Right now I’m in Denver at the annual Campus Crusade for Christ Christmas Conference (yeah, a lot of C’s) and we just had another amazing Juneau Summer Project reunion. This year the Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and now Delta Projects were all represented. It was a fantastic evening of story telling, pizza, and Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer, our official project beverage and the best bottled root beer available. I was amazed I could actually track some down in Denver.

These men and women are the some of the best I have ever had the privilege to serve with and I was so blessed to see them all again. It is really fun watching Jesus Christ live his life through us all in unique and exciting ways, but all for his glory.

I’ll be in Denver through Friday this week. We have two meetings planned for guys who are interested in coming to Juneau, Alaska next summer for Project: Echo. The incredible new website for the 2008 Juneau Summer Project was set up by Josh Couch who was in my action group last summer on the Delta Project and is in charge of recruitment for this summer. He is going back on staff to Juneau this summer as well. Check out the site at www.juneausummerproject.com and especially the new promo video Josh put together which you can watch below.

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It’s not every day in Missouri that you see a sunset like this one. The whole sky seemed like it was literally on fire and the deep purple in this first image made the bright orange and yellow contrast even more to the black silhouette of the trees in the foreground. I increased the color saturation on this image (but not drastically so) to bring out contrast which this sunset painted.

In the second image, the sun had set further so I opened up my shutter for 20 seconds to capture some of the subtler colors in the sky and also reflected on the water. This also allowed two cars which were passing each other on the road to trace their headlights and taillights onto the image. This too has some increased color saturation to bring out the deep blues in the upper part of the image; again this was not done drastically.

Needless to say, this was an incredible evening and even though it was below freezing it was worth waiting for these shots. Check out the several other great photos from this night and others on my .Mac Web Gallery.

We had our first snow fall of the Fall 2007 season a couple days ago (November 21 I believe), and I am just now getting around to posting some pictures. All that turkey must have got to me…

Anyway, I’m trying to better my photography skills, so any of you out there that enjoy taking pictures as I do feel free to leave comments and tips. More and more of my posts will probably be about photos. I shoot with a Canon EOS Digital SLR (Rebel XTi). It is a 10 megapixal camera, and right now I have the kit lens which is an 18-55mm 3.5 – 5.6 get-the-job-done-cheaply lens.  I love my camera, it takes awesome photos and gives me plenty of room to learn and get creative.

I only have myself to blame for being up at 00:30 grading papers, but I have reached the point of being quite ready to be done with student teaching and on to more lucrative endeavors. Don’t get me wrong; student teaching has been a great experience overall, but I’ve had just about enough of it. I’m ready to move on.

What’s next? Well, good question. I currently have a high need for an income of some sorts. Just yesterday morning my car needed to be towed to the shop (I’ll find out sometime today what the damage will be). Christmas is also nearly upon us, and the much anticipated wedding comes ever closer. I think I’d be willing to do just about anything at this point if it put money in the bank.

There is plenty on the bright side though: just one more month of student teaching to go, not much more than five months until a wedding and blissful honeymoon, Thanksgiving and Christmas are on the way, and Jesus Christ is alive and living in and through me! Funny how I still in some ways think that living by faith happens best when your in some exotic location like Southeast Alaska or Siberia. I’ve been stumbling blind all along this Fall, and my only hope is that Christ is indeed living in me and leading me where he wants me to go. Life is so good.

I am proud to announce that Jo, my wonderful girlfriend for the past two and one half years, and I are now engaged! This is an incredibly exciting time for us both and we are thrilled to begin planning our wedding. Details will be forthcoming, but in the meantime please visit our website, www.calebandjo.com for soon to be posted pictures and the story of my proposal.

After being at home in Kansas City for several weeks, I came back to Juneau this week to debrief the summer project and help bring it to a close. It has been one of the healthiest and enjoyable endings to one of the healthiest and enjoyable summers I have ever had.

