Last weekend we took a group of 20 teens from the Bronx camping and playing paintball in Pennsylvania. Only 2 of them had ever played paintball and none of them had been camping. Growing up in Texas this just seemed crazy! It was so funny to see these tough kids who grew up in the Bronx be scared out of there mind when it got dark in the woods. One of them threw their flashlight into the woods when he “heard a bear.”
I went on a little hike with two of the guys and two girls. We hiked through the enormously tall trees of PA to this little brook. It was beautiful! The water was crystal clear and they were all loving every bit of it. We had some good conversation about creation, life and the NFL along the way. That night we had a short small group discussion about the story of Jesus raising Lazarus and God’s endless supply of 2nd chances. I talked to one of the guys who was asking lots of questions afterwards to see if he wanted to meet up regularly to talk about Jesus and read some stories about him. He sounded like it was something he really wanted to do. More on that later…
The next day we played 8 hours of paintball in the countries top paintball venue. It was pretty incredible. Heath and I taught them some lessons about the power of teamwork. Well not verbally, but by the way we took them all out working together haha. I wont say anything else about paintball except that you can call me Rambo now if you want…
The teens talked about nothing but “war stories” (of paintball) the whole 3 ½ hour ride back to NYC. Building relationships with these guys was definitely the highlight of the weekend. I look forward to getting to know them more. They are getting together on Saturday for a teen house church meeting. Most of them have either never been or are not regulars. We are going to hang out with them in the park this Sunday afternoon. Maybe play some backyard football or frisbee.
Be in prayer that these relationships wont fade after a weekend together in the woods, but that they will continue to grow together as friends and in relationship with the Father.
1 comments:
Good morning, Bubbie!
Sounds awesome! I'm so happy for you and proud of you! When you can, put some faces to the names, so we can see who we are praying for! You are planting seeds for eternity, and I know that God will bring the fruit! We are constantly keeping you in our prayers. We love you so much!
Mama
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