Mexico

My wife and I just returned from a wonderful week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. For our wedding we were given 1 week to use
at a time share compliments of an aunt and uncle. Now that's one awesome wedding gift. But when do you use something like that? As we got to thinking about the next 10 years of life, Lord willing, it will be filled with screaming little kids who fill up this house. With that image in our head we opted not to wait any longer! One much needed peaceful moment before our whole world gets turned upside down with a little one. Ends up the timing couldn't have been much better for several reasons. Here are some pictures from our trip that during these could days of winter will warm you up. You might have a tendency to get jealous... and well I don't blame you, because it was awesome.

We went to the restaurant that was on a hill the overlooked the city and the sea. When I say hill what I really mean is Mountain. The view was breath taking. Pictures don't do this place a bit of justice. It was a great night, until we got home and settled up with our taxi driver?! It cost like 2 million dollars for him to drive his car to the top. Next time I'm going to hire some Sherpas and just spend a day scaling this mountain to get to the restaurant.

Our hotel was pretty great as well. It had its very own water slide. So what if it was for children 5 and under. That wasn't going to stop this overgrown kid. I'm on vacation!

All and all we are so blessed to have been able to go on this vacation. It was great to rest and grow closer with my wife aside from the business that seems to fill our lives here in Ames. It's great coming back refreshed physically as well as spiritually. Oh and coming back tan is a plus too.

Pranked...again

This weekend my wife and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. We had a fun date planned and were anticipating enjoying some birthday cake, but we had know way of knowing what was in store for us Saturday morning.

Friday Night was a late night. We didn't get home until about 11pm after a long evening of hanging out with international students at Cornerstone. It was a great night of ministry and we were blessed to be invited to be a part of things. We drove home and with little thought went straight to bed. No doubt that the events of the week and both of us dealing with some colds lead to some solid slumber. In nearly no time we were fast asleep with no intention of starting our Saturday too early. All was well... so we thought.

We arose the next morning to what ended up being quiet a sight. So much so that the neighbors had already been up and taken pictures. It seems that at some point during the night a pumpkin patch sprung up in our driveway.

Who's responsible for this loving gesture? I'm not really sure. I have a few leads and in time the truth will be discovered. I commend their taste. This wasn't some senseless "T.P." job which creates more destruction that it does laughs. This one was pretty enjoyable. Even the 65lb pumpkin that blocked

us in the door was a nice touch. I'm going to chalk this one up to being loved as a youth pastor and my wife will continue to smile, especially since she got some free decorations out of the deal! God Bless, Stan

*Any information in regards to who would be welcomed!

Fall Retreat!

Fall Retreat!

Register now at Escape22.com

Wondering what Sunstream Camp is like? View the promo video: click here.

SYATP World Wide Prayer

See you at the pole SYATP has been taking place since the 90's. It started in a school down south and has spread as a world wide movement taking place annually during the 4th Wednesday in September. Today those who claim the name of Christ gathered around flag poles everywhere to pray. It was awesome to see God's people gathering to seek him despite the not so nice weather.

These are a couple pics from Ames. It doesn't do the crowd much justice. Their were probably 75 students there so we broke into much smaller groups to pray. We would take a piece of the Lord's Prayer and pray through it. We'd then join together to hear another portion of the prayer then we'd break into our groups again to pray through that portion. It was awesome!

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. -Amen

Worship Workshop

We had a crazy good time at worship workshop. So many talented musicians at Cornerstone. Isaac Schmidt our new worship leader did a great job putting on this event. Here are some pictures taken from the "stomp" portion of the event. Students were placed in teams and given random materials and asked to create an entertaining routine. Check out the video for a clearer example. Oh and the 4 words were chosen at random and each group had to incorporate them some home.

Top 10 Panama

Their are a few things that make Panama a very unique missions trip. It's a great place and God is really at work in the lives of people there. But anytime you step from one culture to another, especially with 18 teenagers, you are going to have some culturally different moments. Here's my personal Top 10 "Culture Shock" unique to Panama moments.

10. Every 5 steps one of our interpreters would pick something up from the jungle, exclaim how it's edible, and ask us if we too would like to try it.

9. Training Time: Jasey wowed us with her magic knife trick. Talent. It's not really a culture shock but it is a pretty sweet video.

8. Bathing in a River. You could actually sit down and being washing your hair while simultaneously have minnows (small fish) nibbling on your legs and back.

