The Trek

Students labeled with truth to combat a lie they believe about themselves

Today’s story comes from Joshua and Rose Barta in the Twin Cities area. They are on Campus Staff with Destino, a Cru ministry.

Our time with Destino students in the mountains of Colorado gave the opportunity for  risk, adventure and taking steps of faith that have the potential to change a students trajectory for the rest of their lives.

We spent most every waking hour together; sharing meals, joys, hurts and the story God is writing for each of us (Ephesians 2:10), one of our values being, ‘high risk, high growth.’ It can be scary sharing deep and vulnerable parts of our lives, we all fear being exposed, ‘if people only knew our greatest struggles.’ Yet taking risks can set us on a path to rich personal growth. And that is exactly what we witnessed the Lord do in each of our students’ lives!

Jonathan, a student from the University of Minnesota, joined us, a neat surprise as he was not able to be very involved this past year because of school and family obligations. He is the oldest of 3 and part-time caretaker to  the younger two. He’s also the first in his family to go to college, and has a very quiet personality. We knew his participation, especially vocally, would be a huge step of faith for him. Yet this young man was fully engaged all week, and each day we challenged him to speak up more and more, because we knew he had much to offer his fellow students. 

All teaching and discipleship during the week was done with great intentionality leading up to the final day… “The Trek” experience. Here students were pushed to extremes physically, mentally and spiritually. We asked each student to identify one lie,  an “I am” statement they often believe about themselves and tape it to their back. For example, mine (Joshua) would be “I am not a good leader.”   Part way through the morning students began to grow weary, becoming hunched over, and even frustrated. The beauty is that this is part of them experiencing The Trek to its fullest. You see, the lies we believe about ourselves weigh us down and hold us back in many ways, which can disguise the greatness of the gospel.  After a grueling hike through the woods we ushered students into the “Holy of Holies” where a wooden cross stood tall as a beacon of hope among a cluster of giant boulders. Sitting on boulders provided some needed physical rest but this pales in comparison to the gospel rest they would bask in moments later. Our staff team began to walk around and literally cut off the  hindrances we had placed upon them earlier; large stones duct taped to hands and feet, 6 foot logs, and bunches of sticks fastened to arms and legs. We see this as a Holy Moment, a gospel experience that they will hold onto for years to come.

We closed the morning circled around a large bolder. One by one each person stood upon the rock and screamed at the top of their lungs the truth from God’s Word that combats the lie they so easily believe. One student yelled, “I am a beautiful child of God!!!” Not only did we feel each word, but heard them echo off the surrounding mountains. During those minutes my heart raced as I imagined what Jonathan was feeling on the inside; wondering how he might climb the rock to declare the truth of God’s Word. The word that says God is for him, never against him, and has an incredibly beautiful plan for his life! The image of Jonathan stepping out in faith onto that rock will forever be etched on our hearts.

Joshua and Rose serve in God’s Kingdom in the Twin Cities area, believing Him for the hearts and lives of the next generation of Latino and Hispanic college students who will become world leaders. 

They ask that you pray for Jonathan and the others they will step back onto campus with in August for the fall semester.