Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 Dear concerned parent: We know you have been worried sick for weeks about sending your child off to Washington, D.C. without you. It is my duty to inform you that all the students arrived safely, as well as all of their luggage. We apologize for any ‘inconvenience’ this may cause. J The day kicked off early with flights starting at 5 a.m. and students began arriving from across the country. Seventeen students and nine staff from Ohio, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Colorado got off to a running start on the first day of training without a hitch. Beginning with a pizza feast at five, the students jumped in headfirst into lectures on the “War of Ideas” and the meaning of Biblical Leadership. Following the colorful class sessions, to renew the students “sense of energy,” we turned to the light-hearted fellowship time, where students had plenty of opportunity to embarrass themselves and laugh at others through an icebreaker game. Though some students could barely hold their eyes open, they would have loved to stay up all night talking with their new friends. Don’t worry – your child is sound asleep (as we should be too). We have locked all the doors to ensure they get a proper amount of sleep for the big day ahead. A webcast of tomorrow’s (Sunday) news will be broadcast live online at 9 a.m. (8 a.m. CST, 7 a.m. MST) and at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. CST, 3 p.m. MST). To be notified with daily updates, please send an e-mail to josh@ltia.org . Signing off to go get some zzz’s……………….. -Mr. Congeniality .jpg)
Sunday, June 24th, 2007 Today was an exhilarating! Our morning started with worship services at Crossroads Baptist Church, in Bailey’s Crossroads, VA which was filled with powerful preaching, majestic music, and friendly folk. The church graciously hosted us and provided bus service to and from the church. Most of the students commented that they had never experienced services quite like that of Crossroads, and that they appreciated the quality, zeal, and the conviction from which all of the teaching, preaching, and music was based. We made our way back to the building where we enjoyed sessions taught by Dr. Briney and Bro. Josh Pettijohn. Some of the topics we discussed were “What is a Worldview?” and “How World Views Are Formed.” For dinner, we enjoyed a dinner feast catered by Boston Market, including Rotisserie chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and southern-style cornbread. After dinner, we headed out for a brisk walking tour of the National Mall. Our stops included the Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War memorial, World War II memorial, and the Washington Monument where Bro. Ken Francis and Bro. Jim Love gave brief background lessons on history and significance for each monument. We sang an appropriate song after each lesson and then spent time looking at the monuments more closely. Though our feet were sore, our spirits were high as we turned in for the night. .jpg)
Monday, June 25th, 2007 Monday started us on track for a “typical” day at LTIA, if one truly exists. Our day began, as usual, with morning devotions and prayer. Following our large continental breakfast, Dr. Briney began teaching the sessions on “Worldview Warfare Strategy” and the great defense for the question, “Is There a God?” Upon the conclusion of this inspiring material, Bro. Ken Francis presented “Is Jesus Christ God?” which included evidence for the resurrection. During the afternoon, we met with the president of Concerned Women for America, Miss Wendy Wright. She gave great insight into the cultural wars that threaten the family, including issues of marriage, sanctity of life, pornography, homosexuality and international policy. Matt Barber, also from the staff of the CWA, shared how he confronts policy and issues that threaten the family, particularly those that include the “ick” factor, as he described it. We spent the rest of the afternoon touring at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Here we had first-hand experience sifting through the different world views which influenced the exhibits on display. Students quickly noted that the theory of Evolution was exclusively presented. It was not presented as a theory, but rather as an unquestionable scientific fact. The students had many comments about this, which was great evidence that they are learning to be deep thinkers and to question the factuality of information presented to them. Upon returning home, we had a time of worship, followed by two different programs happening simultaneously. First-time students participated in portions of the Youth Leadership School, taught by the Leadership Institute, and returning students jumped into Advanced Training, an extension on the basic world view principles covered by the core curriculum. The advance students spent much of their time preparing to meet with the executive director of the American Humanist Association tomorrow. After our evening sessions drew to a close, the staff accompanied the student body to a local ice creamery where they finished the evening fellowshipping with each other. Everyone was ready to call it a night in preparation of the 6:30 a.m. wakeup call. .jpg)