7. The fruit track actually just came straight to you instead of supplying a store. And much like an ice cream truck came complete with it's own song and loud speaker.

6. Volleyball in a monsoon. Amazing.

5. Language can be a barrier when entering a new culture. Nice Manhart broke down the walls of communication with the kids rather quickly. He learned the word "hurt" in spanish. He then proceeded to scream "hurt" in spanish while taking a wet bandana and whipping it wildly. He chased the boys for hours and days... and they LOVED IT!

4. What's that smell? By day 4 it was growing rather pungent in the male leaders room. I wanted to personally blame Travis. Only two days later did I realize the origin of the smell was coming from my duffle bag. Seems that something had literally died in my bag allowing the smell to ripen with our time there.

3. Tarantellas. Snakes. Caterpillars with ears that shoot venom. The wildlife was crazy and some of it very deadly.

2. Sweat. Here in our culture if you are sweating you are usually working hard. In which case when you finish the job you enter into a nice Air Conditioned vehicle or room and things return to normal. Not here. You just keep sweating. More then a couple people melted away over 5 lbs on our trip.

1. Machettes. Here if you have enough muscles to swing one... you should. Manual labor was the only labor. Even when we went to the city I never saw a lawn mower but a half a million guys with weed eaters who would use them as mowers. Crazy Cultures. Makes me wonder what people say when they come here!

Lessons Learned

So after 7 Months of Marriage I wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means. In fact I'd say I'm pretty far on the other side of the spectrum, but I'm learning. Allow me to share with you the top 5 things I've learned during this short time. Hopefully these things that got me in trouble with the Mrs. will now make you laugh.

5. You can be winning 11-0 in Racquet Ball and still be the world's biggest loser. Seems that my wife didn't appreciate my forehand "crush" as much as some of the guys might. Lesson Learned.

4. Gold Bond: Well if you didn't read this original post within the first 8 hours... you missed a good story which has since been deleted. My wife has convinced me some stories are better left un-told.

3. Guns should not be one's sole purpose of entertainment. Now this may be the hardest lesson I'm still in the process of learning. My wife is helping diversify my interest. We even went to "The Theater" to see a Broadway show last month. Another couple joined us. His response, not mine, at intermission was. "Is it now over?" Nope the fun continues. More to fun than just guns. Lesson Learned.

2. Donuts served fresh, are better for wives then "Donuts" in the truck. My wife is pretty healthy but will enjoy a nice bakery donut. What she doesn't enjoy is when I surprise her with the other type. When the tires are sliding across the ground and the centripetal force is jamming her against the door... Donuts vs. "Donuts." Lesson Learned.

1. Food Groups. My food pyramid was made up of Meats, Potatoes, and ice-cream. My wife has help me make the correlation between the spare tire in my mid section and such eating habits. Ends up I don't mind stemmed broccoli........ covered in cheese! Food Pyramid. Lesson Learned

Rosebud Recap

Rosebud was Awesome! Our team did a great job of reaching out to the youth and the community. I’d love to post a few pictures and a couple stories from the Rez.

First the team. We really wanted to be a team who loved each other and were unified. The idea was that if we could see the love of Christ amongst each other it’d be easy for outsiders to see as well. For 8 days together through storms, heat, bugs, sleep deprivation, and injuries I’d say they did great. Flexibility is a key word for teams on the reservation where cell phone numbers for locals change more often than the seasons (nearly all are on pre-paid). With the “lemons” that life dealt them through the week they made a lot of “lemonade.” God gave us the most amazing rain shower, which our students enjoyed to the fullest by playing tackle football. Two different Rosebud locals were quoted saying “This is the most fun I have ever had in my whole life.” So parents with sick children this week… they did it for Jesus!

The culture. If you haven’t gone you should. You can’t begin to create an accurate picture of such a unique place. Monday night Casey, a Ballard leader, was trying to describe the place and culture to Travis Pierce. Travis at one point burst out “Ok Stop. I’m just getting confused now.” Part of our time was spent installing some new hoops at the local courts. The hoops were then used to host a 3 on 3 tournaments. Roger Wheeler was a huge help. We had 16 teams show up to compete for prizes. This looks to be a great activity to build upon seeing as it drew the community out and rallied them around a central cause. Upwards anyone?!?

