At our recent Training of Trainers in Peru, each Trainer practiced leading various parts of our daily CFO program. Along with Meditation sessions and Devotion in Motion plans, each one wrote an Orientation talk to introduce people to Camps Farthest Out. Here is a fine example of a talk given by Tanya Cothran, a North American Trainer. Enjoy it!
“Good evening! Welcome to CFO camp! Each of us have been drawn here this week to learn, to go further out in our relationship with God, and to be avenues of prayer for each other. Tonight I am going to talk about the vision for CFO, how it came into being, and the flow of the daily schedule.
For the last 4 years, I have been blessed to live in St. Paul, Minnesota, in the very same city where Dr. Glenn Clark was a college professor and coach during the early 1900s. He was a visionary, a man who liked to think through big problems, and a deeply spiritual being. And he believed that prayer could change the world.
Glenn Clark saw many of his bright students dying in war and so he asked God, “What can one man do toward peace in the world?” Through listening to God’s answer to this question, Glenn Clark dreamed and planned CFO into being.
That Glenn Clark was an athletic coach is important for understanding his vision for CFO. He saw camp as a training ground; a place for “athletes of the spirit” to train to put God’s laws into practice in everyday life and to be more effective pray-ers. He knew that we often don’t make time in our busy lives to explore a deeper relationship with God and so we need to take this time apart, a time further out from our lives, to practice this closer walk with God.
The daily program that we will live this week is the same program that is followed in every one of the 90 CFO camps and retreats around the world. There is an intentional rhythm to the day, an ebb and flow like the tide or the ocean waves. There is time for inward expression, for reflection and a deeper experience with God, and a time for outward expression, for release and sharing the Kingdom of God with others.
We begin with morning meditation, a mostly silent time to turn inward, listen for God’s soft, still voice, and prepare ourselves for the day.
Breakfast is our first chance to turn outward with fellowship and sharing.
Singing is a transition time, to share song out loud, and prepare our hearts to listen to the speaker. Glenn Harding, an old-time CFOer said, “If you can’t sing, just open your mouth and feel the music of the rest vibrating upon your vocal chords.” This is part of creating the unity and harmony of the camp.
The Morning talk is a chance for us to listen (take in) the speaker’s words as they share their spiritual walk with the group.
Devotion in Motion is the outward expression of God moving through our bodies. It is a chance to feel the Spirit of God in us and to pray with our bodies.
Creatives is another silent (inward) listening time. We get the opportunity to co-create with God, to listen to God and process what we have learned, and express that through art and writing.
Lunch is another time of outward fellowship, followed by the very important inward Rest Hour. If you can’t sleep, just try to rest your mind and body in a quiet way.
Free time is a chance for outward play and fellowship, a time to practice the play of Kingdom living and experience God’s world.
Prayer preparation (which only happens on the first full day) and prayer groups are the heart of CFO. These are prayer laboratories where we get to move inward and experience different types of prayer and the closeness of God. I invite you to come to prayer groups with a sense of expectancy and wonder at what God will do throughout the week in your group.
After prayer groups, we have time for outward fellowship at Dinner, followed by the transition period of singing – an outward and inward flow.
Evening talk is again a time of listening and inward processing.
Afterglow is our last outward time of fellowship and then we have Lights Out and quiet time to end the day.
Each part of the day has its purpose and is a part of the flow and so I encourage you to participate in each step to get the maximum training effect. Just as Glenn Clark put together a training schedule of many important parts for his athletes, he has presented us with a wide and varied daily training program to become athletes of the spirit. If you are uncomfortable in some parts of the program, that’s okay, that means that you are stretching your muscles and you’ll realize the benefits of training soon!
One last aspect of Glenn Clark’s vision that I think is important to highlight: he planned for CFOs to be an inter-denominational experience. He understood that any one denomination didn’t have all the answers and there is strength and growth in diversity. At CFO, we drop doctrine and preaching, and we go to the strongest common denominator – love for God and love for each other. Rather than inflate our differences, let’s seek common ground; seek a deeper love, without judging and without deciding who is right and who is wrong – let’s instead celebrate our common love for God and our common mission to create Kingdom living here on earth. [Have people look around and connect with people; make a silent commitment to being open.]
So I encourage you to feel the flow and remember that God has called each of us here to practice Kingdom living this week. You are not here by accident. God has a divine plan for each of us and this week we are invited to begin to explore and live that plan.
