Academy Leadership Expedition 2008
Summit of Middle Sister. Academy Leadership Expedition
__________________________________________________________________________________
Student leaders from across the NPUC stepped way out of their comfort zones and developed a deeply connected community, dynamic new leadership strategies and had a lot of fun! We were privileged to summit Middle Sister under bluebird skies and then glissaded across the snow fields to our camp. On Saturday, we had guests; Annapurna Myrna and Gunther drop in for a presentation about living intentional lives and then reveled in a few hours of restful solo time as we processed where we were headed individually and as leaders.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Student quote of the day, “For the first time in my life I realized that I am a leader. I have never believed that I was a leader until now. Now I am asking God what He is calling me to do.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
On Sunday, we bade farewell to the mountains and moved to the high desert of Smith Rocks. We reveled in the fantastic climbing and the lack of other visitors. After two strong days climbing on Monday and Tuesday we enjoyed a campfire at Haystack Reservoir. On Wednesday, Jared gave us a visual glaciology education; Doni presented a class about body movement, anatomy and physiology and finally, Les offered several practical leadership strategies before we debriefed on the summit of “our” private” mountain.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Personal note: I sensed an anticipation about returning to our families and friends in the valleys as we drove over the mountains to Portland. On the other hand, we lingered at the edge of the wilderness. There seemed to be an invitation calling us to remain just a little longer in this stunning gallery of God. We also experienced the warmth of a close and supportive community while we lived in the wilderness. Perhaps, as we turned down the noise of our lives for a few days, we were able to hear the whispering God speaking to us and through each other. In these rare moments, we felt the magnetic call of the Majestic. In each person on the expedition there were glints of the Divine that shone through. I saw God in the compassion, helpfulness and joy that flowed through this group. I consider it a great honor to be able to call BJ, Chris, Doni, Jared, Joni, Justin, Phillip, Shasten and Tad my friends. Stay Anchored.