Rocky Mountain Mission Trip Work day 2

This photo gives you an idea of where we are staying.  The YMCA of the Rockies is an amazing facility, mostly used to host youth groups, camps, weddings and family reunions.  The accommodations far exceed our normal fare.  We all have beds!  That's a plus.  And there are bathrooms/showers in each room.  The food is fairly good.  There is a large dining hall that seats about 250 and they must feed over 500 a day.  Great selection at all meals, with lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, plenty of drink choices, but interestingly enough, limited desert choices.  I need my ice cream!  :)

I blogged early this morning and then walked back to the complex.  I found out quickly that one of the young ladies from Macomb, Lexa Mahr (on the right in the photo), had been bitten by a spider and had a large red blotch with a black circle.  They took her to the hospital last night and prescribed some medication for her.  I went and picked it up this morning.  Lexa and a wonderful girl, not one to complain about anything.  And if she had her way the staff would have rubbed some dirt on it and let her "play on."  But she is fine now and worked hard all day clearing brush.

We got deep into our projects yesterday.  One group clearing dead trees near the summer over night camp grounds for kids.  I met a man, Ransom, who is originally from Aurora, at the camp grounds.  He explained to me the open fields surrounding us were covered by pine trees just a few years ago.  Now it looks like a mountain valley covered only by grass.  It's hard to imagine just how much damage this beetle has caused and how much more damage it will do to these mountainsides and valleys.  But at least no one has been hurt, and there hasn't been a forest fire yet.  That is the main reason we are doing this work, to help/prevent a fire from destroying this YMCA complex.

Another group painted the staff quarters.  I didn't make it to that project, but was told they finished 3 of 10 rooms yesterday.  Our group is building a fence from the administration building to the main road.  Post holes have been dug, and we are skinning the bottom two feet of 6 foot logs, tarring the part we skin, then putting the logs in the post holes, leveling them, filling in the holes and finally attaching rails.  We got about 100 posts in yesterday and about 50 feet of railing done.  We put in more poles then they expected us to do all week!  So they are getting more post holes dug today we hope.  It's hard work, but the temperature is 75 degrees and the scenery is amazing of course.  The only downside is that since we are 9000 ft in the air the sun is brighter and burns the skin a little faster.  We will be applying more sun screen today as there were some burns, including me!  :)

Last night we attended a Navigators meeting.  There are about 100 members of Navigators here for the summer.  For those that don't know, Navigators is an International collegiate Christian outreach program.  We have a large chapter at the UI so I"m familiar with there work.  I think I understand they commit 12 weeks in the summer and work and worship here.  Sounds like a great summer job!  The service had great music with a contemporary praise band, a young pastor who talked about how God is the God of everyone in our world, not just Americans, and talked about how Christianity is a bit like eating at a buffet table.  We all pick and choose how we worship, serve and grow, and choosing the "right entree" defines our spiritual growth.  Then he said that mission work is sort of like the dessert bar, where the selections are many but the service is satisfying.  Sort of like an ice cream sundae bar. 

There were three gentleman from the Japan Navigators who talked about the aftermath of the tsunami, earthquake and nuclear power tragedy.  All had family and friends injured, displaced or that died in the tragedy.  But the one positive thing was that the government had embraced the mission work of the groups and as a result, the body of Christ is more united in Japan.  I didn't realize that less than 1% of Japan is Christian.  And that 84% of the pastors in Japan are over the age of 50.  A staggering statistic when you contemplate the potential growth for the Japanese.

The service was wonderful, but honestly our group was a bit tired from our days work, a shorter service would have been appreciated.

Today, more work.  Then tonight we are going to a worship bonfire.  The temperature at night drops to about 47 degrees.  Hopefully it won't be raining.  Like Hawaii, there is almost daily afternoon rain here.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me an email.  toddsalen@gmail.com

Good bye for now