SMT, Part 7= Five Mile Lake- God Chooses To Use Us

Well, here I sit, at the Grand Rapids Airport, waiting for my flight back home to Portland, OR for the holidays. It's amazing to think back, to last year at Ecola, to SMT, and to first getting here to Grand Rapids, MI back in August. I have learned so much about the film business, how life works, and who I am and who I'm going to be. I am sad that it's taken me this long to chronicle my adventures this summer, and I'm noticing that they are getting shorter and shorter as time goes, since I'm loosing the detailed memories slowly as life goes on. But here goes!

After we left Pinecroft, we headed back to western Washington to our next camp, Five Mile Lake. When we left the camp, we found out that it wasn't a good weekend for us to stay with Kaylyn Brown again, so we had to find a place to stay. But God is so cool! It was during this week that I started talking with Jessica Brooks, a classmate from Ecola. It turned out that her dad was the speaker scheduled to speak at Five Mile that week! So we asked her if we could stay at her house. Her and her dad said yes, and we made our way to Silverdale, WA and we stayed two nights there. On Saturday, (after I felt sick for the first and only time on the entire summer trip) we met up with the other SMT group, which was AMAZING and just what we all needed. We then spent the afternoon at the Tacoma Mall almost dying, shopping, and just enjoying each other's company. The previous 2 1/2 weeks had solidified our friendships and "sibling-ship" like it had never been before. So to be able to just hang out with Katie, Lisa, Rhianna, and Matt was a blast! :) That evening we went and did laundry. That was good, but it was what happened afterwards that was so incredible! We went out to the van with our laundry, where we saw a girl on the phone, yelling and swearing at someone (whom we later deducted to be her girlfriend). We prayed for her and got in the van. We sat there for a second, everyone knowing we needed to do something. The girls got out and asked her if she needed a ride or help or something, while Matt and I prayed. Next thing we know, she had said yes, and we were driving her home. We talked about who she was and who we were and told her about God. It also turned out that she knew Jessica Brooks!  So we dropped her off at her house and found out that she worked at Dairy Queen, so we made a plan to visit her the next day.

The next day was Sunday, so we went to the Brook's church, where a sermon wasn't given, but a Q and A time, which was so amazing! After church, we got our stuff and headed to Dairy Queen, where we ate lunch and gave our new friend (who's name escapes me... I have it written down, but it's in my luggage.) I also got a call from my grandpa, which was great to hear from him :)

So we made our way to Five Mile Lake camp in Federal Way. I'll never forget driving up and Rhianna screaming, "This was the camp I went to as a kid!!" Great moment :) Anyways, we settled in and started to get to know the other counselors. We immediately realized that the staff there were less than... grown in the Word, which would make the rest of the week tough for all of us. The campers showed up on Monday morning. I had 4 campers, Andrew, Darien, Garret, and Eli, and a CIT. The camp was run by two guys who had gone to Ecola in 1999 and 2000, which was cool. But the rest of the camp was a huge struggle for me. I was so tired, but I had to give my all, so I did. I had tons of fun playing night games and ultimate frisbee, and putting together the air band mock thingy we did for the final night. Chapel was good too. I enjoyed listening to Jessica's dad speak.

The final night was the biggest struggle for me. What usually is the call to the kids to fall in love with Jesus turned into a crying/emotion fest. Should I be saying things like this? Well, I'm just calling it as I saw it. BUT, I'm not putting God in a box. I'm completely sure that God used that night in many kids' lives, and have grown closer to God because of it.

After the week ended, we took off towards central Oregon to our next camp!

This was the week that I realized a solid truth: God chooses to use us. He doesn't have to. It is within His power to share the Gospel with the world all by Himself, but He wants us to participate in His will, so He uses us in powerful ways. That week, I felt that I wouldn't have an effect, let alone all the rest of the staff. But we did! We all did! I don't understand why. I don't. All I can say it is that God works so powerfully as He pleases, and I thank Him for that!

