This upcoming Saturday, October first, will mark three weeks completed here at the Joshua Wilderness Institute. My name is Hannah, and I would like to welcome you to the second week of our blog! It has been busy around the lodge living side by side with 40 other young adults, but we have finally begun to adjust to the rhythms of the program curriculum— now we mostly make it to class on time! Work is fun, the community is lively, and God is good.
Every morning we are given an hour of devotional time to read, pray, and practice the discipline of solitude. It is a blessing to sit outside in the wonder of the High Sierra, meditating in the presence of God and the beauty of creation.
As far as classes, this semester we are taking six courses: Old Testament Survey, Biblical Interpretation & Spiritual Formation, Theology, Discipleship, Missions, and Life Skills. I find the joy of learning in the way each subject builds on another, providing immediate perspective. In our Spiritual Formation and Biblical Interpretation course we are examining the fundamentals of being a Christ follower in the truest context and the way our souls are fed by the Holy Spirit. Our theology course compounds these concepts as we pursue the deep knowledge of who God is and how to love him rightly through worship, humility, and obedience. In our Discipleship course, we are learning what obedience means in the context of both becoming and making disciples: men and women who pour the love of Christ into those around us. We also have the privilege to receive teaching for our Missions course from Rachel Closs, a current field missionary near Malayali, Papua New Guinea. I ask you to pray for the hearts of the people of Malayali this week as they work their way through the early history of God’s eternal plan for redemption through His covenant with Abraham. In the course itself, we are addressing the questions: what are missions, why do we go, who goes, and where do we go? This past week, we discussed why missions exist, ending up at the conclusion of worship, similar to our theology class. In the words of Rachel, “Missions are not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” Isn’t that profound! I am greatly looking forward to the continuation of these courses and am most excited to learn directly from my peers as we have weekly discussions about the various readings and lectures.
I’d like to thank you all who are keeping us students and the staff in your prayers; the start of classes has proven more stressful than anticipated as we learn to balance community time with course responsibilities. In addition, we’ve all had a bit of a troubling week after receiving some unfortunate news, and I ask that you continue to keep us in daily prayer as we seek hearts of wisdom and grace. Thank you for your time and interest in our experiences during this program, and may peace be with you
Hannah Rockwood
Yo!
My name is Seth Ondo and I have been a part of the Joshua Wilderness Institute for 3 weeks now.
It’s crazy how it has only been 3 weeks! So much has happened and I feel like I have already created many lifelong memories.
Let’s start with the best experience I have had so far.
It was the first Saturday; a week after move-in day. I and a few others had the weekend off from work and we were trying to figure out how to spend the day. Since we happen to live in the middle of the mountains and are surrounded by God’s beautiful creation, we decided to go for a hike. The trail goes all the way around the lake, but halfway through we had made it to Sandy Cove.
The cove is a little gulf that has a long, beachy terrain that runs around it.
It was a warm day, so once we got to the cove we took a break. We sat down for a minute until my friend, Steven, suggested that we swim in the water. Initially, I was uneasy about the idea of going in the water. Summer is over, so I assumed the water would be chilly. However, two of the other guys who were there, Bernard and Easton, hopped on board with the swimming idea.
Because the boys were in, I had to go for it. I didn’t have swim trunks or a towel, but I wasn’t thinking about it. We sprinted into the water holding hands, a truly cinematic moment. Surprisingly, the water wasn’t too cold either. We swam around for a while, took a lot of pictures, and just had a blast. I believe that I will remember this day for a long time.
I tend to be a person who is conservative and doesn’t enjoy going out of my comfort zone. What I’ve learned so far is that exiting the comfort zone is important in Joshua. If you constantly step back from things that are unfamiliar or not ideal (which is something that I do sometimes), you won’t be able to get much out of this program.
This program is all about being uncomfortable and doing things that can be difficult and challenging at times.
I have tried to make an effort to do things that I maybe don’t want to do. However, I know that doing these things could have a huge impact on me down the road. Joshua is very active, so if you’re not actively seeking to do things, it will be hard to maximize your experience. If you’re reading this, I pray that God blesses you today.
– Seth Ondo
