wilderness trail mission

To lead backpacking faith adventures that bring teens closer to God and to each other.

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Our Calling

We believe we are all called to a better life which is a life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. The wilderness gives us a natural environment to experience this better life. We believe that we cannot follow Jesus without others. There can be no unity, love, or joy when we try to live on our own. We believe that Jesus calls us into community with Him and with each other.  This faithful way of living begins first by letting go of personal wants and worries which then frees us to lose ourselves in the care of others. The more we expand our embrace to Jesus and to others - the greater the life we will live!  Venturing out into the wilderness allows us to focus intently on this rhythm of community and stirs in us a hopeful expectation that we can live the same way as we return home. 

Values

• Trust - We believe that when we trust in a strength that is not our own and we cannot always feel, we are living into our true lives. We believe this trust cannot be obtained through thought but through action with Jesus. We believe that we have to continually push ourselves to the edge of our comfort zone to truly trust. Our faith begins in the places where we are being pushed to the end of our rope.

• Servanthood - We believe that we constantly live into this trust by putting others ahead of ourselves. We believe that one of Jesus’ greatest callings for our lives is unconditional love for those around us. We believe that the only way for us to show this love is by humbling ourselves and becoming a servant leader to others. In this way, we follow in the footsteps of Christ. Our greatest impact to others is not through words, but through action. Love cannot be explained, but is lived. Through showing extravagant hospitality and love, God uses us to change our surroundings for the better.

• The Wilderness - We believe that God calls us into the Wilderness, just as Jesus was.  Being in the wilderness enables us to focus on God’s presence and our relationships with others.  It has a way of stripping away the layers of our lives we don’t really need.  As the wilderness challenges us, it reveals who we really are and who God created us to be.  It reminds us that we are dependent on God and each other to truly live.

• Body of Christ - We believe we are capable of a life of servanthood through the strength of the Body of Christ. We believe we are not meant to take on challenges alone or exist on our own human island, but trust that our strength is in one another. We believe the greater the outreach to others, the greater our lives will be. Each member of the Body is important and each has different gifts to share.

• Joy in the moment - We believe in playing in the rain! We believe situations in life are not always desirable or good, but that God is always good. We believe joy is not dependent on circumstances, but is instead a choice.  We can choose to live fully into joy, at any moment, by forgetting ourselves and trusting in the love of God. We believe that real faith is what we live by, not the things we think or may say. We believe by living in the moment and in the will of God, we are left with no time for disputing His plans. We believe that saying YES to joy in the moment is our purpose every day. Through this, we find that joy is not merely an emotion, but a state of being. It’s in these moments that we live into the life we are called, the life we were made for, and the life Jesus taught us to live.

• Accepting and Affirming-Wilderness Trail welcomes and affirms people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. At Wilderness Trail we believe we are all called to a better life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. The wilderness gives us a natural environment to experience this better life. We believe that we cannot follow Jesus without others.

  We follow in the footsteps of Jesus by affirming all people who are able to join us in realizing our mission through backpacking faith adventures that bring us closer to God and to each other.  Wilderness Trail works to affirm all people with space on the Property that meets each person's individual needs to the best of our abilities. Wilderness Trail embraces Jesus and accepts all who wish to follow in his footsteps. We trust every day that Jesus’ Servant leadership will be our guide in our lives.