I have been on several summer projects before, and there is often a risk for going back to campus in the fall a little burnt out and wishing to return to the transformational community that one often has on a project like this one. This was one of the main reasons for me to return to Juneau. I wanted to have a debriefing time and to encourage the students to reflect on what God did in their lives and in this community this summer and to end well. The great thing is that there is nothing special about Juneau, Alaska and these students can have this type of transformational community wherever they go. The bar has been set high for them, and I asked them all to never lower their expectations for what God will accomplish through faithful men and women who rely on the strength that is found in Christ alone.

This summer was an incredible success in the mission, vision, and values that we had. The Lord used us through his grace to raise up missional, Christ-centered laborers, launch movements, and become life givers just like Jesus. I have been amazed at the amount of unity and brotherhood that the students on this project had together. They have each changed in significant ways and all have left with a greater understanding of what it means to give life to others and walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that this project, more than the other three before it, has left an indelible mark on the Juneau community. For the first time, we have seen young men and women leaders from Juneau be raised up and empowered to lead movements in their own community. This has never been done before!

I will be staying here with my Dad for the rest of the week getting to show him many of the things about Alaska that are so attractive to me. It is a joy to have him here with me seeing the things that I’ve been doing for the past four summers. I will leave Juneau this year full of incredible stories and memories of God’s faithfulness and the joy of having Christ as my life. I am also full of faith for the present and the future. The journey is always ahead, not behind, and the greater reward of Christ as life continues to get better and better.

For a glimpse at the hilarious personalities of the students on this project, check out this incredible video they filmed this summer…

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Today I had the great joy of getting to see Andy Fell in Lawrence, Kansas.  Andy spent the first part of the summer with me in Juneau, Alaska on the staff team for the Delta Project.

In addition to being one of the coolest guys I know, Andy is an incredible example of a life giver and of a man who trusts and depends on God.  He stepped up and took initiative in a number of ways that made a big impact on the project, the students, and the Juneau community.  The Lord used Andy and the other members of the Juneau Project team to cast vision for local youth in Juneau to be part of the leadership for the Juneau Project – a missional community of Christ-centered laborers in Juneau committed to trusting God to reach their city for Christ.   God used Andy to impact Juneau in the short 6 weeks we were there, and he is now back at the University of Kansas living off campus and investing his life into the others he is living with.

It has been a good transition from Juneau to Kansas City so far.  Life is certainly different, but I am in the process of learning that no matter where I live or what I’m doing it is vital to rely fully on Christ and to allow Him to live his perfect life through me to accomplish His purposes.  I am amazed at the ways I have grown this summer, and I am finding joy in the process of trusting God for His will to be done in this next season of life.I will return to Juneau on August 4th for a week of debriefing and closing out the project.  I will be blessed to have my Dad get to come with me and see Juneau for the first time.  Shortly after I return I will begin student teaching at Harrisonville High School on August 21st.

I’m sitting in the Seattle airport right now after leaving Juneau. My flight left at 1am today, but myself and most of the staff who were still in Juneau stayed up late having fun and watching a movie. We have had so much fun and life together these past six weeks that it is somewhat hard to think about life without them. Nevertheless, I am very excited to make the transition back to Kansas City.

I think most people, if they could see what life has been like for me and my friends this summer, would describe it as a mountain top experience – one to be remembered and valued because times like these don’t always happen. However, my perspective has been changed. I will never set my expectations for anything less than the kind of healthy, transformational, Christ-centered life, relationships, and environment I have had this summer.

I have unspeakable joy knowing that life to the fullest can be had anywhere, anytime. It is the kind of life that Christ came to give to the world. And in giving himself to the world as a ransom for our sins he is saying, “I am life!” The life of Christ in me is the life I had this summer, and it is the life I will continue to live and trust Him for. What can be greater?

Lest anyone think this summer has been trouble free, be assured that there have been problems, issues, delimmas, and the ever-present human factor of sin. But time and time again, I have found that each crisis brought about an opportunity and a blessing. Our greatest successes usually came about through our utter weaknesses.

The blessings I have received this summer have been off the charts. It gives me joy to now begin the transition to Kansas City, and soon, student-teaching at Harrisonville High School. I am full of faith and anticipation for the greater reward that is Christ as life.

