Horn Creek Intern Reflections

Encouragement for staffers as the end of summer approaches.

2010-07-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is a letter that I wrote to the Horn Creek Staff as I felt led to do so after the Lord kept reinforcing this spiritual analogy to me through my time in the office and interactions with hummingbirds:

As the summer wears on and will be quickly coming to a close, I just want to encourage you to keep your minds and hearts fixed on the things above as you press on to finish out this summer strongly. I have some food for thought that I’d like to share with you all that I really feel that the Lord has given me and has continually placed on my heart in the past few days to really drive home a lesson about the great news of the grace of our Lord Jesus that is displayed through the gospel.
Over the course of the past few days, there have been several different occasions that hummingbirds have flown into the office and have not been able to get out on their own accord. It saddens my heart to see these birds struggle for their freedom and for the insight into finding the path in which they are able to fly in order to receive that freedom. Watching the hummingbirds fly in and try to draw food and nourishment from the wood walls as well as getting caught up in continually hovering in the same places next to the windows, trapped on the inside of the glass, trying to escape, but not knowing the way out is a bit heart wrenching as well as it is frustrating. It’s so easy to look at this situation and think, “you are such a stupid bird, why don’t you just go through the door and then you’ll be outside and can fly, freely in the beauty of the Lord’s creation as well as being able to drink from the food that will nourish you because that’s where you were designed to be in order to thrive- outside!” But the only way that I could help them was to let them tire out and gently catch them to place them outside where they will not only survive, but thrive. If they were left inside for an extended period of time, they would surely die.
So often, this same principle is present in our lives. Imagine how the Lord feels when he sees us struggling, tiring, and flapping around trying to find a way of escape from this bondage that we so often find ourselves in through the sin in our lives. Yet He knows that there can be abundant life and freedom only found in Him and not when we try to find it on our own or in things that can never satisfy. Even though we can be so narrow sighted, by God’s great mercy, instead of responding in frustration, he is patient, gentle, and faithful with us despite our confused wandering and faithlessness. He’s waiting for us to tire out and come to a place of surrender and allow him to come to the rescue in order to direct us onto the path that brings life. It’s amazing to realize His omniscience and His great perspective into our situations. He truly knows best, but yet we can get so caught up in thinking that we know what’s best for us and what is right and how to live. So often we try to drink from wells that will not satisfy or that can harm us and yet we tirelessly continue to try to save ourselves and stay in bondage, even unknowingly. BUT there is another path that leads to life. It takes trust and faith in our awesome God, but ultimately its for our own good because He brings life, health, and freedom into our lives even if we don’t always have the foresight to see what He is really doing.
I challenge you and encourage you to take an assessment of where your heart is. Be honest and vulnerable before the Lord. Where are you trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment? Is it in things that do not satisfy or are you running to the fount of Living Water and the Bread of Life? For that is where we can find sustenance and life abundant. I don’t know about you, but for me I’ve been realizing just how similar I am to this hummingbird in that I keep trying to find my own path to life and freedom and peace, but in reality all I’ve been doing is hitting myself up against the window. Truly, I am in need of a savior to rescue me from myself to take me to a place of freedom that I cannot find on my own. I need to surrender. Where are you at?

Don’t forget that Jesus has already saved you and I both but yet we constantly need Him to continually renew us and set us free from the sin that so easily entangles us. Often I can forget this, and I challenge myself as well as you to be bold in proclaiming Christ and what he’s done on the cross and continues to do in our lives to renew us so that we are more apt to resemble him. Don’t listen to lies and deception that come from this world or from the evil one. Fight them off with the truth. Resist the devil and he will flee. Draw near to the lord and let his glory cover and protect you. Don’t be taken captive by the things of this world and of the hollow and deceptive philosophy, but allow the lord to transform and renew your mind with his word and truth so that it penetrates your entire being in how you live and act.
What immense grace that God has showered upon us, as his undeserving children! Stay strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, put on his armor and stand firm in His truth so that wherever you go you will shine forth his light and his truth and his glory. Press on as the summer comes to a close so that you can finish this ministry well. Remember that these campers who are coming up to camp towards the end of the summer haven’t been up here yet this year and are super excited. God is doing amazing work and I urge you to take part in that by helping to make their week an awesome week!

