Wellspring Beginnings

WELLSPRING – FREEING HEARTS FOR THE JOURNEY

The Beginnings – Wellspring began in the spring of 2006 through a series of conversations at coffee houses between Dave Gifford and Scott Toillion.  Dave and Scott are long-time friends from their college days in the 1980’s in Lincoln, Nebraska and both were involved in campus ministry at the University of Nebraska.  As graduation and jobs in other places began to spring up, their paths continued to be intertwined as first Scott and then Dave moved west to the Front Range area of Colorado.  Their adventures together in Colorado included regular backpack trips and climbs of most of the state’s 14,000 foot peaks.  However, over the past year and a half they encountered a journey more difficult than any trek they faced in the mountains.  

This is our Journey 

Brokenness – There are times when climbing a long, hard route on a high mountain that one reaches sheer exhaustion and every breath and step is a monumental effort.  In brokenness you begin to realize your limitations and all your weaknesses and with some level of defeat you sometimes find yourself heading down without attaining the summit.  Over the past year and a half we found ourselves on a journey that began to take us to a similar spiritual place—brokenness and an understanding of our total reliance on our God.  This came partially over health concerns and an unending series of medical tests, conflicting diagnoses and fears for Scott, and a soul-searching exploration of the fears and concerns related to life and work for Dave.  It became painfully obvious that not unlike some of our mountain adventures together, that life bring its own troubling storms.  While we may sometimes enjoy reflecting on our perils at 14,000 feet with lightening, darkness, hail, cold, fear, confusion, injuries and the like, this earthly life leaves a deeper wound that rarely results in contentment, peace, joy or a any kind of fond recollection of the hurts we’ve experienced.  Unfortunately, we seldom get to the place where we are completely aware of our plight and our total dependence on God.  We unknowingly protect and busy ourselves with activity, noise, good works and the pursuit of happiness.    But, if we take the time to pause and look we can see the evidences of the battle and more importantly the evidences of God.

This was a time for both of us to stop and look deep within the suffering to find God.  Our heartfelt desire out of this brokenness was to understand truly who God is, not the vision of God cast by others, to more fully understand who we are in Him, and to live a life not tossed about by the circumstances and storms of life and the world around.  We desired to live free, not from suffering necessarily but from the shackles that the fear of the storms placed on us. 

Freedom in Jesus – Our journey to the depths of these fears and experiencing the wounds from the arrows of the evil one led us to the only place of healing…the amazing grace and freedom found in Jesus…“For it was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Galations 5:1). We found we needed to share this story often with one another as we met together.  Isaiah 61 became one of our key themes: 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” 

Jesus is truly the One who binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for the captives and release from darkness.  Jesus entered into man’s brokenness and in particular into the brokenness we experienced.  This freedom offered by God was found in several disciplines that became of great importance as we met to form the ideas for Wellspring.  The practice of Communion with God as expressed through the disciplines of silence, solitude and prayer, the practice of Community expressed in living an intentional and apparent life with other believers and a Commitment to the journey of faith. 

Sharing this Journey with Others – As we found this path to brokenness and then back to restoration we knew we had to share it in some way with others.  During the summer of 2006 Wellspring planned treks into the mountains with others to seek God in the quietness of the Rocky Mountains.  These spiritually focused hikes became a way of listening more intently to the voice of God.  We found through our stories, hikes and encounters with others that the purpose of Wellspring was to look for opportunities even in the smallest of situations to point others to a God who loves and cares, and to share the hope that is found in Christ. 

Only God knows the next steps in this adventure of faith we are on with Wellspring, but we hope you will join us through the web-blog sharing your stories.  Perhaps you can also join us on an upcoming hike, or even at one of our coffeehouse chats.  May you find on the journey, the peace and freedom that is in Christ. 

Scott and Dave 

Wellspring, January 2007