Glory in the Rockies!

Most of you know that I love the woods and for the past few years I have spent my summers working for a Christian wilderness camp. This summer I was given an incredible opportunity to work for an organization called Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries. I was invited to come out and guide a trip with my old boss from the other camp I have worked at. Even though it was a volunteer job, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work for an organization that is in the same class as NOLS and Outward Bound. So I just returned yesterday from WY/CO, here is a little rundown of the trip.
I arrived in CO on the 21st where I spent some quality time with a friend from college then drove up to Laramie, WY. Luke and I prepared for our trip for the next two days and I got acquainted with how things are run at SROM. Preparations include, planning the backpacking rout, safety assessment, packing food, preparing spiritual application for the week and thinking through all other logistics. Our group arrived on the 23rd from Oklahoma and we hit the trail in the Wind River Range of WY the next day. I was blown away by the maturity of these seniors in high school and the ways that God was already moving in their lives. We got to spend 6 days in the Rockies taking in God's creation. There was a lot of hiking, literally a trillion mosquitos, great conversations and interesting meals. One day on the trail we did a solo with the students. This means we spread them all out across the mountain side and they have to spend the entire day alone with nothing but their bible, notebook and water. It is meant to give them an opportunity to remove distractions and seek God. As we called them all back we had set up three stations for them to rotate through. First, one of the youth pastors prayed over them then the other youth pastor washed their feet and last Luke and I served them communion. It was an awesome opportunity for us to serve and honor those students. Many of the students left encouraged after this week and amazed by what they realized they could do. Some of these students had never even been camping and now they were cooking their own meals setting up tents and hiking 12 hours straight. It is awesome to watch someone push themselves to a point they didn't know they could. And even better is to see someone doing that in a community that supports each other the way that Christ intended.
After the trip I went back to Ft. Collins for a couple of days and again was able to spend some great time in Christian community. The people of Colorado are just a different breed, everybody's trying to change the world, I love it!