End of Week 3 with pics.

Me, Tiffany & Kristi on Rock Star night!

Rock Stars!

Ha Ha! Brady Didrickson, he had to wear the wig this night and loved it!

Will & Kristi :o)

:o) Love it!

This week has been a long one. Not only are we just really running on low energy, but we have had a pretty rough group of kids. Head leaders had to deal with EVERYTHING this past week. There was a large amount of drugs taken from kids this month along with a lot of gang activity. We were waiting for any minute a fight to break out. It was kind of scary to see the kids dressed in all black and blue and look across the field to see the kids all in red. They had their little "Whistle Code" and had a few run ins with each other, but thankfully all fights were held off. 

Head leaders had their work cut out for them this week with the late night sneaking out and the high amount of guys and girls trying to sneak off together. However, it is awesome because these are the kinds of kids that we want here at camp. If this was a camp full of Christians, we would not have a job to do. This is an outreach organization and I feel like head leaders, program, the speaker and all summer staff and work crew truly did an awesome job trying to reach out to these kids. Whether they accepted Christ or not this week, they heard about him and how HE wants to know them and be a part of their lives and loves them unconditionally. That is a big step either way. 

It was really cool to see how a lot of the "Thug" kids really loved Jeremy. They would go out of their way to find him and give him a hand shake with a chest bump. It is so good for them to see someone who grew up with a similar up bringing as them, make it out of the ongoing routine of drugs and violence to a life filled with happiness, hope, love, and most of all FAITH! You could tell that those kids looked at Jeremy like he was something different and that they were interested in a life like that.  

For that reason alone, I have really been thinking more about Jeremy starting an Urban area in Albuquerque. He has gone through a training called Latino Student Staff and is now certified to be an area director for that kind of an area. I have always been nervous though about it because I don't see myself relating to kids who are really involved in drugs and gangs but I feel like they kind of get jipped sometimes. So we have been praying about what God would like for us to do with that. If he was to start an Urban Area, he can be an area director in Albuquerque. If not, there really isn't much work for him left in NM because there are already area directors in ABQ and Jon Guerra is trying to get Rio Rancho started. I definitely don't want to leave Albuquerque, so this may be our only option and one that I am slowly starting to be ok with. 

It is a challenge to work with rough kids, but if it weren't challenging, we would not be doing Gods work to the fullest. We can not only minister to the easy kids, we have to put ourselves in uncomfortable situations in order to be able to reach everyone, everywhere as well as grow in Christ ourselves. 

MY prayer this week is that EVERYONE who reads this or hears about what we are doing, will go out and allow themselves to be stretched and maybe even feel a little uncomfortable, but tell someone else about the LOVE of Jesus Christ. Its not always easy, its not supposed to be. But we need to do it! Its what we are called to do.

LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!

Characters/ Program

After Oprah. Melvin, Lil Wayne, Kristi, Bella & ConYA West

Edward & Bella

ConYA West

ConYA West

The Dumpsta's, Stank & Jerk

The Skunk Hunt

So Lost Canyon tends to have a bit of a skunk problem... Most nights, Jon Offner, (the property manager guy who's wife is a head leader this month) he usually goes hunting around the property with some of the guy interns for skunks. You will see them with their BB Guns and large boulders running around camp in the late hours trying to kill any skunk they may think is lurking.

I am usually very jealous because they will come running into our house saying they have one cornered, grab the giant light and head back out. I am usually yelling after them, "Take me with you!!!" The night that they said I could go and I didn't, they cornered a skunk into the lake and killed it on the little island thingy. When they brought it back to the house to show everyone, it stunk soooo bad, but all I wanted was my name on it as well!

So last night, it finally happened. I was finally a part of the hunt!!! They cornered it by the club house and then drove it into the pool. But it was hard to see since it was midnight. So guess who they needed!?! ME!!! (or anyone else with a light I guess, luckily I was the one who had it!) So there I was in on the chase while carrying the giant light. Tyler is driving our get-away cart and we are closing in on the ADORABLE little teenage skunk. Finally, we hop out of the cart and take off towards the booger and know it is time for its final breath! Mike and Nate have their BB Guns aimed and ready to fire away while Offner has his giant boulder! They are right above it and my spot light is on target. 

1............. 2................ 3................ ping! ping! SMASH! 

