Big Nut's Ramblings

Three days ago I got to Texas Creek, near Cotopaxi Co and met up with most of our staff to begin getting ready for our season. Still much work to do, but lots has been accomplished these past few days.

As of tonight we have 35 trips scheduled this summer. We’re thankful for the opportunity to serve all these students and families and look forward to what God will do in their lives this summer.

Tomorrow we plan to drive to Utah to start a 6-day trip on the Green river — a fun way to kick off the season and begin our training. I’m really looking forward to this trip! Please pray for safety, for vehicles and logistics to work well, and for our staff to bond together well in Christ.

I’ve really sensed the Lord’s presence these past few days and am excited to see how He grows and directs me this summer. Please pray for me to learn quickly and well and to be able to lead our staff in a godly way.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

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Steve Nutting’s Newsletter & Ministry Update

Summer’s still a long way away, isn’t it? Actually our summer season is right around the corner, only 9 days from now – Crazy! With summer coming so soon I thought it would be good to give you an update, because I’m pretty sure I won’t have much time once summer is here.

We have 8 guides hired for the summer: Dan, Josh, Kari, Justin, Jeanne Marie, Cori, Elise, and Elise! The first four have served with Vessels for Honor in the past, and the other four served with Mark & I at Redcloud, so we’re going into summer with a great wealth of experience that will be extremely helpful. Please pray that God will prepare our hearts and use us to minister, all the while working in our lives to bring us closer to the image of Jesus Christ.

We plan to continue using the name Vessels for Honor Rafting for at least a year as we transition the extensive existing customer base to Journey Quest. We’ve been receiving quite a few early bookings for this summer and we’re really excited to serve all these guests. We have 5 groups scheduled for week-long ministry trips and a couple other shorter overnight trips scheduled. We’re really thankful to start off with this much activity our first season. Please pray for each guest who comes this summer. Pray that God will give us His words to speak into their lives, that we would serve them well with the love of Christ, and that many of them will receive Christ’s free gift of eternal life this summer!

In just a few days we kick-off our summer with what looks to be a fun trip – seven of us are planning a six-day, 75 mile float on the Green River in Utah. Although we will miss three of our guides who will still be in school, we’re excited to log some river miles for us new river guides and begin developing the ministry together. It is also an opportunity to scope out the river for a Creation Family Rafting trip we’re planning with Alpha Omega Institute in late August. After the Green River trip we have a few days to rest and get some things organized before our full-fledged guide training begins in the Arkansas River Valley — which will take the rest of May.

Rock & Summit: While I’ve spent a lot of my energy thinking about the river, I’ve also put a lot of time and effort into developing Rock & Summit, a two-week rock-climbing and mountaineering camp with a strong discipleship focus. It is similar in many ways to the Rock Camp I ran at Redcloud, but two days longer and with more training in backpacking, mountaineering, and alpine climbing skills. This year will be an exploratory trip into some really exciting areas, including an amazing part of the Sangre-De-Cristo Mountains. We’re limiting it to only a few students ages 14-20, so be sure to connect with me if you are interested in coming. If the cost is a problem please let me know; I’ll see what I can do. Please pray that God will bring the 4-6 students He wants to be on this trip.

Personal Support Update: Since my last newsletter I’ve received several gifts that have been a huge blessing. My home church in Grand Junction decided to continue supporting me, but at a reduced level. God has provided for my needs and I can’t say I’ve yet gone hungry, except when I forgot to eat. I trust He will continue to provide, even as my needs will grow in the next few months. To cover these needs I still need about 10 additional ministry partners who will give $50-$150/month. Are you interested in joining?

As I think about the way that God has provided for me, I’m reminded of the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Like Paul, I’m exceedingly blessed to receive your gifts. Thanks again for standing with me in this ministry!

God Bless!
-Steve Nutting

Click here to learn how to give to Journey Quest or support me in this ministry.

