SMT, Part 2= Mt. Gilead- A Road Trip to California

After our 3 weeks of being at home (or Hawaii), we all traveled back to Cannon Beach to pack up our van, which we named "Martha", and head out on our 8 week adventure together! We guys got in Martha and the girls got in Katie's car and we headed east to Redmond, OR to go to Matt and Katie's brother's graduation, which was that night. We went to that and then stayed at the White's house for that night (Lisa, Rhianna and I slept in their trailer, the girls in one part and I in the "man" area haha). The next morning, with much apprehension, we headed south on a 12 hour drive (or so, I cant remember right off) to Santa Rosa, CA, which is just north of San Francisco. We ate at an In-and-Out, visited with Abbi Sanchez, and headed to our first camp: Mt. Gilead. Now this camp was HUGE. If you're familiar with the concept of a mega-church, well I liken it to a mega-camp. It had around 300 kids and around 23 cabins, with each being able to hold 8 campers and 2 counselors. That was a weird week for me. It was the first time I'd ever legitly been a counselor. But God worked amazingly and allowed me to be one of the few guys with a co-counselor: Jeremiah Auer. I am eternally thankful for that guy. Whether he meant to or not, he slowly integrated me into the position of counselor. At the beginning of the week, I was lost. But by the end of the week, I had a firm grasp of what I was doing :)

My campers that week were Justin, Nick, Devin, Dominic, Nick, Justin, Nick, and Adolfo (for you campers, just know I did that from memory :) ) We had our ups and downs that week. At first, they didn't get a long much and hated our "cabin time", which I found to be a brilliant binding tool. Even though they hated the stuff we did, they grew a lot in that week! And so did my leadership skills.

The activities were great that week! We did a huge slip and slide, pool games, human clue, a rock concert, and "the gauntlet", among other things. As I said, Mt. Gidead is a MEGA camp! This was the camp that I definitely had the most FUN at, just cause their program staff and program was just plain amazing and very much one of the biggest main focuses of the camp.

Chapel and one-on-ones with my campers was my favorite times of the day, as it would be for the rest of the summer. Being able to just go and worship God twice a day for 8 weeks was SO awesome, and I do miss it a lot! Also, having a Bible teaching every day twice a day on top of the worship.. wow :)

On a more serious, personal note, in the weeks leading up to SMT, my family had found out that my Grandma Moore had cancer, and didn't have much time left. Now, my Grandma and I were extremely close. My sister and I spent a huge amount of our childhoods at Grandma and Grandpa's house, especially in holiday events, and we went camping every summer. They had even come with us on our trip to Hawaii two years ago, which was so amazing! So to get the information that she wasn't going to last much longer was tough... but God was in every moment of it. The only set of 3 weeks I was home in two years "JUST HAPPENED" to be when we found out. The day she was put in the hospital and we got the news "JUST HAPPENED" to be the day that I was in Portland for the day and I could just drop by on the way back home. She "JUST HAPPENED" to be put into ER room 23, hospital room 23, and the meal number my mom and grandpa "JUST HAPPENED" to be 23, all reminding us of Psalm 23! All I can say is God is good. My Grandpa kept that attitude through the whole thing. He is an amazing man!
Anyways, it was during this first week of camp that my Grandma passed away. It was hard, but God made it easy because I was to be distracted with camps for the next 8 weeks, thus allowing me to recover with out even realizing it! And I want to thank Mt. Gilead's director Steve Todd for all of the support he gave me during that week! And for all of the support of the staff and, of course, Matt, Rhianna, and Katie!

Camp has a profound influence on kids, and it's so essencial to any kids growing up experience, especially a Christian in high school. High school is a time where nothing makes sense and you think that your life just sucks (for some that continues into college, if you don't let God address it). I don't know what it is about camp, but God uses those one weeks in kids lives so much, more than I ever expected to see. I mean, I knew it was always that way in my own life growing up, but I had never seen it from a counselor's perspective, and counselors see 100x more than campers ever do! And over and over, I saw God work in kids lives, transforming them right in front of me. It was a perspective that was easy to take for granted, a view that, if we weren't careful, could easily become "I'm doing this, not God", which was NOT TRUE AT ALL. All I was was a vessel used by God, no more, no less.

