Solid Rock - Climbers for Christ
A
Community of Climbers Bringing the Good News
Email
Update – Volume 9, Number 14 (Issue 169)
October 25th, 2008 from
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Contents:
- New Member Testimony
- Announcements
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2008-09 Event Calendar
November
9-10: 2008 SRCFC Board of Directors Annual Meeting and Gathering
December 5-7: DESTINATION:
JOSHUA TREE, CA!
January 3, 2009: Waterfall
Ice Climbing Seminar and Outreach,
January 27-31, 2009: 3rd Annual SRCFC Conference in
At El Potrero
February 6-7: The 2nd
Bouldering at
its Best - Competition for all abilities at Horse Pens 40!
See details
and other events below. If you can’t
attend, pray!!!!
Event Planning: http://www.srcfc.org/involve1/event.asp
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WHAT BECOME OF CHONGO CHUCK?
By Calvin Landrus
If you have no idea who Charles Victor Tucker III
a.k.a. Chongo Chuck is, you probably are not
alone. He was a
Why is he being brought to your attention? Because of a quote in the article on climbing
that reads, “You go spend all this money to do something that basically only
improves the world by improving your outlook on it, and if you don’t take it
and do something with it, it’s narcissistic.”
It prompts two important questions:
1. Are you climbing for God’s glory?
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians
3:17
2. How are you using your time in the climbing
community to be a witness of Christ?
Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every
opportunity. Colossians 4:5
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SRCFC at
By Sid Trogdon, Area Contact
Solid Rock outreach in the Red River Gorge this
fall was a wonderful time this year; blessed with beautiful weather, and much
opportunity for gospel outreach. The RRG climber's coalition seriously
stepped up the event, compared to previous years, with many bigger sponsors,
vendor's tents, a climbing and dyno comp which attracted
larger crowds. We had an opportunity to set up a tent, display materials,
have many good conversations with climbers and registered 79 people for the
gear giveaway. Many climbers, more than previous years, took advantage of
the free literature and tracts available at the display.
On Sunday morning we served the traditional pancake
breakfast to over 150 people. All were very gracious and it again
provided chances for some good outreach with literature and sharing. We
announced the gear giveaway winners at breakfast and made a few days brighter
with a nice breakfast surprise.
I took advantage of the weekend to get in some
climbing too, with some more opportunity for outreach at the crags. I
also had a good conversation with Sonny T. while serving as chauffer for him
and a group of climbers attending his clinic Sunday afternoon. The event
organizers were very appreciative of our efforts and I pray this will be
further open doors into their lives for the gospel as well.
Thank you all for your prayers to our Lord
regarding the weekend of outreach. I look forward to the spring reunion in
the Red this April; I hope we will see more of our Lord's people, with a heart
for climbers, labor in this field - by His grace it seems the harvest is
plentiful. In the meantime I will be getting out periodically for some
weekends this winter... let me know if anyone is headed this way!
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New Member Testimony
OPENING COMMENTS FROM CALVIN: Often times many exciting things come through
my email box that I don’t have a chance to share. This week, Jonathan B. of
My parents took me to church until I was in third
grade. My mom had stopped going by this
time (work) and it was too much trouble for my father to get three kids up and
dressed each Sunday morning when they we didn't want to go in the first
place. Church was more of a hassle in
the eyes of us kids than anything at that age.
Throughout the rest of grade school and high school I asked my parents
every now and then if we would ever go back to church. This is interesting to me now because I never
enjoyed it as a younger child but I always had felt I was pulled towards it
afterwards. Once in a while I would
spend the night at a friend’s house so I could join them at church the next
morning. This lasted until about 7th or
8th grade; then high school went by with very little spiritual happenings.
It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I got
into a bible study group. At this time I
was very curious and didn't believe much of anything unless I had a very strong
reason. Jesus hadn't starting working in
me yet (as far as I could tell) so I stopped attending the study, deciding it
wasn't for me. However, I did a few
missions trips for hurricane relief over the next few summers that kept me
connected with some really great Christians that have helped me along in my
journey.
