Saturday, September 8, 2012

5 Year Anniversary Update!

September 8, 2012

From: Nampa Idaho
       (Email: warriorcamp1@yahoo.com)


 > 5 Year Anniversary Update!


Inside this Special Anniversary Update...

   1.  5 Year Anniversary
   2.  Update from Chosen
   3.  Update from Warrior Camp
   4.  Chosen 2012 Pictures
   5.  Warrior Camp 2012 Pictures
   6.  Now & Later
   7.  Deo Gloria, Gratias Multas, and Carpe Diem
   8.  Summer 2012 Highlight Pics!


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1.  5 Year Anniversary!

    Hello Warrior Nation!  I hope you're doing well and having a great day.  For me, today is a special mix of the nostalgic, humbling, sacred, grateful, and exciting.  That's because 5 years ago today never should have happened...from the world's perspective.  And without God and the doors He opened, it never would have.  It was 5 years ago today when God opened up an unexpected door, and Warrior Camp went from dream to reality!  I love how God inspires a vision, and I'm so excited to share our recent summer of ministry with you on this special 5 year Anniversary of the 1st Warrior Camp.  Thanks for all your enduring prayer, support and encouragement!  Ready?  Here we go...



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2.  Update from Chosen!



Remember in our last update how Warrior Camp's new sister ministry for girls was about to launch this Summer?  I got some good news...things went differently than expected, but God blessed it and did big things in girl's lives.  Here's a quick Summer update from one of the Chosen leaders:




Chosen Update

From: Natalie Lopez, Chosen Leader

     "2012 marks the first summer for an all girls day camp.  We had an eventful time connecting our team not knowing our individual duties and pressing on toward a camp that we only imagined and dreamed of.  God placed each member of the girls camp team together on His timing for sure and He continued to change our ideas and plans.  We sought His direction in preparing for a girl's camp for one year and discovered God's calling to use us older gals to help the younger learn what a beautiful woman sold out for the Lord really is by an in depth study of a woman in the Bible, character traits, and values that God tells us is true beauty.  In the beginning our vision was to have a day that the girls wouldn't forget and then the Lord reprioritzed for us that we can invest into these young ladies by sharing with them the things He's taught us as we have followed Him.  The main priority was then to create a great day to provide opportunities to share and show Christ to them through friendship, challenging games, encouragement, and deep Bible study.  We found that God wanted to use our raw real life happenings to connect with others to show them that if they did surrender their all to the Lord that He would make beauty out of the ashes of the sin in lives.  The Chosen team changed strict plans in curriculum and made them more flexible so that God's Word of Truth could really soak in.  Our crazy games came together wonderfully and we had opportunities to speak and listen to gals one on one.  Best of all, we had the opportunity to present Christ to them!  God used the Chosen team to help identify the lies we all are surrounded by, break them down, and find the truth in God's word that will and can replace that lie in our lives! 


    I'm not going to lie it was an exhausting day and we were so sore after but we had a great time decorating for our Esther theme this last summer.  It was a privilege to get to know those amazing young ladies and have one day to share with them what the Good Lord has been teaching us.  God really is good and we are so grateful for Him!"



Thanks for sharing Natalie!  We're cheering you on and praying for you and the Chosen Team.



Chosen Info:

Online: http://www.chosen4girls.com/

Email: chosen4girls@gmail.com


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3.  Update from WARRIOR CAMP

  As you might remember from last summer, Chris Pope is our Warrior Camp Discipleship and Chapel Speaker.  He's one of my friends from Liberty University where he was my ministry team leader, and he now serves as a youth pastor in Spokane, Washington.  He's got a huge heart for boldly and effectively communicating God's Truth to students, (and he can also crush your hand and towel-whip like one one else!)  Here's what he said about Warrior Camp this summer:





"This summer was a great time of growth and fun! Students were given the opportunity to be apart of one mission, one brotherhood, serving one king. This is a message that is being neglected in today's society. We saw students become broken to become men of God. Several made this commitment and demonstrated it by laying down the barriers that hindered them. 





It was encouraging to see these students love for God and for one another. In the midst of games, where competition runs wild, we heard nothing but encouragement and support.  There is no denying God's hand in this ministry in this part of the country. Please continue to pray for more summers to come."