For lots of photos, including some of our team, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mt-Gilead-Bible-Camp/77656014121?sk=photos, and go down to "Daily Snap High School 01 Monday". There is also Tuesday through Friday albums after that! :)

Before we knew it, it was the last day of camp. We had to say goodbye to the staff and campers whom we had become close to in only a week. Time had gone by fairly fast and we thought we had an idea of what "being tired" was. We didn't. We had just barely begun our journey. So we packed up, prayed, and started our journey north, back to Oregon.

This is John Friend signing off for now... Part 3 coming soon!

ES-EM-TEEEEE!!!!! (or SMT for short, and Summer Ministry Team for long) -Part 1

Gosh. Where do I even start? Oh that's easy: GOD IS GOOD.

So last January, I found out that I was put on to Ecola's Summer Ministry Team, a team that goes out during the summer for 8 weeks straight, during which we was camp counselors at kids camps. There were two teams, each with 5 members. My team consisted of Matt White, Katie White, Lisa Matz, Rhianna Moriarty, and myself. We started training sessions together with the other team during third term, which was led by the director of Ecola, Dave Duff. We started hanging out on Wednesday mornings before class and praying. We would spend an hour or so a week together, hanging out or creating skits (or being led around campus blindfolded.. ya that was fun haha)

Soon, Ecola was over and I got to stay on campus to work at the conference center and do more training sessions. That was one of the saddest days of my life... to see all of my friends leave. For them all to be there one morning and.. gone that evening. It still brings tears to my eyes, even now as I type this. And so another chapter began that day. We stayed on campus for 2 weeks training and hanging out and working for the Cannon Beach Conference Center. Those weeks went by fast, but not fast enough. By the end, we were aching to get out of there. I think it hurt us all too much to be there while no one else was.

Next up was the SMT camping trip! Matt and I left a day early because we were ready to leave CB and we stayed at his house for a couple of nights. We went camping along the Metolius River in Oregon. It was a lot of fun! It was just the two SMT teams and Dave, and we had a blast! The nights were SO cold, but we survived. I've also never had so much freeze dried food in my life, which was cool cause real food was great to come back to! haha

It was on this trip, we started finalizing what we thought we'd need for the summer in the way of mental state, closeness as a group, and devotionals for the campers. Being out there in nature was great enough, but the times where we all went off by ourselves and prayed, did our personal devos, and made up the devos we would need for teaching our campers, it was some of the closest feeling time I've had with God. I love God and I love the way He reveals Himself through nature!

Another note worthy thing was when all of us guys drove up towards Mt. Jefferson to hike a bit. We found a trailhead and hiked a bit in, but hit snow packs, which we hiked over for a while. Soon it was too difficult to keep going, so we just turned back, but not after stopping and looking over the gorge. (I wish I had brought my camera that day...)

After the camping trip, we all went to our respective homes (except Lisa, she went to Hawaii) and rested from the year and the camping trip, and tried to prepare for what the summer had in store for us. Key word is "tried".

Training feels like such a long time ago... Heck, Ecola feels as if it were years ago, yet it feels like yesterday. It all does. I've had a lot of time to reflect on Ecola and all that came with it this week, since a good number of my friends are back down there at second year. I miss it, yet I know that I'm where I need to be. Yet, I miss my friends, yet I know that I'll get to spend eternity with them! And I long for that day! The day that A) I meet my God face to face, and B) get to be reunited with all of my brothers and sisters!

Well, this is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)

Why Smallville?

In the last year, I have very much been stereotyped into "The guy who's obsessed with Superman". I just want to come out and clarify: You're probably right. (Notice the subtle "Superman colors" of this blog...) However, it's not what you think.

