Hired as Program Staff at Frontier Lodge

This summer, our director at Frontier Lodge announced they were opening up new positions on our program team. After going through an application & interview process, I was chosen as one of four staff members to be hired from the inside to a program specific role. This is really exciting for me, since working with our guests in a program capacity is where my passion lies.

In what ways is my new role different than my previous?
One of the coolest parts is that I'll be personally responsible to help develop our program. This means that I'll have input into how we do adventures & the content we include. It means I'll set an example for leadership with other staff members, showing them what a program day can look like. It also means I will help coordinate certain events & specific programs throughout the year, developing schedule & curriculum.
Frontier also intends to invest in my professional development through leadership & skills training. They will put me in courses like the Single Pitch Instructor & Pro Mountain Bike Instructor certifications, which will help me operate at a high level as a programmer.

This opportunity to take more responsibility for our adventure programs & spend more time doing it is a fulfilment of a dream in many ways. That's why I found it disorienting when I started second guessing my choices after signing on to the team. We had been so busy this summer, that I had very little time to process and organize my thoughts about what it means to stay longer at Frontier. It doesn't help that this is a natural weakness of mine - I find it easier to move forward & keep myself busy than to take quiet moments to reflect with God. Maybe you find yourself in that same struggle sometimes too. Without taking the time to seek understanding in the Lord's rest, I had my doubts.

Thankfully, we have a God who lives & speaks. Through the last couple months, I've experienced the Holy Spirit working in my heart in powerful ways to confirm that Frontier Lodge is exactly where I'm supposed to be the next couple years. Even more exciting, he reminded me of my calling & gave me a clear vision for my life:

With this vision comes a lot of ideas for future ministry beyond Frontier Lodge that I am working towards right now in my current vocation. I am really interested in understanding how to lead an organization like Frontier - from working with a team, to the everyday ins and outs of operations. I look forward to taking my own role in that as I get to develop & execute on some of my own initiatives. I'm also excited about building a stronger, tighter knit community amongst staff members. I want to worship & pray together more, & have time to grow more as friends so that we can support each other wholeheartedly in our mission.

What did my first couple months on program staff look like?
After we were hired, the leadership invested into us immediately by putting us in a 2 month training course in leadership with the second year college students we host. We had a course in Golden, British Columbia called "Intro to Teaching" that taught us how to be better instructors using mountain biking. Then I had the opportunity to be one of the main instructors on a backpacking trip with the second year students as co-leaders. After that, we left on biking specialization, where I was able to work on my biking skills. Then we had a course called "Teaching Through Adventure" which was an intensive week long course that covered our roles as kingdom facilitators. I was able to upgrade my first aid certification to Wilderness First Responder. Finally, we had a final exam and case study essay to cap off the course.

I think it's amazing that Frontier Lodge is so committed to doing adventure ministry well that they invested so heavily into us as program staff. It was incredibly busy, & at times I felt overwhelmed by being a student again. But overall, it was such a blessing to learn so much & God used this course to speak into my life. I will take these lessons into the rest of my life & career, & know that God will bring so much fruit through it.

So now what? What's next for me?
I have two main tasks the next few months:
1. Prepare, plan, & develop the next year of programming with our team
2. Raise more support in my second round of support raising.

Each staff members raises money for our own salaries since we do not have a fundraiser position. I believe the ministry we are doing is so important that I choose to support Frontier's mission by raising funds myself & I am so thankful for each and every person who believes the same & has given to this ministry while I've been here. Currently, I have $870CAD in support from monthly givers. When I was hired into this new position, the ministry director & I talked about my financial goals and we settled on a more realistic monthly support goal together. I'm looking to triple my current total to $2700CAD/month. In addition to the stipend, room, & board that Frontier offers, my total salary would come to approximately $50,000CAD/year, which is about 36,000USD or €33,000.

I hope to be able to buy a car, pay for insurance, & put savings away for the future ministry & life vision that God has given me with this modest salary. If you would be interested in partnering with me to help me continue to work at Frontier Lodge, I would love to partner with you. Without my current supporters, I wouldn't have been able to stay on here & grown into this program staff role. Now that I'm committed for two more years, I look forward to adding more people who are excited about God's vision for my life & the ministry I've been called to. If you have a heart for this ministry & feel led by God, I would be so grateful for your monthly financial gifts! Check out the button below or shoot me an email or text message.

If you want to hear more in person about getting involved with the ministry here or just want to have a ministry update, I will be hosting 4 video meetings next week to give an update & seek support!

Here are the calendar invite links for each meeting:

11amMST Nov. 5: https://calendar.app.google/y7WcyQCf4fGpggNv7
5pm MST Nov. 5: https://calendar.app.google/msZwJSg7Vo7m6VqV8
11am MST Nov. 6: https://calendar.app.google/Cs6b3DX4SbRoxjEk7
5pm MST Nov. 6: https://calendar.app.google/dTC21aj9hQxGU9f3A

Thanks so much for reading this update! Let me know you've received it by shooting me a response back, or leaving a comment on the web version! I had some people reach out that they were losing the email in their inbox, so I'm toying around with some new titles so it's more clear who the email is from.

Please pray for me, for a productive season & rest in the Lord Jesus!

Grace and peace to you all,
Alex