However, it wasn't until this past summer that the
Spirit actually came to me. I met my
friend Meaghan H. at Upper Limits Rock Climbing Gym in
So towards the end of the summer, my friends Josh
and Brian, the two from the study group, went over the bridge diagram,
describing Christ as our “Bridge to God.”
The most awesome thing I've experienced in my life so far is how
uncontrollable my excitement was during the explanation. Some time during that talk, I unknowingly
became a Christian. I say this because
I was under the impression that you must "pray the prayer" to accept
Christ, but looking back on it now, my heart had already accepted Christ and
the Spirit was already with me. Since
then, I've become involved in a couple different bible studies and I'm getting
a lot more out of it as a Christian than I ever did in the past.
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Announcements
CURRENT
Mailing Address Needed!!!!
The fall issue of “The Vertical Adventure” – SRCFC
Newsletter is just about ready to be printed. It will include an article
about SRCFC member, John Dargis. He was featured in a short tale included
in an article of Climbing Magazine last fall containing climbing myths.
In this case the myth is actually true – he cut his rope above his rappel
device while trying to get a shirt unstuck. You get to hear the rest of
the story in the upcoming issue. There
will be much, much more. We don’t want you to miss it. We only mail
items two or three times a year to minimize costs and the environmental
impact. We do a few because receiving something tangible can be very
encouraging. Please take a moment to
update us with your correct postal address or share it if we don’t have it!
ON THE ROAD MISSIONARIES - COMING TO A
CLIMBING AREA NEAR YOU!
On–The-Road missionaries, Kristin Anderson &
Gretchen Schmaltz, are on the road have ministered in
Sponsor Offers a
Discount
Lance
Piatt, President of Raven Technical Systems, is a long time member of
SRCFC. Last spring, he graciously let me
demo one of his Raven Packs. I love it! The TARP EX model is the largest size
but it works great for the kind of cragging I
do. I carry a full rack, harness, rope, two pairs of shoes, clothing, helmet and two liters of
water in it with ease. Two things that
make this a great pack are: 1. The back is solid (but
flexible), keeping any gear from poking me in the back. Having a cam jamming you the kidneys is no
fun! 2. The main compartment has two
zippers all the way down to the bottom that -allows easy access to all the packed
items. When zipped open, the sideboards
stay up forming a great place throw stuff back-in when the day is done. Mention this Update and receive 15% off a
Raven pack. Hurry as this offer expires November 15, 2008. See http://www.ravenrescuepacks.com/.
ABS10 and SCS2009
Membership is Officially Open
One of the ways that you can sow many seeds into climbers’ lives is by
participating in climbing competitions. All Solid Rockers are encouraged to compete in
at least their local competition. The
time is a wonderful way to connect with many climbers in a meaningful way and
have a blast pulling as hard as you can.
Although not required, becoming a member of ABS10 and/or SCS2009 allows
competing to be more fun by being able to see your scores online and advance to
higher levels. See more at http://www.usaclimbing.net/home.cfm.
Second
Edition of "Climbing Management" Publication Available
The Access Fund is proud to announce the
publication of the second edition of "Climbing Management: A Guide to
Climbing Issues and the Production of a Climbing Management Plan." This
unique 75-page handbook-first published in 2001-provides an overview of
climbing issues and climbing management approaches in the
http://www.accessfund.org/display/page/PR/107.
Community Announcements at http://www.srcfc.org/news1/Community.htm.
This NEW Section is to give the membership
opportunity to spread the word about something that is not directly related to
SRCFC’s mission – items like things for sale, job announcements, etc. Please
email info@srcfc.org with your
announcements.
1. Pray for
2. Jody Langford’s Photos
3. Member Wants Pray for Climbing Wall in
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2008 Event Details
November
1: Triple Crown HorsePens 40 Comp
Area Contact, Brad Killough (bradkillough@yahoo.com), will be
hosting an outreach table at the Triple
Crown Comp at HorsePens 40 (www.triplecrownbouldering.org). You will be signing-up climbers for our
online gear giveaway and offering them tracts.
This is a chance to be a witness!