Come rafting with us! We’d love to serve you, your family, or your group this summer!

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I wanted to give you an update on Journey Quest, the new wilderness ministry I’m helping develop. As I write this I’m at a friend’s house in Leadville, the highest city in America! The past few day’s I was in Johnstown working with Mark and Sarah and preparing for yesterday’s first official board-meeting. Last night I was able to reconnect with some good friends I know from Jackson, Wyoming (they’re now in Ft Collins). This morning I was blessed to visit The Well in Boulder, a church plant started by some friends from Lake City and Gunnison.

Since my last update I’ve been incredibly busy working on Journey Quest’s website, setting up our database and online registration system, researching permitting options for rock climbing and mountaineering, and reconnecting with friends and supporters. Mark has also been hard at work getting insurance, recruiting staff, communicating with group leaders, raising funds, and setting up the non-profit (it is complete in Colorado, but we’re still waiting on the federal government).

Probably the biggest news is Journey Quest’s purchase of Vessels for Honor Rafting which will allow us to begin our ministry this year with a busy summer. We plan to focus on serving the kids and families God brings for single-day rafting trips, a few week-long trips, and a 12-day rock climbing & mountaineering trip for teens. A few of our staff who worked with us at Redcloud are planning to join us this summer, along with several of VFH’s past guides. VFH has been in operation for 9 years and their founders have a real heart for God and they are very excited for us to continue their vision and minister to many kids and families through whitewater rafting.

Personally I’ve been very blessed these past few months. I spent Thanksgiving in Pagosa Springs with several great friends and enjoyed deepening those friendships. Christmas was mostly quiet, but a lot of fun with Samuel, my two-year-old nephew. We’ve also recently learned that I have a niece on the way! After Christmas I took a few days to go ice climbing in Ouray with 4 of our guides from Redcloud, then we met up with even more of them for an exciting and fun New-Year’s celebration in Cedaredge (if any photos or videos of Wii dancing should surface, know this was under coercion, against my better judgment . Seriously though, I’ve found myself really blessed by the great friendships God has given me and I’m really excited for this new year!

Missionary Support Update: After more than ten years of faithful support, my home church in Grand Junction will soon be deciding whether to continue to support me financially. The church’s policies required that I re-apply for support because I moved to a different ministry. Their support, if continued at the same level as before, will cover about 15% of my budget. Please pray that God will lead the elders and members of this congregation, and that they will continue their support for me in this new ministry.

In addition to this, I still need to raise a significant portion of my financial support to be fully funded. It has been encouraging to reconnect with many friends who I haven’t seen in a long time, and I expect to spend quite a bit of time this winter seeking out more supporters. I’m thankful for those who have already joined my team and those who have continued to support me through this transition. Would you pray about how God would have you to be involved?

Journey Quest’s Needs: We estimate we will need to raise an additional $11,000 to cover expenses and purchase the items we need to be ready to start training our staff in May. We could also really use one more large vehicle (in good condition) such as a suburban or passenger van.

In addition to the 4 people who have already committed to serving with us this summer, we have about 10 more who are still seeking God’s lead on whether to join us, either full-time or seasonally. Please pray that God will give them clear direction and prepare their hearts to for service.

Click here to learn how to give to Journey Quest or support me in this ministry. I’d love to hear about what is going on in your lives and how I can be praying for you, so feel free to get in touch with me at any time. Thanks again for all your prayers and your financial support!

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One December, a girl whose birthday was close to Christmas, was talking with Jesus and lamented, “With all the stress, busyness, and gift-giving of Christmas, I feel like I’m left out on my birthday. It just isn’t fair!” To which Jesus replied, “I know, I feel the same way.”*

It is not surprising that our culture would replace Jesus with a false deity. Materialism, power, and prestige have become the driving force of our culture, so it’s no surprise that the humble baby in a manger would threaten this. Instead of glorifying Jesus, we’ve venerated Santa Claus, and he’s coming to town:

“You better watch out, You better not cry
Better not pout, I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town”

While many would try to paint jolly old Nick as a Christ-figure, he is wholly inadequate. It’s fine to have some fun at to be sure the original Saint Nick was a cool guy, but have you ever thought about how different Santa Claus and Jesus Christ really are?

