In this issue:

Now What? Seven Ways to Build Spiritual Growth into "Everyday" Life
By: Marcus Fowler, Assistant to the Director, Outtatown

I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life, than on the nature of those events themselves.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt

The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.
~ Proverbs 13:4

Outtatown is intended to be life changing; an opportunity for students to experience community, worship, friendship, adventure and service to others in new and exciting ways, experiences that many of them might not have even known were possible. The intent is not to create an isolated year, but to lay foundations for the rest of life. It is unfortunate, however, when students complete the year and then fall back into unhealthy habits and patterns once they return to “everyday” life.

One of the keys to maintaining personal and spiritual growth in normal life is to have a plan, deciding ahead of time what you will need to do when faced with challenges. It could be easier than you may think to fall back into old lifestyle patterns, and to avoid taking the necessary initiative to continue growing. Building healthy components such as church, bible study, accountability and personal devotions into everyday life will take lots of initiative on your part. You will need to decide for yourself that spending time with God in these ways is important enough to you to make the effort necessary to make it happen. I recommend creating your own action plan based on what you know are your challenges, but here are some basic action steps to get you started:

1. Find a church where you can make friends and build a healthy community.
   
   If you don’t have a home church or if you have been going to your family’s church but don’t really feel like you connect there, make it a priority to find a local church that you like. Know in advance that no church will feel like home immediately, but choose to see the value in sticking it out through the initial awkwardness until you make some friends. By taking initiative with joining a church community group, becoming a volunteer or at least just introducing yourself to people on a Sunday morning, you will eventually build a Christian community around you that is life giving and supportive.
   
   
2. Join a bible study.
   
   Start asking around at your church or school to see if there is a bible study that you can join with people in it that are your age. This is a great way to build friendships and to grow spiritually. Attending church on Sunday mornings is a good start, but some churches tend to be more of a spectator than a fellowship experience. Bible Studies/Small Groups are great places to dive into deeper topics, to explore what we believe, what we shouldn't believe, and the whys of it all - all in the context of a safe community.
   
   
3. Spend quality time with God.
   
   Anyone who is married will tell you that if you hope to grow in your relationship, fall deeper in love with that person, and nurture a healthy, mature commitment you must spend intentional quality time with that person. Your relationship with God should be thought of in the same way. Anyone who ignores their spouse, doesn’t make them a priority in their life, and doesn’t share their life openly with them shouldn’t be surprised if the relationship feels distant and cold. It is also important to recognize that even when we don't feel like God is close to us, it doesn’t mean he isn’t. He exists as good and loving and fulfilling completely apart from our feelings. Choosing to believe that God loves us and desires to be close to us can see us through what might feel like a spiritual desert.
   
   Each unique individual must figure out for his or her self in what context quality time with God best takes place. If journaling helps you, do that. If walking and praying out loud or being in nature is what you enjoy most, make space and priority for that to be possible.
   
   
4. Find a mentor.
   
   If you are really serious about growing in your faith, developing personally, and making good life decisions, finding a mentor who is willing to speak into your life is a wise choice. A mentor can be a great encourager to you and a sounding board for ideas you have. Typically, they will be older and more mature which means they will have gone through many of the issues you will be facing in your current reality. Unfortunately, churches don’t always emphasize mentorship as much as they should, and therefore it can be a significant challenge to find one. This is an opportunity for you to pray about something specific and to take initiative. Talk to us and we’ll do whatever we can to partner you with someone in the area where you live, or talk to the youth pastor at the church you attend. Think about family friends or other mature Christians you may know at church. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t find one right away. Continue to pray about it and ask God to help you connect with someone.
   
   
5. Find an accountability partner/group.
   
   It seems that perhaps the best way to make sure ongoing sins in your life continue is to keep them to yourself. God created us to be in community and to bear one another’s burdens. James 5:16 says: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Sin thrives in the darkness so take the bold step of bringing it into the light in the context of a trusted friendship.
   
   
6. Stop hanging out with friends who are a negative influence.
   
   If you’ve been spending time with people who you know bring you down morally or spiritually, have the courage to break away from them. This can be an extremely difficult and scary thing to do, but if you really are committed to growing spiritually, it may be the step of obedience that you need to take. Sometimes God may call us to remain close friends with a person (or people) who are going through a hard time, but don’t use this as an excuse to do what you know you shouldn’t be doing.  If God is genuinely calling you to spend time with people involved in a sinful lifestyle, he will help you to have the strength to avoid being brought down by it. That is how you will know the difference.
   
   
7. Start serving at your church.
   
   Not only is serving at your church a great way to meet more people and build a community, but it will also help you take more ownership, which will contribute to an increased sense of belonging within your congregation.

Overwhelmed? Don’t be. You don’t need to do all of these things at once, but this list should help spark some ideas of what you can do to continue moving forward and growing spiritually. Where you go from here depends on how motivated you are. Those that are willing to put in the work will reap the incredible benefits that a lifestyle of ongoing discipleship has to offer. God bless you on this most worthwhile journey!

