Back Home again

ElenaClaire and I spent June 25 - July 3 on a Missions trip to Florida. Arcadia, Florida, to be exact - a town about 35 miles east of Sarasota - a town hit by 3 hurricanes in the late summer of 2004.

We were among 79 youth group members and adults from CTK who went to Arcadia to become part of about 360 people as part of Group Workcamps. This was one of some 50 or so workcamps that will involve 20,000 kids this summer.

I was pretty impressed with the whole operation. We stayed in a middle school (mercifully, it was air conditioned) and worked in teams of 6 people - rarely including another person from your home congregation, although since CTK brought so many people and was the largest group at the camp, we had a fair number of teams that included another CTK person. We were doing more building of decks and wheelchair ramps and scraping and painting than anything else - but in an environment like Florida, where houses rot away in no time, a thorough scraping, priming, and a 2 coat paint job can literally save a house.

I'm home, but still recovering. It was very physically taxing. But while there I was reading "Spiritual Theology" by Diogenes Allen, and his comments about physical labor as a tool in spiritual growth were very insightful. Going back to the time of the Desert Fathers thousands of years ago, there has been a recognition that physical labor can be of benefit in making progress in the Spiritual Life by burning away the chaff of our lives as we invest time and energy in serving others for the sake of Christ.

I certainly recommend Group Workcamps for youth ministry leaders seeking practical ways to lead their students into ministry opportunities that will result in spiritual growth.