It's not so much that I love Superman, it's that I love Smallville. For whatever reason, I have, in the last 7 years, latched on to that show hard core. Also to clarify, I've never read comic books. Ever. I've always been a movie and TV show watcher. That's why I'm perfectly fine with all of the X-men movies. Anyways, everything I know of the superhero world I know from movies and TV. Yes, I may look something up and know facts about random stuff, but it's usually instigated by something I've seen on these said shows or movies.

So. Why Smallville? In my time away from home in the last year, I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned things I don't even know about yet haha. But one thing I've learned is that I'm somewhat insecure. I don't like change that much. When I switched from my private Christian school to high school, I went into a depression. Now changing from high school to Ecola wasn't too hard, just because high school wasn't fun anymore and Ecola was the greatest place on earth, hands down. And the switch from Ecola to SMT wasn't that bad, but it was still hard. But the switch from Ecola/SMT to Michigan has been rough to say the least. As I said, I don't like change.

But the three things that have stayed completely the same in my life have been God, family, and Smallville. However, as life goes on, the dynamics of family changes. We kids grow up, we get closer or not closer to siblings and parents, and the landscapes of the way life goes is constantly changing. But even my relationship with God has changed, gotten better. My room mate mentioned yesterday that the times you're closest to God is when you first accept Him and when you're about to die. I couldn't disagree more! My relationship with God has dramatically changed over my life, especially in the last year. So, strictly speaking (yes God never changes, I know, but..) my relationship with God has changed.

(Now I feel like I'm saying that Smallville is higher on the totem pole than God. THAT IS NOT TRUE! Trust me, God is bigger and better than anything... that what my next blog will be about :) )

So. Why Smallville? Why does it mean so much to me? Because it's been one of those things I can go back to to feel normal, to feel like life isn't as crazy as and bad as I think. (Which is ironic because the show is about a very abnormal boy and the most extreme life circumstances ever!) I started watching it in the latter parts of season 3, right before the amazingness that is season 4. And it remained there going into high school. And, as I entered Ecola, I started watching it again for a second time through the series, only this time, I got Benton Trerise addicted to it, along with several other guys who lived in AD Dorm. So many memories revolve around Smallville from Ecola. Watching it in Keith and I's room till all hours in the morning, making random references throughout the day, and, of course, the infamous occasion of watching it in the AD Dorm bathroom. :) While this was happening, I was also watching the tenth and final season, loving it cause it was so amazing, and also hating it cause NO ONE ELSE AT ECOLA was watching it with me, therefore I couldn't tell anyone about the twists and turns of that "fateful" last season. During the summer, I had no access to anything nerdy, which sucked. My SMT group was the most opposite of anything nerdy EVER! Which was good for me, because it forced me to throw that off for 8 weeks in order to serve God more. But when I got back home, I have to admit, I started watching through again, picking up in season 7 where Benton, David, Keith, and I had left off 4 months before. And it was great! :) Then I moved here to Michigan. Life has started to settle, and this week I introduced David (Buttons) to Smallville. How did he react to it? Well, let me put it this way: We started a week ago, and we're already 1/5 through the second season. So now, I'm going through the series a third time, while finishing up my journey through it the second time, at the same time.

So I'm going to film school. I love to look for details put into scenes, background, and plots of movies and TV shows. Smallville is no different. The most exciting thing I've found watching through the series this third time is finding plot points I've never seen before. The first time you watch through, you like it cause it's a cool story. The second time through, you seen the random plot points you missed the first time. But this third time through? Man... this show is all about the details! I see thing that connect across SEASONS. The biggest thing I've noticed is how amazing Lionel Luthor's character is! The first couple seasons, he just seems like a mean, heartless businessman, but after you learn what he really truly is down the road, watching his character in those first two seasons proved that the creators knew who he was all the way at the beginning! And THAT is amazing plot development!

Also, another cool thing that I've noticed is that Smallville has so many examples about life and how we should be living. When ever I talk to someone about life, where I've been, and where I'm going, I always seem to quote Smallville, especially season 10. Season 10 is the completion of our heroes journey, but at the beginning of the season, he still has a long way to go. Let's just say that by the finale, he is truly Superman. And it takes some deep psychological and moral discussion to get to a point as truthful and justified as the Man of Steel. I've often wondered why I can relate to Smallville so well. Now, after taking Story class here at CCCA, I know why: It's the heroes journey, a journey we're all on!