 

Jason Coorts, who is now the campus director at Kansas State University with Campus Crusade for Christ, first introduced me to the term “Life Giver” during a men’s retreat the second semester of my freshman year at Missouri State University.  Over the past three years, I’ve learned more about what it means to truly give life to people – just like Jesus.

John 6:33 says:  

“For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

And Matthew 20:28 says that:

“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Craig Johring, whom I lead the Juneau Summer Project with, has been another example in my life of what it means to give life to others.  A life giver is someone who speaks encouragement and grace, and empowers others through words of affirmation and truth.  Craig has empowered me to lead this summer, and it has given me life.

Craig and I made a last minute call to change the theme of this last week to “Life Giving Week.”  We were not quite sure how it would play out, but felt that we at least needed to give the guys on this project some idea of what it means to be a life giver to others.  Last Tuesday, for our Manhood Development night, we simply gave guys a chance to speak life and encouragement to each other right after a high-intensity game of dodge ball.  It was unbelievable to hear the sound of 36 men not talking about themselves, sports, girls, fishing, or mountains – just giving life to each other by lifting each other up with encouragement, thanks, and words of affirmation.  I was brought to tears that night as I saw so many of my prayers and hopes answered by the men of the Delta Project forsaking themselves and lifting each other up.  No one was left out and the bonds of unity, fellowship, and brotherhood were strengthened that night in a powerful way.

Tonight, we again saw this happen as we brought the students and staff together and gave the students an opportunity to speak life to the staff team who came up to Juneau without pay and to serve and lead.  It was a reward I will never forget, and as I write this I am full of joy from what these students said to me and the rest of the staff team.

This has been a life changing week for us here in Juneau.  Many men here got to see, for perhaps the first time, what it truly means to be a life giver.  Our staff team received an incredible reward from the words of life that were spoken to us tonight – an undeniable proof of the way Christ works and lives through us all despite our weaknesses and inadequacies.

Are you a life giver?  I believe we are all called to be life givers; and our model is Jesus Christ who came so that we ”may have life, and have it to the full.”

Last weekend I had the great experience of spending three days in Angoon, Alaska.  I went with the three guys in my action group here on the Juneau Summer Project, Steve Michels, Steve Waye, and Josh Couch; as well as Karen Sharp who is the leader of our women’s staff team this summer.  There is no runway in Angoon so we booked tickets with Alaska Seaplanes to fly us to Admiralty Island last Friday morning and pick us up Sunday evening.  Admiralty Island is a 1,600 square mile island with the largest brown bear population density of any location in the world – over one per square mile!  Angoon is the only settlement on Admiralty and has a long history as a native Tlingit settlement.  The community is small (about 400), isolated, and without many positive experiences for kids.  Spiritual darkness is a constant reality and many are addicted to alcohol and drugs.  Even kids as young as 10 years old are involved with drugs in Angoon.

Throughout the weekend God used us to serve the widow of a pastor who had passed away six months ago by cutting down the jungle of tall plants that had grown up in her backyard.  We did the same for the church building in Angoon.  We also played basketball with the young kids there, had a great cookout by the beach, led the Sunday worship service, and formed awesome relationships.  We made such good connections that we have already been invited back by many of our friends there.  It was such a blessing to be a blessing by doing physical labor, giving positive attention to young kids, and encouraging and inspiring the Believers there.

I believe that God desires to be glorified in Angoon more and more.  There are several strong Christians there, but there needs to be many more.  There is an extraordinary need for young men and women to be positive role models for younger kids in the community.  The guys in my action group are planning to return later in the summer to continue to build into the relationships which were started last weekend and to serve the community.  You can watch the video below for a look at what it was like.

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You can call them small groups, churches, life transformation groups, or “just a few friends hanging out together,” but it is our vision on the Juneau Summer Project to see 35 of movements launched in Juneau and Southeast Alaska this summer.

