Staying Connected by Guest Blogger Tim Evon

Tim Evon--HoneyRock Executive Council

Just a few weeks ago, Don Kerns and I took our “annual road
trip”. Actually, it’s only the second year we have done this, but just adding
the word “annual” allows me to fantasize a bit and anticipate the possibility
that we might actually be able to keep it going in the years ahead. We have all
been blessed by friendships and relationships that come our way, and if you are
like me, you yearn to stay connected but at the same time find it increasingly
difficult to do so. For a few weeks before our trip we talked about what we
wanted to do and where we wanted to go. Our goals were simple. We wanted to
spend time together and we wanted to visit friends. This year our primary
destination was Columbia, SC to spend a couple of days with the
Ribbes. We were quite concerned with how they were holding up and surviving
life in the urban environment and needed to see for ourselves. It was a gift to
see them, to be in their temporary home, to walk a couple of blocks to pick the
kids up from school and to have so many options when trying to decide where to
go for dinner.

Along the way we connected again with Jeff and Jen White and
their 2 girls in Birmingham, Joe the painter (an
old friend of Don’s) in Atlanta and the
McCaffrey’s near the Smoky
Mountains. Each encounter
was full of God’s grace. Staying connected is inferred all throughout the
Gospel message. Sometimes it’s easy but it can also take time and effort. As we
approach Christmas and remember again the gift God gave us by sending his son,
it is a great time for all of us to reach out and to give the gift of staying
connected.  

The Power Of Responsibility by Guest Blogger Steve Pearce

Steve Pearce--HoneyRock Executive Council and HoneyRock Student from 1991-1995

“Responsibility is the great developer
of people.”  That is one of the quotes that defines HoneyRock
for me.  As a college student in SLS in the early 1990s, I heard
this often quoted by people like Glenn Town, Rob Ribbe, and Bill Long. 
I am not a student of HoneyRock lore, but I believe this statement
is attributed to Coachy Gale.  His words rang true for me as a
young college student and they still ring true for me today as an adult. 
At the heart of all of the facets of HoneyRock’s ministry is the development
of the people involved, making them
“whole and effective Christians”.  One huge way that this is
developed at HoneyRock is by giving people responsibility.   

It is my observation that in today’s
world, we have a hard time helping people develop by giving them responsibility.
Whatever the reason may be for this societal trend, it hurts the development
of young people and leaders in our world today. That is why HoneyRock
is so important.  Whether you are an adolescent, a college student,
or an adult, HoneyRock will give you a multitude of opportunities to
develop through responsibility.  Through various jobs around camp,
adventure challenge opportunities, wilderness trips, and the way HoneyRock
“does camp”, one has no choice but to experience responsibility
on a daily basis. 

Responsibility allows one to fail. 
It also allows one to succeed.  More importantly, the lessons learned
through failing or succeeding are the lessons that impact a person’s
life.  I can honestly say that I would not be the person, parent,
leader, and follower of Christ that I am today without my experiences
at HoneyRock.  To this day, I am grateful to the multitude of people
at HoneyRock who gave me responsibility opportunities.  Without
them, I wouldn’t have failed and succeeded…and worse yet, no learning
for development would have happened.  

5 Decades of HoneyRock By Guest Blogger Paul Elsen Sr.

Paul Elsen Sr.--HoneyRock Executive Council and longtime HoneyRocker

My first recollection of HoneyRock
is as a young boy of  7.  My two older brothers, ages 8 and 9, came home
from their first year as campers.  They were so excited!  They talked
constantly of their fantastic experiences: overnight camping, sleeping
in a mummy bag, paddling a canoe.  I couldn’t wait until I was old
enough to go to camp and experience what they were so enthusiastic about. 
Oh, and that college guy who was their counselor sounded really cool. 
The year was 1957. In every decade since, HoneyRock has been a part
of my life.

My first actual experience
of HoneyRock was the following summer, when I traveled with my parents
to visit my older brothers who were campers again.  I had been registered
for camp that year, but 2 days before camp started I broke my collarbone
falling off the neighbor's rope swing.  What I remember about that visit
was that neat log bridge to an island they called Cathedral Pines where
they had church and vespers services.  Oh, and all those canoes and of
course the archery range.  Doesn’t every 8 year old boy have a fascination
with bows and arrows?  How disappointed I was that I couldn’t experience
those things with my broken collarbone.  That visit just heightened the
anticipation of the time when I would be able to go to HoneyRock.

Over the decades since, HoneyRock
has been a part of my life from family vacationer, camper and counselor,
to Parent and Partner, and soon to be grandparent. Needless to say, the
experiences and relationships of HoneyRock have been among the most
profound in my life.  And really, can you have relationship without experience?
Seems to me the two are integrally related.  From knowing God to knowing
people, experiences are integral to relationship.

