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The Christian Journey: The Hero’s Journey Home

Over the years, I have helped present dramas in a variety of contexts: private and public schools, big and small churches, from Baylor’s Ferrell Center to New York City and down to Costa Rica. Not based on my merit, of course, but simply through the grace of opportunity. Still, there are a handful of dramas of which I am truly proud–  works that involved skill of creativity, the blessing of team work, and the beauty of truth. This is definitely one of them.

My description from my YouTube channel, hemustbecomegreater:

In the Summer of 2010, I worked with the excellent Counselor Aqua Fresh for one week of Forest Glen Kid’s Camp. That week we had a stellar group of guys who constantly raised the bar and acted as true servant-leaders and examples to other campers. For Talent Show, we decided to present the story of the Christian’s journey home, with Christ as the true Hero of the hero. Aqua Fresh and I both found this song from Hercules oh-so inspiring, and every time I watch this drama, I get chills. Hope you enjoy it.

 

Man, I wish I could just be succinct for once and let you watch the video. And you could go ahead and do it now, if you haven’t already. But I have to say that this drama was one of the culminating elements of a truly God-blessed week. That summer, we didn’t know what would happen to camp– if it would continue, if overnight camp would move to another location, if everything would be shut down. So when “Aqua Fresh” or Devon and I were paired together (thank you to my friend Curtis for that gift!) as counselors, we knew we had to make this week count.

We had the second oldest group of guys in our cabin, David’s Mighty Men. We told them at the beginning of the week that we wanted them to be examples to the other kids and counselors, because we knew they could rise to the occasion. And each day, they did. They served, they helped out, they were encouraging and good spirited. Each day we’d tell them how proud we were of them and that we were going to keep raising the bar. It wasn’t exactly because of my or Devon’s skills of “counselor-ing” or because of the campers’ outright good natures (though we both have some pretty sweet skills and those guys were awesome!)– but it was simply a case of serendipity, providence, of God bringing things together for a time of blessing. That week we presented this drama, and though it took a lot of work and it didn’t go perfectly in this presentation (though I am probably the only one who knows that!), it was so worth it. The guys at first wanted to do a silly skit, which would have been fine, but we told them that this would be truly inspiring, and after we performed it, they agreed, it was AWESOME!


We won the Honor Cabin Award that week. We probably won the first place for the Talent Show, but I don’t remember. I’m pretty sure one of our guys even won Honor Camper– it’s hard to recall. All I know was that on Saturday morning, we gave each of our guys a sword (made of sticks and duct tape– like the ones in the video) and on the sword we wrote one character trait and share a Bible verse for each one of them. Afterwards, I wanted to have one final word, and suddenly I choked up. Though I had told them earlier that morning, “You know, I don’t cry that much. Not because I’m all manly-man, but I just don’t, even if I feel strongly in that moment.” Well, that time was and is the only time I ever cried when I had to say goodbye to a cabin. I trusted that God would continue to work in their lives, but I cried simply because this would be the last time we would all be together like this, in this blessed time and place. And soon, everyone went on their way, and now who knows where everyone is, both geographically and spiritually.

But I hope this— that they remember this story and remember that God is the One who calls us, saves us, and leads us on the journey, no matter where we are or what we’ve done, He is ever present. Sometimes, I think I need to remember that. And maybe you do too.

Okay. Now you can watch the video. Enjoy.

2 Corinthians 2:14a- But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ…

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Posted under: Film

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