From Daredevil to Courage-Taker

To illustrate the difference between my twin sister, Kaitlin, and me, I love to tell a simple story that encapsulates my adventurous spirit and her cautious desire to protect me. One day, Kaitlin, my dad and I were hiking in a neighborhood park, and as I climbed onto a fallen tree to cross the creek, my sister, Kaitlin, anxiously yelled after me to stop. I boldly turned and replied, “I’m a daredevil. You’ll just have to get used to it.” Whether she has liked it or not, that’s exactly what has happened as she’s watched me adventure from one opportunity to the next since our adventures in the park. The most recent “daredevil” move- coming to Beyond Malibu to guide mountain trips- has taken me far from home, but has brought me close to kindred spirits who have willingly embarked on this latest adventure too.

Despite her apprehension at times, to my delight, my sister has grown to accept and support me as I travel. However, if Kaitlin were to reach out to stop me now, I think the insight I’ve gained during my time here would elicit a much different response than that of my childhood self. You see, over the past several weeks, I’ve come to view what it means to be a daredevil in a very different way.

To my eight-year-old self, being a daredevil meant doing things that might be scary to others but weren’t scary to me. After seven weeks of trips with participants and two training trips with guides across two summers, I’ve witnessed plenty of people doing things that scared them; things like crossing glaciers, climbing over ridges, scaling up root ladders, and walking for hours with a heavy pack on. My question about these participants, guides, and at times, myself, is this:  are all of us excluded from the title of daredevil while doing these epic things on trail just because we’ve experienced fear? If we are excluded, is the loss of such a title really something to stress over?

My last year and a half at Beyond has taught me many things, but one lesson that has most recently taken root is centered around the topic of fear. When I was younger, I viewed fear as this negative feeling to be avoided at all costs. Even in scripture we are commanded not to fear. However, there’s a difference I was missing. Scripture doesn’t tell us not to fear because we should never experience fear. Rather, scripture assures us that we do not need to let fear rule over us, because our God is near and will lift us up despite our fears. During two of my trips this summer, some participants encountered new terrain that scared them- lots of snow, icy slopes, root ladders, etc., but upon each encounter a unique opportunity was presented: remain immobilized by fear or press on with God’s peace in view. Fear would have us believe that moving forward is not an option, whereas truth beckons us forward. The choice is this: allow the hand of fear to be your master or force fear to submit to the hand of God by reaching out to Him for the strength and willingness to press on. In choosing the latter, we create a space to allow God to care for us and to protect us. In my old way of thinking, fear was limiting and weak. In my new way of thought, fear is just another place for the Lord to step in and pull me forward by the strength of his hand.

“I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped 

me.” Psalm 118:13

The reality of these words, and the sincere comfort they bring, takes on a deep importance when it can be translated literally to the mountains. But the truth is, we were not made for the mountains. We were made for the valleys where the truths learned in the mountains may take root.

The once cherished daredevil title, held dearly by my childhood self for its sense of adventure and excitement, has now been rewritten to a much stronger, worthwhile title: courage-taker. During the next step into post-graduate life, I may now proceed with confidence. Though I feel fear, I may turn my eyes to the Lord,

“In God, I trust and am not afraid… for you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the light of life.” Psalm 56:11,13

With the same confidence, participants may walk forward in courage and truth as they encounter new terrain and as they transition home following their mountain-top experiences. Now the question is, what about you? Are you striving for the daredevil title too, clinging to the idea that you have something to prove as you force away fear on your own accord, or are you embracing a new identity, courage-taker, by the grace of God’s hand outstretched to you?

-Lauren Bonney 

The 10-Day Experience

Being on Beyond staff can seem daunting to anyone whether as a base-camper or as a guide. And it’s so easy to individually focus on yourself: your own worries, your own stresses, and your own insecurities. It’s easy to become oblivious to the struggles of the other staff around camp. I know for myself that was my initial reaction after arriving at Beyond Malibu until I began asking staff if they wanted to contribute to the Beyond Blog. I got to hear reflections of experiences they’d had since arriving for the summer. Kate Kinsman made me realize I was not alone in feeling weighed down by my own baggage. I learned it wasn’t only Kate and myself who felt this way but that 27 other guides and 14 basecamp staff were experiencing these feelings with us. So I asked Kate, a first year mountain guide, to share her reflections from her first 10-Day trip.

