Spring Con Testimonies

After coming back from Spring Con we are often flooded with a mix set of emotions: happiness to have our own beds and regular showers, exhaustion and in desperate need of a nap, and but also nostalgia for the amazing times we just had. We brought a total of 32 students with us to Catalina.

I taught Mark I (the first half of the gospel of Mark) and my former staff from IVSLO came and taught Mark II. It being my second time teaching Mark I, I was so impressed with this group of students for their deep desire to study the word. They engaged with some really difficult texts and sought to see more of who Jesus was during this week. It was an amazing and full week.

Now that we've been home a couple of weeks and have settled back into school and work routines, I asked my students to share with me (and you) there stories of how Spring Con 2015 impacted them. It was great to hear how many of them are still wrestling with what God challenged them in while they were studying the gospel of Mark.

Here are stories from our Mark I class. They began with Jesus' baptism and ended with Peter declaring Jesus is the Christ. 

"Spring Con for me provided one of the most intimate experiences I ever had with Jesus. As we dug through the scriptures he revealed himself and his character to me constantly. One of the things that stuck with me is how much God cares for us to understand what he is about, in not just an intellectual way but in a way that screams intimacy and personal relationships. He just wants us to be able to recognize his goodness during the storms of our lives and when we miss things we are supposed to learn, he is not too busy to repeat the whole process again just like he did with the disciples until we can clearly see what is he is trying to teach us." - Umu (sophomore)

"Spring Con helped me see how Jesus moved and how he ministered to his disciples and people of all backgrounds. I feel so much closer to God now, and I am inspired to do more in His name." - David (senior)

"Growing up in the church, I was raised knowing who Jesus was, but it wasn't until Spring Con that I realized that I knew about Jesus, but I didn't know him. Mark I ignited a longing to seek Jesus that I didn't know I had. Therefore, I can honestly say that Mark I is a turning point in my life. My outlook on being a follower of Jesus has forever been changed." - Karla (freshman)

"I have begun my understanding and delve into the life of Jesus starting from the baptism of Jesus. I couldn't say that I understood Jesus yet since I only scratched the surface of his teachings but I gained  insight into his method of teaching through not only his words, but also through his healing of people with all kinds of ailments." - Armand (Junior)

"God wants you to understand. When a prayer does not get answered soon, a reason could be that we have not understood what God's purpose is for our lives. Waiting and finding that purpose could be a frustration, but God is always by our side, opening new ways to find it. If we seek, we will find. god works at his time, and we just need to learn to be patient and have faith." - Miguel (sophomore)

"Like the bleeding woman, Jesus took me back to my childhood to heal me from my past." - Angel (junior)

"There is a difference between belief and faith. It is not enough to just believe. What will you do with your beliefs? You must walk in faith, even when you don't believe." - Corey (senior)

I also asked our Mark II students (since I had many of them in Mark I last year). They began with Jesus calling us to deny our selves, take up our cross, and follow up him and ended with Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. 

"Spring Con was life changing. My relationship with God was powerfully challenged after witnessing his love and presence in my life through the manuscript study." - Jonathan (sophomore)

"It's never been any question about how much Jesus love us, but hearing in detail what he wen through on the cross really gave me a new perspective. That's what impacted me the most on the trip. God really opened my eyes to how much love and compassion and grace that He has for us." - Perri (sophomore)

"I definitely experience a realization that art can speak volumes and that God uses art to reach out to people in different was. I was so touched to hear from people that when I would draw images that came to mind about scripture and Jesus that it touched them on a deeper level. And hearing those affirmations from people I could see that artwork brings his people closer to him." - Joanna (senior)

"Mark II made me aware of how undeserving I am, and that everything I have is a gift. To reciprocate this gift, God showed me I need to begin giving more sacrificially to him. Jesus asks people multiple times to follow him in difficult capacities, which opened up my eyes to what he may ask me to do in the future. I felt holes in my knowledge of the context of Jesus' coming to Earth - why he came and at that time - be filled; I feel like I now I have a solid foundational knowledge God can now further build upon." - Sean (sophomore)

Spring Con Photos

Here are some of the pictures from Spring Con. There were a lot from the week but I chose some that highlighted the craziness of that week.

Our Mark 1 room for the whole week. We loved being the boat house!

