God is good!

Andrew Laparra — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:47:36 -0800

Hey, I just wanted to hopefully help start a little conversation on here, but I am definitely thanking Christ for His love for me! He is so good! Especially when you're able to sit down and allow Him to talk to you through His soft, still voice. I sure is different from when you're on the team and you're given a specific time to spend with God to doing everything on your own. But the Lord is teaching me one of the real reasons that I need to spend time with Him. It is to put His armor that He gives us to make it through each day!

Posted to: God is good!

Global Games Extension

ERM — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:41:06 -0700

Lou San Times

Olympians Showdown with Titans at the Global Games Coliseum
By Philip Drake
Global Games Resident Professional (which means absolutely nothing!)

The Olympians brought it strong in the latest showdown with their fierce competitors, the Titans! The contest was stretched out over 3 days and involved many grueling events such as Big Ball Bonanza, Extreme Frisbee, Big Ball V-ball, and the most heated of all events – Torch It!

On October 1 at 5:30pm, competitors from Leesburg Christian School in Leesburg, VA stepped onto the property of the Global Games Village at Mt. Lou San at the base of Blue Mtn. for the first time as they began their 3-day quest for gold. The events at the Global Games Village, which many thought were over in early August, were extended for this 3-day matchup. The Encounter members once again assumed their roles as “coaches” to facilitate this epic scenario, as they quickly bonded with their “athletes” for maximum effectiveness. Apart from the rivalry, the athletes enjoyed spending worthwhile time with their coaches at the Global Games Chapel learning more about God’s pattern for their lives. They learned lessons on teamwork and unity in the body of Christ at the Low Ropes Training Course. Through the sport of geocaching, the coaches were able to help their athletes understand how God’s Word is like the GPS tracker that guided them through the woods to their treasure. And through a time set aside for personal devotions, the athletes were able to cultivate their relationship with their heavenly Father – many for the first time in a long while.

Certainly, the highlight of this episode of the Global Games was the fireside testimonies shared by coaches and athletes alike, where it was evident that the events between the Olympians and the Titans took backstage to the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all those who attended the games.

To the readers/subscribers of this issue of the Lou San Times:
We thank God for this time with Leesburg Christian School and ask that you would please remember these students in your prayers. Many have made life-altering decisions and need the courage to stand up for those decisions, and the perseverance to carry them out. Thank you for your prayers and commitment to Mt. Lou San. We would encourage you to look for the next issue of the Lou San Times in the near future! God bless!

Posted to: Global Games Extension

Global Games Extension

ERM — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:40:22 -0700

Posted to: Global Games Extension

Global Games Extension

ERM — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:38:32 -0700

Posted to: Global Games Extension

New Programming at Mt. Lou San!

ERM — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:18:15 -0700

Encounter Alumni,

Hi everyone! I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know about 1 opportunity we have had here at Mt. Lou San Bible Camp. Yesterday, we held an activity for a school retreat entitled “Jesus: the Great Treasure Hunt.” We set up an extreme geocaching course on our 150-acre property. For those of you who have never heard of the sport of “geocaching,” it is basically a glorified hike using handheld gps units to find “treasure” at different coordinates around the property. It is actually an international sport that we learned about this past year. The kids really enjoyed their trek up and down the mountain. Well…most of them, anyway. From here the school went to Camp Hebron, just north of our camp. I was asked to do the message for their chapel that night, so I prepared a message along the same theme as I mentioned above. We looked at Solomon and everything that he had (millions of times more than any of us). Solomon’s cry at the end of his life was that it was all vanity! Nothingness! Worthless emptiness and futility! He says it was like “grasping for the wind.” Well, I am still in awe of how God moved in the basement of that lodge where we met that night. Many of the students responded to the call for salvation, and many others made an active decision to allow God, and God alone, to be their satisfaction. Praise the Lord for His working in the lives of those students that night. As alumni of Encounter, I wanted you to know how God is using Mt. Lou San and its staff for His purposes. Please continue to pray for the ministry that Mt. Lou San has in the community as we will continue to pray for you.

In Christ,
Philip Drake
Program Director, Mt. Lou San Bible Camp

P.S. – I am also praising God that the event was not held the next day because as we were cleaning up the activity we saw 3 black bears right on one of the trails we had just been on the day before. Yikes!!!

Posted to: New Programming at Mt. Lou San!

Bob Gelsthorpe

ERM — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:58:35 -0700

Hey everyone!
I wanted to ask for one urgent request-- please pray for my Dad today (Tuesday 8/19). He is having surgery beginning at 8:00am to remove a tumor from his lung.

Some of you know him, and some of you don’t. He is the greatest man that I know. He has taught me so much about life, about how to deal with difficulty in life, and loving the Creator of life.
He loves the Lord and has never known a stranger (as those of you who have met him can attest).

For those who don’t know him- here is the short version...
In 2001, he found out that he had colon cancer. They did surgery and it was successful, but they didn’t follow up with any chemo or radiation.
Everything seemed fine.
Fast forward to early 2006, in what can only be described as an act of God, the doctor, looking for some problematic kidney stones ‘accidentally’ had the X-Ray machine positioned too far up and it picked up a spot on his lung. After many tests and scans, they determined that it was the colon cancer from before that had now spread to his lungs.
He took chemo for quite awhile, he had a laser treatment done (which was very successful), and then they did some more chemo.
He has had some very low days, but it has not kept him out of the pulpit. Again, for those who don’t know my dad- he is the Pastor of a small Southern Baptist church in rural North Carolina. He loves people and is the type of person that would give you the shirt off his back.
He has battled cancer for several years now, and we have come to a very important moment. There is one tumor left that they are going after, which was not affected by the chemo, and it is too close to his heart for them to use the laser treatment. This is the last resort before taking the entire lung.
There are so many people that have lifted my dad and my family up in prayer during this entire battle, and my family and I are humbled and more grateful than anyone will ever know.
But if I may ask once again- please keep my dad in your prayers.
I and my family appreciate your thoughts and prayers more than I can ever begin to express.

I hope to send an update after the surgery.

Thank you again and God Bless.

John

*Romans 8:28

Posted to: Bob Gelsthorpe