The Ministry. Too many sweet stories to share so you’ll have to ask those who went. It seemed like everyone was getting into great spiritual conversations. I was so encouraged by the leaders on the trip who really set an example. The guys really got the guys to open up and the same for the girls. It was amazing in how short of time the depth at which many of these relationships were able to get to.

Look forward to future efforts. Right now we’re praying and asking for host families to house some of the teens our teens connected to. The idea would be to give some of the students there a chance to get a great education in a great environment here. Away from the gangs and violence which are often found on the rez. Anyone looking for another life?!

Car Wash! Recap

So we've all had those overwhelming experiences. Maybe it's a kid tugging on your coat while

you're on the phone in the check out line. For m

e this past weekend it was our car wash. Let it be said on the front end it all turned out great! Cars

got washed and our e22 missions teams certainly got supported by an awesome church body. The amount brought in was nearly $1,750. That was an average of over $30/hr for the students to apply towards their overseas trips.

Saturday

10pm. Making a last minute run to the church to get things in order.

Sunday D-day

7:00am. Arise and run to Walmart to get last minute supplies

7:34 Meet Cameron Lewis (THANK YOU) and unload his huge pressure washer.

7:50 Begin to allign hoses and hook up the pressure washers.

8:00 Sit and wonder when the fun will start

8:04 Fun starts

8:10 Cars begin going through our barricade's to park

8:20 MORE CAR's 40 mins before church. Be made aware of these people before you invite them to a dinner party!

8:34 Assemble the students and tell them the plan that's already been spun into motion

by default! ahhhh.

8:54 "Stan we've got to start washing these cars or they'll never get done!"

9:03 "Haven't we already washed this one?!?" haha as the HUGE black truck with dried soap re-enters the pressure wash bay.

9:08 Remix the soap so it's not SOOOO strong.

9:10 Everyone at the point officially has a station

9:50 Mike McVicker calls a meeting to order with teens explaining what should be happening... that hasn't been.

10:10 Early people begin to exit the church doors. No pressure.... only a line of unwashed cars.

10:30 Last people exiting last car's being washed.... Perfect timing!

10:31 Water Break

10:32 Water Break over for some who need to meet cars already trying to enter for 2nd service

10:40 Water Break OVER

10:41 Start on 2nd Service Cars

10:43 Realize that we haven't been using the heat option on the power washers. that explains.......

10:58 Realize we've only got about 6 cars left

11:04 The last car

11:06 Ok this is the last car

11:08 Last CAR!

11:10 Students, STOP BRINGING YOUR OWN CARS THROUGH.

11:25 Thanked God for the adults who helped make things possible.

12:00 Thanked God for the chaos and tension.

Car Wash!

CAR WASH!!!

@ Cornerstone Church

This Sunday from 9-noon. Bring your dirty car and have it cleaned. The donations will help all the high-school students going on overseas missions trips!

Also if you'd like to help or you have a student who will be helping it's going to be great. Suppose to be great weather. Help needs to plan on 8:30-12:30. If you need to duck out and go to one of the services that'd be fine. We'd love to have a few more adults for quality control and drivers. If you'd like to help please respond to this email. stanhayek@gmail.com

Leaders BBQ

*The Fun Picture

These are some of the fine folks who work with our High School Students. We had a BBQ at Brookside Park on wed. and as you can see we had fun. A few stray children made it into our picture can you count them all?

*The Professional Pic

Bridge Night!

Last week was the last e22 of the semester. We have a short break and start up again JUNE 9th. 6:30pm in the Equipping Room.

We closed the identity series and the semester with the Gospel. It was a simple message from scripture using Luke 15 the story of the "Prodigal Son." Many know the story of the son who leaves the father and goes off and lives like a rebel, and many high school students often venture out in rebellion so it's easy association. Prostitutes, parties, and whatever money could buy. The turning point for the son is in Luke 15: ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. Feelings of remorse follow but don't change his position with the father... He is still at that point distant.

The parrellel (but not the main point) is that "feeling bad" doesn't change your standing/position with God. Knowing you've done wrong doesn't bring you home it just hopefully leads to that. Those feelings need to be followed by actions.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

We used the bridge illustration of the cross. It's through Jesus and the cross that we can "come home." Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We can "come home" by...