So Others May Live,





Christopher Pope



(Thanks Chris for serving as our Discipleship Speaker!) 



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4.  Chosen 2012 Pictures


Here's the Chosen pictures from this summer.  Hope you like them!


Chosen #1
Friday, July 27, 2012
Venue: Grandview Church of the Nazarene
Grandview, Washington
Grades: 3-6
Attendance: 14+ girls (approx).

Manual View (Pictures):

Slideshow View (Pictures):




Chosen #2
Friday, August 10, 2012
Venue: Bethel Church of the Nazarene
Nampa, Idaho
Grades: Jr. High and Highschool
Attendance: 12 girls


Manual View (Pictures):

Slideshow View (Pictures):



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5. Warrior Camp 2012 Pictures

Here's the pictures from Warrior Camp this summer.  Hope you like them!



Summer Event #1 

WARRIOR GAMES WEEKEND 2012 

(First weekend ever...so stoked...Praise God!) 

June 1-3, 2012 

Venue: Trinity Pines Camp, Cascade, Idaho 

Grades: Jr. High - Highschool 

Attendance: 27-28 (from Nampa, Wendell, & Spokane)

Attending Youth Groups: 
    Bethel Church of the Nazarene, Nampa Idaho 
    New Life Community Church, Wendell, Idaho 



Manual View (Pictures): 




Slideshow View (Pictures): 







Summer Event #2 

WARRIOR CAMP 

Friday, June 22, 2012 

Venue: Bethel Church of the Nazarene 

Nampa, Idaho 

Grades: 2-6 

Attendance: 10 Warriors 



Manual View (Pictures): 




Slideshow View (Pictures): 






Summer Event #3 

WARRIOR CAMP 

Friday, July 13, 2012 

Venue: Grandview Church of the Nazarene 

Grandview, Washington 

Grades: 3-6 

Attendance: 28 Warriors 



Manual View (Pictures): 




Slideshow View (Pictures): 






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6.  Now & Later

   Recently, we received a donation towards camp scholarships for next summer.  This will help kids and students who may not have much be able to come to Warrior Camp.  Thanks for all your encouragement, prayer, and support!  We'll prayerfully be good stewards and use everything to the maximum impact for His glory.

  Moving forward, we aim to secure our own legal, non-profit status for Warrior Camp, and continue to do the Warrior Camp Weekend, which we did for the first time this past summer.  This marks our arrival at Phase 2 of Warrior Camp, and we're so excited about what God did here.  A full "Warrior Games Weekend" opens up the door for so much more than a full-day youth camp does, both with the games, and activities, and spiritually with the chapels, worship music, and small group devotional time.  Even though we'll continue to offer the full day camp for interested churches, we're so amped up and grateful to God for our first Warrior Camp Weekend, and how He's impacting young men to be real men after His own heart through this new phase of Warrior Camp.  We plan to do WARRIOR CAMP Weekends again moving forward.  More on this and other developments later!


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7.  Deo Gloria, Gratias Multas, and Carpe Diem
("God gets the glory, much thanks, and seize the day".  Yeah, there's just something about the sound of Latin!)

   On this special 5 year Anniversary of Warrior Camp, I'm humbled and excited to say that none of these last 5 years of Warrior Camp would have happened without God, without you, and without our team.  First of all, God gets 100% of the glory.  This was His vision that he planted in our chests.  Thank you God for who you are!  You're epic, and you do big things.  You have a vision for real manhood and an adventure we're made to live and a battle we're made to fight.  Thank you for lighting this exciting, epic fire in our chests, and let it become contagious in a young generation of boys.

  To all of you in Warrior Nation...thank you so much for your prayers, your encouragement, and as God leads, your donations to things like camp scholarships.  We have a bit of a motto at Warrior Camp that we don't believe in playing duck-duck-goose.  Instead, we aim for the best games and game equipment we can find.  Obviously this "philosophy of fun" costs more than chasing each other around in a circle, but it's who we are, and so far, the boys who come to Warrior Camp don't seem to want it any other way.  One of my heroes would often say, "If it's Christian, it should be better," and, "Nothing of eternal importance is ever accomplished apart from prayer."  Thanks for praying for us as leaders, and for the boys who come to Warrior Camp.  Young men are breaking down walls of sin with God's strength, publicly making a stand for Jesus Christ with their peers and friends, opening up and asking for prayer for changes that need to be made and freedom that awaits, being encouraged and challenged by the manly stuff from God's Word, and planting a flag in their growing relationship with God.  God is doing exciting things.  Thank you so much for praying!


