United Winter Camp

January 25, 2010

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it was quite an experience.  Wasn’t it?  We are UNITED and we went to CAMP and there was no doubt that it was WINTER.

For those of you who weren’t a part of this trip, here’s a brief or should I say “15 minute” (that’s an inside joke) recap of our weekend.  We wanted to join together with Christians from all over the Fresno/Clovis area for a weekend to come together as the body of Christ.  We had gathered around the words of Jesus, recorded in John 17 (remember this number, it was significant).  Jesus prayed that we as Christians would “be brought to complete unity” (John 17:23).  We just didn’t realize how long it would take.  We gathered at Peoples Church on Friday afternoon.  There were youth, leaders and Pastors from 17 (again 17) or so local churches (Bethany Innercity, The Bridge, Cornerstone Church, First Baptist Clovis, First Presbyterian, Flipside, Hope Lutheran (that’s us), New Covenant, New Harvest, North Fresno Church, Northeast Assembly, Northside, Northpark, Peoples Church and Valley Christian Center) to name most.  There were more than 400 people on 9 charter buses.  We left Peoples Church at about 4:00 pm.  We were happy, we were excited, we were warm, we had our Chicken Wrap “sack dinners” lovingly prepared by the good folks from First Pres and we were ready (at least somewhat) for what God had in store.

Our trip went along great and as we neared camp and approached the snow line, all the buses stopped to put on chains or cables to give the tires extra traction.  We were hoping to arrive at camp in time to start an evening worship service around 900pm, but those were just our plans.  At this point, I’ll give you the very brief version from my perspective as your Youth Director:  Tires slipping, buses sliding, kids making the most of it, cold outside, warm on the bus, amazing starry sky, buses stuck in the snow, worried parents texting, minimal cell phone signals, tow truck driver working, CHP sitting, bus wouldn’t start, half mile night hike up hill in the snow with luggage, kids NOT complaining, snow plows, sanding the road, sleeping on the bus, morning snowflakes, 7am snowball fights, more waiting, more plowing, more sanding of the roads, arrive at camp, ready for breakfast - UNITY.  We arrived at Old Oak Ranch Camp around 900am (if you do the math, that’s a 17 hour trip).

  In the morning our buses were waiting for the buses ahead of us to get “straightened out.”

  

 

The beauty of creation was all around as morning dawned.

 

 

 

 

We had an incredible weekend at camp, full of worship, friendship, SNOW, dodgeball, great messages, God’s spirit, SNOW, stories to share and an understanding of what it is to be the body of Christ.  We were gathered in Unity, called to Prayer & Worship and sent forth to put our faith into action through Evangelism and works of Social Justice.

 

 

 

 Here’s our group, ready to return home (and yes, the trip home was much shorter - by about 14 hours).

PRAISE GOD!

 

If you went on this trip, please leave a comment or a testimony about your experience.  This is a cool way to share with our whole church about what God did in your life and a meaningful way to honor God and the experience that we’ve shared.  Thanks for the privilege of being your leader.  To all of you Parents, thanks for trusting me with the lives of your children.

Sincerely, Adam Knudson

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