Greetings To All:
So I sit down to write on this typical Oregon Spring day and wonder what is going on with each one of you. So? What is happening in your lives? Okay, okay, slow down, one at a time. I can't hear what one person has to say when everyone is speaking at the same time.
We have been seeing an unusual slow time in the Ropes Course schedule. However, we did have some groups come through this past week. We had a wide variety of people from sixth graders to high schoolers to "at-risk" kids from an alternative school to the boys & girls club kids. Yesterday some of our team, I (carson) went along, went to a HUGE church near Portland to train some of their summer camp counselors to play some games and to talk with the campers in an effective way. That three hour long program was for 200 people.
Apart from the games that we taught, which are fun, we taught the counselor/workers how to look at their camp in a different way. One lesson we teach people that come here or have us bring some games to them is how to promote a win/win result for all involved. Instead of making every possible thing a competition (as Westerners are so prone to do), we ask how can everyone come out ahead. And no, we don't mean that in the "you finished tenth out of ten people, but you're still a winner" way. We encourage people to work together to achieve a unified goal into which everyone participated and helped. And therefore everyone enjoys the reward. There can be smaller contests in which groups "compete" against each other, but in doing so they are still working toward the common goal. Why MUST there be a designated loser? (If you can answer that in 500 words or less, please write me and let me know.) An example of this on a small scale is how we have groups pick a team name. Some of them pick an adjective, some a color, and some an animal. When they combine the three they have a team name. Everyone participated, and everyone was working toward the same goal. The title of this entry is one team name that I worked with, and, no, I did not pick "blue" for them.
After talking with my mom the other day I realized that what we do is not clear for some of you. If you would like a better understanding of the course we work on you can go to ywamsalem.org and click on programs and select Ropes Course. There is a video that you can watch. Careful, the first couple of seconds may trigger an epileptic seizure. Enjoy. I'll also try to post some selected pictures with this blog.
Kathy has been working with our team leader and another teammate in restructuring our training manual for the ropes course. When finished this manual will be used for all YWAM Ropes Courses around the world. To date, those locations are in Germany, Latvia, Russia, Brazil, and of course the US. It's been quite the process. Jeff, our leader, is glad to have Kathy on the team, especially during this time. He is utilizing her computer organizational skills. She is doing a wonderful job!
What else has been keeping us busy? Not potty training. And it seems that we have an "open door" house. People seem to drop in at any time of the day. And it's not always the same people. We enjoy the company. When the same people drop in, it gives us a chance to get to know them more and to speak into their lives. Since Easter I have made ten cheesecakes! Five of them were for our base's Easter Dinner, and this past weekend I made five more for a Friends of All Nations (FAN) fundraising bake sale. I take it as a compliment that Virginia, a leader of the FAN team, personally asked for the cheesecakes. Her team makes lunch for us every Tuesday, and she is a phenomenal cook. The FAN team makes a different ethnic meal each time. Virginia gets most of her recipes from Extending the Table and More with Less cook books (Lynette S., you would be familiar with some of the recipes she's used.)
The pictures are of some of the activities on the course. And, as always, a Dakota picture for her adoring fan club. If ever there is a three year old, a spoon, and a tub of ice cream make sure you also have a camera.
As always, thank you for taking time from your day and seeing what we are doing. And please feel free to leave comments and/or send us emails.
God's Blessings To You,
Carson, Kathy, Dakota