One Legacy of HoneyRock by Guest Blogger Bill McGee

Bill McGee--HoneyRock Executive Council Member

I
spent the summer of 1965 in the Summer Leadership School at HoneyRock.  It was a
summer of learning and growing and fellowshiping and being mentored in the
richest tradition of Christian outdoor education.  As much as I valued my
summer experience at HoneyRock at the completion of that summer, it wasn’t
until the years following that I came to a full understanding and appreciation
of the depth of my HoneyRock experience.  As I reflected on my experience in
SLS (and the people who directed that experience), I came to realize that it
was not only in the comprehensive knowledge of camp programming, but in the
philosophy of Christian Outdoor Education it engendered in me, that I was prepared
to be a teacher and leader.  Following is a case in point:

The
next summer (1966) following SLS, I accepted a position as camp counselor and
canoeing instructor at a Christian residential camp in upstate New York.  Following
that summer, it was somewhat of a shock to me to be asked by the directors of
that camp to consider being Camp Program Director the next summer.  Without question,
it was the range and depth of camp programming knowledge instilled in me at
HoneyRock, coupled with the philosophy of Christian Outdoor Education, that
enabled me to step into and effectively serve there as Camp Program Director for
two years, as well as other positions in camp administration over the years.  In
addition, HoneyRock has played a part in shaping the lives of my four children,
all of whom are HoneyRock alumni.

One
other thing I will mention, and who knows but what it may be the most important
of all:  Having lost my dad at age 12, it was a great blessing to me to be mentored
by men like Harv Chrouser, Willis Gale, Don Church, Bud Williams, Paul Hert,
and Clarence Boettcher.  These were men who imparted wisdom and knowledge not
just by instruction, but by demonstration  Their sweat fell to the ground right
alongside mine in the work we shared in that summer at HoneyRock so many years
ago.   

Less spending more worship

John Vandervelde - Program Director

About 5 years ago, before we came to serve here at HoneyRock, Kari and I (and our oldest child Brayden) lived in Zambia for almost a year.  That time still remains one of the best times we've had as a family.  We learned a lot, laughed a lot, served a lot, grew a lot and were challenged a lot.  Still, not a day goes by, when we don't think about our time there, or pray for our Zambian friends. 

We returned from Zambia, one of the poorest nations in the world, to the United States in mid-December of 2004.  You can imagine the extreme feelings of culture shock we had, going from a place where the majority of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, to a place where people spend an average of a $100 a week on entertainment activities.  Coming back in mid-December was the worst - we were slammed with the strong messages of consumerism and entitlement that permeate our culture, especially around Christmas.  We have a distinct memory of traveling through aisles of Wal-Mart looking for shampoo and feeling totally lost and overwhelmed; just sick to our stomachs about the buying frenzy going on all around us. 

I personally remember being totally disgusted  at the amount of money our culture spends on junk we don't really need while my friends in Zambia were starving while working to rescue orphans from death.  Over time we become desensitized to the sin of consumerism in our culture, and we get sucked in to it our selves. 

Something that has helped me remember what Christmas is all about and has aided in helping me resist the pressure to spend frivolously has been a movement called "The Advent Conspiracy" - www.adventconspiracy.org.  Please, take a moment to check out this video and be inspired to live differently this Christmas.

Note:  You'll want to make sure to read the blog next week.  We have guest bloggers from the HoneyRock Executive Council set to share with you some great stuff! 

A Winter of Ministry

Liz Henderson--Program Team Asst.

Today marks the last day of staff training for the GPAs (Graduate Program Assistants.)  After today, many of our staff members will head home for Christmas vacation and won't see each other again until December 27th when our first Winter retreat guests arrive.  They have spent the past 3 weeks getting to know each other, becoming familiar with HoneyRock, learning winter activity areas, and preparing for a season of ministry.

During devotions this morning Rick Masters shared with us the importance of service and of being a living example of Jesus' love.   He talked about the way that Jesus sent the disciples out to serve others and he exhorted the HoneyRock staff to do the same.  He charged the GPAs and seasonal staff to be willing to serve the guests that come to HoneyRock throughout the winter because in doing so, they are preaching Christ as Lord.  They will be on the front lines of ministry this winter working closely with youth pastors, youth groups, family groups, school groups, and college students.  

2 Corinthians 4:1-5:  Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather,
we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception,
nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth
the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the
sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The
god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

At the end of our time together, the permanent staff spent some time praying for the seasonal staff and GPAs and commissioned them to begin a winter of ministry.

Pictured below are the GPAs.