"Spit, GAG", "OH yuck, its in my mouth, oh gosh thats aweful!" "AH he's spraying! He's spraying!! RUNNNNN!!!" 

We run back to the cart and 3 of us jump in, but where is our get-away driver Tyler? Oh he is too busy still tasting the skunk spray! When he finally gets back to the cart we head a little closer to the scene of the killing.. Oh but wait... There is no dead skunk.. Only 4 guys looking up the side of the mountain saying, "He got away, we couldn't see him anymore." Whoops.. I guess when I ran, my spotlight was no longer on target of the spraying little dude and he got away. I guess Im not a very good hunter. But at least I was there and have the horrid smelling clothes to prove it!! 

:o) Good times at Lost Canyon!

Who knows what day it is....

When Jeremy is busy at night, the summer staff guys and I burn bugs with a blow torch! And I video tape it! :o) Its awesome!

Hi friends and family!

We miss you guys! A lot has been going on this week and its actually been pretty rough.... 

To start off.... The stupid mouse died! I wanted to be sad about it but hated it too much to really care. So they bought two more on Monday and they were both dead by Wednesday. :o( I guess we are just going to skip the skit with the mice since we can't keep the dang things alive.

The guys at camp have been having a hard time because they have to kind of stay behind closed doors a little bit but are doing ok. There are some summer staff girls who think I can get their phones back for them or something and have been asking me :o) I don't even know where they keep their phones! So they are really struggling with the "no phones except once a week" policy. As for Work Crew... WOW!!! They have been working from 7:30 am till about midnight each day. They not only have to serve every person 3 meals a day, but then they have to bus every table and wash EVERY high chair in the dinning hall! Pray for ener

gy and rest for th

em. They are so tired but are doing an amazing job. As for A-Team, Jeremy had to cancel the Salsa Lessons he was going to teach because the girls are too in love with him and it would have just been more of a distraction to them than anything. Us wives have been having fun with late night conversations and just great time spent together. I am SOOOOOOO blessed to be around all of these wonderful Christian women who are just huge role models to me and have taught me so much this month.

I had the opportunity the other night to walk with a barely 15 year old girl who has a 9 mo. old daughter. She was afraid of the dark and asked me to go pick her daughter up from her pod. I did and was shocked by her story of drugs, gangs, theft and arrests that have taken place in her young life. S

he for some reason said she trusted me and told me her life story. It was such a blessed time because I was able to share with her what I know about Christ and how he can save her from the life she has been living. She was not completely convinced that she was ready to give her life to the Lord, but I think it at least planted a seed and says something that she even listened and was very interested. She trusts me and I am a testament to Gods love and that shows through to these girls. Even if I am not doing anything at all for them or with them, I still am representing God in everything I do, and to these girls who love my husband, they see something special about us and our relationship. And if that is the least that they get out of this week, seeing a relationship blessed by God and a woman who loves Jesus, that is a huge step in the right direction. So many of them believe that there are not true relationships out there or real Christians. But there are.

Today was "Spa Day" and every girl got a 45 minute massage, 45 minute facial, 45 minute mani & Pedi and

 more!!! It was a 5 hour ordeal and Jeremy, Jon and Tyler ran the Bingo station dressed as Old Russian Men... HA HA!

Will was not helping out with this because he broke his hand playing basketball this morning and is now in a big soft cast thing.... Dang it!

Babies and their Mama's

Sooo..... The mentors, mama's and babies arrived yesterday... It was a rough day for sure. One bus with about 40 moms and 20 or so babies showed up with a leader throwing up. We had to immediately take all of those people to the gym and quarantine them for a long time till we knew what to do. Our head leaders had to talk to the AZ health department and eventually, after the sick leader was tested by the flagstaff doctors and they said she was clear of viruses, those campers were able to join camp this morning. (They were confined to their dorm rooms). It was so scary because we were all sure they all were going to have to go back home! But God was faithful and made things work out right. 

Now that all the moms are here, it is a very different experience for A Team. The men's roles have changed dramatically and us spouses have been very very busy. Since many of these moms have experienced some sort of abuse, they don't exactly like men very much... HOWEVER, the attraction that the majority of them have to Jeremy is getting worse. 

In our twilight skit they were going crazy! At one point some girls were screaming saying they were going to sneak into "Edwards" room (which is Jeremy). And then later in the night some of them were asking where "Edward" was and someone said, "Probably with his wife" and they responded with, "Oh he's married? Well ill just steal him from her then". Others have overheard some girls saying, "Oh there's your man, you better go get him".

