Our Mountaintop Experience

It's been awhile

2009-10-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

Yes it's true. It's been almost a year since we've updated this blog. So long in fact our blog title needed to be changed. We have felt the call of God on our lives to pack up our lives and say goodbye to LA and move to Colorado. So we're no longer the Peters in LA, but we're looking for the mountaintop...

It wasn't a hasty or easy decision to move. We felt for a while that God was wrapping up our time in LA. We had been ministering in the city for 4 years as a couple and had made amazing friends, seen God do amazing works in their lives, and we left a bit of our hearts there.

In early July we packed up our car and headed across the desert, and into the mountains of CO. Now after being here 3 months, we are beginning to see more and more of what God has in store for us.

We moved into a rental house with another YWAM couple and their 2 kids. They have a vision to move to France and serve the muslim people. We felt that we could serve them by renting a house with them, to ease in financial burdens and provide a space where they could be a family.

We have found a church that fits our vision of reaching the nations for Jesus and using local outreach to extend his love. We are both working part time, making connections in the city, and meeting new people. We are constantly reminded of the need to be God's hands and feet to everyone we meet, sharing his grace and love.

We have connected with the YWAM base here and are keeping our affiliation with YWAM LA to pioneer the ministry we worked with in LA here in the Springs...we've already picked up the locals lingo :). I (Nicole) was part of the original team that was pioneered in LA in 2002. It holds a special place in my heart and I have so many stories from how God has used the team to change my life, and the lives of so many in schools, juv. halls and prisons. Ask me about it sometime...I'd love to share them with you!

The ministry is called Freedom Project: CO.

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Check back often to hear stories and see pictures of our new adventures here in Colorado!

more photos of halloween...

2008-11-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

Here's the last of the pic's from halloween. It was fun until the last day when we realized how much candy we'd eaten and got tired of the halloween songs. On another note, it's starting to feel like fall here. The weather is actually dropped below 90 and we can wear our sweaters!

Halloween's a whole week long this year...

2008-10-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today marked the beginning of Halloween week at the dance studio. Here's a picture of some of my dancers all dressed up.... so cute! We made up dances and had a lot of candy. 2 more days of dress up to come...even Dublin got in the spirit.

Hand of God steered fire past residents

2008-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

This is an article written in the LA Daily news in reference to the fires that caused our bases evacuation....amazing!!

"As 125 homeless women and children fled Hope Gardens early Sunday while a towering wall of wind-fueled flames swept down Lopez Canyon, the blaze suddenly changed course and veered around the rustic facility leaving a green oasis in the midst of charred landscape. "The fire captain told me the fire was coming down the hill, burning hot and high, and out of nowhere, it suddenly turned and went around our facility," Hope Gardens Chief Operating Officer Scott Johnson said. " They have no idea why. We call it the hand of God."

YWAM 4am fires

2008-10-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Evacuation

2008-10-13T08:39:00.000-07:00

At 4am yesterday we were evacuated from our base. The wildfires had crept over our mtn so we spent the morning at denny's. Clint stayed behind and hosed down the roofs. Please keep praying for the wind to die down and for the fires to get under control.

Fires in our backyard

2008-10-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Children buried alive in the Amazon - HAKANI

2008-06-13T10:42:00.001-07:00

Please visit hakani.org to learn how you can change the world we live in

Getaway Weekend

2008-04-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

We had a good friend's wedding this weekend in Ventura so we decided to stay the night at our friends Arch and Tam's house. They have a little side house that they opened up for us and we felt like we were on a mini vacation.
Here's a couple of pics from the wedding. Dave and Mia have been living in the middle east for the past few years and are now moving to Hawaii. They had a beautiful wedding.

The next day we went upcoast to Santa Barbara. It was beautiful weather so we layed on the beach, went for lunch and then had dinner by the pier. Such a nice getaway.
This morning Clint left for a NIKO (outdoor adventure leadership training). There are 60 youth going to the mountains to be stretched by God. Clint loves his times of NIKO and always comes back with new vision from God and amazing stories.

