WARRIOR CAMP: May 2012

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.