Bashan Wilderness Retreat
Healing, Refreshing, Bashan.
About Bashan Wilderness Retreat
Bashan is a place of retreat, a retreat from all you know all that is familiar… We invite you to come and take a wilderness journey with us. If you have a desire to let go of all the hustle and bustle of society in the work a day world, come for weekend or make arrangements for a longer stay.
Bashan is a true Primitive Wilderness experience great for singles, couples, families, and small groups (no more than 10 to 12 at a time please, only tent camping available for groups… Bring Your Own Tent), or you could get a little creative and build your own survival dwellings for your stay.
Go for nature walks, learn about wild edible and medicinal plants, make adobe bricks, build a hut, learn about water collection, passive and active solar design, work and play with animals, or just sit and be… (Training in Primitive or Survival living skills available upon request with prior arrangements.
Teachings on creation and stewardship of the environment are also available with prior arrangement).
About the Caretakers
Justin & Antoinette Courtois are the current caretakers of
Bashan… They have been working on the land over the past 8 years
learning and helping others learn how to live a more natural life in
a self-sustained environment.
Hello from both of us up here on the mesa.
Some of our friends asked us to put this page together so that you
would know who we are and what we believe in… Here it is:
Our mission and belief is that we are to help restore and teach
others to restore the ancient pathways of the Creator in every
aspect of our life…
In the way we live with the creation
In the way we live in relationship with others
In the way we live in our relationship with God
In the way we live with the creation
God gave man a unique position; we were created in His image and
then entrusted with the stewardship of all that He made… We are the
caretakers of the earth, of our human family, the animals and plant
life that live upon it and are sustained by it, this is our job our
highest calling… to do what God originally intended for us to do, be
stewards in His Kingdom. We believe in living with the land as
naturally as we possibly can, we are not purists and we eat meat… We
do not hunt nor do we kill any of our animals, we believe that there
is enough meat available for us to purchase without killing more
animals for our own consumption. We try to encourage as much wild
and naturally growing vegetation as possible as we believe that they
are the provision of the Creator for our use as well as the
animals that live here on the mesa. We practice water collection for
basic needs of watering plants and trees, and have seasonal ponds
that collect water and help replenish the water table for the future
sustainability of the land.
In the way we live in relationship with others
There are no masters we are all servants and serve one another in
whatever capacity we are able. We desire to live in a
community-minded environment, and believe that many hands make the
load light. We believe we are our brothers’ keeper, if we see a
need we meet it, with a full heart of love and commitment to one
another… we serve. We watch our speech, what we say and how we say
it, our actions, what we do and how we do it, and guard our
attitudes with all diligence. Our attitude toward others is one of
honor and respect, from the child to the aged adult, man or woman,
rich or poor no matter what color…we are all created and equal in
the sight of our God and worthy of
honor. Even in correction, we strive to correct with respect.
In the way we live in relationship with God
The first thing I would like to say is that we are all on a
journey. The choices we make and directions we take will ultimately
determine where we end up. We are in a continual process of life,
growing, moving, and having our being moved according to what we
choose to give ourselves to… If we have given ourselves to Yahweh,
we will find that though He remains the same yesterday, today, and
forever… we are always in process. I used to think that my
doctrinal beliefs were theological sitting ducks, I had them all
neatly lined up in a row… but as I have walked on this journey with
Him for some time, many of my ducks have died and been replaced by
other ducks… Of all the things I have learned and those that have
remained the same, I know and am sure theology is not one of them… I
am in a
process of learning and re-learning. At the base of it all is my
deep unquenchable desire to be with my Father, to hear His voice,
walk in His ways on this journey in His life... That is all I am
sure of! The following is for you… a list of what most people want
to see, a statement of faith… but while you read this remember,
there are many statements of faith out there, but statements are
only statements… they are not always connected to lives that are
surrendered to the will and direction of God… true faith is
something lived and you can only really know if someone’s
faith is real when you have seen it in daily life and practice.
Our relationship with God is not based on our own opinions or on the
teachings of men… our relationship with Him is based solely on His
grace toward us in that He provided a way for us to be free from
the curse of sin and death through His covenant promises and it is
because of that grace that we have found life in Him and have gained
entrance into His eternal Kingdom... the Kingdom of His beloved son
Yeshua the Messiah. In Him we live move and have our being.