

So tomorrow morning I say goodbye again, this time to the entire west coast and start traveling back to Michigan. I have loved it out here and I love many of you very much. I hope this absence will be short enough. I would love to move somewhere else in the Northwest, but in a couple of weeks I am visiting a wilderness boys camp in North Carolina to see if it would be a good fit for me to work at. I am excited about the possible opportunity to work with boys even further out of civilization than at Wildhorse.

I feel like I have learned a lot this last year about God and a little more about myself, but a lot of the year I have not felt very intimate with God. I have been in Awe of God a lot this year but not always friendship close. It has been good to be doing some traveling and moving on to new things in that I really have felt like I have a new place to start growing closer with God. I cant rely on the people around me right now because I am a wondering man again, so I have felt God’s tug more and more in the last couple of days because he is the only constant in my time of wondering change.

Old Update

I made this newsletter update before the summer started and sent it out to a few peeps and thought that some others might want to read it also. So I hope you enjoy.

Diversity is Beautiful and Educational

Two weeks of Summer camps have come and gone and have been really great. I have been amazed by the diversity of the camp staff team and of the campers here at Wildhorse, not because I haven't seen these diverse of groups before, but rather I haven't seen camps or that many churches that there was no minority or majority no matter who you are. There were many cultures, skin colors, social classes, many disabled kids, and many deaf kids. It is a Beautiful thing!!!
Our speaker James from Indianapolis, IN showed many videos over the week and the first night he made a great video of all different pictures of Jesus that he has seen flashing on the screen and Marilyn Manson singing "Personal Jesus" it was powerful and he pointed out that we don't know what Jesus looked like but every culture around the world has made the image of Christ look like them. Jesus goes beyond all of our differences. Amen!
I also have heard the stories now of many of the kids coming through here and seen some of it personally now. I have seen the kids that I get to work with have a great time together even though we are all very different. I have heard of kids carrying there fellow campers up the mountain who were not physically able to climb because they only have one leg. I have heard of kids coming to camp from different rival gangs wearing there colors and fighting at the beginning of the week and sitting them down and bringing them together so that at the end of the week they are playing ball together. I have heard of cabin roommates that from the same school but didn't know each other at the beginning of the week and really didn't want to know each other, because they were different, and by the end of week where really close and great great friends. Beautiful!!!
I have seen this happen in true story movies lately (Freedom Writers and The Cross and the Switchblade) and so much in my personal real life. What brings us together, Jesus! We have more in common than we have differences. And our differences are very educational. We spend a lot of time at camp hearing peoples stories and sharing our stories and I love it. Diversity is Beautiful!!!

Freedom Writers

I just got done watching and hearing the stories of the Freedom Writers. This is an amazing movie with great stories and great hope and inspiration. It also encouraged me to write more and share more. This music video and song "A Dream" was written for this movie and this message. Check it out...

The artist Common and producer Will.I.am also made the song based on one of Obama's speeches. I feel like there are so many similarities to these speeches that inspire these songs. So many similarities to the stories that are told and so many similarities to the HOPE... YES WE CAN... Check it out...

If you want to see the whole of Barack Obama's speech check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe751kMBwms Sunday night I also watched Barack Obama's speech at the Wesleyian Graduation Commencement which he did on Sunday. This was a last minute invite in place of Ted Kennedy. I thought it was a great speech about service. Very political as he is running for president, if you didn't know that, but also very much about our Hope and our way of doing our part and serving others. Check it out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX5WEgqw6pM I don't mean for this blog to be about Obama, but about Hope and what getting into peoples lives, and how serving each other, and reaching out can do. It can make a difference. Change can happen. Yes We Can. If you haven't seen the Freedom Writers movie I very much recommend it. It has inspired me to really want to get back into working with kids directly again. I lot of things have lately.

Drive By

So it has been a fairly rainy weekend and I really have loved parts of that, especially that it is making the dessert very green for a dessert. Saturday I was working at the zip line in camp and a thunder storm rolled in and I saw my first strike of the year - I am looking forward to many more. We also have respect for the storm and had to close down the activities outside for a while. Something about long metal aircraft cables leading into a 3 acre pond makes some a little cautious.
This weekend also brought me a lot of time belaying little and big kids on the climbing wall which I enjoy doing immensely because I get to help kids conquer there fears and conquer some hard walls. It is great seeing parents here loving on there kids, Also a little funny seeing parents my age running after a few kids - Reality Check. I also got a lot of time in the Skate Park watching little kids run into each other and adults get some of there youth back in them. Sometimes it is slow in the skate park and when I was not talking to the guests or being inspired by the skaters I tried to do a little writing. Here is one work I am really pleased with so far

Driving in your car you never see
what you dont want to see.
You moved so you wouldn't have to see.
You bought your view so you could be free.
Comfort and Content is what you try to buy.
Safe and Secure you wont see them cry.
Safe and Secure you Drive By.

