So I'm in far west Texas on a mission trip of sorts. Specifically, I'm between Alpine and Marfa at Paisano Baptist Encampment. It is remote here and rustic. I suppose there are folks who consider this part of the country to be pretty in a rugged kind of way. Clearly, these are people who have great fondness for the color brown. That's mostly what is here; brown dirt, brown rocks, brown grass, brown trees, etc. What they do not have here is water, brown or otherwise. They are in drought conditions and things are pretty bad.
It really makes me wonder why people settled here in the first place. Water and shade are hard to come by. Farming would be incredibly difficult without modern implements. There is game here but the populations are not dense. Its very hot and dry in the summer and cold in the winter. The wind is tough and it keeps the brown dust in the air so that it coats everything, including the upper respiratory tract. So any kind of life for the first inhabitants-whether agricultural or hunter/gatherer-would have been harsh. Why they would not have moved on to a friendlier environment I have no idea.
Back to the mission trip. I'm here with six teenagers, Alex, Colton, Dustin, Katy, Rachel, & Savannah. We are serving as the recreation team for a Girls Mission Camp. The camp is put on by some of the churches in this sparsley populated area. I think there are four or five churches represented from a radius of over 30 miles. Yet there are only about 45 campers here.
So far the teenagers are doing a great job. My challenge is to try to show them how much better they could be doing if they put more focus and energy into preparation. I have an idea about how to do that. Maybe it will work, but I'm not hodling my breath.
I miss my family soooooo much. Please pray for them while I am gone. Its hard on the boys and because of Kris' arthritis it is really hard on her to have to be the mom and the dad. (My hat's off to you single parents. I don't know how you do it.) Thankfully, Nana is there to help at night. But we know from experience that these weeks are still hard. So any prayers would be appreciated.
TTFN
1 comment:
you are too sweet. no need to worry about us. we miss you terribly.
Have a fun time with the teens, this is it for several of them. They are such great kids. They pick up more than you realize, and isn't it ironic about planning and preparing.... i find that interesting.
love you.
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