Graduation!!!!!!
Friday, May 19, 2006


^Mark, Me, and Mike. Freshman year floormate and roomate.^
Yeah, I graduated. I now have a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Media Studies. Anyone want to hire me?

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:36 AM 0 comments  

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French House Forever


These are my boyz - I was adopted by the French House at the beginning of the school year and they helped me get through the year. Hats off to you, gents.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:18 AM 0 comments  

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Goodbye World Christian Fellowship
Sunday, April 23, 2006



Tonight is my last night at World Christian Fellowship; a weekly, student-run service of Intercession, Celebration, and Mobilization for the church all around the world. As one of three rotating worship leaders, I have had the privaledge of leading worship every third Sunday night this year.

Creating music with a team of talented musicians is one of the funnest things I can think of to do, and combine that with the ability to lead a group of people into the presence of God - it is quite exhilarating. Not only this, but the gospel is demonstrated to me in a powerfully personal way when I stand in front of a group of people, fully aware of my sinfulness and weakness, and I can worship God anyway out of love and obedience. At those times, God's Spirit works mightily despite my fallen humanity.

It's hard to explain objectively, but putting on the mantle of being a worship leader does make me feel like I'm in a pastoral role, and the weight of that responsibility weighs heavily on me as I plan and lead. It keeps me accountable to my spiritual health, as the lack of communion with Christ is very noticeable to me when I'm am preparing for a night of worship. I enjoy the pastoral part of leading worship as much as the music part - the ability to teach and lead in an encounter with Christ in a way that helps the church mature spiritually.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 2:47 PM 0 comments  

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Ghormley Meadow Ho!
Monday, April 03, 2006

I have decided to follow my heart back to my family and the Cascade Mountains of Washington State this summer. I will be working on summer staff at Ghormley Meadow Christian Camp June 11-August 10th or so doing maintenence (aka, no more academic heady stuff). Give me an axe, a wrench, a lawn mower, and a screwdriver, and I'll be happy. My dad is the new executive director and my whole family is moving up to live at the camp in May, so I will get to spend quality time with them.

You are ALL invited to come visit me and I promise to put you up and show you the splendor that is all around the camp, including this fantastic view of Mount Ranier, only 17 miles away!

Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:10 AM 1 comments  

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A Prarie Home Companion, Live

First post in a loooooong time, don't really know why. Just got back from Minneapolis, MN where I saw a live radio performance of A Prairie Home Companion. If you were listening to National Public Radio Saturday at 5pm Central Time, you would have heard me clapping. The show was stupendous. The picture is of Garrison Keillor and his All-Star Shoe Band.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:56 AM 0 comments  

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Tim Lockie, my InnerCHANGE internship coordinator and Church of the Sojourners housemate, myself, and Darren Prince, my InnerCHANGE mentor. This is in the Marin Headlands, my favorite place in the Bay.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:32 AM 2 comments  

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Back In Wheaton!
Saturday, August 13, 2005

I've arrived safely to school and just returned from a week retreat in the North Woods of Wisconsin with my RA staff for the year. I am excited to serve them and encourage them in their ministry to their floors of underclassment.

Something I have been recently excited about and led to pursue is the ideas stated in the book "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert Coleman. It might be called the "master's plan of evangelism" because it explains the lifestyle of Jesus as evangelism through discipleship, focusing his attention and teaching on His twelve disciples. I have felt God calling me to step out this year and start to give and lead in this way. For most of my life I have always wanted to follow, listen, defer, and wait. While keeping this same attitude, I feel God has been working in my life to prepare me to now act, lead, speak out, and challenge.

One of the ways I hope to pursue this over this school year is to start discipling some younger men. This is not something I can really recruit for, so I have decided to pray in faith that God would bring men to approach me who have see what God has been doing in my life and want to ask for some form of a discipling relationship. Please pray that if this is God's will for me He would bring these guy(s) into my life.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 10:47 PM 2 comments  

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Last days in SF
Thursday, July 28, 2005

As I write this I have only 48 hours left in San Francisco for my summer internship. Saturday morning I will fly out to Denver to see a friend and then participate in a closing/debriefing time with other InnerCHANGE interns in Denver Monday through Wednesday. Wednesday night, I will be back at Wheaton to start my life as an Assistant Residence Director!