Another thing that David just mentioned about the show is it really is characteristically solid and unwavering. The plot of Heroes is so up and down, so crazy! But Smallville's plot is all about Clark Kent's journey to becoming the man and hero that everyone knows today. Yes, they have to add twists and turns to keep you addicted, but really, the show has a solid foundation, so you don't get your heart or brain ripped out because you don't know what the heck could be coming next for our characters.

So ya. This is only scratching the surface of what I know about Smallville. And I could talk about it more, but I don't want to give anything major away (besides, wait for it... He becomes Superman!). This show has a special place in my heart and life because it's solid. Because it's immovable in this constantly changing life. Yes I'm a nerd, but it also feeds my hero complex, my desire to see everyone in this world to know Jesus, my longing for everyone to be saved from their sins.

Well, this is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)

The Beginning (or, at least, one of them)

Well, here I am.

I've begun my final steps towards becoming a professional film maker. I am here in Grand Rapids, MI going to Compass College of Cinematic Arts. Now my hope and dream is to be in charge of making films, whether that be by being a director or, more likely, a producer. I just want to build my skills and use them to serve God. I so want to be OUT THERE, making films that will change lives, that will drive people closer to the God that loves them!

So. I have to comment on my life in the last year. "Whew." It's been so crazy!!! God has been working so directly and so powerfully in my life its not even funny. It really started with Josh Sandage, Dana Schot, Joey Meeuwsen, and I doing our Bond movie "Preceding Duty" for our senior projects. That was the project that launched me interest in becoming a film maker. During that time, I met Jessyca, who I dated for 8 months. It was very much a serious relationship, but in the end, it was clear that, though God used it very powerfully in my life (and boy did I truly learn who I was during those months...), it was very, very wrong. During that relationship, I also started my 7 month journey at Ecola Bible School. Going to Ecola has been the single biggest impact on my life. God got my attention. He gave me some of the bestest friends I will ever have (for eternity!). Also, I also applied to the University of Hawaii for their film program, and I got in! It was that same day that I found out that I was on the Summer Ministry Team (SMT). Anyways, God used that year to tear all of my idols down (girls.). By the end of first term, Jessyca and I were done (thank the Lord. It had gone on long enough.). During the middle of second term, I met Nikki. Now, she was great. Really really great! But by the end of second term, she didn't feel good about the relationship (for all the right reasons) and that was done. That wrecked me. I didn't eat for a week. I didn't want to go on. At all. But I did. I went home that weekend to fill out financial information for UH. But I realized that I didn't want to go there at all! So I went back to school that week with no idea what my future would hold. That first week back, I started forming some new friendships, and strengthened some old ones. It was at that point that i met a young man named David Spencer. He told me about a small film school in the mid west called Compass. My dad and I looked at it and prayed about it, and we both felt that it was were I needed to apply. So I did. And I was accepted! From there, life got better slowly. It was slow going. I felt very alone there for a while. But it was during that time that God said, "Dude. Rely on ME!" So, slowly, I did. I slowly crawled my way back into the society known as Ecola. It was during this term that I started the training for SMT, which lasted till the end of school. It was the single hardest thing I've ever done, saying goodbye to all my good friends... I'm so thankful that I was blessed with my SMT team. And so I began my summer quest: 8 Christian summer camps in 8 weeks. CRAZY! It was the most amazing summer of my life, and I'll probably write more about it later. Anyways, so that's the extremely short version of what has brought me to now.

Now. Ya... It's so weird being in another place, another culture really. It doesn't feel normal yet. But God is good! I'm here for a reason. I know that for a fact! So thus, I begin my journey. A journey I pray comes to something big, something amazing!

This culture is searching. Searching for the truth. I just want to be used by God to show that truth to as many people as possible!

This is John Friend signing off, at least for now :)