Contact Brad if you want more info and/or plan to be there. Having a group there is always encouraging
and more powerful. And feel free to
enter as a competitor!
l
November
9-10: 2008 SRCFC Board of Directors Annual Meeting and Gathering
SRCFC will be holding its Annual BOD meeting in
Hey there Climbers!
Come climb with us!
DESTINATION: JOSHUA TREE!
PLAN YOUR TRIP NOW! GATHER YOUR FRIENDS! MAKE
IT FUN! MAKE IT BIG!
Where:
When: December 5-7 (Check in: noon
Dec. 5, Check out: noon Dec 7)
Who: YOU... this isn’t an area
outreach, we are looking for some great destination outreach. That
means travel from all parts of the country! Invite your friends. Christians, pre-Christians,
those God has lain on your heart to pray for... Invite them all.
Why: We desire effective outreach,
with people YOU KNOW, in a place with GREAT CLIMBING. Kristin and Gretchen
will have been blessed to be able to travel as on-the-road missionaries for
Solid Rock for four months. Their mission will end on December 15th. As
they have and will be traveling the country meeting countless selfless servants
of Christ, all passionate about climbing, and excited about using that passion
to reach out in the name of Christ, they have decided there MUST be a
"last hurrah…celebration party." They want to see y'all again, and meet those
of you we missed! Their goal is to gather together a group of Christians
who desire effective outreach and great climbing! So they
have set up, reserved a group site for, prayed over, and gotten excited about a
gathering where a large group of "solid" Christians can feel
comfortable sharing in fellowship with believers AND feel comfortable inviting
non-believer friends who may or may not be seeking. It's a hard
atmosphere to create, but they believe it will done
and will be at a place with awesome crags! Couldn't be better!? You
should come!
You Will Need: 1) Food for
your length of stay; 2) Water for your length of stay; 3) Gear (camping
and climbing); 4) A Heart for God's people; 5) An RSVP to
Gretchen (glschmaltz@gmail.com)
January 3, 2009: Waterfall Ice Climbing Seminar and Outreach,
Bob Loomis, a long time climbing
partner of Calvin’s, has offered to teach the basics of waterfall ice climbing in
Eastern Washington area, near
January 27-31,
2009: 3rd Annual SRCFC Conference in
At El Potrero
SRCFC Mexican Chapter Director, Fernando Maldonado (fernando.maldonado@e-sdc.net)
of
February 6-7, 2009: The
2nd
Bouldering at its Best - Competition for all abilities at Horse
Pens 40!
The 2nd
Annual Chandler Mountain Challenge, SRCFC’s bouldering competition at
Horse Pens 40 (in
WINTER/SPRING
EVENTS NEEDED; PLAN ONE TODAY!!!!
Event
Planning
SRCFC Area Contacts and members are invited to plan
events in their area. We offer you “how
to” training, resources and promotion of events. Some events are announced in our Newsletter
and all receive announcements in our Email Updates. Our desire is to have
events announced at least six weeks in advance.
So, if you would like to put on an event in 2008, please e-mail the
National Office at srcfc@bendbroadband.com or enter
the information online at http://www.srcfc.org/involve1/event.asp.
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If you would like to support the
mission of Solid Rock with your financial resources, please send your donation to: SRCFC National
Office,
Visit http://www.srcfc.org/transactions/default.asp for a response
form to mail or email and info to pay with check, credit card or PayPal.
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The purpose of
the E-mail Updates/Bulletins
are to communicate teachings, prayer requests, vision, events, and other
information about Solid Rock. If you
know any other climber who would like to join us in reaching other Climbers for
Christ, please have them contact us at srcfc@bendbroadband.com or visit
our web site at www.srcfc.org. To unsubscribe, please reply with “unsubscribe”
in the subject line.
WARNING!!!!! Activities described and depicted within this
update carry a significant risk of personal injury or death. Rock climbing, ice
climbing, mountaineering, and all other outdoor activities are dangerous. Solid
Rock / Climbers for Christ does not recommend that anyone participate in these
activities unless they understand the risks involved, are experts, have
qualified professional instruction, and are willing to personally assume all
responsibility associated with those risks.