The camp is a place that you can feel the goodness of God present. It is peaceful, beautiful, and a place where grace abounds. They believe, and after seeing the aftermath, that God's hand was on them that night keeping them from harm. They also believe he had been working years in advance of the slide to keep it that way. The night of the slide, their entire herd of horses was in the pasture corral. Directly in the line of the slide. As the slide rolled down the mountain, it hit the trench that had been dug 3 years ago for a zip line. The flow filled the trench (probably 15-20' deep at its deepest), and was slowed and mostly stopped by the dirt berm created when the trench was dug. What was left ran into the corral. With the horses. They told us their head wrangler went out the next morning expecting to have to put most of their herd down when they saw what had happened. Not one horse was hurt. They had been buried, some up to their chest in mud. But not one was hurt.
The slide missed the main camp, sparing them from damage there. They had guests on property that night, there for a retreat. A group of pastors. No one was hurt and there was a lot of praying going on that they believe was instrumental in the events of that night. They saw the hand of God at work, they believe He extended His blessing and favor that night to keep them safe. After seeing what I saw, doing what we did, I do too. They have mess to clean up still. One man said after 9 months of almost non-stop work, they have tackled 1% of what needs doing. It was intense to look around, to try to figure out where to start. So we did. We did what we could, and chose to be a blessing rather than walk away frustrated because the job was too big. Yesterday was hot in the sun, smelly from the horses, dusty because they are dry again, and taxing from the lifting (rocks and logs. Theme developing?). Your kids worked. HARD.
I write this through teary eyes, because it is overwhelming to be a part of God's plan to bless others. The kids do it without consideration of comfort or cost, and give until they cannot anymore. They are instruments of God's favor in the lives of the people here, making a difference that we cannot truly comprehend. I speak for all the leaders when I tell you that these kids are world changers, doing it for the good of others, the glory of God, and because they heard Jesus call them to #GO and they did.