May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you.
Much love from your co-laborer in Christ,
Emily

Top 10 Things Westcliffe Has To Offer

2010-05-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

10.) Some cities offer historical monuments, famous statues, such as the Statue Of Liberty, howerver Westcliffe offers extra large wooden lumberjacks.

9.) While most coffee shops offer coffee, along with the occassional pastry, Westcliffe's Coffee shop offers Coffee AND ....?

8.) Most towns have Cinamax 10 or Hollywood 15, but here at Westcliffe we have Jones Theatre 1. Were you get one movie per weekend and if your lucky it might even stick around for the following weekend. Movie Discussions and free coffee also take place after each movie, actually only on Friday night. If so desired season passes are available.

7.) Along with our lumberjuack friend we have another famous statue, The cowboy who smokes cigars while reading. This statue brings alot to the Westcliffe community.

6.) Westclife has a lot to offer in terms of fine dinning. If you are in the mood for somthing fast you can choose between the local Hungry Bear, or the Subway located in the gas station. If you are in the mood for a late night snack you better hurry because it closes at 8:00 p.m.

5.) Most stores close for the night and even on holidays but around her they close for entire seasons.

4.) A place where you will find yourself often is the Westcliffe Super Market. It is the only grocery store in town but it does have alot to offer. Such as movie rentals, discount racks, and a small selection of flowers. Make your selections fast because along with subway and the rest of the town it cloes at 8:00 p.m.

3.) Pedristrians, bikers, and children at play are all signs that can be seen in most cities. How many cities to you know that have the Warning sign to beware of the Omish buggie.

2.) Located past Wanda's Garden and the Mennonite Bakery you will come across a public bathroom. Just another public service that Westcliffe has to offer.

1.) In case you were wondering curbside internet literally means curbside internet. Westcliffe is on the forfront of technology. Providing internet....all the way to the curb.

Intern Retreat

2010-05-15T14:43:00.001-07:00

After returning from our Easter break where everyone was able to take nine days to go home or visit friends; we all met up at Jeff's cabin in Breckinridge, CO for an intern retreat. The retreat was designed to fulfill several purposes: to bring us all together as a group, to have some fun before we transitioned back into work, and ultimately to get our hearts focused and prepared for the fast approaching summer. The three day retreat consisted of snow shoeing for some, a Rockies game in Denver, and enough food to feed a small country! Our afternoons were filled with discussions on articles that we had read, mixed in with some affirmations. With most of the interns praying for discernment for what God has next for our lives, we have been using our meeting time to take one individual intern to affirm and challenge them in personal areas of their lives that we have seen over the course of this year. These timeshave proven to be very fruitful as we get to have our peers both affirm us on what they see our strengths to be, and yet challenge us in areas thatwe could work on. The entire retreat was interwoven with prayer; prayer for individual interns, prayer for the internship as a whole, and prayer for this summer and the challenges that may arise. One of the biggest topics of the weekend was getting our hearts ready for the summer and the summer staff who will be arriving in just a few weeks. We as the intern staff have an incredible oppurtunity to minister and be ministred to by these summer staff. All the interns are going to be leading a small group on sunday mornings for the summerstaff, and since most of us are in leadership positions this summer, we will have plenty of intentional interaction with them as we work.Probably the most impactfulpart of the retreat for me was meditating on an article we read. The article was talking about the necessity of being rooted in Christ. I realize that this seems so obvious, and something that my five year old niece could challenge you with, but it is a biblical truth that I forget so often. In my life it is all too easy for my identity to be put in things or other people, and if im perfectly honest with myself, I would go so far as to say that I care about what certain people in my life think about me more so than what God thinks about me. Isaiah 7:9b says that "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." I can't tell you how quickly my faith shifts form God to man, and then to see how quickly i fail to stand.Trying to put that in context of working here, living here, and even in regards to investing into the soon to arrive summer staff, I cannot be obedient to God's voiceif my ears aren't aimed at Him. All in all I would say it was a good time together, the rockies pulled out an overwhelming victory, pounds of beef and chicken were consumedin the form of fajitas, and God was able to meet us there and speak to our hearts.

Emily, Karn, and Kelsey at a Rookies Game

Karen, Christian, Jeff and Lauren...ice cream is always a must!

Did not get the ice cream that he ordered...

