Archives For Live to Serve

Unexpected

Ben —  July 26, 2016 — 1 Comment

I’m about 3 days removed from my 8th trip with globalX, second trip with InsideOut and some of the 429tribe. We wrote sparingly but posted a ton of pictures over on the other blog. One of the guys in our group, and on the trip put an incredible highlight video I want to share.

With 59 total people on the trip, we had to split in half for the work days at the schools, then at night we had to break it up in smaller groups of 8 and 9 people. Each night we met in those small groups to debrief a little and then break up into pairs to share our stories. On the last night, I posed the question: Continue Reading…

I Lead.

Ben —  February 8, 2016 — Leave a comment

2016-02-07

This past weekend our church had somewhere around 3,000 High School students all together for a weekend retreat called MyLife, however 36 of them decided to skip the Saturday morning session to hike 4.5 miles, to get to know each other, talk about their struggles, about their identity, and about life. Many thanks to my good friend Kyle who captured a conversation with me and one of the guys on our way down – a moment of trust, compassion, and pure vulnerability. I learned so much about this dude, and how he’s handling some pieces of his life it actually made me reconsider some of my recent decisions I’ve made. Go figure. Continue Reading…

Equity

Ben —  February 10, 2015
Photo creds: Mark Wilson

Photo creds: Mark Wilson

I am a small group leader.

I co-lead with 2 other awesome adults, and we have the unique ability to bring all of our experiences together seamlessly and serve a group of high school guys who like to call themselves the 429 Tribe. This tribe has been around for almost 6 years now, and even though the name wasn’t established until last year these guys have owned up to the idea of being special, being brave, and being bold. Continue Reading…

A word from Paul to Timmy

Ben —  July 3, 2014

(Original Post date: September 1st, 2010)

It’s been a couple of days, and I wanted to share something about this past weekend where Kim and I got the privilege to take some (28) 6th grade boys and girls to a retreat called Boot Camp. Throughout the weekend the words from Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12 were stressed over and over again, and even now it is just beating constantly in my head, kind of like an air horn at 5:30am (not that I would know anything about that).

It makes me think about our worship time in the middle school environment Xtreme, as opposed to the regular adult service. Every Sunday I get the privilege to worship at the 9am service with the adults, and then at the 11am service with 6-8th graders. I like to think of the 9am service as a “warm-up” where we stand, and stretch our vocal chords. Then we head to the 11am service in The Attic. If you ever get a chance to observe how Xtreme does worship in the Attic, you will quickly understand how and why I have so much energy on Sundays. It is literally contagious. Continue Reading…

Volunteering at Orange Conference

Ben —  March 20, 2014

OC14_home_light

This past December I joined the Orange staff as an XP3 Orange Specialist. Prior to joining Orange I was working for another company on their sales team, but I would still volunteer at The Orange Conference. Not out of need but out of the desire to grow, learn, network and for pure enjoyment. As a small group leader of students I found great value in spending quality time with many of the speakers, vendors and Orange staff. Even while working behind-the-scenes to make this exciting week happen, I found that they would make time to talk and laugh with me. After several years of volunteering, I love that I now get to be on staff and be a part of all of the behind-the-scenes activities, and I don’t have to take a week vacation to do so!

Why did I volunteer my time?

Continue Reading