I hate that I remember more specifics from the weekends than I do from the actual camps. But I'm doing the best I can. If you have the desire for me to get deeper into my experiences, come to me personally. :)

It's good for me to think back on the events of this summer... It reminds me where I've been, and where I should be aiming to go. I desire to fall more and more in love with Jesus everyday, so please remember me in your prayers, that I would seek His face at all times and desire to do His will.

This is John Friend, signing off. God Bless!

"The Day The Movies Died"- what do YOU think?

Read this article, then we can talk.

The Day The Movies Died - by Mark Harris

As you all probably know, I am currently going to film school. As I am doing such, I am learning a lot and forming a lot of opinions. But I do want to keep in touch with the "outside" world.

So what do you all think about this article? Please leave your ideas below :)

Small, But In Training

Tonight has been a strange yet enlightening night.

Have you ever truly felt so aware of who you are on a spiritual level that you feel confined in your body, like you need to burst forth from it in order to become what God fully intended us to be? (Gen. 1:27) Or have you been so aware of your humanity that you suddenly became aware how utterly small you are compared to God? (Job 38) Tonight, I felt both of those, only at the same time.

For some reason during my life, I haven't been able to fully recognize that I am very small. It's so hard to do so when all you see in your life is your point of view. It's natural to assume that you are all that matters. But tonight, I finally cracked a little bit of that assumption, and only by the grace of God. God is too big for us imagine! And we can only begin to tap away the me-centric view that we are all naturally born with. But once we begin the journey with Christ as Our Lord, as Aslan says in 'Prince Caspian': "As you grow bigger, so will I." As we grow, our view and recognition of God's bigness grows as well.

Beyond that, I also felt so entrapped in my feeble body, like I wanted to explode out of it, literally and figuratively.

Literally, I was aching to jump out of my body and just get into God's arms! I thank Him that He took the time to write a longing for eternity on our hearts. (Ecc. 3:11) Which got to me to thinking, if we long for a place, Heaven, that we've never been, how much more incredible is it that God humbled Himself into a man and walked this earth for 33 years knowing full well the place He had left in order to live, suffer, and die for the sins of all of us feeble pathetic creatures known as humans. How incredible is that? How often, as He was just as human as God at the time, did he go out on evening walks along the Sea of Galilee and just long to be in Heaven with His Father once again? How much did His feeble body ache to be in that place again? I can't imagine how amazingly hard that must have been! (Phil. 2:5-11)

But figuratively, I'm feeling the same way. I feel as though I am trapped in this time of my life. I want to be out in the world making movies! School is great, and I know I have to go through this time of my life in order to move on, but I am just so intensely longing to GET OUT THERE!!! Now, I know I use Smallville and Superman's journey way too often, but he is so incredibly relatable to me. I feel like an alien (John 15:19), am supposed to be more than just some guy (Jer. 29:11), and desire to show off the glory of my Father who created me, to wear His symbol on my chest to show the world who the God is that I serve (Ps. 34:1). I want to fly to great heights and show the world who God is! But I am still in my dark training phase, where I am learning who I am and who I need to be and what I need to know and what skills I need to develop in order to be effective as a man and filmmaker, if that is what God so desires me to do, which I'm confident He does. But that is why I keep a Superman cape that I got from Benton Trerise on the corner wall of my room: to remind me that it's not yet time, that I have so much to learn as of yet.

God is doing some amazing things in my life! He has started off my life outside of my childhood at Ecola Bible School so that I would learn the basics of what it means to follow Christ, He started off my year at film school slow and light, and is about to test me and build me this next term as I take up my first official position as Producer. From there, I don't know where God will take me, but what I do know for a fact is that God is in complete control of my life, has been from the very beginning, and always will be. God is training me up for something. I don't know if it's big or small, but it will be what He planned for me from the very beginning, from the very foundations of the Earth.

