Social Media

Although the summer is in full swing up the inlet, there's been a group of us in Seattle tasked with promoting Beyond and we've been hard at work.  This summer we're busy designing the new website, updating our blog and Facebook pages, and writing this summer's Route Notes email.  All with one goal in mind: sharing Beyond with you! 

This blog post is meant to give you a full run down of ways in which you can stay connected and get involved with Beyond via the internet.  We know that browsing pictures on Beyond's Facebook page will never compare  with the views on a trip, but we hope it will help you pass the time until you're in a kayak or on the trail with Beyond.  Here's what we've got. 

1.      Blog:  A place to read stories, view pictures, and get updates on whats going on with Beyond.

-          blog.beyondmalibu.org

2.      Facebook:  Find daily updates from Base Camp, browse hundreds of photos from Beyond over the years, and share your photos/experiences with the greater Beyond community.  We're excited to see the other ways that Facebook can get us all excited about the Beyond ministry. 

-          facebook.com/beyondmalibu

3.      Instagram:  We want to see your favorite Beyond photos.  If you have a smart phone, tag us at #beyondmalibu.  If you don't know what Instagram is, you probably haven't bought into the smart-phone business yet.  That's ok too-- you can see Instragram photos on our Facebook page. 

-          instagram/beyondmalibu,

-          hashtag #beyondmalibu

4.      Twitter:  140 characters of pure Beyond.  If you're a twitter user, get our Instagram/Facebook/Blog updates by following us on Twitter.

-          twitter.com/beyondmalibu

5.      YouTube:  We've got a handful of videos here for your viewing pleasure.  Stay tuned for a new camp video sometime this year.  

-          youtube.com/user/BeyondMalibu

6.      Website:   Here you'll find all the essentials about Beyond.  Look for a fully updated website coming in August. 

-          beyondmalibu.younglife.org

A Day in the Life of a Food Packer

By Meredith LeVan

As the sun shines brightly through the windowsills of the pack shack I receive a pack sheet of the upcoming week’s food needs. A smile spreads across my face as I think about all the campers I will be reaching. My daily routine includes packing breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the campers. It is a very routine job, but I love putting on some music and getting together all the meals that are going to nourish the bodies of campers. When I was heading to Beyond I knew that it was in God’s plans for me to be challenged this summer but I didn’t know how. God has challenged me so much just in a small little pack shack. I have been able to become more confident as a leader and individual and working in the Pack Shack has even helped my organization skills. I also have been challenged in the way I connect with campers. Usually on Summer Staff, we get to interact with the campers a lot, but here my job is more behind the scenes. This has taught me how Christ wants us to work and serve. It only matters that He see’s our hard work and being a food packer has really shown me that. It is so special to see the participants’ faces on a Sunday morning as they are about to go meet Jesus in the mountains! I never realized how excited that would make me. One of the most special moments I’ve had as a food packer was just last week when a girl from one of the trips ran up to me and gave me a huge hug thanking me for all of my work! That was totally Jesus showing me the fruits of my work and it made me feel so special!

Stories from the Fly: Beyond the beginning

By Ben Creelman

Many people ask us why we do it.  Many people are bewildered why we return, put our lives on hold, and put ourselves into situations where we aren’t sure if its sweat, rain or both that is dripping down our foreheads.  The real sadness is when we start asking ourselves these same questions, and we can’t remember the answers.  I have been blessed to be involved with Beyond in one way or another for the last few years. Even with this continuity of service, sometimes I question the sacrifice.   Well this week I was reminded that the answer lies in the McKinley Fly.

The fly isn’t pretty.  It makes one think that somewhere out there roaming the highways is a circus that has lost the top of one of its tents.  In wind storms the fly acts more like a parachute than a weather break.  Its stated purpose is to repel the rains, but often the condensation that forms inside its walls can rivals the persistent drizzle outside.   But it was within this square-ish sanctuary that I was reminded of why we travel into the waves, forests, storms and sunsets of British Columbia.

Mountain 10-day this year was the ideal training trip.  Rope systems were set up, crevasses were jumped into, and the unending oral tradition of guiding was handed down to the wide eyed first years.  But almost as if by clockwork, when the day was wrapped up and camp set, the clouds would unleash torrents of rain sending everyone scurrying into the fly for the serving of dinner, studying of scripture, and telling of life stories. 

The time spent in the fly this week was the same as any other trip that ventures out at Beyond—but its context was different.  I knew that the guides sitting around me weren’t hesitantly emptying their hearts in a once in a life time chance at vulnerability, they were emptying their hearts in preparation.  They were preparing for a summer of modeling vulnerability.  They were like Peter getting out of the boat to walk amidst the waves of their own lives in hopes of meeting Christ…so that they might lead others to Him.  These were stories of fear, joy, brokenness, laughter, and abandonment—stories of life.  But the beautiful thing was they were all unfinished stories.  It seemed as if the men and women surrounding me in the fly were not telling these stories as an end all explanation of what locks them into who they are, but rather as a setting of the stage in eager anticipation of Christ showing up this summer--in their lives.

Redemption is the part of the story of life—for our participants, for our leaders, and for ourselves.  Ten-day set the stage in a mighty way.  It will undoubtedly be a full tough summer just like it has been every other summer at Beyond.  But the guides on the mountain and sea have walked into vulnerability, humility, and hope.   

The summer is in full swing... and new stories are being written.