GUEST BLOGGER: JAMES GRISSOM . DETONATE YOUTH LEADER

"after we pulled an all-nighter bus ride into the middle of the mojave desert, we somehow managed to reach a vast body of water. This was no mirage, no! This was LAKE MEAD!!! there we went off with four giant house boats filled with 70 teenagers just itching to spend the rest of the week having as much fun as possible!

we arrived and anchored up into a cove of our own and partied every day with swimming, snorkeling, water-sliding, water balloon fights (followed by spaghetti sauce fights), tubing, wake boarding, food, games, friends, laughing, everything! then when the sun went down we had our night services on the side of a hill where we worshiped and experienced God like we never have before.

lives were changed, new friendships were made, and teenagers gained a vision to go back home and make an impact in their schools!"

*big shoutout to vitamin water for helping to sponsor our summer camp

9 hours in a bus. blastin' justin bieber. life is good

mmmmm... vitamin water good!

summer camp wasn't just fun in the sun, every night there was acoustic worship, preaching, and ministry time.

this year detonate brought the BOOM in their second year of snow jam. the party started in mammoth shredding the slopes, sledding the steep hills, and having one of the most epic midnight snowball wars a human has ever experienced. david, briana, and the rest of the detonate team made it a weekend to never be forgotten.

all 50+ of us piled into a charter bus and gawked at one of the most beautiful views ever!

our fearless leader, chiddlington steele III (as pastor jurgen calls him), is ready to rock at the early hour of 7am

SSSSNNNNNOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! it didnt take long for the snowballs to start flying

yes. you are seeing shekinah sledding off the roof of our house.

you are witnessing the only position the boys were in the entire trip..you could smell the testosterone down the street

after watching the fights, the boys decided to try their own moves...this went on for 10 minutes...

"look ma! i caught 'em by the nostrils"

eskimo kisses?? only for a bear!

group hug! obviously jesse's a bit concerned

our most amazing leader briana with gigi

ryan vs the girls...

we found an open plot of land with some sweet hills for sledding

dance party anyone?

we were so stoked to have vitamin water donate over 100 bottles of their smart water and vitamin water along with some sweet beanies. photo-liciousness definitely went down.

so much for mom telling us to not play in the street.

anthony is very excited to be free!!

from the merry and slighty crazy kids over at DETONATE youth!

back in october, detonate threw a little thing called a HALLOWEEN PARTY!!! no harvest fests or trunk-or-treat for us, this was an all out halloween bash-o-rama. the theme was michael jackson's "thriller" and the place was packed with tons of kids dressed to impress! lots of candy, prizes, games, and even a surf simulator machine to test even the gnarliest of surfers.

the night was also made up of rippin' worship from the detonate worship team (including james grissom leading the charge in a full "thriller" red jumpsuit) and a fantastic message from david chiddick about God's power and the fact the we shouldn't be afraid or fearful of anything with God on our side. thanks to the detonate team and everyone that made the night possible!!!

james grissom rockin' the jumpsuit and the les paul

who loves candy?

this summer, the detonate crew headed out to lake havasu for an amazing week that left a permanent scar of epicness on their lives! five days were consumed with wake boarding, inner tubing, jet skiing, swimming, cliff diving, volleyball, and water balloon fights. if the sun was shining, the crew was enjoying everything havasu had to offer. then in the evening, david and briana chiddick tore the place apart with amazing messages and powerful prayer. not one kid was left unchanged or not ablaze with a passion to change the world!

Brant was daring enough to risk his body and swap tubes in the middle of the ride. The boat reaching 35mph, he hoped from one tube to the next without loosing any limbs.

Gnarley tubing battles went down with the High School boys trying to show off their muscles.

"Lance the Man" was head skipper for the Malibu. Running a tight ship, but always cracking jokes and keeping everything always fun!

On the first night, before service started, 4 kids were brave enough to take the Coke challenge. Ryan Taylor (H.S. Boys), Kelly (H.S. Girls) Jena (Jr High Girls), and Ryan (Jr High Boys) each had a 2L bottle of Coke that was to be consumed as fast as possible to win the ultimate prize of Starbucks for their room.

Jr High Boys won!!!

MAN DOWN!!! Jono was nailed and lied on the ground in self defense during an epic water balloon fight.

Yes Ross, alo vera soothes the burn on your nose

Not sure, but I think Ross has the advantage

Waiting for service to start + beautiful sunset + H.S. Girls = perfect photo time

Who gave brant a Megaphone?!