Here is one that I have observed in others and maybe myself.

You brought your board but you're still afraid.
You see them skate but you haven't been made.
You want to win but you haven't played.
You left the park when you should have stayed.

I have been having great times with community here at the Canyon. Last week I went over to the fellow Michigander condo, they are full time volunteers here, and watched the Red Wings end the Stars. It was great to hear some more of there great story and eat more of there great grilling... And after that join the great intern group for a weenie roast and some wiffle ball.

In the last week I have gained 3 more housemates (Dan, Michael, and Jake) which is awesome, because they are awesome,and I we have had some great times so far and I am looking forward to getting to know them even more. Last night all the interns that are here so far bonded with some big burgers and lots of shotgun shells. Oh how Guns can bring people together.

We are currently reading Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer with our housemates and the Ministry chapter is money, it talks about some really awesome and not typical ideas of minitry. I really loved the nuggets of stuff that is good in the first chapter, but this chapter made me have to recommend this book for everyone to read.
OK, peace and love to you all and Keep sharing the love.

30 Days

So It has been a great last 30 Days (This title I stole from an amazing TV series on FX that was created by the same man who created the Super Size Me documentary - check out the DVDs)

The last 30 Days has brought a lot of struggles / challenges some that have help me grow and some that hasn't helped me grow yet. The last 30 Days has brought a lot of travel as well. Two weeks ago I went to Seattle with a number of other interns for a long weekend. Played a little Bingo with Ben and Grant and Dusty and Drew...

Also in Seattle to Celebrate my friend Lacey's Birthday we went to the zoo!!! I made some more friends there...


I also took a road trip south this past week for my first visit to California. And I drove with all the other interns all the way to South Cali to Oakbridge Young Life Camp to work for a week. It was a great time especially when Kate steps in Dog crap at 11pm...

But we did get to see LA from the roof of an amazing building and ministry (The DREAM CENTER)...

And when we got back to Camp the boys, on the Morning of Kate and Sara's Birthday, got the paintball guns going. This is one of our new hobbies at camp...

And then we partied hard the rest of Yesterday...

In Sickness and In Health

Happy New Year Everyone... what a great time to start the year right. It is exciting to see where I will get to go this next year after looking at where I have been in the last year. Here is a Review of my travels from this past year...

February - road trips to Wisconsin and Ohio

March - flew to Seattle for the first time ever and hung out in the Northwest (Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Salem) for a whole month

May - road trip to Iowa for Dordt grad (my 6th year straight) and then extended the road trip to Wyoming, Montana, and Washington again.

August - road trip through the UP and then Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wash DC, Virginia, Wash DC, NYC, Boston, NYC, Rochester NY, Hamilton ON, London ON, Lansing MI and home.

September - road trip to Chicago, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, and to my new home in Oregon.

October and November - everywhere is a road trip from where I live. 1 hour to grocery store, 2 hours to bend, 3 hours to portland, 6 hours to coast.

December - flew back to Michigan for a week to visit family and friends.

I even made a great visit to the hospital this past Friday. I was completely dehydrated from losing all my insides during the night so I got to spend a day and night in the Mountain View Hospital (my rooms didn't have windows). I am all better now and I didn't let it interfere with the awesome new years party we had with the interns here at camp. It was Omazing amounts of Fun.

Love Beyond My Experience

I have been brought close to tears a few times in the last couple of days because of the beauty of love (a little cheesy to say it this way, yes). Love I have seen in other people that is way beyond me at this point in my life.

So at the Christmas party on Wednesday one of the little girls, Maggie, who is probably about 10 yrs old sang for everybody "Breath of Heaven" which was made popular by Amy Grant, and her father Craig accompanied her on the guitar. It is a dong I grew up listening to a lot. Well Maggie is really cute and was dressed up in the traditional peasant robe with hood, and she had the most peaceful glorious voice. This song is from the perspective of Mary the mother of Jesus, and Maggie helped really make me think of how young and innocent Mary actually was especially with this little girl singing the lines...

Do you wonder as you watch my face,
If a wiser one should have had my place,
But i offer all i am
For the mercy of your plan.
Help me be strong.
Help me be.
Help me.

The first lines there really got me in all its humanity. Oh how many of us ask if a wiser one should have had my place? But NO, God chose this young girl to give birth to His son. Wow.

I sat right in front while Maggie was singing and her Mother Kathy was sitting right by me and I got to see all the glances and smiles back and forth between the two. After the children's program was done Maggie came up to her mother and gave her a big hug while she was sitting down and Maggie said to her mother with so much sincerity "I Love You" and they kissed. This is love that is so beyond what I can imagine at this point in my life.

OK I had more to write but I am really tired now, so good night to me.