The 10-day experience is often an intimidating one to first year guides like me. It’s the culmination of all that you’ve been anticipating and working for thus far: your first trip into these mountains that you’ll call home for two summers. The experience is simultaneously physically and mentally exhausting as well as joyous. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in your own neuroses and the way that your story is playing out in the moment. It’s so easy to forget that there are twenty-seven other people up there on that mountain with their own stories playing out. Each one has a story that God has specifically crafted and engineered in such a way that they’ve ended up here, battling their own insecurities through 10-day.

I came into 10-day with my own baggage. I had just endured one of the busiest seasons of my life and said a permanent goodbye to a lot of things that had been constants in my life for the past few years. I hadn’t had time to mentally or physically prepare for what I was about to undertake. In short, I came in not knowing if I was good enough for this task God have given me.

The hike up Chatterbox to Sun City was brutal. I had plenty of time to doubt why in the world I was doing this. When the rain started, I had the audacity to feel slightly miserable, despite the fact that I was cozied up in a fly while other groups were still making their way to Sun City. As they streamed into camp, God gave me my first reminder that I am not His only child. These poor children of His were wet, freezing, tired, and had had a much rougher go than I.

Kate on a rope team during a
recon on Mt. Albert

After that day, I made it a point to be attentive to the well being of my fellow guides. I was asked roughly six times a day how I was doing, and asked that question myself many more times. The challenge of 10-day left us all a bit raw, and I got very honest answers. I got a peek into the minds of many of the guides and how they were experiencing 10-day; I got a look into how many uniquely crafted stories were coming together to create this trip.

I remember very vividly the moment we got to Maury’s Mound. We’d just made it all the way from Contact Lakes and over Sun Peak, and my group came in after all the others. The evening sun was bathing the rocks and people were spread out all over the slabs, laughing and sore, and laying all their gear out to dry. I looked out over the rocks and saw so many stories that I had come to know. I had been focused on how my one little thread of life looked and felt, and where it was going, and I got a glimpse of the fact that God has specially made so many other threads that he is weaving alongside mine.

Somehow, through that, it all got easier. Looking at the summer before me, it doesn't matter if I am good enough or not; God is the weaver, not me. He keeps track of every thread and how each comes together in a specific and perfect way to create the most beautiful patterns, and I am already a part of this pattern.

                  Kate Kinsman

God placed each one of us at Beyond this summer. Our lives are intertwining each day we spend serving together. But if we keep our heads down looking at only our own lives, we miss out on what God has laid out in front of us. Kate’s experience with 10-Day gave me a wake up call to stop being consumed in my individual struggles and to instead look, listen, and experience life with the beautiful people living around me.

                                                                                                Brooke Silcox

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

We Need More Staff!

We have hired a stellar guide staff and base camp staff for Beyond Summer 2012. To give a snap shot, the first year women guides will blow your mind with awesomeness and Jeff the jukebox will be back rockin’ the guitar. Our maintenance staff is ready to maintain, and our guy Nate from Wisconsin is taking up the reigns as the assistant cook in the kitchen this year. But here’s the thing. We still have some serious vacancies and we need all the help we can get filling them.

For starters we are still looking for a Head Cook– you’d get to work with Nate– and a Boat Driver. The Boat Driving position requires a special certification so we’re looking for someone who’s willing to hold that spot down for this summer and next summer.

Next up are our coordinator positions: Guest Services and Base Camp (formerly Female and Male Base Camp coordinators). These are base camp leadership positions so if you know how to get things done and know how to get other people to get things done (or know someone who does), you should definitely look into one of these positions. We like to have a balance men and women on our leadership team so we usually hire a lady for the Guest Services Coordinator and a guy for the Base Camp Coordinator, just so you know. Whoever takes these spots will be joining our Food Service Coordinator Amanda, from Virginia, on the leadership team.

Last but definitely not least, we are still on the hunt for two (a lady and a guy) Guide Team Leaders to join Amanda and Co. on leadership. These positions require a hefty amount of previous Beyond experience– like two years as a Beyond guide– and some pretty exceptional leadership skills. We’ve perused all of the usual subjects but feel like we’re forgetting some people. If you are or know some people who fit the bill, we’d love it if you or they were brought to our attention.

