"One does not simply walk into Mordor..."

Two months ago, I found myself sitting in sand, on a desolate beach, gazing out over the ocean off the Big Island. Surrounded by lava rock, a hodgepodge group of eight, none of whom I knew a year ago, as my company - totally unsure of what I was doing. This was the Big Adventure. Meant to challenge, grow, and equip you for leadership, it seemed more like a camping trip with friends who I may or may not have picked. "Where am I, and what the heck am I doing?" These were questions that constantly rolled through my mind between laying net, swimming with dolphins, sharing testimonies, gathering firewood, jumping off cliffs, spearfishing, and wilderness exploring, during the first five days of our journey. We'd walked through a vast desert of lava rock that never seemed to end, Mordor in essence, to get to the beautiful Manuka Bay that we now enjoyed - which was hard. But what did that mean? I've done hard hikes before. We camped on sand that hid treacherous thorns from surrounding trees and slept with little, red (harmless) ants crawling all over us. We laid fishing net at the bottom of a cove everyday, and collected it everyday. We shared our testimonies, gutted fish, and peed in the thorny bushes... everyday. It was definitely challenging - but those weren't even the hardest parts about it. I was expecting more - challenge me, teach me, stretch me. But how am I going to learn, who am I going to lead in the middle of nowhere? What's the point of this? I had a lot of fun despite the lack of comfort and convenience, but I didn't get any of my questions truly answered until much later. Maybe even just now.
We finished off the week with two nights on a little farm owned by a couple from California. After having fun roughing it all week, yet feeling empty and kind of meaningless, I was hoping this last bit would give me something. Somehow it did. When we got to the Coleman Farm we were greeted by Josh and Erin's joyful smiles and humble spirits. New people! They seem awesome! Stoked. We settled in, played with their dog, and explored their property. He gave us the grand tour and told us all about his cocoa trees, orange trees, little goats, pear trees, green house, compost system, little pigs, their COFFEE TREES, and their dreams for the future of this place. Their dreams are awesome. How they ended up in Hawaii, got the place, and everything about it - SO awesome. Nothing about their life in California dictated what they are doing - purely God's call. Their kindness was inspiring, their story was inspiring, their trust in God... was so inspiring. I wasn't sure what I was getting out of this as a leader in training, but I was having a ball getting to know Josh and Erin, spending time with my SLS group, and learning about coffee farming. One of the best parts of the whole trip was having Josh show us the process of harvesting, milling and roasting coffee, and letting us take part! I picked the cherries, squeezed out the beans, soaked them. The boys pulled away the parchment and Josh roasted, ground, and brewed us up some fresh, homegrown, organic coffee. I was JAZZED. Back at STN I was just stepping into my apprenticeship and learning all about this. Now I was getting to DO it first hand! An absolute treat.
On our last night at the Coleman's, we had a big dinner with everyone who had helped us, friends of STN and a few randos. One of those randos was a girl named Rannette (might be spelling her name wrong), and she shared a story that you couldn't be unaffected by. The last SLS group had also come to the Big Island for their Big Adventure, and spent time with some of the same people who were with us now. Rannette came, somewhat randomly, with her boyfriend at the time - not knowing exactly what they were attending. She was not a Christian, she had been raised Catholic and later decided she didn't care for religion at all - yet she ended up finding herself stuck in the corner of a room full of people praising Jesus. She couldn't just leave without drawing attention, so she stayed put. She was uncomfortable and frustrated, until they began singing Nothing I Hold Onto. She heard the words, "I give it all to you God, trusting that you'll make something beautiful out of me." It hit her hard. She said all of a sudden she was filled with the desire to be beautiful. She kept wondering how to become beautiful the way the song spoke of it. She listened to that song on repeat constantly, she began to ask questions and after a couple months, she gave her life to Christ. No one in that room knew what was happening in her heart. No one understood how God was moving at that point in time, yet he was - in BIG ways. I was so interested by that, and excited to hear about it.
We left for home later the next morning. I was excited to be home, not excited to be asked all about my week. I had to process this. What did we just do? Did anything happen? Did I learn anything about myself? About God? About leadership? I had pulled a few things, like what a life abundant can look like, and further confirmation that we can do anything through God's strength. I did not survive that hike through Mordor and all that time with the same people on my own. These were good things, but I was satisfied. I decided to be satisfied anyway in the trust that God would reveal something more to me about that trip. That I would go home, process, and be able to look back and say, "Oh man, that's what happened on Big Adventure." That just happened about two days ago. One of my friends here just got back from helping with a political camp for kids on the west side. She told me all about it, and we ended up talking about her time here, what she had just experienced at the camp, and her future as she's about to go back home to Sweden. All year she's been discouraged with all the office work she's been given, and lack of opportunities to pour out into people, minister to young girls, which is her passion, and really be out there. She's had to accept her role, be faithful in it, and be satisfied. Sounds like my Big Adventure. I said it was like a camping trip full friends I may or may not have picked. I love them all dearly, but in all honesty if I had planned a camping trip, I probably wouldn't have chosen this exact group - yet I was stuck with them. No one else around to fall to, just us. I had to be satisfied anyway, and figure out how to enjoy them to enjoy myself. I had to have faith that God would work in me regardless of whether I saw it happening or not. I had to be satisfied in the Lord! AAAHHHHHH, it's not that easy! I'm still figuring it out. I still haven't processed it fully. Maybe I never will. Maybe it will be a lifelong thing I'm constantly pulling from. Maybe that's okay. I'm satisfied.
That's my Big Adventure.

I've left a lot of detail out for the specific reasons of wanting to keep this somewhat short, and wanting to get some questions. Want to know about swimming with wild spinner dolphins? It was AMAZING. I didn't describe the beauty of the Coleman's farm, or mention that we jumped off the southernmost tip of the southernmost island, which is the southernmost point of the United States, or describe any of the beautiful fish we caught, or mention how I beat half the boys in a shooting contest. Ask me about Big Adventure. I love to hear from ya.

Till next time.

Email: milo.buck@surfingthenations.com
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