When Anxiety Attacks
7 years ago
Saturday, August 23, 2008
I just received a CD full of pictures from a week-long rafting trip I had with our current high school sophomores this past summer. This trip was extremely awesome for a few reasons, one of which I'd like to share.
I started out the trip with these students by gathering us together and praying before pulling out from the church parking lot. Among the things that I prayed for was challenges... that God would give us challenges to try us and to grow us in our faith. Yeah... there's the addage, "Be careful what you pray for..." Well, let me just say there's some truth to that addage.
We were going rafting down the Gulkana River, a remote, wilderness river in the interior of Alaska. (Only way in and out is by river or by helicopter.) A couple of days into the trip one of the girls sarted getting sick with flu-like symptoms. After she had been sick for two days and she hadn't gotten any better we started to suspect that there might be something else going on. She started suffering abdominal pain and so we decided to evacuate her. We ended up evacuating her back to the urgent care facility at Glennallen, the nearest town (really just a crossroads with a one or two stores, gas stations, and a medical center), with a couple of the leaders. She was then air evacced to Anchorage. Of course, after we had evacuated her, the rest of us still out on the river didn't know what her status was.
Fast forward 24 hours...
We had journeyed on down the river and found our next camp site. Shortly after we got our camp set up we got hit by a pretty crazy storm front. For about 10-15 minutes we had massive rain, hail, and probably 60 mph winds. (The winds were strong enough to grab our 16 ft. whitewater rafts and flip them end over end... fortunately their bow lines were firmly tied down.) Most of us spent the time holding on to some form of equipment or shelter, keeping it from flying away. When we came out the other side of the storm it was still drizzling and our camp was a mess. (Notice the pictures below of another leader and I working on straightening bent tent poles and duct-taping back together the poles that are broken.)
Needless to say we spent some time repairing the damaged equipment to make it through the night. But then we got an even greater blow.
I got news via our satellite phone that the student we evacuated was in critical condition. Her appendix had burst and the doctors were saying she had a 50% chance. Getting that news threw our group into a bit of a tailspin. The next hour was largely spent with students in small groups of 2 or 3... or just completely by themselves. Everyone was just processing the fact that one of them was in a struggle for life itself, when she had seemed perfectly normal just a few days prior. After about an hour or so, however, I got to witness something so amazing that it is actually bringing tears to my eyes as I write this.
A couple of students decided to grab a guitar that they brought and start singing praises to God. Other students gathered around and I got to witness an impromptu, completely student-led praise and worship service on the bank of a wilderness river in Alaska, as the rain was still coming down and our camp was a wreck. I pulled away from the group for a bit and sat at a distance thanking God for the growth of these students as I listened to them singing songs like "Blessed Be Your Name" and "Grace Like Rain." Faced with this situation they chose to respond with worship and admiration for the God of the Universe!
Not long after that the clouds began to break.
I started out the trip with these students by gathering us together and praying before pulling out from the church parking lot. Among the things that I prayed for was challenges... that God would give us challenges to try us and to grow us in our faith. Yeah... there's the addage, "Be careful what you pray for..." Well, let me just say there's some truth to that addage.
We were going rafting down the Gulkana River, a remote, wilderness river in the interior of Alaska. (Only way in and out is by river or by helicopter.) A couple of days into the trip one of the girls sarted getting sick with flu-like symptoms. After she had been sick for two days and she hadn't gotten any better we started to suspect that there might be something else going on. She started suffering abdominal pain and so we decided to evacuate her. We ended up evacuating her back to the urgent care facility at Glennallen, the nearest town (really just a crossroads with a one or two stores, gas stations, and a medical center), with a couple of the leaders. She was then air evacced to Anchorage. Of course, after we had evacuated her, the rest of us still out on the river didn't know what her status was.
Fast forward 24 hours...
We had journeyed on down the river and found our next camp site. Shortly after we got our camp set up we got hit by a pretty crazy storm front. For about 10-15 minutes we had massive rain, hail, and probably 60 mph winds. (The winds were strong enough to grab our 16 ft. whitewater rafts and flip them end over end... fortunately their bow lines were firmly tied down.) Most of us spent the time holding on to some form of equipment or shelter, keeping it from flying away. When we came out the other side of the storm it was still drizzling and our camp was a mess. (Notice the pictures below of another leader and I working on straightening bent tent poles and duct-taping back together the poles that are broken.)
Needless to say we spent some time repairing the damaged equipment to make it through the night. But then we got an even greater blow.
I got news via our satellite phone that the student we evacuated was in critical condition. Her appendix had burst and the doctors were saying she had a 50% chance. Getting that news threw our group into a bit of a tailspin. The next hour was largely spent with students in small groups of 2 or 3... or just completely by themselves. Everyone was just processing the fact that one of them was in a struggle for life itself, when she had seemed perfectly normal just a few days prior. After about an hour or so, however, I got to witness something so amazing that it is actually bringing tears to my eyes as I write this.
A couple of students decided to grab a guitar that they brought and start singing praises to God. Other students gathered around and I got to witness an impromptu, completely student-led praise and worship service on the bank of a wilderness river in Alaska, as the rain was still coming down and our camp was a wreck. I pulled away from the group for a bit and sat at a distance thanking God for the growth of these students as I listened to them singing songs like "Blessed Be Your Name" and "Grace Like Rain." Faced with this situation they chose to respond with worship and admiration for the God of the Universe!
Not long after that the clouds began to break.
We ate dinner and these students decided that they would cut the rest of their trip short. They wanted to get in and visit their friend in the hospital. And after dinner they all pitched in and helped clean the dishes, soaking wet, shivering, and still singing praises to our God. It was stinkin' awesome!
I think of that and I'm encouraged. I look back over history and notice that the vast majority of Great Awakenings and revivals have been led by youth. Young people have been the vehicle through which God seems to most often move. And I know that me and a few others have been praying for the students of our church this past year, that they would be the beginning of a new spiritual awakening, right here in our own community. That God would move mightily and transform the lives and even the culture of youth in the Mat-Su! And ultimately I pray that the awakening would spread beyond the youth culture and that God would cause it to bring revival to our church and new life to the community around us. I pray that it will truly be hard to go to hell from the Mat-Su because people will be so confronted with the gospel in word and deed that they cannot help but know the truth of it in their hearts! But... anyway, I'd better stop there, because otherwise I could really get on a soapbox and keep going. Suffice it to say that I will be continuing to pray daily for these youth... that God will work in and through them in a mighty, undeniable way. If you happen to read his and care to join me, I'd love to have you coming before the throne of grace alongside of me. And we'll beg for God to pour out His Spirit on our lives, youth, and community together. I can't wait to see what God does with our youth in our community!
Oh, and by the way, the young lady who was evacuated was in the hospital for about three weeks, but she's fine now. Praise the Lord!
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