The Update

Has it been a while since you checked out the NSL pics? We’ve uploaded over 200 new photos from this months’ events. Head on over and check them out! Plus you can look at the rest of the over 2000 pictures (update: so we actually only have 1,586 pictures online right now.. but we’ll get there) from previous get-togethers! Have fun!

Here’s a slideshow with some of the pics!

Hey Senior Highers!
As you know, we’ve been wrestling with the Wilderness Trip for a while. We’ve come up with a plan that will meet our budget requirements and promises the best shot at a successful and enjoyable trip.
We need at least 7 students to sign up for the trip by this Sunday (August 3). Call friends, invite neighbors, whatever you want. But this is the minimum number we need signed up in order to make the trip work.
The Details:
We’ll be heading to the Taylor’s Falls areas Thursday (note the date change) to Saturday. Activities will include some bouldering, hiking, rock climbing, and canoeing down the St. Croix.
The cost remains the same ($165) and will cover the usual (gas, gear, and grub). Plus you’ll need some cash for a fast food meal on the way there.
Let the sign up begin:

Have you heard about the little legal mishap involving our very own Pastor Brian? No? Well then you must not be reading the Chiconautla Mission Trip blog. The Northwood Mexico Mission Team has a blog where they are posting pictures, prayer requests, and stories from their time in Mexico. The team includes NSL’s Jason “Snowflake” Dyer, Shane “Skwrl” Jacques and his wife Beth “TBD” Jacques.

So head on over and check it out.

There is some Splash-Camp inspired new music is available on the NSL Jukebox!

United We Stand is gives the rockstar treatment to worship music from the leading worship leaders at Hillsong United. Stunning instrumentals, progressive beats, and some serious ruckus of worship is all there for you to enjoy! This is some great praise music (seriously, you need to listen to it to understand).

And for those of you who were at Splash Camps, you’ll recognize a lot of the songs and style as what the Splash Band played while we were at camp!

So crank up the speakers and head over to check it out!

Need a refresher? Get directions for the NSL Jukebox here.

Another great day at Splash, and the last full one. We had a fantastic time in everything we did yesterday.

We finished the book of Philippians (woo-hoo!) and found all sorts of amazing nuggets of Bibley goodness. Be content always. Focus on what is pure and lovely. There is nothing impossible as far as God is concerned. It was a great bit to end on.

We played wild games, which were increidbly fun. It started as Marsh Wars. A game in which you had to shoot one another with marshmallow blow-guns. Get shot too much and you had to go to the Pit o’ Redemption. A kiddie pool filled with Ramen Noodles where you had to bob for Swedish Fish candies. (The Ramen was chicken, for those who want to know.)

That is how the game went, that is, until the youth pastors started throwing Cream of Mushroom soup at everyone and a mass food-fight brook out. Marshmallows, Ramen, Goopy soup, and water were flying EVERYWHERE! It was fantastic!

Bath time in the lake, and then off to the rest of the day for a great time.

Last night brought goodbyes and party time as we spent a couple hours at the Splash “Coffeehouse” a place to chill out and party down with our dear friends from this past week. A great way to end the night.

We’ll try and post one more recap for week as a whole, but right now we are packing up and getting ready to leave, so we have to say our final goodbyes, maybe cry a couple tears, and get on the long road ahead… but we are transformed and different than when we came.

We had another amazing day at Splash Camps yesterday!

The weather was gorgeous, and the activities were great. We spent another day trying to not complain, which seemed easier than the day before. Morning devos were sweet and we got some neat stuff out of reading Philippians 3. Only one more chapter and then we’ve read a whole book of the Bible while we were at camp!

Last night was also the Beach Party. We headed to the lakeshore where there were grass skirts and hula everything around. We had a fish fry from what campers have been catching, roasted hot dogs over the fire, and played limbo, hula, and water games.

Plus, a couple of castaways showed up that had been stuck in the woods for 72 days! With their soccer ball/friend McGregor and the ceremonial bush.

