I stood at 14,000 feet above sea level, struggling to catch my breath. As I began to take in the panoramic vista of the snow-capped Rocky Mountain, memories and images of 10 years of Colorado wilderness adventures with students rushed through my mind.
The highlight of my ministry endeavors over the last decade has been leading hundreds of students out to Noah's Ark, a Christian rafting and wilderness adventure organization in Buena Vista, Colorado. There were certainly plenty of rush moments as students paddled through class four whitewater, overcame altitude sickness as they got to the top of one of Colorado's 54 "14ers," and stepped off the edge of a rock face with the ground far below during a rappelling exercise.
Yet when someone recently quizzed me on why I kept wilderness adventure trips as a central focus of my ministry work, my response went right past the adrenaline surge of doing things that literally take our breaths away. The word I kept using to describe what really happens was "transformation"—our high adventure activities are a catalyst for allowing the Holy Spirit to change the very core of student and adult lives.
The mountains—as they'd been in the Scriptures for folks like Moses, David, and Jesus—are a place of regeneration and renewal that God uses to help my students take amazing steps of faith as they become more devoted followers of Jesus. Walking the wilderness trails with kids I love and long to see move farther in their spiritual journeys, I've seen first-hand the difference it's made in my own ability to carry out God's calling for my own life. Here are seven components of our adventure trip experiences that have allowed God to accomplish transforming work in our hearts and lives.
Experiencing Reality
Many truths of Scripture we've read and talked about in our teaching times and small groups have become suddenly real through our wilderness adventures. We experientially learn what it means to "bear one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2) as we lighten the backpack of one who's struggling and put those supplies into our own already too-heavy pack. We figure out what it means to "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) as we leave behind the world of people and noise. We gratefully pray "give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11) as we pull some rolls out of a plastic bag we've carried on our backs during a 12-hour hike. And we follow Jesus' call to "wash one another's feet as He washed our feet" (John 13:14) as we wipe a wet bandana over the feet that have been walking the trails of the mountains for the past several days. Life lessons from God's Word are powerfully taught by the elements and experiences we encounter and battle in this non-suburban, non-technological, non-hectic world with which few of my students are familiar.
Authenticity/Vulnerability
It's nearly impossible to hide who you are and what you're feeling when you spend significant time in the backcountry. On our trips, students aren't allowed to have deodorant with them (it's meant to be washed off daily, in case you were wondering) and they're extremely limited in the number of clothes they can bring. Each year I'm amazed at the remarkable people I see in my students when their façades are taken away. Students have shared things about themselves and voiced their deepest questions and fears that they don't share in their everyday world. The wilderness is an amazing place of security, and in the darkness of our campsite we take turns telling our life stories—our struggles and the difficult realities of our own spiritual journeys.
Building Community
When you struggle through physical and mental challenges together, you build deep and lasting relationships. We do almost nothing alone; life is lived together at every level. No one can shut the door or put headphones on. I spend my time walking in the back of our hiking line, allowing students to drift back over the course of the trip, and it's one of my most divine mentoring opportunities. Students see their leaders struggling physically (often more than they do themselves), and it's a powerful thing to be at their same level and allow ourselves to be approachable and vulnerable. Relationships are often forged that last for a lifetime.
A 19-year-old river guide named Cory Scheer has become one of my own closest and dearest ministry colleagues after he led my students and me through an unforgettable wilderness adventure. I often think that my time with my groups in the wilderness is probably the closest thing to an Acts 2 church experience—as we daily study the Word of God, enjoy fellowship, pray, share our possessions, break bread, and are filled with awe at our Lord's creation.
Ability to Handle Crises and Stressful Situations
Students encounter things that they cannot easily handle alone, and they often must cry out for help from their Creator and one another. The guy who was the best athlete in our senior class was knocked off his feet by altitude sickness. The strong guy who never needed anyone's help was dragged up a mountain by two girls who weighed half as much. I've had students learn what it means to depend on God's provision and strength as they unexpectedly swim the rapids. Even though I've used the wilderness primarily as a laboratory for leadership development, it's a remarkable place to bring "ragamuffins and rebels" who may only be reached by this unusual and extreme environment. A favorite memory of mine involves removing a nipple ring from a guy's chest after a fall running down a mountain and seeing that rather unusual pre-evangelism activity pave the way for him come to know Christ on the van ride home. Students begin to realize that it is okay to live in the stretch zone rather than the comfort or panic zones, and they see the growth that being spiritually stretched produces.
Obedience as a Follower
Students are dependent upon their wilderness guides for their direction, safety, and basic life necessities. Heading down the Arkansas River whitewater, one is forced to give up prized independence and paddle the exact number of strokes called out by the river guide. Over the years, I've gone down the river over 30 times, yet I find myself trusting in and depending on the guides more easily than ever, just as our own consistent obedience to God's commands builds a greater confidence in God's leading. In giving up control of their lives and will, students begin to understand what it means to obey, follow, and be dependent upon our God who guides us and supplies all our needs.
Listening to God's Voice
The rocks do cry out as the power and beauty of God's creation overwhelms you. We send students out for a solo time in which they sit and listen for God to speak without the noises, distractions, and clutter of their everyday lives. For many of our students, these precious hours are the unexpected highlight of a trip filled with extreme adventures. I conduct a yearly evaluation of my own heart condition, ministry calling, and personal goals while looking at the magnificent peaks God has sculpted. The opportunity to push students to seek answers from the Holy Spirit concerning strategic life questions has often changed their perspective on the meaning of life, their plans for the future, and their own identities in Christ. They really do hear the "still, small voice of God" personally challenge, encourage and speak to them.
Development of Student Leaders
Tremendous opportunity exists in wilderness settings for the development of communication and decision-making skills, in addition to building Christ-like characters. The mountains become a laboratory where we help students gain vision, passion, and confidence for future leadership roles. I take a team of 10-11 students in whom I've committed to deeply invest my own life, and we begin the process of building trust while discovering one another's gifts and strengths. We equip them with basic wilderness skills and teach biblical leadership qualities before turning them loose as leaders on the trip. They're empowered to make decisions concerning the backpacking route, spiritual content, and group activities for the particular day that they're the leaders. My leadership group has consistently returned "to the valley" with a passion to see mountains moved as they follow Jesus with a new sense of purpose and confidence.
. . . . .
I'm now in my mid-30s, and I'm not sure how many more years my body and my family can handle the adventure activities as a regular part of my calendar. However, I won't give it up easily; my life and the lives of hundreds of students will never be the same because of the work Jesus did in us in the challenge and glory of God's creation.
Many of my students have gone on to serve as wilderness guides at Noah's Ark, and I've found myself putting my life in their hands and being spiritually taught by the ones I first took down the river and prodded up to the mountain peak. It's a remarkable picture of the growth of the family of God and the progression of spiritually passing the torch that I long to see in my work with students.
The mountains continue to leave a legacy of transformation on the lives that God has entrusted to me; and for me, that's what makes the journey, the risk, and the adventure eternally worth it.
Originally published in the April 2006 issue of YouthWorker Journal, copyright 2006, Youth Specialties. Reprinted/used with permission.