But Alex did!

Thoughts on Community

2010-01-22T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hello, Emily here.

As we transition into the new year that marks the halfway point of our internship year at Horn Creek, I would like to take a bit of time and share with you all that I am currently learning specifically in regards to our community: both the highs and the lows.

Community is a gift, a blessing designed by our Sovereign creator to help us grow in relationship with him. However it can also be very challenging because it pushes us to look past ourselves and love others with a selfless love. Community can only flourish with this sort of selfless love when the Lord is truly being placed first in priority in each individual’s life because that is where the ability to love stems from- the Lord’s great first love. When this first love is even partially understood and received by an individual, it is then that the person can respond to that first love with love for the Lord, which can be demonstrated through loving our surrounding community.

We were made for relationships, with the Lord as well as for one another- our community, the body of Christ: to challenge one another, encourage one another, spur one another on towards Christ and in all things point each other back to him…back to truth to remind one another of the things that we can sometimes so easily forget. I love Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” We need each other, but we must be united through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yet as important as community is, it should never be used as a crutch or as a place that we run to before we run to the Lord. The Lord should always be our center, our place of refuge and rest, from whom we are refreshed, enlivened and granted an abundant life filled with joy and gratitude from being in His presence. For he alone is completely trustworthy and able to meet our needs fully. He knows what we need even better than we do. Jeremiah 17:5-8 speaks to this and has been a great encouragement for me, “ This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in he wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

It is out of a place of solitude in which we are able to be filled with life in order to be strengthened to face all that life may throw our way, especially within living in a community of sinful, messy and needy people. We need to feed the spirit during our time of solitude so that we are able to enter into community, walking in the Spirit so as to live in a way that will glorify the Lord.

It is when the priority lines between solitude and community get blurred that things can get messy. There must be a balance between the two. I am by no means perfect and have definitely been feeling the tension between sin/flesh and spirit as well as feeling the pain of the sanctification process as I’ve been wrestling with these issues of solitude and community. But praise the Lord for His patience with us as He grows us up in Christ.

For me, this has been quite the lesson that the Lord has been teaching me. I have realized that when difficult and painful things arise in this life, my tendency is to look to my community, whether I realize that I am doing so or not. When responding this way, unspoken expectations can be placed on the community, which can be extremely damaging to the community as a whole, for they are unaware that such expectations are being placed on them. How in the world can they meet those expectations without knowing about them? And even if they did know about them, maybe it still wouldn’t be right for me to expect some of those things from them, because of the need to depend on the Lord first through surrendering my burdens to him and waiting upon him to answer and bring healing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think community is a powerful tool that the Lord uses to show his love and comfort to his people in a physical way because sometimes it can be difficult to feel that from an invisible yet ever present Lord. It is important to keep perspective that our surrounding community is but a limited physical manifestation of the Lord’s love stemming from a deeper place of the Lord’s perfect and unconditional love. The Lord uses community so that we can teach each other, comfort each other and love each other in tangible ways… to be His hands, His feet, and his hugs.

This has been a hard lesson for us all to learn as a community, as we are still figuring out what exactly this balance looks like lived out for us as interns up at Horn creek. Although tough, this process has been a refining process indeed and I am excited to see how the Lord continues to use each of us in one another’s lives as we seek to know Christ more and point each other towards Him.

I will leave you with a great quote from Bonhoeffer that sheds great insight on this subject of community, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community… But the reverse is also true. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live in the fellowship.”

Trip to Dallas

2009-12-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Kelsey here I wanted to take a minute to share with our amazing trip to Dallas Texas with all twelve interns, Jeff, Sara West, and Matt Hoskins. It was a trip that was filled with healing and reconnecting as a group, as well as, meeting with different ministries and doing some recruiting at two schools. While staying in Dallas the director of Horn Creek Doug Jones opened up his beautiful home for us to stay. The trip lasted 6 days from the 1^st of December to the 6^th.

Throughout the week out mornings consisted of devotions studying First John. I really like this book and loved to be able to participate in daily devotions reading this book and discussing with a group.

