Wilderness ReBoot: What to Expect

Benjamin Reed /Tuesday, April 11, 2023

 

Designed for adult MKs (Missionary Kids) seeking a deep encounter with God amidst the beauty of the Canadian back country wilderness, Wilderness ReBoot is a co-ed retreat for MKs ages 21-35 willing to be challenged physically and spiritually, while deepening their relationship with God by seeking His direction in their lives.

My purpose of doing the Wilderness Reboot retreat is found in Acts 14:22 “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”.

I firmly believe that young adults who have grown up overseas have amazing gifts and abilities that we, the older generation, need urgently. 

Strengthen the souls of disciples

At Wilderness ReBoot, we intentionally abandon screens and the internet and leave behind the noise of our culture for one week. We practice entering quiet to wrestle with our addiction to busyness as we spend time in the Kananaskis mountains southwest of Calgary.

Our souls’ hunger for beauty leads us to the wilderness; the beautiful mountains, sky, trees, rivers, and flowers connect with our souls that are nourished by beauty. Riding horses, canoeing, hiking, and rappelling (led by Blue Bronna Wilderness camp staff) helps us experience the mountains up close. 

We invite young adults (ages 21-early thirties) who have grown up overseas to be reminded that we are not alone. There are many who share similar but different experiences. We are not created to be an “island.” 

Encourage in the faith

At Wilderness ReBoot, we provide materials, a journal, and short devotionals every morning on solitude with God. We practice solitude around the camp, and we respect everyone’s individuality as they practice solitude - whether through poetry; song; sketching; singing; the need to rest/sleep; prayer; journaling, or sitting by the river and listening to the water.

We welcome honest, hard questions. We have had people who are actively seeking God, and those who aren’t. I don’t believe hard questions disqualify us from the journey of faith.

We teach how to lament. Lament is an ancient prayer form in the church where the people of God intentionally express their pain, grief and sorrow to God who welcomes them as they are. 

Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God

Sharing stories is a key part of the Wilderness ReBoot experience. We ask everyone (staff included) to come prepared to share part of their story (20 minutes) around the campfire. No one is forced to share anything they are not comfortable to share. The group participates in listening actively to the one sharing by doing three things:

  • We reflect on what we heard, to make sure we heard correctly.
  • We share what moved our emotions as we listened.
  • Then the group prays (silent) prayers of blessing for the one who shared.  

We respect the stories that are shared by covenanting to guard each other but agreeing to not share anybody else’s story. I take this very seriously. No one has permission to share another’s story. 

An Invitation

Every time we have run Wilderness ReBoot, the retreat has been an amazing encouragement to me, and I feel so honored to invest in the next generation of leaders. Thank you for your prayers. We trust God 100% every year. 

Are you an adult MK (Missionary Kid) or TCK (Third Cuture Kid) between the ages of 21-35 who grew up overseas? Or do you know an adult MK or TCK who would be interested in attending?

You can find more information, and links to register here: Wilderness ReBoot 2023

A Sneak Peak

Here are a couple videos to give you an inside look at Wilderness ReBoot…

Wilderness ReBoot 2022 Highlights

 

Wilderness ReBoot: Chara’s Story


Benjamin Reed is the Program Director for Wilderness ReBoot. Benjamin and his wife, Marlene, have been in missionary life for 30+ years, serving in Kyrgyzstan and Canada. Currently, Ben serves as a care worker with the MORE Network, in the areas of spiritual direction and pastoral care within the overseas worker community, prayer ministry, and re-entry debriefing. Ben speaks two languages of Central Asia, plays the Komuz, and loves cultural music and learning about world culture. He also loves hiking in the great outdoors, running, swimming and biking. Ben and Marlene have been married for 30+ years, have three adult children, and are enjoying being first time grandparents.


SUBSCRIBE

print


Return
Residential Schools: How should Followers of Christ Respond?
The revelation of 215 Indigenous children’s remains found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (IRS) in 2021 shocked Canadians and reverberated around the world. As a Christ follower and a descendant of newc...
Read more...
The OC Global Alliance: Our Ministries
184,163 decisions for Christ. 27,981 churches established with our assistance. 100,000+ leaders trained or mentored. These are stats from the annual report of the OC Global Alliance last year. To God be the Glory! Shari...
Read more...
A Family of Ministries
Outreach Canada is made up of several ministry teams – all with their own unique contexts and specific focuses, spread across our country. What’s the common thread? How do we all fit together? In the same way you might ...
Read more...
Discovery Bible Study: A Challenge for Canadian Ministry Leaders
In the first two parts of this blog series, we shared Teresa’s story of introduction to Discovery Bible Study (Part 1) as well as stories of Teresa’s missionary journey through Asia (Part 2).  In this final install...
Read more...
Stories of a Disciple-Making Movement in Asia (Part 2)
In her modern-day missionary journeys throughout Asia, Teresa has been focusing on training leaders and equipping them to facilitate disciple-making-movements, primarily through the tool of Discovery Bible Study. In thi...
Read more...
How an Introduction to Discovery Bible Study led to a Disciple-Making Movement
“She has a map! That's just like in the back of your Bible, the missionary journeys of Paul”, Craig Kraft, OC’s Executive Director, excitedly shared about an OC missionary and her recent travels through southeast Asia. ...
Read more...
A Worldview Story: Set Free
One of the challenges of interacting cross-culturally with our neighbours is that we understand our own worldview very clearly, but people coming from other cultures come with a different perspective. Each of us is conv...
Read more...
4 Disciple Multiplication Stories
We pray that these four stories about disciple-making & disciple multiplication (from Simply Mobilizing Canada) encourage your heart and inspire you to action! The Letter - the story of just one letter and ho...
Read more...
Adult Third Culture Kid Research: The Heart Behind the Research
This summer, we had the privilege of connecting with Shelly Lyons about her research on Adult Third Culture Kids. Listen in to hear more about the “heart” behind the research and her big picture dreams for how it will b...
Read more...
Is Competition a Biblical Value?
One Sunday morning in the church where I pastored, a family came to me and shared how some of their friends had left our church to go to another church: a "competitor church". They were completely distracted by their ne...
Read more...