Santa Claus rewards good behavior with gifts that will break or their batteries will die, but we’ll still want more. The gift of Jesus is so much more than that.

“He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake! “

Jesus knows we’ve been bad, but offers us His gift of righteousness instead. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas. The birth of Jesus is so significant because it is the only time in all history that God became a man — and He lived with us, He loved us, and He died in our place. No, no one else compares, not even Santa! Have you received Christ’s great gift? Or are you still trying to impress God with your own goodness, for goodness sake?

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name!” (John 1:12) This Christmas, would you receive the true gift of Christmas?

*Thanks Pastor Joe Gross for sharing this illustration!
Video by Igniter Media

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I’m excited to tell you about a new Christian wilderness ministry I am helping start. As you probably know, I’ve been serving at Camp Redcloud for over 15 years. During this time I’ve learned a lot and grown in many ways. I’ve been at Redcloud through some incredibly hard times and seen God work in amazing ways. But for the past couple years I’ve begun to sense that God was preparing me to step into something new. I didn’t know what that was until recently.

For the past six years Mark Anderson has been my director at Redcloud. Mark worked at Redcloud for several years in the early 90′s before moving to Oregon to work for Reachout Expeditions. During this time he learned a lot about Wilderness ministry and met his wife Sarah. Mark worked into a director role and was used by God to expand that ministry significantly during his 9 years there. Mark & Sarah returned to Redcloud in 2005, and they have been very influential in my life these past several years. This spring Mark & Sarah made the very difficult choice to step out and start a new wilderness ministry after fulfilling their commitment to Redcloud this summer.

When Mark & Sarah made this decision, they asked me to pray about joining them. Although I immediately felt my heart drawn to it, I was also concerned about the need I’ve seen at Redcloud for consistent leadership in the wilderness ministry and I was thinking that I should stay to provide that leadership. But all through this time, God kept this new ministry on my heart and I felt that He was telling me that somehow I’d be involved. So I told Mark & Sarah that I would pray about it through the summer.

As the summer drew to a close, I still hadn’t received clear direction. We were coming off an incredible summer of ministry where we saw God move in amazing ways in the lives of both the campers and our staff, so the desire to stay and continue to minister at Redcloud was real. But I had some significant concerns over the current direction of camp, and was not sure I would have the freedom to minister effectively out of the passions God has placed in me. So I submitted a proposal asking for those freedoms, putting it out as a fleece to see what God would do. Then I went away on a two-day hike to pray and seek the Lord’s direction. At the end of my time out, my prayer was “Lord, I’m willing — just make it clear. Don’t leave any room for doubt in my mind.” When I returned, I met with John Jackson (Redcloud’s CEO), who told me that while my proposal was good, they were planning to take Redcloud Expeditions in a different direction and he asked me to step down from my position.

I took this as a very specific answer to my prayer for clear direction. God hadn’t just closed the door; He slammed it. And while it is hurtful in some ways, my heart has now been freed of a burden and I believe that God has given me the grace to accept this. I didn’t want to rush into a decision on what to do next, whether to join Mark & Sarah or pursue something else; I wanted to be sure that whatever I chose was of the Lord. I had a few other options I was mulling over in my mind, so I took some time to think and pray about these things. But I kept coming back to how God had put this new ministry on my heart. With this as confirmation and no more hesitations, I accepted Mark’s invitation to join them in starting Journey Quest!