Four Words You Can't Teach
By: Paul Kroeker, Director, Outtatown

In an article in the Toronto Globe and Mail (Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008) Tracy McGillivray tells the story of a mother who has an autistic son. She is teaching him the many social responses he will need in life, but he learns them by repetition, and they become mechanical, learned responses to specific situations.

Every night she tucks him into bed and tells him, "I love you, son", and every night her expression of love is met with silence. Her hope has been that some day he will respond with the words, "I love you too, mom", but instead she moves to the door, looks back at her son, and turns out the light. She refuses to teach him an appropriate response fearing that if she does, she will never know if it is purely mechanical, and would be unaware if it ever becomes an expression of true love.

As much as this may teach about the relationship between a mother and her autistic son, it seems to be a fitting parallel to our own relationship with God. Every morning, throughout the day and as we go to bed at night, God attends to us in loving ways, hoping for some kind of response that indicates, "I love you too", however, how many times does God stand there waiting for our response in some kind of word or deed, only to be met with silence, apathy or neglect?

The Challenges of Returning Home
By: Paul Kroeker, Director, Outtatown

Believe it or not, Some students may find the return home to be as challenging as any part of the journey so far. There is a reverse culture shock that happens on return that can be even more severe than that of leaving home. We will be attempting to prepare the students for these challenges in our last week of debrief sessions, but it is good for parents, family and friends to be aware of these as well and to begin to pray, plan and prepare with the following things in mind:

• The students are not expecting to face this challenge (and their families don't expect it either), so they are unlikely to prepare themselves for what is ahead. We will be attempting to assist them to face this in advance, but it is always harder to convince people that they will face culture shock when they return, than when they are leaving to an unknown part of the world.
  
  
• Secondly, they do not realize that things have changed. They have changed through their experience, and so have the situations at home changed, as people grow and develop. Friends have moved on, and relationships will be different now, leaving some of them confused about where they belong. This is often unexpected and will need to be talked about in order to deal with these changes. They will be looking for "their place" in all of this and will need time to re-establish friendships, relationships and adjust to the way things now work in your home. You may need to adjust to the changes in their life as well.
  
  
• Thirdly, they will be tired. Their adrenaline was up during the entire three months, and now there will be a need to find renewal. They may have some health issues that follow them home. Some students have found that they had to deal with some of the food/health/plumbing issues as they return home, just like they faced these changes entering a new culture. If any of these persist, please consider seeing a medical professional, and talk openly with your child about the health issues that they faced while they were away (you may be surprised as to how graphic some of these conversations will be, since they have had to talk about this as a group in order to make sure that the group was healthy en route).
  
  
• They will need time to talk about what has happened to them. This won't happen in one conversation, and will require some time. Often there is the big burst of stories and anecdotes in the first hours of meeting as a family, but then, some of the deeper reflections and the more challenging stories will come out over time. They may feel frustrated at times, because they have so much to talk about and others may not appear to have the same level of interest or understanding. I would recommend that if you haven't followed the map of the country they have been in, that you get a good map and then have them trace the locations they visited along with the stories and experiences that came with each of these. Ask about sights, smells, images, things that were funny, things that were sad, things that were difficult or upset them in some way. All of these will assist them in relating some of what they have experienced.
  
  
• They will probably miss the tight, supportive community that they have experienced and will find it difficult to find a replacement for this in their home locations. They will be tempted to compare their home Church, family, community to things that they have seen and experienced. This is a good thing in some ways but the home crowd will feel that this is threatening, especially if they are seen as being less than what they had on the program. The students will need help finding their way through this and into a healthy bible study group, worship experience, and friendship circle.
  
  
• As this program encountered so many issues of poverty and injustice, there will be a need for these students to come to terms with what this all means. If they are going to become part of the solution to these issues, they will need to do further work and study, but they may at times feel that they are becoming part of the problem if they go that route. They will need good mentors and role models to work out some of these issues, so it would be good if they could find a youth pastor, relative or significant adult that can help them to work through what it means to care about world issues in a Christian way from within Canadian culture.

During the program we pray for the students and the leaders, but increasingly, I find myself praying for the countries in which they serve. The students have seen significant needs, and have been effective in responding to some of these in meaningful ways. They have also seen that there is so much that needs to be done. I think of the some of the poverty and injustice that can be seen in Guatemala, where entire sections of the population will not receive even a modest elementary school education. I think of the issue of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, and the mass migrations that are taking place from rural areas into shanty towns that become a trap for generations to come. These people need to know the love of Jesus Christ, and the healing of their culture, their communities, and their nation. As students return home, it would be very helpful to them if you would join with them in praying for the needs they saw in Guatemala or South Africa, and to find some way to respond to need there or related needs here in Canada. One of the most meaningful ways a person can deal with the transition to the home situation is to "care about something that matters". A return to selfish or self centered patterns of the past will not be a good outcome. The students will need to find avenues that allow them to serve others, to help make a difference in their Church, their community, in this world; to care about things outside of themselves. This can be a challenge, but through prayer it can happen anywhere.

Please take these as suggestions to consider. There is no formula here, and every student is different, so please take it under advisement (prayerfully).