Every day throughout the week was slightly different. We were given the opportunity to meet with Doug Jones youth pastor, Justin, our first day in Dallas. Justin shared with our group about his desire to help parents rise up Christian youth. He intentionally plans his events during the week so that the family is able to bond on the weekends. He also is very good about studying directly from the word of the Lord. They take chapters to study instead of doing topical studies. He also gives many opportunities for his youth group to minister in different capacities in the church. That evening after a delicious meal cooked by Kathy Jones all the interns were able to attend his youth group and participate in his small groups. This was fun because they asked us to share our testimony and answer questions about our internship.

The second church that we met with was really neat as well. It was huge and had just begun a movement to expand its building. It was a church rooted in a no debt philosophy and stopped their project of a new auditorium when they realized that building cost had gone up and there was not enough money in the budget. I loved hearing this from the church because it was so encouraging that they truly placed everything in the Lord’s hands. We then met with their youth pastor, Braun, who shared with us his philosophy on ministry. He intentionally placed kids in small groups that met in homes with the same leaders for seven years.

The last day we had a dinner with family campers and past summer staffers. It was really fun for me to be able to see the summer staffers that I worked with that summer. The night also concluded with a heated game of werewolf shared by both the interns and summer staffers.

Probably my favorite part of the whole week was Sunday morning. We went back to Braun’s church and the service consisted of a powerful message from Nick Vujicic, a man that was born without arms and legs. His testimony was very powerful. It was hard for me to sit there and not to think that why did God allow this man to be born this way. He answered this answer by saying he had a purpose and that was to be the arms and feet in a way that no one else could be. I was very moved with hearing this and with him sharing the verse Jeremiah 29:11-12 “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ” At the end of his talk he had an alter call which was so powerful and moved me to tears. Although this was just only a couple hours of the trip it was my favorite part.

The whole week was full of blessings and allowed me to once again just be thankful for being able to be an intern at Horn Creek.

Odds and Ends

2009-12-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hey all, it is Jeff, just wanted to include some pictures from our first recruiting trip with Alex, Kelsey, Justin and Sara and myself. In October we went to Missouri, Indiana and Michigan and recruited at Hope College, Cornerstone University, Calvin College, and Taylor University. When I say recruiting, it means that we are looking for summer staff and interns for next year. It was an awesome trip. Here are a few pics above!

Things I've learned

2009-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

Last Monday marked our third month of being at Horn Creek and I thought you all deserved an update on what's been happening.

Here's a couple things I've learned in those three months:

This year needs to be about serving and community. The first part of October was hard for me (Amy) and I think it was because I was so focused on wanting to do program and on proving that I would be good at it that I made myself miserable and I'd get frustrated with the jobs I was given if they weren't what I wanted. Jeff, who happens to be very good at reading most of us, and I had a talk about it and I worked to change my perspective and on changing my attitude to being a servant leader. It's freed me up and I've enjoyed my time here so much more now that I focus on serving and not on getting my way.

Urban youth are different than suburban youth but they both need love and attention. The last three weeks four interns at a time have gone up to Denver to help at Open Door Ministries and Sun Valley Youth Center. Both run after school programs for kids from underprivileged families. We all had different experiences but it was good for all of us and eye opening in many ways. I was heartbroken over some of these kids you could see that there had been abuse or neglect and it came out in the way they acted. The work the staff are doing with these kids is awesome and it was so great to be a part of that.

Justin is faster on a board then I am on skis, we've managed to get in some skiing the past few weeks and Justin and I raced. Towards the end of the day I got to where I could still see him as I went down the mountain, which was a huge accomplishment compared to the first race.

When killing a chicken it's easier to pull their head off then to cut it off. James, Justin, Christian, Lauren and I are helping Jeff lead a bible study at high school, several of the kids have experience killing turkeys and chickens and they told us all about it.

We live in a beautiful place. I think I learned that on our first day here but I am continually reminded of that. Today Mel and I walked by three deer on our way to the office. One night we saw a herd of antelope (do they travel in herds?). And another day on the way to church we saw around 30 elk, it was awesome.

Don't be afraid to speak up when you have an idea. The staff at Horn Creek have been awesome about listening to our ideas and letting us run with them. Back in August I approached Doug (our executive director) with an idea about a camp for women coming out of the sex for sale trade and last week Doug, his wife Kathy, Jeff, and I met with the program director at a ministry that works with those women about what we can do to make that happen.

I've learned more but I think your eyes are probably tired, or you're bored so I'll stop. But one final note the most important thing that I've been reminded of is God's unfailing faithfulness, He does not forsake His children!