  And to our Summer 2012 Camp Team...Chris, Dave, Braden, Lynn-Steven, Rodney, Jaden, John, Douglas S., Rod, Douglas H., Craig, and everyone else who helped out with camp ministry this summer, Jeremy and Andy...you heart for glorifying God is encouraging and strong, and I'm so glad and grateful to have you on the team.  Some of you have been doing this for awhile.  For others, this was your first summer, and you jumped in without holding back.  You do it for Him, and thank you so much.  Thank you for your sweat, your passion, your sacrifice, your heart for kids, and your zeal for Jesus Christ!  You're a great team and this doesn't happen without you.  I couldn't ask for a better team.

   That's all for now, but more later!  Please feel free to keep in touch, either via email or text.  I'd love to hear what God is doing in your own life and ministry.  Take heart and be encouraged.  God is alive and ever-awesome.  As Scripture teaches, His wisdom and power are infinite.  If He's given you a vision for ministry, don't feel like small beginnings are devoid of Him.  Share your vision with a like-minded Christian friend or friends.  Spread the word.  Start a blog.  Share it at your church and with your family.  Build a team of sold-out Christians around you who support and encourage and maybe even partner with you in what God is calling you to do.  Build a team where each person's strengths come together almost like magic.  If God is in it, step out in faith and do it even when your comfort zone screams at you to do the opposite.  Let the momentum build.  Pray.  Work hard.  Break a sweat.  Don't lose sight of your first love and the core of what God wants to do in you and through you.  Own that, feast on God's Word, and be obedient.  Shun distractions and go for the bulls-eye.  Nothing good happens when you hold back.  God is big!  Let your dreams be big, and chase em.


Cheering you on!


Derek

Psalm 18  

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Summer 2012 Highlight Pics!


New 2012 Shirt


WARRIOR GAMES WEEKEND . June 1-3, 2012 .  @ Trinity Pines Camp . Cascade, Idaho.

WARRIOR CAMP . June 22, 2012 . Bethel Church . Nampa, Idaho.

WARRIOR CAMP . July 13, 2012 . Grandview Church . Grandview, Washington

CHOSEN . July 27-28, 2012 . Grandview Church . Grandview, Washington
CHOSEN . July 27-28, 2012 . Grandview Church . Grandview, Washington

CHOSEN . August 10, 2012 . Bethel Church . Nampa, Idaho

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

WARRIOR CAMP UPDATE

From: Nampa, Idaho
Date: 5-1-12



Inside this Update...
   1.  First Warrior Camp Weekend!
   2.  Camper Scholarship/Sponsorship Opportunity
   3.  Non-Profit Status for Warrior Camp
   4.  Chosen (PS: check this out!)
   5.  Home and Bike Adventure 
   Bonus:  Pics




Hello Warrior Nation!


I hope you're having a great Spring!  It's been awhile since we talked last, but I'm pretty excited about what's coming up fast @ Warrior Camp.  Here's 5 scoops of Warrior Camp Ice-Cream...



1.  First Warrior Camp Weekend
Since we first began on September 8, 2007, Warrior Camp has been 1 day long.  Yeah, it's never a normal day when students sprint through a 10-12 hour blitz of fish-fights, high-octane activities, weapon-building, battle-games, and feasting on the manly stuff from God's Word.  And we're excited to continue doing the 1-full-day Warrior Camp with any churches brave (or crazy!) enough to invite us.  But, 1 month from today, WARRIOR CAMP is about to get bigger, and we'll be kicking off our first ever Warrior Camp Weekend!  Various students from 2 different cities, representing different Christian churches and 1 Christian school, are planning on attending the "WARRIOR GAMES 2012" on June 1-3 in Cascade, Idaho ... we're a little excited!  Mega thanks to Trinity Pines Camp (www.tpines.org) for your willingness to host us. We're praying and hoping for God to move in a big, bold way in every camper's life.  And since this is the biggest Warrior Camp event we've ever aimed for, thanks so much for all your prayers!  (It's also the 1st Warrior Camp event which I'm bringing my own youth group to, and believe it or not, after 1 year, I haven't gotten fired yet!)  But thanks so much for all your prayer and encouragement.  As one of my heroes said, “Nothing of eternal importance is ever accomplished apart from prayer.”



