Jodie Smith-Old Testament

This week we had the privilege of learning about the Old Testament from Jodie Smith, our last speaker for the semester. She spent four days with us and we studied things from all over the OT.

We started by looking at six misconceptions of the Old Testament and the creation story in Genesis. We looked at the account of Noah, the plagues, the ten commandments, and many kings, both good and bad. We analyzed the song "Days of Elijah" and also did a comparison of Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. For another one of our sessions we spent some time learning about Hebrew poetic devices and wrote our own laments.

My favorite part about our time with Jodie was in the last session when we made an alter of rocks, each rock symbolizing an important lesson someone learned on their time on Outtatown, something that they never want to forget. It was a really meaningful exercise to use something tangible and permanent to represent something that God has been speaking into our lives.

Heather Snyder

Sky Diving

One day a few people on our site were sitting around contemplating what we should do that weekend, Shaun suggested we should go sky diving. At first the idea was kind of a joke but by the time sunday rolled around 22 of us had decided to jump out of a moving aircraft.

Skydiving was one of the most ridiculously cool things I've ever done. From the plane I had the best view ever, I could see all the way to Vancouver Island and Mount Baker. When the plane door opened and it was time to go I was so excited I wasn't even scared. The freefall lasted about 15 seconds and then the parachute opened and the view was even more spectacular. When I landed on the ground I was met by the cheers of people who had already gone. If you have the means I highly suggest going skydiving.

Lisa Schellenberg