Summer Home

On May 2^nd at 6 a.m., I boarded a flight in Charlotte heading for Seattle with nervous anticipation. This grand adventure that the Lord had called me to was finally beginning. The plane took off and I felt the Lord calming me as I left my life in South Carolina behind.  My name is Sara Betenbaugh and this summer I'm serving as Young Life's Beyond Malibu Guest Services Coordinator.

I reflected on my Work Crew experience at Malibu in 2010. I was always intimidated by how “cool” and “outdoorsy” the Beyond staff were. When I was on Summer Staff at Malibu in 2012, I heard a Beyond representative talk about staff opportunities and thought to myself, “I would never do that.” Chuckling at my own ignorance, I couldn’t get over the evidence of the Lord’s sovereignty and grace. When I thought I could never serve in that capacity, the Lord opened doors and moved in ways beyond my comprehension. So, as I write this post, I am currently sitting in Beyond Malibu's Base Camp office. Oh how the Lord has His humor!

I spent the month of May helping out in Malibu Club’s kitchen for the pre-season. It was a great month of serving and community, but I felt my heart yearning and longing to be down the inlet at Beyond. On the few sunny days of May, I would try and catch glimpses of the green roofs of Beyond from Malibu’s inner dock. I would search for any sign of Beyond because I knew that it was going to be my new “home.” It would be where I would see the Lord work in mighty ways. I felt so incredibly close to starting this journey with Beyond but June was weeks away and alas, Beyond was two miles away.

One day after dinner, I found myself jumping into a boat with three friends as we made our way down the inlet to explore Beyond. I could hardly contain my excitement as I headed towards Beyond’s small dock and was caught off guard when I remarked to my Malibu friends, “Welcome to my home.”

Home.

This place would become my new home in just a few short weeks. As I bounded up the gravel pathway, I felt the Lord’s assurance. “My child, this is where I have called you.” As we walked around the overgrown paths and tried to find any crack in the boarded up buildings, I couldn’t help but wonder which building was which. Where would I sleep? Where would I work? Where would I worship and spend time with my fellow brothers and sisters? There were cobwebs and fallen branches everywhere and while I knew that the buildings had been boarded up nine months, I could feel that the Lord was present in this place.

After counting down the days, part of my new Beyond family finally arrived. The Beyond portion of this great summer adventure had officially begun. We immediately started hauling supplies and equipment from Malibu to Beyond and with every trip of equipment, more boards started coming down. With each board coming down, more light was finally coming into these buildings that had stood vacant. Our days consisted of scrubbing, hauling water from the creek, sorting equipment, and getting electricity. People started moving into buildings, toothbrushes started lining up next to the main sink, and shoes started to pile up outside doors. Base Camp had finally come to life.

Our first evening as a full staff, we had fifty-five people sitting on two sides of our long dinner table. As we sat elbow to elbow and sang the doxology as a prayer, I truly felt like I was getting a glimpse of heaven. Of true community and fellowship with believers who all had the same goals, serving God and bringing Him glory. What I had first viewed as boarded up buildings with cobwebs had turned into a sacred place full of the true life that only Jesus gives. What a sweet blessing it is to call this thin place where heaven meets earth my summer “home.”

By Sara Betenbaugh
June 2014

Life as a Beyonder

It's hiring season here at Beyond. We have a huge summer coming up so we need a large staff for 2011. I've found it difficult to put into words why people should be on staff. Being on Beyond staff was an epic experience for me and it's been hard to convey that epic-ness in small get-the-word-out posts. So I thought I'd get a little more in depth. I learned so much about God, myself, community, and service at Beyond. Here is a snapshot of what Beyond staff was like for me. Maybe it will encourage you to serve with us this summer

I was a mountain guide for three years (that's right, I liked it so much I came back for an extra year), and I have to tell you, there's nothing like it. I loved guiding because it demanded everything of me and more. I loved planning our weeks, setting up our route and then poring over God's word with my guide partner. I loved reading about the group we would spend the next week with, throwing ideas back and forth, thinking outside of the box, and inevitably being drawn back to the outrageous mystery of God contained in the simplicity of Jesus' words. I loved jumping up and down on the dock on Saturdays as the Papoose came in and having to be on my gregarious A-game as we greeted the campers with skits and ice-breakers. I loved sitting around the campfire that first night, our stomachs over full from the delicious juicy hamburgers we just inhaled, listening to each other as we talked honestly about our fears and expectations for the upcoming week. Beyond taught me a lot about listening, about putting my own fears and expectations aside in order to serve and connect with each kid in each group. It was such a privilege to be brought into the story of each of my campers' lives, to be able to ask difficult questions and have them respond with honesty and vulnerability. I learned the real meaning of authenticity when I saw it on the tired faces of fifty-year old men and sixteen-year old girls who trusted me to take them up a mountain.

