Winter Camp Day 3 Update

It's the final night of a 4 day pursuit of God. The last day at camp held quite a few surprises. We started the day off with breakout sessions once more. Today we had guys and girls breakouts in separate areas, and had a panel of youth leaders answer questions. One panel of all ladies fielded any questions the girls could think to ask, and the guys did the same thing on the other side of campus (we figured the distance would be appropriate). The questions are written down on small paper clippings and dropped in a box, so they are anonymous, which allows the students to ask things they may have been afraid to ask before.

The afternoon was home to the historic FOS Final Day Relay! As always, it ended with a 6 person pyramid, and you can see some of the results in the photos. After a large chunk of free time (that was consumed with a trip to white pass for some sledding), we all headed into service. I preached a first person narrative sermon in the perspective of the Apostle Paul during the stoning of Stephen and his persecution of the church that ensued. The point was that Jesus forgave Paul, and that example was shown to us so we could be absolutely certain that he could forgive us too (1 Timothy 1:15-17). The big theme of the night was confession. We are encouraging our young men and women to be completely honest and trust that FOS is a safe place to be transparent. The phrase I often use is "it's ok to not be ok." Tonight honed in on that, and the response was incredible. God has been so good to us on this mountain. A lack of snow, tired bodies, and selfish, sinful souls are not enough to stop God from doing something profound. I have been blessed to see these students respond the way they have.

Enjoy the pictures, and I believe I will be signing off for now at about 1:30! Check out fosmissions.blogspot.com and/or takethegamble.blogspot.com (sorry for the misinformation yesterday, must be the sleep depravation program!).

For the Glory of God,
Jake

Junior High Guys' Pyramid







Junior High Girls







High School Girls







High School Guys







High School Guys- The 2011 Relay Champions







Some Sunday Night Photos From Our Worship Service

FOS Winter Camp Day 2

Hello Again,
It is almost midnight here at Ghormley Meadows, and we have some excited kids. We started off the morning with devotions. Each student received a notebook that includes a camp schedule, space for notes, and devotions. It would be extremely cool for the kids to come home to parents asking about the notebooks! They will keep them with them until the trip home, and you could walk through some of their notes, and even the morning devotions they did while at camp. After devotions we hit breakfast, and then had individual devotion time (that means the kids read their BIbles on their own, rather than as a cabin). The pictures you see of groups in cabins are of our breakout sessions. We had 4 total:
1) Ally Fleming- "There's Something About Mary"- Ally is a great youth staffer, and her breakout session was for young women trying to figure out how to be a godly woman in today's world. It was an in depth look at the life and character of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Most of our girls sat through this at least once, and it would be worthwhile to ask what they learned from this one!
2) Nate Wauzynski- "When Push Comes to Love"- Nate is a former youth pastor from Yakima, and has come to FOS with an awesome energy and heart to serve. He has preached a few times, and taught this breakout session on loving people who are "unlovable." He did a great job exposing the Biblical truth that if we don't love these, then no one will. It is our responsibility to love people that are difficult to love. Another great session!
3) Rachael Brown- "Worship Through Music"- Rachael spoke to a few smaller groups (mostly musicians) about the true heart of musical worship. She did a phenomenal job bringing to light the Biblical inspiration of most music, and reminding us that all of our worship should be "Scripture-centric." Every student and leader I saw coming out of this one was processing deep truth.
4) Chase Salyers- "What is He Worth?"- Chase's breakout session was on taking risks for the gospel. Chase just moved to Washington from Ohio to finish school, and is a man of the Word. He did a great job stirring up the hearts of these young men and women to go and share the gospel all over the world.

After our breakout sessions, we had lunch and a bit of a break. At 1 pm we started our game sessions. The most popular of which is likely the infamous "grinder." You'll see pictures that invoke the competitive spirit. The structured games lasted for two hours, and at 3:30 pm the students have free time until dinner. At 6:15 pm we start pre-service prayer, and then head into our service. Tonight I spoke on "Joyful Submission." The big idea was as follows: Having a high view of Jesus allows us to serve Him joyfully. The point of the message was that if we are having a difficult time serving God, and it feels like begrudging submission to a far off God, we have lost sight of our great Savior. I listed ten attributes of Jesus from Scripture: 1) Selfless (Phil. 2:6), 2) Humble (Phil. 2:7-8), 3) Compassionate (Matt. 9:36), 4) Loving (John 15:13), 5) Courageous (Matt. 26), 6) Powerful (Matt. 9:53), 7) Gracious (Luke 23:34), 8) Sympathetic (Hebrews 4:15), 9) Just (Gen. 18:25), 10) Righteous (1 Peter 2:22). In light of all these things, we should be excited to be on Jesus' team.

I hope these emails are finding you well! We have some bumps and bruises, and some sleepy faces, but God is moving in the hearts of our young men and women, and lives are being changed for eternity on this mountain. God is good.

You can see these emails in blog form with picture captions at fosmissions.blogspot.com and foundlacking.blogspot.com

For the Glory of God,
Jake Gamble

Chase's Breakout Session- "What is He Worth"







Nate's Breakout- "When Push Comes to Love"







Rachael's breakout- "Worship Through Song"







Ally's Breakout- "There's something about Mary"







Spruce Cabin's Breakfast







Worship After The Message







"The Name Game" - (Hilarious!)







Our 6'6" 240 pound Youth Staff Man-beast vs. 4 Junior High Girls (The Girls Won!)







Jared Dziadosz Working on a Fingerblaster

Winter Camp Day 1- Email To Parents

First, I wanted to say thank you to all of you who are getting this email. Your interest in the lives of these Young Men and Women will spur them on to good works, to fight the good fight of faith, and to run the race with perseverance. Second, I wanted to share with you some of the things that happened today. The first day of camp is always overwhelming. Whatever can go wrong will, and things that shouldn't find a way to add to the fun. We started the day late, because of me losing my keys 2 minutes prior to departure. That means I could not bring my laptop, sermon slides, or any service orders. We were also missing a few pieces for the band, and one of the buses took the "scenic route" arriving 45 minutes later than the rest of the group. But we were determined to make it all work.

The students and leaders sat down at dinner together (I didn't get to go or I would have pictures), and then headed down for service. I spoke on Genesis 25, "A Heart For Sale." It was the story of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of stew, and the human predisposition to settle for less than what God has called us to. The kids responded well, and you can view some of the attached photos. We also have two guest musicians from Massachusetts providing the music, and are doing a great job. Every one is now in bed and hopefully (but not likely) enjoying a good night's sleep before a full day tomorrow.

Thank you for your interest in the lives of these young men and women. The vision I have for ECC's unified church is brought to light in this verse in 1 Thessalonians: "So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." I pray that this is the heart God is working through the generations at ECC, that the Gospel has stirred your hearts and mine to not only share the gospel, but also our lives, because our love for one another is so dear.

You can also read this email at FOS' missions blog linked below, and my blog. Thanks again,

For the Glory of God,
Jake Gamble

P.S.- Sorry the pictures are a little blurry- I'm working on it.

Some of the guys in "Cougar" hanging out for small group.