Over. Finis. Done. But, not really.It was a different feeling today to pull away from a site and know that, Lord willing, we will see them again in a year. We can now fully invest in relationships for the long term. We can know what to expect (relatively). We can know the people and they can know us. This is a fantastic feeling!Along with that comes more sadness as we pull away. Investing in people is hard, especially when it is as intense as this week was. Our youth knew early in the week that it was a high likelihood...

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This afternoon, after we finished up VBS duties, we headed over to the Cumberland Gap and on up to the Pinnacle. This is near the top of one of the mountains, and on a clear day you can see all the way to Georgia! To get to the top, you have to take a narrow 2 lane road all the way, complete with various hairpin turns. Some of us were in the church Suburban behind the church bus, and I can honestly proclaim that Greg Etzel is one of the best bus drivers that has ever adorned this earth! How...

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Part of missions is being outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes we are challenged in that since we are staying in apartments with leather couches and chairs, refrigerators and hard-working A/C units. Often we are challenged when we pick up kids that live in less than desirable conditions ... who live amongst folks addicted to crystal meth ... who live in broken family situations. One family that comes will just about gorge their selves at lunch, and the reason why is because they hardly eat at home. So, at lunch, they will eat 3 sandwiches and take another 3 home....

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Day 4 is close to being done. My eyes are heavy, youth are giggling in the 'living room' as they eat more sugar than should be legally allowed, and bed time is creeping closer. The wonderful thing about where we are is that bluegrass music is so much a part of the culture ... an organic form of music that is tied to region and heritage. Isn't that, in some way, an appropriate picture of the Gospel? Organic - not from man, but from God. Tied to a region and heritage - this area is/was at one time heavily populated...

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I have run into that common problem of where to begin to describe this day? The genius behind this trip is that we come to serve and teach, and also spend time being taught. So, let's start in reverse ... during the evenings, all the church groups gather together in the LMU arena and have a worship service. The music is led by Charles Kidd, a senior from Erskine who leads the music for Paul Patrick's Barn Ministry. He is leading us in some of the great hymns of the faith --- it is extremely moving to hear 475 youth...

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