It has been difficult to spend the last week doing everything for the "last time." Wednesday night dinner with the homeless last night was especially hard; I've made some very good friends that didn't want me to leave. The last week since returning from my retreat at the monastary has been very difficult emotionally for a number of reasons, and this is why I haven't yet posted a summary of my retreat, but it will be coming soon.

Please pray for my last days that I would finish well and be able to get some semblance of closure with the many wonderful relationships I have started here. To tell you the truth, it is much more like leaving home and extended family than a summer internship. I thank you all for your prayers and words of wisdom and gifts that have made this incredible summer possible. My only hope is that you have benefitted from the experiences I've shared and have responded to God calling you to follow Him in your own way.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 10:16 AM 0 comments  

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Solitude and a Surprise!
Thursday, July 14, 2005


This weekend I will be venturing out of the bustle of San Francisco for a spiritual retreat, an integral part of every InnerCHANGE internship. This will help facilitate my time of reflection (see next post) near the end of my time here and will give me an extended period of quiet to listen to God and spend a good amount of time journalling about my experience.

By the grace of God, a spot opened up at the last minute at the monastary in Big Sur (pictured above) where I attended mass daily while camping with Casa San Dimas just a week or so ago! (see post below, Tuesday, July 5) People are normally on a wait list for 6-9 months to get in! I consider it a special blessing from God that the place where He revealed Himself to me in a special way is now being offered to me again for a spiritual retreat!

I will be staying at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, a Benedictine Monastary in the mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I will have a private trailer where I will be alone with God and a breathtaking view of the ocean, attending mass with the monks, and meeting with one of the monks for spiritual direction/mentoring. My packing list will be little more than a bible, journal, a Henri Nouwen book, and a guitar. I will be there from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. Please pray that I would find solitude and would be able to listen to the presence and voice of Christ. I am very excited for this time and am expectant for God to produce fruit that has been blooming and preparing to be harvested all summer.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:14 PM 2 comments  

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Local flowers. (No touchups - they really are that bright!)

Posted by Benjamin Washam 2:18 PM 0 comments  

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So wait, I thought....

Some people have been asking whether I moved into Casa San Dimas; the last couple of weeks I had been interested in moving from media work to more Incarnational work with the guys at the transitional home. I didn't end up moving in with them full-time for a number of reasons, the biggest being
Action - Reflection.

This is a popular idea at InnerCHANGE and I've come to appreciate it. The idea is to do the intensive missionary and service oriented stuff and then step back to reflect, especially at the beginning/internship stage. As most of you know, the last two months or so of my internship have been jam packed with new experiences, learning, observing, and participating in work with the homeless, media work for a conference, quasi-incarnational work with young Latino men, Christian Communal Living, and much, much more - ACTION. When I felt God leading me in the direction of more people-oriented incarnational ministry at the end of my internship, my first instinct was to "do something" about it, and move into Casa San Dimas.

After consulting with some older and wiser leaders here in the city, they wisely suggested not jumping in at the end of my time here. I need these last few weeks to simply REFLECT, journal, and pray about what God has already done, instead of jumping right into another ministry, then flying out to jump into Assistant Residence Director training back at Wheaton. I have since seen how valuable this time at the end of my internship can be to bring closure and really mine all the valuable lessons and insights out of the summer.

I will still be involved in hanging out with the Casa San Dimas guys, (like last night when I went over and watched the Mexico vs. Jamaica soccer game with them) but it will not be a primary, all-consuming commitment.

Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:37 PM 0 comments  

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Who Do You See?
Thursday, July 07, 2005

I want to know the thoughts of God

Posted by Benjamin Washam 12:07 AM 1 comments  

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