We have a couple of good friends visiting but they're leaving tomorrow. Reg came for a quick visit, but Mark has been here for 3 months mission building. Everyone's sad to see them leave.

Our youth

2008-04-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we had youth group, just like every Friday night, but last night was difficult. After a game of dodgeball, (a broken nose), some basketball we went inside for teaching. It seems like the youth nowadays are faced with so many more issues than we were.. A few of our kids have serious attention disorders, family issues, and have already started with drugs and alcohol. There's also an overall disrespect for adults and authority. It seems like we're getting through and then all of the non-Christian yet kids show up and it's madness.
Praise God that our School of Ministry is giving us some students to serve with us as staff. We are in need of one on one discipleship. Most of our youth don't have good parent figures at home, if any at all, and so anytime YWAMers come and serve the impact on the youth's lives is immense.
We love our youth so much and see so much potential for great change. Everything is so dependent on the choices they are making on a daily basis. Some are in danger of going to a boys home, moving in with another parent, choosing drugs and alcohol and other BIG decisions. Yet we know that God loves them, and is intent on them becoming followers and doers of HIS ways.
Quick story: we took one of our boys out for dinner a few nights ago and were asking him questions about when he became a Christian. His response was when he started coming to our group. His family situation is non-existent, a homeless mom and 5 foster homes since we've known him. He's visited our YWAM base a couple times and really wants to follow Christ. Please pray for him as he's learning what it requires to follow Christ.

God is so good

2008-03-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a missions week in Catalina Island with 25 youth, and wanted to share what's been happening in our lives. The week was wonderful. The youth grew in their relationship with Christ, shared their faith on the bball court (Clint ran a tournament) and did performing arts outreach. It's amazing to get to spend time with youth who are passionate about God.
The island youth are bored, and resort to drugs and alcohol. Our youth are able to reach them in an incredible way and share the life in Christ....they were sad to see them leave

This is Aubrie. A couple of weeks ago we babysat her while her parents took a trip to France. She was a blast and we learned a lot about being parents. Spaghetti night was our favorite.

This is a picture that was taken at a recent program on Diversity that was given by the Freedom Project. I'm now directing this team and we go into schools, juvenile halls, churches and a variety of other venues and share on issues like drug & alcohol prevention, violence, diversity, and living healthy lives. We use dance, drama, speaking and music to engage the audience and provide an entertaining message.

These are a few of our youth from church. We started working with the group 6 months ago and are learning so much. We're seeing a lot of growth and a few have come to Christ for the first time.

Way back in November we took our youth the South Central LA for a chance to share God's love. This is a picture of the food distribution given out. The youth had a chance to talk with the neighborhood and play with the youth. It really opened their eyes to the desperate need in our city.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We are having an amazing time ministering here in LA and covet your thoughts and prayers so much!
love, the Peters

Summer time

2007-07-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

We know it's been awhile but we want to give an update about the amazing things that God is doing in and through us.
We finished our GO Camp Friday. 18 kids from all different backgrounds came to the camp, led a VBS, Teen hangouts at night and learned about GOD and his heart.
Our fav. story: During the VBS one little girl who is 4 was asked to talk to God and then listen. When the time was over we asked if anyone heard anything. Her hand shot up and she answered that she had asked God what he had done today and he replied "watching over you"....she's 4!!! and she heard the voice of God. amazing.
The 10 day camp was hard, tiring, and amazing. In the middle of it I (Nicole) got to fly to Atlanta with dancers from our church to perform at a Christian retail convention.
Today we're heading up to our best friends wedding...and then celebrating our 2 years of being married!
Clint's leaving on a NIKO again the next week....
Also- our SA trip got canceled.

Thanks for your love and support....