Fear- Proverbs 1:7

Last night, I had the opportunity to go to an abandoned building in Grand Rapids and explore it. This 10 or so story building lies virtually empty, right in the middle of the cityscape, probably due to some economic trouble, as we've all observed over much of our nation. The building was big, empty, and abandoned. Now for those I was with, it was extremely unnerving to be in such a big place with all of those nooks and crannies, not knowing what loomed in the darkness. But for me, it didn't really bother me at all. And I don't know why. It should have, but it just didn't.

I stopped fearing things around the time of the summer after my sophomore year. I like to say that dealing with girl "stuff" at the time scared the fear right out of me, because it was right at that point, after a "potencial relationship scare", that I stopped fearing things for the most part, except heights of course. But ever since then, fearing the unknown just hasn't been a problem for me. That may be why I like horror movies now, because they are manufactured to create fear, a fear I haven't felt in 4 years. I miss that thrill of being freaked out of your mind, no matter how strange that may sound.

Which brings me to an interesting realization: Proverbs 1:7. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." The American way of thinking about this verse is very much dumbed down. We tend to explain the fear in this verse as being "reverence", but I just don't see that as the case. Whenever we read about prophets in the Old Testament seeing God, they fall flat on their faces because they are SCARED OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!! So often, we feel that we can go to God as a buddy and just ask Him for whatever we want. Which to a degree, is true! Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we have the right to come into the presence of God to be with Him, because He wants to be with us. But we have to remember that this is the God of the universe we are talking to! And He is HOLY HOLY HOLY (it's said three times each in Revelation for a reason). When we are told to fear God, that's exactly what we should be doing! We are unclean creatures coming to a perfect God for help. I am so thankful this Christmas season that I have a God that, even though I am a sinner and continue to sin everyday, over and over, He accepts me where I'm at and continually helps me through the days, grabbing my hand when I fall.

In Isaiah 41:10 and 13, it says: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.... For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." The God whom we should be scared out of our minds to even approach loves us so much, He promises to uphold us. I love that in those two verses, God says with His right hand He will hold our right hand, which is what a loving Father does for His children: helps them from behind so that they may stand strong, or at least learn to stand strong. He tells us not to fear, talking of fearing the world.

In Luke 12:4-5, Jesus says, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after killing the body, has the power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." Jesus tells us that it is God we should be fearing, not this world, for it is God who has the power to throw us out of His presence and into hell.

I am so thankful that He loved us so much, that He provided a way out of that eternal damnation. I am also thankful that one day, I get to experience the full on fear of being in the presence of a holy God that loves me, despite how unclean I have made myself in this lifetime.

I AM. <= (That's the God I live for.)

I'm not going to lie, life has been pretty rough for me in my head for the last 3 months. Change is not something I'm accustomed to, especially in the context of last year. But I think that that has been the problem: I haven't been able to just let go of Ecola. And it's time I did.

Last year was full of experiences that I will always remember and people I will always want to be close to to, at least as much as I can long distance-wise. Ecola marked the first time away from home, the first time I truly learned who I was in Jesus, the first time I was able to really admit my own human depravity, the first time God really smacked me with His truth. I got close to so many people, many of which are out doing there own thing in the world or are back at Ecola, so I don't hear much out of anyone, only once in a while now. It's understandable, as I'm doing the same thing here. I'm sitting here trying to express what last year was, but I can't. God took me, tore me down, and began the remolding process, a process that will last my entire life. Then I was able to take some of what I learned and take it out into the world, to kids at camps and just love on them with everything God allowed me to be. And it was AMAZING.

But that is all over. Ecola is over. SMT is over. And I've made a huge mistake: I made Ecola/SMT just as high as God. NO! God only USED that experience to redirect my compass and allegiance towards Him. I have been living for the past I miss and the future I can't see, but I haven't been HERE! I made up my mind that if I can't be in Cannon Beach, God wouldn't work as much, He wouldn't have as much of a presence. This is so wrong... God is just as living and active as He ever has, and it was me that wasn't recognizing that. It wasn't God that wasn't "here", it was me looking to other things in order to fill the "gap" that didn't actually exist!

