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.

Interested in Being on Beyond Staff?

Are you or someone you know interested in being on staff at Beyond Malibu?

We are still accepting applications for the summer of 2009 for guides and base camp staff. We need mountain and sea kayak guides. Qualified guide applicants are 21 or older with two years of ministry experience. We also need base camp staff who must be 18 or older. Being on staff at Beyond is an incredible opportunity to love people and serve God while living amongst a Christ-centered community in the midst of his glorious creation.Consider this opportunity and tell others about it too! If you or someone you know may be interested, check out the website and contact the Beyond Malibu office.

A Note from the Office...

By Tessa Thralls, Beyond Malibu Office Manager

Greetings from the Beyond Malibu office! This is my second year working in the Beyond Malibu office, and I am constantly reminded of what a blessing it is for me to work in this place. Part of my job is promoting the ministry of Beyond Malibu to others who may be interested in going on a trip or being on staff; I have found it is never hard to be excited about the ministry and encourage others to become involved. I had a passion for Beyond Malibu and loved the work of this ministry even before I began working here. However, over the last year, I have gotten the chance to learn so much more about the ministry; I have talked to dozens of trip leaders and heard the stories about how lives were changed on trips; I have served with other guides and seen how God uses their service to change their own lives; I have lived in the midst of the Beyond Malibu community in Seattle and witnessed how its members support each other incredibly well; and furthermore, my own life has been affected greatly through my time with Beyond Malibu. It constantly gets easier to promote Beyond Malibu’s trip and staff opportunities to others because I continually experience God working through this ministry in the lives of his children.

Not only does God choose to work through the ministry of Beyond Malibu but he also chooses to bless the ministry. One example of his blessing this year is the new office space that we moved into. We are thankful to Concordia Lutheran School for the office space they provided for us over the past few years. However, this fall we needed to move out of the space; it was a stressful time searching for a new office; Rob sent out countless letters to churches and surveyed Seattle for any place that might work. Being rejected time and time again, the process became quite discouraging. However, suddenly one week before we needed to move, we discovered the opportunity to move into a church in NE Seattle. The staff at Discovery House church graciously allowed us to move into their office space and have supported us throughout the process. We are now located in a prestigious corner office overlooking Hollywood Video and Dicks, and it is an especially good situation for me because I live one block away from the church.

So, although the summer is the season that we are able to see God’s work in and through this ministry most clearly, Rob and I are also reminded throughout the year of his blessings and provisions, and we are thankful to be involved in the ministry of Beyond year-round. During the long winter months, it can be easy to lose sight of why we are doing what we are doing; however, through conversations with trip leaders, alumni, current staff, and friends of Beyond, I am convinced that every minute I spend serving this ministry is valuable, and for that, I thank God daily.

2009 Staff Application Time

It's hard to believe it's already here but we're already in December and just a few months away from the next training season. December is the month to apply for staff positions, and January we will begin to assemble the 2009 Team! Join us for the adventure.

Beyond is now taking staff applications for the 2009 Summer!

Do you know someone who would be a good fit for Base Camp Staff, Mountain Guide Staff or Sea Kayaking Guide Staff? Call them and encourage them to apply.

On second thought, are you interested in applying for staff for this summer, have you turned in your application?

Click here to get more information on applying for staff.

If you are considering applying, applications are due soon so please act now!

Guide Staff Applications are due January 1, 2009.

Base Camp Staff Applications are due January 15, 2009.

We're excited about another summer of leading kids in the mountains and on the water and we're equally excited in spending another summer as a Beyond community.

If you are interested in applying or know someone who might be, contact the Beyond Office at (206) 525-6147 or email our office

Solid Rock Foundation Team builds Near Campsite Structure

Beyond Revisited

My initial encounter with Beyond Malibu’s base camp took place on a warm June evening as I began my first summer of guiding. Etched into my memory from that day is the overflowing emotion and excitement of the second-year staff as they returned to a place that they obviously considered “home”. As I wandered through the empty buildings that evening, just shells really, and then headed off with a machete to clear overgrown trails in the fading light, I wondered what incredibly special thing had happened here the previous summer.

Now, back for a visit with my wife and boys almost 20 summers after that initial impression, I experience once again the joy of returning “home” to a place, to a ministry, to a community that has profoundly shaped my life. During this week in base camp, as a very small spiritual discipline, I’ve chosen to let the distant roar of the Albert Creek falls be my reminder of the constant presence and faithfulness of Jesus. It’s quite simple really -- all I need to do is listen.

