Watch Out For Bears?

Hopefully the title caught your attention!

Next Friday on May 21st the Calvary Student Ministry "the Revolution" will be going on our first ever overnight trip!  And we will be doing some camping at American Legion State Forrest in Barkhamstead.

Last night we had a meeting to go over a few of the ground rules and expectations that we have for our students on the trip.  I thought that the meeting was a big success.  God has blessed our church with wonderful young people (Now we just need a few more).  They are funny, talented and certainly heading in the right direction as far as life goes.  And when the situation for some of the more serious guidelines arose during our talk last night, they didn't let me down.

Kristi and I have been attending monthly meetings with the Greater Hartford Youth Network.  It really has been a chance for us to connect with some local Youth Pastors and leaders and to gain some insight from their experiences. (since we are still very new to this)  But at the last meeting we attended one person asked "what was one thing that you have done since becoming a youth leader that you could have gotten fired for."  Kind of a tough question!  And most people answered instead with stories of youth gone wrong or situations that they have been in that took a turn for the worst.

And after the meeting last night I left with a great feeling about our small group of teens.  It was hard for me to think of a situation where they could go wrong (But you always have to be prepared regardless)  These kids really are great, and meetings like last night are the reason that I love working with that age group.  I have full confidence that the trip will be awesome!

Next weeks camping trip will really be a chance for all of us to step out of our normal element and escape some of the things that can stress us out.  School, work and even technology. (No cell phones allowed)  Most the kids have already said that they are going to be bringing friends as well, so our numbers could be higher.  This will be our first big event since "Rock the Revolution" and I have to say that I just can't wait!  We will all get a chance to get to know each other just a bit better and I truly think that not only are we going to be teaching these kids things, but they are going to be teaching us just as much in return.

I will let you all know how it goes, assuming I don't get eaten by a Bear!

Chip