Let your eyes rest and and feast on this bad boy...Nikkis dads boat was the king of the lake, and we rode in style.

Thank you Lynn family for all you did!!! Your kindness wasn't forgotten.

last day, headed home, and were still wired! Can't wait to see what DETONATE has in store next time.

the crew from DETONATE YOUTH MINISTRY rocked, raged, slipped and slid all over raging waters water park!! ross put on his speedo's (aka fast shorts) and literally flew down EVERY ride. no one stood a chance against his aerodynamic slipperyness! great times, great laughs, great food, great friends...couldn't have been a better trip! the picture goodness was provided courtesy of james grissom.

check out the animation below...takes a second to load...wait for it...wait for it :)

This past march our youth group, DETONATE, went up to shred the slopes in Big Bear for the weekend. It was a weekend packed with snowboarding and skiing, sledding on cardboard boxes, pounding all the sugar in sight, and dominating in the most epic snowball fight ever! It was a weekend to never be forgotten with awesome friendships formed over late night card games and hide-and-seek in the middle of the night.

catch phrase and apples to apples were the never ending games played late into the night :)

how you like dem apples?!?!?!

the house everyone staying in was AMAZING!!!

some cool kids wanted to venture out and sled down some rough terrain on sleds...but since none could be found cardboard boxes from rite-aid had to do :)

mmmmmm...snooooooooooow :)

the brave went and shredded the slopes real good like!

yay for snowstorms and snowball fights!

we've been getting a few requests from people who want to know a bit more about briana and chiddick who are our youth leaders at detonate. so here are some serious and not so serious facts about two of the greatest youth leaders EVER!

david...
when did you start attending ccc? january of 2006

what is your dream for detonate? i want to see detonate in stadiums, in highschools all over san diego and having a detonate confrence all over the u.s.

what was your childhood ambition? to be a navy seal

what was your proudest moment? when i made through hell week

what would be your perfect day? i would start the day by going deer hunting in the early morning. i would " get " a deer take it home then go out to a great breakfast with my beautiful fiance briana at the la valencia hotel in la jolla. after that i would go spearfishing with the fellas and shoot the biggest halibut ever taken by a spearfisher. then i would spend the rest of the day with briana where we would go to the beach with my dog, go to an amazing restaurant for dinner, take another walk on the beach and watch the sunset as the women of my dreams is in my arms! we would then go see a movie. then i would take her home walk her to the door and say good night as a single tear drops from her cheek because she just had the most perfect day of her life. i would then return home where i would pick up my lobster diving gear and the guys and capture giant lobster!

what was your last purchase? an engagement ring (BLING! BLING!)

what is your favorite movie? the third lord of the rings

if you had a superhero power what would it be? the power to heal myself

craziest high school memory? my buddy and i took these two girls for a drive in his car out in the booneys where we tried to impress them by our quick manuvering around tight corners until we hit a slick spot and flew off the road and into a farmers barb wire fence where we had to call a tow truck to get us out.

most interesting trip you have ever been on? i once went to the grocery store. that was a crazy trip!

have you ever tp'd a house? yes! when i was in high school. we didn't just tp the outside we actually went insside and tp'd that as well.

what would be your soundtrack? eye of the tiger

briana...
when did you start attending ccc? january 2006

what is your dream for detonate? to be a platform for teenagers to see and believe all that they’re worth and all they can do! that the youth of san diego will detonate throughout the world and that this generation will be a history changing generation because of the love and power of god in their hearts.

what was your childhood ambition? to be a veterinarian. i used to cry if i or anybody else even stepped on an ant!!

what was your proudest moment? making it into the boys soccer team in germany. all the boys were scared of me because of my killer kicks.

what would be your perfect day? sleep in, make waffles for breakfast, go to the beach and play volleyball and surf, eat lunch, more sports, eat dinner, more sports, watch a movie, sleep (all of this of course with chiddick)

first job? tutored math and english

favorite movie? how to lose a guy in 10 days (tried them all on chiddick…he didn’t budge haha)

favorite fast food? fast food…..yuk…maybe carl’s jr. six dollar burger?

Indulgence? ice cream (ben and jerrys half baked)

craziest high school memory? my mom and i were almost kidnapped in mexico city by a taxi cab driver!

what is your favorite piece of clothing? that's a hard one….sweat pants!

what's the last book you read? you the leader (by phil pringle)

what would be your soundtrack? any chris brown music.

he thought he was off camera when we were filming the preview...