What's going on in LA

2007-06-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

We spent the last couple of months visiting home...healing, working and spending time with family and friends.
We are now up in the office, back in the heat of things. Literally.

Here's what's coming up for our department:
GO Camp-Ventura July 5-13

NIKO's end of July, end of Aug

SOUTH AFRICA
Aug 4- 19th

Our new projects....
Human Trafficking/Injustice
Begining a new project, using art from here and there, making change, learning from them, looking for truth in the midst of hurt, bringing beauty, funds, education and awareness.

Coffee Shop/New building....
Clint has signed on as a new contractor for the base. He'll be helping with finishing up the coffee shop and begining the work for the new building.

Thanks for being a part of our lives. We are excited to be here, starting new things, as well as retouching some of the old.
Come visit anytime....

Dance from MOSAIC church

2007-03-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1884592630

dancing on the street

2007-03-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:141569

worth a thousand words

2007-03-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

these are from our weekend at a youth retreat speaking and teambuilding in Big Bear. What a cool group of youth.

Finally an update...

2007-03-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

Peter’s Post: March 07

Hello! A long awaited update is finally here!

We are so grateful to everyone who has been supporting us and praying for us during our stay here in LA. Over the past couple of months we have had amazing opportunities to speak and challenge almost 600 youth and adults from 5 nations. From NIKO’s to speaking at pastor’s conferences, we have been amazed at how God is choosing to use us to challenge the church to rise up in missions. We want to share with you a few stories of how God is moving and encourage you that you are a part of what is happening here in LA and in the rest of the world.

NIKO: Outdoor Adventure designed to empower, train, and disciple youth

15 exhausted dirty and smelly students returned from the wilderness. After a warm shower, the group came for dinner. Stories of their hikes, the blisters on their feet, the rain soaking their sleeping bags, and what God taught them, filled the air. This DTS returned from a few nights in the wilderness with an understanding of what to expect on outreach, and amazed at the strength they found in God. Clint is now leaving for another adventure like this in Mexico, and loves leading NIKO’s because God is always faithful in how he helps the students overcome, learn to lead, and live without the comforts for a few days.

MISSIONS: Speaking & encouraging churches to do missions around the world

Two weekends ago we drove up to the mountains and spoke and led team building for a Phillipino church retreat. We spoke for 3 hours on Phil 2:5-14 about having the attitude of Christ. It was a great time sharing how we can become like Christ and serve one another, and then follow that with teambuilding.

The next day we were at the biggest Korean church in North America speaking on missions to 400 4^th, 5^th & 6^th graders. It was a fun experience sharing the trips we’ve been on and then sharing how God would want them to be involved. We will continue to partner with them in local outreaches and help connect them to supporting kids with AIDS in S. Africa.

Last weekend we spoke at a missions conference for Pastors from LA. We shared how to get youth involved in missions, spiritual capacity of children and family in ministry.

This upcoming weekend Nicole is leading a Urban youth workers forum in how to deal with issues that youth face today. Clint will be leading a NIKO in Mexico. Please pray for us as we continue to have many opportunities to share with the church about missions. We feel honored to be able to speak into so many lives and see churches really excited about missions and serving Christ in the nations.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We really could not do any of these things without you. Please know that through your support Christ is reaching the nations!

Blesssings,

Clint & Nicole Peters

Bigfoot and the Tree lot...

2006-12-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

HI,
today was the 1st episode of this year's tree lot experience. We sell Christmas trees to make some money for the base so this morning at 7:30 we hauled around 1000 trees into the lot.
Clint & I wore our sod shirts (for advertisement purposes of course) and we matched. Christmas is almost here. Dublin was sad he couldn't come. Also sad he doesn't have a shirt.

Washington

2006-11-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

2 weekends ago we went to Seattle for a King's Kids conference. It was a good time of refreshing and getting more knowledge of the program. We also got to see some family.

Coach Peters

2006-11-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Clint is coaching Varsity b-ball...Here's some pictures from the alumni game. The boys lost by one and Adah wanted to play with them.

