Sky Ranch

Good Times in Oklahoma.

Just when I thought we had exhausted God’s summer supply of blessings, He proved me wrong. Praise God for another week of fun, safety, amazing kids, amazing leaders and spiritual growth! We spent the week with the Tri-State Youth Camp at Sky Ranch in Quapaw Oklahoma. Again we were privileged to see God powerfully work in hearts and transform lives through the power of His word and the obedience of His servants.

Since we left IWU last week for Oklahoma we first stopped in Illinois at host homes to spend the night. We were able to attend a Freedom Celebration at a church near St. Louis complete with a full choir, orchestra, and video presentation. We enjoyed the night celebrating our country and thanking our past and present servicemen and women. After 5 hours in the van it was so sweet to simply sit and listen and enjoy the sounds of the praises of God’s people. It was also neat to watch a storm roll in through the giant windows in the sanctuary. The storm was awesome, needless to say it messed with our trailers electronics and we were delayed the next day. The host homes we stayed at that night were amazing. Anthony and I were entertained at the Coxs’ as their year old cat and yellow lab chased each other around the house. We also enjoyed getting our own bedrooms for the night – a very unusual but welcomed thing when you are on the road for 2 months. In the morning we discovered that the trailer lights didn’t work because of the rain. Three hours later we had it fixed and were on the road for another five and a half hours. This video was recorded during the waiting period http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjIPwIdHdw.

Pulling into Sky ranch was pretty cool. From the road we could see a waterslide, natural spring, a blob, and climbing wall iceberg, and it only got better form there. Sky ranch had the longest zip line I’ve ever seen, skeet shooting, horseback riding, paintball, soccer field, basketball and volleyball courts and air-conditioned buildings. It was pretty nice to say the least. Since we were delayed getting there, we were rushed to the front of the line for dinner so we could set up for that nights worship. This week the schedule included “crazy worship” at 12:45 every day and chapel at night. Crazy worship is just what you would expect - lot’s of upbeat and crazy songs, flying beach balls, and stage diving (done by pastor Mark). There was such a spirit of joy and freedom during those times – it was a blessing to be a part of. Night chapels usually began with 5-6 songs and then the speaker Jeremy would take over. Jeremy is friends with Francis Chan, so it was a good week ☺ The focus was on being a real Christian, with emphasis on being prepared for the Christian walk and living your life with a real and evident love for Jesus Christ. By the end of the week the kids wrote down spiritual goals and action plans to help execute those goals. On Friday one of the girls ripped up her “booty shorts” in a step of obedience to glorify God with her dress. We were so proud of her. We discovered that the favorite song of the week was All My Heart (Stellar Kart) as we heard kids humming and singing it in the cabins, cafeteria and during activities. Other main songs were I Exalt Thee, Undignified, One Way, Counting on God, The Stand and a new song for everyone called In Your Freedom.

One of our favorite games this week was called Comando. It involved the campers searching for 6 flags hidden around the grounds while counselors with flashlights could stop anyone and either send them to jail or accept a bribe in exchange for giving them freedom. Denny and I were partner counselor cops and enjoyed the bountiful benefits of bribery. At the end of the night we had received in bribes a bag of peanut M&M’s, big league chew, honey roasted pretzels, 3 musketeers, jolly ranchers, bracelets and the promise of being served 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch and 1 dinner. We also enjoyed listening to the kids bribe us with singing and acting as well a physical feats of strength. The rest of the IWU guys (except Chris who obtained a scooter by bribery) rode around in our IWU van and threw kids in the back to take them to jail.

The most memorable of the week’s games were the messy games. We played ultimate frisbee with a cow tongue and raw fish, did a slip and slide searching for coins in a kitty pool full of corn and mud water, and finally we played capture the flag with eggs – the point of the game being getting the egg back to your side without being tagged and then smashing it on your head. The fun part was launching eggs from the safe zone to our side and catching the egg on our heads.
All in all it was a great week and once again it was difficult to leave all of the kids on Friday afternoon. That night we drove back to St. Lewis and stayed with some more awesome host families. There was much laughter that night. Next we drove to IWU for the night and we are now at a camp in Michigan!

I hope the description of the week hasn’t bored you too much. Please please please pray for our team that we would truly serve Christ and not do it for the response of anyone. Pray that we play as a team and minister as a team with Christ at the center.

Ps by the way pictures of the summer will be coming, we haven’t quite had the opportunity to transfer them to different computers yet – but they will come. Thanks for reading ☺

Romans 8:31-What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?