Even with all that fun, Power Hour was the best part of the day. Tom Slye challenged us to make Christ the center of everything we do, instead of just one part of our life. It was a great talk and the night was full of people getting a chance to re-focus on what is important in life.

And if you’ve been keeping up with us you already know that Matt made a decision that he never really had before to let Jesus take the center spot in life.

But he wasn’t the only one experiencing change last night. Each camper from NSL stood up to make a commitment do connecting with God more regularly and moving him to the center instead of the sidelines in their life. It was a great night filled with lots of great conversations, hugs, and ideas about how life is going to be different when we get home.

So as we bring such an amazing day to a close we ask that you pray for us as we move closer to coming home, and start the process of applying what we are experiencing here to our daily life.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers, we love you all and look forward to seeing you soon!

Hey folks, we’ll post later today about all of yesterday’s activities and the great time we had, but this is just so good that we needed to share it as soon as we got a chance!

Last night, Matt Schirmers made a decision to make Christ the center of his life! Wooooo-hooooo!

He mentioned that he had “gone through the motions” before and raised his hand at other times, but that he was doing it just because everyone else was, or because he didn’t want to be the odd one out or other reasons… but that he never really got it.

Last night he did.

He said, “Like, I actually understand that God is there and stuff and... I don't know... I can just feel that I meant it this time.”

So party time in heaven and a great big “Welcome to the Family” for Matt!

Another great day at Splash Camps!

The boys woke up at Outcamp this morning, after a fresh night of sleeping under the stars… and caused a ruckus riding the truck back in, waking up all the girls.

Breakfast was again delicious, and then we had devos and we were off to quiet time, and chapter 2 of Philippians.

It was a great discussion about complaining… and we took the challenge to not complain for the rest of the day. If we were caught complaining during the day, the person who caught us was supposed to point and say “Mine!” just like the Seagulls in Finding Nemo. It really made us think about how often we complain during the day, often about little things that hardly matter, and often when we aren’t actually all that upset. It was a pretty impressive way to notice all the times that we can be a downer without even trying… or even actually feeling that way.

Another highlight from the day was Kaycee competing in Big Big Prizes, where she ate a grilled sandwich of Strawberry Topping, Buffalo Sauce, Marshmallows, and Sauerkraut (yummy). She downed the sandwich faster than her two competitors for a big, and disgusting, win. Way to go Kaycee!

Tonight was also the Variety Show. Emma did some graceful Tae Kwon Doe. Matt, Kenzie, and Kayla helped in a hilarious skit. Kate, Lisa, and Katie did an awesome dance to Luv Addict. And Kaycee sang a song beautifully.

Power Hour brought us a great conversation about letting go of the things we hang on to, our junk, that weighs us down. Slye invited us to drop our garbage here at camp, to make a choice to leave behind the things that we struggle with… to start fresh and new, just the way Jesus promises to make us.

Tonight the girls are up for Outcamp. They get to do the s’mores, campfire, tents, stars, spiders, mosquitos, and beautiful, beautiful sunrise.

All that to say that it was yet another amazing day at Splash Camps

Greetings again from beautiful Bemidji!
We had a fantastic time yesterday during our first full day of camp. There were crazy games, great worship, and all sorts of activities to do during the afternoon.
We started off with a delicious breakfast and and some morning devos. It turns out we’re going to read a whole book of the Bible. Each morning we’re going to read through a chapter of Philippians during our quiet time and then talk about it during Family Time. (Family Time is when we get together as the NSL group and talk about what has been going on that day.) It’s really neat that we will have read a whole book of the Bible by the time we get home!
Free time also included a little “girl bonding time” in the form of giving Luke a makeover. This is what happens when your group of 11 only has 1 male camper in it. Some beautiful eyeliner, blush, mascara, eye shadow, glitter, and lip gloss… Luke was the prettiest guy at camp.
Last night the boys also got a chance to sleep under the stars at Outcamp. We went deep into the forest and had s’mores around the campfire. It was excellent!
Maybe the best part of yesterday was the time spent worshipping and talking about seeing Jesus in other people. Tom Slye (our speaker) shared some great stories about times that other people had been a perfect example of Jesus. It got us thinking about times we’ve experienced that in our own lives, and ways that we can be that for other people. It was a really neat time.
We all send our love and thank you for the mail that has already started arriving. Thanks for praying for us, we’re having a wonderful time! We love you!

