Rocky Mountain High 2011
By Bob Cleveringa
Our mission: To provide a large group encounter with the transformational truth and love of Jesus for students and leaders.
July 23-27, the YMCA camp at Estes Park, Colorado, became home to more than 2,700 high school students and adult leaders from across the Synod of the Heartland. So, meeting the first part of the Rocky mission statement is not a problem. 
This is a very large group!
The beauty and majesty of the Rocky Mountains provides the perfect location to encounter God by witnessing his awesome creation! Plus with a theme of "Amplify," the event focused on finding ways to get rid of the noise around us and to amplify Christ in every aspect of our lives. Large-group sessions, held twice each day, featured speakers like Jared Herd, chalk artist Ben Glenn, and Tom Tufts. Incredible musicians like Alli Rogers, Kristian Stanfill, and Sky Like Fire led times of praise and worship. Special seminars were led by mainstage talent as well as Craig and Molly Sanborn and Dave Bartlett, providing the opportunity to encounter the truth and love of Jesus through a wide range of topics.
Recreation--from shopping to whitewater rafting, mini-golf to climbing Hallett Peak--is a mainstay of Rocky, as is missions. 
Through a hands-on Feed My Starving Children mobile food packing event, Rocky participants packaged more than 100,000 meals, ready to be sent to places like Africa and Haiti. In 2012, there will be a Rocky Africa mission trip.
Rocky Mountain High provides the location and atmosphere to encounter Christ. The Holy Spirit provides the power to transform the lives of the many individuals who took the opportunity and the risk to attend. More than 2,700 Midwesterners returned home ready to "crank it up" and amplify Christ in their homes and communities.
Rocky Mountain High is a project of the Synod of the Heartland held every three years at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. For more information, photos, and video clips of this year's Rocky, visit www.synodyouth.org.
Bob Cleveringa is director of youth ministry for the Synod of the Heartland.
Posted 08/30/11
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