Summit Ministries

I can't believe that week one is already over! It has gone by so fast. In just a week I have learned so much about my faith, other religions, how to share our faith, and much more!

Today we heard from Chuck Edwards, who spoke to us about worldviews in music. It is crazy how much of an impact the media has on our society today. Dr. Charles Asbell talked to us this morning about the "Inspiration of the Scriptures". We also got the opportunity to hear from Mr. Kevin Bywater about the Pseudo-Christian Cults: Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Being a former Mormon himself, Mr. Bywater had some great insight on how to witness to these people. Two things really stuck out to me:
1. Often times these cults know the Bible just as well (if not more) than we christians do, but they have other books that they use to "supplement" the Bible, because they "deny the sufficiency of the Bible."
2. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are often kind, genuine, and loving people. Sometimes christians can be hypocritical, so to others, which religion seems more appealing?

But this week has NOT been all work and no play. I've gotten to do lots of fun things. Walking through downtown Manitou Springs is a favorite activity among the Summit students because of its many shops within short walking distance of the Summit Hotel. One of my favorite evening activities is walking down the street to get yummy homemade ice cream after our (equally delicious) dinner at Summit. Yesterday I got to go paintballing! There were 5 girls and about 20 guys-it was crazy but we girls held our own out there! We played on some property that Summit owns in the middle of nowhere. We all wore camo pants and jackets, split into two teams, and played capture the flag, another game with a flag, and an elimination round. I got a hit on my back that left a nice bruise. :) Some guys got hit at point-blank, so they have some crazy awesome welts on their arms that are turning purple. It was awesome and I had a great time!

Today we spent all afternoon and evening at a park in Colorado Springs. We had all kinds of sports going on: volleyball, soccer, football, and ultimate frisbee. Some people also brought their guitars to play, or books to read, or journals to write in. The weather was really nice, although after playing some serious ultimate frisbee and soccer, it felt really hot! We had a cook-out dinner at a pavilion with hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon, baked beans, and rice crispy treats....it was yummy!

Around 7 pm we all got back in our "luxurious" school buses that took us back to the Summit Hotel. After returning and hanging out for an hour we watched a video called "Obsession". It was all about the Jihad terrorist group and how they are seeking to destroy America, Israel, and the United Kingdom. It was actually a little scary how far these people will go for the sake of their religion, Islam. They are teaching their young children to hate other nationalities and religions and instructing these kids to kill them. There are terrorists among us, all over the world, that are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to destroy many others. I learned so much.

Tomorrow I am going white water rafting on the Arkansas River. It's time to get to bed because we'll be up at 5 am to leave the hotel at 5:45 for a two hour bus ride....yikes! I am SO excited and I can't wait! :)