What God Taught Me During VOICE

It was my second time to go to VOICE, this year as a part of the V2 program. Although it might have seemed that I was doing the same thing over again, God still taught me a lot through the short-but-incredible month, which is totally beyond my expectation and imagination. In the V2 session, we learned how to be a leader of good character that pleases God. I learned the most from the Bible study in the classes. It helped me understand the importance of studying the Bible, leading to my decision to start working hard on doing so from then on. Because the Bible is God's Word, we can get closer to Him by reading and studying it, which would grant us divine wisdom. Thus, it's very important and beneficial to everyone-- whether we are a leader or not.

Moreover, God let me realize that I'm indeed weak and needy through the wrong things I did and the difficulties I faced, which let me again experience His unconditional grace that's prepared for weak sinners like me. "And He said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I'm really grateful that God gave me an opportunity to go to VOICE again, letting me grow up spiritually, know Him more, and learn to live a life that pleases Him.

Tiffany Yeh
V2, Team 6

Photo Credits: V2 Study by Karen Chen

Good-bye, Northwoods

Today is our last day in Northwoods.

We took the last Basic Seminar lesson this morning. As usual, it made us sleepy, but since this is our last chance to meet Mr. G on the wall, we tried hard to keep ourselves awake.

Since it is our last day here, Wes let us do whatever we want in the afternoon. I went kayaking across the lake. It was tiring, but it’s worth it. Because the scenery was so awesome!

After dinner, I and Jordan played table tennis together. It made me exhausted.
Today is our last day in Northwoods.

Simon Yeh
Team 3

Photo Credits: Team Three by Karen Chen, Rest Stop by Karen Chen

The Opposite Bank

This morning before the sun rose up, we went canoeing to have our breakfast on the opposite bank. We had bacon, potatoes, toasts, cooked eggs and hot cocoa. Also the yummy donuts! After the breakfast we gathered around the bonfire and sang songs to worship God. Once again I could not help but be grateful for everything God provides us here.

In the afternoon, we went tubing on the lake. It was the most thrilling and exciting activity I ever had. Many times I felt like that I’m flying off the lake!

In the evening, we continued our English speech. Some of them told about the three wishes in their life, other shared about the countries they have been to or something they would never forget. As usual, the tower was still full of our laughter that night.

Charlie Wang
Team 2

Photo Credits: Wrangler's Breakfast by Naomi Kallberg, Splish Splash by Karen Chen

Faith Challenges

We had went to Ox Yoke Lake for faith challenges. Dan split us up into 6 different groups. We had 7 challenges to conquer. My favorite was the “Faith Fall” challenge. Where we had to get to the island by walking a wooden log. The challenge taught me the importance of faith. I had to have faith that my team would catch me. I was the 1st one to fall, so at first I was very scared. But as my small group assured me to have faith, I was able to have enough courage to fall. (Even though I still felt weak at the knees.) Another challenge was the batter balloon launcher challenge. We had to try to catch 11 water balloons with an inter-tube, but we only caught one. At first those catching would run wherever they thought the balloon would fall. As a result there was a lot of confusion. Finally we had one person watch the balloon and yell out the directions to the rest of the team. After we did that we finally caught one! Another challenge was the river crossing challenge. We learned that we need to trust God in all things and take life one step at a time. Another challenge was the pyramid challenge. We had to have faith that those under us would hold us up. Of course, Anna and I ended up on the top. It was a great afternoon.

That night, Wes told us to go to bed early because we would have a full day the next day. So around 10pm I went to bed. Who knew that at 1:30am, Fish would come knocking on our door? I thought it was a small group meeting so I ran out in shorts! But it wasn’t what I thought! They wanted us to put on warm clothing – and off we went on our night hike. It was a great experience (even though we were freezing!) The stars that night were amazing. We walked along the forest – and Uncle Dan told us to be very careful. We crossed a small bridge. (We felt like spies – because it was so dark.) We sat around the fire and thought about how much God loves us and about all that He has sacrificed for us. What a great day! I loved the night hike experience.

Wendy Lin
Team 5

Photo Credits: The Crossing by Rowan Gillson, Faith Fall by Rowan Gillson, Midnight Hike by Rowan Gillson

Worship at the Northwoods

This morning we were very excited because it was our first Sunday in the Northwoods. We put on skirts and the guys put on suits. It felt a little weird because we had gotten used to wearing pants here. We had a lot of sharing by the lake. Pretty soon it started raining. So we moved indoors to continue our service. Rowan gave a sermon on faith. God was with us and a lot of people were touched by the service. When we had communion Wes asked us to examine ourselves to see if we had sinned against God or other people. He wanted us to take care of it so that we could partake with pure hearts. A lot of people were crying. Before lunch we took team and group pictures with interesting poses. We are the team of princesses, so we took a picture beside our princess carriage.

After lunch we rested a little bit. We had a scavenger hunt and divided up the list. Each person was responsible for finding certain items. We had to use creativity to find them. For “something living” we used the Bible. For “something we all dislike” we used hair from the drain, and for “something that reminds us of home” we used rice. We got 23 out of 24 points. After the game we ate dinner, then went to our favorite spot, the tower, for another worship service. The sun hadn’t gone down yet. It was a worshipful atmosphere. Several people gave their testimonies. The day came to a beautiful close.

Team 4

Photo Credits: Sherry's Story by Dan Davis, Clues by Charity Sanders