Journey Quest will be based out of the Cotopaxi area in the Arkansas River Valley (between Salida and Cañon City). It is a beautiful location at the northern end of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is our desire to take people out into places where they will experience God’s creation, receive Christ-centered teaching, and be surrounded by a community of believers who will love them and support them in their walk with Christ. The adventuresome activities we will use are simply tools to bring about teachable moments and draw the conversation back to the person and work of Jesus. Things are moving forward quickly with the purchase of an existing rafting company, which could get us started as soon as May. The funds that come in from rafting will be used to grow other areas of the ministry, eventually stepping into international missions projects and more. In addition to rafting, this year we hope to be ready to offer rock climbing and mountaineering. In the future we plan to add backpacking in the Sangre de Cristo and the San Juan mountains, expand to other rivers, and open a simple, campground-style base.

Like Redcloud, Journey Quest’s full-time staff will not draw a salary off of the income from the ministry, so I will still need to raise financial support to serve in my new role. Redcloud will continue to process any support that comes in for me through the end of the year as I transition to Journey Quest. I will be spending a fair bit of the next few months building a larger support base which is needed for me to be able to serve in this new ministry. Will you please stand with me in this new ministry?

While I’m very excited about the new ministry and the future, it has been very difficult to leave Redcloud and Lake City. Over the 15 years I’ve lived in Lake City, I’ve grown deep roots, built great friendships, and become involved in the church and community in many ways. Wednesday I moved back to Grand Junction and plan to base out of there for a few months. It is great to be with my family, and I know that I will be better off here for this time, but it is still hard. Please pray for me in this time of transition and feel free to get in touch with me at any time.

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“I’m just not really the religious type,” Matt* told me when I asked him what spiritual lesson he had learned. “It works for my family, but not for me.” We had just finished a rock climbing activity where we challenged the students to consider what true faith is really all about. Matt is from a long family legacy of strong Christian leaders, a family that has been involved with Redcloud for 30 years. His grandfather was a strong example of faith,  his father served on staff at Christian camps, and his brother is following in this legacy. But Matt just didn’t seem to get it.

Matt was part of a group that seemed to be completely unreachable. “These kids won’t say a word,” their very frustrated head guide Todd told me one evening after their evening discussion. “I just want to know where they are with Christ. How do I get them to open up?” I didn’t have a formula or quick fix for him, but I prayed with him and encouraged him to pull the students aside and talk with them each individually. “Help them see the difference between religion and having a relationship with Jesus Christ,” I told Todd.

Over the past few years I have seen a big shift in people’s reaction to Christianity. They think about Jesus Christ as a religious figure, and religion has become a vile thing to many people. It is understandable why: religion enslaves and it kills. It kills the minds and enslaves the heart of those who follow its systems. It condemns anyone whose outward appearance doesn’t match up to its rules and regulations. Jesus hung out all the time with the “Sinners” and the outcast of society, and they never gave Him any trouble. The little children who clamored to Jesus never hurt Him. But it was the religious leaders of the day who sought to have Jesus murdered. Jesus wasn’t the religious type either. Instead, He lived in perfect relationship with His Father. He confronted head-on the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of His day. He showed us how to really care for those in need, to accept those who don’t measure up to the religious system, and to truly show His love to the world.

That evening, Todd pulled Matt aside, and as they each sipped a milkshake Matt opened up  to Todd, who listened to Matt’s questions and answered as best as he could. Religion, Todd explained, is about trying to please God by our own effort. But it is impossible please God by our own effort. He explained the difference between human effort and faith. The milkshakes were long gone before they were done, and it was late that evening when Todd brought Matt in and introduced him as our newest brother in Christ!

This summer was one of the best summers of ministry I have experienced – this was just one of many times where God came through and revealed Himself. Matt was one of over 15 kids who began a relationship with Jesus Christ this summer. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of such a great summer and watch so many people Come Alive!

* Name Changed for Privacy

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For several years I’ve desired to ski Handies Peak, one of the five Fourteeners (peaks over 14,000ft) that are in the area around Lake City. Each year it seemed was very difficult to find time to actually do it. Until today. Usually the snow on Handies’ west face in American Basin is only good into the first couple weeks of May, and Hinsdale County’s road crew works hard to get the road open early, but many years it isn’t open until later. So there is a narrow window to ski Handies on that side. Of course I could have skied the East side, but that also involves a much longer approach through dense timber which can be very difficult.