One Year

2009-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

What an incrediable opportunity we have been given this year! God has literally placed a ministry opportuinty in our laps and has allowed us all to be greatly involved. One Year is similiar to Awanas. It is a ministry for children in the community from K-6. Our purpose is to love on these kids in the community and to point them to Jesus in all that we do. The ministry is called One Year because we are doing a study on one year in the Life of Christ. Our heart's desire for these kids is that they will truly feel the love of Chirst. He is so madly in love with every one of them! We want them to walk away feeling loved, vauled, encouraged, and desiring to know God more.

This year we are being poured and poured into. Every staff member and our mentors in the community want us to walk away from this year as better lovers of Jesus. It is very humbling to be so poured into. To feel so loved and vauled. It is amazing that we get the opportunity to pour into others. We get to take time to love on these kids and to be Jesus to them. I feel so blessed and honored to be apart of OneYear.

A night at One Year looks like this: Worship, skits, games, lesson and small groups. Each week we give out a memory verse that is straight from the lesson given. We try do fun things to help motivate the kids to memorize their verse. Some of these have included a leader drinking a mystry drink and shaving heads and beards. This makes for lots of laughs and really gets the kids working on memorizing scripture. Our purpose in doing this is not that they will memorize the verse for one night but that they are planting the Word of God into their hearts.

The title of one year is ironic to me since we will only be involved for one year. I think that is the hard part for me. We have only been doing this ministry for 4 weeks and I have started to really fall in love with these kids. To know that this is just a season and that God is going to move me in a year is tough. To know I will have to walk away from this kids and from the relationships I have made. I can not dwell on that though. If I do I will miss what an incrediable opportunity this is. If I dont pour my entire heart into these kids then I am going to be the one that missed out.

Please pray that we will be able to honor God with this ministry that He has allowed us tobe apart of. Much Love, Katie

Melody with our small groups

Worship

Christian being Grandma Morgan

Alex about to drink the mystry drink

Jeff after getting half of his beard shaved off

Thoughts

2009-09-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

So this post might be a little different. Well, false. Will be. When we started this blog, Jeff mentioned that it was a place for a lot of things; a place for pictures and stories, a place for revelations and updates. And a place to share our hearts.

These few verses have been on my heart a lot lately:

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. -Psalm 4: 2b-3

It's funny, all through the psalms David talks about his enemies, asking God to protect him, to come to his aid. I've often found myself wishing that my own enemies were as concrete as his. Mostly, my enemies are within myself. My enemies, and my false gods, are not armies or warriors, and they're not items made of wood or stone. My enemy is my pride, my false gods are my selfishness and need for control. (Really, the list could go on.) And it's funny how easy they are to dismiss, right? To rationalize. I'm not bowing down to anything; I'm not going to any temples. But my time, my thoughts, my life say something different. I'm chasing the counterfeit; loving delusions and seeking false gods.

This year, for me, is slowly becoming less and less about finding direction. (My original reason for taking a year of service.) More and more, it's becoming about finding the legitimate...about meeting God on this mountain and chasing Him alone. And I'm in luck! (Though luck has nothing to do with it.) Because amid all the distractions, and all my failings, the Lord is waiting.

The Lord will hear when I call to him.

-Melody

Confessions of Two Horn Creek Interns

2009-09-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hey All!
Amy and Lauren here. We thought we would update you on our wonderful life at Horn Creek.
We are currently hosting the Focus on the Family Institute, it's a program for college students in Colorado Springs. They are all super exited to be in Colorado and we are excited to have them here, we can empathize with them since we all only recently adjusted to the altitude of the Colorado mountains.

We were both servers this past weekend as well as this weekend. Serving is an adventure, we can now successfully carry three plates at a time without spilling all over a guest. It's been neat for both us, and I'm sure for the rest of the interns, to see the gratitude in those we're serving, they truly appreciate what we are doing and that makes our work worth it. Last week in the family camp you could tell the moms loved being able to sit down to a meal and not have to prepare it and serve it to their kids. We were hesitant about the plated meals but it really does bless these moms and we love that!