Beyond was physically challenging in a way that was also mentally challenging. I never knew how many miles I hiked in a week or just how heavy my pack was when I had to carry water up to our first night campsite. But I grew to appreciate the sometimes inexhaustible strength in my legs and the immediate presence of life that greeted me with every heaving breath I took. I loved the puzzle of high school girls and finding the right words to convince them that they will make it, and it will be worth it, even though it's only the first day and they already want to sit down and never move again. I also loved the puzzle of figuring out a route in the thick fog of a white-out. I felt like I was the best I could possibly be when I guided Beyond trips and I was never more aware of how much I was dependent on God. I was my most confident and simultaneously utterly filled with humility.

Every other week I had to come down out of the mountains and work in base camp. My second and third summers, once I got the hang of guiding, I preferred the mountains to base camp. But my first summer base camp was the best. Even on the summit I would look down at base camp and long to see the smiling faces of my friends and community. Six of my closest friends are the women in my guide class. I have countless more from the base camp and guide staff of the years I served at Beyond. At base camp, we rose early on Saturday mornings to share coffee, laughter, and tears on the dock before we headed up to celebration breakfast. We dragged ourselves out of bed "before" the 7:15 breakfast bell and staggered down to set the table, satisfied despite the sleepiness because we were beautiful and we were together. Every morning we took an hour just to sit with God. I have felt God's presence more distinctly in those hours than in any other time of my life. God dripped from every branch and saturated the air as tangibly as the rain. And we worked. Hard! But that was good too, because at 4:30 everyday I could relax and swim knowing that I had spent my time well, I had served people, and I had worked hard.

Life in the community of base camp was not always easy. We, forty of us each summer, for all intents and purposes lived on an island. We ate together, slept together, and worked together and we did not always get along. The thing about an island though is that you have to figure it out. It would not suffice to let conflicts go unresolved. More often than not those conflicts ended up being the fertilizer to deeply rooted life-long friendships, and in some cases even marriages (wink, wink). Oh, and then there was the singing. Crazy, raucous and hilarious, or quiet, beautiful, and reflective but always a capella at celebration breakfast. Evening dishes usually included an ad hoc band which usually included a dance party. Either way, I learned a lot of Pearl Jam and Canadian folk music and we all pretty well figured out how to harmonize with each other.

These were my experiences as a guide at Beyond. They changed my life. They showed me more of who God created me to be than I had ever seen before. They showed me how great it is to give that me freely in service to others, both campers and fellow staff. Most significantly, through my experiences I knew God, and because of my experiences I know God more. If you want to see what your experience would be you should start by sending in an application. Click here to get started. It's worth it.

Make Your Summer Count

The 2011 season is shaping up to be an epic Beyond summer. Our trip calendar is full and growing and we are bursting at the seams with people signed up for an adventure of a lifetime in the mountains and on the water at Beyond. With all of these trips we need a pretty large staff to put it all together. We're still taking applications for mountain guides, sea kayaking guides, base camp staff, and leadership. We're looking for people who are adventurous, passionate, and committed to living out God's love through service to others. If you or someone you know fits this description click here for more information and to fill out an application. You can also click on the "Meet Our Staff" tab above to learn a little bit about people who have been on staff before, and even some people who will be up there this summer. Serving a summer or two at Beyond is one of the best things you can do. You will change lives, yours included.

Profiles Profiles Profiles

Hey everyone, we put a few new staff profiles up. Click on the "Meet Our Staff" tab above for first hand accounts of what life is like at the landing and up the inlet. There's a little something from everyone, base camp staff, sea kayakers, mountain guides, and leadership past and present. If you like what you read, click here for your own Beyond staff application. Enjoy!