It's a small world after all

2006-11-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

This week our family the Smaill's came to visit. We had so much fun dancing, singing, drinking coffee, seeing the beach, not liking the waves, relaxing, building a floor, cooking a turkey and just enjoying being with family.
We hope after seeing the smog and the traffic they'll want to move here and never leave. Wishful thinking.
Here's some pics of the time.

when grandma turned 80...

2006-11-18T20:39:00.000-08:00

One day, eighty years ago, a young woman entered the world. Her name: Florence Mae Zurcher-Carlson-Zang. Her legacy: the crazy people in the photos below. This is a one of a kind family.

Upcoming adventures.

2006-10-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

I thought a little update would do us all some good...even us...to understand and grasp what is coming in the remaining part of 2006. We want to make the most of every opportunity and live for things eternal. We are "booked" for the next few weekends, and am soooo excited to have some incredible visitors coming to visit.
Upcoming...
Grandma's 80th- whoo hoo! My beloved G-ma is turning 80, and so of course we are throwing a celebration. My family is famous for throwing a good bash. We love dressing up, and so it's a decade party. Clint and I are going as the 40's or cowfolk. My parents, the creative ones, are going as babies. How funny is that! Congrats G-ma, you have lived an incredible life and influenced so many.
Then the beginning of Nov we head up to the WA for a King's Kids conference. We will probably be the youngest there...but it will be a good chance to connect with others with the same heart. ALSO big bonus is getting to visit - a much needed visit- some of my family. Clint has never even met one whole family on my dad's side. And we love seattle. It will be our first time there as a married couple...and I think it's a pretty romantic city. And it smells like rain.
Once we get home, Mark, Renee and Adah are coming for a visit. We are excited. By then we will be moved into our new home. Trailer 7. We will all fit. Praise the Lord. We will get to explore Hollywood, LA, Santa Monica, Pasadena and watch Adah be cute, loveable and adorable.
Then we will have 2 more visitors- one who came last year and a new friend. They will come to have fun with us, rest and renew at YWAM, and experience our ministry here.

I'm sure in between all of these things we will be busy with YWAM, basketball games-watching Clint coach!!! and being married and in love.
We are getting ready for spring break. I know it is far away- but we have a few teams coming and our weeks are filling up. We will take them on NIKO's, to Catalina and LA for a week to know more about GOD and themselves, to serve and to experience and be changed.

This is an incredibly long post- but I feel better and can let all of this go, and know that God has a big plan and is in control. PS- if you have itunes you should check out mosaic/erwin mcmanus. His last series has opened up my heart and head to some of "life's toughest questions" and it is amazing.

Dublin joins the family

2006-10-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Here is our new doggie Dublin. We rescued him from the streets of scary LA and now he's a Christian! He likes us and we love him a lot. Come and visit anytime!

Mr. Chandler Bing

2006-10-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is the dog that we thought was going to be ours. Now he is adopted, living with an incredible family....and it's not us. boo. we loved him a lot.

Memories of Clear Lake

2006-09-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

home sweet home...

2006-09-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

We are home! new couch, new window thingy and a lot of love. Friday nights staying at home, cleaning and moving furniture and sighing when its over, sinking into our couch....LOVE is grand.

2006-09-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

2006-09-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

pics from Africa

2006-09-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Africa

2006-09-26T11:51:00.000-07:00

Africa. Dirty. Kind. Powerful, powerless. Beautiful. Challenging. Encouraging. Comfortable. Cold. There's a lot of words I could use to describe our experience...it's just that none seem to fully capture the two weeks we spent there, the faces we kissed, the hands we held, the lives we touched and the lives that impacted ours. The pictures bring back incredible memories.
I think that we learned a lot on this trip-
we can't change the world. we can pray. we can educate ourselves. we can tell others. we can believe for a difference.
africans are amazing. faced with hardship, death, struggle...they offer joy. they continue on-through it-with amazing faith and trust and belief that GOD exists, and that there will come a day...
people's relationshipl with god is not formed through others. you cannot create a personal relationship with GOD for someone else.
africa becomes a part of you-it stays with you when you leave.
So- we loved africa. here's some pics of our time there-our team and the friends we made.