Check out our website for more detailed job descriptions and an application. Don't hesitate to call us (206-525-0791) with any questions or suggestions. Our first training weekend begins in exactly one week. We are so pumped for the start of this new season and we’d love it if our leadership team could join us as soon as possible. Be praying for us please.

Sarah Field on Beyond

My entire life I have focused on what I could accomplish and where I would. When I followed God's call to join Young Life staff four years ago, I never could have imagined all the ways God would humble me, and all the things that He would teach me. On Young Life staff I can't measure success the same way as I could in school, and in sports. Too often I find myself focusing so much on the destination that I would forget to look around and embrace the journey. More often than not the destination ends up being a fruitless distraction while God uses the journey itself to lead us towards growth.

Two summer's ago I had the privilege of taking a group of girls on what would be the journey of a lifetime. I had been dreaming up the idea of taking a girls group to Beyond Malibu. I spent countless hours planning, convincing girls to go, and more importantly convincing parents that hiking a mountain would be an incredible experience for their daughters. This took about nine months. Within that time I had many painful experiences, and some parents proved more difficult to convince than others. One mom even went ahead and planned their European vacation during the week I had reserved, just because she believed her daughter could never do it. Many people were skeptical of these girls making it. When we arrived at base camp and the girls unloaded roller suitcases and pink carry-ons we got some funny looks, and I know people at base camp were questioning how the next week would go. I could hardly blame them.

But we went. On that mountain we experienced God's love and mercy in new and profound ways. One of the things I love most about the outdoors is that there are no social cliques or "chosen" lunch tables to sit at. I watched as girls who never felt like they fit in at school became leaders on the mountain. Lauren spent much of her time at high school feeling alone. She would come to campaigners to feel like she had a place where she belonged. On our Beyond trip, she went from being a loner to a leader within the group. Day 2 proved to be the most difficult, it was a day that we will never forget and many wondered how we would even make it through. I watched as God used Lauren to become the strength for her struggling friends that day. Her constant encouragement had an impact on each one of us, and it was Lauren that became a pillar of strength for our group.

We climbed Frankenstein and when we finally reached the summit we quickly realized it wasn't about making it to the top. As beautiful as the view was and as awesome of an accomplishment, the real accomplishment was coming together, overcoming fears, and learning to believe in ourselves. Beyond wasn't about making it to the top. It was about a group of girls from all different walks coming together to experience God's creation and His glory and gaining a new sense of self. Beyond was about the conversations we had along the trail despite wanting to just sit down and quit. Our Beyond was something we will never forget. It was an experience that forever changed who we are. If I had waited until people thought these girls were ready to hike a mountain we never would have gone. If I had let the challenges along the way stand in our way of going I would never have seen God work the way He did. People often tell me that they want to go on a Beyond trip, but this just isn't the year. My response, "if not now, then when?" Now the ongoing slogan for Beyond at school is, if those girls can do it, we can do it! They are right. Every one can go Beyond. Just don't wait for the perfect time; there is no perfect time. Today is the day!!

Community

Shane Besmer began serving at Beyond when he was just 19. He has worked as the boat driver, male base camp coordinator, a guide, maintenance man, and eventually just as The Shane. He is in grad school now studying third world community development. Here are some of his thoughts on community in the Beyond context.

Living with forty other staff members in an isolated wilderness camp has given me a rare view of what close community can be like. Sharing the most mundane and extreme of life’s experiences, we were given a glimpse of the tremendous possibilities of community.

Beyond Malibu is an adventure camp with the purpose of removing kids from their everyday lives in hopes that they might see themselves, and Christ, more clearly. The staff at Beyond is almost entirely volunteer, and many staffers are required to make a two year commitment. Operations are run out of a small base camp that is accessible only by boat or seaplane. Running water and electricity are very limited. Absent constant contact with the outside world and electronic entertainment, the staff naturally develops a very close community. Each member plays a very important role, serving one another along with our campers, and inadvertently painting a beautiful picture of the body of Christ.

The jobs of the staff range from mountain or sea-kayaking guide, to food packing and maintenance. Each member is completely dependent on the others to continue with his or her job. If one person becomes ill, the impact spreads throughout the community. If two members are not communicating well, the rest of the body is aware of it and often affected. In the evenings when the work is finished, co-workers and bosses become friends and family, and look to each other for the love and support they need. Nearly all aspects of the life of one person are tied in one way or another to the lives of others, creating a micro-example of the definition of community.