This year we had a pretty average winter until late March, when it started snowing every week until the end of May. What is usually a melt-off period became a build-up period. So up high in our area, the melt-off has just begun. Knowing this, I decided that it would be good to get up there and have a good look at Handies’ west face, even though it is now 3 or more weeks later than it is normally ski-able.

Of course I needed a partner, so yesterday afternoon I was talking with our staff and asking them what their plans were for the weekend. A plan for some sport climbing and mountain biking near Gunnison was in the formative stages, but when I asked Fritz if he wanted to ski Handies and explained that the time window for doing such was probably pretty narrow, he decided that the sport climbing could wait. Fritz has been skiing short powder runs with me all winter, but was certainly ready to go big on something. So the plan was formed…working backwards from our time to be off the summit we decided to meet at 5:00am.

We reached the trailhead at about 6:0oam, but still had to get organized, so it was about  6:55am before we crossed the river on a good snow bridge and began skinning up. The snow was very hard, even low down in the basin, and our skis barely left any marks in the snow. We roughly followed the normal hiking route to about 12,400 ft in American Basin, but near the point where the trail turns toward Sloan Lake we turned and started up directly toward the south ridge of Handies. There was about a 40 degree slope that looked like it would go all the way to the ridge, so we strapped the skis to our packs, pulled out our mountaineering axes, and started climbing up that slope. Partway up the angle of the slope eased and we were able to reach the ridge quickly. The sun was starting to hit these slopes and the hard snow was starting to soften.

We reached the summit at about 10:15am and decided to stay there for about an hour to allow the snow to soften a bit more. It was a beautiful day with only one tiny cloud in the sky, although it was fairly hazy because of a distant fire that is burning. There were occasional strong gusts of wind, but it was mostly calm. After taking the obligatory summit shots, updating my Facebook status with my new SPOT Connect, and snacking on Schrafen Berger dark chocolate, we decided it was time to head down. The top 200 feet right below the summit only had a narrow strip of snow that was deeply sun-cupped, so we figured it would be best to hike down to the bigger snowfield that was lower. So once we peeled skins, tightened boots, and cinched down our packs we started down.

The top few hundred feet of the descent were deeply sun-cupped and very difficult to ski, but as we continued it smoothed out quite a bit. As it turns out we timed out descent perfectly, the snow was just soft enough to make turning easy and fun, but not so much it was getting slushy. The 40 degree slope we were barely able to kick steps into was now like butter and very fun. There was a natural half-pipe down further that was also a lot of fun. Once we started getting to the lower angle terrain low in American Basin it was starting to get a bit sticky, but still supportive, so we were able to ski 2500 vertical feet without taking the skis off. That’s pretty good for June!

Overall it was an excellent day and I would do it again anytime. It may have to become an annual tradition!

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Few tears were shed today as the last two old nasty trailers finally left Redcloud to go to the dump, where they will be crushed and buried! Six of these were brought in during the 80′s to be “temporary” shelters for staff until Redcloud could afford to build permanent staff housing. At that time the plan was for them to stay only a few years, not the 2+ decades it ended up being. I endured several years living in three of those trailers, hearing pack-rats in the ceilings & walls, and sometimes waking up with frost on the inside of the walls on cold nights. The windows were more like screens, and when the wind blew the plastic we added to the inside would flap in the wind. Shortly before moving out of the last trailer I lived in, it was discovered that the stove and the electric water heater were both on the same 30 amp circuit. No wonder the breaker blew when someone was showering and you tried to use more than 2 burners at a time. Nope, no one around here is sad to see them go…