Almost time to come home

2006-07-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!!
This is a link to one of the ministries that we will be visiting this next week. http://www.beautifulgate.org/ We are taking a team of 10 youth to this ministry for one week and then serving a local church for the second week.
We have had an amazing time in Europe this summer and are serving in any way possible to the bases out here. We served YWAM Italy with maintanance-chopping down trees, and cleaning up the base. It was like a 3rd world country down in Sicily. We also led a GO Camp for youth in Italy, teaching them on the bible, relationships, and teaching dances. We served with an outreach in Paris, and saw the dances Nic taught in Swit. being performed on the streets. Each night the team went to a different location of the city and did a program including testimony, dance and music. They handed out thousands of bibles as well. In every country we have been to we have seen God at work in the lives of his people. We have been so encouraged and our eyes have been opened to the needs of these countries. In all the countries we have visited the rate of christianity has been less than 2%
Now we are on our last leg of the trip, heading to S. Africa to serve in a community affected by HIV/AIDS. We are looking forward to coming home and sharing with everyone all we have seen and experienced this summer.
Blessings, Clint & Nic

MARRIED...

2006-06-01T02:30:00.000-07:00

This is the newly married couple the Gingerich's. They had a beautiful wedding and a very long and funny and entertaining reception complete with skits, paper airplanes and games with gardening tools. We had 5 courses and a cake with fireworks on the top level.
Clint's favorite course: Number 2. Soup with the greatest filled pasta ever. Delicious.
Nicole's favorite course: The dessert. Fresh strawberries, chocolate mousse and expresso. Ahhh. so good.

Little cars and big backpacks

2006-06-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

To get to our hostel in Stuttgart we had to hike up 3,000 stairs..well at least it felt that way. My calves are still sore. On the way down we stopped by a little car, very common here. I don't think that our backpacks and us would fit. We miss you all...we'll be home in a few short months.

More pics...

2006-05-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few more pictures. Some are of the wedding and more are of our trip into Stuttgart Germany. Now we're at the Lausanne base in Swit. getting to see some good friends. Friday we head to Italy to explore and serve at 2 ywam bases.

pics from europe

2006-05-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

Germany here we come...

2006-05-25T05:11:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Europe!!! We have been staying Germany for the past couple of days...spending time in the black forest and getting to know some german. We have been eating bread for almost every meal, with cheese or jam. We also came face to face with a mountain goat who was trying to scare us off the edge of a cliff. The people here are friendly and we are so enjoying being here. Sat is the wedding of some goood friends and then we head to switzerland to see the ywam base there and meet up with some other good friends. We will try to keep you as updated as possible. Cheers!

Finally an update!

2006-02-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy season here at YWAM. We had another UPRoot event on the 27th and it was a success. We partnered with a local church and had a couple great bands and a dance team again. We got to work with some of our favorite people and really get heart and direction for where God is taking us. We're having another event on the 24th of feb. where we'll be uprooting violence through providing opp's here in la through the juvenille hall system and also giving info on sierra leone and the violence that occurs there.
In MAY we're hoping to travel to germany for a wedding and then to france to work with YWAM over there. In june/july we'll be taking teams through paris and morocco - ministering to the muslims and exploring. We're really looking forward to all the upcoming happenings and really appreciate all your prayer and support. -Clint and Nicole

Celebrity Basketball Game

2005-12-11T22:20:00.000-08:00

We went to a Clippers game and we were sitting in the nosebleed section. Then-thanks to Aly-we moved to the Paramount box-so much better. After the game there was a celebrity game. Tyrese, the blinddate guy, and Hugh Hephner and the Playboy Bunnies. It was a great night.

