Today we roll up our sleeves and go to work. We are doing three basic projects this week, putting in a fence on the entry drive from the highway, painting rooms for the YMCA staff and clearing wood from the pine trees that have died as a result of the beetles. Pastor Jim McClary is in charge of the pine tree slashing, Derrick Johnson is heading up the fence building and Scott Edwards is the paint leader. Jim and Scott have been organizing mission trips for over 8 years. They have been friends for 38 years. Jim is the Pastor at Savoy Methodist Church and Scott is a member of the Wesley Methodist Church in Macomb. It's hard to imagine how many young lives the two of them have changed as a result of their planning and organizing mission trips. I have been involved in 6 of them, and all of them have been remarkable in both the work that has been accomplished and the spiritual growth of the youth and the adults. We are truly blessed to have them both as our leaders. Hard to imagine I'm sure that when they met as 12 year olds back in Quincy that God had a plan for them that would continue to play out 38 years later.
Our youth is doing terrific so far. Yesterday was a fun day, a chance to get acclimated to the elevation. We are at 8700 ft here at the YMCA and I can feel it for sure. Most of the group went on a horseback ride into the mountains in the morning. The afternoon was spent either hiking, or playing on these amazing facilities the YMCA provides. I went on the hike. About 3 miles with a elevation change of about 500 feet. That's a good beginner's hike. In the middle of the trail was a beautiful waterfall. I'll post some photos when I get back as I forgot to bring my camera download connection. Trust me, it was beautiful.
It rained about halfway into the walk. Hard! And we all got soaked. But no one complained. I know many of you might say, "why would you want to spend your vacation with 45 high school students?" The answer is, because this are really special kids. One of the real joys in working on mission trips is meeting these idealistic young men and women, listening to them, and sharing insights into some of the problems they may be facing in their lives.
I believe most of the problems facing our youth today could be solved if adults took the time to really listen to them. These kids have some amazing stories to tell.
One of our young men had leukemia at age 3. He is a strong, athletic young man. And yet he lives with the possibility it could come back at any time. He lives each day fully. A lesson for us all. Most of these kids come from strong families. They have been given the support they needed by wonderful parents, many of them whom I know. But some are from broken families that struggle daily just to pay the bills. Just the fact they are here is a sign the parents want to build a strong foundation for these kids to build their lives on.
The Snow Mountain Ranch has been around for over 100 years. It started as a YMCA camp and has transformed into a retreat/convention facility. The staff here spends all of their time providing young people a facility to learn and grow their spirituality. It's a bit funny they aren't used to groups coming to serve them. They are in the service business, yet having someone serve them is new. I'm told we are the first group to come and dedicate themselves to serving the YMCA. We are in effect, serving the servants.
Yesterday I bumped into Bill and Cinny Green. Many of you know them from their years building and managing GT's Western Bowl in Champaign. Cinny told me they come here annually and help organize for the youth groups that come here in the summers. They spend 12 weeks a year as YMCA staff helping these groups enjoy the facility. That was fun to see them and I had no idea they were here. Our friendship goes back over 20 years. Amazing how God brings you together with friends, even 1000 miles from home!
So it's time to get this day started. It's a little overcast this morning and the weather is a brisk 50 degrees. It should heat up to about 75 later today. Today we begin the work of serving the YMCA. But the best work of all is reaching out to the youth and adults who are here with us and beginning the work of sharing the great message of Jesus with each of them. Pray for us!
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