Sunday, June 24, 2007

Core Value #4


Family camp has begun in Tijuana. Saturday the Family Camp members arrived by planes and were shuttled to Rancho in numerous rental vans taking multiple trips. The set up crews had spent several days getting things ready for the arriving Family Camp participants before they all even arrived in San Diego. What most people never notice are all the things behind the scenes that make a trip like this possible,. Even our our best plans succumbed to the countless variables that any trip to Mexico faces.

  • A suitcase didn't get off the plane when it was supposed to and ended up in Puerto Rico. It didn't stay very long though and arrived at the San Diego airport this morning.
  • The computer projector for the evening programs at Ranch arrived, but with out its power supply. A search was undertaken to find a replacement cable or a replacement projector.
  • The key for the Family Camp cargo container at Rancho was given to Scott to give to Camp Director, Dean Mathis. Scott went and made a copy of the key for Dean but the countless duties of the day, which included transporting arriving participants from the San Diego Airport to Ranch, somehow distracted Scott and Dean. Sometime on Saturday Dean arrived with the set up team at Rancho without the key to the cargo container. Scott had both copies back at his home in San Diego.
  • The lead foreman for the Family Camp construction teams called on Saturday to say he was sick and wouldn't be able to make the trip. Dean came down with something on Saturday and painfully had to stand in a one hour walk across the border line before he arrived at a place to recuperate in San Diego.
These are just a few of the things that can happen to any mission trip that we normally never hear about. And, these are just the things that I know about that have happened with Family Camp the last couple days, before they even begin their construction projects.

All these events and more create a real sense of appreciation for what our groups and participants sometimes have to go through. Its amazing to hear and see everyone in Family Camp improvising, jumping in, taking the lead, filling in, and serving each other. The previous list of evens I just wrote in this blog have all had solutions, thank goodness. Each event got resolved. Each problem had a solution, thanks to the dedication and patience of everyone involved.

To illustrate the spirit of working together like this, Gayla called Howard Major on the Nextel Direct Connect and asked him if he would be willing to go to Rancho several hours early to take the family camp work site leaders to preview their upcoming work sites. When she called Howard she realized that he was trying to spend as much time with his wife before she left to go out of town. Howard said he would go in early and Gayla said, "Thanks I owe you one." And Howard said, "No, that's what we do." Simple, direct, and accurate. That is what we do. We serve the groups, each mission trip participant, and one another, all by the grace of God. Core value #4.

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