The Great Escape

The Great Escape is a week long retreat and camp for middle school students. We will be heading out to Gunnison, Colorado this June to enjoy a week filled with fellowship, worship and gorwth.  While in Colorado we plan to enjoy the senery by visiting Mount Crested Beute and Going to the Crystal Mesa Resouvior. During the worship times we will be lead by From the Branches and Six Days from Sunday. 

Day 1

Saturday June 20th

Day one of travel down! We had really good weather for travel and I think that everyone had as much fun as you can when you are stuck on a van for 7 and a half hours!  We had a good game of “John Wayne” and I think that by the time we got to the church that we are staying at it was just Molly and I still playing, I guess that means that we won? Maybe not…

            Definite highlight of today was the worship service at the church we at. We have developed a great relationship with this church, its Lookout Mountain Community Church in Golden Colorado. Most of the kids and Keith got a chance to catch up and share some stories. The Message was on James chapter 5, somewhat of a difficult topic! As we worshiped I noticed how in tune the kids were, they all seemed to be really soaking up the message. Then as it came time for communion I leaned over let the kids know that if they wanted they could take communion but that it was not required. Much to my surprise, before the elements were even presented well over half of them were at the front of the church. It was a perfect image of how thirsty these kids were for God. As soon as they had the opportunity to eat from his table they hungered for more. After the service Molly, Keith and I kinda hung out at the back of the church and talked about the service. I think that all of us were honestly humbled by the sincerity that these kids showed and how eager they were for their Lord.
            Tonight really set the bar high for the rest of the week. I am really excited to see how much these kids will grow once we get them to Great Escape and surrounded by other kids their age that have a passion for God just like they do.

Day 2

Sunday June 21st

We were treated to a great pancake breakfast this morning at the church and as soon as we had all gotten our fill we hit the road. Molly and i continued our "John Wanye" game until the kids got mad we started over with them back in the game. We set our trusty GPS "elizabeth" and we were off, Keith held onto the map not entirely willing to put all his faith the GPS! We were toatally blessed with great weather and shot over to highway74 (partially by accident!) for what turned out to be a beautiful drive. We found out that several of the girls and at least one sponsor are not fond of driving through steep mountain passes, we also found that the van is also not a huge fan! After making up and then back down monarch pass we eventually rolled into  Gunnison, what a beatiful campus! 

After getting settled in we headed to dinner and then onto the first evening worship time, we had great worship, from the band to the message, everything got the kids thinking and it was very evident that they were all tuned in and soaking it up. Each night after evening worship we are provided time for "Family Time" during this time we get to reflect a a group and really talk about how things are going and pray for each other. The speaker at worship, Jeff talked in the begging about how so often we never feel adequate or good enough for anything. It was very clear that this was weighing on all of us as we talked and as we prayed EVERYONE had a prayer to contribute, something that has never happened with this group before. I am so excited to see what the rest of this week will bring! 

P.S. - we will try to get some pics up soon!

Day 3

Monday June 22^nd

Wow! What a crazy day! Morning worship was kinda chaotic and a little scattered but overall I think that the kids were able to follow ad connect. After Morning worship we had a great opportunity to meet in a small group and discuss the message from the morning. Our kids are really getting a grasp on some of the hard questions and you can really tell that they are growing and thinking about their faith.

         After we finished up with our small group we went onto lunch and then quickly loaded up the van and headed out to crested butte, a little ski town and is incredible. We went over to the mountain and decided to take the lift all the way up to the top of the mountain and then hike down. As soon as we got tot the top we were not disappointed! The views were amazing, and the kids were completely in awe, and they enjoyed getting to throw snow in June! It was a much longer hike then we were lead to believe and it turned out to be a difficult hike for some of the kids, but when we got down to the bottom and were able to look up and see how far up the mountain we had just come most of the kids were incredibly proud of what they had just accomplished.

         Evening worship was really good again, I am still in awe of how the worship leaders are able to completely captivate all of the kids in the auditorium and provide them with a wealth of information. After worship we went out for “family time” we had really good discussion and it seems that each one of the kids is opening up a little more each day, I cannot wait to see what the end of the week could bring. God is good all the time and we are all committed this week to letting God have the week and to place all our trust in him alone.