2.  Camper Scholarship/Sponsorship Opportunity
If you'd like to consider helping send a kid or teen to Warrior Camp this summer, please pray about it and move as God leads.


But first, you must read and agree with…”The Warrior Camp Rules About Money Stuff...”


    As much as we might like to applaud your enthusiasm, we’re begging that everyone please not do the following:


A.   Conclude that Warrior Camp will go belly up like a sun-bloated Texas armadillo unless you mail us a check for 1 million dollars.  (We’re not clever enough to sell this one anyway).

B.     Tackle the usher at your church and snatch up your tithe from the offering plate so you can send it to Warrior Camp

C.  Feel guilt-tripped into giving when the mere thought is less appealing than playing “Marco Polo” with snapping turtles

D.   Audition for “Deadliest Catch” and vomit over the side for 3 months straight while flirting with death so you can afford to send a kid to Warrior Camp

E.     Sell your house and send your kids packing to the nearest orphanage while you and your wife camp under the overpass for the next month so you can send a jr. higher to Warrior Camp.  Doghouse anyone?


If you’ve prayed about it and still want help send a kid to Warrior Camp, (and can do so without breaking the rules) feel free to send me an email at warriorcamp1@yahoo.com  Thank you so much to everyone for all your prayer and support you’ve already given, and for continuing to pray for Summer 2012 to be everything epic, fun, and spiritually monumental that God has in His heart for it to be.  Thank you!



3.  Our very own non-profit status for Warrior Camp
          We’re working on this, and we’ll keep you posted!
         


4.  Chosen
          Know how hard it is to say “No” to a sobbing girl?  Yeah, believe me, all of us at Warrior Camp feel your pain….every time a girl begs to come to Warrior Camp.  “Can I come…I won’t tell.”  “I can do everything boys can do.”  “What if I do what Amanda Bynes did in the movie “She’s the man.”  “What if I shave my head and dress like a boy?”  “I beat up all the boys in my P.E. class.”  (Ok, maybe some of that is my imagination, but it still has the ring of truth!). 

So, having grown tired of being the bad guy, weary of all the drama of turning down hundreds of girls with running mascara, and having become a little freaked out by a few death threats if we didn’t cooperate (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating…slightly), I’m all too excited to announce to all the young ladies out there...drumroll please... YOU NOW HAVE YOUR OWN VERSION OF WARRIOR CAMP!  Yahoo!  (Freedom!)  So, wipe your tears, and send a friend request to my friends Alyssa Kelley and Natalie Lopez on facebook.  They’re the leaders of this new camp designed by girls, and for girls.  It’s called “Chosen”, and is set to debut this Summer 2012 in Grandview, Washington on July 27, and in Nampa, Idaho on August 10. 

Alyssa and Natalie have an amazing heart to see young girls thrive in their beautiful identity in Christ, and to mentor girls in their growing walk with God.  I’m so excited about the fun games, activities, impacting God-time, and meaningful small groups that will define “Chosen”, and how God will use it to encourage and edify every girl who attends.  Pray for Alyssa and Natalie as they prayerfully prepare for “Chosen’s” first Summer.  And if you don’t have facebook, but would like to contact them, feel free to send them an email at chosen4girls@gmail.com.  Alyssa and Natalie, we're cheering you on!



5.  Home and Bike Adventure
          This doesn’t as obviously connect to Warrior Camp, and definitely won’t impress all the fitness freaks in Warrior Nation (props to you guys by the way!), but 24 hours ago, I returned home from the longest mountain bike-ride of my life.  12 miles mixed with up and down, on road and trail, alongside a scenic lake and with views and places just on the outskirts of my own home-town of Nampa which, somehow I’ve never seen before.  Anyone who knows what it’s like to embark on an exploration or adventure into God’s epic creation knows the feeling, and how inadequate words are to convey the awe of experiencing it for yourself, especially for the 1st time.
          
