Greetings from Manda, Mama, and Z-Fresh!  This spicy seven days we are functioning in operation paint crew!  Helping to make this camp more child-friendly and rid it of all lead based paint.  Afta removin all lead based paint we freshened up the dorms with some fly new colla (color).  We started out on da roof, it was on fire (Except not really cause its like 20 degrees here).  Lets just say we all wish we were a little bigger than a size three… After making fun of Z-Fresh’s stirrup running pants, aka tights, which he wore under his jeans, the staff headed out to watch the Devil Wears Prada.  On the other hand, we, the Joshua students, continued our hard Christ filled work!  After day 1 the camp is already poppin!  Trees have been dropped, Christmas has been popped, roofs have been scraped, and floors have been taped.
But on a serious note, we get to sleep in a whole hour past usual (stoked!).  Tonight’s book discussion was remarkable and as a family in process we are taking things to a whole new level.  Even though a lot of us a worn out from an exhausting week, we came together today and its amazing what God can do with an bunch of grumpy college kids.
Peace out from P-Vizzle! (Pine Valley)
Manda, Mama, Z-Fresh
(Ps. We really like parenthesis…)
(Pps . it really is overwhelming to see the change that God is bringing in our new family’s lives, as we continually try (and fail) to grow into the people that God designed  us to be, I think as a family we have grown so so much, and learned so much, we have gone through soo much, yet we continue to grow.)
Click here to see pictures from our trip and click the link below that says Paul Show to listen to our radio interview that we did with the infamous Paul Dixon.

Paul Show

My occasion for writing this blog today involves a story of a girl and her international experiences with injury and the medical care following.  It all started when she was taken on an adventure into Ensenada, Mexico.  The day was going fairly well until she decided to climb a fence to see the infamous Black Pearl (boat from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean), which at the time was docked in the harbor of Ensenada.  This is when she felt an uncomfortably sharp pain in her stomach, but wanting to enjoy the day didn’t think much of it.  Later that afternoon after experiencing the best burrito of her life this poor girl had the urge to sneeze.  And this is where the story takes the turn for the worst.  The sneeze led to pain, which led to more pain, and eventually led to the examination of her stomach by a Mexican doctor, who in broken English prescribed what she thinks was a muscle relaxer, a pain killer, and a shot in the butt.  Though the pain was severe, she thought it wise to decline all three, and instead pay the examination fee, take a vicodin, watch some Spanish soap operas, and see if the pain would subside.  When it didn’t she hitched a ride with a fellow injured American to San Diego (more on his story in subsequent blogs I am sure).  After being admitted to the hospital the doctors treated her to a nice dose of morphine followed by some tests and ultrasounds.  Turned out the girl had torn an abdominal muscle.  Who was this girl you ask?  She goes by the name of Mallory but most of the people up here call her Mama.  She (I) is doing wonderfully now and just trying to follow doctors orders for recovery.  And she would like to thank everyone for all the help and love, and yes even Rich for his fantastic filming skills, seen in the clip below.  I’ll conclude this blog with a simple word of advice: When in the Harbor of Ensenada it’s best to stay away from the Black Pearl, curiosity kills the cat!

Mallory Gilbert

For those of you that don’t know the Joshua staff are some of the coolest people you will ever meet and just happen to be a ton of fun to hang out with.  Just in case you don’t believe us take a look at this little Christmas video that we made for the students.
Merry Christmas
-The Joshua Staff-

Left Behind

By now most of you have probably heard about the snowstorm here at Hume. You may have possibly heard that one of the students crashed his car due to the steep hill/the amount of ice and snow. And you may have heard the stories of the 4 kids who had to get dropped off in Fresno, and then take a train, then a bus, and then another train back home. But have you heard the story of the guy who got left at Hume? I think not.

It all began after our weekend of work, 9 of us decided to stay and work over the weekend. After that we were all planning on going home. But as I have found out the hard way, plans change. On Sunday at around 5:30 PM we headed out on the ice freshly plowed hill down from Joshua, and after about an hour of driving we realized that we left something, something important- the drivers cell phone. So we headed back up to Joshua and got it, then heading out we decided (with some help) to stay the night since it was already dark and they stop plowing the roads after a certain time.

Now keep in mind there had been a huge snowstorm, more snow then I had ever seen in my whole life, a safe guess would be 2 ft. in a day and a half.

So we wake up and start to pack up and drive down. But we didn’t end up driving down; we slid about halfway down the top of the Joshua hill, hit a drainage ditch and continued into a brick wall. Bending the right steering arm, the axel and possibly the frame. Now I know what you are all thinking, but it’s okay, we are all fine. We took the car down to the mechanic and he told us we wouldn’t be able to drive anywhere. If we drove more than 45 minutes we would have rubbed off the front tire (which was almost touching the wheel well.

All this to say, Matt (one of our good friends-the dishwasher) gave four of the students a ride down to Fresno, because he only had four seats, so I volunteered to stay.

By now I am sure at least some of you are feeling sorry for me- DON’T. I am having a blast; since there is so much snow, and I am on break. I am having so much fun. Going sledding, and tubing, going snowboarding almost everyday, broom hokey every night, they let me test run the longest tube run in the world last night. I went to a hokey game with the Hume staff, (and more fun stuff I won’t post on the Joshua site). I am making new friends, I get to work and earn some extra money, and I am going home on Friday, plus I am living up here at Hume lake one of the most beautiful places in the world, covered in snow. Also there are no conferences this week, which means the food is amazing! And the staff, the staff are amazing.
Take care
Zach “the stranded” Way

p.s. There are 2 lies in this story, but only to make it more interesting.

