Signs Of Life!

Hey everybody! Another great week is in the books! On Monday we had our amazing race, that in all was about a 7 mile race over mountains and trough valleys. All while we had to complete challenges along the way. Oh and by the way there was about 8" of snow on the ground, it was crazy! We started about 10:30am and my group of 4 finished around 5:30pm. Needless to say we were exhausted. We started the race with charades to get our next objective. We then proceeded to fill a bucket with Nalgene dipping water from a lake while in a firemen line and our last teammate was pouring into the bucket while blindfolded. After we had completed that objective we obtained coordinates to a trail head. Once on the trail we then had a few mile hike to our next checkpoint. Once we made it to the next checkpoint on the 1st of 5 false summits. We had to then with teamwork manage to stand on a very small tarp and without stepping off manage to flip the tarp over completely. We then proceeded on our hike to the summit. Our next challenge was starting a fire with only what we can find on the summit and one match. The more matches we used we had to take a penalty. We had our fire going with only 5, thanks to some very snowy tender we couldn't get it going with just 1. Once we had our fire going we then had to put it out safely, which wasn't to hard with all the fresh snow laying around. We then continued our hike down the mountain to our next checkpoint. Our next to last objective which we then used our orienteering skills to find a few way-points on the side of the mountain, again thank you for 5th grade geography. See Mamma I was listening! Once completed, you guessed it we did some more hiking. The final task to complete we had to build a cross then carry it on our backs the final mile. We didn't win the race but we were competitive and had a blast!

Me and my buddy Jacob

FL JacobV BL JacobH BR NaomiK FR Me

Our Monday activities are set up so we have to think how the difficulties or joys we have during the activity would apply to instances in our everyday lives. Personally I don't like to have to rely on others to get things done. I like to do it my way, 1 because I like to think I usually can do it best, and 2 if I don't have too I don't want to burden others with what I could take care of myself. As my team started our race I defiantly began to see that this race I was not going to be able to do it alone. My team was comprised of me and 3 northerners 1 from Canada and 2 from Minnesota. Which without them and their words of snowy wisdom, I would probably be frozen on the mountain side right about now. As most of you know I do not have to much snow experience, well my friends made it known to me quick what not to do if you are going to be out in it all day. Throughout the day I realized through all of the objectives most of them I could have done by myself. However if I would have done them by myself by the end of the day I would have been extremely tired and most likely wouldn't have finished when I did. I was also able towards the end of the race push my team to finish strong. Thanks to them holding me back a bit on the way up the mountain. The same goes for life, there will always be trails we have to walk and different goals we have to complete in life. We won't always be able to do it alone, but that's why we have been blessed with other believers with different strengths and abilities to surround us so we do not have to go in it alone. We may not want to accept it as I don't a lot of the time, but the fact is that we all have been given different strengths and weaknesses because we are all different parts of the body. It was a great day with a great team!

We had the blessing of Wayne Weissman the father of our Dean of students (Joseph Weissman) come and speak to us on the feasts of Israel. I had never realized how much the feasts of Israel intertwine with the for telling, coming,  and returning of Christ. For example I knew how the passover feast was a remembering of the passover in Egypt and as a for telling of when Christ would be crucified. But I hadn't ever payed attention to the fact that the feast of trumpets was set in place to remind Israel that Christ would one day return. All of Leviticus chapter 23 basically says out how the story will play out. It was a sweet series this week on the feasts and a look into some Jewish culture.

 

We had a little bit of a Halloween party on Thursday night because were still going out to do our outreach's on Friday. I went as Gator nation. Which now after the 38-20 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday my week has been even better!  Go Gators!

On Friday night we again were down at Colorado University for the international coffee hour. I had the pleasure of letting a few internationals know about Horizons and pointing them in that direction so they could get some help if they needed it. But the highlight of my night was talking to a guy I have been building a friendship with. His name is Muhammad, he is from Saudi Arabia,  and he is a Muslim. I had the privilege of talking for maybe 2 hours one on one with him straight out of the bible. It was only by the grace of God that he was as open to the words I had to say and the words the Spirit had to say through me. It was funny that our conversation about Christianity and Islam started all because he asked me how Halloween started. I was able to focus most of our conversation on the similarities between the two. We spent a good bit of time on Abraham and Issac or in his case Ishmael. After talking with him for a little bit I realized now more then ever just how closely Islam Mirrors Christianity. I find it amazing how it only takes a few changes of a name here or a date there and you are so close to the original story yet so far away from it. I was so bold to even bring up Jesus after I saw that he was more than okay with discussing the Bible. There was no push back to the topic, in fact he welcomed it and had much to say about Christ. But again the story of Jesus has been distorted through the teachings of the Koran. Yes Jesus was a good man but as we know he was so much more. I was relived and happy to hear that he was open to talking about the truths of the Bible. We talked till we were the last 2 people left. When we got up to leave I said that I enjoyed our topic of discussion very much. To which he said the same. Before we headed our separate ways I said that we should again talk next week and if he had any other questions about the Bible and Christianity for him to feel free to ask. To which he replied that he defiantly would.

The fields are ready for planting we are just called to cast the seed. So that is what we are doing. I have seen the soil for most there is ready to accept it, others need a bit more tilling. But I ask if you are reading this to pray that the seeds take hold in good soil.

We will be running a 10k tomorrow and it is supposed to snow, so that should be fun haha. I was able to play again tonight at Fraser Vally Baptist. I do tho miss very much being able to play with my team on Sundays at Riverside and the family that I have there. It is not the same. Hopefully when I am back for Christmas I might be able to lead. 

 I almost forgot we had 2 baptisms this past week. The lord is moving here people. Not only through us for others, but also among us. 

So a song that has been on my mind this week has been "Signs of life". From the teaching to the baptisms to my conversation Friday night I have not only seen the signs of life but also hope to see them and hope they are seen in me!

These are the signs, these are the signs of life
The love that proves there is a living faith inside
These are the signs, these are the signs of life
The compassion and concern
That's gonna make this world keep turning
These are the signs of life
A love that's flowing from the heart
Where the grace of God has left its mark
These are the signs of life
The reaching out of a servant's hand
The giving that makes no demands
These are the signs of life
This is loving proof of the faith inside
These are the signs of life 

Till Next Time

Love Jared