The majority of it is just funny and some little crushes, but some of it is pretty crazy and very forward. Not just with Jeremy but with other guys around camp too. This is why the guys do not have very upfront roles this week. But since Jeremy is on Program and does the most skits, he is THE most upfront guy out of everyone, and the girls definitely like him. So hopefully they will see and get more out of this week than the cute guy in the skits, but actually here about the man in their lives that loves them unconditionally, God. 

This is so important for them to hear this week. From the sounds of it, many of these girls do not have a good male role model to show them how they deserve to be loved and looked at. And many do not know about Gods grace and his love for them. That is my prayer for this week. Pray that these girls see that love and look to GOD for fulfillment in their lives.

Of course the babies are adorable but it is just so weird to see girls as young as 13 (maybe younger) as moms and some pregnant with their next baby. I thought this would be a really exciting experience, but I have really been having more conflicting feelings. I am very proud of these girls for being brave and choosing to have their children rather than having abortions. But its hard to see such young girls who have cut their own adolescence so short by making just bad, but common decisions in their lives. Don't get me wrong, these girls LOVE their kids and they are their whole lives, but its just hard to watch a 13 year old feeding her baby and knowing that she will miss out on a lot that most high schoolers get to be involved in.

Anyways, I am not sure how this week will end up or what God will teach me personally about this. But he is definitely working in not only these girls but in the work crew, summer staff and A Team. 

Blog ya soon,

Kayla

Pictures from week 1

Me, Sean (Zach Ephron) and Amber saying goodbye.

Jer and the ABQ summer staff boys. Skyler & Desi. Cody and Kyle are missing.

The spain group that Jeremy LOVED!!! They had huge crushes on him I think :O)

Will and Kristi

Spain group again on "Gremmy" night.

Me with my girls from home on Summer Staff! Tsenre, Amber, Me & Danea.

Jeremy with two High Rollers, Kyle and "Zach Ephron"

Jeremy & Zach Ephron

Me and Kristi on Rock Star night!

Kristi and Aidin!

Week One Is Over!!!

Hey guys,
Week one ended today and it is very bitter sweet. We had an awesome group here with kids from Colorado, Arizona, Las Vegas, California, and a group from SPAIN! This week I had an opportunity to share a little bit about my life in front of the entire camp during an event we called best day/worst day. It was a very spiritually and emotionally draining experience but went well. I cried through the entire thing but kids really got a good idea of what my best and worst days were. After I shared my story, I had a three leaders ask if I would join thier cabin times. This was so exciting. The first group we had the opportunity to hang out with was a group of girls from central phoenix. Because it was an entire group of girls, Kayla was able to meet the goup of girls with me. This was humbling because I very rarely have the opportunity to talk to large groups of girls about faith, forgiveness and grace. These girls were excited to know that, even though my life was very difficult at time, Gods grace has always been bigger.

The next cabin time we were able to sit in was with the group from Spain. This was the most unique and best experience I have had since coming on to young life staff over three years ago. It was amazing to see that the kids from Spain connected with my story. My favorite part was when I told them my last name. . . it sounds silly but when they found out that my last name was spanish, they got wide eyed and were really excited. They said they knew a lot of people with that last name where they are from. I think a couple of the girls might have had little crushes on me and the guys always wanted to hang out. I felt very encourage and loved by this group. At the same time, my heart broke for them. Where they come from, christianity is seen as an outdated tradition. During their cabin time, a couple of them said that they would be christians if they knew that there would be other christians where they live. It was really sad to hear them say this.

The last cabin time didn't ever happen but the girl that wanted to meet up with me found me before she left and she said that I was a big inspiration to her and that I made being a Christian look different than she had seen before. She said that hearing my story made her think that God could use her to do big things one day. I got teary eyed and, broke the Young Life rule and gave this girl a hug. She was very sweet and her words were some that I hope I never forget.

This week was amazing but now its time to gear up for Young LIVES. Care takers arrive tomorrow and the teen moms get here the following day.

Before I sign off, I just want to commend my wife for all her love and hard work this week. She has been my hiding place away from the business and has also stepped up in making sure I'm doing ok. She's the best. I'm a lucky man. God is good.

IN HIS GRIP-JEREMY