I loved the years I spent at Beyond and I cherish them even more now that I am more removed from the experience. I have come to realize that this kind of community is nearly impossible to duplicate in the chaotic obligations of the city, and to attempt to do so can become incredibly frustrating. Despite the rarity of the Beyond base camp experience, it has been a challenging, yet joyful experience to see my community grow and change and settle into the ebbs and flows of community life in the city. We cannot live as in tune with one another, or with God, here as we did so far away from the distractions of the world. Instead, we struggle, and mostly succeed, to intentionally seek out relationship amid the business of everyday life. More significantly, we are challenged to learn and grow through the process of integrating our family of friendships with the various communities we intersect as we go throughout our lives. The result is beautiful and messy. We fail often, and just as often we accept grace, get up, and try again. This is community. I praise God daily for my time at Beyond, and for beginning this life long adventure.

Letter to Self

A lot of people keep journals. They're a nice way to capture emotional and intellectual experiences, to freeze-frame the process of growth. Every now and then I find myself returning to certain journals and reliving certain times of my life. It's great to be reminded of what is important to me and why it has become important, especially after the excitement and emotion of an experience has faded.

At Beyond, we try to one-up the habit of journaling. It has been our experience that Beyond trips can be a tremendous time of spiritual and emotional maturing. It's pretty easy, though, to return from a Beyond trip and have all of those character fortifying moments turn into nothing but sentimental memories. So some guides like to take a freeze-frame of the emotional and spiritual experience of Beyond and have it pop back up in campers lives when they least expect it. We call it "Letter to Self," because that's what it is. Guides have participants sit down at the summit or the end of the trip and write a letter to themselves about what they experienced that week. Then we send the letters out later in the year, usually around New Years. It's kind of a double whammy of awesomeness. First, you get a letter in the mail; who doesn't like that? Then you get this random trip back to a time when the distractions of life had been stripped away and it was easier to see what was important. It's better than just keeping a journal because you are guaranteed to read it. The whole thing is pretty neat.

The picture above is from Joey Leppien. He went on a Sea Kayaking trip this past summer. When he received his letter in the mail this week, he liked it so much that he posted it to Facebook. I like it because it's proof that we really do send out those letters. If you want to receive a letter from an awesome version of yourself next New Years, you should sign up for a Beyond trip now.

Freedom of the Hills

Sabbath- a day at Beyond set aside for staff to be still and seek the Lord, process the past week and prepare for the week to come, to find joy in fellowship and in play. Fourth of July sabbath- a day that included all of the above, plus a rare sustained ability to bask in the sun all day and bellow patriotic songs over a dinner together on the dock. Being part of the 5% minority (yes, this is the exact math) of Canadian staff at Beyond, it was fortunate that the other Canadian and I were well versed in the ways of America and were proudly able to holler the anthem, those “bright stripes and bold stars, through the dangerous night,” declaring the independence and freedom of America.

Freedom was something that had already consumed my thoughts that day, before I had even realized that it was the fourth of July. I had just returned from the mountains. For me, the mountains have been marked by reoccurring encounters with the Lord teaching me what freedom in Him looks like. Last summer, I spent most of the summer in the Wyoming wilderness and it was there that the Lord freed me from lies and bondage that had held me back from confidently coming near to Him. I returned from the summer clinging to two truths that had become real to me, “now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17)... “let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16).

As I prepared for another summer in the mountains, I began to pore through the technical mountaineering book “Freedom of the Hills” that we had been assigned to read. I think that the title of the book points to one aspect of the freedom that is encountered in the mountains, a removal from distractions of everyday life that consume- the cell phone, the internet, the seemingly never ending list of things to accomplish. The mountains are free of these things that bind. The hills stretch out before you, inviting you to explore their vast expanses. Yet, I have come to realize that there are other things that bind- thoughts, conceptions, and feelings that can't be left behind like a cell phone can be; the towering peaks and expanses of land point to something much more than the idea of freedom. It isn't the wilderness by itself that has brought healing and freedom in my life, it is God who has used the mountains as a space that I've been able to come away from the busyness of life, come to the quiet and seek Him. It is here that He has renewed my focus, softened my heart, stirred my affections for Him, renewed my desire to pursue Him, and brought freedom from the lies and burdens that keep me from approaching His throne with confidence.