Going snorkeling was a highlight for many of our students who had never been.

After an intense basketball game

Students prepare to walk up the cross. 

Abby, Perri, and Jessica are all a part of the Frosh/Soph small group.

Miguel and Raquel 

22 students went through the first half of the gospel of Mark. They were all so engaged in the word and bonded as a community.

Students prepare to hike several miles around camp. 

Luis, Kaylon, Abby, and Karla

The Mark 1 class frequently asked us questions during free time and break time. 

Jessica, Angel, Jeremy, and Abby

The island is beautiful. 

Kelcey, Angel, Umu, and Karla

This was my second time teaching Mark 1 and this year I co-taught with one of my graduating seniors, Jenel. 

Our Mark group also enjoys joking around with each other. 

We read the parable of the 4 Soils to them by the sea, as Jesus did.

Our Mark 1 class. 

Our Mark 2 students. 

All of CSUN! There were 32 students total this year! 

6 Things I learned at Spring Con

1. Traveling via shore boats is so fun as a student. It's a not so fun as a staff worker. Looks fun right? Well it's a lie. Do we have all the right stuff that belongs to us? Have we left students behind? Wait where did that student go? Why is no one helping take luggage off? Will we fit on two shore boats? Exhausting.

2. Teaching by yourself is the hardest thing to do. I love my Mark I group - but 21 people all to myself felt like herding sheep. Biblical but tiring. :) Ok but they are pretty fun to be with. 

3. It takes at least 2-3 times to go through Mark before you start actually kind of understand what's going on. I still learned new things as I prepared for Mark I that I missed as a student. And even if I go through it 20 more times I'll still see more. 

4. Matching shirts are awesome. Period.

5. Have fun! It can be super stressful learning new things or teaching new things or finding out that your students have broken too many things but it's always good to have a little bit of fun while you are there.

6. But take it seriously. Times like this don't come around very often - to study scripture in community and to be away on an island. This is a big a deal.

Rocks

I wrote this poem about four years ago, when I first studied 1 Corinthians and was given the task to look at what I felt I was entitled to. Four years later, I had picked up all the same entitlements but masked them with different words and different spins but they were the same. I let them go again and I hope that four years later I have not picked them all up again.

At the Bottom of the Sea
I stood upon a dock lined with mattresses,
With five friends standing small.
So no one sees the inscriptions I wrote upon their faces,
The words harbored in my heart from all.

Together we hide in the darkness,
Hoping it will bring us peace.
But the harder I clutch their hands,
My contentment begins to cease.

Their stony faces have no expressions
As they stand solemnly still.
I close my eyes just to be hidden
From the outside world.
I carried them around all day and night.
My entitlements, my rocks, my rights.

Freedom stood across from me,
The eldest of them all.
He was given to me upon my birth,
And always standing tall.

Fiercely independent and strong,
But upon my word and command
He would jump into the ocean himself
For I knew without him I could stand.

The twins of a pair stood in between
They were the desire to be praised
They never parted each other's side or mine,
For Respect and Affection are what I most craved.

They rarely looked at me,
But eyes were always daring off into the distance,
Hoping to catch a glimpse of someone watching
For a stolen smile would always lift their spirits.

I carried the twins for as long as I could talk,
When I saw that words brought praise and high remarks
Desperate speech I used just to get attention
It was a long a journey I thus then embarked.

The youngest, Leadership, stood next to me
He was new to this twisted family I had formed,
But the easiest to see with his dark sleek face
All knew that I deserved to have such a beauty adorned.

The smallest and easily missed
Stood quietly at my side
I rarely spoke of him
Or with him one day I might abide.

The man, the partner, the husband.
He was a future right, but one I wanted still.
The man I rarely spoke of to anyone.
It was my heart he was meant to fill.

He would be the hardest to let go of.
But then again, I held tightly onto to all of them.
They sat together, out of sight, out of mind
For everyone else had their own burdens.

Five rocks. Five rights. Five words.
I carried them around the nights and days
That I stayed on this secluded island.
Weighing more each moment that they stayed.

Smooth and soft, round and real.
Each I knew I deserved to have and to hold.
Who could contest that I had not earned them.
Yet there was one who wanted them let go.

I was commanded to throw each one away
Into the depths of the ocean below.
And there they would remain in
The dark depths that would swallow them whole.

