As I type, 11 of my junior high youth kids bounce around me in a crammed 15 passenger van. In front of us are four 15 passenger vans full of youth kids from Colorado...where we spent the last week, serving in partnership with the Group Week of Hope. I find that a bit ironic. As their vans passed ours, the Colorado students waved furiously, encouraging us to honk in support...with paper signs taped to the back windows. How wonderful it is to have a shared camaraderie with strangers going 80 mph on a west Texas highway. We got the better end of the deal, spending the week in the mountains where the temperature never breached 90 degrees in the middle of the afternoon. In Texas, it's 90 degrees before dawn. We send all Texas visitors our condolences.
What a glorious week it has been...our youth group was divided into crews, 5 people—4 students, 1 adult. I was leader of Crew 6... Crews 6, 7, and 8 were sent into the mountains to weed a cherry/apple/pear/plum orchard, encompassing 5 acres. This orchard provides nourishment and supplies for a local food pantry in Littleton, Colorado. With work gloves and water bottles, we climbed in our van and headed into the mountains. Our surprise was fully evident when we pulled in front of a 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom mansion. Whaaaaat?! The owners, Bill and Marian Messner, are two of the kindest people I've ever met. They welcomed us into their home as though it were ours. They cooked us lunch and praised our mad weeding skills. If the scenery didn't leave us captivated, the grandeur of the home rendered us speechless.
My favorite part of our assignment was picking cherries from the trees. They were rich and vibrant in color, lusciously contrasted against the green of the leaves. I watched as the children endured 8 hour work days of furious weed-pulling, raking, bagging, and clipping vines. Picking cherries was their reward. At the conclusion of our week, hundreds of pies were made to feed hungry and wanting people and an orchard was restored to healthy functionality and guarded against insect invasion. Marian told our site manager that she did not think people like us...those who are willing to serve in the name of Christ and genuinely LOVE people...still existed. The Messners do not claim to be Christians...and it appears our efforts to embrace the community were not in vain. Marian's reaction is precisely the reason we volunteer. This...is what we are called to do.
We embraced our free time with abandon. On our first night off, my youth group toured downtown Denver. We walked a mile and a half down the famous 16th street mall and took pictures on the steps of the capital. We were typical tourists, excited about everything. On Friday, I explored Idaho Springs with two of my girls while the remainder of the group experimented with white water rafting. I sat confidently on the steps of a small cafe eating gelato while the rest of my children were splashed splashed by 38 degree water. Ummm, no thank you. We capped the adventure by climbing/driving up Mount Evans, a full 20 feet higher than Pike's Peak...which can be seen from its summit. Nearly 15,000 feet in the air, the temperature is under 50 degrees in the middle of July. The mountain ranges are still capped with snow...and the splendor of God's creation is in every direction. It is a holy experience.
In terms of serving and relishing in the glory of Colorado's aesthetics, my youth group had a rather marvelous time connecting with other students from Salida, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was my first attempt in the leadership role I was assigned. Going in, I had two concerns...don't screw up, and please, God, don't let this be another lame ass Chris Tomlin cookie cutter camp. Well, I didn't screw up...at least I don't think I did. Unfortunately, once our crews returned from our work sites, the fun waned.
I'm usually wary about youth camps. I hate religious or spiritual manipulation. I hate when the students are told to pray or worship in certain manners. I hate when the camp coordinators are college kids with their heads up their asses, as was the case with our lead coordinator. Suffice it to say, she was not the nicest person I've ever met. She has the WORST public speaking skills...and I understand there's room for improvement and I'll be the first to applaud anyone willing to stand in front of a crowd and talk about ...anything...but damn. It was so painful. I swear she just read a prompt. I think the adults intimidated the hell out of her...she couldn't bullshit us, and I think she sensed our scrutiny.
Let me clarify, the adults in attendance are not the type to bitch and moan about casual annoyances...but we do believe we have a divine right to interfere when we sense something isn't quite as it should be.
Case #1: When we arrived at the church, our rooms were filthy. The floor had not been cleaned...garbage still evident...we had to vacuum before we could unpack. There was feces in a toilet in a very unclean restroom across from our room. During our tour of the facility, we noticed a toilet in the girls' locker room that had been taped off and a garbage bag had been draped over it. A window had to be opened to ventilate the room...we had no idea how long the toilet had been in such an unusable condition.
Case #2: According to the camp staff, they did not have students during the week prior to our arrival and they neglected to order the food for our menu on time. The menu had to be rearranged on our first two nights until the new shipment arrived. We ran out of supplies daily...our lunches did not have ice and became hot and unsafe. Lunch meat was left in the sink to “thaw”....and one of our adult volunteers had to notify the staff of the potential hazard.
Case #3: The camp coordinator was staying out until at least 2AM with her boyfriend, who worked the day camp in an adjacent portion of the church. Once we departed for our work sites, she would return to bed. She was also overheard by an adult stating that our group was the worst they've had this summer because we were always complaining. Rather than prepare for the night's activities, she spent the day sleeping off her late night.
Case #4: One of my students working the day camp was told she had to clean the toilet in the locker room, rather than playing with the children. She and a few others were given gloves and bleach and told to clean a very hazardous environment. This was a project that should have been conducted by the maintenance staff prior to our arrival at camp. This assignment was far beyond the weekly “hospitality task.”
Case #5: Neither camp staff member bothered to eat with our students until we confronted them about their half ass leadership, three days into our stay. They would, however, appear late, half awake, and cut in line to get breakfast. Awesome. When confronted, the coordinator was quick to say how much she was here to serve us and how much she loved our kids... Really?
Case #6: After complaining to a member in the administrative office, I was pulled aside by the staff stating that they had no idea we had any problems other than the minor issues we'd previously addressed with them. I knew this was a lie...several of the adults had already approached the staff with safety concerns...and didn't receive a proper response... Other lies were told during our brief conversation...and at that point, I'd simply had enough.
Case #7: The camp administrator was receptive to my expressions of distaste and assured me he would talk to the staff. We discussed our problems with the project coordinator, the second in command, and she immediately made the effort to rectify the errors. The camp coordinator did not. You could tell by her demeanor that she was just trying to cover her ass. We couldn't believe anything she said and her integrity had been annihilated by her ignorance. The day after I complained, the administrator said there was nothing more they could do to fix the situation. Fantastic. Another adult leader called to complain and her information was more damning than mine...the administrator seemed to adhere to her concerns more readily.
Case #8: Camp literature. I will say that it was clearly written so the student leaders knew what to say...in case of stage fright. But the text was lame. Most of my students didn't use their booklets. I didn't use mine. By the week's end, even my crew devotion leader had lost interest.
I am rather dissatisfied with the management and implementation of Group Week of Hope. While we thoroughly enjoyed our crew assignments, it was difficult to fully embrace the entire program. The list of complaints among the adults and students with regards to the staff is long.
I never thought I'd be the one to blog about the such an instance. It's not something I relish, but youth pastors, parents, and students should be aware. I do not believe this organization is entirely negative, however, their method of reconciliation wasn't to my liking, and thus, my church will abstain from further involvement.
I am thankful for the time away from the normal routines, the Texas heat, and our typical weekly methods of involvement. I was able to really learn about my students, to listen to their stories, to hear how they feel about God and about volunteering in their surrounding communities, to see what matters to them. I have an envelope full of “care cards” from the week...little tokens of affection from the sweet faces I've grown to admire over the last 9 months. I am truly blessed to be their youth leader.
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