Breaking Walls

By Tyler Thralls, Guide 2008-2009

It was my third trip of the summer and I was excited to go with a leader, Ernie Fraser, who has brought trips to Beyond for the last ten years. Right away he told my guide partners and me that life stories took high priority on his trips and would be told and listened to even if we had to forfeit “making it to the summit.” I liked the sound of this from the start.

This trip consisted of three families who were ready to jump into an adventure together. Most folks had never told their life story before, and by the end of the week, I was struck by the incredible depth of love dwelling in each person, much like God’s love for us. God’s love was felt tangibly and everyone walked away from the trip closer to each other and closer to God.

In the wilderness and Beyond context, the walls we have created in previous relationships are quickly broken down, which leaves room for hearts to be touched and impacted by the Holy Spirit and by others on the trip. It is a phenomenal and extremely unique experience for anyone willing to embrace the adventure and live life to the fullest.

From our guide manual:

“On Walls”

-By Mike Wolford

Everybody has them.

It is said that people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.

I have walls. What do they look like?

They are high, but thin; strong, yet brittle;

And they are transparent. Why are they there?

To keep from being hurt.

But my walls are vulnerable;

Not to a bulldozer or a bazooka or a hand grenade or a hammer.

My walls want to crumble; they will crumble.

At the touch of someone who cares enough to gently knock.

Once the walls have been penetrated, treat the stuff inside with tenderness and care;

For not many have ever been where you are and not many may ever follow.

For your time inside my walls will determine if

And how my walls will be built again.

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Eight Mountains

Rachel Longton was a first year Mountain Guide this past summer and wrote this reflection.

Eight Mountains
As the Radio Room “duty” of scheduled rest and reflection week 8 provides moments to remember Beyond, there were eight mountains that stood in view. At Beyond there are eight physical routes and in my personal adventure from the summer there have been eight mountains as well.
The first mountain was WAFA (Wilderness Advanced First Aid) where my knowledge of both the human body and God were challenged; words I thought I knew, such as "vasoconstriction" and "the body of Christ" were suddenly questioned, and my personal textbook of both the world and Christian intellect seemed to have errors and imperfections. Maybe this meant it was time to edit. Though WAFA was hard, the seeds of community for our first year guide class were planted that week and our roots are still growing deep.
Down from this mountain and on to the next, we had a moment in base camp, or shall I say “glimpse of heaven”, before the ten day trial: a turn towards truth and testing. This second mountain began with joyful suffering, rain rehearsal, and long trail talk. Before long my pride was broken through a sprained ankle, or so I thought. I thought I was physically fit, but realized God wants real fitness: dependence on Him. Although I slowed everyone down, the laughter ceased to fade and asking for help was one thing I couldn't do without. The attention was drawn to my brokenness. By the time we reached basecamp I was faced with the fear of sharing my life story. Through facing this fear I came to realize the many ways God has blessed my life with joy, tears, and laughter; and the chance to now have experienced them all at once.
The third mountain was hidden in the fog around the corner and didn't seem to be anything but a flat road. As I walked, the rain let loose and the truth of brokenness poured for four weeks. In base camp I came to face the pain of an injury and the impatience that blisters up in the boots of disappointment. Probing to find purpose in work projects and coveting the mountain goats, my positive position began to perish. When I thought I was strong again, I broke even more and was forced to let go of my idolized mountain guide position. My sin stood out and not much was left...for I was a guilty woman whose own strength was my god. When I couldn't see the top and was forced to keep walking my foot became braced by Christ alone. With some rest and the support of Christ and community embracing me, a mountain of hope began to shine in the near distance.
With some disappointment left inside, I walked on towards this smaller mountain number four that was filled with the freedom of God's honest children journeying from Capernaum. On this mountain my burdens were lightened and the life of Christ came through a larger glimpse of clear skies. Servant hood became a theme and helped detach my soul from selfish thoughts, idolatry, and greed. Still struggling, but with new hope, I marched to train for the next mountain ahead. Up the express route and into God's Word my new strength is found, may the Sabbath abound.
Frolicking up Frank, mountain number five, my Jesus was found- a lover who seeks, sings, and sweats even with the bugs. Sickness was the challenge to greet, but with dependence on God our group was never defeated. My opinions and pride hindered my service and speechless with tears I walked to the summit.
Mountain six was a new day of throwing away our sin stones off the top and being baptized in Crystal Ball Lake. Baptism through bathing set a pattern of dipping our hearts into God's endless streams of life, the refreshing streams of water that to our group became God's voice.
Arriving back in the valley of clouded reality, I began to make out mountain number seven while running to welcome my family at the dock. From guide to daughter I learned to pray “Lord, humble me” and soon the tears of truth were released. With my brother Carl on Pearkes, and the rest of us on a canoeing “Combo” to Chatterbox, we all climbed closer to God and walked away with re-fueled engines.
Goodbye to the family and hello to a group from Spokane, lead by Jamie Mann. The longest mountain was covered by the guiding cloud of God and his good Spirit of detail and determination. A glacier rappel and midnight hike brought fellowship further and God’s promised provision for life. And praise God for we were surprised by a new hope for home while hiking down mountain number eight.

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.