I serve a big God. I serve a mighty God. I serve a God that works. I serve a God that loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live a life of example for us and to die for our sin so that we may be with Him and have access to Him forever and ever! That still and will forever blow my mind, because I of all people DO NOT deserve that kind of love! What I need to remember, and I'm sure that I'll forget often as I am very human, is that God is here with me, using me, working to build me, where ever I am, whether it be at a camp somewhere, or among my peers at school, or in the film industry.

No matter where I am, The Lord is still there and working! :)

SMT, Part 6= Pinecroft- Week 2

So after our first week working at Pinecroft, we took Trudi Fountain up on her offer to stay at their house for the short weekend break between Primary camp and Jr. camp. So we drove to the Fountain's farm in Cusick, WA. We had gotten to know Trudi, Ethan, and Andrea pretty well through that first week, but we met the rest of the family for the first time: Jennifer, Bridget, Sonja, Evan, and her husband Steve. Their farm was beautiful! The house was over a hundred years old, as well as the rest of the buildings (I think). We spent that Saturday resting, swimming in their awesome home made pool, and in the hot tub.
(PS- this was where I was when I got that first contact from Nikki, but I don't want to slip into the whole "getting this off my chest" mentality again.)
Anyways, I don't even know how long we spent in that pool... 3 or 4 hours if I remember right. It was such a great bonding time for our team :) That's also where I first really bonded with Jennifer and Bridget. They are Trudi's younger two daughters and they are great! In fact that weekend started a close friendship between them and I that has lastest even to this day (we still write letters back and forth). We started messing with each other from the beginning. In fact, if I remember right, there are was a water gun involved.... ;)

After that just amazing weekend that we all needed, we headed back to camp on Sunday evening. We got to sit on a chapel for Teen Challenge, a group that helps addicts get out of their entrapment and steer towards the light of Christ. That chapel was amazing....

And so that week started. It was a 5th and 6th grade age (if I remember right).

That was my toughest week of the summer. I just couldn't get my mind wrapped around being there in the moment. I had a hard time remembering my kids names and I just... couldn't get my head in the game. The devil did a masterful job of messing with me that week. I honestly have a very vague recollection of the week... I remember getting closer with Jennifer and Bridget Fountain. I remember  cabin times. I remember judging cabin clean-up with my SMT group. I remember making camp videos (big mistake by the way). I remember games somewhat. I remember the craziness of Matt's weird dreams. I remember playing Darth Vader in Human Clue. I remember the water park! But everything else is such a blur... Which is sad because I loved Pinecroft so much!

I had a co-counselor named Mike. Mike was awesome! He was a seminary student doing an internship with a pastor a couple towns over. He had an amazing knowledge of the Word and and learned a ton from him! I also was able to teach him what counseling was all about, and what to do in certain situations. He was also a nerd like me. He knew a lot about movies and such, something I had been missing for a solid month or so. So I'm glad God provided that friendship. It was a nice break from the "non-nerdyness" that I was so used to by that point.

My camper's names were Joel, Joe, Josh H., Rudy, Josh B., Jake, Josiah, Noah, David, and Jim. Yes it was a big cabin, but that made it great for cabin discussions. We actually got into some good stuff. As I said, it was an incredible blessing to have Mike there, especially in those discussions. I didn't have any guys come to Christ because they were all already saved. So I got to pure into them and encourage them in their walk with Christ.

There is so much more to say about this camp, but the haziness of the week is preventing me... I loved this camp so much and I wish I could remember more... But God is still good! He used me in what ways these kids needed me in :)

Soon, the camp was over, and it was time to drive. We said our goodbyes, which was tough, especially saying goodbye to the Fountains. But soon, we set out on the road again, driving towards the Seattle area of Washington.

