It was a beautiful Friday morning as we loaded up two RV’s with our stuff and hit the road. We really didn’t have too much of a plan or an agenda. The hope was to get a new perspective on need. We wanted to be made aware of need and we wanted to come up with creative ways to meet those needs. The only place we had to be was West Virginia by Sunday to go white water rafting. So we hit the road with open eye’s, minds, and schedules.
Our first stop was for lunch. As we were getting ready to leave we all took a dollar to give away to a stranger with no agenda. We strictly wanted to make them a little happier. Some gave their money to children as they went into toy stores others gave their dollar to adults that didn’t seem to want the dollar, afraid that there was something attached. But, we all gave away our dollars and climbed back into our little homes with wheels.
It was interesting to hear of the different reactions that people had from being given a dollar. There was this fear that communicated that nothing is free without agenda. You won’t just give me a dollar, you’re going to try to get me to buy what your selling and most the time that’s Jesus. But Children accepted the gift with a smile and excitement. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to children and I can see why. They’re not skeptical yet. They can see the beauty in a free gift. I think the the kingdom is filled with that same excitement and innocence.
As we drove down the highway slowly but surely (this was my first time driving anything this large so I was pretty terrified) I was talking with Zane, a new freshman in the group, when all of a sudden we heard an incredibly loud bang. After a few minutes of trying to figure out what had happened we felt a jerk and the whole RV began to shake… Yeah, he blew a tire. So we drove slowly down the highway with our blinkers on trying to find a safe place where we could get out. About a mile down the road we came to an exit ramp and pulled off to see what we needed to do. The RV company told us they would meet us half way with a new RV. So Steve drove the old RV about 45min. back to where we ate lunch while the rest of us waited in a very interesting little town.
The town consisted of three things, a church, a gas station, and an adult bookstore. Normaly we would have just thought nothing of it and just played corn hole or watch tv until Steve got back. However, there was a small shack with a steeple right in front of the bookstore and the shack had signs all over it that read ,”We will take pictures and send them to your employer and family.” You see, the church down the street had set up this shack three years ago and they’ve had someone personing this shack 24 hours a day 7 days a week. On many levels this intrigued me. So our group decided we wanted to hear more.
Our conversation was geared towards insight. We wanted to know why they were doing what they were and how they came to the conclusion that it was a good idea. Our perspective was very different. However, our dialogue with the faithful photographers aided some great conversation for the next couple of hours of our trip.
After Steve got back with the nice new RV we hit the dusty trail. As we discussed our experience we talked about our thoughts on who Jesus is and why this display of our Christian Friends didn’t line up with our perception. The truth is we felt like it was a forced accountability. And all forced accountablity does is create unsafe places. People now feel like they can’t trust Christians because all they want to do is air your dirty laundry. They don’t care about you, they just hate your sin. It hurt us to think that these people shared out name and that others would judge us because of their actions. We felt that the Jesus we see in Scripture would have been spending a large amount of his time with the porn store owner. This display of “love” just left a bad taste in our mouth and that lead us to the realization that we knew we wanted to be a part of something different. We want to be about people and about meeting there needs so that they can see the image of God in us that doesn’t scare them.
After driving for awhile and hanging out at the mall for a couple hours and giving away the rest of our pizza to some hungry teenagers it was time to find a place to sleep. We stopped in a small parking lot to see if we could find a Wal Mart to park for the night. We found about three but they were all located in really public areas where it would be weird to sleep. When all of a sudden an old man pulls up in this VW bug and gets out and tells us that he knows of the perfect Wal Mart parking lot for us to stay is. So he tells us how to get there and actually follows us to make sure we find the right one. And it was perfect. It was next to a park and it wasn’t too busy. Not just that but this was the parking lot that would allow a conversation that would amaze me.
After a an hour or so of playing corn hole and trying to figure out how to juggle (which I can now) we lost one of our kids. We had no idea where Mariah went. When we found her she was sitting talking to an older woman on a bench in Wal Mart. After a while this woman had the ear of four of our high school students. She told them her life story and her pain. They spoke with her until about one in the morning. They helped her with her groceries and got her address and phone number. They knew what they wanted to do next. They wanted to go to her house in the morning and help her around the house and yard.
The next morning we got up and got cleaned up and figured out how to get to her house downtown. This is not easy in an RV. Holy cow, I almost hit everything. After about an hour of tight squeezes and manipulated turns we made it to her house. Betty wasn’t home. But that didn’t stop us. We walked a mile or two down the road and bought her some flowers, a balloon, a card, and a disposable camera which we used to take pictures of out group reenacting us going to her house and being sad that she was not home. We also wrapped some money around the camera so she could get it developed if she wanted to. I asked everyone if we should leave her with $300 and they said no. You see, they saw past the money. She wasn’t in poverty because she didn’t have money, she needed people and love. They said that she wouldn’t want the money, she just wanted someone to talk to and to help her around the house with some chores. I was blown away. It’s easy to give money. It’s easy to throw money at a problem and solve it for a while. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with it. However, these kids saw past that and into Betty’s heart. They saw her deeper need and wanted to meet that. And they did. We decided that we would send Betty a card every month when we got back to keep her connected with our community. It was amazing.
After that we drove the rest of the way to West Virginia. That night we sat everyone down and told them just how much we loved them and how amazed we were with their ability to see need and their desire to meet need. We told them how proud we were of them and why we are a part of this youth group and why we function the way we do. Steve and I had written letter for each of the kids that went on the trip just telling them what we saw in them and how blessed we are to be a part of their lives. It was a great time to connect and be honest about how we feel.
The next morning it was time for some white water. Really all I have to say about that is the fact that Zane fell out every time we got close to water. It was pretty entertaining. The weather, the water, the waves, and the company were second to none.
It was a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life… Thank you Father for letting me be a part of Organic (high school youth ministry @ the gathering).
