A new song of praise.

“There is always opportunity for a new beginning in our relationship with God… No matter how intimate the companionship we share with Jesus Christ today, there is room for growth and new beginnings.” –Rueben P. Job

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” –Psalm 40:3

“O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” –Psalm 98:1

I have a new song of praise in my heart this week.  Roger, Andy and I participated in a conference last week. It was the first of its kind, bringing together home repair organizations from all over Appalachia.  Over 80 people from 28 organizations attended.

I often recognize how blessed I am to get to work at Confrontation Point.  This ministry does wonderful things and it is clear that God is at work in what we do.  The conference, however, helped me recognize anew how much our work is needed in Appalachia.  I praise God with a new song that I get to be a part of something so much bigger than I am.

At the conference, there were organizations that put on huge one-day events to gather volunteers to work on homes that need the help.  There are other organizations who are very similar to what Confrontation Point does with our Home Repair trips.  Many at the conference provide other services for people in Appalachia.  One woman puts together backpacks filled with food to send home with kids after school on Fridays so that they have food over the weekends.  That food sometimes comes from God’s Pantry, a ministry in Lexington that Confrontation Point groups volunteer at on Mystery Trips.  All this work, and all these people, help me recognize that Confrontation Point is part of something that God is up to that is bigger than just our ministry.  God is at work in Appalachia, and I have a new song of praise in my heart for that.

So, thanks to all the others who are at work in Appalachia and beyond.  Thanks to all the Confrontation Point groups, and groups that serve with other organizations.  Especially, thanks to God for guidance, for providing so all these organizations can serve, and for calling us into things greater than ourselves.

Brian Reenders
Program Director

Fall 2011 Letter

Looking to the Future

In my years with CP, I have helped CP move warehouses, staff housings, and offices many times - a total of 6, I think. So, needless to say, I have moved or touched most every computer, desk, dish, tent, climbing rope, and flashlight that CP owns. In addition to all of these moves, I have seen CP change communities and leadership. I have a tendency to only remember the great memories of my CP past (and there are many) and not so much the hardships that I have experienced. For me, I have learned that continuously longing for people and places of the past can be a slippery slope. It is not always a bad thing to look back on the people that have blessed our lives and have helped to shape us into the people that we are now. It is only when our reminiscing pulls us away from being present with the time and place God has put us in do these memories begin to hinder us.


It is important for us to be self-aware of where our mind and heart is present and that is something we should all be praying for. But, like a headlamp in a dark cave, we cannot see all of what is ahead. We do not always see the unexpected dips or rocks, but we do have the experience of the path behind us to learn from and help us as we continue on our journey. Likewise, we do not always know what the end of the journey will look like; so, it is important that we not become distracted by things of our future that are still in the dark to us. We must strive to live in the present, taking the lessons from our past to help us as we strive towards the future, whatever that may look like.

-Jenna

The Challenge: Camper to Staff

I am blessed to have found Confrontation Point. I have been a camper at CP for years, but this is my first summer working for the ministry. I have found that the jump from camper to staff member has been my greatest challenge. As a camper, you are surrounded by familiar faces and have usually had previous experience working with your group. As a trip coordinator at CP, I am working side by side with new people from all over. These last few weeks have been extremely busy, filled with program training activities and group preparations. While our CP family will undoubtedly encounter trials this summer, I truly believe that I have found people that I will be friends with for life.


I have grown a lot in the past few weeks and view this experience as a gift from God. I am learning more about myself at CP than I would in any other environment. It hasn't all been easy, but the people at CP have given me the tools to overcome challenges and be successful. We are going to do awesome things this summer and our goal is to glorify God's Kingdom. I know we will do that.

-Randa

Summer Beginnings!

We have had an awesome summer start! Staff training has revealed the high quality of young people we’ve recruited; there are numerous growth opportunities for them to experience in 3 weeks of workshops, adventure activities, skills training, community events, devotional times and overnight excursions. Recognizing the educational value of a summer at CP, a few of the 25 staff have even integrated internship requirements with their summer roles.



One highlight for me has been the Staff Covenant discussion. The Staff Covenant is a contract we create together that goes above the normal expectations of community living and challenges us to “go deeper”. It was so encouraging to hear staff members inspire the rest of us to “Practice Living in the presence of God” or “Learn something new about a prayer partner each week.” We’ve also committed to some fun random things on the Covenant too like “Joke time at breakfast!”

A second highlight was the cave training trip a few days ago. Due to recent heavy rains, the cave was muddier than ever. Someone described the mud consistency with whip cream! There was one section in the cave where a few of our staff chose to slide down into a mud pit -- disgusting and hilarious simultaneously! The coolest vantage point was sitting on an overlook in a cave “hallway” that was large enough for a freeway and look back at 25 headlamps following behind. This made me think of the cave devotional that one of our managers gave, referencing Mathew 5:14, “You are the light of the world”. During the devotional, we sat in complete darkness until each of us shared a “personal gift that God had given us” and turned on our lights, one by one. It was a powerful metaphor of Christian community.

