Missouri Spring 2014

This gathering took place at Lake of the Oaks, Missouri on May 9-11, 2014.

Just a quick note regarding the 2014 Spring Gathering here in northeast Missouri.

We ended up with 70 people attending. I'm probably going to miss some states here, but we had folks in from: Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, S. Dakota, N. Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Texas, and Mississippi.

We made a generous donation to the Lake of the Oaks from the free will offerings given at the gathering. That really does help around here, because everything at the Lake is privately maintained including the clubhouse, roads, beach, etc. The people here at the Lake appreciate your generosity. Thus far, I've heard only good things from the neighbors here about the gathering. One lady said someone stopped to ask if she needed help up at the lake entrance. She was just planting flowers, but she commented on the thoughtfulness.

As always, we had a lot of help with cleaning up around the clubhouse and grounds. Thank you!

Our family greatly appreciated the help in putting up a new "dog proof" fence around our garden. One of the CoR families came a few days early and we enjoyed work, play, and fellowship with them. Thank you Jason and Sloan for your help....mucho appreciated!

Everything seems to come together organically. We don't do a lot of organizing and/or planning. People jump in to cook, wash dishes, clean up the kitchen, pick up extra groceries, etc.

We had elders in round table discussions throughout the weekend. There were at least 2 families interested in joining Congregations of Recorded Elders which is really what this is all about.

We enjoyed presentations from Phyllis on hand quilting and wheat grinding. Caleb gave a talk on essential oils and demonstrated raindrop therapy on several willing participants. Bud talked about heirloom farming. John Button spoke about well drilling. Elisheba did health diagnostics and talked about Simply Good Health. There was a small group that got together to discuss Ham radio and broadcasting. There was a small group assembled to talk about building an Earth Ship home. Sloan gave an archery demonstration. We also got to enjoy the beautiful music of Rob. That's just a sample of the many talks and conversations that took place. Many of these folks gave their time tirelessly all weekend without many breaks. Thanks to all of you for helping to make this such a great gathering.

So now we wait until next time when we can do it all again. The Burning Bush Festival is planned for this fall, but maybe there are other opportunities between now and then to gather. We can only hope!

Peace, Brent Jarvis

Parro Pictures

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  Saturday morning: Host Brent Jarvis asked the ministers to speak...

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  ...on the importance of Congregations of Recorded Elders (COREs) and SPTs.

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  Caleb and Elisheba demonstrate the Raindrop Technique

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  John on water wells

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  Pavilion driveway and parking lot

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  Campground

Creed Pictures

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  Setting up 12' yurt from CampingYurts.com

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We are on our way home from the Missouri Gathering and had an amazing trip. We met so many new friends and met online friends in person. If you are able to go to a gathering, I encourage you to do so. —Serena

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I had a good time at the Missouri Gathering. It was refreshing to see familiar faces and to meet new people. I also want to thank everyone who offered their wisdom, support, and knowledge to the event. I've had great conversations and lots of laughs. I look forward to seeing you all again. —Anthony Shaw

Jarvis Pictures

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  View of the Campground

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  Another View of the Campground

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  and yet another View of the Campground

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  Contemplating Life's Vicissitudes

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  Playing Hard

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  Buried at the Beach

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  Beach Play

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  Caleb's Yurt from CampingYurts.com

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  Building the Campfire

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  On the Lake

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  DeathMatch

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  My Son....don't ask me?

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  Zach chopping firewood

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  Learning to chop firewood

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  Dutch Blitz anyone?

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  Caleb talking health with Deters Family

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  Abbie and Maeve - Henna

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  Roundtable Discussion

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These gatherings are something special. As Brent has mentioned, no real structure to the event but it organically takes shape.

I was able to put many faces to names and cut through the haze that is web communication. The face to face conversations are a breath of fresh air. Now that these personal connections are made, the communication through the web takes on a different dimension.

There is so much that I wish I could communicate but the words fail me….

I guess it has been around two years since I joined the network and I have had my times of backing away and processing what is going on here and in my heart. It seems that my thoughts, convictions and things I think I know are in constant adjustment mode and I often find myself thinking differently than even just a few weeks prior. It is a season of growth I suppose and wisdom would probably say to just keep quiet during such a season of process. A closed mouth gathers no feet ;-)

I can say that I have met new friends at the gathering. To these new friends and to those in the network who have helped me along the way, I look forward to this new season of opportunity and bringing what I have to offer to the table.

Finally, I’d like to say that it is up to each of us to make the first move towards personal contact that goes beyond the email groups. The life of the body takes place beyond what gets written here.

Rob C.

Bethke Pictures

• Photos from Paul's camera
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  Campfire Talk

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  Camping

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  Cheeks!

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  Say "Cheese"!

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  Congregation of Tomorrow's "Elders"?

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  Did you just take my picture?

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  Lisa's Diggin' It

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  What's "Dutch Blitz"?

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  Girl Talk

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  Grab a needle - Quilting instruction

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  Abbie's Henna Handiwork

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  I can canoe, can you canoe?

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  The breath of life for the future

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  Martha & Elisheba

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  Brent modelling the latest HHC fashion

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  Not Clueless

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  Shade Time

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  More subtil than any beast of the field

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  Swing Shift

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  They all fall down!

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  Thumper

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  Toothpaste Anyone?

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  Where there's smoke...

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  Who needs matches?

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My family would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all those who attended the HHC Spring Gathering here in Missouri. We have been blessed every year by being able to meet new people, continue growing our relationships with all those we've seen before, and enjoying the fellowship w/ each and every one of you.

We got to meet some new folks this year. We also got to visit personally with folks whom we've known only by phone or email. And, we got to catch up with some of the best people in the world who are fast becoming "old" friends and brothers and sisters. We even survived a little bit of Missouri weather this weekend.

Some of the best things about these gatherings is the time we spend talking in round table discussions -- Elders working out issues face to face. This is a great opportunity to work out plans, sharpen iron, and work on Kingdom govt issues. It's also a great format for building a Kingdom economy.

For all those on the network who've never been to one of these gatherings (either here or in Oregon), I can't really explain what you're missing. I can try and others can too, but unless you come it's hard to explain. All I can say is - - you're missing out.

Hopefully we'll have some more families share their experiences and we'll be posting some pictures over the next week or so.

Peace, Brent Jarvis & Family