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 Our day was packed with studies dealing with opposing world views. From Islam to Secular Humanism, we were challenged to think critically about the believe tenets of each of these and to understand the viewpoint from which they look at the world. One of the most exciting things that happened today was our meeting with Roy Speckhardt, the Executive Director of the American Humanist Association. This meeting allowed the advance students to put their critical thinking skills into action as they asked pertinent questions to better understand the mindset of this world view. Our students were very excited to see that they could easily find flaws in his logic. Through a series of questions, our students realized that he wasn’t able to give good answers for his positions and beliefs. The Advanced Team reported back to the rest of the students on their meeting and shared with them about the experience they shared unraveling the humanistic world view. The Leadership Institute staff provided speakers to deliver a Candidate School to our students, where the group saw first hand how to successfully organize and run a campaign. The organizational and leadership skills with which our students were armed are useful in many settings whether in church, school, or other organizations. When the sessions ended for the evening, the students played in the park until dark, burning off all of the energy that had been charging up all day. .jpg) Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 Our day started with great singing and a devotion out of Ephesians 4:1-3. We discussed our role as leaders in our local churches, and the calling which the Lord has given to all of us as Children of God. This was followed by a great presentation about Public Relations, which covered how to get out your message without getting it twisted. Josh Scheiderer, from Advance USA came and briefed the students on the basics of political involvement, specifically lobbying and persuading our representatives in Congress. After lunch, we ventured out to the National Holocaust Museum. This sobering exhibit brought home the reality of real consequences resulting from a world view differing from Christianity. Students noticed that though Christianity was blamed for the holocaust and ‘Christian’ churches and organizations such as the world wide church of God offered apologies, it was acceptance of evolution that justified the purging of ‘inferior’ human races. The solemn presentation was very eye-opening to the potential result of world views in conflict. As we made our way to Capitol Hill to meet two presidential candidates, Senator Sam Brownback and Congressman Ron Paul, we experienced a phenomenon which frequents the National Mall – a torrential rainfall hitting just the few blocks surrounding the Capitol Building. While it soaked us from head to toe and chilled us down, it didn’t dampen our spirits, as we were all excited for another break from the heat. After dinner, we returned to The Hill for a private night tour of the Capitol Building guided by Rep. John Boozeman of Arkansas. This was his fourth year to give us this special privilege, but this was the first year to be able to sit in on Congress in session, which was engaged in taking votes on bills. One of the more notable bills on the table this week was the Immigration Reform Bill, which was revived, and later killed on the floor. It was exhilarating to see our Constitutional system in action! .jpg) Thursday, June 28th, 2007 Our morning began with three of the most powerful lectures of our week. We enjoyed “Education” and “Understanding the church” given by Jim Love, and “Defending the Gospel”, given by Ken Francis. Our afternoon was devoted to sessions taught by Robert & Tanya Painter of the Bellwether Forum. We learned some exciting principles about motivating and mobilizing support for causes we support, including successful fundraising tips. Because the teaching schedule didn’t allow for us to do any afternoon sight-seeing, the staff decided to cut the evening short and break for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. We learned that it is entirely possible to have ice cream with the texture of a gummy bear, but it isn’t entirely desirable. We turned in a little early to get a few extra minutes of sleep in anticipation of the day that was to come. We were all equally excited about that plan! .jpg)
Friday, June 29th, 2007 The last day of classes has arrived! We kicked off the day with debates given by the students of the Advance Team (those who have attended at least once before). The topic of the debate was Social Security Reform, and both sides did a wonderful job presenting their cases. After the morning sessions concluded, it was finally free time! We ended up dividing into two groups: Those who wanted to tour, and those who wanted to shop. The group that wanted to tour attempted to go to Ford’s Theater, the Spy Museum and Arlington National Cemetery. In two hours time, the group found the theater to be closed, detoured to the home across the street where President Lincoln passed away; found the Spy Museum open but terribly expensive; and ran out of time to visit the Arlington National Cemetery. The rest of the students enjoyed a leisurely trip to Pentagon City Mall. After dinner, it was time for graduation. Three time presidential nominee, Mr. Howard Phillips, spoke on the subject of Constitutional Law and gave a very thorough presentation. Several students sang for the service, and a handful of students successfully graduated with Honors this year. We finished the night off with a trip to Starbucks and the local drug store. .jpg) Saturday, June 30th, 2007 Time to go home to “Change the World and Shape the Future!” | 