Oh yes, I’ve tried this exercise from time to time in other settings -- most memorably on the mountains and ridges of Beyond during my guiding years. Back then, with incredible waterfalls in every direction -- their sounds echoing off rock walls, down glacial cirques and across snowfields -- I didn’t hear any of it unless I tuned my ears. Unless I stopped to listen. Not surprisingly, my experience this week in base camp was no different.

As I listened for the falls, other sounds, some familiar and some not so, caught my ear.

The ringing of the “bell” :: The same bent pipe from long ago -- rung loud and long -- ringing out the rhythm of life at camp. The bell announces meals and the start of the work day, alerts the camp to arriving participants or supplies at the dock, calls staff to opening skit, Friday night club, worship or bible study, and joyously rings the end of work projects for the day. No alarm clock sounds as sweet as the Beyond bell ringing in a new day of adventure in base camp.

A generator, a compressor and a table saw :: Thankfully, sounds in this decibel range are not typical of base camp. However the “Red House” was demolished this spring and a new Red House -- the latest in a line of rustically elegant structures – has risen quickly in its place. In the past 20 years, the “abandon shells” mentioned above have been nurtured, overhauled and, when necessary, completely replaced. The new buildings are more functional, more lasting and more appealing to the eye. Suddenly work stops, the generator powers down, and I hear the sweet sound of the Albert Falls come flooding back into base camp like high tide over the dock trail.

Laughter through an Open Door :: This week was probably blessed with an extra amount of laughter because of a Beyond first. Using two newly remodeled campsite shelters as a base, a Young Life group from the Seattle area was the first Open Door group to “Go Beyond”. The group interacted with the base camp staff during “buddy time” and shared meals as well as a memorable worship experience. Intermixed with hiking to Albert Falls and kayaking to Chatterbox, assisting staff with basic work projects became a special event in itself and a new friend became one’s highlight of the week.

The Beyond Creek Falls :: During my summers on staff, one of my favorite base camp activities was walking up the creek bed to the Beyond falls a quarter-mile upstream. By the end of my fifth year in camp I felt as though the larger pools and boulders were old friends just waiting for my summer return. Well, the falls continues on as faithfully as ever but the boulders are gone or, more likely, covered by tons of new rock. The creek bed has literally filled to the brim with granite. As heavy rains rush down off One Eye, the swollen creek now acts like an unmanned fire hose – choosing a new course almost at will. These changes are likely the greatest danger to base camp today.

The Hum of Community :: Though the folks staffing the Beyond positions have changed multiple times over since my day, the pulse of community here has a comfortable familiarity. The weekly routine has changed little, the cooks still give a “vision” for the meal and staff continue to lift the folks on Beyond trips up in prayer. Voices from late night gatherings on the Red House porch, fueled by coffee and popcorn, evoke powerful memories. An impromptu Mexican dinner topped off with a makeshift piñata and uproarious laughter reminds me of so many times when we made our own fun, and were so much the better for it.

I recognize the same personalities: the camp comedian, the musicians, the dishwashing volunteer extraordinaire, the youngster soaking up the richness of the summer. Each person comes as a broken vessel offered to Christ. As the summer progresses, Christ forms them all together into a community to reflect His image and serve in this ministry for just a season. Returning for a second summer of guiding, I found myself experiencing the powerful “I’m home!” emotion that had baffled me a year earlier. The same empty and overgrown buildings now represented memories of a Christ-centered community from the summer past and a profound hope for the months ahead.

With all the sounds of an active community, the constant but quiet roar of the falls was often masked or, more often, not listened for. I found it serendipitous that a giant parabola has been built into a relatively new sculpture here at base camp. This towering structure is aimed toward the Albert Falls and magnifies the joyous din for any listener standing in the sweet spot of the parabola. I confess to more than one side trip to the sculpture this week just to hear the falls break out over the buzz of camp life.

Now however, as I sit out on the Green House porch in the pre-dawn light there’s little competition for my attention. The falls are almost deafening in the way they break the stillness. A random bird call or a lone yachter rumbling quietly to life are the only bits of melody that layer on top the constant drumming. As my week comes to a close I’m thankful for the Beyond ministry, thankful that Christ is even more constant than these glacier-fed falls and grateful that He is faithful even when I fail to listen or fail to hear.