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“I went to Camp Redcloud when I was in school,” a parent told me, “you never forget a trip like that!” Now she is ready to send her kids to Redcloud. This is just one of the hundreds of parents I talked with last Saturday at the Outdoor Heritage Day,  and many of them had similar stories. Kids came by and told us about their favorite things last week or last year during their time at Redcloud. Others told us how excited they are to come next week with another school. We hear similar stories everywhere we go in Western Colorado — when we wear a Redcloud staff shirt into a store we get the same kind of responses from cashiers, managers, and other shoppers. One thing is for certain: God uses Redcloud to make a very lasting impression on the kids and families who come. Many of them come back again in the summer. And many of them meet Jesus at Redcloud!

Currently there have been a lot of kids coming through camp for outdoor education, and it is fun to see their enthusiasm and see them share their lives with our staff. I’ve been spending most of my time working to recruit campers and getting ready for what may be a very snowy summer staff training (Yes, you read that right. Two days ago we had almost a foot of new snow, continuing the pattern from April). Mark and I have a staff of 10 guides coming in this summer plus a few more volunteers for part of the summer. I’m looking forward to getting to know the 6 new staff and deepening friendships with the returners. At this point is is looking like we are going to have a busy summer in the Expeditions program. And it is hard to believe, but it starts in just 8 days!

Here are a few highlights of happenings at Camp so far this spring:

Grace School from Tyler Texas: What would you do if two big charter buses pulled up and dropped 95 eight-graders on your doorstep in the middle of winter? You don’t have to answer that, but I’ll tell you what we did: we gave them a nice place to stay, fed them some great food, took them horseback riding, let them try the power pole, and took them skiing. While leading snowshoeing, I got to challenge each of these students to seek to know God. Not know about Him, but really to Know Him like Paul describes in Philippians 3. And at least 3 of them came to know Christ during their time here!

Spring Breakaway: “You’ve both developed a passion for climbing,” I told Ethan & Jeff, “it is our prayer that you will develop a passion for God that greatly dwarfs your passion for climbing.” This was on the first night of our Spring Breakaway trip, a camp that only these two signed up for. I got to know both these boys last summer and while we wanted to get more kids signed up for the trip, I was actually pretty excited to spend a week with just these two. Monday we took them ice climbing at Lake City’s great ice park. Tuesday we started up Sunshine Peak for an overnighter, but one of the boys started showing signs of altitude sickness, so we came back to let him rest and took the other to another great little ice climb.

Early Wednesday morning we headed up Sunshine again and reached the summit about 6 hours later. It was a beautiful day to stand on the summit, and of course there was no one else up there in March. The next day we decided to go rock climbing, so we hiked in to a fun climbing area near Gunnison. The temperatures were reasonably nice for climbing, but there were a few inches of new snow on our tent the next morning which was perfect for skiing! Probably the highlight of my week was getting to teach one of them how to ski — he picked it up so fast and had a really great time at it.

Mission Impossible: No, not the movie, the work crew from Illinois. And a very big work crew at that. Aurora Christian Highschool has an annual tradition each spring — they travel to a Christian ministry and serve in whatever capacity they can. With 106 high-school students and about 50 skilled adult leaders, that’s a lot of serving! So this year they came out to Redcloud and worked on some major projects like tearing down an old trailer house and building several new things. They made great progress on building a bathhouse for our base camp sites, erecting a 27′ yurt and more. Each student took a bit of time to try a couple of our activities, and I got to run the high-ropes course all week — perfect because that gave me an opportunity to challenge them each to “stay connected.” That’s pretty important when you’re on the high ropes, but it is even more important to “stay connected to Christ,” just as He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

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Thanks for visiting my new blog! I’m looking forward to keeping you informed about my thoughts and life in general. Comments are welcome and I will read each comment.

Have a look around as I begin to develop content for this site. I’m planning to add many topics such as Ministry Updates, trip reports, gear reviews and general ramblings.

Use the contact page to get in touch with me, or leave a comment if you like!

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