God has been so faithful in reminding me of His goodness, His provision, and His sovereignty. As guides, before each trip we are given a sheet that fills us in on what each group wants the framework of their trip to look like. Skimming over the folder of what would be my first trip guiding at Beyond, the leader had written her desires for spiritual content: Freedom in Christ. That week we grappled with what it really means to have freedom in Christ through the trials and challenges of the trip. Our girls were able to recognize the lies that they were enslaved to, surrender them in a new way, and claim the truth of who they are in Christ. It was through this week in the mountains these girls were able to see a glimpse of their strength and beauty as they overcame challenges, redefining over and over what is possible through Christ who lives in them.

Now that we are back from the mountains, I want more than ever to continue to claim those truths for myself and those around me. Truth: it is only through Christ that full and complete freedom can come. Truth: because of Him, the power of sin over us is broken. Truth: because of these truths, we can freely come into the presence of the Lord with confidence. Truth: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

-Rebecca Chin, first year mountain guide,
never without her stellar and smokin guide partners Taylor Rice, and Whitney Agassiz.

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.

Staff Profiles!

We have a new feature on our blog, staff profiles! Just click on the tab labeled "Meet our Staff" for bios of Beyonders past and present. Get a glimpse of what brought them to Beyond and gain some insight into a summer in base camp, on the water, and in the mountains. We'll keep a rotating line up of different people from different positions and different years so keep coming back. Enjoy.

 We’re hiring for next summer. If you like what you see and want to join us click here for more information and an application.

A LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM

Forty years ago Beyond Malibu was born out of the idea of going beyond the resort camp setting into the rugged outdoors where more situations exist that afford the opportunity to go beyond one’s self physically, mentally and spiritually.

This summer I had the wonderful opportunity to take 9 teenage guys from Birmingham on the Beyond Malibu backpacking expedition into the rugged Western Canadian Coast Mountains surrounding the Princess Louisa Inlet in British Colombia. The trip was by far one of the most relationally enriching experiences I have ever encountered in my time pursuing kids with the extravagant love of Jesus Christ.

At the end of our trip, I huddled the guys together and asked, "Can you imagine trying to do what we did without our guides to lead us through the mountains?" They emphatically responded, "No way, we would never have made it!" I then replied, "Fellas, life itself is a rugged wilderness and Jesus Christ says, 'Follow me.'"

May we follow Him together in this grand adventure, pressing on, full of hope and abundant love. Thank you for supporting this mission and allowing trips like this to exist.

Much Love,
Jason Zinn

Birmingham Young Life
Alabama

"That you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever." Psalm 48:13-14

Beyond Beyond

A trip to Beyond is a trip to a majestic and beautiful part of our world.  The inlet with its jagged guardians is an awesome place. To spend time in those mountains is to spend time in a realm beyond the profane civilized environments where we spend our daily lives. Even by worldly standards, time spent at Beyond is sacred because it is unique, set apart, and so totally different from our ordinary moments.

Time at Beyond is special because it affords a perspective on our lives back home.   How rare is the opportunity to (literally) transcend all that we normally do?  At Beyond we live in a distant place, with a new people, according to a higher standard.  How clearly does this allow us to see the truth of our lives back home?  When I first went Beyond, much of my life back home--and most of what I held so important and dear--looked small, remote, and unimportant.  It wasn't until I had been set free from my burdens that I saw just how heavy and burdensome they actually were.

But what is most significant about Beyond is that God uses this place.  He reveals Himself in this place. He who lives above, before, and after all things; He who spoke all things into being "puts on" the things of this world so that He can reveal Himself through them.  God puts on a veil, a veil of things that are not divine, so that He can unveil Himself through them to us.  The winds, the waters, the people, the little red bugs, indeed anything; they all become things that God takes on to show Himself to us.  He does this for us.  He does this because He wants us to know Him.  He wants us to know that He already knows us and already loves us.  If what you see at Beyond does not show you that God loves you, then whatever you have seen, you have not seen God at Beyond.
And God’s love is wild.  He doesn’t stay put.  As soon as He shows Himself to us, He is gone again.  This is not because He likes to play hide and go seek.  Seek as we might, we could never find Him.  It is because He wants us to follow.  We are not meant to sit and observe Him.  We are meant to follow Him.  This is why Beyond is so perfect: it is a journey of faith.  And this shows us that faith is a journey.  We must always take another challenging step forward.   And when we do, God shows Himself again. This is His promise to us.  He does not stay hidden. He wants us to trust Him fully so that we can see Him clearly, again and again and again.