Greetings to Northwood from the North Woods.
We made it safe and sound to Bemidji, and after a little trip into town to see Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, we arrived at Splash Camps!
Our first night meant getting into our cabins, meeting our fellow campers, and playing some crazy games.
Finally it was time for Power Hour, the daily worship service here at camp. We were blown away by the awesome music as the camp staff rocked it out, and played Big Big Prizes.
Big Big Prizes is the part of the evening where 3 students are invited to take part of an edible challenge (like eating a sauerkraut and liverwurst sandwich) for a chance to win a “fabulous” prize (last night was a dictionary and some math bingo cards).
The theme this year is “Lost” and has taken a cue from Hollywood in the form of “Bemidjiana Jones.” The skits are great (Dr. Jones Sr. looks strikingly familiar) and the speaker is fantastic.
The speaker this week is Tom Slye, a youth pastor from Milwaukee, and good camp-buddy of Luke. He shared a few stories last night, and talked about a race where all the runners crossed the starting line and stopped to celebrate the fact that they were race runners instead of continuing to run.
It was a great way to describe people who become Christians but stop working on their faith, they just celebrate the fact they are saved and don’t work on furthering their passion, commitment, dependence and determination to follow God. It set us up for a great week of talking about Christianity as more than just being saved, more than going to heaven when you die. It was a chance to talk about the day to day choices that make God the focus and goal of our lives.
It’s going to be a good week.

It’s day 3 at SonShine and we’re coming to you from… Benson! We’ve traveled about 30 miles from our rain-soaked campsite for a hearty breakfast, clean bathrooms, a chance to shower, and comfy chairs in the great indoors. We are at Katie’s parents home right near Willmar. We’re eating well and feeling cleaner than we have in 3 days.

Yesterday was great day. We caught the “Choas on Wheels” extreme bike show with some pretty impressive moves. We rocked to Thousand Foot Krutch, Pillar, David Crowder Band, BarlowGirl, and TobyMac, among countless others.

The weather was perfect and our spots were great for most of the shows. We’re hoping that today will be the same but it sounds like we’re looking at rain, rain, and more rain.

And since we got soaked at 6:30 this morning, that sounds about right. But today has plenty of good shows that we can’t afford to miss, so rain or shine, we’ll be out getting the most from our last day of concerts.

Tomorrow morning we pack up and head on back to Northwood. We’re looking forward to having a great day, and seeing all of your bright shining faces!

Greetings again from SonShine! Thursday was our first full day at the fest and we celebrated in style with moshing, crowd surfing, and pro wrestling.

We started the day off by catching some professional wrestling matches they had set up nearby. The costumes were hideous, the kicks stopped 3 inches before connecting with anything, and the acting was terrible… it was awesome!

From there we finished filling up our pool so that the Northwood Student Life Aquatic Life Marine Center (aka- the place we keep our inflatable pool toys) could officially open. Fellow SonShiners can stop by and see Sheridan the Shark, Clifford the Crocodile, Doris the Dolphin, and Winston the Whale (I told you we’d name them).

The rest of the day was spent rocking out at different shows. The Wedding, Superchick, Jeremy Camp, Third day, and others helped fill out the day. But the most mayhem was at the Pillar show, where we got in the thick of the mosh pit. Between the boys who will never get a date because they still don’t understand the importance of deodorant odd smells to crazy bouncin’ and bumpin’ of the crowd it was an intense experience by any measure. We’re looking forward to doing it again today.

Last night as we were talking we discussed what some of the bands had to say that day as they sang their lyrics and spoke between songs. The common theme we found was that being a Christian means making a commitment, not just taking it forgranted. It means being passionate about your relationship with Jesus, not just going to church because it looks good on a resume. It means stepping it up in your life, not doing the same thing forever and ever. It was a good talk, and a good reminder that the great life that is discussed in the Bible also comes with great expectations of commitment.