And so there I stood alone
With these strange friends of mine
Small simple, but carrying great burdens
That had plagued me for too long a time.

One by one I threw them into the giant sea
Never knowing where they went or would go
All give, for it had to be all or nothing
I just let them go.

I felt lighter the moment I walked back
Without five rocks buried in the small
Pockets of my pants. But there was the unsettling feeling
That I had not done the right thing after all.

For I missed those rights once they were gone.
And even though that island is far behind
And the rocks are lost among the sand and sea
With other of their own kind.

I am still tempted to pick them back up.
God give me strength to leave them where they belong.

Campus by the Sea

I really haven't had the time or energy to reflect about what happened at Spring Con yet (I blame getting sick almost right after camp).

So here are some of my favorite shots of Campus by the Sea from this year.

Where 1 Corinthians met every day. This has become my favorite room at camp because my two favorite studies met here (1 Corinthians and Genesis).

The view from the very steep hike to Avalon.

By the dock while in Avalon.

The dolphins we saw on our boat ride home from Avalon.

Yet another home away from home.

Catalina Island

I will miss Catalina because...

- I no longer get food to served to me at 8 am, 12:30 pm, and 6 pm on the dot.
- I no longer can sit by the ocean and just watch the waves roll in.
- No more kayaking. Even for ten minutes with the twin who is afraid of the ocean.
- No more constant stream of people that send an extrovert (like me) into a unusual state of bliss.
- No more fantastic manuscript study and amazing revelations that really only come with such in depth study of the Word.
- No more late night conversations (in person and not on the phone)
- No more amazingly clear days surrrounded by God's amazing ocean front creation.


I will not miss Catalina because...

- I can finally sleep in a comfortable bed without people shouting loudly from the bathroom
- I can shower in peace without people trying to have a conversation with me
- I can sleep in and not be awoken by a bell at 7:30 am
- I will not be stuck at a church because the boat cannot go out in high winds.
- I am no longer sea sick from a boat ride.


Well, it was still totally worth it. I love Spring Con. More on this to come.

Peter's Plea: A Good Friday Poem

I return here desperate to leave my own shame.

Alone, there is no one left to blame.

I am sitting in the slime that surrounds only my own name.

In this spot, my distraught heart will stand.

Where swords were once drawn at hand

And lowered at one weakened man’s command.

There was one who stood to give a deadly kiss.

Another, an ear he should have made to miss.

And their lives now suddenly thrown into fear’s abyss.

Choked with fear of the unknown

But a single man’s love not yet shown

And a God who needed to return to His throne.

A man pleas for forgiveness.

He’s not the only one.

Three times I spoke those fatal words

Of a denial I pray he never heard.

Then three nails that pierced his skin

To free my life from the chains of sin.

Now I live in constant despair

Because of the three words I let loose in the air.

Scars that burn in the dead of night

But only when the sun rises they might

Reveal the burn within.

He sat in the garden alone.

I tried not to succumb to sleep

But exhaustion digs down deep.

A lamb being led to the slaughter

That one might save a son or daughter.

A God remaining in the in the heavens above

Trying to show unadulterated love,

It pleased him to crush his own son.

And he was satisfied when it was done.

This sacrifice unlike any I have seen;

Unearthly, indescribable, a mystery.

He dug me up out of the pit of hell,

And gave me the stories to tell.

Instead of removing my own shame

I gave thanks with bitterness, anger, and blame.

For it was the only thing I chose to let remain.

I was too afraid to stand naked in the garden,

Unable to receive any form of pardon.

I hoped that the paper leaves would cover the hardened

Human that I have become.

Lord what is it that I have done.

And the crow cries, three…two…one.

And we sit alone in an empty garden.

Peter and I.

One in the same.

Betrayer. Denier. Afraid.

It is here I plea

For grace and mercy.

From the only man who could stay up on a cross

So all would not be lost.

And when we leave the place

From which we tried to hide our face,

We were not the only ones. 

Spring Con Photos

This year at Spring Con I took a lot more regular photography shots rather than people being stupid or making funny faces (I mean I still took those just not as many). Here are the ones I am proud to show.

Quiet time on the beach. 

Acapella worship by the cross. 

Amazing catch!

Last session by the sea

Walk along the rocks. 

An alter to the Lord.