      I borrowed my brother’s bike and left in such a rush, I didn’t pack water.  No worries, it’s Nampa, Idaho, but there’s still enough water around here.  I’ll take a drink from that farm ditch.  Just one mouthful.  Then back on the bike.  A few miles later, two more drinks from a major canal which serves as the life-blood of an oasis-like lake out in the country.  This water-way is so surreal, surrounded by lush vegetation, and alive with birds and creatures that I’ve recently named it the “Nampazon”.  This water looks clean.  Surely there are at least a couple drinks here that won’t get me sick.  Been there done that before.  Once is enough.  But dehydration isn’t much fun either.  Pull the jacket off and stay cool.  Back on the bike.  This whole place is amazing.  Lots more to explore!

Just beyond my watering hole, I parked the bike on a gravel trail, and sat down on the edge of a piece of farmland that defines everything I’m looking for.  You see, since we talked last, I've been looking for a house to buy, or more recently, a place to build on.  I’ve filtered through hundreds of houses online, toured a good number of houses with my real estate agent, weighed the pros and cons of buying vs. building and envisioned what I’m looking for.  This property I’m on now would be amazing for my youth group to hang out at, and for all the boys from Warrior Camp.  This piece of land first caught my attention a little over a week ago, and is a giant green rectangle that’s about 2.7 acres big.  To the North and East, huge stretches of farmland roll and slope while geese make themselves at home in the short but growing crop.  To my right is a mysterious patch of woods that hugs the property’s southern edge, almost like the trees curiously want to be there.  Just behind me, to the West, lies a scenic 5 mile long trail which partially flanks the sprawling tree-fringed lake who's meandering shoreline stretches 20 miles around.

There with vast stretches of farm land between me and the nearest neighbor, I pray for God’s will in this new exciting chapter of life.  I’m in the middle of a house-hunt, and God is leading me out into the deep end of the pool of trust in a whole new way.  It’s stretching.  This thing is bigger than me.  Way bigger!  “God, this piece of land is absolutely amazing.  It would be epic to live out here.  I really want it.  Or something like this.  This is your creation.  You are in this place.  If it’s your will for me to buy this land, open the door.  I want what you want.  Do what you want to do. You’re an awesome God.” 

I stay here for I’m not sure how long, relishing the view and eating a few blades of wheat that have managed to pop up on the farm’s outer edge.  The dirt under my finger-nails, the wind rippling the tops of the wheat, the symphony of wind coursing through the trees behind me…God is in this place.  This is a sanctuary, a sacred place that testifies to His grandeur.  It’s one of those rare kind of moments that we never forget…the kind we wish could never end…. a glimpse of paradise.  Our God is truly an awesome God.  The earth and all creation testify to His majesty.  To God be the glory!

About 8.5 scenic miles and over an hour later, I made it back home.  And so far, I haven’t become a case study for water-borne mutating viruses.  (Thank you Jesus for the immune system!).  This definitely isn’t the normal Warrior Camp Update (if there is such a thing), but I wanted to share what’s up with Warrior Camp, and give you a little glimpse into my bike ride with God yesterday.  I'll keep you posted on the house/land thing.  

I’d love to hear your story, and how God is growing you in your relationship with Him.  Thanks again so much for your support and prayer for the boys who will come to Warrior Camp this Summer.

That's all for now.  Have a great week.  Thanks again for all your prayer, support and encouragement.  Stay connected, and I’ll post some pics of our Warrior Camp Weekend 2012 next month. 

All for His glory,

Derek
Psalm 19:1


PS:  I tagged some pics below if you want to check them out.







Dream Lot!  (Right Side)

                                                       (Center)
                                                           (Left)
                                  (Some awesome clouds during an earlier trip out here)


                                                                       Praying 



                          Dripping after the ceremonial and inevitable head dunk
                      On the road home.  PS: Asphalt is way easier and faster than trail!

                                               Signs of civilization
                                        12 miles baby!  Almost Home.  Thank you God for an epic ride!