1. Admitting we have sinned / we are lost / and deserve to be punished.

2. Believe in Jesus. Put your trust in the cross as payment for your sins

3. Confess and Commit. Confess Him as your Lord and Commit to living for Him!

The next step was to writing your name on a post it note and stick it to the bride you were to walk as kind of that visual sign that you were "home." The bridge was nothing special, just a big plank between two buckets, but the responses were. 12 new students stood up to profess for the first time that Christ was Lord and Savior. it was so great to have the stand and be prayed for. At one point one of the students who stood created such a rush of joy that his friend and prayer warrior just burst out in applause. His friend had "come home!"

This is a stack of all those who are a part of e22 who claim to be Christians. You can be in prayer for these and the dozen new believers. It's our desire to partner with parents and the rest of Cornerstone Church to help these students to be deeply rooted in Christ!

Dear Mr OtterBox cellular telephone case maker,

Dear Mr OtterBox cellular telephone case maker,

I've been in the phone demolition business long before you came to town. I washed phones, lost phones, and yes even smashed phones (I'm not proud of it). I thought their would be no hope for me when it comes to phones. My longest relationship was with the NOKIA "brick" complete with the snake game, and we only lasted about 6 months. It seemed like re-entering contacts was becoming a part time job. I was hopeless... that was until your promises.

"Ever had nightmares about breaking your precious iPhone?" Yes, Yes I have. Some wake at night at the thought of falling off a cliff, but for me it's a big Nokia phone wearing a band-aid while chasing me. So I think can this case really improve my sleep? "Put those fears to rest by getting your hands on the OtterBox Defender Series for Apple® iPhone®. With our patented case technology, you will sleep easy knowing your phone is safe and sound. (otterbox.com)" So I took your advice and bought the case. I put my fears behind me and rested in your website's assurance. That was until one day last week.....

You had to know that one day someone would put your precious phone case to the ultimate test. It could happen to anyone after a long day right? I'll have you know that leaving your phone on the top of a tow-behind trailer isn't to hard to do, but I'll admit that was my fault. You Mr. OtterBox cellular telephone case maker have to take full responsibility for what happened next.

My precious iPhone was enjoying the wind in it's face, and why wouldn't it after all it was secure within your case and your promises. Things got a little crazy while merging onto the interstate and the phone took a fly. Be it the impact or the cars that would pass that direction something went wrong. I left you two together for 15 minutes.... 15 MINUTES!!! And you let this happen! Oh the nerve. Your just like the others. I leave you with the image of your shame.

May you Rest In Pieces... Mr. OtterBox Cellular Telephone Case (and iphone)

**Note: That this post is strictly for comical purposes and by no means does it reflect my true appreciation for the people at OtterBox. ;)

Staff Day

What does this look like to you?

A. a picture with me and the president which got cut off?

B. two teenage girls in front of a fancy mirror?

C. Isaac and Wendy playing at an e22 staff meeting?

Now from the picture below it may look like Wendy and Isaac (worship leader) are playing Dance Dance Revolution at Perfect Games in West Ames. But really it's so much more then that. (For the record let it be known that Isaac crushed Wendy)

This was part of out 1 1/2 day e22 Staff Day aways. With summer nearly upon us we had a lot to talk about. So we took some time to get together and plow through teaching schedules, missions, eball, worship, leadership, ect ect. Also just time together in the Word, in prayer, in worship, and in Perfect Games. It was much needed team time together before things really get crazy.

It's our desire as a staff to see this ministry grow and see many more students come to know and grow in Christ. But then again don't we all share that same desire? Looking forward to Escape tonight. Prayerfully God will show up and do something so blog-able.

Garage Sale

Who knew that helping students go over seas was so easy. It's spring cleaning with a purpose.

Step 1: Find the trailer site out at Cornerstone that looks like this. The trailer on the top right of this picture will in 3 months double as the Iowa City Church! For now you can put your garage sale items in it.

Step 2: Find a trailer with the e22 sign on the side. That's the key. Trailers that are full have had the signs removed. These signs are professionally made with 72pt Times New Roman. This is to protect against scam artist. The unique signs ensure that no one brings a personal trailer to our sight and have you mistakenly load it with your valuable bell bottom pants or grandmas fruit juicer with the faulty switch. Beware. Check for these signs! Can't trust the world today.

Step 3: Unload your stuff. Giving to High School Missions is that simple.

If you are looking to get in on the purchasing take not that our Garage Sale is May 15th. Saturday from 8am -1pm. Most items will be sold at free will giving/donation. 3206 Magnolia Circle (North Ridge in Ames).