What is a movement?  At its core, a movement is three people.  Two are strong Christians who are always looking to bring in a third person who is a pre-Christian – someone who is interested in learning more about God.  Together, this group of three commits to reading several chapters of the Bible each day, confessing sin and encouraging each other to pursue holiness through Christ, and to always be missional by seeking out other pre-Christians who might want to join such a group.  There is no one leader in a movement, thus there is no pressure to perform.  If one person does not complete the reading for that week, then everyone reads it again and reading scripture repetitively is always a good thing!

The key part that distinguishes movements from Bible studies is that movements multiply.  As the group grows to four or five people, it is time to split into two groups.  The two stronger Christians might decide to meet seperately with one or two of the new Believers and the process starts again with the power of spiritual multiplication.

Steve Shadrach, director of The BodyBuilders ministry in Fayetteville, Arkansas writes in his book, The Fuel and the Flame: Ten Keys to Igniting Your College Campus for Jesus Christ that

“If Billy Graham were to win 10,000 people a day to Christ…it would still take him twelve hundred years to win the world to Christ, at today’s population!  But suppose I were to lead you to the Savior and then spend a year building deep into your life, and then we both turn around and do the same for someone else the following year…If the chain remaind unbroken the enormous power of multiplication would kick in, and the world would be won to Christ in an incredibly short thirty-two years!”

I believe movements, or whatever you want to call them, are the key to world evangelization.  The gospel message will surge forward when people around the world are committed to radical obedience to Jesus Christ, the Great Command (Matt. 22:37-40), the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), and have a desire to be missional and seek out non-Christians.  These are the key qualities to look for in people who want to launch movements.

I have a friend named Kevin here in Juneau who has caught the vision for 35 movements to be launched here this summer.  As I coach him in what it looks like to start a movement, he continues be more excited and willing to step out in faith.  He will be meeting next week with a co-worker of his to launch one of the first movements in Juneau.  Praise God!

In the meantime, I will be leaving with a small team for a Native American village in Southeast Alaska called Angoon.  We will be serving the widow of a pastor in the village who died recently, as well as faithfully looking for Believers in Angoon who have a desire to see more of their friends come to know Christ.  We will hopefully get to hang out with kids in Angoon as well.  We will only be there for a few days, but I believe there is already a person in Angoon who God is preparing to be raised up to reach Angoon for Christ.  I will be posting stories about this trip at the beginning of next week when we return.  Your prayers are appreciated!

If you would like to read more about what a movement looks like, click here to download an informative brochure.

Growing up in military organizations which are known for their top-down model of leadership and organization, this summer has opened my eyes to a whole new way of leading and organizing a team.  Stress seems to build when there is layered management in an organization.  There is also an inherent accountability to other people.  For many businesses, organizations, and institutions this works very well.  The difference on this summer project though, is that our staff team is a committed group of young Believers.  The level of honesty, vulnerability, unity, and faith on this team is almost unbelievable. 

In a group like this, the top-down model quickly creates a performance driven environment where people worry about a lot of things that are largely beyond their control.  Spreading responsibilities out horizontally has made an incredible difference compared to teams and organizations I have been a part of in the past.  As the project director, I am here to do only the things that I can do.  There is a great team here and they each take full responsibility for the things they are here to do.  It has been such a blessing to coach and lead on a team that has the common purpose of Christ being glorified in Juneau.  Yes, in a way people are accountable to me, but over and above that we are each aware of our accountability before Christ who brought us here for his specific purpose.  We are believing God to work through us and launch 35 movements across the city.  There is simply no other option than to live by faith in this mission and vision for Southeast Alaska.

The staff retreat we had at Windfall Lake was absolutely amazing.  We were shocked by how much snow was on the ground, and in some places the trail was pretty treacherous because you couldn’t tell if the snow would support you, or if you would fall in up to your hip.  It was a great hike though, and the reward of this amazing view was well worth the trip.  Windfall Lake is secluded and completely unoccupied, but the Forest Service built a fantastic cabin here as well as a nice little dock with a canoe (which two of our guys are using in this picture off in the distance).  At night we had a fire going and cooked great foil dinners along with Jiffy Pop, hot chocolate, coffee, and fire roasted bananas with marshmallows and chocolate – amazing!  After eating we all shared a little about who we are, and what God has been doing in our lives recently.  The whole trip was a perfect time of team bonding and prayer for launching movements across the city of Juneau and stepping into the lives of the college students who will be arriving today.

