Gratitude

Our pastor often reminds us, "The only thing we can give God is our gratitude." I believe that. And I am deeply grateful for the chance to be a part of the Beyond community.


Cyrus and I (Abbie) had the priviledge of leading the guide team this summer. We spent our days planning for trips, briefing guide teams, debriefing teams and meeting individually with guides when they were in basecamp. It was an honor to walk alongside individuals as they were striving to know God themselves and to share His love with participants in the mountains.

And each week we had the honor of meeting with the trip leaders on Friday afternoon, when they returned from the mountains. As the rest of their group continued swimming and relaxing, leaders would join us on the Red House porch to debrief their trip over a cup of coffee. Week after week we listened to stories of God using Beyond Malibu to meet the needs of the people who came. It came in many forms, but a few of the ways God was faithful to us included; the perfect route, weather, group dynamics, participants, leaders and guides. By "perfect" I do not mean "easy". But that perfection that only God can bring because He knows our deepest needs and desires before we can speak them ourselves. One of the female guides I met with this summer said she felt most known by God when he provided for needs she didn't know she had. How true that was this summer.

We collected the following notes and quotes from our weekly leader meetings. If you've been to Beyond, picture yourself on the Red House porch, on a Friday afternoon and listen to the wonders God has done. If you haven't had a chance to visit us yet, listen too, I hope you join us soon.


"It was what a Beyond trip should be - a challenging deep experience with God."

The content we studied was "exactly what we wanted".

"I don't know what my expectations were, but they were blown away!"

"I wouldn't know they (our guides) had been here all summer; we felt like their only trip."

"The trip lacked nothing."

"I have never seen a trip led with such wholistic excellence."

"Vigor and excellence."

"Childlikeness, not childishness."

"Exceeded all expectations."

"They made everything fun!"

"It was the right amount of difficulty."

"We loved the mountain...there are no sissy mountains up here!"

"The guides got involved right away and build quick trust. They were able to be conversational as well as deeply relational."

"We accomplished something big as a group and we will take that unity home with us."

"We loved memorizing scripture together."

"Fantastic route and physical challenge."

"We read lots of scripture and the activities really helped us apply it to life. It was all very cohesive and deep."

"The content made us think and reflect."

"The guides were incredibly solid; both personally and spiritually. The kids really looked up to them."

"We shared deeply with one another."

"The guides were encouraging, helpful, serious and funny all at the right moments."

"We pushed our minds like our bodies were being pushed. We pursued truth together."

"We were pushed out of our comfort zone. We focused on God and we experienced a lot of growth."

"Each kid was filled with wonder at the beauty of this place."

"We had a great guide team, we were confident in their leadership the whole time."

"Another awesome week at Beyond!"

It was a great summer. From all of us; thank you for your prayers, for your participation, for your support. We were grateful to be a part of Beyond Malibu this summer. May we continue to give God our gratitude.

We Are Fully Staffed!

We are very thankful to finally have completed the staff selection process for this summer. Our summer starts in less than 2 weeks, so we filled the last few positions just in time! Thanks to all who prayed for us and supported us through this process. We are excited to see God work through us this summer and to see what happens in the lives of staff and participants over the course of the summer. We'd love you to keep us in your prayers as we head into this summer.

All Staff Weekend

What do get when you combine the 2009 Guide Staff with the 2009 Base Camp Staff for a weekend of fun and excitement in Anacortes, Washington...?

...Sea Kayakers honing their amphibious skills,

...Mountain Guides getting at it with rope systems...

...and trying to embrace their inner mountain goat,

...and the long awaited Base Camp Staff and Leadership Team ready for some adventure.

Having the 2009 Staff all together for the weekend was a great time for community and team building. It was really fun to see the group come together over the three days. In just six short weeks, base camp opens and the whole staff will join again for a summer of leading trips in the mountains and on the water. We can't wait!!!

The NEW Beyond Trail Manual

This year, the Beyond Malibu Guide Staff was handed the new Beyond Malibu Trail and Sea Kayaking Manuals printed on sweet waterproof Rite in the Rain paper and bound in 6-ring binders.  

The 3rd edition of the manual was in serious need of some updating after being last printed in 1997, so after months of effort by dozens of people the manual is now in the hands of the guide staff.  

The hope for this manual is that it would help the guides learn the skills topics we teach during the spring trainings better and that, it would in-turn, yield better, more meaningful trips for participants during the summer.  

Meet Beyond's New Guide Staff

As always, the training season snuck up on us again and here we are, going into the third training weekend. At each training weekend both Sea Kayaking and Mountain Guides gain the skills needed to lead trips on the water and in the mountains for the up coming summer.

At the last weekend, guides learned the skills necessary to navigate the Beyond wilderness. Guides fine tuned skills on using a map and compass and how to read topography. A great weekend.
On May 1st, the whole staff for the 2009 summer meets for the first time in Anacortes, WA. We're very excited to see how the community begins to form itself again this year. Sea Kayaking Guides will spend their first training days on the water while the Mountain Guides will spend the day honing their rock climbing skills on Mt. Erie.

Alumni Memories

• fond memories of community life
• a desperate prayer for direction in a whiteout, followed almost immediately by a small break in the clouds which allowed me to see some mountian goat tracks leading the way over a rocky trail
• the people and relationships from Beyond that have profoundly affected my life
• mounatin top sunrises
• participants growing in love with God
• faith stretching moments in our journeys with God
• banging my head on the beams in the upstairs of the barn
• Cafe Beyond
• my favorite times at Beyond were the hurried prayer meetings when a need or crisis came up. To see everyone drop what they were doing and lift up a need to God was very encouraging.
• swimming around the island
• singing around the table
• stretching myself
• findig more of God
• sharing in creation
• laughter
• tears
• simplicity of life
• the thing from Beyond that has most affected my life is the opportunity to be able to know Christ as He expresses Himself in His body and through the incredible majesty of his creation.
• rescue trips

The Gift

Dave Taylor (Guide) 1978

Reflections broken by a soft wind,
as I try and understand.
Mountains and the lake before me,
offered as a gift to Man.

Heather Meadows flecked with color,
ice blue sky and sky blue ice.
Silver water on a boulder,
peaks which mirror the evening light.

No shame I'd feel if I deserved them,
bought them, owned them, paid the price.
But Creation is not mine to purchase,
no more than the grace of Christ.