We had our first 1 year this week. It's the bible club we're running in Westcliffe for the kids. We had 38 kids there on Tuesday and if 60 kids show up Christian's going to shave his right eyebrow (thanks for suggesting that Jeff) You will definitely see a picture of that if it happens. It was fun to play with the kids and get to share the love of Christ with them.

It hasn't been all work though, some of the previous posts show that. A group kayaked down the Arkansas river on Wednesday. We hiked four fourteeners in one day, it was so cold but fun and worth it when we got to the bottom. We went to the rockies game, you saw that picture. We've done trips to Pueblo, Salida, Colorado Springs, and Denver. We also have time for some fun around camp including going down the waterslides, rock climbing, volleyball, basketball, and bowling.

Part of the goal for this year is for us to grow as a community. These first few weeks have had us working on listening to everyone's input. We've learned that community can be really great but it can also be really hard. God has been gracious in allowing us to be a positive and safe community.

Picture time:
Melody and Amy on top of Mount Democrat (the first fourteener), told you it was cold.

The view from Cameron (the 2nd one) looking towards Lincoln (the 3rd fourteener)
Karen, James, Alex, and Lauren ontop of Lincoln

Most of the group at the top of Bross, the fourth fourteener of the day.

Alex turned 21 in Breck we celebrated with a delicious cake and army men.

Pueblo, James will resort to any means to get a good picture. He liked the flowers.

Karen and Melody at the riverwalk in Pueblo.

Kayaking down the Arkansas river.

Jeff, our fearless leader!

Off they go, Jeff said it would take 2 hours, Lauren said 3, it took over 4.

Fun pics, and crazy happenings

2009-09-07T08:17:00.001-07:00

Hey all, it has been an exciting week! Can't believe it is already September 7th. Well, last week was eventful. Monday we worked on a Westcliffe Ranch all day, where the boys got to drive tractors all day. We helped out a wonderful lady in the community who needed help on her ranch. We worked from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., but she fed us well, and we got to get a taste (literally) of ranching life in the valley. We also hit up a Rockies game which was a blast, and celebrated Lauren Parliaments birthday right there in the stands! It was awesome. We also hosted a retreat of families this past weekend at Horn Creek from Colorado Springs as well. It is always a blessing to see families being renewed in God's creation. Here are a few picture highlights!

Happy Birthday to Lauren!

Summiting the 4th 14er of the day, with a few root beers!

The boys having fun on the tractor!

At the Ranch, with Elin the owner on the left, and JT in the cowboy hat!

The intern crew in Breckenridge

Grillin at a Horn Creek grill out to say goodbye to summer staff, and welcome the interns!

Intern Faces Finally Revealed!

2009-08-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

James and Christian at Western Night

We had a good time singing at Western Night

Christian and Katie got to paint faces at Western Night

Beautiful Horn Lakes

On our hike to Horn Lakes

The internship has begun!!!!

2009-08-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family! My name is Karen Johnson and I am one of twelve interns that Horn Creek hired for the year. I wanted to write you all to update you on our first three weeks together. Our first week consisted of being introduced to all aspects of Horn Creek life. The first night was great for all of us to hear Jeff and his heart/vision for the year. This night for me as well as other interns was a time of confirmation that this was where we were supposed to be. The second night we sat around a campfire as we looked out onto the valley and shared with one another why and how we ended up at the internship. It was awesome to see the Lord’s hand in bringing each one of us here for this season of our lives. During this first week we learned about Horn Creeks mission, how to clean after a group leaves, what needs to happen in the kitchen, and about the recreation center. We also got to go on a hike to horn lakes. Jeff took us on a tour of Westcliffe and we spent a day in a little town called Salida. On a Wednesday night we went to Western night. This is where the family camps get together and sing fun songs as well as square dance. We had a lot of laughs this night as James and Christian showed off their dance moves with the children.

Our second week here was like a normal week. Our schedule is going to be similar throughout the year which will be good to give us consistency. Wednesday and Thursday are our days off, Friday/Saturday/Sunday are our days where we host groups. Sunday night we will have an internship meeting to debrief the week as well as address any conflict in our community. Monday is a work day where we do various jobs around the camp. This could include chain sawing, finishing cleaning up the lodge after a group leaves, or really anything. Tuesday is our class day. We are taking two classes, one is called Spiritual Formation where we are going to learn about spiritual disciplines that put us in a place where the Lord can do His work in our lives. The other class is going to be on camping philosophies and the reason behind all that Horn Creek does. Tuesday afternoon we will meet with mentors that are from the nearby town, Westcliffe, and Tuesday night we will lead a program called One Year (it is like Awanas). This will be a time for us to pour into the children of Westcliffe from first to sixth grade.