It’s snowing like crazy outside and I just spent the past hour shoveling snow out of my drive way so I can get my car out for work.  That’s right it’s winter and that also means that it is Christmas time.  I just wanted to take a second and on behalf of my family and I to wish all of you Joshua students and families a Merry Christmas.   It’s such a blessing to get to minister with your students and to see them grow as God continues to work in each of their lives.   Just the other day one of the students came up to me and said “Hey Rich thanks for Joshua as it has been the best / hardest thing I have ever done.”  You know that really makes sense, as God tends to use the things that are tough and require something of us to help us change. And the things that are hard tend to be the things we appreciate the most down the road.  Anyway may your time home with family be a blessing and may God continue to be the center of everything you do this holiday.  Take care and I look forward to seeing you all in a few weeks

Rich, Becky, Ellie and Jaron

PS enjoy these little Christmas videos below

Are you one of those people thinking about coming to the Joshua Wilderness Institute but are unsure if this is the place for you? Did you hear about the program and just want to get some more answers and check it out? Maybe you already know that you want to do Joshua but you still need to finish the application process by doing the interview portion?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to attend the JWI preview weekend and conference March 11-15.  This preview opportunity gives you the chance to see the program in action March 11-13 as you get to stay in the Joshua building, attend classes, interview for the program, interact with current students and attend the college “Unite” conference.

The “Unite” portion takes place March 13-15 and is a gathering of past Joshua students who have graduated from the program over the years.  All the speakers for the weekend are Joshua teachers and the weekend is centered around a Joshua style experience (click here to see all the information about the “Unite” portion of the preview weekend).

The entire cost for everything is $175 but the best part is that if you are accepted into the Joshua program for the 09-10 year we will refund you the total cost of the conference and preview week by deducting it off your Joshua tuition.   So what do you have to lose sign up today.

For more information contact Kari Kurth at 559 305-7673 or e mail her kkurth@humelake.org

Schedule of Events

• Wednesday March 11 – Attend dinner and evening meeting and stay in a room with current Joshua students
• Thursday March 12 – Go through a full day with the current Joshua class
• Friday March 13 – Attend Joshua classes and do a personal interview for the program
• March 13- 15 – Attend the “Unite” conference with current and past Joshua students

Well the other day we had our annual Joshua Christmas party.  Just to give you some insight the night starts with a formal dinner with everyone dressing in his or her very best.  We then spend a good amount of time before dinner hanging out and taking pictures and then sit down to an amazing feast of pizza, salad and Italian sodas.   After dinner everyone changes into their ugliest Christmas sweater and the students meet up with their Pause Families for the annual ginger bread build off.  Don’t tell any of the other classes but this years ginger bread houses were the best ever and I must say I was impressed with what the students came up with.  Following the building was a fun time of singing Christmas carols together and listening to a Christmas story read by our friend Nathan by the fire.  Anyways another great Joshua style party with a lot of fun and laughs.  Click here to see some pictures from the night and check out the slide show below.
Take care
Rich

One of the great things about living in a community such as Joshua is the ability to come together every evening and worship.  We have some amazing worship leaders in the group and one of my favorite things is to sit back and listen to the students sing.   Not wanting you guys to miss out on this experience I decided to take my little recorder and capture some of the songs.  Sorry for the poor quality but I am sure you will still enjoy it.
Take care
Rich

Breath

Stand

Forgiven

Compilation of songs

Needless to say I have the greatest staff working here at Joshua with me.  Just to highlight a few of them, our cooks Paul and Hilary go above and beyond the call of duty all the time.  Wednesday morning at 8 when I arrived at work I saw smoke coming from the back of the building.  As I rounded the corner I saw Paul and Hilary outside in the cold getting our BBQ going as they were planning on cooking 6 turkeys.  Unknown to me the theme dinner for that evening was “Vikings”.  I really can’t explain in words how cool it was but the food was amazing and the student’s costumes were great (who would have thought they would have Viking costumes).  Anyway click here to see pictures from viking night as well as some of the other past theme nights.

Rich

On a different note if you are having trouble reaching your student with our new phone system the click here for helpful instructions

From time to time changes do need to happen. As some of you might be aware Hume just got a new phone system yesterday and while it was definitely needed and much better then the old it does make getting a hold of your child or friend at Joshua a bit tough. Anyway don’t get frustrated as here is the info that you need.

Voicemail

To leave a message on your student’s voice mail call it the same way that you always did by dialing 559 335-2000 then you dial the students voice mail box number except you add a three before it. So for example if their number before was 629 then it would now be 3629.

Calling a Joshua Phone Extension

If you are trying to dial one of the phone extensions in the building then do everything the way you always have before (call the Hume main number 559 335-2000) except the phone extension will now have a 1 in front of it. For example if you were calling extension 381 it would now be extension 1381.

I have asked your students to call you and give you all this info but in case they don’t I thought I would at least post if for you.

If you need to get a hold of the Joshua staff their extensions are as follows

Kari Kurth 7673

Jen Manlief 7674

Hope that helps and if you have any more questions feel free to e mail us at joshuainfo@humelake.org

Take care

Rich Ferreira