We've been having a lot of fun lately...

2005-12-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Famous Guy

2005-12-03T21:52:00.000-08:00

OH. PS. Clint met a famous guy..and got his picture. He's the guy from Office Space- IM A PEOPLE PERSON-yep him.

Holidays at the Grove

2005-12-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

Tonight we saw snow in LA!!! Well actually...it was bubbles that looked like snow. And there were dancers on a trolley, and a giant christmas tree. It was wonderful.
Merry Christmas!

Welcome to our import...Chris Radtke!!!

2005-12-03T15:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you for saving the sound and lights last night- You're HIRED.

A few fun photos

2005-12-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

Here's some random photos of our life. Thanks for looking!

UPROOT AIDS event

2005-12-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Last night we had our very first UPROOT event. It was an incredible night. The purpose was to raise awareness of AIDS and also to raise money to send to Beautiful Gate ministries in South Africa. Beautiful Gate has an Aids orphanage and they are always in need of some extra funds.
The program consisted of Chozen- a hip hop ministry from APU, and four local bands. One band even drove 3 hours to be there.
It was a great night and we all had a lot of fun!
We raised a lot of money to send to Africa too-Praise the Lord.
The pictures are of the dancers and bands....

Welcome to our Blog!

2005-11-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends and Family!We're going to be updating this blog as often as possible in an effort to keep you posted on all the happenings in our life.These past few months have been busy! I (Nicole) am in school full time at Azusa Pacific University, and I'm learning so much. I love having a couple of days in the University environment, but I'm looking forward to graduating next December!We are full time missisonaries at YWAM LA, (you can check out the link to find out more). We work with a department called King's Kids, and we have been really enjoying all the opportunities. We have been creating a new look for the department, called Greenhouse Effect. Our mission is to provide an opportunity for youth, leaders, adults and kids to experience the presence of God in the midst of living a busy life. Our goal is to provide a "greenhouse" experience for organic growth. So far we've had two weekend retreats for local churches and on Dec. 2nd, we'll be having an UPROOT event to benefit AIDS victims. The event will be a concert featuring some local bands and my very own hip hop team from APU!!!We have had an amazing time getting settled in here and appreciate your prayers and support so much. We pray that God would bless you 10 fold as you respond to his voice. Thank you for partnering with us. Please post comments and let us know how you're doing and how we can be praying for you!Love, The Peters

Our amazing neice

2005-11-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

This is Adah, she is our newest neice- and we're in love with her. Isn't she beautiful?

Our 1st Weekend!

2005-11-17T11:59:00.001-08:00

What an amazing weekend! We saw God in so many ways and are so blessed to be a part of bringing youth closer to him. We left for Ventura on Friday and met with the staff of a local church. The church is unique in that most of the members come from really rough backgrounds. Most of the 20 youth we taught this weekend came from single parent homes, or from homes that are unsafe. The kids ranged in age from 7 to 16 years, and all have very diverse personalities. We spent the weekend there on the floor covered with kids wanting to be our sleeping buddies. Throughout the weekend Clint taught on the Father heart of God, to the youth and to the adults. He had the adults in tears, and the youth for the first time every were attentive. We had them write what their name was, and draw something to describe them. They played team building excersises, and learned I will sing, a dance from Nicole. Pictures below! We had such an amazing time watching the kids function as a team and hearing stories and them pray out in our family times. The biggest blessing was the relationships that were built. One little girl told one of our staff that she wanted to become a Christian, and asked how she could ask Jesus into her heart- Praise the Lord! We feel so blessed to have the opportunity to give out of what's been given to us and see God move in this emerging generation. Please pray for our youth and for this church that is working to influence the projects that it's in.

The Wedding...

2005-11-17T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Wedding

2005-11-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Just thought we'd post some pictures of our wedding. We had such an amazing time....