But this then shows us that the significance of Beyond is precisely that Beyond, all by itself, is insignificant.  Special as it is, Beyond is not heaven.  Awesome as they are, the mountains are not God.  In the end, Beyond is still a realm of this world.  What makes Beyond special is that God faithfully comes to it.  He shows up. In doing so, He shows us that He is not bound or caged even by the wild and vast lands of the Canadian wilderness.  He is free.  This God who repeatedly uses Beyond is the God whom nothing can bound, nothing can cage.  Because this is the God who was Jesus Christ.  And since this Jesus was raised from the dead, this is the God who is Jesus Christ.  He lives yet.  The same Jesus who came to Jerusalem comes to Beyond.  And it is this Jesus who wants to guide us in the wildernesses of our lives.

And so every divine trip that starts at Beyond does not end at Beyond.  For Jesus does not hike in the inlet alone.  He hikes there so we can see that He actually walks in all places.  He journeys there so we may journey with Him beyond Beyond.  There will be other Beyonds in our lives.  And Jesus wants to guide us to them and through them.

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Mark became a Christian on Mt. Zion, guided at Beyond in '98 & '99, and was a GTL during the summer of '06.  He is now pursuing a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in Philosophy & Theology.  He is happily married to Janine (Guide '95 & '96) and they have two kids.

Why Beyond?

We recently asked a number of you the simple question of Why Beyond?  Here were a few of your responses.

So, Why Beyond?

There are many reasons why I keep going on Beyond trips. To some extent I know what to expect, but each trip is unique and rewarding in its own unique way. Without a doubt, a week in the mountains on a Beyond trip can be one of our most physically challenging experiences people ever experience. Understandably, some folks are daunted by the prospect of going into the mountains with everything you need for a week in your backpacks. However, we always return to base camp with the same people!

I love all aspects of Beyond – the boat ride to base camp, orientation, putting the pack on and taking it off, hiking, setting up tents, trail talk, the physical challenge, the views, the shared sense of accomplishment when we summit and arriving back at base camp. However, one thing I find extremely rewarding year after year is the community created within a small group of hikers and guides in such a short period of time. Sharing of life stories, laughter, tears and the physical experience creates a fellowship that binds us together in ways we couldn’t have imagined when we arrived at base camp. While I know something like this will happen every year, each time it is difference. In a sense, Beyond is some kind of spiritual therapy or renewal for me.

 Ernie Fraser, Victoria, BC
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We started this tradition years ago and it stuck.  We start selling it to campaigners when they are freshmen and by the time they are seniors, they cannot wait.  Beyond is an amazing experience like nothing else.  It challenges them in ways they are never challenged, both physically and spiritually.  It provides a way to escape life back home and enjoy God's beauty.  We pose tough questions and have great conversations that help them get to know themselves better and their friends, while growing closer to Christ.  Beyond also does a great job of preparing them for life after high school.  I like to use the analogy of Beyond being a journey, our kayaking is a journey, just like high school, college and life.  Beyond is amazing and everyone should experience the realness it provides.

Heather Hene, Atlanta, GA
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The things I appreciate most about bringing kids on Beyond:

• It is a chance to take kids completely out of their normal lives and allow them to examine life in a new light.
• The long days of hiking allow for plenty of time for significant life conversations.
• The Beyond experience gives kids a unique adventure:  Difficult challenges in a magnificent setting.
• Beyond is a truly new experience for kids who have seen everything Young Life camping has to offer.
• The trip gives kids a profound sense of accomplishment.
• Without distractions, the evenings are a perfect for long and thoughtful conversations.
• Kids come home saying it is the best trip ever. And they continue to say it.
• Beyond Bars.

Rick Wilson, Scottsdale, AZ

Interested in hearing more about Beyond?

We've been busy getting some new media avenues together and we'd love to share them with you. One of those is our new quarterly e-mail "Route Notes". We're going to be releasing it next week. If you don't think we have your contact info fill out this form to get clued in on Beyond's Newsletters.

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