-Andy

CP's Eco Mission Trips

Confrontation Point Ministries has initiated the Creation Restoration mission trip to inspire young people to conserve and care for creation. An Indiana youth group participated in the first Creation Restoration mission trip in the summer of 2009. Throughout the week these youth volunteered at a community garden; toured a large recycling center; maintained trails in the Daniel Boone National Forest; organized a “trash scavenger hunt” with elementary school children; cleaned debris out of a Kentucky cave and enjoyed the beautiful playground God created for all of us. Most importantly, they learned a right relationship between God, people and creation.

Youth groups are offered four different mission programs. These curriculums include: Creation Restoration, Home Repair, Mystery Trip and Wilderness Adventure. Our newest program, Creation Restoration, explores our calling to be stewards of the earth. This trip coordinates relevant “green” service projects while focusing on the relationship that Christians share with creation. An educational workbook, called “Divine Nature,” has been designed for participants to gain a Biblical model for creation care. Each day, energetic staff members guide the youth through activities that promote team development, spiritual growth, environmental stewardship and servant-leadership.

In today’s environmentally aware culture, there are countless ways for individuals to live “greener”. But Confrontation Point offers eco-missions that integrate environmental service with team growth and the Christian faith. Last June, we managed the Ichthus Music Festival recycling campaign. More than eight thousand people attended this four-day concert and we recycled forty thousand beverage containers! Although this was worthwhile work, the message that was sent may have been more significant. We believe that living the Christian life means: “looking up to God, out to others and down for trash”. When people attending the Christian rock festival saw us sifting through plastic bottles, it made them consider not just their relationship with the Creator, but also with Creation!

Each year, we provide mission trips for approximately fifty youth groups who visit from more than twenty different states. Participants on all of the trips stay at local campgrounds, experience at least one day of outdoor adventure (climbing, paddling, caving or backpacking) and are motivated to grow as servant-leaders through service to others. This year will be no different; we already have groups signing up for Creation Restoration and other mission trip options. We still have spots open for the 2010 season and encourage you to sign up today!

For more information regarding Confrontation Point Ministries or our Creation Restoration mission, please visit www.confrontationpoint.org or call 1.800.884.8483.

-- Written by Andy Bathje and Wes McChristian of Confrontation Point Ministries

Moving Forward

The slow season for CP is drawing to a close as we begin our final round of preparations for the summer season of 2010. We are more than halfway to our goal of replacing all our camp stoves before this summer, so thank you to those people who have donated one or more stove to the "Light-It-Up!" Campaign; just a few more donations will push us over the top. We're preparing all of our publications for the printer within the next week. We're working on recruiting and hiring the last few staff that we need to fill out our summer staff team. The number of phone calls, e-mails, and letters from groups who have or want to sign up for a trip is increasing every week. All in all, it's getting busy around here!

This fall CP traveled to two different Youth Specialties conferences, one in Cincinnati, OH and one in Atlanta, GA. We were able to have good conversations with youth pastors and youth from around the country, sharing with them the awesomeness of CP. At the conference in Cincinnati, we partnered with the Ichthus Music Festival that is also located in Wilmore, KY. This year the festival will be June 16-19, and we hope to have a couple of groups partner with us and the
festival during that time.

Over New Year's weekend, part of the CP community was able to get together for a time of fellowship and fun. We got to catch up on eachothers' lives, take hikes out to Chimney Top and Half Moon in the snow, build fires that didn't really seem to penetrate the cold, play games, sit around reading trivia questions, watch "The Unit," enjoy meals together, and spend time in worship and prayer as a community. It was refreshing and revitalizing to get away from the office and enjoy time in fellowship with a part of the larger CP family.

Just this past week, we continued with the renovation and organization of our office and warehouse space in Wilmore. Throughout the fall we had slowly been finishing off the back office space, and since it was ready for furniture, we asked for volunteers to help the full-time staff out for a couple of days to get things back to normal. Our staff came through for us, and we're well on our way to having everything in working order around here again.

We spent quite a bit of time this week on the road on college campuses throughout Kentucky attending camp fairs to recruit summer staff. We continue to be blessed by the people that God brings to the CP family.

As we march quickly on towards our summer season, which begins for managers on May 9th, I ask for continued prayers for groups that will be coming on trips with us this summer, for staff that will be serving them, and for the people that our groups will be serving, that their hearts and bodies are prepared for what God has in store for them.

Grace & Peace,
Katherine