W.O.S. Training Tramp

This past week I had the privilege of doing a week of tramping (Kiwi word for backpacking) near Lewis Pass on NZ’s south island.  Five of us went out on the second annual Wide Open Spaces guide training trip.  We had a ton of fun. We laughed, shared stories, swam in the crystal clear New Zealand rivers and hiked about 5o kilometers through some of the most diverse terrain that I have ever seen.  Some days we slowly picked our way through dense storm torn forests and battled the high winds of the high alpine terrain  Other days we rock hopped down narrow river beds and cruised through wide open fields and massive river beds.

This trip is pivotal for the Wide Open Spaces ministry.  It is a chance for new guides and old guides to refresh on their mountaineering skills and continue to learn and improve on their counseling skills.  Six days on the trail gives us a great chance to practice writing bible studies and other skills that point young people towards Christ in the wilderness.  Not only was it a great time for improving our hard and soft skills, it was a fantastic time for community, team building and my personal favorite; spiritual formation.  We took many hours to meditate and pray through different passages throughout the week.  For me there really is nothing like taking a time to be totally alone with God in His creation.  It reconnects me to my creator, my savior.  The power and the majesty of God’s creation brought this verse to life for me:

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. – Ps 27:1-3

Something that never ceases to amaze me on these trips is watching young guides “get it”.  For the first time many understand the power of the wilderness and how God can uses that for heart transformation.  They experience it in their own hearts and they see their friends go through it too.  Not only is it the transformation that goes on in their hearts that amazes me but the leadership that is developed in every guide.  They learn how to make decisions by making hard decisions in a real time environment.  Sometimes they don’t make the right ones but that’s ok, that’s how we learn and that’s why we train.  Every guide that came of this training was stoked and ready for the upcoming summer of guiding which in turn gets me stoked as well.  I’m glad that they are excited for their immediate ministry but for me I get excited because of the long term potential they are developing.   The spiritual formation, the leadership skills, the counseling skills, they will all be used long after they leave this summer.  What a beautiful thing that that means for this lost and dark culture.