Our journey didn't start today. It started months ago when we, (I), felt God leading me to do something different. I had always gone to a summer camp, the church I am at has always done a summer camp. So that means we stick with tradition and do a summer camp, right? Not! Nothing against camps but lately I have been pulled into focusing on meeting the needs of others, loving people wherever they are, and serving the LOCAL community. In other words giving my life as a living sacrifice. Pretty sure the Bible says something about that. So the journey began.
Forget all the details on how we chose the trip and how we hooked up with the body of believers we are working with. Plain and simple, God did it. Camps are great. We go away for week and have this mountain top spiritual experience. We get off the bus and sprint to the top of the mountain and it feels so good. We are recharged! We get on the bus, come home and before we know it we have tripped and slid down that mountain as quick as we went up. Honestly it sucks! What a draining experience. That's where this trip was different from the beginning. We started preparing months ago. Every message I gave on Wednesday nights was pointing toward the trip. Unity, living life abundantly, love, encouragement, focus. I got this crazy idea that 30 days before the mission trip I would challenge myself to go "deeper" in my relationship with a loving Savior. Then I decided to bring everyone for the ride. Knowing it would be hard for any of us to finish it. Well I never knew how serious some of them would take it. I am pretty sure I had some parents ready to smack me when there kids gave up their cell phones for a week to focus on God. But through this whole journey I have seen friendships formed, and spiritual growth in so many of us. This wasn't a sprint to the top but a steady climb.
Day 1. We got off to a rainy start but the sun was shining when we got off the bus. The hotel was amazing and in a later post I will share how God was already preparing this place for us. We broke up into teams to get our job descriptions and started planning for Xtreme Nights. The skit practice went amazing. People were engaging with each other and not just within their circle of friends but with everyone.
Amazing start to an amazing week!
