How can you come to a Camp Ventana and not eat the best Tortas in the world? Pastor Brandon seems to think so. We thank you for your servants hearts, playful spirits, and delight in God’s word. We hope you guys come back next year for a week.

I dunno.
Perhaps the media tends to sensationalize things a bit. I mean if we lived our lives based on the perspective of the television I’d imagine few of us would rarely head out the door if we lived in LA or New York. From what I gather those two places seem to teem with life.
Who […]

A
NEW WIDOW
An older man in our church died a few weeks ago.  His name was Nacho and he was 79 years old.  After a week of pneumonia, a heart attack stopped his suffering.  His wife Cande, (pronounced Cahn-day) has attended our church for the majority of her adult life, but Nacho only became a Christian […]

January 2009 
Dear Faithful Friends of Ventana,
If the cows from California had their say, life would remain simple. Similar to the verdant fields of our neighbors north of the border, our Baja campus was transformed into a perfect pasture due to the winter rains. Despite being followed around campus by my two sons and being fed […]

 
 (Pastor Mike spoofing Doug and his addiction for Eggnog)
The famous political figure and Christian author Chuck Colson coined a phrase that I want to lift from. He defined paradox as truth turned upside-down. For many of our students serving the homeless and indigent population these past two months has been just that - a paradox.

With incredible weather, often in the 80’s, students and staff found themselves taking needed rest days strolling along the beach and visiting the many sights of Santa Cruz.

I thought I’d mix it up a little. Instead of reading developments from my perspective, it seemed rather appropriate to hear from our students.  Since our arrival in Santa Cruz in early October, we’ve scattered students along an area called Pacific Avenue each Wednesday and Saturday nights where tons of homeless seem to congregate and […]

 
From the look of these articles and pictures … you’d think Ventana was just a cheaper version of Club Med or something. I must confess that at times our staff feel more like cruise directors that cultural architects.

  Jerry losing that rainbow trout he just caught. Can you imagine telling his friends …. “and the fish was this big.”
  Micah learning from Jerry’s mistakes. He caught 4 trout that morning with Randy Gay as the casting specialist.
  The VomSteeg’s visiting Pookie and the Pokorny’s for a great night of fellowship.

“Are you ready to meet your Maker?”
This question posed to some random stranger while sitting on a park bench might illicit some strange looks or even a mocking response about little birdies twittering about.
Yet, as you paddle down the Klamath river, with its class 4 sections, that are both steep and narrow, surrounded by jagged […]