Right now we are on a retreat together in Breckenridge at Jeff’s cabin. This place is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday we hiked 4 mountains over 14,000 feet tall. The display of God’s creation was a true joy to all of us as we spent the day on top of Colorado. During this retreat we also had the chance to share parts of our lives with one other. We answered the questions: When did you first start following Jesus, what is your greatest wound, what is your greatest time of joy, and where are you at now with God. Truly this time has been a blessing to all of us as we have seen the provision and faithfulness of God in each one of our lives through hard and good times. As we leave this retreat I already feel a lot closer to each of the interns.

Already the Lord is at work in amazing ways. We have seen this in one another as well as in learning about the way the Lord has provided for Horn Creek to stay open through hard financial times. I have already seen too how the Lord has placed each one of us here on purpose. As I just graduated college I have had a lot of questions about what is next. And I praise the Lord that this is what was next for me. A year set aside to be with God and each other serving in a place that has and will impact so many lives. Just in this time at the retreat I have seen how God’s call on our lives is to love Him, be loved by Him, and to love others. Life is less about what exactly we do or where exactly we go. I know all of us are excited for what the Lord has in store for the year. We appreciate any prayers for the ministry here at Horn Creek and the ministry God wants to do in each of our lives. Keep checking for updates, we should be writing something once a week.

Here We Go: Firehose!

2009-08-13T09:34:00.001-07:00

Hello, my name is Jeff Fox. I direct the internship here at Horn Creek. My wife Leslie and I, along with Sara West have been praying and planning for this week for a long time now. We, along with the whole Horn Creek Staff Team are so excited to have the interns here.

Indeed, our internship at Horn Creek is a key component of our ministry here. We can't wait to pour into the lives of these young adults. We are also excited to watch them engage in ministry themselves and grow in their relationship with Christ. A key verse that truly captures our heart for the internship is 1 Thessalonians 2:8, where Paul says, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." We will be living, working, playing and serving right along with these kids this year, and we could not be more excited.

Our interns have come from all over, including Texas, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Nevada, Michigan, South Dakota, and Colorado. Some of the colleges represented are Biola University, Gordon College, Taylor University, Kansas University and more. We are so excited about how God has put together this team!

So, what is happening this week with the Interns?

This week we are frantically trying to get all the interns up to speed, as well as say goodbye to all of our wonderful summer staff that have led our ministry this summer. The first night the interns arrived, we took them to our end of the summer celebration for our summer staff. Though half of them could barely keep their eyes open, we thought this would be a great way for them to get a picture of some of the amazing things that Christ did in the lives of the summer staff. It was an awesome night of sharing, laughter, and tears.

The interns are also getting trained in many areas of camp this week, including cooking, maintenance, recreation activities, programming, ministry opportunities in town, as well as getting an over all picture of our ministries here at Horn Creek. Horn Creek has several key ministries including Family Camp, Youth Camp, Campus Crusade partnerships, Volunteer Ministries, and of course our ministry to summer staff and interns. Indeed this is a firehose week for them, but they have responded very well.

We had an opportunity to hike up to a mountain lake this week with the interns. They all did incredible. It was a perfect day, the flowers were amazing, and there is noting like a mountain lake in the summer time! We also got to experience Westcliffe's culture and went to the local Pizza place and ice cream shop. Driving across town in Westcliffe is a bit of an ordeal....Just kidding.... It takes about 2 minutes actually! Friday we will take a trip to Salida for a bit of Colorado culture, then the interns will participate in our closing night for our family camps this week and then have a barbeque with all the full time staff on Saturday after helping turn the camps with our summer staff crew.

In the next week, we will start our classes, take a retreat, start a kids club in town, begin hosting and leading retreats at camp, and connect our interns with mentors.

We will do our best to keep you all updated this year as to the happenings with our intern team. The interns themselves will be updating this blog from time to time, sharing their own thoughts and experiences as the year goes along. Thanks for tuning in!

-Jeff Fox
Internship Director