Sr. Night

We had 22+ Sr's at Escape last night. I was blown way as they all got up on stage (or nearly all) and performed Billy Joel's "Piano Man." Consequently they had 1 sheet of lyrics and 21 confused, yet swaying, Sr's. The highlight was Adam Duvick's harmonica solo.

Pictured to the right is Devin Leland, Luke Haverkamp, Brianna Goodman, and Nathan Lubinus. The 4 shared some insight with the underclassmen. Their desire to see their high-school's won to Christ was made evident. It seems to be a passion that has only been re-fueled with graduation fast approaching.

Giving the Sr's control of the night and the teaching was actually a pretty sweet thing. It's pretty safe to say that we will be extending the invite to younger class's to coordinate e22 some week. The idea is to call them to "more" then give them a platform to do it from. And the fact that it gives me a break in the teaching schedule is a bonus!

Brianna Goodman wrote a song last week about the journey to finding truth. I kept waiting for her to get nervous... as it has it I'm still waiting. God had given her a song and she was going to sing it. Not even her brother in the front row (Rowen pictured with his skate board under his chair) was going to shake her. It was AWESOME!

All together it was a pretty good night. We ended with some good bye's to fellow staffers who will no longer be with us starting June 1. Mitch Nims and Clint Robinson. Mitch has completed his 2 year internship with e22 but thankfully is sticking around Ames. Clint is all things worship for the new Iowa City church plant. Not enough time or strength left in these fingers to begin to talk about their service and contributions to Escape. More to come in future post.

Sr. Banquet

The Sr. Banquet in two words: Cody & Food

Food: Sam’s club was the store of choice for putting together this year’s menu. Where else can you go to feed such and army on such a budget? Why anyone would need a 5-gallon bucket of sunflower seeds, a personal vending machine, and/or a pallet of chewing gum… I’ll never know. But if you are looking for 50lbs of Pork Loin this is the store.

We slow cooked some loin on low for a little over 2 hours. My wife baked about 70 potatoes, 15lbs of corn, and bought enough lettuce to feed a family of rabbits for life. (If you over buy on cold stuff know that Sam’s won’t take it back, unless you smile real nice ;) ) I’m under the assumption that everyone received enough to eat. Austin Vier and Dakota Tennant nearly shared an 8lb loin between the two of them. It was both impressive and disgusting.

Cody: I daily grow in respect for Cody and how God is using him. It was so encouraging to hear him talk about most every Sr in attendance and there were 14! He was the right guy for the job having been the leader since their freshmen year. Aside from the laughter that filled the room Cody brought one last charge to this Sr. Class.

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” is the name that Cody whispers to his 6 month old son. He’s expressing his desire for Jacoby’s first word or name out of his mouth is Jesus. Cody was setting up his point, “The only thing that matters is that you know Jesus.” Jobs, fame, friends, and even family will fade away and in the end the point is that we would know and be known by Jesus. That’s a message simple enough for Jacoby but deep enough to stir the most mature Christian’s heart.

Ministry 101

"Ministry is Relationships" is what my former mentor Mark Arant always says. Doing Ministry often requires you to go beyond the classroom and get out in the field (some times literally when hunting season rolls around).

So a group of us guys went to grab a trailer for our upcoming missions garage sale (May 15th 3206 magnolia cir) . The guys worked hard pushing the trailer out of a garage and for the most part avoiding the parked cars in the drive way... for the most part. So a reward was in order. Food is out of the question because you can't buy enough food to feed these guys, but for $1.19 you can buy enough drink to hold them over. We swung into Kum & Go and everyone picked their beverage of choice. I went with Mt. Dew. 248g of carbs. 880 Calories. 248g of sugar = 1 gut ache.

At this rate in high-school ministry I should gain an extra 2 lbs a week. My wife is not too thrilled about my current diet habits. It helps to inform her that winter will be here in 9 months and I'm just getting a head start storing fat reserves.

Pictured L to R (Peter, Isaac, Carson, Grant)

Welcome

This will be the new blog spot for Escape 22 High School Ministry of Cornerstone Church of Ames. As you can tell that's a mouthful, lets just call it Escape. The desire would be for this to be a more intimate look at the lives of students and staff of Escape. It'd be our desire to communicate with you readers about all that our glorious God is doing here at, in, and through e22!

-Stan Hayek e22 Director