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.

Spirit Animals

Kelly Hannah was our assistant cook the summer of 2012. This is a sweet picture of her taken by Brandon Sawaya. Kelly is currently serving as our office administrator. Call the office and say hello; she loves booking trips.

During the summer I spent as assistant cook in base camp just one of the things I learned about myself was that my spirit animal is a seal: one of the many kinds of animal friends that coexist with us at base camp and around the inlet. Like a seal, I am extremely curious, but shy at first. Once I feel safe and comfortable I am friendly and playful. That summer my understanding of myself, my view of God, and my love for those around me changed so much, but so did my appreciation of the seals who shared their home with us.

My first interaction with my spirit animal is entertaining now, but terrified me at the time. It was my first morning in base camp, and I was determined to start the summer with a swim to the rock just off shore from The Point campsite. I dove into the freezing inlet and immediately regretted my decision. But I took a few deep breaths and, stroke by stroke, made my way towards the rock. Halfway there, something caught my eye that made me freeze in mid kick. Just ahead of me was the smooth dark shiny head of a seal. His head was still and his eyes stared directly at me. My heart tried to leap out of my mouth as I tread water but I stared right back. It felt like hours we stayed there with eyes locked, probably with the same combination of surprise, curiosity, and fear. On my part I was terrified that the seal would think my feet were fish and decide to make a meal of them. I waited, and I stared, and nothing yanked me from below. I kept breathing and watched my morning swim companion. He kept breathing and watched me. Finally I turned back. It was too cold and frightening to risk being eaten or getting sick, and besides, I needed to make my way to the barn so I could dry off, warm up, and help get breakfast ready.

Later, as I cut fruit and prepared coffee for breakfast I asked Elisa, the head cook and a former kayaking guide, about seals. Elisa had worked for two summers on the water, she'd have to know if there were killer seals roaming around. She laughed when I told her about my encounter. "No, seals aren't dangerous. They're just curious and playful: like dogs, but they live in the water." Whew. That helped. I was not the biggest fan of the seals at the time, but at least I knew they wouldn't hurt me. As the summer went on, my new aqua-canine friends continued to join me as I swam. I grew comfortable with them watching them play a sort of hide and seek around our watery front yard, or seeing them from a distance as we boated between base camp and Malibu club on laundry days.

Close to the end of the summer, the staff spent a Sabbath day at Malibu Club. I went to the outer dock to read and bask in the sun. I was sad that the summer was almost over, and asked God to help me carry the experience home with me. I had made amazing new friends and with whom I had gone through busy work days, lazy Sabbaths, bed time stories, theme parties, bible studies, and a lot more. Personally I had grown a lot as well. I learned the importance of regular prayer, the necessity of rest, how to give up my own desires to serve others, and how to root my identity in Christ rather than what my own insecurity or or the opinions of others. And then there was the beauty of God’s creation. No matter how many pictures I took or how many ways I tried to describe it in my journal. I didn't want to forget anything but I knew I could not fully bring home the feeling that setting inspired in me. As I sorted through these thoughts before the Lord, I lay on the dock embracing the sun's warmth with my feet resting in the water.

Suddenly, I noticed a strange silence. Then, out of nothing arose a loud, steady breathing that surrounded me. I opened my eyes to see who it was: maybe someone on a run come to say hello? Strange though, since I hadn't heard footsteps. Then I realized the breathing came from the water. Directly in front of me, 20 seals floated. 20 pairs of those wonderfully curious and penetrating eyes floated above 20 pairs of gray-white whiskers. They stared at me as I stared back, in awe of how close and how still they were. I moved to get up for a better look, and as quickly as they appeared, they vanished through the blue surface into their world.

When we asked one another, "What is your spirit animal?" wewere having fun, just one way to get to an understanding of the core of each other's character and personality. As we progressed from being staff to becoming real brothers and sisters in Christ, we helped one another realize the ways in which we have been uniquely created by God. That summer was an amazing time of growth in confidence. I learned to cling to my identity before God. Thinking of that last visit from the seals is always a precious reminder of how I grew and what I learned that summer.