Well, we’re off now, today has even more great bands than yesterday playing and we need to go get a good spot to jump in the mosh pit. Fortunately this time we remembered to wear shoes! Until tomorrow… peace.

Greetings from Willmar, MN!

We are sitting at Caribou Coffee right now drying out from a storm that just tore through the campsites. It wasn’t too bad, we secured everything and then sat in the van and watched the storm turn the girls’ tent into a pancake. It managed to dismantle most of our neighbors camps, taking their tents apart and leaving heavy wet sheets of nylon in their place.

We made it here safe and sound yesterday and started to set up our awesome camp site. We stopped by the dollar store on the way and picked up some Tiki-themed decorations. Our campsite now sports palm trees, a toucan, tiki masks, Hawaiian flowers, and inflatable marine life. (A croc, a dolphin, a shark, and a whale… we still have to name them.)

We also went to Target last night and picked up the crown jewel of our campsite… a swimming pool! It’s only 1/3 full since hauling water takes a lot of work, but the rain is helping out and we’re looking forward to reclining in the refreshing waters of our personal pool when the temp tops 80 and humid this afternoon.

Last night was Jars of Clay, who did a great job and sounded fantastic. Followed by some devo time around the “campfire” (2 citronella candles) where we talked about the influence of music on our lives and the way we view the world.

The Festival officially starts today with dozens of bands taking the various stages and we’ll be back tomorrow morning with some of the highlights of today. For now, we want you to know we are all doing well and we are looking forward to some great concerts today. Be sure to check in and stay up to date on everything we’re up to. Peace!

Hey Senior High. We are working on planning the 2008 Wilderness Trip and need your help. The activities we plan depend on the number of students going and the activities they are most interested in. That means we need your thoughts as we plan.

So if you are a Senior High student (grades 10-12 this fall), please take two minutes and fill out this survey. Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to fill this out!

We had a bunch of fun last night at the Hidden Hangout. About 14 of us showed up and played some pool, some Nintendo Wii, and some football out back. (The girls gave the boys a run for their money in a close match.) Here’s some random photos from the night.

All in all it was a great time. For those of you who weren’t able to make it, we missed you and we hope to see you at the next one. For those who couldn’t find the clue, it was a tricky one hidden in this picture.

Hey everyone, this is just a heads up that I (Luke) will be traveling a lot for the next two weeks. I’ll be on vacation from Friday-Tuesday. Katie and I are heading up the beautiful BWCA.

From there it is off to SonShine with the Senior High students and then starlight up to Splash Camps with a big ol’ group of Junior High students.

Obviously I’ll be out of touch while we’re in the Boundary Waters (which is kind of the whole point), but I’ll be checking in during both youth trips so feel free to call or write with any questions you may have.

We’ll see some of you on next Wednesday, and hopefully the rest of you on Sunday. Peace!

Alright, some of you still aren’t having any luck finding the clue, and the Hangout is almost here! This is your final clue. The Hangout will be revealed on Friday for those who were unable to discover it.

Yesterday’s clue: A picture is worth a thousand words.
Today’s clue: This is how we “roll” in South Minneapolis

Good luck!

PS> If you have already found the Hidden Hangout and plan on coming, be sure to comment on this post  so we know you’ll be there!

Still having a hard time finding the Hidden Hangout? This is our hardest clue yet, some have found it, lots are struggling to find it. Remember, it could be anywhere in the NSL Online World.

Your clue:A picture is worth a thousand words.

Alright Sherlock, now is your chance. The time and location of the next Hidden Hangout has been tucked away somewhere in the depths of the NSL online community. It could be anywhere!
Not sure what the Hidden Hangout is? Check out the Hidden Hangout Info Page.
If you can’t find the clue over the weekend, e-mail Luke and he’ll give you another clue.

If you find it, leave a comment below for your bragging rights! (just don't say where it is!)

This Sunday is the sign up deadline for SonShine, that means any Senior Highers hoping to rock out for 4 days should be sure to head over to the website and sign on up!

All the info and sign up stuff is here!