Several of the guys are already in Juneau and spent last night camping because today is the first day they can arrive at the University of Alaska-Southeast student housing facilities.  Today will hopefully be a no stress day for everyone to move in and get settled.  Tomorrow we have an orientation and registration meeting and we then leave for Echo Ranch Bible Camp for two nights.  ERBC is all the way out the road, and another 45 minute hike beyond that (at low tide), so getting there will give the guys a good feel for taking hikes this summer.  We will be serving ERBC by doing work projects on Friday afternoon, and then having our own meetings and training times during the day – as well as having a blast playing ultimate Frisbee and having a bonfire on the beach.

I have been overwhelmed with joy at how perfectly God has brought our staff team together.  We are united, with the same love and purpose, and have a deep understanding of the meaning of the cross and God’s amazing grace in our own lives.  The temptation is always there to revert back to the old sinful nature, but getting to know these faithful men and women, I am confident that we will all trust and allow Christ to live his perfect life through us to do exactly as he has planned – in other words, walking in the Spirit!

Thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to pray for us as we leave for Echo Ranch Bible Camp and as we get to know these students who are coming on this project – that we may show them all the love of Christ and encourage them to be looking for ways to show Christ to others.

Today was the first full day of staff orientation.  Almost everyone had arrived on Friday the 18th, so on Saturday we started in with a full day of briefing and dividing up tasks and jobs that needed to be done before students arrived.  I can already tell that this is going to be an amazing summer based on the men and women that have chosen to come to Juneau this summer as staff.  It has been a joy to get to know them more and more just in the past 24 hours.

After taking this photo at the Mendenhall Glacier, we went to eat at the Thane Ore House which provides all you can eat salmon and deep fried halibut.  It was amazing.  We walked off the calories along the beach in front of the restaurant and took some more great photos which you can see on the right of the screen.

After speaking at several churches Sunday morning we will be packing for a great overnight retreat at a U.S. Forest Service cabin.  It will be a great place, with great food, along with invaluable sharing and relationship building time.

The names of us pictured from left to right are: Ted, Regan, Halie, Tae, Andy, Brent, Caleb, Marshall, Brady, Karen, Craig, and Matt.  We will have two other women joining our staff team soon.

Thanks for your prayers!

It is quiet and uncrowded right now in the Denver Airport. I was able to find an electrical outlet and ended up buying a few hours of wireless Internet access to be productive during this three hour layover. Last night I finished my final final exam at Missouri State and was able to see my girlfriend and her family before I drove back to Kansas City to get everything set to leave.

I wound up finding Andy Fell in the Kansas City airport. Andy came on the Charlie Project last summer as a student from the University of Kansas. He is coming back as a staff intern this summer, and I am really excited for him to be able to lead an Action Group on the Delta Project.

This year, we have 26 guys coming on the project from universities and colleges across the country. With eight staff leading Action Groups this summer, we will break up the guys into groups of three or four and put them with a staff member – that small group constitutes what we call an Action Group. Those groups will live together for the most part and spend Thursday nights together exclusively going on hikes, overnights, and other Alaskan adventures while going through discipleship and Bible study. This summer we will be going through the book of Philippians. Paul writes so clearly in Philippians what it means to have Christ as your life. I love chapter three when Paul basically lists his resume of spiritual and apostolic qualifications, but then writes so convincingly that he considers them worthless for the sake of knowing Jesus! This is such a radical paradigm that is so opposed to the world’s way of thinking, and I know that many students who come to summer projects need to hear it and also see it lived out.

Prayer requests for today: That Andy and I and the rest of the staff team would arrive in Juneau safely without too much exhaustion. For an awesome time on our staff retreat which we have planned for Sunday through Monday. And for the safety of all the students who are preparing to drive and fly to Juneau next week.