This is John Friend, signing off for now :)

SMT, Part 5= Pinecroft- Week 1

Hello all! It's been a while since I've blogged... First off, I want to apologize if my last SMT post was too... love life detailed. My original goal of this was to glorify God, not show everyone my dirty laundry. So I want to ask your forgiveness for my lack of focus on what was really important.

So from Lake Retreat, we drove to Spokane, WA. Matt and I stayed with Tia and her parents, and the girls stayed with Rhianna and her parents. This was the long weekend of July 4th, so we had a ton of free days off. We hung out, slept in, and hung around the house, thankful for the brief break that we all knew we would be longing for in just a few weeks time. We went up to Coeur D'Alene, ID for a day and jumped off of the cliffs, which was so fun! And we got to hang out with Isaiah Joner and Katie McMurphy at the huge Cabela's store, and got to watch fire works with them up at Coeur D'Alene on the 4th.

After days of much needed regathering and recuperation, we headed up to Newport, WA, where Pinecroft Camp is located. We got there early, so we had time to go get food at Safeway. When we returned, we unpacked and started to get to know the staff. That was the first camp where I felt really... out of place at first. But it wasn't long before I felt completely at home. This was to be the only week that Matt and I got to co-counsel, along with (name is escaping me, I'll change it later), who is an awesome older guy with a huge heart for the Lord and for kids. This first week was 3 days long, age range being Primary (1st-3rd grade). We had 9 boys in our cabin: Josh, Ben, Angus, Wade, Ethan, Jordan, Joel, Derek, and Justin. They were EXHAUSTING! I've never seen so many naked children at one time in my life! You would tell them to put their clothes on and the next minute, they'd be running around the cabin with less than they had had before! It was insane!

But so much fun! You would think that most people would vow never to have children of any kind after going through the week that we did. Not me! Ever since that week, my desire to be a daddy has only increased :)

I was amazed and even humbled by their childlike faith. The way that they just knew that Jesus was their Savior was so amazing... As we grow older and experience more and more of this messed up world, God gets so crowded out by, well, everything! But the way these children were so understanding, the way that it all just made sense to them was amazing!
Luke 18:17 says, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Jesus wants us to know that we have to accept Him with child-like faith, but otherwise we will not spend eternity with Him. When we say in our hearts, "No, God. I cannot believe in what You have done", we have said no to an eternity of the opportunity to worship Him. These children reminded me that I have to have that child-like faith day to day, the faith of knowing that "Of course God is going to take care of it all! He's God!"

That week, Matt and I had the opportunity to lead 4 of our boys (2 a piece) to Christ: Josh, Angus, Jordan, and Justin. It was so simple too, coming back to that child-like faith. :)

A story worth mentioning happened the next week, but had to do with Angus. When we were doing orientation for the camp the next week, a woman came up to me and said, "Are you the culprit?" I panicked because I thought I had done something wrong. She told me that she was Angus's mom. She said that he had come home the weekend before, not telling her about his acceptance of Christ. But in the evening, he curled up in her lap and showed her his Bible, which said on the inside flap "Angus accepted Christ on --date--." At this point in the story, she broke down crying, so happy that her son had accepted Christ. She said that it was so hard being a parent and not knowing whether or not your child would become a believer. She thanked me over and over, and gave me a hug. I wish I could have stayed longer to talk, but I was late to chapel. But I had never really thought about the stage of not knowing about your child's salvation...

All in all, it was a great week! But I was so glad when the 3 days were up, as they were so exhausting...

During this week, we befriended Trudi Fountain, who was working at the camp and was the mother of Ethan, who was in our cabin. She offered to have us for the weekend, as we would be coming back to Pinecroft the next day. So we headed off to the Fountain home, and to 8 friends I will not soon forget.

Well, until next time, this is John Friend, signing off :)