GOAT (Great Outdoor Adventure Trips)

Just planting seeds…

Last summer Robbie, one of our interns, and I went on a backpacking trip in Panthertown Valley with a group of boys from a community center in Greenville. The boys we took on this three day backpacking trip were some of the older “veteran” students of the center’s summer program and considered leaders among their peers. Robbie and I went into the trip with this in mind and decided to go a little heavier on the challenge side of our theme for this trip. Our theme would be to teach the boys about how God has a history of leading his people into the wilderness to speak to them- to show them something about Himself or about themselves. From the very beginning of the trip, Robbie and I both saw the leadership qualities in these boys and the “potential” that their group leaders had been telling us about. We spent our time hiking through rhododendron tunnels, catching crawfish, sliding down waterfalls- interspersed with conversations about men like Moses, Elijah and Jacob who learned their purpose, regained their strength, or wrestled with God in the wilderness. We challenged them to seek out why God brought them out into the wilderness and what he might want to teach them, and we challenged them to step up as leaders in their community. We expected the boys to be giddy with excitement after spending the day exploring a waterfall, to open up to Robbie and me about being a leader in their community, and to respond to our challenge, but we really didn’t get this type of response from any of the boys. Mostly we got blank stares and awkward silences in our conversations, and we ended up spending a lot of time dealing with the boys complaints and arguments.  This was not how Robbie and I saw things shaping up for this trip, but this is one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn working with our kids- not to be results driven.

Often I’ve found myself measuring our impact on these kids by how much tangible change I get to see while were are actually on the trip. I want to be the “harvester”- the one who gets to prayer the prayer with the kid who is accepting Christ as their savior or to be there when a kid realizes he doesn’t have to be a slave to sin. But I’ve learned that what a lot of our kids need is for seeds to be planted. This isn’t as glamorous or thrilling of a side to ministry as the “harvesting” often is, but what’s one without the other?

A few weeks ago I was meeting with the leader of the community center that the group of boys that I went backpacking with last summer were from, and he shared something really surprising to me. As I said before, the group that went backpacking with Robbie and I are considered the leaders among the rest of the kids at the center and have been a part of the center for years, having the opportunity to have a lot of fun and exciting experiences. What their leader told me was that if you asked any one of the boys what their favorite activity or trip that they have experienced over the last few years was, they all say hands down it was the backpacking trip. He told me that eight months later they were still talking about the waterfalls, campfires and conversations we had on that trip. This was one of the most encouraging conversations that I have had with a group leader. To hear that - although we did not get to see fruits of our labor on that backpacking trip last summer - our time spent with those boys was still worth the effort.

Meet the Interns - Steve

We don’t really know what’s left to say about Steve that hasn’t already been said. Steve is the man. And he was born in Canada. He started as our first intern last summer and turned out to be awesome at what he does.

Steve spent the last year at Greenville Tech Honors College and is leaving us for college of Charleston next year. We’ll miss him, but we’re truly honored to have is presence on our staff again this year.

Fact about Steve: Steve is living on a sailboat in Charleston this fall

This is the last of a 4 part series. Why 4 parts? Because we’ve got 4 interns. Thanks for meeting them. We’re really excited about them.

Meet the Interns - Rachael

The third intern we have the pleasure of introducing is our only girl intern for the summer, Rachael Holst. Rachael just finished her senior year at Furman and will be leaving for nursing school at Samford at the end of the summer. 

Rachael is originally from Wyoming and rides horses, like a real life cowgirl. Really though, she enjoys jumping horses. Not jumping over horses. She will be working with some of our first girls-only trips this summer and we’re really excited about that.

Fact about Rachael: Rachael is the oldest of our summer interns

This is the third of a 4 part series. Why 4 parts? Because we’ve got 4 interns. Stay tuned in to meet them all over the next few weeks.

Meet the Interns - Robbie

Our second 2011 intern that we have the pleasure of introducing is Robbie Gilson. Robbie might be the smartest person to ever work at GOAT. Currently working towards Music and Religion degrees at Furman, Robbie is basically an expert at the Euphonium. Don’t know what a Euphonium is? Don’t worry, neither did we (think little tuba, that’s how Robbie described it to us).

Robbie is very involved with RUF and Servant Scholars at Furman and is pretty talented in a kayak. He wont tell you about that last part unless you pry it out of him, but he’s the man on the river. He’s also a bit skeptical about rafting being as fun as kayaking, so we’re pumped about making a believer out of him!

Fact about Robbie: Robbie is one of only three people to be allowed to kayak in Furman Lake on campus

This is the second of a 4 part series. Why 4 parts? Because we’ve got 4 interns. Stay tuned in to meet them all over the next few weeks.

Meet the Interns - Alex

This summer we’re honored to have the experience of Alex Smith onboard at GOAT. Alex is a Outdoor Leadership major at North Greenville University, so we’re really not joking when we say he knows more about some of this stuff that we do. 

Alex has experience with students and the outdoors at Camp McCall and through his classes at school. He also drives an awesome redneck truck and a whitewater kayak when he gets a chance. Alex absolutely has more energy than about 90% of people we know, so we’re truly excited to have him around this summer.

Fact about Alex: He wants to be an outdoor photographer when he grows up

This is the first part of a 4 part series. Why 4 parts? Because we’ve got 4 interns. Stay tuned in to meet them all over the next few weeks.

Cadence!

This spring we have the pleasure of having a ridiculously talented intern here at GOAT!

Meet Cadence. Yep, that’s really her name. Cadence is on the home-stretch of her time at Clemson (of course) and is helping us out as part of her practicum for her non-profit minor.

Cadence has already had the opportunity to work with Young Life and at her church in Atlanta, North Point, so she probably knows more than us already. Honestly, what we’re really excited about is her cooking, but you can read all about that on her blog.

Ya’ll help us welcome our best girl intern ever!! 

(Cadence is our first girl intern)