Well, it has certainly been a non-stop rollercoaster ride since the day my family dropped me off at Prairie. During our first two weeks, we studied Worldviews in a modular class called Summit. We got to know everyone in both Discover and Explore groups fairly well, while staying up late at night trying to get all our assignments and papers done for these classes. After our first exam was completed, and final paper handed in, we hopped on the bus that would take us on a ten-hour trip across the boarder before finally making our second home at Camp Bighorn. Located in Plains Montana, Camp Bighorn is a Christian Adventure Camp in a forested valley between large mountains, and right on the Clarkforth River. Our days there were filled with intense lectures and classes, races to the look out point up the mountain, mud fights, and cliff jumping. During the night, many students could be found doing homework in the main lodge, with a mug of Camp Bighorn’s famous Hot Chocolate.
Before long, it was time for Discover to head out on our 5 day rafting trip on the Salmon and Snake Rivers, which travel through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Without knowing what we were getting ourselves into, our group hit the river. Each night we had to set up our camp, which consisted of a tarp we placed all our sleeping bags onto, a cooking area, and a ‘bathroom’. We closed our eyes each night to the beautiful view of stars in the sky, bundled up with every piece of clothing we owned! Each day was a new adventure, with new challenges to overcome. During our second day, we were going down our first class 3 rapid, when the raft hit the side of a rock, knocking Russell (one of the guys in the program) and myself into the middle of the rapid. Trapped underneath the boat, I was not sure which way to swim, until I finally made my way to the surface, where the water through us around until we met calm waters. Someone from our raft reached down to pull us back in, and I began to laugh hysterically. It was quite the adrenaline rush, and I could not wait for it to happen again! By our final day, we had successfully completed many class 3 and 4 rapids, and had all had our share of sunshine. From our take out place in Washington, we drove back to Camp Bighorn to stay for a few days until we flew to San Jose, California. Our first few days in California consisted of classes, eating with the men at the City Team Recovery Center, and traveling to San Francisco to help out at a Food Shelter. The men at the shelter looked at us girls as if they had never seen a member of the female species when we first walked through the doors to join them for dinner, but soon warmed up to us, and told us a lot of their past stories. When we traveled to San Francisco, I worked mainly in the kitchen preparing dinner for everyone, while people were able to go through and take food donation packages back to their homes. I was disappointed at first when I heard that it would be my responsibility, along with another in the program, to work in the kitchen because I wanted to be out, building relationships with the people. It was not long after we had started the quiche, soup and pasta that I remembered the story of Mary and Martha and how each were able to serve Jesus in different ways, although each was of importance. After the dinner was complete, we all sat around a large table like a family to eat, sing and eventually dance together.
Currently, I am staying with a Mexican family in San Jose to learn about their culture, while spending my days at a place called House of Grace. It is a recovery center for women who have children, and have struggled with addictions with drugs and alcohol. Many, although not all, of the women have spent many years in prison, and are trying to rebuild their lives in a Christian environment, in an attempt to get jobs, and perhaps regain the ability to see and spend time with their children that have been taken away from them. The home is a confidential place that they are able to stay in without fear of past abusers or violent boyfriends/ husbands finding them, and also have the opportunity to rebuild their lives. The girls stay in an apartment complex, attend classes daily, and have access to childcare for the ones who have their children living with them. Many of the girls have found a rock to rebuild their lives on in Jesus, and it is amazing to see the daily development in the women (ranging from 20-50 years of age). Each have their own separate pasts, addictions, abuses, offenses, but they all are able to find a renewed hope for their future and a motivation to improve their own lives and the lives of their kids. I have loved getting to know each girl, and their own personal stories. In each of them I see a brave, caring soul that has struggled for so long to find someone that truly cares and loves them. For many of them, Jesus has become this someone, and He has ignited a passion in them like no other. As my final days with these girls in coming, I would ask that you would lift them up in your prayers. Pray for the young mothers that are struggling to get by. Pray for all the women who are being beaten and abused by their husbands, boyfriends, and even fathers. Pray for the women who rely on the bottle as her main source of freedom from the daily struggles she goes through. Pray for all the women in jail, who have yet to see someone that could truly love them- who have yet to see Jesus for who He is. For in each of them, I have seen a heart and a soul that is crying out for His ultimate love, a love they have never known.
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